What To Do in February

February is the short, topsy-turvy month, when the crocus blooms in Monday's warmth...and disappears in Tuesday's snow. It is also, perhaps, the last month to anticipate our gardening needs before warm weather -- and utter chaos -- arrive. Here is my list of chores, for gardens within and without:

Tools. Clean and sharpen lawnmower blades, pruning shears and hedge-trimmers.

Order fertilizers, mulching material, stakes, plant ties, and tools if you need them. It's so much easier to start equipped than to have to await some necessary item just when you need it most.

Seeds. Finish ordering now; choice varieties always disappear well before March. Seed merchants -- both my favorites and readers favorites -- can be found here.

Planting. Continue to winter-sow your hardy annual and perennial seeds.

Raised Vegetable Beds. If soil has settled in your framed beds, top them off with shredded leaves. Add nitrogen (bloodmeal, soybean meal, alfalfa meal) to hasten decay.

Save Your Wood Ashes. Either add them to the compost bin or spread them -- as I do -- beneath lilacs. Wood ashes are a terrific source of potash.

Garden Design. Work and rework your garden plans...on paper. This is a pleasant fireside activity.

Pruning. Some warmish day when you won't hate the job, start pruning trees and any late-blooming shrubs. Prune with a purpose, such as: to get rid of dead or broken branches; to make plants more shapely; or to admit light and air to areas beneath. In other words, respect the the plant's natural form. Don't just saw off tops!

Houseplants need attention too:

African violets. If you suffer from dry skin and a scratchy throat during the heating season, just imagine how miserable your humidity-craving "violets" must be! Boost humidity by setting plants on trays of pebbles and water.

Amaryllis. Cut away the faded flowering stem if your new plant has bloomed. Continue to tend it in the window. Feeding goes on until late in August. Your older plant might be ready to emerge from the cool, dark cellar; check the bulb for a green tip.

Branches, spring-flowering. A number of these can be cut now, and brought indoors to warmth and light. They will bloom for you in 2 or 3 week's time.

Bulbs. Bring the remaining hardy bulbs you are forcing out of cold storage, and give them a position in warmth and light. Continue to feed and water after flowers fade, and the bulbs can have fine futures in the garden outdoors.

Cyclamen. As some flowers fade and some leaves discolor, yank both out from the base of the plant. Remember to water from beneath.

Freesia. This is the big month for colorful, fragrant freesia. Water the bulbs daily.

Geraniums. Those you've grown from September cuttings are setting bud now. Pamper the plants with high-phosphorous food, at the rate of a 1/4 teaspoon per gallon of room-temperature water.

Petunias. Overwintered specimens, if placed in your sunniest window garden, will bloom their hearts out now. Provide food and water freely.

Primroses. Your florist will have enchanting primroses this month to freshen up the window garden picture. Why not send yourself a Valentine of three misty lavender ones? They stay pretty for weeks, and in their blooming condition require only light, not sun.

Sweet Olive. If leaf tips turn brown, you are either overfeeding the plant, or your tap water contains too much fluoride. Feed no oftener than once each month, and use distilled water if your tap is suspect.

Well, these are my missives for February. What are yours?

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My Favorite Seed Suppliers...& Yours

I rarely buy annual, perennial, or vegetable seeds from local vendors, because their selections, to be frank, are usually too skimpy for my taste. Take, for instance, petunia seeds. A big box garden center might offer 4 basic varieties. But visit an online seed specialist like Summerhill, and there you will find 55 kinds, including the delightfully fragrant 'Shock Wave Rose,' pictured up top. The following seed suppliers get most of my business:

Diane's Flower Seeds. Diane Linsley offers open-pollinated, heirloom perennial, annual, and vegetable seeds. Seeds have been tested for germination. Her columbine collection is extraordinary; I bought several varieties, including the stunning, blue 'Alpine.'

Summerhill Seeds. I already mentioned Summerhill's petunias, but their hollyhocks are equally impressive. You can buy them in mixed or individual hues. I had to restrain myself with these, for I wanted them all. I settled for 'Apple Blossom,' a 7-foot variety with fully double, soft-pink blossoms.

Johnny's Selected Seeds. You can have a field day on this site, too, whether you are looking for flowers or vegetables. I couldn't resist Johnny's lime-green variety of Love Lies Bleeding, nor his extra early, 'Premium' peas.

