Spring Planting - Update

Well, things are really beginning to take off. With one week left in April, temperatures are up, with some days breaking 60 degrees. Along with the infrequent rain showers, everything green is thriving. I've planted nearly all of this year's vegetables, and am only waiting until May to seed pole green beans and plant some bell pepper starts (the ones from Lowe's have produced the best the last two years).

So, in overview of the current plants...the peas are all up (except for the reseeding) and just waiting for the right temperature to begin their vertical climb. I have two groups of peas, and have already constructed their accompanying trellises. Next, the celery starts are currently in a holding pattern. It's a bit early for them, but this is the time of year the starts are being sold and I purchased these ones at Fred Meyer. The spinach starts are also growing slowly, and being trimmed by the local wildlife. I dosed the plants with some fish fertilizer to motivate them along. The broccoli is showing some new growth and can hopefully be harvested before the weather gets so warm they bolt. The yellow German Butterball potatoes I missed digging up last Fall have re-sprouted (in full force) and have taken over the NE corner of the plot. Finally, I removed most of the crocus/daffodil/hyacinth in the SE quadrant because the space was needed. I plan to research/buy some better quality bulbs (the removed ones were bulk from Fred Meyer) this coming Fall for this spot. So, into this spot, and the remaining room in the middle of the plot, went the corn starts I purchased today. I visited the annual Olympic View Elementary Plant Sale (504 NE 95th St, Seattle, WA 98115) in Mapleleaf today and was enticed with the lure of corn starts. I have yet to figure out how I will fight off the rats in a few months. But, until then, the corn has some great soil to grow in. The SE corner of my plot was a storage spot for excess compost the last couple of years. Needless to say, this area contains the best soil in the entire plot :-)

Finally, the Summer flowering plants are growing like weeds. The lilies are bushing out, the Campanula (Birch's Hybrid) is developing, and the fuchsia is just beginning to sprout out (in a few months it will easily encompass a five-foot diameter).

Visit to The Kruckeberg Botanic Garden

The Kruckeberg Botanic Garden is located in Richmond Beach just to the north of Seattle, WA. The four-acre plant collection was assembled by Mareen and Arthur Kruckeberg over several years. Currently, it is open to the public and they also offer guided tours. Towards the front of the property resides the MsK Rare Plant Nursery (open year-round Fri-Sun). They carry the most diverse range of plants I have ever witnessed in a location this size.

The one thing about Kruckeberg that I find particularly exciting is the sheer volume of cyclamen growing wild throughout the property. You can even find it next to the roadway bordering the front of the garden. C. Hederifolium is the most pervasive species, with C. Coum and C. Repandum making up the remainder. In fact, the Repandum is currently in bloom and stands out quite strikingly.

I revisited the garden yesterday in hopes of acquiring a Repandum tuber. Fortunately, they discovered for me a tiny tuber with a single bloom still attached (cost: $7.00). It will probably take this plant a couple of years to mature but the one thing you learn with gardening is patience :-)

Skagit Valley Tulip Festival

Last Wednesday I accompanied a group of folks with the Spontaneous Seattle Trekkers Meetup on a trip to Skagit Valley and La Conner to check out the Tulip Festival. The festival officially starts April 1 but nearly everything was already in bloom and the crowds were light. We visited Rosengard gardens and Christianson's Nursery, and had lunch in downtown La Conner. Needless to say, the show gardens and fields are quite breathtaking in the diversity of flowers.

Spring Veggies Planted

The plot is starting to shape up for this growing season. The peas I planted weeks ago have germinated, although not all of them. On Saturday I replanted some more for the bare spots. I'll have to thin the plants before they get too far along in order to have them spaced far enough apart to grow. Also, I planted celery starts (Fred Meyer seems to be the only place that carries them) and Walla Walla sweet onions. On the down side, the broccoli transplants are not doing very well. Some creature (probably snails or slugs) keeps trimming them and I doubt any of the transplants will reach maturity. The Swanson's-bought broccoli transplants from my neighbor are doing quite well. All in all, the plot is quickly running out of planting space. I still need a spot for green beans in another couple of months.

Ramping up for Spring

It looks like temperatures are steadily climbing (regardless of the brief appearance of snowflakes reported a couple days ago). I've started work in my plot, mostly digging out grape hyacinth and the bastard offspring of older hyacinth bulbs. These bulbs/bulblings multiple like crazy and I never seem to remove them completely in specific spots each year. Also, I find it challenging to carefully dig out deep-seated bulbs that sit on top of or near to established, permanent plants (cyclamen, fuchsia, campanula).

I planted Alderman Peas a couple weeks ago that are about to break ground. I try to get them in as early as possible since they take 120 days to mature. For the last few years I have been harvesting them in early July. But, I've happy with the results as Alderman will climb upwards of eight feet and produce excellent shelling peas.

Finally, I invested in a small hellebore (Ivory Prince) for diagonal placement to my fuchsia. One perennial will be in bloom in Summer while the other in winter. Several--rapidly multiplying-crocuses and irises will be removed in a few weeks to make room for the hellebore. I'm hoping this plant will bloom for the first time this coming December.

Cyclamen

Cyclamen is one of my favorite winter-time plants (Mediterranean region native). Other than poinsettias, C. persicum are probably the most common seasonal holiday plant sold at nurseries and plant stands. Don't mistake these plants with their hardy varieties as the nursery bred plants will not survive freezing temperatures (I've lost several in planters on my covered deck). The adjacent picture is a specimen of C. coum I discovered at Swanson's Nursery last November and was in full bloom by the end of January (it was a mild winter and the plant typically blooms in February). For $9.00 it was a steal considering how developed the plant was.



In addition, I am growing C. hederifolium (the most common/hardy species) in the p-patch plot, and have a bunch of assorted pots on my deck where I'm attempting to cultivate some of the more difficult and exotic species (four of the five pots show signs of growth). Hansen Nursery in North Bend, OR, sells an impressive selection of cyclamen bare root plants.

What really impresses me about this plant is that it looks great year-round and is non-invasive. The striking ivy-like leaves dominate the plant most of the year, and the plant flowers (depending upon species) in fall and winter. So, it isn't uncommon that hardy cyclamen will be blooming in snowy conditions when everything around it is dormant. Cyclamen thrive best under forest trees where there is partial shade and plenty of decomposing leaf matter.


If you are looking to check out hardy cyclamen -- outside of nurseries -- in the Seattle area you are certainly up for a challenge. I know of two places that have the plant. The Seattle Arboretum has a winter garden with many years of cyclamen growth (C. hederifolium and C. coum). Also, the Krukenberg Botanical Garden has C. hederifolium growing in bunches throughout the property and alongside the adjacent roadway.

Very First Post

Hello, world! I figure I would give this blogging a shot now that I have a digital camera and plan on keeping a visual record of my gardening endeavors. A bit about me though...my name is Mark and I moved into Seattle in the late 90's. I got involved with volunteer work in creating a couple of parks on Queen Anne off of Taylor Avenue as well as the Queen Pea P-Patch. After gardening for five years in Queen Pea I was offered a -- larger -- 200sf plot in one of the city's most renowned p-patches: Interbay. I have been gardening at Interbay just over five years and am loving it.