Gertrude's Flower Garden Weekly Diary

1/4/02 - This morning (12/30) I did some "gardening" in the glass room. Several times during the winter I lift all of the potted plants in the glass room and window from the shelves, put them, one by one, on the kitchen table, trim off dead leaves, pull weeds or other unwanted seedlings, stir up the soil with a fork, and give them a drink of lightly fertilized water. Some of the plants, such as begonias, get "leggy" and need to be trimmed back. I did about half today and will finish tomorrow.
         As you know by now, I am a great believer in home grown seeds, because seeds grown in your own garden come from plants that have learned to adjust to the particular conditions there. Nevertheless, I do like to try out new flowers, and each year buy some from one or another of the many garden catalogues we all get. Last autumn I planted Rockgarden narcissi, Triumph tulips, Toronto tulips, Glory of the Snow, Snow crocus, striped squill, and windflowers--a total of 60 large bulbs and 175 small ones. I try to plant new bulbs every autumn, because you lose some each year. I also bought some dwarf ageratum, geranium, marigold, and petunia seeds, all of which I will raise in the basement garden this winter/spring, and plant outside after the danger of frost. Finally, I have ordered, for delivery in late spring, more of the Border dahlias and some Crocosmia corms (a new flower to me). I look forward to the pleasure of growing new flowers, and to adding new color and texture to "Gertrude's Garden."
         Report from the basement garden: the begonias and Star zinnias are progressing nicely under the shop lights. The begonias are at least a month from being ready to transplant, but the Star zinnias have second leaves and should be ready in a week or two. On the warming pads and not germinated yet are impatiens, petunias, browallia, and vinca. I'll be reporting and showing pictures regularly of the basement garden where most of my activity will be for the next few months.
         Right on time my faithful Christmas cacti bloomed to greet the holiday season--here is their picture. I have four of these plants in the glass room. We have had them for a long time--some Gertrude bought and others were given to us when Gertrude's sister moved to Florida. I lost one of them a few years ago by over-watering; they are, after all, desert dwellers and thrive in dry, poor, sandy soil. It is difficult, however, when you are watering the rest of the plants to remember that these particular fellows don't like too much water. The one that died rotted at the stem. I took two of the four plants off of the glass room shelf and arranged them on the wrought iron table to better show them off. Christmas catci are not much to look at during most of the year, but they do make quite a show at the holiday time--because of this and because Gertrude liked them, I will continue to care for them.

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