Pinetree Garden Seeds. If you need seeds at low, low prices by all means visit Pinetree. This is the place to buy seed potatoes, onions, artichokes, and bareroot raspberries and blueberries. Their online catalog is far from glitzy, but who cares? Packets of flower and vegetable seeds are all under $2.00.

Renee's Garden. Love cottage gardens? So does Renee Shephard. I've already ordered her new-for-2010 double cosmos 'Rose Bon Bon,' with double-frilled petals in a rich, romantic pinkish-rose. Also delightful are her knee-high sweet peas, in mixed tones of salmon-rose and soft mid-blue, which grow to only three feet. Renee's love for flowers and vegetables becomes obvious when you visit her website.

How about you? Who do you buy seeds from, and why?

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Topping-Off the Veggie Beds: 2 Down & 10 To Go

Here at a Garden for the House, Monday's high of 56 degrees (accompanied by two inches of rain and 40 mph winds) melted -- in a matter of hours -- every trace of snow. I'm taking advantage of this winter-reprieve by topping-off the raised, timber-framed beds in my Kitchen Garden. You see, over the last year the soil in them has become so settled that the beds are now only half-full. Let me show you the symphony of carbon and nitrogen I use for refilling the beds:

I keep a pile of shredded leaves next the Kitchen Garden, and use this nutrient-rich product to replenish my beds each year. To hasten decomposition, the leaves are sprinkled with one cup of dried blood meal. Blood meal contains about 12% nitrogen, which, when combined with carbon (leaves), produces the heat that turns organic matter into compost.


Of course, my every minute spent hauling leaves to the Kitchen Garden now will be thoroughly repaid in spring and summer. For both vegetables and flowers flourish in this composted component we should properly call "leaf mold."

Now I'm off to the leaf pile, where both pitch folk and wheelbarrow await. Two boxes were filled yesterday...and I have ten more to go!

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Making a Greenhouse & Sowing Seeds

When is a water jug not a water jug? When it's a miniature greenhouse! And this, of course, is the very thing you need for seed-sowing in winter. Although I described this Cinderella-act in an earlier post, you might find it helpful to see the procedure in pictures:


1. Making Drainage Holes
Because your seeds will be watered with snow, sleet and rain, your greenhouse will need drainage holes, and lots of them . Thus, turn your container upside down and punch through its base about 15 holes, as illustrated above. Also make holes about a half-inch above the container's base, say, 3 holes per side. I have found that the easiest, and also the fastest way to make openings in a plastic container is not with a knife, which can slip and slide, but with a red-hot "Phillips" screwdriver. I heat mine over a gas flame at the stove. If you don't have a gas cook-top, heat the screwdriver with a culinary torch. Failing either device, use an electric drill for your hole-making.



2. Making a Hinged-Cover
Just below the base of the handle, cut almost all the way around the jug, leaving a half-inch hinge, as illustrated above. Use a pen-knife or scissors for this easy job.



3. Adding Potting Soil
Add, to your container, a quantity of potting soil to the depth of 2-3 inches, as above. Soak well, and permit to drain thoroughly at the kitchen sink. The soil, of course, must be well-draining. If your soil-mix is slow to drain, amend it with a small amount of perlite.

4. Planting Seeds
Sow your seeds on the surface of the soil. Very small seeds need no additional soil to cover them. Just leave them on the surface, regardless of what your seed-packet says. Large seeds, such as Morning Glories and Sweet Peas, require only a one-eighth-inch planting depth.


5. Labeling & Taping
Mark on the jug the following data: name of seed, quantity sown (if possible) and date sown. A paint pen works better than a sharpie, because the former won't fade when exposed to sunlight. If you only have a sharpie, write your data on a piece of duct tape, and adhere this to the bottom of the container. Then close the container's hinged cover, and secure it in place with 2 or 3 pieces of duct tape. It is not necessary to get a "tight" fit.

6. Lose the Cap
If your container has a cap, definitely remove it. The top opening of a jug permits not only ventilation, but the useful entry of rain, snow and sleet. Especially on sunny days, your greenhouse will heat up and become quite humid. The vented top permits excess heat and humidity to escape.


