Let’s start with a familiar analogy. If you have been involved in the gardening community for any length of time, you have likely heard the mantra thriller, filler, spiller as being the secret recipe for planting containers that look amazing. Without all 3 of these elements, containers often look like they are lacking. The same is true of your garden beds. There are certain elements you need to have present to really make your landscape pop.

It doesn’t matter whether you are looking for formal or cottage garden. The same basics apply, and the same elements need to be present. The sky is the limit when it comes to execution and your creativity in applying these principals.

So, what are these elements?

Similar to the recipe for containers, you want to have focal plants and filler plants. It’s important to have plants of different shapes, textures, colors, and sizes. Too many focal plants and not enough filler and your garden fails to be cohesive, and might feel cluttered. Too few and it becomes boring. Many times the same plants may fill different roles in different gardens, so you really have to think about what your goals are, and how much space you have to work with.

For example, in a very formal garden, your focal plants might be topiaries. In a cottage garden, they might be larger flowering shrubs. In a small yard without space for large shrubs, really flashy, large flowered perennials might be your focal plants. It might be a vine trailing up a fancy trellis. Choose things that add height and interest. Plants that will draw your eye. Then start designing with your focal plants first. Place them in strategic locations.

Next you want to fill in around the focal plants with your ‘fillers and spillers’.

Often these workhorses get overlooked and get little to no credit for being what makes a landscape look like a million dollars. They are also the most likely element to be missing. These are the plants that in and of their own right aren’t really that exciting or interesting. However, they bring the color and texture a garden needs to look complete. These plants can be shrubs, perennials, or groundcovers. Annuals, particularly reseeding ones, can even have an essential place. Don’t skimp on your fillers!

The goal with these plants is to fill in around your focal plants with different heights, textures, and colors to bring interest to your garden throughout the season.

For example, Nepeta is one of our favorite landscape plants. It produces a fine, mounded texture, and provides months of bright blueish-purple blooms. Verbena bonariensis provides a very spiky upright texture. Russian sage provides an airy upright texture with the added bonus of dusty gray-green colored foliage. Annuals like California poppies can provide an explosion of color in early spring filling in around slow to sprout perennials, then fading away as the perennials take their place.

Asters can provide a fluffy mound and color in the fall when most plants are no longer blooming. Cheddar pinks can provide a swath of color in the spring, and an unassuming carpet of green later in the season. Planted en masse Gaillardia can provide a blanked of coarse textured color for much of the season. Iris can provide spiky upright texture. You probably get the idea. Look at plants as a whole rather than just for their flowers, and ask what the entire plant can or can’t add to your garden.

It is important also to not overlook plants grown mainly for their foliage.

They have an equally important place in your garden. These plants can provide interest and texture that are different than what flowering plants add. Sage provides coarse textured dusty green foliage. Black leaved Physocarpus varieties, and variegated plants like red twig dogwoods add a depth of color all season long.

And while we are discussing plants grown for their foliage, we should mention that ideally you want a mixture of deciduous plants and evergreens, just like you want a mixture of perennials and shrubs. Your shrubs and evergreens help to provide interest in the winter months, particularly if you pick deciduous plants with winter interest features. The perennials and deciduous plants help to provide color and interest in the summer months. A landscape of all evergreen plants is terribly boring in July just like a landscape of all perennials is in December.

There is no right or wrong percentage for each of these types of plants in your garden. It depends on the effect you are going for. A more formal garden will have more evergreens, a cottage garden would lean more heavily on deciduous and flowering plants.

Lastly, we want to note that many times the depth and interest of varying plant heights is lacking.

A lot of times people either plant all shrubs that are all the same height or stair step their gardens. Tall plants in back, medium plants, then short plants in front. While, yes, it would be pretty silly to plant the tall plants in the front, if you follow it to the letter and your whole entire garden follows this format, it’s boring.

In either scenario mentioned above, your garden will lack depth and interest and mystery. Instead follow this principal loosely. Create random islands and peninsulas of taller plants that reach out towards the front of your beds. Or toss in something a triangular trellis with a vine on it in a random place. Doing this provides a lot of visual interest that strictly tiered (or not tiered at all) beds provide.

We hope this gives you some ideas to help make your garden the envy of the neighborhood!

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Please remember

The information provided is for general informational purposes only. All information on the site is provided in good faith, for general informational and educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional advice. We make no representation or warranty of any kind, express or implied, regarding the accuracy, adequacy, validity, reliability, availability, or completeness of any information on this Site. Accordingly, before taking any actions based upon such information, we encourage you to consult with the appropriate professionals. We do not provide any kind of professional advice. THE USE OR RELIANCE OF ANY INFORMATION CONTAINED ON THE SITE IS SOLELY AT YOUR OWN RISK. View full disclaimer here.

The post Designing A Garden Like A Professional first appeared on Snowdrop Farm.

We find that evaluating what did and didn’t work last year and dreaming about next year’s garden is the perfect way to pass time during the cold dreary winter months. Winter is a less busy time. Plus, by making plans now we can be sure that we will have everything we need in time. We also won’t miss any critical planting dates if we take the time to notate them ahead of time.

