Friend-LINK: <%=INSERTTEXT%>

Subscribe to AGN Powered by www.ONElist.com

A Gardener's Notebook: The latest incarnation of my column detailing the trails and tribulations of my garden. Join the list and ask your own questions about gardening Subscribe

This week I have gotten a little reminder of what many of you go through every year. Winter in the colder climes chases you indoors and forces you to look at the garden through your favorite window, dreaming of the things you’ll do once the ground thaws. While it is only rain here instead of snow the effect is the same. I sit at my kitchen table watching the birds dodging raindrops and dreaming of the next project to tackle as soon as it dries out.

Wildflower Redux

For the second time I have planted wildflower mix in some bare areas in an attempt to add a little more color to the garden. In the past, the lack of both water and sunlight have yielded poor results, but my timing was slightly better this year. Since we, my 2-year-old Joseph and myself, dug up the beds and scattered the seed we have received a steady supply of winter rain. This will ensure that the seeds will have a good start before the seasons start to heat up. The storm that is hitting as I type, though, is a cold blast out of the Arctic with temperatures down in the mid-40’s. This doesn’t help germination, but it should warm up as soon as this storm passes. You want temperatures in the mid to upper 50’s to kick off the germination process.

Volunteers

Along with the weeds I mentioned last week I have spotted a few interesting volunteers in the garden. I have the typical sunflower and millet sprouts from the bird feeders. While this is mainly concentrated around the feeders the birds and squirrels seem to carry it everywhere else in the garden. There are even some sprouts coming out of the stone wall we built out of recycled concrete a few years ago. I guess the squirrels didn’t find everything they stored away last Fall.

The oddest sight are the nasturtiums coming up in a couple of areas. My best guess is that these plants come from wildflower seed I scattered 3 years ago. I saw very little results from these seeds at the time but I guess some of them have remained in the soil just waiting for enough rain to get going.

I have so many sprouts from my wide variety of trees that I joke about starting my own nursery this season. The elms and camphor trees have dropped their small seeds everywhere, including the pots of herbs on the front porch. Every time I walk out the front door I pull a few out before they get too well established. I even have a few Oak saplings even though the nearest mature oak is blocks away.

Fish-Be-Gone

My neighbor had a bit of a mystery a few weeks ago. He keeps a small pond of goldfish in his back yard. Luckily these are not expensive koi fish since one afternoon he returned to find the entire pond empty. Twenty fish had disappeared in a few hours. He was very angry thinking that someone had come and taken them. I had another possible theory, though, that was borne out a few weeks later. As I was leaving my house one day, I saw a huge Great Blue Heron fly in and land on the roof of the neighbor’s house. This bird stood at least 3 feet tall and he seemed to be eyeing the pool where the purloined fish had been. The bird probably had flown in from the wildlife area about 1 mile to the west of us. He seemed to find it easier to eat fish in a barrel than deal with the more wiley wild fish of the lake.

Until next week…

Keep digging and dreaming! -- Douglas