Impatient

February 2015

 

PICKAWAY TO GARDEN

 

Impatient

By Paul Hang

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I don’t mean impatiens, the popular annual bedding plant. I am impatient for spring. February is mid-winter. Days are getting longer. The arc of the sun is going a little higher each day with shadows becoming shorter. Seed catalogs are cluttering the living room and planning the garden is beginning to take up more of my conscious thinking. I am cheered by the thought that February is the last full month of calendar winter. And yet, there is still a lot of winter weather in store.

 

By now you know I put no stock in the predictions of a certain large rodent residing in the Keystone State. No self-respecting ground hog would be coming out of their hole on February second. They would be hibernating. Rather than celebrate Ground Hog Day which just makes us impatient, let’s celebrate Ground Hug Day, but wait until spring to do so. February second is Candlemas Day, the festival of lights. Let’s celebrate the return of the light and the growing length of days.

 

Buds are also hibernating. However, by the end of the month, buds of dogwood, lilac, pussy willow and magnolia will begin to swell to the extent that it’s noticeable. Some of those buds were made as far back as July and some were made later. Inside those buds are miniature leaves and flowers just waiting for the right conditions to open up, but not yet. Similarly the month of February is the bud of the coming year. The signs are there of what will bloom in the coming year. As Hal Borland says in his Twelve Moons of the Year, “Right now the buds are waiting, a promise of April. The impatience is in us, watching them, hoping, wishing, while the clock they obey continues its slow, deliberate ticking down at the root of things.”

 

When you make out your seed and plant orders consider planting more native and heirloom plants and vegetables. Native plants are plants that evolved here and are adapted to our conditions, diseases and native pests. Heirloom plants are plants that have been cultivated for at least 50 years, sometimes hundreds, and whose seeds have been saved and handed down through generations. They are not modified. They produce vegetables that have better flavor and quality and can be harvested over a longer period of time. They are open pollinated which means they are pollinated by insects and wind. You can save their seeds and get plants virtually the same as the parent plant.

 

Hybrids are produced by cross pollination by plants intentionally bred together like a horse and a donkey to produce a mule. They ripen faster and at the same time and have a higher yield. They are advantageous for farmers and those who want to can their produce. They are also easier to grow and may be the best choice for the beginning gardener. Seeds from hybrids will not produce identical plants from the parent. Neither heirloom nor hybrids are genetically modified (GMO) plants. GMO’s are altered in their very DNA to produce a plant with desired characteristics.

 

 

Things to do in the garden:

 

Not much. Check perennials for heaving up out of the ground. Press them down gently with your foot. Send in your seed orders. Will our results ever match those of the glossy color pictures?

 

This is a good time of year to do research. You can while away those cold blustery evenings becoming, if not a better gardener, at least a better informed one. Below are some good websites to help you find the information you want.

 

Ohioline -OSUExtension Publications    ohioline.osu.edu

Pickaway County's Extension Service    Pickaway.osu.edu

Weekly discussions of garden topics       bygl.osu'edu

Looking for natives?                                                Wildflowergardeners.org

Ohio Forestry Association                          ohioforest.org

My past columns can be found at             pickawaygardener.blogspot.com

Information about Master Gardeners       mastergardener.osu.edu

Growing Degree Days                                oardc.ohio-state.edu/gdd/

 

This is the time to prune trees and shrubs (after you sharpen your tools). You can see their structure now that they are dormant and the leaves are down. Cut out crossing and rubbing branches and unwanted suckers.  Pruning can be done to reduce the size of a tree or shrub to bring it in to balance or to remove overhanging branches blocking a view or path. That is best done by a certified arborist. (Who will not top trees.) Remember, spring flowering shrubs should be pruned after flowering if you want to enjoy the blooms.

 

Some seeds can be started indoors this month for setting out in late March or early April such as onions, cabbage, cauliflower, and other members of the Cole family. Check the seed packets for times.

 

Google Winter Sowing. There you will read how to use old plastic bottles to easily germinate seeds. It is a good way to raise a lot of seedlings for planting “drifts,” those bands of like plants that wander serpentine through our flower beds.

 

While you’re at it try googling the name of a flower you’re thinking about ordering.