How much planning is required depends on many factors. Factors such as what kind of garden you will be growing, and what you plan to grow yourself vs. what you buy. If you have perennial crops or just annual ones, etc. In addition to planning our season out ahead of time, we find that taking notes throughout the gardening season is very helpful.

Notes can help you to remember what did and didn’t work. Or when you planted or harvested things or when you sprayed pesticides or fungicides. Were there ideas that you wanted to try? When you sit down in January to plan, it can be really hard to remember exactly what happened last July. Keeping good records can revolutionize your gardening experience.

The first thing you need to do is evaluate what your goals are.

Do you want to have cut flowers all summer? Do you want to improve on something that didn’t work out last year? Or maybe you want to grow vegetables? Minimize the number of plantings you have to do? Succeed at growing broccoli without it being eaten by worms? Do you want to have a particular vegetable all season? Do you want a summer garden? One that will continue to provide you with vegetables into the winter? Do you want to minimize the amount of time you spend gardening this year because it’s a busy summer?

You probably get the idea. There is no right or wrong answer. However, taking the time to think about what you want ahead of time allows you to do research or re-evaluate if some of your goals are in opposition to each other. Taking the time to research a new crop you want to try, or a pest problem you’re having ahead of time can sometimes make a huge difference to your success.

Once you’ve figured out the goal, you need to evaluate what you have and what you need to buy. You might need seeds and plants. Or you might need to purchase supplies like row covers stakes or potting mix. Purchasing these sorts of things early gives you access to the best selection. Plus, you will be sure to have everything you need before things get busy in the spring. This is important. Some things are very timing critical, and if you miss your window of opportunity that’s it for the year.

Once you have determined what you need, you need to plan your schedule.

We like to do this on our calendar app so that it will remind us of planting dates. To determine your planting schedule you need to know a few things. You need to know your first and last frost dates, days to maturity for your crops, and how cold tolerant they are.

You can find your average first and last frost dates by doing an internet search for it with your zip code. First and last frost dates are important because they dictate how long your growing season is. They dictate when it’s safe to plant things in the spring. They also tell you when it’s too late to plant to have your crop mature before frost in the fall.

The second thing you need is days to maturity for your plants. This is typically listed on your seed packet somewhere. It may be listed as days to harvest or similar wording. If your seed packet does not tell you, the information should be available online.

Most seed packets will also provide information on direct sowing vs. transplanting, and how soon the plants can be safely planted outside. This is all important to know. If you are unfamiliar with the term, days to maturity, it means how long it takes the seed to go from planting to flowering (for flowers) or harvest (for vegetables). Keep in mind this number is an estimate. Things will grow more slowly in cool weather.

Armed with this information we can start to plan our planting schedule.

For the sake of illustration, we are going to use our zone 8 climate. Our average first and last frost dates are November 5^th and April 6^th. This means that April 6^th is the absolute earliest we can plant out anything frost tender (and that probably waiting a couple weeks longer is best). We also must plant everything early enough to ensure that it is mature or harvested prior to November 5^th.

Next, we can divide our seeds into a few different groups. We have the cold crops, warm season crops, and those that we transplant. Transplants can also be broken down into cold vs. warm season crops. This goes for both flower and vegetable seeds. If you are unsure what category a particular plant falls into, go ahead and look it up.

Cold season plants can be planted early in the season, often weeks prior to the last frost date.

The cold season seed packets might say things like ‘plant as soon as the soil can be worked’. They are cold and usually frost tolerant. Warm season plants are tender plants like cucumbers, tomatoes and peppers that need warm temperatures and long days to live. Transplants are things that are started inside, usually 4-6 weeks before your last frost date. This allows them to get a head start which can be particularly important in cooler climates. Transplants come with some advantages. The biggest of which is probably that you get to pick flowers or harvest vegetables sooner.

Many things can be both direct seeded and transplanted.

However, when you are considering whether to transplant or direct seed something you need to pay attention to comparing your days to maturity to growing season length. Many commonly transplanted things have high days to maturity, and the number of days required may exceed the length of your growing season when direct seeded.

To know how late in the season a particular seed can be planted or plant can be transplanted, you need to count back from your first frost date, and make sure that the days to maturity is less. So for example, the end of June is the latest we can plant winter squash (with 100 days to maturity) here and expect a harvest. If we planted it in August, it would not have time to ripen fruit before the plant got frosted.

We also need to decide if a particular plant is something that is planted once a year or succession planted.

Succession planting is planting the same crop repeatedly every few weeks or months. It is typically done with crops that mature rapidly and have short harvest windows. You have to decide if you want to put in the effort to repeatedly plant and remove a crop or whether you are satisfied with one planting. Some examples of things that are commonly succession planted include lettuce, radishes, and sunflowers. Things like peppers and tomatoes are not succession planted. They take a long time to mature and they will continue to produce a harvest as long as they are alive.

To determine whether you can succession plant, and how many successions you can do requires you to look back at your first and last frost dates.

Compare that to the days to maturity. Depending on where you are located, you may need to consider how hot your summers will get. Many cool season crops are not tolerant of the long, hot summer days. They cannot successfully be grown mid-summer, so you also need to take this into consideration.