7. Braving The Elements
Finally, bring your greenhouse to the wintry elements outdoors. My containers go on the patio table, which I moved to the sunny south side of my garden shed. In this position the jugs are protected from strong north winds. The greenhouses are arranged in a shallow sterlite box, which I peppered with drainage holes. The box mitigates the chance of tipping (should a strong wind get through), and also permits the easy moving of jugs, should this become necessary.

And that's it! Making a greenhouse and sowing seeds the winter-way is easy, easy, easy!

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What Gets You Through the Winter?

What gets you through the long months of winter? Daydreams of tulips - like 'Carnival de Nice,' pictured above? Blooming houseplants? Netflix? Winter-Sowing projects? Tell us how you maintain your sanity while awaiting spring's imminent sweetness...


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Winter Blooms: Iris Reticulata

I'd like you to meet Iris reticulata 'Clairette,' a precious flower that bloomed just today in my south window garden. Like the snowdrop, reticulata is normally grown outdoors, in rock gardens. But its true beauty is best appreciated indoors. There, at close range, you can easily see its gracefully-arched, Persian-blue petals, each of them licked with gold and splashed with snow, that are perched atop tiny, 3-inch stems. Because I planted 5 of these minor bulbs in a 4-inch pot in October, and gave them 12 weeks in cold storage (followed by 3 weeks in warmth and light), they have bloomed way, way, ahead of their normal outdoor schedule. But that's the fun of forcing hardy bulbs...we get to enjoy their poetry long before the snow melts.

For a detailed guide to forcing spring-flowering bulbs, be sure to read Hardy Bulbs for Winter Windows. And, if you are looking for tiny bulbs that will pack a lot of early brilliance into your outdoor beds, read Minor Bulbs for Major Color.

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A Winter Fling with Primroses

Primroses have it all -- sparkling color, easy care, and the ability to thrive at any bright but sunless window. Gorgeous varieties of these classy spring harbingers can be found at your local, independent florist's shop, but only from January through March. For this is their greenhouse-induced flowering period. You might enjoy, as I do each winter, a three month fling with a primrose or two. Here are my favorites types:


The English Primrose, P. acaulis, is familiar to most for its vividly-hued, tightly-clustered, 6-petaled flowers. These form a lavish bouquet above a rosette of foliage, rather like the African violet. Colors range from denim blue through ruby red, and every conceivable shade in between. Snip off faded blossoms to sustain a 3-month flowering period. And after that, you can plant it out in the garden. Acaulis is hardy in zones 4-7.


The Fairy Primrose, P. acaulis, tempts us with its sheer sweetness. Tall stems encircled not once but two or three times with tiny blooms, each one resembling a forget-me-not, surmount the plant with a white, lilac, or purple mist. Its delicate air resembles baby powder. It is hardy only in zones 8-10.


Then there is the German Primrose, P. obconica, as big and bold as Wagner's Brunhilde. Atop every stem are eight or more flowers, each one measuring one-inch in diameter. Bloom colors are pink, purple, blue, orange or white. The leaves of older varieties contain primin, a substance that can cause a mild rash on certain individuals. But newer varieties, such as those in the Embrace and Libre series, are primin-free. Like malacoides, it is only worth planting outdoors in zones 8-10.

Despite their unique forms and flowers, these three primroses enjoy the same home life. Lots of light, plenty of water and a cool temperature are vital necessities. A hot, dry room will shorten a primrose career by weeks. An east or west window, where the sun filters in briefly and gently, is ideal.

A primrose's powerful thirst should be quenched via bowl or deep saucer. For unless it is watered from the bottom, foliage must be lifted each time to keep moisture from the center of the plant. My plants rest in clear glass bowls, to which water is poured twice daily.

Compared to other houseplants, primroses are easy plants for the attentive gardener. In fact, the only hard part is deciding which cultivar to buy.

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The Seductive Amaryllis

If there is a "Don Juan" of the window garden, it is surely the King's Court Amaryllis (Hippeastrum). Here is a plant that never fails to seduce, each bulb pushing up one or more sturdy stalks bearing three to six giant flowers which are pure white, deep red, apple blossom pink, or crimson-orange (like 'Desire,' pictured above). Under good culture, amaryllis will rebloom year after year:

The bulbs usually need at least six weeks for thorough root development, and then three or four more weeks to perfect the flowers. If these do not appear and only a disappointing amount of leaf growth develops, the amaryllis can usually claim one of three alibis -- it was not sufficiently cared for during the summer months; it has been planted too deeply, or it has been given such an oversize pot that all its energies have gone to filling the container with roots.

