(HOST) Commentator Henry Homeyer is a gardening coach and writer who lives in Cornish Flat, New Hampshire – and he’s already thinking about spring.
(HOMEYER) I don’t like to complain, but this winter’s mush, slush and gray weather has made me more than ready for spring. I love the snow and don’t mind the cold, but recent weather has gotten this gardener dreaming of spring, and thinking about what I can do to hurry it along.
I love the garish gold color of forsythia: it’s an early sign that winter is over and summer is on the way. I recently cut some seemingly lifeless forsythia branches and brought them indoors. Even without a magic wand, these stems will come to life when placed in water and set in a sunny windowsill.
Then there are the early-blooming bulb plants. Most years I pick a few snowdrops on March 4, the birthday of my sweetie. In order to help them along I’ve been known to shovel snow off the south-facing hillside where ours grow. Snow drops only stand a few inches tall and have delicate white drop-shaped blossoms that are lightly fragrant. Still, they can push up through frozen soil. This year, with 18 inches of hard-packed snow and ice, I’m afraid I’ll have to wait for the sun to burn through the white stuff.
On that same hillside near the house I grow two other early bloomers, scilla, and glory-of-the-snow. Both of them should bloom in March or early April. They stand just 3 inches tall, wearing intense hues of blue and purple. Crocus, known to the world as early bloomers, don’t bloom until April for me, but will arrive in many different sizes and colors.
Last fall I potted up some tulips and daffodils for forcing. Recently, on a snowy day after a nasty bit of rain and ice, I brought these pots into the dining room. I had kept them in a dark cupboard where the temperatures stayed below 50 degrees for 10 weeks or more, and they had already pushed up little nubs, looking for sunshine. Now, with water and sun they will grow and bloom, bringing spring when we need it most.
It’s still much too early to plant seeds indoors for most vegetables and flowers, but if you’re hungry to get started, try planting some onions, leeks or perhaps peppers. These plants take much longer to grow than tomatoes, marigolds, and many other plants. They do best with some supplemental light, so I grow them under 4-foot fluorescent fixtures. I suppose you could use a desk lamp with one of those new fluorescent bulbs if you wanted to start just a few.
I like to go outside with our two dogs and look at the fat furry buds on our Merrill magnolia tree. I keep records, so I know that most years it will bloom on April 23, which feels a long way off. But when the weather turns harsh, as I know it will, I visualize their frilly white blossoms. Just knowing they’re coming helps me get through the late winter.