Gail and I have been focused for the last couple of weeks on the seed orders and for the past couple of days we’ve been editing choices, paring down ideas, trimming the fat and trying to come under budget. We just about made it.

We grow a lot from seed every year and so does Dick, our vegetable garden volunteer extraordinaire. And we find it excruciatingly difficult to limit ourselves when there’s a pile of catalogs each illuminating thousands of plants in a way that makes them all sound like what we’ve been searching for all our lives. (A 4′ tall gomphrena – ‘Fireworks’ from Burpee, a red and green zinnia – ‘Queen Red Lime’ from Johnny’s, a purple savoy cabbage, an annual eryngium!…) Add to that the cost of the individual seed packet which when you look at them individually seem like too good a deal to pass up. (– 1000 seeds for $2.50? – who could resist that?!) Just think of all the plants we could make… Therein lies one of the problems. It’s good to be limited by budget if only because it keeps us from buying more than we have room to grow. And then there’s the cost of shipping. Perhaps that’s how some of these companies make money because seeds weigh nothing – they practically hover. I was floored by how much Select Seeds, for instance, charges for shipping and amazed that Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds charges only $3 regardless of the size of the order. They were already my favorite seed company and now they’re my Number One All Time.

So we edit. We went through the catalogs and wrote lists by category (ornamental veg. vs. flowers vs. miscellaneous foliage) and color, we wrote down how many varieties of each plant that we wanted (11 basils, 11 hot peppers, 5 kales, 4 cabbages, 15 zinnias…) and then we started eliminating. And as we eliminated we talked about the gardens and began to settle on some exciting ideas about how to use all of the plants we want. And of course, it’s inevitable, a second (third, fourth) perusal of catalogs resulted in additions to the final list as well.

Have you made your choices? Have you edited, trimmed the fat, pared down and eliminated? Was it really difficult?

I keep getting distracted from my intention to talk about some of our favorite houseplants so without further ado, I give you Aspidistra eliator – the Cast Iron Plant.  The common name pretty much says it all.  This is probably the toughest houseplant on any planet.  It’s also probably one of the most boring, ridiculed and difficult to find to buy.  It’s an original passalong plant lurking in a corner of your best friend’s back bedroom.

Aspidistras can tolerate temperatures ranging from 28 to 100 degrees F, low light and air pollution making them ideal plants for any inner city cave dweller.  They also thrive on benign neglect (water when the soil looks dry) and aren’t pest magnets (unless you count kittens) making them the perfect plant for anyone with a multicolored thumb.

Aspidistras, native to woodlands of China, the Himalayas and Japan, became a requisite dark corner decoration during the Victorian era.  Since then, its popularity has waned but in certain circles, especially in the UK, they are still a familiar and occasionally publicly mocked member of the household.  Aspidistra was an emblem of mediocrity in George Orwell’s novel Keep the Aspidistra Flying and a character called “Uncle”, The Rangdo of Arg (animated by Kenny Baker, also known for playing R2D2) in a weird 1980′s British game show called The Adventure Game.

When Uncle is ready to be shared with friends and neighbors, he lets you know by busting out of the pot.  Aspidistras increase slowly but steadily by rhizomes (fleshy stems just under and at the soil level) and are easily divided with a hori-hori, a hacksaw or your burliest kitchen knife.  Remember, as you grab and hack, these plants are tough-as-nails, indestructible as a daylily.  Rumor has it that they produce a prettyish tulip like flower near the soil that’s pollinated by tiny terrestrial crustaceans (according to wikipedia) but I’ve never seen one.  But then again my plant is tucked in a corner, molested by kittens and I hardly ever gaze deeply at it.  It’s just the best houseplant!

Do you have a cast iron plant?  Does it have a name?

