udkas - nursery

[wadeheather]

Udkas - I've been dreaming about plants, please help. Our climates are unrealteable. I'm in MN - it  gets 40 below here - windchill at least, and I've been dreaming. It snowed in Oct, but Nov was beautiful. I've been trying desparetly in my itty bitty town to find a place to dream with flowers, but it's hard in this economy and this weather.

I really just want to grow flowers, watch them bloom....I'm looking for any kind of advice you can give me with your family nursery. How can anyone deny the innosence of the bloom?

I'm escaping the tingling, the twitching and the shaking. I'm not a religious person, but I believe in nature.  Please help.  How can I succeed?

[Lulu54]

Keep dreaming, Heather.  You never know where that dream will land you.

The absolutely BEST job I have ever had was working in a nursery.  People who  garden are never grumpy - they are always pleasant and optimistic.  Its a physically hard job, but so satisfying.

happy gardening!
Lu

[wadeheather]

Thanks for talking plants! I actually made a list of all my perennials the other day and have over two pages! I have seven gardens in all, some shade and some sun - even a rose garden! I actually started some of the seeds that I pulled off of some of my annuals the other day - just for fun.

I've actually been trying to find a place to open a small nursery. I haven't had too much luck yet, but I'll keep looking. It's fun to dream.

[Udkas]

Gardening is relaxing and great therapy, i love my garden but to unwind I choose my pets and horse and music, I tend not to garden too much at home because if I have been working in the nursery all my physical strength is gone by the time I get home.

Your climate is so different from ours, I have only seen snow once and I had to drive to miles and miles to see it.  We do have one ski mountain here but it's half the time not covered.  We still get cold but by your standards it would be tropical.

Many of your spring bulbs can be grown inside or outside with minimum effort, like tulips and hyacinth bulbs.  These bulbs can be grown in a special glass vase in water and they have delightful perfume.  Our seasons are back to front so it would be too early yet to plant them but the perfume would cheer anyone up.

We grow primulas here in the cold, you should be able to buy the seed quite cheaply and polyanthus that come in a great colour range, calendulas  (winter marigold), and pansy seeds are easy to germinate, cyclamen as an indoor plant.  I might have to research this a bit more, my dad and brother have spent a lot of time in America with the seed companies, so they would be better on plants for your climate.  I work in retail where they do the growing and I do the selling.
If you want to private message me with any gardening questions I will try to help.

Cheers,
Udkas.

[Quixotic1]

My Christmas cactus is starting to bloom.  I've been forcing it with exposure to lower temps.  It's an indoor, so it might grow there, too.  It is a marvel seeing a desert plant bloom.

Q

[Lulu54]

Heather,  right now is the perfect time to buy amaryllis bulbs - you grow them indoors and they grow so fast you would swear you can see them grow.  Their blooms are beautiful and really brighten a room.  There are available at stores - even hardware stores like Home Depot and Lowes - in their holiday gift sections.  Look for the boxes.

They also sell kits of paperwhites and narcissus, which are fun to watch also.  

You can also look for them through an online seller.

African violets, if you have the right window sunlight exposure, will reward you with lots of blooms through the winter.  If you are feeling like you want something exotic, try growing orchids, they are not as difficult as you might think.

Sign up online to get some catalogs  from nurseries - they always start arriving in January, which is the perfect time to dream about warm weather.  Look for plants that can be grown in zones 3 or 4.  That means they will be winter hardy for your area.


You can also see some growing ideas for your area at www1.umn.edu/webdd/plants/index.html


Gardening is one of the best things I find to unwind  - I hope you enjoy it too.

Lulu