how are you preparing for the garden season soon approaching

12 years ago

12 years now it is that I have wintered in Florida

Gardening here in Florida

It is so different and I almost forget all that I used to do, waiting and waiting to get out in the garden, in Canada

I used to have so many plants all over the house and pots in the basement and the catalogues .

Such huge pots to bring in and out was part of why we decided to spend winters in Florida

But I sort of miss it all

What are you doing to prepare.

Comments (3)

swontgirl_z5a
12 years ago
Hi Diane,
You are lucky you are in Florida today. It is miserable here! It's not snowing much but the wind is howling. Gusts up to 90KM they say and it sure seems like it. A good day to stay inside.
I have started some ivy's from some cuttings I took last fall. I have some daylily seedlings started but nothing else seeded. I have a few other plants in the basement that I brought in from outside last fall-begonias and a heuchera I always keep in a pot.
But the most exciting thing was going to the Stratford garden show on Thursday! Glad we went then. It wouldn't be a nice drive today! It was really good with better garden displays that I have seen there before. I bought a few bulbs to pot up, and some hellebores from Floral and Hardy that I put into bigger pots. I went down to where I planted the 2 I bought from them last year and H. niger has buds coming on it. The other one is Ivory Prince and it is doing well but I don't see any buds yet.
Can't wait for spring!
greylady_gardener
12 years ago
antsy to really get going but have been doing a few things. I have some winter sowing done and a few things started inside, but haven't really started full speed yet. I have to wait a few more weeks for most things but will start my hot peppers either today or early this week. I have planted two containers of Russian persimmon tomatoes but that was for an experiment. Tomatoes will probably get planted next weekend or shortly after.
Lois
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ianna
12 years ago
Diane,

I was in Florida a couple of years ago in the height of summer. I wilted just getting out of the car and walking a short distance to the beach. Mind you I am originally from tropical Asia but I've never ever gone thru that kind of heat before. Wow. Good think you overwinter there as opposed to staying there thru summer.

There are some really good wheels for pots nowadays to make it easier for you to transport your pots in and out. I would always start off with a good garden clean up. I am one of those who prefer to do my pruning in the spring as opposed to doing it in the fall. So I do my general clean up around April. Then I put in a very thin layer of black earth (LOBLAWS brand) with a sprinklng of bone meal and composted manure. Then I start seeding my annual wildflowers. The blackearth gives a beautiful fresh look to the yard. almost like icing on the cake. and once plants start poking thru the contrast is beautiful. I get many visitors each year just inspecting what's growing in the yard.

Now is also the time to refresh your lawn by adding a thin layer of topsoil mixed in with brick sand and seeds. Reseed in 2 weeks to ensure complete coverage. If one needs to do aeration, best to do this prior to adding the topsoil layer. I get a very thick and healthy lawn as a result.