The entire horticultural staff went to the first of our winter conferences this week.  I can really only speak for myself, but I think we get a lot out of these outings.  Not only did we get to pal around with Layanee from Ledge and Gardens and learn scary things about Emerald Ash Borer and Asian Longhorn Beetles but we had the pleasure of listening to Sydney Eddison give her Gardens to Go: Creating and Designing a Container Garden talk and slide show.  We already have a well worn and dogeared copy of the book on the potting shed shelf and it’s one that Gail and I each have at home too.  And even though we refer to the book annually for container bed ideas as well as for new furniture colors every so often, hearing Ms. Eddison talk about her process was like seeing the photographs (by Steve Silk) of her garden for the first time.

She talked about borrowing from her experience as a set designer when she designed her patio container garden and it was like a little light went on in my head.  Of course a garden must have an entrance that entices you in and even doors themselves are important elements in the garden.   You never know who might walk through so she says to make sure to allow for and embellish that mystery.   Frames are very important in sets and gardens because they help draw the eye to vignettes and vistas.   And the flow of movement in a garden is as important as on a stage.  You certainly don’t want the ingenue (especially if that’s you) to trip over any of the props.

A fresh perspective calls for a fresh perspective and I learned this picture trick from Sydney Eddison’s partner in publishing, her favorite garden photographer, Steve Silk.  “Tilt Shift” is a photo editing technique (click here for a Photoshop tutorial or here for a web editor) that somehow magically transforms the view from life size to itty-bitty-teeny-tiny.  It’s like creating a mini model mock-up of the garden complete with flocking grass and paper trees.  (Be careful if you try it.  It’s a little addictive.)

Are you finding any new perspectives on your garden?

If you’ve been by in the last couple of days you may have noticed that the usually colorful blog has become a somewhat starker landscape (where did all the pictures go?!) that is not unlike my actual view out the potting shed window at the moment.  While the blank blog is experiencing technical difficulties (help is on the way!), Blithewold is resting under a blanket of snow.  Here are a few gray and white snow day pictures from my walks around the property yesterday that will have to tide us over until all the other colors on the property (and the blog) come back.  Please stand by!

Depending on where you live, it can take a treasure hunt to find something blooming during the middle of winter.  Some people go south to find color – the Caribbean, for instance, would be a brilliant treasure trove right about now.  Other people (like me) stay close to home and go out to greenhouses to find blooms.  And we’re the lucky ones who can sometimes bring blooming things back home.

Winter in a cold climate is tough season for houseplants though.  Most indoor heat is too dry for humidity loving plants to thrive.  There are things we can do to mitigate the dryness though, and our bodies (the insides of our noses, elbow skin…) might appreciate the effort as much as the plants.  Place bowls or kettles of water on stoves/heaters/radiators – you’d be surprised how quickly the water evaporates.  Keep your plants in dishes filled with pebbles and a little water – only make sure that the plant is not left in standing water unless that’s the culture it prefers.  And get more plants!  The more plants you have, the more humid your home will be because plants transpire out the water they have taken in.  That’s why walking into a full greenhouse feels so good this time of year.  Sounds skeevy to say it but we crave plants’ moist breath.

Some plants like these Camellias really need more humidity that the average warm home can provide.  Logee’s Greenhouse website recommends 50% humidity and nights below 60 degrees (down to 35) for the plants to be healthy and set buds.  Other than that they’re easy – they only need partial sun, water when dry and they don’t want fertilizer.  (That’s my kind of plant.)

Gail and I and a friend took a quick last minute trip to Logee’s in Danielson, CT earlier this week.  Even if you live with or work in a greenhouse like we do, it’s good to get out and breathe in another.  And that one is amazing.  It’s full of venerable specimens and ginormous stock plants growing, flowering and fruiting like miracles out of the floor.  If you can get there, do!  And, of course, if you’re near to here, you’re more than welcome to stop by our chilly but deliciously humid greenhouses for a breather too – the door is open!  (Figuratively speaking – it’s still wicked cold outside!)

Many thanks as always to Carol at May Dreams Gardens for keeping us searching for blooms the middle of every month.  Where did you find blooms this month?