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Indoor Gardening Tasks for the Dead of Winter

It’s zero degrees outside my office window and the indoor garden is thriving. Geraniums and petunias that I’m holding over until next year are still only a few inches tall after I cut them back hard. The amaryllis are still blooming one by one, the aloe continues to grow toward the ceiling, the desert roses are thinking of blooming (again), the lemons and limes are ripening, and the Christmas cactus is blooming. What is there to do except keep them watered and let them search for the brightest light from the window? Well, there are a multitude of indoor gardening projects you could be doing this time of year.

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Rebloom Your Holiday Amaryllis

Why You Should save Your Amaryllis Bulbs for Years to Come

In the depths of winter, amaryllis are known for their breathtaking shows of large trumpet-shaped flowers. The stalks stand tall above the straps of leaves like a proud peacock. How many people toss these bulbs after they bloom around Christmas time? Stop! Don’t do it! I’ll show you how easy it is to get blooms nearly every year from these tropical bulbs, and it doesn’t really matter what growing zone you live in.

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Gifts For Gardeners

Don’t forget your gardening friends and family during the holiday giving season. The gift ideas are almost endless and it can be hard to decide on that ONE thing. That one item that will make their eyes pop with surprise and appreciation. Maybe it’s time to take a look at a few ideas at a time. And good luck choosing just the right one for the gardeners in your life.

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Using A Garden Journal

Seeds have all arrived for the 2021 garden! It’s time to celebrate! It was a challenge this year with so many seed companies running out of stock and temporarily closing so they can catch up with the number of orders placed. How do you choose which varieties you are going to grow?

I hope you keep a garden journal, that should be the one tool you go to when you open up your first seed catalog of the season. It took me a while to form the habit but now my journal is fairly complete. I use a word processing program on my tablet because that is the most convenient for me. Others will use pencil and paper, use a bound book that can hold multiple years worth of notes, or use loose note paper stuffed inside their favorite reference book. Whatever works for you, my only recommendation is start your garden journal right away.

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Happiness is Worm Compost

Gardening is about enjoying yourself and enjoying the plants you grow. For some people, it is also a bit about self-sufficiency and maybe a little about reducing waste. That’s what worm composting is about. Taking your kitchen waste and recycling it, or keeping it out of the landfill, or maintaining the circle of growth and rebirth. If you haven’t considered using worms for composting, maybe you need to understand the reasons why it’s time to start and exactly how easy it is.

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