It has been a relatively mild winter in the Chicago this year. It's been cold but not the painful bone-chilling cold that Chicago winters are typically like. The snow blower was used only twice to clear the driveway and the temperatures have been relatively mild. This fact was punctuated when we spotted various crocus varieties as well as daffodil greens above the surface of the soil this past weekend. Seeing signs of life springing from the soil is always exciting. We're looking forward to seeing the new tulip bulb varieties we planted in the fall flower.
Seeing the crocus and daffodils reminds me that it is nearly time to get seedlings started indoors. Definitely a project planned for the first weekend in March.
To help plan the layout of our garden, I used a nifty Vegetable Garden Planner tool offered for free by Mother Earth News: http://www.motherearthnews.com/garden-planner/vegetable-garden-planner.aspx The garden planner helps you determine your first and last frost dates based on your zip code, and you can easily see how many of a particular variety of plant will fit in a row or section in your garden. Seeds packets include this information, too, but the planner makes it easy to see everything in one place. Enter the dimensions of your garden bed and then get to planning. The garden planner even provides some information about companion plants.
Also helpful are the Freeze/Frost Maps provided here by the National Climatic Data Center.
This will be the first year that I'll be planting flowers within the garden bed. Marigold, Zinnia, Cosmos and Borage. The flowers are companions of nearby vegetables, and will also attract many beneficial insects and pollinators to the garden.
A list of what will be grown in the Wright Gardens this year are included in the 2012 Garden planning has begun post. We're happy to share the seeds we have with anyone who is interested.
Oh, and for those of you who wish to save seeds of your own at the end of the season, give these seed packet templates, offered by the Heavy Petal gardening blog, a whirl.
The spring equinox is just one month away!
http://wrightgardenchronicles.blogspot.com/
Seeing the crocus and daffodils reminds me that it is nearly time to get seedlings started indoors. Definitely a project planned for the first weekend in March.
To help plan the layout of our garden, I used a nifty Vegetable Garden Planner tool offered for free by Mother Earth News: http://www.motherearthnews.com/garden-planner/vegetable-garden-planner.aspx The garden planner helps you determine your first and last frost dates based on your zip code, and you can easily see how many of a particular variety of plant will fit in a row or section in your garden. Seeds packets include this information, too, but the planner makes it easy to see everything in one place. Enter the dimensions of your garden bed and then get to planning. The garden planner even provides some information about companion plants.
Also helpful are the Freeze/Frost Maps provided here by the National Climatic Data Center.
This will be the first year that I'll be planting flowers within the garden bed. Marigold, Zinnia, Cosmos and Borage. The flowers are companions of nearby vegetables, and will also attract many beneficial insects and pollinators to the garden.
A list of what will be grown in the Wright Gardens this year are included in the 2012 Garden planning has begun post. We're happy to share the seeds we have with anyone who is interested.
Oh, and for those of you who wish to save seeds of your own at the end of the season, give these seed packet templates, offered by the Heavy Petal gardening blog, a whirl.
The spring equinox is just one month away!
http://wrightgardenchronicles.blogspot.com/
