March. Now it really is almost spring. It’s still chilly, but there are small buds on some shrubs, some of the dwarf daffodils are actually flowering, the polyanthus are blooming and the pink heathers in other people’s gardens are covered in bloom. Oh, it is lovely.
I told you I had pre-sprouted the sweet pea seeds. Well, now they are well up. In fact some of them are about seven inches tall, but oh so skinny and frail-looking with stems no thicker than a single hair in a horse’s tail.
This is my fault. They have been sitting on a window sill above a heating element on the floor and certainly are too delicate to go outside.
I’ll get my daughter to help me re-construct Cher’s gift of a greenhouse on the balcony. They should be safe enough in it. When they have leafed out a little more I’ll cut out the central growing tip, which should make them branch out, instead of continuing to aim for the stars.
My other daughter discovered one of the two tuberous begonias I had last year. The other tuber has disappeared.
The one she found had already sprouted and now that it has been watered will begin to put out leaves. It, too, could go in the aforementioned greenhouse. The cooler atmosphere will make it sturdy. Right now it looks pretty pale and sickly, poor thing.
The yellow crocus in a box on the balcony have fallen prey to last week’s wild wind and now are lying flat before they ever were fully open.
I’m trying to be philosophical about the hazards of gardening on an exposed balcony, but sometimes I grit my teeth and say naughty words in my head.
I’ve just been out to see if anything interesting is happening out there and find the tulips are growing nicely, and two of the three alliums I put in several weeks ago are now up, looking lovely and strong. I’m excited about this as I’ve never grown them before – the dwarf ones, yes, but never the giants.
Inside, the orange tree keeps producing fruit, the hibiscus has a friend in the same pot, but I’m not quite sure who it is. Looks more like the leaves on the orange tree than those on the hibiscus, but how could that have happened? Mysteries, mysteries. A garden is always full of them, which makes me wonder what happened to my garden tools when I moved. They certainly didn’t arrive here. I have a hunch that my darling son made off with them for his anticipated garden at his new house in North Saanich, and good luck to him. They served me well.
If your vegetable beds are ready, you could plant arugula, broad beans, corn, salad, garlic, kale, peas, oriental greens and radishes. And so it starts.
Helen Lang has been the Peninsula News Review’s garden columnist for more than 30 years.