Down To Earth

Getting plants in the ground a priority — between the raindrops

By Kristin Green
Posted 6/12/17

I’m sorry, I’d love to stay and chat but can’t possibly take the time right now. The garden is doing its springing into summer thing and it’s all I can do to keep up. Is it …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

Register to post events


If you'd like to post an event to our calendar, you can create a free account by clicking here.

Note that free accounts do not have access to our subscriber-only content.

Day pass subscribers

Are you a day pass subscriber who needs to log in? Click here to continue.


Down To Earth

Getting plants in the ground a priority — between the raindrops

Posted

I’m sorry, I’d love to stay and chat but can’t possibly take the time right now. The garden is doing its springing into summer thing and it’s all I can do to keep up. Is it possible to have more than one number-one priority on the list? Because I do. Conversations — even commiserations — will have to take a number. I don’t want to lose my momentum. But I’ll admit it would feel good to sit for a bit...

Has this been the rainiest spring in the history of all springs? I hate to complain given the alternative would be to go from a dry spring straight into a summer drought. Been there, done that. But for goodness sake, enough already. The weeds are much too happy, growing at the speed of light even on dim days. Do you know the names of all of yours? Me neither, so I started making some up.

My garden and those I help tend are home to thugs I call Pop-in-eye, Elasticbandia stickii, Purple scamperpants, Crawling uglybells, Devils-make-me-whine, Phlox paniculata ‘David’, and horseweed — wait, that’s the actual common name for Erigeron canadensis, an inelegant native annual. The silver lining is all but the most deeply tap-rooted are easy to pull, roots and all, from rain soaked ground. A gratifying task that takes precedence because I need the space for new acquisitions.

Shopping for annuals and tender perennials rises to the top of my list whenever the sky leaks and the ground is too sodden for trampling, weeding, or planting. It’s definitely more critical than household chores (except laundry — when there’s rain, there’s mud), naps, or catching up on correspondence. I’m always surprised to hear nursery owners lament about rainy weekends being bad for business. Where are you guys? We gardeners are weather-resistant! Not that I mind having aisles of plant-laden benches and all of the wagons to myself. Shop when the sun shines if that’s your preference.

Me, I’d rather be planting when the sun’s out. Or at least whenever it’s not pouring buckets. The more it rains, the more plants stack up in the “waiting room,” and the longer they stay in containers, the more stressed out all of us get. I start with the four- and six-packs and anything else so pot-bound it needs watering even during the rain, and work my way up. Dahlia tubers though, and gladiolus, might cut in line. The ground is plenty warm enough (despite the stretches of gray days) to jumpstart growth and wouldn’t it be nice to see them bloom (many months) before Christmas?

Same goes for all the seeds I haven’t sown yet. Zinnias, sunflowers, amaranth, and cosmos won’t get busy growing until they’re released from their packets. Funny how that is. If only I weren’t worried they’d wash away in the next deluge I’d get off my sitz bones and seed them down in the garden right this minute. Of course I could have started them in packs and pots instead. But then they would need to be tended — at least watered — and Heaven help them when they end up in the waiting room with everything else.

Meanwhile the bulb catalogs have arrived with a niggling reminder about what we really should be focusing on. Take a sec to dog-ear pages and make note of what to add, where, while the spring’s display is fresh in your memory and bulb foliage continues to photosynthesize. Actually placing the order can wait until July or August. September even, if you don’t mind missing out on the uncommon stuff offered in limited quantities.

First things first. Getting summer- and fall-blooming plants in the ground is priority number one. Right after everything else. It’s been great to take a break — thank you! — but the day is long and it’s high time to get growing again. Garden on.

Kristin Green is the horticulturist at Mount Hope Farm and author of 'Plantiful: Start Small, Grow Big with 150 Plants that Spread, Self-Sow, and Overwinter'. Follow her blog at trenchmanicure.com.

Kristin Green

2024 by East Bay Media Group

Barrington · Bristol · East Providence · Little Compton · Portsmouth · Tiverton · Warren · Westport
Meet our staff
MIKE REGO

Mike Rego has worked at East Bay Newspapers since 2001, helping the company launch The Westport Shorelines. He soon after became a Sports Editor, spending the next 10-plus years in that role before taking over as editor of The East Providence Post in February of 2012. To contact Mike about The Post or to submit information, suggest story ideas or photo opportunities, etc. in East Providence, email mrego@eastbaymediagroup.com.