Lettuce is probably one of the most commonly succession planted crops so let’s use that as an example. It is cold hardy and will germinate in cold soil, but is not heat tolerant. In our climate, we can start planting lettuce about a month before our last frost date–at the beginning of March. We can continue to plant it until about June 1^stat which point it will be too hot to continue.

Lettuce reaches maturity in 50 days or less for baby leaves, and it gets bitter quickly as it ages. Thus, if we want a steady supply of lettuce, we need to plant it every 2-4 weeks between March and June. If we wanted fall lettuce, we would count back 50 days from our first frost date of November 5^th. We can plant fall lettuce any time up to the end of September, and it will have time to mature before frost.

You shouldn’t have to start from scratch to figure this out for everything if you don’t want to.

There is a good chance that a local university extension will have a published approximate planting dates for your area that can make a good starting point for your planning. Nonetheless, understanding how those recommended dates are determined is important so that you can determine planting dates for things they may have omitted from their publication. Keeping meticulous records year to year will help you to tweak the dates to be ideal for your micro-climate.

So far, we’ve been mainly talking about annual crops, and in many ways perennial crops are a lot easier to plan for. Nonetheless, planning and record keeping is equally as important for perennial crops. If you have fruit trees, timing your pesticide and fungicide application right can make the difference between getting a bumper crop and harvesting nothing. So you should also notate on your calendar things like spray dates and when to start scouting for pests, and also when the pests appeared to help you in future years. Over time you can create a personalized schedule that works best for you.

We hope that this inspires you to spend some of these dreary winter days preparing to make next year’s garden better than ever!

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Please remember

The information provided is for general informational purposes only. All information on the site is provided in good faith, for general informational and educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional advice. We make no representation or warranty of any kind, express or implied, regarding the accuracy, adequacy, validity, reliability, availability, or completeness of any information on this Site. Accordingly, before taking any actions based upon such information, we encourage you to consult with the appropriate professionals. We do not provide any kind of professional advice. THE USE OR RELIANCE OF ANY INFORMATION CONTAINED ON THE SITE IS SOLELY AT YOUR OWN RISK. View full disclaimer here.

The post Winter Is The Perfect Time To Do Garden Planning first appeared on Snowdrop Farm.

We want to take a moment to highlight native pollinators, and how you can promote their presence in your yard.

Pollinators are not just bees. Some plants are pollinated by birds, butterflies, moths, bats, beetles and flies. Many of these pollinators are beneficial to our ecosystem not only for their pollination service, but also for things like biological pest control. A good example are parasitic wasps. They kill pests and rely on having a nectar source for survival. In this article, we going to mainly focus on native bees. In a future article we will take a more in depth look at some of the other types of pollinators.

Not only are pollinators a diverse group, but many are specialized and better at pollinating certain plants than the generalist honeybee is. Some pollinators, like bumble bees, are willing to work at much cooler temperatures and in poorer weather than honeybees. This can be important for pollinating early spring flower plants like fruit trees.

There are about 4,000 species of native bees in the United States. They come in an amazing array of color, shapes and size. Most native bees are fundamentally very different than the honeybee. Honeybees are somewhat unique in that they form huge colonies that overwinter. Most native bees are solitary, and they often nest in the ground. And unlike honeybees, who will travel miles to forage acres and acres of land, most native bees don’t venture far from their nest. Some of them only as far as a couple hundred yards. They absolutely need to have access to ample nectar and pollen resources close to suitable nesting sites.

The best part about native bees is that most of them don’t sting, and they are generally very peaceful.

Despite having so many pollinators in our gardens that its hard to take a picture of a flower without one, we have no problems with them bothering us. We have had bumble bee colonies (which can sting) nest right next to our walkway. They gave us not a single problem all season despite walking past them many times a day. If you are concerned about getting stung by encouraging bees in your yard, don’t be. You can safely encourage a plethora of pollinators to make homes in your yard without fear of getting stung. Just be sure that you do not antagonize them. Leave them alone, and they’ll likely do the same to you.

How do we encourage native pollinators?

Our native pollinators really only need a few things to thrive. They need a reliable food source all season long. This needs to be near suitable sites for nesting and overwintering. Lastly, they need to be in a pesticide free area where they can forage without being killed. With a little effort you can easily provide this in your backyard.

You can provide pollen and nectar sources by planting a wide variety of flowering plants that will bloom all season. Since you are trying to feed diversity, diversity in plants is ideal. A couple acres of perfectly manicured grass and boxwood shrubs might be appealing to our desire for order, but it might as well be the Sahara Desert for native bees. And yeah, those dandelions that humans despise are an important, reliable food source for pollinators particularly in early spring.

It is also important to provide good nesting and overwintering sites.

These often look like wild, unkempt areas. Ground nesting bees typically like semi-bare soil areas, wood nesting bees need places like dead trees and hollow stems, and bumble bees like to nest in places like abandoned rodent burrows. They need leaf litter, tall grass, dead plant stems, logs, rock piles etc. for overwintering sites to protect them from the elements. In a nutshell, these pollinators need access ‘natural’ areas. And we can easily provide these areas with a little thought and planning.

