Garden Wisdom Blog

Spring is the time for planting wildflower seeds. These little seeds can be direct sown from late March to early May. If you’re aiming for an annual flower garden, planting early will give you a head start on flowering. Choose an area that already has plants growing in it, so you know it is not too damp or shady. Generally, flowers full sunshine, so aim for a spot that is open and bright. If your conditions are particularly dry, wet, or shady, look for our mixes packed with plants that grow well in these challenging conditions. Get the ground ready....

Learn about keeping orchard mason bees. In late winter, hang your mason bee nest against a wall in a sunny location that has morning light. Placing it about eye level is best. That way you can watch them coming and going. Consider putting the cocoons out near or on the nest in early March. Choose a warm sunny day with little wind. If using the bees for pollinating your fruit trees, wait until the trees are about 25% in bloom. Otherwise look around your garden and neighbourhood to see what is flowering. Imagine your bees visiting 17 blooms a minute...

There are loads of ways to start seeds indoors in the late winter and early spring. You can use really basic tools like egg cartons on a windowsill, and this will achieve a perfectly reasonable end for most types of seeds. But I’m used to starting a very high number of seeds in the spring, so I’m looking for ways to make the process highly successful and highly efficient. Here are some of my favourite seed starting tools. Professional V Plug Trays: I suppose the “professional” implies that these trays are used by professional growers, as I’m sure they are...

As a vegetable crop (as opposed to a grain crop), the potato is the world’s most important foodstuff, so there are many interesting facts about potatoes. The starchy tubers of the potato plant are exceptionally nutritious and so rich in carbohydrates that potato fields can yield 2- 4 times as many calories per acre than can grains. Potatoes can be grown, with little effort, in a variety of soils, and under tremendously diverse growing conditions. As we shall see, it is no wonder that potatoes have come to represent such a large proportion of the world’s food crops. The first...

Although it’s still cold outside and the days are still short, there are many seeds to start in February indoors. The early start means your seedlings do some essential early development, and when they are transplanted outdoors in the spring, they’ve had a head start. This is especially important for perennial flowers and herbs that take longer to reach maturity and begin to bloom. These recommendations are for the BC Lower Mainland, Gulf Islands, Sunshine Coast, and coastal WA & OR. If you live outside this area, please have a look at our other Regional Planting Charts. Click on the...