Week 4

Now that I've thawed out and warmed up from the previous weeks' colder temperatures, it's time to plan for the next garden season. I bought a new calendar planner to help motivate myself; I mean, who doesn't love a fresh new planner to fill up with ideas and dreams on a cold winter day? This year, I will try something new instead of focusing my plan on bouquet recipes and trying to grow all of a bouquet's filler, secondary, and primary blooms in succession. I wanted to focus on the flowers I already had, so I pulled out my box of leftover seeds to get right into Planning.

I began organizing by seed start date. I put everything into four categories: 12-8 weeks, 8-6 weeks, 6-4 weeks, and lastly, after-frost-succession seeds. These seeds are short-mature, heat-loving plants, and I can continue experimenting with growing succession plants. This gives me an overview of when to start the seeds. Then, I further refined my seed-starting schedule by grouping the seeds by month. Learning by month rather than counting weeks from my last frost date is much easier for me.

I'm taking a relaxed approach to quantities and not worrying too much about space. I will pack the majority into the farm row. I will trial any leftover seedlings in lower-light areas, giving the rest to friends and family.

I want to start a routine of early pest control and fertilizing my roses. Devote more time to pinching and supporting my chrysanthemums. And I want to dive into shade-tolerant plants. One lesson I learned from the farm row last year is that my back beds are shady, which is most likely why I struggle to fill them up.

Week 3 blooms:

• Ivory Feather
• Holly Berries

Week 3 recap:

• Garden planning

Week 4 plans:

• Start seeds

Happy Planning,

Lelo