Try to incorporate some more ‘wild’ areas into your landscape design and avoid over zealously cleaning up your gardens and yards during the fall and winter months. If you do you will likely be throwing out or accidentally killing many of your native pollinators and other beneficial insects. They are relying on things like dead, hollow plant stems and leaf litter to overwinter. If you are interested in learning more about how to create pollinator habitats in your landscape, the Xerces Society has an excellent publication on it.

Lastly, avoid using pesticides if at all possible.

If you do have to use pesticides, try to opt for those with minimal effects on bees. Only spray them on non-flowering plants or when bees are not present. Keep in mind that a yard does not need to be insect or even pest free to be beautiful, healthy, and productive. It is our opinion that if you create a healthy ecosystem in you yard, you will have very few pest problems that require pesticides. If you have been spraying a lot of pesticides, it may take a few years for a large enough population of beneficial insects to return and for things to re-balance.

Part of creating a healthy ecosystem is also proper plant selection. While many people scream native plants only. Not all environments are suitable for all plants, including native ones. We firmly believe right plant in the right place is more appropriate than native vs non-native. Non-native plants are not inherently bad, and some natives are plagued with pest and disease problems.

Many plants, while native, are really not adapted to a given environment that we have created. Many non-native plants are rich resources for wildlife and pollinators. So rather than getting hung up on whether a plant is native, focus on whether it is a good food source for pollinators, and whether it is adapted to thrive under your local conditions.

We hope this has inspired you to join us in supporting native pollinators. With a little effort and a few changes, you can help prevent native pollinators from starving to death Plus, you can have an amazing array of beautiful, beneficial insects gracing your garden like we do.

If you would like to learn more about what we are doing on our farm, don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter!

Please remember

The information provided is for general informational purposes only. All information on the site is provided in good faith, for general informational and educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional advice. We make no representation or warranty of any kind, express or implied, regarding the accuracy, adequacy, validity, reliability, availability, or completeness of any information on this Site. Accordingly, before taking any actions based upon such information, we encourage you to consult with the appropriate professionals. We do not provide any kind of professional advice. THE USE OR RELIANCE OF ANY INFORMATION CONTAINED ON THE SITE IS SOLELY AT YOUR OWN RISK. View full disclaimer here.

The post Helping Native Pollinators Thrive In Your Yard first appeared on Snowdrop Farm.

Of course, there are a plethora of other reasons you might want to save seeds as well. Perhaps you want the challenge, or the surprise of seeing what the seedlings will look like. Or perhaps you want to make more of an heirloom plant that isn’t available commercially. Do you want to do some breeding and create your own varieties?

Regardless of your reason for wanting to save seeds, you have to do it right to have success. Seeds that aren’t collected and handled properly will have poor germination rates. All your hard work will only be for disappointment. To help you avoid disappointment, today we are going to discuss some things you should keep in mind as you go about saving seeds.

Choose the right plants to save seeds from

It is fairly safe to assume that if you grew a plant from seed, you can save seeds and successfully grow more of them. However, when you are considering plant varieties as candidates to save seed from you should gravitate towards heirloom or open pollinated varieties. If you want consistency in the next generation of plants, you probably want to avoid hybrids.

Some hybrids will be sterile, but many produce viable seed. However, hybrids will not come true from seed. Now this doesn’t mean you can’t save and grow seeds from hybrid plants. But there will be a lack of consistency in the next generation. You may or may not get the desirable traits of the parent plants. For example, flowers might be different colors or sizes. Fruit might be inferior in quality or taste.

You also need to consider cross pollination.

If you are growing several different varieties of closely related plants in your garden, bees and the wind will cross pollinate them and cause variable offspring. Cucurbits are a great example of this. If you have pumpkins, gourds, zucchini and cucumbers all planted in the same garden they will cross pollinate with each other. If you then save seeds from them, you will get some interesting looking (and typically not so desirable tasting) fruit.

Thus, if you wish to grow various closely related plants without them interbreeding with each other it is important to separate them by sufficient distance or flowering time to avoid cross pollination. There are various different ways this can be accomplished. For example, if the plants are insect pollinated, you can cover them with a row cover and hand pollinate the flowers. If they are wind pollinated you can plant them far apart or with a tall windbreak between them. Alternatively, you can plant them at different dates so that they release their pollen at different times.

Sometimes you want cross pollination between varieties. You might be trying to create a new flower color or combine the characteristics of two different plants into one. Or maybe you just want to see what sort of wild card the bees are going to give you. Think about your goals and how to accomplish them before you get started. The beauty of gardening is that there is no right or wrong answer!

When we get down to the actual act of saving seeds, to succeed, your seeds must be mature, dry, not damaged.

Collecting immature seeds is probably where you’re most likely to go wrong. Just because a plant has seeds on it does not mean the seed is ready for harvest. Seeds harvested before they are mature aren’t likely to germinate. Be patient; sometimes it can take a long time for seeds to mature.

How do you know your seeds are mature? For most plants you will want to wait until the seed pod is dry and brown. A lot of times you will be able to hear the seeds rattle around inside the pod. In other cases, the seed pods might start to split open. Regardless of how the plant holds its seeds, seeds that are green, only partially brown, or moisture rich are not ready to be harvested.

