The Farmer's Basket

What Annuals Can I Keep Over the Winter?

The following plants can survive without injury during winter dormancy:

• Asparagus fern
• Fibrous begonia*
• Tuberous begonia
• Coleus*
• Dracaena
• Flowering maple
• Fuchsia*
• Geranium*
• Impatients*
• Ornamental pepper
• Polka-dot plant
• Vinca
• Persian violet

*Those that can be propagated from stem cuttings.

1. The easiest would be to pull the pots into a place that is as sunny as possible.  Don't fertilize until late January (when the sun starts to shine longer) and water only when dry. Just let the soil dry well in between watering but not to the point where it pulls away from the edges of the pots.

2. Another method is to pull the plants out of the soil and pot into smaller pots - more work but they might take up less room.  Treat as above

3. The third option is to take cuttings from the plants and grow them in pots. This will produce many more plants that will be fresh and vital in the spring - similar to the first method but you don't save the original plants.

Will my tomatoes get blight again this year?

Three tiny pots, a handful of seeds, and a cute little tray. Sound familiar? After the holidays, gardeners often find themselves wondering whether this year’s herb kit will succeed where so many others have failed. Here’s how to ensure that your indoor herbs will grow and thrive:

• Buy a grow light. Few windowsills, no matter how sunny, provide enough light for your herbs. And in cold-winter climates as ours, the sill can be quite chilly. Keep herbs above 55 degrees F at night and 65-70 degrees F during the day.
• Provide both humidity (by placing plants on a tray of damp pebbles) and good air circulation (you may need a fan).
• Water when the soil feels dry and fertilize every two weeks.
• If you can’t use a grow light, try chives, winter savory, mint, bay, lemon balm, thyme, and rosemary-they’ll tolerate indirect light.

8 Common Gardening Mistakes

Whether we’re beginners or experts, we’ve all made mistakes in gardening. Sometimes it’s a matter of overwatering or under-watering. Sometimes we put a plant in the wrong place. Or maybe we don’t’ amend the soil properly. Making mistakes is part of the process-but it’s nice to avoid them altogether.

We have come up with 8 common gardening mistakes and how to prevent them. We will feature 2 in each of the next 4 newsletters.

1. drowning or under-watering plants Some gardeners water too much, others don’t water enough. Neither is a good idea. Too much water makes plants susceptible to pests and diseases like root rot. Too little water weakens plants and eventually kills the. Although containers need to be watered once or more daily in hot weather, ground plants rarely do, especially with several inches of mulch. Sandy soil requires more frequent watering than clay or loam. Regardless of your soil type, make sure you water near the roots and avoid wetting foliage. Irrigate in the morning to allow plants to dry off before evening.

2. picking the wrong plants We’ve all tried to grow plants that just don’t work in our climate. Think carefully about your growing conditions before you shop-not when you’re already at the Farmer’s Basket. Will that pretty perennial you want to buy withstand the humid or arid weather in your climate? Have you checked whether that shrub or tree grows well in your area’s USDA hardiness zone? Most plant tags are marked with USDA zones, which provide information on the plant’s cold hardiness. At the Farmer’s Basket, you will only find perennials, trees, shrubs, etc that are zoned for our area. But USDA zones don’t’ consider other factors that are important to plants like wind, altitude, head and humidity. Check with our knowledgeable staff to get ideas for what grows best in our climate.

3. overlooking the soil

4. taking on too much

5. crowding plants

6. ignoring light requirements

7. spending without a plan

8. forgetting to maintain