Snowed In

What's growing in the garden?  Not much right now!  We've been iced/snowed in for the better part of the last week. We got about an inch of sleet/ice, and then we got about 4 inches of snow, and then we got a little more snow on top of that.  

We were under the freezing mark for several days straight, but things are finally starting to thaw now.  I brought in my potted camellias as a precaution.  They've had buds on them for a few months now, and I wanted to give them the best shot at blooming.  Hopefully the ones in the ground didn't drop all of their blooms.  I covered up my brassicas (broccoli and brussels sprouts) with light plastic, and they seem to have survived well.  I still have one broccoli crown to harvest and all of the brussels.

I do have a bit of new life sprouting on my seed starting shelf.  For seed starting purposes this year, I fabbed up a decently big shelf to sit on my only south-facing window.  I'm trying to germinate several things: two types of tomatoes, salvia, petunias, and a couple wildcards: thyme I got from the Nashville Public Library Seed Exchange a few years back and Rose of Sharon I snagged from a neighbor's plant.  Not sure how well the last two will do.  I'll start some pepper plants later, probably more like this time next month.  In my experience, they don't germinate too well when it's still cold like this.  I'll also grow beans, squash and zucchini, but I'll direct sow those in my raised beds when the weather warms up.

Salvia "Big Blue" from Park Seed Company

At the risk of this becoming the Birmingham Botanical Gardens blog (see last post), I'll tell you about a really neat educational event I attended yesterday.  Thanks to the "Magic of Zoom", I was able to participate in an educational program put on by the Friends of the BBG about repotting and reinvigorating orchids.  

I got an orchid for Mrs. Nonna for Mother's Day in 2019.  It was purchased in full bloom (of course), it later dropped the blooms, and I was able to keep it alive, but I couldn't get it to bloom again. Last fall, I moved the orchid (and several other house plants) to our master bath where we have a garden tub.  Fittingly enough, it makes a great "garden tub" as it has a huge, east-facing window which is perfect for bringing in a large amount of indirect light.  This location change really benefitted several of my house plants, but most amazingly of all, it caused the orchid to put up a new flower stem and bloom!

Anyways, I've really gotten into orchids.  Mrs. Nonna got another one for Valentine's Day, and it's currently in full bloom.  I'll know exactly what to do with it when it drops its blooms thanks to the BBG education program.  It was presented quite expertly by the BBG's Director of Education and Visitor Experience, Brooke McMinn.  I just stumbled upon it on their social media, and I'm so glad I did.  It was totally worth the $10 admission to hear words like "epiphytic" and "lithophytic" and to be challenged to learn more about the natural world around me.

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It looks like their calendar might be a little disrupted because of the current challenging times we live in (#COVID), so their social channels might be the best place to find the next opportunity.  Even if you're not interested in a class, they're still worth a follow for pretty plant pictures.