The goal is to collect the seeds just as or just before the plant is about to release them. You will likely need to watch your plants closely to avoid missing your opportunity to collect seeds. Depending on the plant, the best way to go about collecting seeds might be to cover the seed pods with a paper bag or fine mesh bag that will catch the seeds as they are released.

It is also essential to make sure that your seeds are completely dry.

This goes hand in hand with seed maturity. If your seeds are not completely dried, then they will spoil. And if they are not mature, they won’t be dry enough to store. Seeds that aren’t dry might sprout prematurely, but it’s more likely that they will rot. Therefore, it is a good idea to harvest your seeds and lay them out to dry before packing them away to store. Even if you think your seeds are dry enough to store the day you harvested them, it is not a bad idea to lay them out in a low humidity location for a few days.

Once your seeds are completely dry you can place them in bags or wrap them up in pieces of wax paper. Seeds should ideally be stored in a cool, dark, dry location. They should be placed in an air-tight container, and a desiccant can be placed inside the container to absorb any excess moisture from the air. Keeping your seeds cool, dry and in an air-tight container will help to maximize their storage life and germination rates.

The last important thing is to make sure that the seeds are not damaged.

Sometimes insects can do a lot of damage to seeds before (and after) you harvest them. As you begin to harvest, it is a good idea to check and make sure your seeds seem intact and of good quality.

Sometimes insect damage can be subtle and all you will see is a small hole in the seeds shell. However, if you split the seed open you would find that the entirety of the inside has been eaten. Because you can accidentally store insects with your seeds, it is a good idea to periodically check on your collected seeds just to make sure they have no insects in them. That way you don’t pull your seed collection out in the spring only to find out you have nothing left.

If you are new to saving seeds, it is a good idea to start with something easy so that you are sure to succeed. Cosmos, marigolds, morning glory, nasturtium, California poppy, calendula, bachelor’s buttons, sunflowers, zinnias, love-in-a-mist, and amaranth are just a few suggestions of good choices for first time seed savers or kids interested in gardening. Once you have mastered some of these varieties you can branch out to more challenging plants.

We hope this helps you to fill every corner of your garden with color. Maybe you will even discover the next great plant variety in your seed saving endeavors!

If you would like to read more articles like this, don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter!

Please remember

The information provided is for general informational purposes only. All information on the site is provided in good faith, for general informational and educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional advice. We make no representation or warranty of any kind, express or implied, regarding the accuracy, adequacy, validity, reliability, availability, or completeness of any information on this Site. Accordingly, before taking any actions based upon such information, we encourage you to consult with the appropriate professionals. We do not provide any kind of professional advice. THE USE OR RELIANCE OF ANY INFORMATION CONTAINED ON THE SITE IS SOLELY AT YOUR OWN RISK. View full disclaimer here.

The post Saving Seeds: How To Maximize Color on a Budget first appeared on Snowdrop Farm.

Of course going into winter gardening, it is a good idea to keep in mind that it is a bit more of a gamble than summer gardening. Things might work in a mild winter, but not a more harsh one. It might rain so much that your plants drown. Or you could have a really cold night extremely early that kills everything unexpectedly.

If you fail one year, don’t let it discourage you. Try again. If it’s something you have never done before, there is definitely a learning curve. It took us 5 years of making mistakes before we had a year that we timed everything right to succeed with all the crops we planted in the same year.

As we go through this list, please keep in mind that the temperatures a particular plant is hardy to is a generality. It can be both variety and location/protection dependent. A good example of this is cabbage. Some varieties will be damaged at about 30 degrees, and others are extremely hardy and will take temperatures down to 10 degrees even without protection.

So when you are selecting seeds to buy for your winter garden, do a bit of research on which varieties are hardiest first.

Now lets get on to the plants!

10. Brassicas

This isn’t just one plant, but rather a family of plants. When we say brassicas, we are referring to plants like broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, and brussel sprouts. One of the reason that we love these plants so much is that they are a highly versatile group of plants.

They love cold weather and will tolerate being frosted. In our experience, cauliflower is the most tender. Cauliflower will get damaged by temperatures down in the mid 20’s. You can protect them a little bit by thoroughly wrapping all of their leaves around the head, but it is a good idea to eat your cauliflower first.

Next up is broccoli. Broccoli is more hardy in our experience and will easily take temperatures in the mid 20’s with no damage. Once you get down to the low 20’s you will likely start to see some damage. The plants are much hardier than the florets, so even if you harvest your broccoli to avoid low temperatures, don’t remove the plants. They might still produce side shoots for you. Our broccoli will often keep on producing right through December despite nightly frosts.

After that is brussel sprouts and cabbage. They seem to be more hardy than broccoli, probably simply because with both you are harvesting leaves. They will take temperatures down into the teens. Brussel sprouts actually tastes better after they have been frosted.

Keep in mind when looking at cabbage in particular that some varieties are not very hardy and others are extremely hardy. January cabbages–varieties like Deadon–are some of the more hardy varieties. Also, if cabbage or brussel sprouts are cold damaged, you may be able to remove the outer leaves and still harvest a perfectly good inner head/sprout. Check them before you throw them out.

