Gardening season has arrived.
You can tell by the large green buildings in many parking lots throughout the city. You can tell by your perennials popping up to show they made it through the winter. Maybe you can tell because the old shirt, your gloves, and ratty tennis shoes have come out of the back of the closet and made their way to the front.
Checking my garden thermometer this week, I found it still says the soil is only 40 degrees. Still too cold to put anything deep in the ground, but my trusty Iowa State Extension calendar says we can sow seeds for peas, lettuce, spinach, carrots and beets. The seeds are planted ¼- to ½-inch deep and are easily warmed by the sun.
Then, just after Easter and the day before Earth Day, the calendar states it is time to put your potatoes in the ground. A little late this year as traditionally potatoes are to be planted on Good Friday before Easter. I can’t believe a few days earlier will make a difference. It is nice to keep some traditions.
The calendar advises, too, that if you see new growth on your perennials, it is OK to divide them. Hostas are best divided in the spring, as are mums.
Mums are probably one of the top 10 favorite flowers. I put them about third in my top 10. At one time our front yard was host to nearly every color and shape of mum we could find.
Chrysanthemums were perfected in China 600 years ago and used as an herb or eaten whole — roots, flowers and all.
Though they bloom in the fall, some care is needed from spring planting on through the summer. When you are buying, make sure they are garden mums, not the decorative variety. Garden mums become perennial plants, but decorative types are unable to stand the cold winters.
Plant in full sun after the danger of frost is over. Mums need some fertilizer.
When we grew them, we fertilized them in the spring and then would sometimes forget during the summer. They grew well anyway.
I think a lot depends on your soil, frequent watering or rain, and perhaps a light summer mulch to protect the shallow roots from too much heat. For fertilizer, use a 5-10-5. The phosphorus in the middle promotes healthy roots and flowers.
Pinching is good for mums. Pinch about an inch of the branch tips to encourage a full, sturdy plant with plenty of blooms. The rule of thumb is to do this until July 4 and then stop and wait for the fall blooming.
Soil temperature is important whether you are planting mums or your vegetable garden. Have you ever wondered why your pepper plants planted along with your tomatoes just seem to sit there, not growing, not leafing out, while the tomatoes get bushy and tall?
Well, they are cold. Tomatoes grow in soil that is about 60 degrees Fahrenheit, but peppers are not going to grow until the ground is at 70 degrees or higher.
It could be June before they are ready. So if you plant them early, don’t expect to see any buds for a while.
The solution to this could be to not buy them until June, but probably the best will be gone by that time. If you buy but don’t plant, it’s hard to keep them alive in those tiny little growing pods. Perhaps there isn’t a perfect solution other than planting them with the tomatoes and not feeling guilty if you see them shivering.
If the urge to get into the dirt and plant something becomes too strong, try pansies. They like it cool. The colors are across the rainbow, some bicolored and some like the deep purple almost feel like velvet.
Pansies will take a summer hiatus from the heat but will bloom again come September and probably into November.
Spring is here. Planting time is close. Gardeners are happy.
