Early Spring Nursery Visit: Sherwood's Forest

I made a promise to myself to not only visit more local nurseries this year, but to post about the visits too. I was inspired to do this by Peter, The Outlaw Gardener, who seemingly visits at least one garden center every day of the year in the nursery-dense Pacific Northwest.

It's still quite early in the season here in St. Louis so the nurseries are only half-stocked or not open yet -- we have one seasonal nursery/grower that will be opening soon -- but I decided to stop in and take a look at Sherwood's Forest on my way home last Saturday.

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It's a start...

I was at Home Depot this past weekend picking up some supplies for a house repair, and as I always do I took a swing through the garden center just to see what was happening. At this time of year the majority of plants are left on their rolling shipping racks, which allows them to be rolled into the store if the temperatures dip below freezing for a night.

I don't think it actually got that cold Saturday night, but Sunday morning all of the plants were indoors. I'm looking for some groundcover thyme this year, and I've already bought some from a local nursery but was interested in these flats that I saw. Strange that there would be plant tags on these, especially since the tag shows a completely different plant with large leaves.

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Indoor seedlings

Although it snowed a bit last night and the next couple of days will be chilly, I think I've timed my edible plants seed starting quite well this year. I say that as if it's really in my control...

...but the truth is that spring in St. Louis is quite unpredictable, and some years the spring temperatures last for just a couple of weeks before we bolt into the 80's and early summer. So it's not just a question of starting the seedlings on the right calendar date -- luck has a lot to do with it.

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What excites me about Spring

Sure I love seeing the early spring blooms of crocus, daffodils, tulips and such, and those flowering trees and shrubs on a sunny day -- wow! But to be honest what really gets me excited when spring finally arrives is a lot more.

First of all it's the happiness I feel at seeing the fresh foliage of perennials cautiously poking through the soil or mulch.

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More early Spring at MBG

Yesterday I showed you some cactus eye-candy and the amazing crocus field at the Missouri Botanical Garden. I had never visited at this time of year before, so there were surprises.

It happened to be the last day of the Orchid Show, so we took a quick look around. I was drawn to some of the blooms for sure, but only took a few photos (didn't have the right camera with me). If you want to see more orchid blooms I visited specifically for the Orchid Show a couple of years ago.

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Cactus and Crocus

This weekend my wife and I made an impromptu decision to visit the Missouri Botanical Garden after meeting with our accountant, a way to end the day on a fun note. Neither of us has been to the garden at this time of year, so we weren't sure what to expect in the outdoor beds.

There was a lot more going on outdoors than we expected, but I'll cover most of that in another post. Today I start with cactus and Euphorbias. Big bowls of them grow in the Linnean House, the building closest to the main entry building. The sweet scent of Jasmine filled the air as I bent over bowl after bowl of prickly beauty.

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Hawk

I was doing more cleanup in the front garden this weekend, and between wheelbarrow loads of spreading community pile mulch I saw a hawk land in the tree across the street.

Whenever I'm covered in garden dirt and debris and see a possible photo opportunity, I mentally weigh the advantages: what's the subject? How common is it? Is the lighting good? What are the chances that the opportunity will be gone by the time I remove my tightly-laced muddy boots to go inside, grab my camera, fit my long lens (vintage screw-on type) then get back outside?

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The Pot of Soil Game

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Cats love Agave?

You already knew that I have cats right? They don't venture outdoors after we adopt them, but that doesn't mean that I haven't learned some things about cats and plants. One thing I learned when Kumo wasn't yet ours...

...is that cats really love bamboo. Not just rubbing against it, but eating it too. I love how cut bamboo looks in vases indoors, but that look doesn't last long because the branches immediately turn into a cat salad bar.

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