9. Parsnips

Parsnips are a less common vegetable. If you have never eaten them, but enjoy trying new vegetables, we would encourage you to try them. They have a unique taste all their own. Best of all they are extremely cold hardy. We used to plant them in our Vermont garden and harvest them early the following spring once the snow had melted enough to find them. So if you live in a cold climate they very well could be the first crop you harvest in the spring!

Parsnips are in the same family as carrots, and look like a long white carrot with more coarse leaves. They can be a bit finicky to get to germinate. This is because they germinate slowly. The trick is to keep them evenly moist without letting them dry out even once before they have sprouted. Similarly, they also take a long time to mature. They need a long season, so you can plant them in the spring and then just let them grow all year. They are best eaten after they have been frosted. Either harvest them late fall or in the spring.

8. Turnips

Turnips are another winter vegetable that can serve two purposes. Plus they are remarkably cold hardy. Turnips tops will take down to about 10 degrees. If you heavily mulch or pile up extra dirt around the roots once the weather gets cold they will likely take even colder temperatures. Additionally, turnips store very well once harvested, so are something you can likely enjoy for the entire winter.

We usually think of eating the white bulbous root when we think about eating turnips. However, turnip greens can be eaten raw in salads, or as a cooked vegetable. Just like the turnip roots, they have a tangy spicy flavor to them. They hold up well to cooking, so can make excellent additions to things like winter soups.

7. Carrots

You cannot grow turnips without growing carrots. Well actually you can, but a 50/50 mixture of mashed carrots and turnips is one of our favorite winter vegetables. And nothing beats the flavor of a winter harvested home grown carrot, or the sweet and tangy flavor of a turnip carrot mash seasoned with butter, salt and pepper. Carrots are of course very versatile and loved by most everyone. Those that are harvested after frost will be extremely sweet.

Carrots are once again quite winter hardy, particularly since they are under ground. With a good layer of mulch, you will likely be able to harvest carrots until the ground has frozen solid around them. Like turnips, they will also survive down to 10 degrees or more if well protected. If you have full sized mature carrots that no longer need their tops, you can set a straw bale on top of them to help keep the ground soft enough to dig them for longer into the winter.

6. Spinach

One of the hardiest greens you can grow. It is one of the few leafy greens that Cornell University has good success growing and harvesting in the dead of winter. If spinach gets its leaves damaged but the plant isn’t killed, or it gets buried in snow, most likely it will pick up where it left off come spring. Often you will be able to harvest overwintered spinach very, very early in the spring. This is one of the vegetables we save to harvest last in our winter garden. We know that it will still be there waiting for us all winter. We eat the more cold sensitive greens first.

A note about spinach varieties. It seem that generally speaking, the savoy (crinkly leaves) varieties are more cold hardy than the smooth leaf varieties. We also prefer to use slower to bolt varieties so that we can harvest later into the spring.

5. Mustard Greens

Mustard greens come in a broad array of different varieties ranging from very spicy to very mild. They are one of the more tender greens and will likely be damaged by mid to low 20’s weather. One of the reasons we love them is that they are so quick to mature, and they are often one of the first greens we are eating in both the fall and spring. Additionally, they are one of the greens that we can plant in spring and harvest well into the summer.

Our two favorite varieties of mustard greens are Tendergreen for the fall, and Savanna Hybrid for the spring. Tendergreen matures very quickly and has extremely mild, tender leaves. We find that it makes an excellent lettuce substitute though it can also be cooked.

4. Perennial Leeks

Perennial leeks are similar to the leeks you might get at a grocery store, but they are smaller, and they multiply to make clumps of small leeks. One of the main reasons we love perennial leeks is that they are very low maintenance. They are very hardy, tender, delicious, and have typical leek flavor. Since they are so plentiful and easy to grow, we even substitute them for onions sometimes.

As long as you do not harvest all of them, you will only need to plant them once. We like to harvest the largest ones and either leave or replant the smaller ones to allow them to keep growing. In our climate they will go dormant in the summer and reappear in the fall. In cooler climates they might stay green all summer meaning you might be able to harvest them almost year round.

3. Swiss Chard

Swiss chard is a vegetable that often shows up in baby green mixes, but isn’t featured very often at mature size which is a pity. The larger leaves make a good substitute for spinach. It can be used as a salad green at both baby and mature, or the larger leaves may be cooked. In our opinion, what sets Swiss chard apart is its thick fleshy stems. Don’t trim the leaves off and throw away the stems. Cook the stems up alongside the leaves, they are delicious! Fordhook Giant is our favorite cooking chard, and rainbow chard is what we prefer for salads.

We find that the white Swiss chard (Fordhook Giant) is more cold hardy (low 20’s) than the rainbow chard (Bright Lights) we also grow (mid 20’s). We also find that the younger plants are more cold hardy than very large plants. In our garden, usually the leaves get damaged, but the smaller plants survive the winter and start producing new leaves in the spring for an early harvest. We typically don’t plant chard in the spring, we just harvest our overwintered plants until they start to bolt.

Chard is also quite heat tolerant. We have been spring planting the variety Perpetual Chard (Perpetual Spinach). This variety is extremely heat and drought tolerant giving us salad greens all summer. It is also purported to be extremely cold hardy, possibly overwintering down to zone 5 with protection. However we have only grown it as a summer green so have not put that to the test.

