Hello my dear gardening friends,

Today I can see green grass. I have been reading reports of snow drops blooming, shoots poking through the ground and in one area hellebores blooming – I hope that Mother Nature is not about to play a joke on us all!!

I have a wolf visiting around the house – so far I have only seen his footprints, surprisingly along with deer tracks. I expect that the deer will not be around with Mr. Wolf in residence. I have to be very sure that my cat stays indoors too so I must admit that I am leaving kibble out for him. On Tuesday I returned home and to my amazement was greeted by a beautiful fox just sitting on the snow covered lawn, waiting for his supper no doubt!!!

Valentines Day is approaching! Perhaps the best known magical love potion is the one used in anger by the fairy King Oberon in Shakespeare’s a “Midsummer Night’s Dream” in order to humiliate his wife the Queen by making her fall in love with an ass. The elixir was the juice of a flower that had been transformed by Cupid’s dart into a strong love potion.

Less experienced magicians, however would find this twenty first century love charm much simpler:

“Drip water gathered under a full moon on to a photograph of yourself with your beloved. Visualize your beloved arriving from afar to find you and then chant these words:

Flower magic can be used to similar effect, as in this traditional love charm – although it is probably best employed under the cover of darkness by those who fall in love to avoid embarrassment!! Please remember this is all in fun. I once had people leave when I started to cast a spell for them (at their request), after a talk I had concluded on herbs!!!!!

Strew five red roses along the pathway between your home and your lover’s home, while calling (quietly) your lover’s name. Then, from a sixth rose burn five red petals, one after the other, in the flame of a pure beeswax candle, while chanting:

I have to tell you that neither of these spells really work; I am afraid that I could not bring anyone to help dig my garden!!!!

Where did I find this information you might be wondering… It was in “The Wizard’s Book of Spells” by Beatrice Phillpotts.

I laughed at this very modern quote:

What did all this have to do with gardening? Nothing - it is just an excuse to go and buy some roses, pansies (if you can find them), or any other flower that will brighten your soul, your life and your home!!!

In spite of the cold and the little bit of snow that is around, February seems to give the promise of the return of warm weather; the days are getting longer, the birds are at the feeders, and I have lots of footprints around the house, I even saw a rabbit the other evening.

Are you still receiving catalogues? These contain the promises of yet another successful gardening year. Do read them, even if you do not think that you are going to be ordering any seeds or plants, they are the cheapest gardening “book” that you will find full of the most useful information. When is the correct time to plant which seeds for the best results, what will grow where? You will even find plans for perennial beds as well as suggestions for any annuals that you may purchase. I suggest that you file the catalogues in a safe place. They are beautifully illustrated with colour photographs, packed with data on the culture and care of vegetables, annuals, perennials, shrubs, trees, and grasses. They contain descriptions of the latest insecticides, fungicides, selective weed killers, although we are not going to purchase any toxic ones, now are we???

I hope that you all purchased bulbs for forcing indoors. I have 6 pots full of paperwhites blooming right now and the house smells like spring. I was quite convinced that spring was actually here, until this evening when it started snowing, making the trees and bushes look like angels, but I am afraid that it will be quite slippery once again. Never mind, we can all stay indoors and read those catalogues.

I digress – I have been asked to run over the potting procedure for forcing bulbs. Potting up bulbs, which you should have done before Christmas is easy – but some of you still seem to be having problems so let’s try this one more time.

It always makes good sense to me to start out with new potting soil, for what ever it is that you are going to grow, but especially so for plants that you are growing in containers. I found a potting soil, although I cannot remember where I purchased it (either at Rural Routes or Loblaws). It is called Alltreat, and contains Sedge Peat, Sphagnum Peat moss, Compost, Vermiculite, and slow release Fertilizer. I found it just before Christmas and planted my paper whites in it. I will let you know whether or not it made any difference.

Now we have our new potting soil. I suggest that you add some sand to the soil because it helps the soil drain better, and we all know that bulbs need a quick draining, they hate wet feet and will rot. Sand also helps to prevent that annoying crust that sometimes forms on the top of the potting soil, making water from subsequent waterings, just roll right off. How much sand should be added? Three measures of soil to one measure of sand. A big pot and a wooden spoon are the only tools that you need to do this. You will know that your mix is about right when you scoop up a handful of the mix and squeeze it in your hand. If water oozes out, it is too wet and you must add more soil. When you open your hand, the soil and sand mixture should crumble apart. If it stays in a ball add a little more sand.

Next place a layer of gravel in the bottom of the container, make sure that a larger pebble sits over the hole, allowing the water to drain away. As you begin putting soil over the gravel, firm it down with the back of a big spoon so that the eventual roots from your bulbs have something to grab on to. Don’t add soil all the way to the top of the pot because you will need to add your bulbs and the soil to cover them. You need to allow extra room at the top to ensure that the water can soak into the soil rather than rolling off the edges.

If you are ready to plant crocuses that need to be planted one inch deep, stop adding soil about 2 inches from the top of the pot. Add the crocus corms, put an inch of soil on top of them and firm everything into place, making sure that the rim is higher than the soil level. Water well. Place one type of bulb in each container. Daffodils take longer to bloom than crocus. If different bulbs should happen to bloom at the same time, then just put the pots together. Remember to plant the bulbs with the pointy ends up, for the best effect, arrange them as close together as possible without having them actually touching each other. Ignore any remarks about leaving spaces between the bulbs, this is for when you are planting them outside in the garden and over the years, they will multiply and need as much space as possible to grow. Forcing bulbs in pots is a one season affair, however, cut off any dead blooms, keep the leaves growing, fertilize, and in the spring, as soon as you can work the ground, dig the bulbs in the earth, fertilise and in a couple of years you will have more flowers. Do not forget to water them thoroughly.

The next step is very important: make out a label/tag. When you have several pots planted, with different bulbs, you will not remember what you have planted in each one!!! I would suggest that you mark on your calendar when you planted, what, and in which container, that way if the labels get lost you still know what to expect where.

Time is marching on and it will soon be Easter! Do not forget that Good Friday and Easter Saturday is the wonderful Flower and Garden Show in Peterborough at the Evinrude Centre.

Good house plant gardening, hats, gloves, a warm scarf because that wind is c-o-l-d, and do not forget the sunscreen!

Lovingly, Beryl