If longer daylight hours and mild temperatures have you searching in the front garden for the first signs of tulips and daffodils, perhaps it's time to start planting a few seeds on the kitchen windowsill.
There are two reasons to get seeds started in the house so early: for pleasure and to save money.
If you're counting your geraniums before they've grown, hold on. Watching seedlings sprout against a window provides a heady experience, especially when all you can see outside is dirty snow and brown patches. Remember it's still only February. Even the big professional greenhouses are barely getting started with seeding, and they have ideal lighting and temperature controls.
St. Albert Garden Club members Lucy Krisco and Diane Taylor were holding their green thumbs firmly in check this week.
"It's still really early," Krisco said, adding, "Most of what I'll start indoors gets started in March. That's when I get my dahlias in pots and my canna lilies."
In previous years, Taylor usually started enough bedding plants for her own yard plus the six rows of flowers that she planted in a rented garden plot. This year she is cutting back because she has given up the rental plot. Still, last week she was busy planting rhubarb seeds, which were a gift from her brother.
"These are heritage seeds from the family farm in Saskatchewan. I think the plant there was over 100 years old and the original seeds probably came from Germany," she said.
Grow lights
Taylor starts her bedding plants in her basement in a small room lined with six wide shelves that are lit by fluorescent lights.
She believes she does save money on her gardening expenses because she grows such a huge quantity of flowers, but stressed that for her, growing the plants inside is a winter hobby first and an economizer second.
Seeds can be expensive. Pansy seeds, for example, at $5 for a pack of 12, are probably worth more per ounce than gold. A dozen pansies don't go very far and there are risks to planting indoors.
Seeds don't always geminate and uneven growing conditions may cause the stems to get spindly and die. Watering tiny seedlings is a delicate procedure and requires a deft hand so they don't drown and they don't dry out.
"Plants need what they want and only when they need it, not when you have to go to work or away on a winter vacation. Some plants may need watering twice a day, but too much water is probably the thing that kills most seedlings," advised Tam Andersen of Prairie Gardens & Greenhouses.
Water wise
There are no hard and fast rules about when to water, but most experienced gardeners go by feel and touch. If the pot feels heavy, it has enough water for the roots to thrive upon.
Using a good seed starter soil mix is best because it will be more porous.
"In the greenhouse we mix chicken grit in with the seed starter. It helps keep the moisture away from the stems," said Andersen. That chicken grit would be available at Apache Seeds.
"Make sure it is not a calcified grit and make sure your soil does not come premixed with fertilizer," Andersen warned.
A general rule of thumb is that plants with big flowers are usually easier to grow and easier to seed. Many small seeds, such as petunias, now come coated to make them easier to sow.
Seeds may be planted in anything from professional flats to milk containers, but drainage is important. If the pot is too deep, for example in a milk carton, the soil may get too wet.
Read the seed packet carefully to see whether the seeds prefer germinating in the dark or in the light. Some seeds, such as pansies and violas, will only germinate in the dark and they need to be covered with black plastic until they sprout.
On the other hand petunia seeds prefer to germinate in the light and a dusting of vermiculite is the only cover they need. Begonias like heat. Start them on the top of the fridge, but once they sprout, move them to a cooler location.
If you do produce healthy seedlings, eventually you have to get them out from under the lights and into the sunshine. If you start seeds now, be prepared to have a lot of gigantic bedding plants in front of every window in the house.
By May, you'll have to start getting the plants used to outside temperatures, so you'll need to pack them out every morning and bring them back inside each evening.
Seed catalogues
Like Taylor, indoor gardeners will have the most fun experimenting with new plants, which may not be available later from professional greenhouses.
"Something new to try this year, that could be started now, is banana seed. Imagine being able to eat your own bananas," said Jim Hole of Hole's Greenhouses and Gardens.
Hole also suggested starting Easy Way petunia seeds now, which should produce red and white flowers by July 1, just in time for Canada Day.
Pansies can be started in February. Look for the new Matrix series, including Lemon Matrix, which are said to have thicker petals that don't curl.
"Lemon Matrix series is gorgeous and has a little black blotch, which we all love in the face of a pansy," said Andersen.
New this year is bacopa seed. The cost is about 50 cents per seed, but this is the first year gardeners have been able to get the hybrid seeds.
Catalogue seed shopping is easier than ever these days, thanks to the Internet. Just looking at the colour photos can green the heart of any prairie gardener.
Planting timeline:
Mid- to end of February
Agastache, fibrous begonia, dusty miller, dianthus, medium-height marigold, single-flowering petunias, phlox, salpiglossis, salvia, snapdragon.
Early to mid-March
Ageratum, alyssum, balsam, candytuft, celosia, annual chrysanthemum, cleome, coleus, dahlia, dimorphoteca, impatiens, short marigold varieties, matthiola, mimulus, nicotiana, nierembergia, nigella, peppers, portulaca, sanvitalia, scabiosa, statice, torenia, verbena, xeranthemum.
Mid- to end of March
Amaranthus, aster, calendula, annual carnation, celeriac, celery, dahlberg daisy, flowering cabbage, flowering kale, gazania, godetia, kochia, lavatera, lobelia, tall marigolds, nemesia, schizanthus, stocks, thunbergia.
Early to mid-April
Canary bird vine, centaurea, clarkia, cobaea, cosmos, glypsophila, herbs, helianthus, ice plant, morning glory, nemophila, poppy, greenhouse tomato varieties, zinnia.
Mid- to late April
Cole crops (broccoli, cabbage) nasturtium, sweet pea, garden tomato varieties.