Thus, flowering-success begins with a clay pot which is only one or two inches larger than the diameter of the bulb. A six-inch pot is usually right. Place a piece of broken pottery over the drainage hole, then add a quantity of light, fluffy soil. Set the bulb high enough so that its top half rests above the surface of the soil.

Next, water well, and permit this tropical traveler to make its roots in a dark, cool place (50-60 degrees). During the following six to eight weeks little watering will be required, probably not more than once every 10 days.

After roots have sufficiently filled the pot, the plant will send up a flower bud. When this appears move the amaryllis to a sunny window. Water sparingly until the bud is 4 inches tall, then be more generous as growth indicates a greater need for moisture. Begin feeding the plant, too. I feed mine with every watering, but I use only a pinch (a 1/4 teaspoon) of an all-purpose plant food per gallon of water.

When, at last, every blossom has faded, promptly cut off the flowering stalks. Your amaryllis is now a handsome, strappy-leaved houseplant that you must care for as faithfully as when it was in flower. For it is now and through the summer -- when it is set in the semi-shaded garden -- that the bulb is producing the embryo blooms which you are depending on for next year.

Consequently, continue the food and water regime until September first. Then lay the pot on its side (to avoid rainfall), and let the soil dry out. When the foliage turns yellow and becomes loose, remove it, and bring the plant indoors to a dark and cool place. Water will not be needed more than once every three weeks during this well-deserved winter rest.

Check the plant occasionally from November on, although signs of growth are not likely until January. When the green point appears, scrape away the top soil and replace with a fresh mixture.

So cared for, your amaryllis will provide an abundance of huge, lily-like blooms year after year.

Now, if you want an amaryllis that does not require a cold, dark, dormant period, be sure to obtain the evergreen H. papilio 'Butterfly.' Its blossoms are smaller than the usual "Christmas" types, but what tempting colors they possess...an exotic variegation of scarlet, bronze and cream. I'll post a picture of my papilio when it is in bloom.

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Random Thoughts on Garden Design

At a recent cocktail party, someone asked what my "gardening philosophy" was. The only safe answer I could give at the time -- my cocktail-party-philosophy suggests never lecturing on a subject while holding a martini -- was this: "learn from experience." And here are a few things I have learned after years of designing, planting, and nurturing my little corner of the world; perhaps you will find them useful in your own, day-to-day gardening endeavors:

1. Always Put Off Until Tomorrow What You Could Do Today. In other words, avoid making rash decisions. Yes, that magnolia tree your garden center is offering at half-price might sound like a bargain. But don't bring it home until you have pondered -- carefully -- its realistic value in your garden.

2. Beware the "Free" Plant. Beware friends and neighbors who offer you perennial gleanings from their gardens. Such gifts, more often than not, are limited to orange daylilies, or invasive things like goose-neck loosestrife. Few gardeners are willing to part with their choice treasures!

3. Do Your Digging on Paper. When planning a new border, work it out first on a sheet of graph paper, or, if you have a landscaping program installed on your computer, map it out there. Having a real plan -- and sticking to it -- pays off in the long-run. Both your back and your wallet will thank me for this advice.

4. Practice Emphasis & Repetition. As you plan, strive for emphasis throughout the garden by repeating drifts of the same plants. Such repetition gives the garden unity and strength. A "one of everything" planting always looks weak.

5. Consider a Water-Feature. Beverly Nichols once proclaimed "A garden without a water feature is no garden at all," and he is right. Where money is scarce, and the garden is small and informal, even a bucket of water sunk into a hole can count as a pond. Trust me, the frogs that gather there won't complain. If money permits, consider a three-tiered fountain for a formal setting, or a moderately-sized, field stone-surrounded pond for a woodland garden. Whatever water-feature you choose, avoid lining it with plastic or rubber sheeting. I learned the hard way that such materials sag, like baggy under pants, over time. Line the pond with cement; in the end it will cost you about the same as plastic or rubber.

