Welcome to spring! The weather is starting to warm up and, for most of the country, bulbs are poking through the soil.
As you know, spring officially began on March 20. And while many of us are experiencing the joy of watching new buds appear on trees, rosebushes and hydrangeas, some of us are still sitting in the winter doldrums.
For those who still have snowpack on the ground, you'll just have to live vicariously through this newsletter for now.
If you live in a part of the country that has cold winters and allowed fall leaves to remain on your flower and vegetable beds through the winter, now is the time to remove those leaves so spring rain can soak down into the soil.
About two weeks ago, I bought nine romaine lettuce plants, nine had lettuce plants, a packet of snap peas, a packet of snow peas, radishes and scallions. The lettuce plants are doing well in the GardenRack and I've just recently planted in the peas. This week we'll plant the radishes and scallions.
For anyone who would like to plant peas, they're an easy crop to grow. You can pick up a packet of seeds at any nursery or home center. When you do this, remember to soak the peas overnight before planting them because this will soften the outer shell and permit greater germination. Don't forget to give those peas some support on a fence or trellis.
I love planting scallions but I never use all of the seats in one packet in a season. Scallions are the type of seed that need to be replaced every year for the best germination so eitehr plant some more in the fall or just toss the rest out at the end of the season.
Last spring was the first year I did not start tomatoes from seed and I had a really good experience with it. Don't get me wrong; I love starting plants from seed. But I also know my time restraints and know that I won't have as much time to babysit seed trays as I normally do.
As I reported in the the last issue or two, Burpee has come out with a yellow cherry tomato that I think I'm going to try this year. I'll let you know how it goes. Also, I planted eggplant last year which only did marginally well. I think I'm probably going to plant more herbs and flowers instead of vegetables this summer.
We've all heard that saying: walking down the primrose path. I think it's supposed to suggest being lulled into a sense of security and that everything is always beautiful and lush.
Primroses, or primula, are a wonderful spring perennial that can liven up shady corners at a time when the sun is still low in the sky. And they are not shy about their bloom color: they erupt in vibrant tones of yellow, red and blue.
The primrose is a spring favorite that cannot tolerate a lot of heat. Therefore, growing them in zone nine or greater will not be successful. They will tolerate some sun but prefer to be in shade with moist soil. You're going to want to mulch the roots well so that everything stays nice and cool.
Bunching primroses under a tree or planting them on the north side of a house works really well.
While this spring perennial usually doesn't suffer from pest infestation, they are prone to leaf spot. Leaf spot is a disease that shows up as brown lesions on yellowing leaves. The best way to combat leaf spot on primroses is to take off the infected leaves and make sure the plant is getting plenty of air circulation.
