Selecting Seeds

January 11th, 2009

Old Man Winter is tightening his bone chilling grip on us. With another five inches of snow last night, and temperatures expected to dip to -20C this week, spring seems an eternity away. Thank goodness there are seed catalogues and gardening magazines to remind us of what is to come.

 

Pouring through the seed catalogues, I have managed to assemble a rather long list of potential candidates for inclusion in our gardens. Regretfully, there is not time, nor space nor money to start and grow-on all of the seed varieties currently on the list.  So, the annual task of making the gut wrenching decisions on what to order and what to leave off the list has begun.

 

The first to go are the plants that are cheaper to purchase at the local greenhouses than they are to start from seed because of the length of time required from seeding to planting out; Geraniums, impatiens for example.

 

Next are the seeds that are much too expensive for a limited budget: $7.95 for 10 seeds.

 

The third determining factor is those seeds that require special conditions for germinating or growing-on that our hobby greenhouse cannot produce.

 

The fourth and final cut is based on plants that will become too large, therefore taking up too much space in our small greenhouse.

 

The exceptions (made every year) include:

 

-          plants that are not usually available at most of the local greenhouses

-          at least one “fussy” variety (just to test my skills)

-          plants that cost too much to purchase

 

 

By now the seed list has been trimmed to a manageable size, but, there is still the dollar factor to consider. The budget set out for seed purchases forces me to make further cuts to the list.  Those are determined by my “mood du jour”. By the time the seed orders begin arriving, I’ll be kicking myself for not ordering something. But, in May when the planting out begins and the gardens begin to take shape, I’ll be happy with the plants that made the list.

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