Monday, February 18, 2013

Dayton "Dirt" - February 15, 2013

The “magic” date is finally here; that is the date in which the average daily temperatures begin to rise signaling the beginning of the end of winter and the anticipated commencement of spring. I’m thankful that at least so far we have had somewhat adequate snow and rain and the temperatures have not been overly warm or too cold placing stress on trees and shrubs as had happened last year with the too warm winter followed by a too warm and dry spring. Things are popping in the greenhouse full of annual flowers from cuttings we have been taking from stock plants since December and from the cuttings of flowering plants that we had shipped in from Costa Rica and Guatemalan greenhouses. The light levels of the February sun are increasingly brighter channeling energy to the plants and the longer day length is starting to have a drastic effect too. Last week’s seminar, Whimsy in the Garden, was well received with the largest attendance in our seminar series so far this year. Michelle Riley, the speaker, demonstrated a variety of ways to accomplish the Whimsey aspect of gardening from the extreme and expensive, to the more suttle and inexpensive, utilizing everyday articles that any homeowner might have on hand that would normally end up in the landfill. Tomorrow will be our most entertaining speaker, Carol Zeh, with her program on Hummingbirds. Last year we had to refuse last minute requests for some to attend due to overcrowding. Please call before coming to the seminar as many are already signed up and we may fill the limit again this year by today or early Saturday morning. See you at the seminar at 11 a.m. on Saturday.

No comments: