Growing Wise : plant care

New Plant Challenges

Elisabeth — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 12:56:00 GMT

It is mid April and the nightime temperatures in my area are still in the mid to upper thirties. The long cool season keeps the spring flowers blooming longer, but it also poses a challenge for those of us who order plants from online or catalog vendors. It is too cold to put the plants outside or install them in the garden, but the boxes full of bulbs, dormant roots, bare root plants and tiny pots of young plants arrive daily. What can you do?

Don't panic, but do unpack the plants. Store any bulbs in a cool dark place, but make sure you make a note to yourself to retrieve them as soon as the weather warms up. Dormant roots and bare root plants need to be potted up temporarily and placed in sunny spots in your house. Remember to water them as necessary. Young plants in small pots should be checked for problems,placed in trays or saucers and also situated in a sunny spot inside or a very protected spot outside. Water from the bottom by pouring water into the tray or saucer for the plant to take up as needed. If your purchases spend a week or two inside, be sure to harden them off gradually by placing them in a protected spot outside when the weather warms up. A few days in the protected spot and they will be ready for planting in the garden.

How do you know if your soil is ready? That's easy. Pick up a handful. It should not feel particularly cold and should have the texture of good chocolate cake--not too wet and not too dry. If the soil is too wet, it will clump in your hands like a mud ball. Many plants, bulbs and seeds will rot if planted in wet, cold soil.

Take a little care with your young plants and the mature ones will give you joy later in the season.

When Plants Die

Elisabeth — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 14:28:00 GMT

When you are a gardener, plants die on your watch. It's a fact of life, but it is not a moral failing--even if the plant or plants in question died of neglect. Neglect just means that the plant didn't excite you very much or your life/schedule/obligations made it impossible for you to meet the plant's needs. Either way, you should not feel guilty. Next time, buy a plant that makes you happy and has requirements that fit your lifestyle.

Sometimes it is hard to let go of a plant--even if it is clearly dead. Last year I kept a potted lavender on my dining room window seat/plant shelf long after it had died. The lavender was a gift and it died for no apparent reason. I kept hoping that one day I would see the single green sprout that would tell me my lavender was really only in some kind of dormancy. I even watered my dead plant regularly. Finally I brushed by it a little too hard and one of the larger branches broke off with a snap. I pulled on one of the other branches and it was also well and truly dead. In fact, all of the branches were dead because the entire plant was dead. I finally tossed it into the composter.

The same thing has happened to me many times with outdoor plants. I have a Rosa rugosa hybrid right now that has only one living cane. The plant has been at death's door for almost two years while I have dithered about whether or not to get ride of it. This year I am going to do it--but only after early spring has passed, just in case Mother Nature decides to rejuvenate more canes.

When you contemplate dead or dying plants, it is helpful to remember that every dead plant opens up a space for something fresh and new. Repeat those words whenever you start to feel guilty.