6. Increase Your Space. If your backyard is small, enlarge it. Plant a tall hedge of arborvitae bang in the middle of your yard, leaving, of course, a 4-foot-wide passage-way at its center. Visually, this will double your territory -- and hence your pleasure.

7. Frame your Picture. When you enclose your property with a wooden fence or an evergreen hedge, you instantly produce an artist's landscape, regardless of what grows within it. Like a framed painting, a framed yard is visually more appealing than an open, unrestrained one.

8. A Formal Garden Makes Light Work. Contrary to popular thinking, a formal garden with straight lines and definite curves is far easier to maintain than an informal one. My boxwood garden, a series of geometric patterns framed with upright yews, requires nothing more than shearing once or twice each year to keep its looks. Meandering perennial gardens, although glorious to behold, require massive upkeep to look their best. Just ask anyone who has attempted to follow in Gertrude Jekyll's footsteps.

Now...what about you? What lessons have you learned from your own gardening adventures?

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Forcing Forsythia & Other Branches

A vase of glowing, golden forsythia is just the thing to alleviate any hint of winter dullness in the house. You can cut the branches in late December or early January, and they will bloom for you just 2 or 3 weeks later. And other common garden shrubs can be forced as easily. Of course their branches at this time will appear to be only a bunch of brown twigs. But the blossoms are there, just waiting for the warmth and light your windows can provide. Here is my "smash-and-soak" forcing-routine, and also a list of other flowers and foliage which you can trick into early bloom:

On a sunny afternoon, go out with sharp pruners and gather bouquets. Try to choose branches of varying lengths and shapes to achieve the most sculptural vase-display.

Indoors, cut your material to attractive bouquet lengths. Then smash the ends with a hammer, and set them in a bucket of warm water. If branches are cloaked with ice, simply submerge them, as I do, in a bathtub of warm water. A one-hour soak will thoroughly hydrate the branches and snap them out of dormancy.

After soaking, arrange the branches in a vase of warm water. My forsythia goes in the sun on the parlor plant-stand. To my eyes, they make a pleasing picture when combined with pots of pink wax begonias and fragrant purple and white Primula malacoides.

Here, as a handy reference, is a list of colorful possibilities for winter flowers and foliage. The suggestions for timing are based on my own, zone 5-b experience:

Forsythia. Cut late-December or early-January; 3 weeks to bloom.
Honeysuckle Bush. Cut mid-January; 2 weeks to bloom.
Crab Apple. Cut early February; 3 weeks to bloom.
Flowering Cherry. Cut early February; 2-4 weeks to bloom.
Flowering Quince. Cut mid-February; 4 weeks to bloom.
Willow. Cut any time in February; 2 weeks to bloom.
Red Maple. Cut late February; 2 weeks to bloom.
Apple. Cut mid-March; 2-3 weeks to bloom.
Flowering Dogwood. Cut mid-March; 3 weeks to bloom.
(If I've missed any branches that you've successfully forced, please mention them in the comments.)

If I were you, I'd go collect an armful of "dead" twigs today. For these, in very short order, will produce at your January window a most splendid spring portrait.

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Snowdrops: A Prelude to Spring

An authentic touch of spring has entered the window garden, for I awoke to find my potted Snowdrops in bloom. We all know these Galanthus nivalis from the outdoor garden. But it is indoors, not out, where we can best enjoy their true beauty: ribbons of pale green inside nodding, icy-white bells.

Snowdrops are among the easiest bulbs to force. I plant 5 bulbs to a 4-inch pot in October, and place them in cold storage (40 degrees) for at least 8 weeks. After this chilly duration, the bulbs are moved to the sunny but cool window garden, where dainty flowers emerge in only 3 week's time.

If you care for the bulbs after their flowers fade, these snowdrops can have a fine future in the outdoor garden. Provide food and water until foliage dies back. Then store the bulbs in a dry, cool place. When autumn arrives, plant them in a garden bed that receives full sun.

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Winter-Sowing 101

Yes, I know it's only January, but I'm playing in the dirt today, winter-sowing delphiniums and other hardy seeds. Winter-sowing, if you are not familiar with the term, is a method of outdoor seed germination (invented by Trudi Davidoff of WinterSown.org) that relies on just two things: miniature greenhouses, and Mother Nature. In my experience, winter-sowing is infinitely easier -- and usually more reliable -- than starting seeds indoors under lights.


