I wish I had a March garden full of daffodils and hellebores and violas and all the other things that are blooming right now in Brooklyn to show you, but this one is still very much in transition. Did I have plenty of time after we moved here in November to plant a few bulbs in some pots? Yes! But I got distracted first by Christmas and then by the idea of starting summer flowers, and I didn’t realize how much I’d enjoy having a few pots of daffodils until I saw them growing in other people’s gardens.
Oh well—Next year. It’s officially spring now, and I’m just excited to be able to plant out seedlings soon. Every year I always feel like I start sowing too soon, but then all of a sudden spring is here and I worry that I wasn’t sowing soon enough. But aside from a fews sulky germinators, I think I’m OK.
Sowing
Sweet peas: I sowed ‘Castlewellan,’ ‘Flora Norton,’ ‘Black Knight,’ and ‘King’s High Scent’ on 2/11, and as soon as they germinated I put them outside in the cold frame. I think that they’re growing like they’re supposed to: slowly but steadily. They’re around three to four inches tall right now, or were before I pinched them this week, and I think they’re about ready to be planted out soon.
Snapdragon ‘Chantilly Light Salmon’ and ‘Blushing Lanterns’ silene, sown on 2/18. I planned on putting both out in the cold frame once they germinated, but only the silene is out there so far since I forgot to check which group the snapdragon fell into. Apparently it’s in group one, which means it’s an early flowering variety that hates the heat of late summer, so I decided to put the seedlings under grow lights and in apartment warmth to get them going faster. Hopefully I’ll get them outside in a pot soon.
Sown on 3/2: cerinthe ‘Pride of Gibraltar,’ ‘Zeolights’ calendula, Spanish lavender ‘Purple Ribbons,’ scabiosa ‘Oxford Blue’ and ‘Fata Morgana,’ white mignonette, dara, and forget-me-nots. All of the seedlings are in the cold frame except for the forget-me-nots, which I gave up on since I couldn’t get them to germinate.
3/9: I sowed nicotiana ‘Suaveolens’ (collected from a plant I bought at Portland Nursery) and ‘Lavender Cloud,’ ‘Madame Butterfly Dark Red’ snapdragon, white thunbergia, and the ‘Petite Florets’ dahlia from Floret’s breeding program. I’m super excited about the dahlias, since I’m not growing from tubers this year, and the photos of them look so pretty. I will say that I haven’t had great luck getting them to germinate—not sure if it’s just me or my growing conditions? But so far I have four under the lights, and I forgot how quickly dahlias grow!
3/21: Cosmos grow quickly, too, and I hope it’s not too early, but I went ahead and sowed them today. ‘Apricotta’ because I had a few seeds leftover from last year, and ‘Rubinato’ because it’s compact and should be good for containers.
Growing
I’m still getting a hang of this small space gardening thing, but so far our apartment isn’t overrun with seedlings, which I have to admit isn’t what I thought would happen. If I had the space inside I’d be growing everything except for the sweet peas under grow lights. But as I mentioned before, I have a limited growing setup: a narrow shelf and some clip-on lights from Amazon. This valuable real estate is being saved for the seedlings that really need it: the dahlias, nicotiana, thunbergia, and, eventually, the cosmos and zinnias.
My goal was to get the hardy annuals sown early so that they could grow slowly outside in the cold frame. I guess slowly is the operative word, since they’ve been very, very pokey. But it’s still early, and I’d rather have them growing too slowly than too fast. I’ve read that a lot of them can be planted out pretty small, and at least this way they’ll be pretty much hardened off by the time it’s time for them to go into big containers.
Perennials
The most exciting news here is that there’s a new David Austin rose all potted up on the terrace. I ordered a Windermere bare root since it looks like a good option for a container and can also take a bit of shade. And Carding Mill seems to have made it through the winter. I took its little burlap coat off prematurely so I’ll probably take both roses inside for a few really cold nights this week. 29 degrees tonight!
I took the scented geraniums outside for the first photo, but they’re still living inside on a windowsill until it gets warmer. ‘Attar of Roses’ and ‘Nutmeg,’ and I love them both. They don’t have flowers over the winter, but they don’t even need them—they look so pretty all silhouetted up against the morning light coming in through the windows.
The raised beds here were already filled with plants when we moved in, and I think (?) we got permission to remove/replant if we want to. I’ve taken out a few dead plants already, planting the perennials we brought with us: some agastache, gaura, Japanese aster. The lavender is kind of rangy so I might take out one of those (or both), and the plan is to replace it with the Spanish lavender I’m growing from seed. And there are some shallow-rooted, bedding-y dianthus and succulent things that (in my opinion) are a waste of precious space in a good raised bed, so I dug up a bit of each and put them in small pots for now. I’m pretty sure that’s a yarrow down there on the left, and I wonder what color the flowers will be (and if they’re yellow, what new plant I should replace it with)?
Planning
The most fun part of all, but also very daunting! I’m an overthinker, so I’m making something pretty simple way more complicated than it ought to be. How much garden designing can you do on a small terrace, anyway? Right now I’m focused on the sweet peas: do I grow them up teepees in large pots, or do I somehow train them up a wall of jute netting? I’m leaning towards the pots. But the sweet peas would look pretty against the painted brick wall.
Speaking of pots, I’ve been finding quite a few terracotta ones left out for free on stoops. Which is great, because for the last year I’ve only been buying large plastic pots since they’re so much easier to move around and less likely to shatter in a winter freeze. The plan is to put some of the plastic containers and grow bags towards the back by the wall, and put the prettier terracotta pots that Peep and I find on our daily walks out in front.
I'm a bit glad things are a bit at a standstill growing wise because it is giving me lots of time to tackle garden infrastructure before things pop off and planting season is always so hectic!
Oh we're growing the same dahlias! I'm really excited to see what they turn out like - I think I prefer the mystery of seeds over tubers - it's more fun to not know.