Bringing winter inside

Are you a gardener? Great... send me a picture of what's in your fridge.

Here's ours:

I didn't post this with the purpose of showing you what particular brand of lemon juice we buy. The hotter topic for debate (at least between my wife and I) is why I have all sorts of little baggies of soil mix in the door compartment.

And, as if you were begging for it, here's a shot of those baggies when I pull them out of there:

These are seeds, early into stratification. Most are bought from specialty seed web sites, and some are from my garden. This is actually somewhat fewer seeds than last year, but the winter isn't over yet.

Now, if you think Lisa takes it personally when I take up room in the fridge door that would otherwise be devoted to condiments, you can imagine how she feels about my foray into hardwood cuttings, and the space it's taking up in the beer fridge (which, as you can see, actually has some beer in it):

The hardwood cuttings are bundled and wrapped in moist newspaper in a plastic bag. I'm trying this to propagate roses that I've otherwise found a little more challenging on softer wood.

So, why all the cold?

I'm back in the botany lab at Kwantlen this semester, learning about plant pests. In a previous semester, they taught me about vernalization. It's coming up in my spellcheck right now as if it's a word I made up on the spot. Hmmm. Vernalization. Yeah, sounds sort of made up. Here's what it means:

We live in a temperate climate. That is, most plants here are adapted to survive a pronounced difference between summer and winter. Most of the plants that I want to grow are also from a temperate climate... whether they're native to our region or not.

Now, plants can't think, but they're not dumb either. If that makes any sense at all. I mean, plants definitely don't sit around like we do, pondering the meaning of life ("I would while away the hours..."), but they're well adapted to survive, so sometimes it makes it easier to understand them if you pretend they "know" what's going on.

So, all the time during the growing season that a plant is busy having sex and making babies (seeds), it's always got in its mind that the winter will be coming. In deciduous shrubs and trees, this means they'll harden their wood, prepare dormant growth points (buds) and drop their leaves. As for the seeds, they're given stern instructions by their mothers that they're not to sprout until after winter is over.

If I want to grow these seeds, or if I want to root the hardened cuttings with dormant buds, I need to "fool" the plants by giving them their own little winter. That's the vernalization that's taking place in my fridges.

But before real (outdoor) winter is upon us, let me show off a few late blooms from my garden (a couple of weeks late now, but worth seeing all the same).

These are toad lilies (Tricyrtis hirta). Kind of an unflattering common name for such an attractive plant. It's in the lily family, I think. Here... have a close-up view:

No... seriously. Have a close look. Zoom in on the photo. Now tell me which are the sepals, and which are the petals. That's for bonus points.

What else? Good old reliable sedum ('Brilliant') is attractive over such a long season, and it's popping up in a couple of places in this picture. I'm working on getting some more interesting varieties into the garden this coming year. I have my eye on 'Elsie's Gold', but there might be something nicer at the nursery by the time I get to choosing.

I've been neglecting this blog a bit. Sorry. There's been so much going on, even now that horticulture is in the "off-season". My employer participates in all sorts of trade shows and events in the fall. I made it out to the Canwest show with the whole crew. As mentioned above, I'm also back in school. To top it off, I'm trying to spin together a website for my favourite roses. So yeah, busy. I'll get back sooner next time.

One more picture, for the road: (Photo by Nic McPhee)

This is chinese lantern (Physalis). I've had it in my garden for several years. It's a strong spreading perennial, actually, so I suppose I may always have it. Anyhow, it's made a splash in the retail garden centers recently as a fall/Halloween themed plant. Very clever. Early growth is a nice fresh upright green, with white flowers. It can be a bit scraggly as it progresses into the season, but the flowers are followed by these long lasting orange "lanterns" - husks around the fruit/seed really.

(Leigh-ann - I think I saw some of this growing in the enclosed portion of your backyard earlier this year - quite near your too-floppy smoke bush)