Here we go...Winter-Sowing 101:

Make a Greenhouse. You can make a greenhouse from any container you like, so long as light can penetrate its walls, and it has a protective cover of some sort. Like other winter-sowers, I use recyclables, including gallon-size milk- or water- jugs, and 2-Litre soda-pop bottles. With jugs and bottles, use a pen-knife to cut around the middle, almost all the way through. The uncut half-inch or so will serve as a hinge. Next, punch out drainage holes in the bottom. A Phillips screwdriver, heated over a flame at the stove, facilitates the hole-punching job. Punch out also a few holes along the top portion of the container. These extra holes increase air-ventilation. Ventilation, of course, is the key to preventing excess heat from building up in the greenhouse, and baking the seeds to death. If there is a cap on your jug or bottle, remove it.

Select the Right Soil. It is essential to use a soil mix that drains well, and has a light, fluffy consistency. I use a 50/50 blend of pasteurized leaf mold and perlite for my own winter-sowing endeavors. You can also use a high-quality commercial potting mix that drains well. Pour the soil, preferably to a depth of 3 to 4 inches, into the bottom half of your container. Then moisten the soil thoroughly and let it drain.

Sow the Seeds . Sow your seeds on the soil surface, and then cover them with more soil, when necessary, to achieve the proper planting depth. Gently pat the mix down, so that seeds and soil make good contact. Then replace the lid, and secure it with a few strips of duct tape, as illustrated.

Remember to Label! For each sowing, indicate on a strip of freezer tape or duct tape the seed variety and date sown (use a permanent marker or paint pen), and stick this label on the bottom of your container. Do not omit this step, or think that you can "save it for later." There is nothing worse than finding, in spring, dozens of miniature greenhouses brimming with seedlings, and not knowing what they are!

Bring the Greenhouse Outdoors. Your greenhouse, once planted and labeled, is ready to brave the outdoor elements. Select a location that is safe from strong wind, but where sun, rain and snow will be admitted. My assorted greenhouses are set on the patio table, out of the reach of Lily, my beagle, who would otherwise knock them over.

Relax. Sit back and relax while Mother Nature does her thing. As the weather chills and warms, your seeds will freeze and thaw. These natural actions loosen the seed-coatings. This is why advance soaking or nicking of hard-shelled seeds, such as Morning Glories and Sweet Peas, is not necessary when you winter-sow.

At the first kiss of spring, but while nights are still freezing, seedlings will begin to emerge. Now is the time to check for water. Open the tops, and if the soil appears dry, moisten thoroughly but gently, so as not to disturb tender root systems. Then close the tops again. On warm, sunny days, I open the tops for hours at a time, and let the seedlings enjoy the fresh spring air. The tops, of course, are closed at dusk.

As seedlings grow, it is wise to increase the size of the ventilation holes. Trudi Davidoff, who has a decade of winter-sowing experience, advises doing this at weekly intervals. Increasing ventilation not only acclimates the seedlings to the outside world, but permits them to be transplanted to the garden early on, because they are already hardened-off.

I can't tell you how advantageous winter-sowing can be. I produce an entire garden's-worth of perennials, annuals and even vegetables this way, without the need for expensive light-systems, heating devices, or fancy seed-starting kits. And, unlike indoor-germinated seedlings, which more often than not are frail, spindly, and always at risk of a lethal fungal malady called "damping off," winter-sown seeds grow up to be strong, sturdy plants, completely prepared for glorious careers in the open garden.

Here are the hardy seeds I planted just today, here in zone 5-b, where daytime temperatures are currently in the teens, and nights in the single digits:

Candytuft - Iberis sempervirens
Delphinium 'Pacific Giants'
Hollyhock - Alsea rosea, 'Chater's Double Mix'
Lupin - Lupin regalis 'Band of Nobles'
Pansy - Viola wittrockiana, 'Giant Blue'
Monkshood - Aconitum carmichaelii
Sweet Pea - 'King Size Navy Blue'

I'll sow more hardy perennials throughout this month and next, followed by hardy and half-hardy annuals in March. My tender annuals and vegetables shall be sown in late March and April.

If I were you, I'd give winter-sowing a try. Honestly, it's the easiest, most cost-effective way to achieve a beautiful garden.

