A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2004 Coping With Winter

I was wondering how the rest of the "flower Heads" here cope with the winter months before gardening can begin again.

I usually try forcing some bulbs. This year I have the usual paper whites blooming on the windowsill, but am also trying to force Crocus. My sister gave me a cute little stout bowl with five round holes in the lid, in which I planted several crocus bulbs last month. They have nice conical sprouts poking up, now, with the tips of green leaves poking through two of them.

It helps me get through this freezing month to check on their daily progress, knowing that in another month or so I may see the ones outside begin to sprout, and know that spring is on the way.

Hi Bess,
I like to read about plants, catalog's, magazine's, internet, hard cover books, anything,
I've posted before, I love to curl up on the couch and be in my sweats, and slippers and robe, and a hot cup of tea, or hot cocoa....... and read, and read, and read... (now I fall asleep with the kids sitting next to me, I can't sit on that couch any more, just sitting on it puts me to sleep now adays!!!)

But coming here and helping everyone with the gardening questions has helped alot too!!!......

Come about Feb... I'll be finding my Grannies' rockin' chair and the window in the living room that the sun shines realllllllllllly bright in and getting the magazines out and sit there and get warmed by the sun... Feels soooooooooooo good.

I don't get to plant anything as I don't have too many windows that meet growing requirements and the monkey boys don't help either!!!

Weezie

I read, plan and read some more. Gonna get some new houseplants next week, can't wait.

I read and plan, study catalogs. Work on my Paper Garden (the scrap book for my garden). Do crafts knitting and pressed flowers.

Well I do a lot of reading both books and online searches. I go through some catalogs, tend to my houseplants a lot. Try NOT to buy more houseplants but fail that most of the time and I'm running out of space for more. It may be time for me to get another plant stand for the west picture window. I may get one for the south facing kitchen window as well eventually. That keeps me busy enough gardening wise during the winter.

In late February I start thinking about starting some seeds. Tomato, Zinnas to name a few. I don't start a lot but I like doing some.

Tom

"TX Winter" is when i get alot of yardwork done that was too hot to do or even be outside for that matter from June-sept.I'm finally thrilled that no more levaves are falling and the trees are bare and a few are even sporting buds.I keep my panseys/sweet william dead headed for continuese blooms.collecting milk jugs as am out of pots for growing and have seed trays galore down in 5th wheel with sprouts growing.I'm currently on break from cleaning my long bed down front of house& still ranting about the work crew that has come through"trimming the woods" back from powerlines and let dump all their trimmings on 4 of my roses 2 of which you can not even see anymore& one had a bud and only blooms once a year.

got a box full of gardening mags also and stay busy with reading and cross stitching& candles.ya'll may be in winter but is 68 outside right now and if the sun was closer could probably get a tan

See how you are Njoynit??????????? :p

We had a snow day today for the schools!!!

Weezie

I had a patient last week in the ER. She came to hospital with complaints of back pain. She has osteoporosis and her main concern was .... I don't know what I will do if I can't work in my garden this year. God love her. To be 98 years old....and still working in her garden!

I had a great time talking gardening with this old woman....and picking up a tip or two.

flower,
Her still gardening is probably one of the helpful reasons she's still gardening and 98!!!!

When you remain active, oh, may be you slow down a bit, but still do all the things you do,
that's the thing that keeps you moving still.....

I tell that to my mother all the time,
she's like, oh, I don't know if I should keep my animals, or get another animal, but if she didn't have the "reason" to keep getting up, and taking them outside, and outside, and outside, that she would remain sitting in her chair and reading or falling asleep and not move...

It keeps you limber!!!!!

Weezie

P.S. Ok flower, what'd she tell you??
I wanna know!! Any good pointers for us???

If you see her again, flower, tell her she's an inspiration for us!

Njoyin, we had a line crew come through about 8 years ago and destroy a barberry bush at the back of our garden, as well as hack up a lovely redbud tree for no apparent reason. They left three ugly white PVC access pipes sticking up like sore thumbs. Since we share the last 12 feet on our lot with the city, we couldn't really complain, but I went out and painted those pipes with an acorn brown paint so they wouldn't be so noticable. No-one ever said a word about it!

I've got to get busy re-doing my garden plan for the coming year. Got to send for my soil testing kit, too.