Day 138: The seed catalogs arrived in early January and immediately, I sat down to work on my order. Gazanias for sure, Celosia and Asclepias (neither of which I'd tried before), maybe some Cosmos or Calendulas or Nasturtiums for the hanging baskets. My intentions were good, but one thing led to another and when I had company coming, I piled the catalogs and the list at the back of the kitchen table in a stack of magazines. There they stayed, forgotten until a recent mining expedition brought them to the surface again. It was already too late to start the Gazanias indoors, so I shrugged and told myself I'd just pick up seeds at the store this year. Well, I couldn't find Celosia or Asclepias, so I settled for Painted Daisies, Red Flax and in a swing from my customary florals, Coleus for foliage color. I'll probably grow a few of those as houseplants as well.
Now it must be said that I don't hold with planting by the phases of the moon, despite my long association with The Old Farmer's Almanac. Their map shows my area in Region 2, but because I live in the mountains rather than the lowlands, I'm in Zone 7. I can't put anything out until June 1, and even then, it's a risky proposition. No planting timetable accurately reflects the growing season here, and if I waited two weeks for a "favorable moon," it might mean the difference between flowers and no flowers. More than once, I've had plants killed down by the first frosts of Autumn just as they're starting to set buds. Planting timetables are guidelines, in my opinion, and if they really worked, we'd all have perfect gardens.