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Hummingbird Alert!

If you like watching elite athletes as much as I do, you will surely want to catch PBS' "Hummingbirds: Magic in the Air" on Sunday, January 10, at 8:00 PM (EST). This must-see documentary from filmmaker Ann Prum features the aerial antics of hummingbirds in oodles of slow-motion video. Here's a teaser:




Did you know that hummingbirds are the smallest warm-blooded creatures on this planet? They are also the fastest. With wings that beat 200 times per second, they can hover in mid-air, fly backwards and upside down. And, their diet isn't limited to nectar, as commonly thought. But you'll discover these and other astonishing hummingbird facts on Sunday.

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Do Plants Like Music Too?

Do plants respond to music? Dorothy Retallack sought to answer that question some 40 years ago, when, as a 48-year-old student at Colorado Women's College in Denver, she conducted a series of experiments in the school's three bionic control chambers. Her findings were published in a small book called The Sound of Music and Plants (1973). Here are a few of the tests she performed, along with her fascinating conclusions:

Retallack's first experiment involved a single tone. In the first chamber, plants were played a continuous tone for 8 hours a day. In the second chamber, the same tone was played off-and-on again, for three hours at a time. In the third chamber, no tone was played at all. Plants in the first chamber, where the continuous tone played, all died within 14 days. But those in the second chamber thrived, more so than the plants in the third, silent chamber.

In her next experiment, fresh plants were placed in two chambers, each equipped with a radio. In the first chamber, the radio was tuned to a rock station; in the other, a soft-rock, or "middle-of-the-road" (M.O.R.) station played. Only three hours of music was played daily. After five days, Retallack noticed a striking change. In the M.O.R. chamber, plants were not only thriving, but bending towards the radio! In the rock-station room, plants displayed poor, spindly growth. After two weeks, the M.O.R. plants were lush and healthy, uniform in size, and bending 15-20 degrees toward the radio. The rock-station plants, however, were bending away from the radio, and in the final stage of death.

In another test, plants "listened" to recordings of ancient North Indian music performed on sitar and tabla in the first room, and Bach organ music in the second. The third chamber was kept silent. Plants grew best in the rooms where the Bach and Indian music were played. In both chambers, they leaned towards the speakers, but even more so for the sitar music than Bach.

Plants, she found, hated Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, and Vanilla Fudge. And as for country music, the plants subjected to it showed no response whatsoever.

Don Robertson, a contemporary composer, is convinced that plants can prosper in an atmosphere of harmonious, rather than discordant sounds. "I spoke with Mrs. Retallack about her experiments a few years after her book was published," says Robertson on his website, "and at that time I began performing my own experiments with plants using a wood-frame and clear-plastic-covered structure that I had built in my back yard. For one month, I played three-hours-a-day of music from Arnold Schönberg’s negative [dissonant] opera Moses and Aaron, and for another month I played three-hours-a-day of the positive [harmonious] music of Palestrina. The effects were clear. The plants subjected to Schönberg died. The plants that listened to Palestrina flourished."

Do you play music for your plants? Which composers or artists do they prefer? Chopin? Laura Nyro? Aerosmith?

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What to Do in January

Houseplants welcome the turn of the year and the lengthening hours of daylight. Grape ivy, philodendron and other vines grow faster now, ferns unfurl new fronds. Blooming plants, like the wax begonias, impatiens and geraniums pictured above (click to enlarge) bud more freely. I encourage their burgeoning beauty with increased water and food. The following plants are of special concern this month:

Amaryllis. Is the flower stalk appearing on your new plant? If so, move it gradually to light and sun and heat (not above 70 degrees) and provide water as needed. Examine your older stored amaryllis for signs of life. Then replace the old top soil with new, and begin watering. Keep cool and in dim light until the stalk is about three inches high.

Azalea. Place your gift plant away from full sunlight until the flowers have faded. Then give it a bright spot. Coolness (60 degrees or less) and much water, even twice daily, are other needs.

Broad-leaved Foliage Plants. When you recover from the holidays, give your rubber plants, dracaenas, etc., a big thrill. Go over all the leaf surfaces, above and below, with a soft cloth dipped in mild soap suds. Then rinse with a clean wet cloth. Their pores freed of dust, the plants will look and feel better.

