Winter sowing geophytes

jegrace jegrace@rose.net
Thu, 25 Dec 2008 05:04:13 PST
Jane

You are a delight!  Thank you for your replys.  I recently purchased the
book, which is on my winter reading list.  I will be sure to obtain your
article. 

The promised cool greenhouse is part of the reason we moved- to allow me
more room and not to have to ask permission from neighbors.  In truth the
reason for not owning the greenhouse yet is that our former home has not
sold yet and finances are a bit tighter than hoped for.  

To date I have been able to keep my bulbs warm enough with a layer of pine
straw added right before cold nights and pulled away when the weather warms
up.  My more sensitive aloes, orchid cacti, orchids etc have required
blankets.  We only moved 5 miles from our home in town but temperatures in
the country are much different.  I can be scraping ice off my windshield in
the morning when there isn't even a bit of frost on the grass in town. 

 Perhaps a cold frame would be better for the bulbs- the moisture issue has
concerned me.  Our rains, when the come, can be quite dramatic in quantity.
Also that might mitigate the problems I am presently having with bulb tags
coming out of the pots when I move the straw aside.  However, I am beginning
to suspect that the true culprits there are my pets......This morning I
discovered several little pots overturned and tags scattered, probably the
result of a toad hunt by my cat with the help of my Italian Greyhound.

Erin Grace
Thomasville, Georgia USA
USDA Hardiness zone 8b, AHS Heat zone 9
 


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