Suggestions for the winter weary gardener

"The thrill of finding something different or unexpected in a gardening catalog helps to make January bearable for many a winter-weary gardener; it's around this time of year that mountains of plant and seed catalogs begin arriving in the mail" according to Denise Cowie. "For some restive, housebound gardeners, the glossy publications are curl-up-by-the-fire wishbooks that offer a comforting promise of spring." Read more..

Bruce Spangenberg suggests some new year resolutions to help your garden perform better in 2005. His advice is contained in five short paragraphs which you can read here.

If you miss your gardening grow some herbs indoors is another suggestion. If you want to know how to grow rosemary, chives, marjoram, basil, dill, thyme, winter savory, sorrel and mint, just follow this link.

Want something else to do on a winter's day? Break a pot. Break lots of pots. "The Complete Mosaic Handbook" not only tells you how but also what you can do with the bits. Read more..

And a Happy New Year!

Garden gnome causes scandal

The sleepy market town of Dorchester in Dorset, England became the center of national attention when police were called to deal with a naked garden gnome. The well-endowed, three-foot-tall gnome was sitting in the driver’s seat of a stationary van in a lay-by on the A37 in Dorchester. Two policemen visited David Lindley, who runs Manor Wood Furniture on Wardon Hill at Evershot, yesterday, after an outraged motorist said his naked female gnome was offensive to her children. Read more..

For more Gnome news visit The Garden Supplies Advisor.

Floral Festivities and Garden Supplies News

"Gardeners have to prove their worth at Christmas in three ways: by providing decorations from the garden - holly, ivy, dried flowers, etc; producing a delicious array of vegetables for the festive meal; and getting the highest score in my seasonal quiz." If you agree with this statement and would like to try your hand at the quiz, here is the link.

I am sure that you will have displayed a wreath on your front door for some time already but if, by chance, you are still wondering how to make your own, here are some ideas.

Just a reminder that my main blog is now at Garden Supplies News which is hosted on my site.

Digging and Storing Iris Bulbs

Some iris varieties are not frost hardy in all areas of the country so digging and storing iris bulbs is necessary. If the bulbs are dug from the ground in the fall and stored in a frost free space, they can be kept successfully ready for replanting in the spring after the danger of frost has passed. Read more...

Garden Supplies News

When I started this blog back in July I mentioned that it was intended to accompany my Garden Supplies Advisor website. One reason for starting the blog was because I had read that it could help bring traffic to my site. I had also read that to receive the greatest benefit your blog should be hosted on the same domain as your site. Although Blogger allows you to do this, unfortunately my host SBI, does not.

For anyone who has not heard of Site Build It, I should explain that it is a complete site building and hosting system which is particularly good for newbies like me who want to build a site without having to worry about the complexities of HTML. Ken Evoy, the owner of the company, is constantly adding features but FTP is not yet one of them.

Recently another user of SBI has devised a means of hosting a blog on a SBI site so I have taken the plunge and set up a new blog using different software. As a result I will be posting less frequently to this blog but you can find me at Garden Supplies News.

The rss feed is:
http://garden-supplies-advisor.com/support-files/rss.xml

In the Garden now - North v South

Here are two contrasting views of what you should be doing in your garden at this time of year.

According to Pat Stephens from Vancouver "On those cold, wet winter days when gardening has no appeal, curl up by the fire with a cup of hot coffee and read. This is the season to set aside planning time for your projects in the new year. Our local bookstores have some beautiful new books out this season that will tantalize your senses, and they will start you dreaming about new and different ideas for your home and your gardens." Read more...

On the other hand Sharon Hull from Santa Cruz reminds you that there is still work to be done. In her words "If you are new to gardening, or new to gardening in a mild winter coastal climate, you may be a bit perplexed about what you should be doing to put your garden "to bed" for the winter. You may be looking around at tattered plants, some dropping their leaves, and at others that are vigorously pushing out new growth as though it were spring. This is the reality of gardening in a Mediterranean climate. While some plants go to sleep for winter here, others welcome the rains and cool temperatures and respond with abundant growth and flowers." Read more...

Elegant winter landscape a tricky proposition

"Winter's inexorable chill has altered the complexion of beds and borders, forcing us to accept a perspective that includes spare lines and stark silhouettes.
Without the promise of reliable snow cover to hide the inevitable bare spots, gardeners in Western Oregon have the sometimes unenviable task of creating landscapes that retain grace and elegance through winter's cold, dreary and often extremely rainy periods" says Sarah Robertson who then goes on to give some helpful advice on plants and shrubs that can help to solve the problem. Read more...