[gardeners] Something to do over the winter
George Shirley (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Mon, 25 Oct 1999 20:18:24 -0500
Went by a friends house today and she was cleaning out her greenhouse.
Ended up with two packets of seed for "Angels Trumpet", aka Brugmansia
(sp?), two different colors. Plus I got 4 cuttings from a light purple
trumpet and have them in rooting compound in my greenhouse now. She also
gifted me with a couple of seeds of the "Orchid Tree", bauhinia
variegata. Both should live and bloom here in USDA Zone 9b but I'm gonna
greenhouse 'em over the winter for now.
We also glommed onto several sad looking orchids that a local nursery
was tossing in the dumpster. Don't remember which varieties right now
but I believe we can resurrect them. I had gone to the nursery to swap a
bunch of rosemary seedlings with the owner for plants we wanted. He was
tickled to get the healthy seedlings in 1 gallon pots. I generally just
bury some of the lower limbs on my big rosemary (3ftX3ft and still
growing)and in a few months there are healthy young plants. I'm layering
some French and Spanish lavender limbs that way now.
The Ponderosa lemons are ripening so reckon it's time to make lemon
marmalade and put up some lemon juice for pies, tea, recipes, etc. The
kumquats are slowly ripening also and I'm looking forward to eating the
crop there. I have to be quick and stealthy or Miz Anne will beat me to
them. Actually we share but the plants are so small yet that there isn't
going to be a large crop.
It's cool here, low forties in the early morning, warming to
mid-seventies by midday. Perfect weather for getting out and about and
the gardens are getting a lot of attention. After hiding from the heat
all summer we, and our neighbors, are enjoying the yard and garden work
and the interaction again. Whereas some of you hide in the winter we
tend to stay indoors during the hottest part of the summer.
Hope all are enjoying the fall and their gardens. Life is good.
George