2. Collards

Now to be fair, collards are technically a Brassica and should have been included with that group of plants when we talked about them above. However, we wanted to single out collards as we feel they are under appreciated by gardeners in many parts of the country.

In addition to being cooked to mush with bacon in the traditional southern dish, collards are extremely versatile. They can be used in pretty much any way that you would use cabbage. If you have never eaten collards, they taste similar to cabbage or a broccoli leaf.

We find them to be easier to grow, much more productive, and more cold hardy than most cabbage varieties we have tried. They grow new leaves, and we can continually harvest them all fall, winter, and until they bolt in the spring. Some varieties are hardier than others so it once again pays to do your homework when selecting varieties. We have been growing Top Bunch and find that they typically come through our winter undamaged (15 degree lows). This is unprotected, so they would likely survive a good bit colder with protection.

1. Bulls Blood Beets

We say Bulls Blood Beets instead of just beets, because we find this particular variety to be one of the most productive and easiest managed vegetables in our garden. Not to mention, it is one of the most beautiful greens we grow. We prefer Bulls Blood to other beet varieties, because it is multi-purpose.

Unlike many beets whose leaves get tough quickly, the greens are tender and delicious at any size or growth stage. They are cold hardy and also heat tolerant, so from one planting you will be picking vegetables for months. Best of all, if you don’t over harvest the leaves, and thin the plants when they are young, at the end of the season you will also be able to harvest delicious beets.

Beet greens are similar to Swiss chard for hardiness and the leaves will likely be damage by temperatures in the low 20’s. If you have thoroughly mulched the roots, they can take colder temperatures. We prefer to eat the greens until the tops get damaged. Then we harvest and eat the roots. We repeat the same process in the spring. We eat greens all spring, and then the beet roots mid summer when the greens succumb to leaf spot.

Our Runner Up

We wanted to mention lettuce as it is something everyone is very familiar with. It is often featured on cold hardy vegetable lists. It is quite cold hardy, however, it does not make our list. This is because, lettuce is a vegetable that we rarely grow here. We have found that it is more finicky and difficult to grow than most other greens. It is prone to rotting, bolting and getting bitter. It requires multiple succession plantings, and can be tricky for us to germinate in our hot sandy soil.

We think that there are so many other better, under appreciated greens out there that lettuce isn’t worth growing. All the greens on this list are tastier and work so much harder for us than lettuce does. We do very little succession planting, because these other greens can be harvested over an extended period without loss of quality. Plus many of them are much more heat tolerant, and are equally if not more cold tolerant. So if you have never grown any of them we would encourage you to give some of them a try this year!

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The information provided is for general informational purposes only. All information on the site is provided in good faith, for general informational and educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional advice. We make no representation or warranty of any kind, express or implied, regarding the accuracy, adequacy, validity, reliability, availability, or completeness of any information on this Site. Accordingly, before taking any actions based upon such information, we encourage you to consult with the appropriate professionals. We do not provide any kind of professional advice. THE USE OR RELIANCE OF ANY INFORMATION CONTAINED ON THE SITE IS SOLELY AT YOUR OWN RISK. View full disclaimer here.

The post The 10 Best Winter Vegetables You Should Be Growing first appeared on Snowdrop Farm.

The first (and often only) thing people look at when buying a plant is the cold hardiness zone.

For those of you who are not aware of what a cold hardiness zone is, the USDA tracks low temperatures and makes a map of the United States. The country is divided into zones based on the low temperatures. If you don’t know the zone you live in, you can use your zip code to look up your zone here. It is important to look at the zone range that a plant will survive in, not just the cold hardiness.

Cold hardiness zone is important, because plants are rated based on what zone they can survive in. Each plant has a minimum temperature that will kill it. If you plant a plant that cannot survive your wintertime temperatures it will die. Therefore, hardiness zone is an excellent place to start when considering a new plant.

Hardiness zone listings on plants can also indicate how far south a plant can be grown. The upper heat tolerance is also an important factor in plant selection. If for example a plant says that it grows in zone 4-7, that implies that it likely will not grow, or perform well in zones 8-11 even though it clearly won’t freeze to death in those areas. Why it won’t grow in the warmer zones can be more complicated.

Hardiness zone is not nearly the whole picture

While the cold hardiness zone tracks the low temperature, it does not take into account any other variables. These variables include things like heat days, heat tolerance, and chilling requirements. There might not be just 1 reason why a plant won’t thrive in higher hardiness zone than recommended.

Information on how much heat a plant needs or will tolerate is less widely published than the hardiness zone. However, the American Horticultural Society puts out a heat zone map similar to the USDA cold hardiness zone map. You can look at it and get an idea of how hot your area is. Then when you are looking at plants, you can do some educated guessing.

Before purchasing plants, consider where they are native to, and what kind of environment the description says that they like. Often, plant catalogs may say something like ‘prefers plenty of summer heat’ or ‘doesn’t tolerate heat and humidity’ or ‘doesn’t usually ripen in our climate’. This combined with the plant’s listed hardiness zones and your heat zone gives you some valuable clues as to whether the plant might do well in your climate.

A good example of how hardiness zones are not all equal would be zone 8 in Washington state and zone 8 in Georgia. Despite having very similar wintertime lows, they are two very, very different climates. Plants that thrive in Georgia might fail to grow in Washington and vice versa.

