Garden On, Vashon

I’ve just returned from Sacramento, California, where the temps have climbed to the mid-60s but the many of the fields north of the city are still flooded with El Nino rain. Unlike, I suppose, many a winter, our season is just as far along as theirs: the winter primroses in containers have yet to be replaced with tulips or daffodils, and the fruit trees such as pear or cherry are just starting to bloom.

Creeping rosemary seemed planted in every container, parking strip, and drainage-pond verge. I’ve never thought of it as a landscaping plant en masse, but it looked great in long swaths on a bank, blooming its ghostly blue in the late winter sun. Unlike the pencil-thin junipers and Russian Olive trees planted everywhere to evoke Tuscany and the Mediterranean, creeping rosemary does just fine in the Puget Sound, provided it has excellent drainage. I once grew it in a sand-filled trench.

Speaking of things Tuscany, the truly fun discovery of the trip were the proliferation of Olive Oil stores—at least three just in the “town centre” I was hoteling in. Sis and I were snagged in a “WeOlive” boutique, where the fat, affable proprietor thrust thimble after thimble of oils and vinegars at us. Who knew black cherries could make such a sweet balsamico? Apparently the olive growers of California have joined cooperatively and created oil boutiques modeled after wine tasting cellars. Their price of $1/ounce for their bulk oils or vinegars may SEEM cheap  (who can’t afford $1 per?), but I saw later at our local grocery that a good balsamic vinegar can be had for .50¢/ounce. But the experience of standing there guzzling and comparing the good stuff? Priceless.

Speaking of Cost Comparisons: Catalog vs. Store Rack

I was pulled yet again toward the seed racks in True Value today: the Ed Hume racks seem particularly well-stocked with new varieties, as if they hope for a repeat of last year’s run on vegie seeds. I’ve been curious to see whether the price is better from the seed catalog, or if stores mark up the prices on the seed racks. Apparently not, at least for Territorial Seed Company: prices are the same whether you buy straight from the catalog or off the seed rack. Your selection is about 100% larger in the catalog, though, and it comes with more information. So if you DO buy off the rack, do pick up a catalog if for the growing information alone.

In the Perennial Garden: Clean Up, Transplant, and Divide

Since we seem to be further along toward spring than the calendar suggests, this is a good time to clean up the garden and to divide or transplant perennials. You can trim the winter-kill of perennials back to their crowns, and with a sharp snips you can “de-dead-leaf” plants that look tatty, like lady’s mantle or bergenia. The grasses—all except the razor-sharp ones—you can comb with your fingers to pull out dead blades and bent stalks. 

I usually move shasta daisies in March, but as long as your soil is not water-logged, moving them now assures them enough spring rain to establish new roots. Other plants to divide and/or transplant include the summer bloomers like rudbeckia, echinacea, dierama (‘angel’s fishing rod’), epimedium, daylilies, catmint, sedums, agastache, alchemilla (‘lady’s mantle’), and asters. When opening the earth for these, loosen the soil with a handful of compost or aged leaf mould: this will feed the plant, as well as provide good drainage should our early spring do an about-face.