Well, I’ve had a look at the potted plants that have been overwintering in the garage and although it’s to early to say for sure, most of them seem in pretty good shape. A lot of the very hardy plants have already started sprouting, such as the sedums and daylilies (Sedum spp. and Hemerocallis spp.) The baby junipers have also started greening up. An interesting thing about a lot of evergreen conifers is that when they’re very young (say 5 years old or less), they go brown in winter. Everything that’s already sprouted is now outside under plastic domes.
Had a look in the backyard today and boy, those rabbits have done a number (and that number is two). They’ve chewed on everything they could reach, including a potted Norway maple (Acer platanoides) sapling that I left outside hoping winter would kill it (it was a donation to last year’s plant sale even though Norway maples are on the do-not-want- list). They even clipped the wild raspberry canes (Rubus occidentalis). And I’m pretty sure they had a go at one of the elderberry bushes (Sambucus canadensis)
Unfortunately I left the ‘Arabian Night’ dahlia tubers in the garage too long and they rotted away. I won’t say I’m not disappointed, but I’m not devastated either. In fact, I’d already ordered a new kind (‘Karma Chocolate’) before I’d even inspected the old ones.
And most recently, I got seeds for ‘Lemon’ cucumbers and ‘Black Krim’ tomatoes at Canada Blooms on Wednesday. I’m a little nervous about the cucumbers; last time I tried, a couple years ago, there was a terrible cucumber beetle festival. They’d always been around in small numbers because of the pumpkins, but the pumpkins don’t seem to be as bothered by them. Actually, it’s not even the beetles themselves that are the real problem; it’s more the bacterial infection that the beetles pass on to the plants. Anyway, I stopped growing cucurbits entirely for two years. I think I’ll hedge my bets and try growing a couple in pots in the bay window.
