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Let the garden season begin!

Posted on May 9th, 2008 – 2:41 PM
By Connie Nelson

That’s it! I can’t take it anymore! The heck with the forecast! I’m declaring this weekend the Unofficial Start of the Gardening Season. It may rain, it may pour, but it’s not going to stop me from planting!

OK . . . so, I’m only going to plant the containers in the front porch. Maybe put in a few annuals, if the rain lets up Sunday. But that still counts as planting, doesn’t it?

 Of course, I won’t be so brave (or foolish) as to plant tomatoes, peppers, corn and other heat-seeking plants. It’s still a bit early for that, especially since this spring is about two weeks behind normal — if Minnesota has a normal.

Rain or shine, I’m also going to hit a couple of the plant sales and swaps. There are lots of sales this year, but this weekend is the biggie, with the Friends sale at the State Fair and the auxiliary sale at the arboretum. 

For a list of local plant sales and swaps, go to www.startribune.com/homegarden.  

For a list of area garden centers, go to www.startribune.com/gardenguide.  

For a list of reasons why we live in Minnesota, please add your suggestions below:

This entry was posted on Friday, May 9th, 2008 at 2:41 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

12 Responses to "Let the garden season begin!"

povertyrich says:

May 9th, 2008 at 6:27 pm

It’s proximity to Wisconsin?

Seriously, though, despite the longer growing season in the NW, I miss Minneapolis all the time. But I’m one of those people who loves thunderstorms, heat lightning, and hot, humid summers, but also doesn’t mind the icy winters.

The summers in Seattle are dull and tepid, and the winters are clammy. And if you do any gardening here in the spring at all, you’re likely gardening in the rain.

deb w says:

May 10th, 2008 at 6:22 pm

I cannot speak for others but I couldn’t stand the constant rain in Portland, the humidity in Missouri, the palmetto bugs in Florida, the Gila monsters in New Mexico or the odd people on either coast.
Having spent one month in Florida in my childhood I can appreciate having to battle bunnies and squirrels in the veggie patch not gators. I am sure that there is no organic control for gators squashing the cabbages. After seeing my aunts garden after that thing came through I decided Disney World and SeaWorld would NOT be in my adult neighborhood.

robin says:

May 10th, 2008 at 10:01 pm

I went out and planted peas, carrots, beets and lettuce. I hope they come up since I had not bought seeds this year and used up my old packets. Some were from 2001. I am liking the rain, because now I don’t have to water.

I started my sons on tilling a corn patch for me. The ground is packed down from the horses. It will take a tilling or two, and then we will dump horse manure on it and till again.
My farmer neighbor was out planting soybeans today. I wonder if he stopped when it started raining.

Amy says:

May 11th, 2008 at 10:55 am

This was the first year I attended the Friends Plant Sale. I was surprised at the prices, not cheap at all even compared to the big box home stores. What a disappointment.

Connie Nelson says:

May 11th, 2008 at 7:54 pm

Amy, I think the Friends sale prides itself on having rare and hard-to-find plants, rather than cheap prices. They usually have lots of plants you’d never find at a big box store. I didn’t go to the Friends sale this year. Went to the Arboretum sale instead, but not until Sunday afternoon. By they, it was slim pickins.
Did anyone else hit the sales?

deb w says:

May 12th, 2008 at 6:07 am

I went to the Dowling sale on Saturday. There was a good assortment of tomatoes and hot peppers but not so much in the flowers. It is a small but proud sale. I went to the farmers market on Sunday and got what I couldn’t find at Dowling. I also went to Shady Acres Greenhouse on Sunday. I was kinda further out than I thought it would be but had great looking plants of all kinds. Also a pond with painted slider turtles that cruised anound looking at us…

judybusy says:

May 12th, 2008 at 8:54 am

I made it to the Friends Sale for the first time since about 1996, when they still had it at the school. I think their prices are great—$1.50>3.00 for many perennials is a *good* price! I did splurge on a Echinacea “Pink Double Delight” at $10.00. Elsewhere, it’s $18-19 per plant. Also, I would much rather spend my money there than at a big box place any day!

I was also impressed with the quality of the plants; one of the reasons I hadn’t returned was past poor quality. Now I’m hooked!

Sandra says:

May 12th, 2008 at 10:49 am

I said the heck with the forecast and put all my new perennials in this weekend. The only thing I haven’t put in yet is my indoor-started baby annuals and tomatoes. If we have another hard freeze at this point, then I’m just moving.

I recently discovered a cute little neighborhood nursery at 51st and Hiawatha called Plantique. The owner is really helpful and will order in anything you want, prices are great.

deb w says:

May 13th, 2008 at 5:57 am

Thanks Sandra! I have been looking all over for some Polish Linguisa tomato plants to no avail. Maybe they can get me some. I’ll stop on my way home.

Amy says:

May 13th, 2008 at 6:18 pm

I will definitely have to check out Plantique and the place with the turtles, how cute!!

It wasn’t the perennial prices I was disappointed by. It was mainly the annual prices, including the baskets.

Amy says:

May 13th, 2008 at 6:31 pm

Can anyone tell me what suburb Shady Acres is in?

deb w says:

May 14th, 2008 at 2:04 pm

It says that it is in Chaska but it is located way out of town on highway 212 almost to Cologne (3 miles). Go to http://www.shadyacres.com for a map. It is a nice drive out of town when you can check out horses, cows & check how the farm work is going.

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