Voodoo

I've been growing voodoo lily (Amorphophallus konjac) for a few years now, getting my first tiny tubers from my friend Mike. I've got a few planted in the ground next to the pond (not the best spot for them) but most of them grow in pots. It's strange that I can say "most of them" because I really only had one potted plant until last summer when Mike decided he was tired of growing these and gave a few more to me.

Although cold-hardy to zone 6 when in the ground, I move the potted specimens into the garage when the autumn cold kills the foliage, then just let the soil dry out. The dead stem shrivels and dies at some time during the winter, leaving a hole in the ground that enables you to peek in and see the tuber -- I just leave them there all winter, until I dig them out in the spring.

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Some bamboo cleanup

I started the great bamboo cleanup last weekend. Rather than tackling the bigger plants in the back, I began with the smaller ones in the front yard. (Clean up the part that everybody else sees first, right?)

Those sad, sad front garden bamboos, like this Indocalamus tessellatus whose big, bold leaves look great even in this color -- at least I think so.

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Signs of Spring

The garlic in yesterday's post wasn't the only indication of spring I found in my garden. These others were just hiding a little bit.

The irises are pretty dependable early voices in the springtime chorus, peeking out at first, waiting for the warmth...

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Finally some green: garlic

I have an alternate title for today's short post: "garlic is easy!"  In the end though I went with the "green" title, as there is so much brown around that any hint of the verdant must be celebrated.

So a quick look at my garlic, which although planted in late autumn has only recently started growing.

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Bamboo browns

Continuing with my attempts to find beauty in all of the brown bamboo, it really does make for some striking combinations with the clear blue sky...

...at least it did this past weekend when it actually was clear. With a dusting of snow on everything right now, grey looks like it will be the color of the week.

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SeedGeeks

I found out about a new organic seed company a couple of weeks ago, and it surprised me for two reasons. First, I was surprised to learn that new seed companies were still being created. Based on the amount of seed catalogs that I already receive, it seems to me that there are plenty of choices already in this market.

The second and more important reason I was surprised: it's located right here in St. Louis! SeedGeeks is its name, and I got in touch with owners Marc and Angela Adler recently to ask them a few questions.

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Potential

I have two favorite times during indoor seed germination season -- which is now for me. My first is possibly obvious, but it's when the seedling breaks the "soil" surface and you get your first glimpse of green, confirmation that the seed did still contain life.

The second favorite time is when the first true leaves start to appear, and the tiny plants start to take on their mature characteristics. That time is now for most of my seedlings!

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A little bamboo cleanup

There is much bamboo to clean up this spring. Most of it I'm not ready to cut down as I still have some hope that it is alive and will leaf out again, but there are still bamboo leaves that need to go.

This patch of Pleioblastus viridistriatus for instance. It gets mowed down every year regardless of how severe or mild the previous winter was, as the fresh foliage is amazing and vibrant. Any remnant leaves -- even if they were not dead -- would look terrible in comparison.

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Wheelbarrow tip

Or maybe a better title for this post would be "Wheelbarrow no tip"? But I'm jumping ahead... If you're like me you've got loads of yard waste to haul around at this time of year: heaps of "hay" from the ornamental grasses that just received their annual pruning, sticks of all kinds, leaves, leaves, leaves.

It's all got to get to the compost pile (if you have one) and for me that means lots of wheelbarrow trips.

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