Why? Because the number of heat days is drastically different.

Plants that thrive in a cool mild climate may burn up in the hot, humid Georgia summer. Other plants, may never fruit in Washington because there is not enough heat to mature the fruit.

On the other end of the season, many plants require a certain amount of chilling to break dormancy or fruit. If they do not receive the required amount of chilling they may fail to grow, or they may fail to fruit. This obviously could be very frustrating.

Chilling hours are defined as when the temperature is below about 45 degrees and above 35 degree. Temperatures above and below this range do not count. You can find maps showing the average number of chilling hours throughout the country.

When you are looking at fruit crops, you often will see somewhere in the description that they require a certain amount of chilling hours. Ornamental plants don’t often list chilling hours, but, if you are planting them outside of their recommended hardiness zones, you can expect that you might have trouble. For example, due to lack of chilling, you can’t grow daffodils as perennials in Florida.

Growing season length should also be considered

Growing season length can be important to consider, particularly if you are looking to ripen a crop. Sometimes a plant may be able to grow in an area without a problem, but may not be able to successfully ripen a crop. Growing season length can limit not only perennial plants, but also annual flowers and vegetables.

You can determine the length of your growing season by counting the number of days between your average first and last frost date. This needs to be considered alongside how much heat your area has.

Though they aren’t often listed on anything except annuals, all plants have a certain requirement for ‘growing degree days’. This is correlated to the ‘days to maturity’ that you see on seed packets. Unlike us, plants do not measure days in calendar days. Rather they measure in the amount of hours temperatures were within a suitable range for growing.

Days where temperatures are too low or too high don’t count toward growing degree days.

Because plants have different optimum temperatures for growth, what counts as a growing degree day varies. Too cold for one plant might be perfect growing weather for a different one.

Going back to our earlier example of Washington vs Georgia, you will find that despite both locations being hardiness zone 8 with the same first and last frost dates, you can very successfully grow muscadine grapes in Georgia, and you cannot get fruit off them in Washington. This is due to the difference in the number of growing degree days. Washington with its cool summers doesn’t have many. Georgia with its blazing hot summers has a lot of them.

If you are concerned that you might not have enough growing degree days for a particular plant, a quick internet search can likely tell you the requirements for the plant. It will also tell you how to easily calculate the average number of growing degree days for your location. However, under most circumstances, this is not really necessary to do. A knowledge of what they are and why they are important is enough for most gardeners.

The last things you should consider are your climate type and insect and disease pressure

Different areas of the country have very different climates. Here we are referring more to humid/rainy vs dry rather than temperatures. This is important to consider because it is futile to try to grow a desert plant in a swampy climate, or a tender, fragile plant that needs high humidity in a dry climate. Not only for obvious reasons like that a cactus would rot if planted somewhere it rains every other day, but also for less obvious reasons.

Trying to grow a plant in the wrong climate stresses the plants and makes them more susceptible to pest and disease damage. Some plants are unable to withstand pest and disease pressures in climates outside of what they prefer. This is probably most often a problem when moving plants to a hot humid climate where they may succumb to diseases that they were unbothered by in a dryer climate.

Some plants are just not cut out for certain climates and should be avoided.

Other plants have been bred to provide varieties suitable for planting in various climates. However, if you plant a variety that is not suitable for your climate, the plant will fail to perform well.

Pears are a good example of this. Bartlett pears grow amazingly well in Washington state, but they will die from fireblight almost immediately if planted in Georgia. However, there are other pair varieties immune to fireblight that will thrive in Georgia.

This is why you should always do your due diligence before purchasing a plant. Oftentimes gardeners fail, not because they are trying to grow a species that isn’t suitable for their climate, but rather because they are growing a cultivar not suited to their climate.

It is important to keep in mind that commercial growers are using many pesticides and fungicides to keep plants and fruit looking perfect. These commercially grown varieties are rarely well suited to homeowners. However, they are often sold at garden centers because the names are familiar to people. Also, plants seen at garden centers are often grown elsewhere and shipped in, so just because they look good there in the nursery doesn’t a guarantee they will do well in your yard.

If in doubt check with an extension agent before purchasing a plant

If you have any questions about whether you should select a certain plant or variety for your yard, it is always an excellent idea to check with your local extension agent. They will be familiar with your local climate, and any unique pest or disease pressures you will be facing. They should be able to recommend suitable plants that will fit well with both your expectations and your climate.

We hope that this helps you have a successful gardening season this year!

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Please remember

The information provided is for general informational purposes only. All information on the site is provided in good faith, for general informational and educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional advice. We make no representation or warranty of any kind, express or implied, regarding the accuracy, adequacy, validity, reliability, availability, or completeness of any information on this Site. Accordingly, before taking any actions based upon such information, we encourage you to consult with the appropriate professionals. We do not provide any kind of professional advice. THE USE OR RELIANCE OF ANY INFORMATION CONTAINED ON THE SITE IS SOLELY AT YOUR OWN RISK. View full disclaimer here.

The post Right Plant, Right Place. How To Select Plants For Your Garden first appeared on Snowdrop Farm.