Last week was the start of gardening season here in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
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Last week was the start of gardening season here in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. (sort of)
I filled up a bunch of trays (mostly old clear plastic egg cartons) with potting soil last Wednesday, when the outdoor temperatures were close to 10°C. Didn't actually get the seeds into the trays until last Friday. They're now on the shelf in front of the big south-facing window, except for a couple that I've left on the porch to experience a week of day-night thaw-freeze cycles (which help trigger germination in some plants that are native to places with cold winters).
The chrysanthemums were the first seedlings up & at 'em, 4 days after planting. But a week in there are now lots of little growing green things heralding spring.
Outdoors, real winter temperatures are due to return next week (highs in the minus teens, lows in the minus 20s). We're still nearly 2 months from any outdoor gardening — I usually get peas, spinach, and radish seeds into the sunniest garden in late March or early April.
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R relay@relay.mycrowd.ca shared this topic
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Last week was the start of gardening season here in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. (sort of)
I filled up a bunch of trays (mostly old clear plastic egg cartons) with potting soil last Wednesday, when the outdoor temperatures were close to 10°C. Didn't actually get the seeds into the trays until last Friday. They're now on the shelf in front of the big south-facing window, except for a couple that I've left on the porch to experience a week of day-night thaw-freeze cycles (which help trigger germination in some plants that are native to places with cold winters).
The chrysanthemums were the first seedlings up & at 'em, 4 days after planting. But a week in there are now lots of little growing green things heralding spring.
Outdoors, real winter temperatures are due to return next week (highs in the minus teens, lows in the minus 20s). We're still nearly 2 months from any outdoor gardening — I usually get peas, spinach, and radish seeds into the sunniest garden in late March or early April.
@AmeliasBrain Man, Edmonton is tropical compared to us. I start seeds in the first week of April. Outdoor gardening not before May.
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Last week was the start of gardening season here in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. (sort of)
I filled up a bunch of trays (mostly old clear plastic egg cartons) with potting soil last Wednesday, when the outdoor temperatures were close to 10°C. Didn't actually get the seeds into the trays until last Friday. They're now on the shelf in front of the big south-facing window, except for a couple that I've left on the porch to experience a week of day-night thaw-freeze cycles (which help trigger germination in some plants that are native to places with cold winters).
The chrysanthemums were the first seedlings up & at 'em, 4 days after planting. But a week in there are now lots of little growing green things heralding spring.
Outdoors, real winter temperatures are due to return next week (highs in the minus teens, lows in the minus 20s). We're still nearly 2 months from any outdoor gardening — I usually get peas, spinach, and radish seeds into the sunniest garden in late March or early April.
If you've been thinking about starting your own garden, here's what you can start indoors now even in the Canadian prairies:
Flowers that won't mind early spring frosts (I plant them out in pots in late April):
- violas / pansies (these will be just starting to flower when they go out, 8-10 weeks after starting indoors, and will keep flowering until fall if they never dry out)
- lobelia (likewise)
- petunias (make sure they're an open-pollinated variety where you get a decent number of seeds per packet; hybrid ones can be $5-10 for 10-20 seeds!)
- snapdragons (pay attention to how tall the variety you pick will get, based on where you want to plant them)
Frost-hardy veggies that can benefit from a head start indoors:
- onions
- celery
- parsley
Other slow-growing plants:
- begonias & coleus (frost-sensitive shady plants, won't go outdoors until the end of May)
- perennial flowers & herbs (mint & thyme this year)
I'll start faster-growing frost-sensitive veggies in early March, including tomatoes & basil.
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@AmeliasBrain Man, Edmonton is tropical compared to us. I start seeds in the first week of April. Outdoor gardening not before May.
@transitionalaspect It depends on the seeds: how fast they grow & how much frost they can take in spring. (see my follow-up post) This was a bit of a late start for me, sometimes I'll get the smallest seeds in dirt mid-January.
For outdoors, planting time depends on a mix of weather & microclimates around the garden, but the three veggies I mentioned can all take some freezes, so they go in as soon as the ground is thawed. I have enough seeds of those to replant if they do get killed off by an extreme spring cold snap.
