‘Dig’ The Earth

What? You may be asking, but when you have winter sown seeds precipitation, especially snow is a welcome occurrence.  Just because I set the little greenhouses outside doesn’t mean I don’t have to keep them from dehydrating.  The snow is very welcome because not only does it act as a source of water but it also acts as an insulator.  I even took some chunks of snow and placed them inside some pots that I put in our outbuilding. 

This will water the plants slowly as it melts.  As it is 9 degrees this morning it will be several days, if not weeks for the snow to melt inside the poorly insulated building.  I did discover something quite phenomenal yesterday though.  When I pulled all my outdoor containers into the outbuilding I also moved my cuttings of boxwood to

the building too.  I doubted they would survive the cold and neglect, but the flat has not frozen and the cuttings are still green.  Some have even gotten moldy which really surprised me as cold as it has been out there.  Since my last post I’ve put several more little “greenhouses” outside.  They are planted with White Swan Echinacea, Apricot  Beauty Foxglove, Lavender Foxglove, Streaked Breeder’s Mixed Hosta, Elegans Hosta, Cream Goatsbeard, Dwarf Goatsbeard, Hen & Chicks Blend, Purple/Yellow Japanese Iris, Lamb’s Ear, Lavender (Herb), White Liatris, Missouri Primrose, and Tenesee Coneflower. 

I’ll keep you posted on their progress.

February 12, 2008 is the date I will remember as the start of my winter sowing experiment.  I’ve spent most of my “free” time – time in front of the TV or sick time – making mini greenhouses for a winter sowing project.  It was fully intended to begin in mid-December, but sickness and other more pressing projects got in the way.  Anyway, on February 12 I was able to get five mini flats out in the snow.  They were Coral Nymph Salvia, Dolce Petunia, White Daisy, Soapwort, and an unknown veggie (seed looks like broccoli seed).  We’ll see what happens.  I hope they do well.