Bulbs. If you have tulips, hyacinths, etc., in cold-storage, bring them in now to a cold light window.

Cyclamen. Assure 3 to 4 months of bloom by growing it cold (65 degrees and less if possible), and constantly moist. I maintain an inch or two of water in my cyclamen's saucer at all times.

Forsythia. It's not too early to force these branches. Cut sprays at varying lengths, mash the ends with a hammer, and submerge in a tub of cool water for several hours or overnight. Then arrange in a vase. Placed in a bright but cool window, a brilliant bouquet of sunshine-yellow will greet you in about 3 week's time.

Geraniums. Move the big rested plants, which you potted from the garden and have been growing quite cold, to full sun and warmth, but not above 65 degrees if you can manage it. Water more freely now, and fertilize as you see the plants responding.

Petunias. Grown in full sun or beneath fluorescents, and provided with ample moisture (mine are watered daily) and high-phosphorous fertilizer, these will give you flowers and the accompanying sweet scent of summer even as snow blankets the world outside.

Poinsettia. To insure months of beauty, keep cool and just barely moist. Mine flourish in an east window that receives morning sun.

Primrose. Malacoides, obconica, etc., all require coolness and constant moisture. As with cyclamen, keep water in the saucer at all times.

Roses. Your miniatures will gladly bloom ahead of their June schedule if you place them now in a 65 degree location in full sun or beneath fluorescents. Shower tops weekly to deter red spider and other pests.

Questions about other plants and their January care? Post them below!

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The Intoxicating Jasminum Polyanthum

Jasminum polyanthum, the "Winter Flowering Jasmine," is a vine so dear to my heart that I have three pots of it in the Music Room window garden. From late-December through March, these fill the air with the most delicious scent in the world, as clusters of snow-white, star-shaped flowers open just as the days begin to lengthen.

Polyanthum is a vine of tremendous vigor; outdoors in warm climates it can rocket to 20 feet and beyond in a matter of weeks. To confine such a plant to a window, give it a pot of at least 4 inches in diameter and some support. In the photo above, two of my plants are in 6 inch clay pots set at each end of a glass shelf. There, they climb wire along three sides of the window, and produce a green, lacy-leaved frame. My third plant, this one in a 4-inch clay pot set between its larger kin, is trained around wire arches plunged into the pot. The vine can also be trained around bamboo sticks, arranged tee-pee fashion.

To get a show-stopping, powerfully-perfumed blizzard in winter, give your jasmine full sun, moderate humidity, moisture when the top soil feels dry, and certain coolness. From September through November, it is absolutely essential to provide nighttime temperatures below 60 degrees, or buds will not form. I removed the storm sashes from the Music Room window to insure flowers.

Like most houseplants, polyanthum enjoys a summer holiday outdoors. My three plants vacation on the shady, sheltered porch. I cut the vines back to three inches at this time, and then repot into fresh soil, still using the same-sized pots. Water daily, and feed weekly with a high-phosphorous plant food. In the fresh, humid air, new shoots grow with lightning speed, and the vines gain the strength they need for yet another spectacular performance in the winter window garden.

Heady perfume, gorgeous flowers, and easy culture -- what more can we ask from a houseplant?

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Photo Gallery: Highlights from 2009

Happy New Year! That's me above, standing before the window garden in the guestroom. I thought we could start the year by looking back at the gardens, indoors and out, from 2009. Click each photo in the photo gallery to enlarge.

February: Bulbs and azalea bloom in the Music Room window garden

The library window is also a delight in February

March: Sifting leafmold for potting soil

April: Lettuce and Peas in the Kitchen Garden

The same lettuce and peas in May

The grand lilac 'Avalanche' towers over the front porch in May. What fragrant bouquets it provided for the house!

Lily, proving that Vinca minor flourishes in full sun, and makes a nice bed, too.

The boxwood and rose garden in early June

The garden in July and August provides an abunance of flowering annuals and perennials for house-bouquets

Do you remember the delicious Puffed Herb & Cheese appetiziers we made in August?

September is all about Irises, especially the reblooming kinds, like 'Immortality,' above

This ancient beech was the last tree to part with its leaves in the fall, delaying garden clean-up until a few days before December's first storm.

The first snowstorm of December was a doozy, cloaking the boxwood in a rich, white frosting

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