It's hard to think that spring will ever be here when the temperature rarely gets below freezing.  Winter is a good time to analyze the lay of the land, your garden's compass orientation and the plantings around it.  Within one area there tend to be many micro-climates.  Knowing what affects the micro climates in your garden gives you a head start in the spring.  Like many gardeners I always covet what I don't have, more sun, less shade, some damp areas to grow ferns successfully, dry areas so plants needing good drainage will thrive, sheltered and exposed areas in which to grow different plants and create contrasting areas of interest.  According to garden experts you can manipulate your garden's temperature with a few tricks to get better results.

WALLS AND SLOPES
In vineyards growers either chose, or made, productive land slope south to receive the maximum amount of sun's rays -- ideally the sun should fall at right angles to the soil for as long as possible.  Growers chose well-drained soil which heats up faster and made sure vines are protected from fog, damp and frosts.  Slopes can also affect rainfall, with 50% less falling on a leeward side of a slope than the windward side.  Historically gardens were walled for shelter, sometimes the walls themselves were screened by a belt of trees.  To maximize temperatures, it's important to maximize south-facing walls, hard paving and gravel which will encourage absorption of the sun's rays and keep radiating them through the evening and night.   

WATER
Damp affects soil temperature dramatically, as water removes heat from the surroundings as it evaporates -- when we lived in Las Vegas we followed the locals and installed a pergola over a patio, with a mister system attached to the beams overhead.  The temperature drop under the misters was dramatic, over 20F in the heat of the summer.  In a garden temperatures can vary over 15F between hot spots and damp shady spots.

Water can also insulate, fruit growers in orchards mist early-flowering crops when frost is predicted as the ice forms an insulating layer over flower buds and prevents the cells from freezing.   The thermal inertia of water also helps -- it takes a long time to heat up and cool down so it is still radiating warmth after the rest of the garden has cooled.  This property can also be used in greenhouses and polytunnels, placing buckets of water inside them can help nudge night temperatures up an all important degree or two at night.

COVERS
The fastest way to change a micro climate is by using covers.  Early in the winter we recorded minimum night temperatures in our polytunnels prime 14F higher than outside it.  It helps to leave snow on top of the tunnels (great insulation) but remove it from the south-facing side to capture the sun's heat.  We've abandoned our polytunnels and cold frames at this point, partly because of the wind, but also because as a rule at 3am the temperature under glass or polythene, inside or out, is similar.  You extend the crop season in fall and spring inside them because the daily thermal gain is higher, and the long-wave radiation emitted from the ground at night is retained to an extent by the cover, the amount varying with the insulating quality of the material.  When the snow melts in early spring we'll start covering the vegetable beds before sowing.  Interestingly, research has shown that clear polythene heats the soil roughly 4F more than black polythene or any other cover tried.

WIND CHILL
I thought this was a major factor in cooling, but was surprised to learn that the primary way wind cools is by evaporation, and wind will never cool below the ambient temperature.  That said, plants usually grow better in sheltered conditions, and hedges and shelter belts are a top priority when developing a windy site.

That time of year again, seed sorting for the Hardy Plant Society at the Henry Foundation.  The Foundation is a fascinating place, that was founded in 1948 by Mary Gibson Henry, an avid botanist and plant explorer,  who collected native plants from remote areas of the West, Midwest, and Southeast United States and replanted them on her 30 acre estate in Gladwyne.  Less than 10 miles away Laura Barnes was creating her arboretum, but the two women seem to have had little contact with each other.

The  Foundation is now run by two of Mary Henry’s nieces and each year host the Hardy Plant Society's seed sorting days -- this year it has been a nightmare scheduling it because the long drive to the house has been under snow and plowing is sporadic.  The seeds distributed are donated by the Plant Society's members and always include some rare and wonderful gems.  It's hard for a novice to jump in -- the seeds do not come with packet instructions and I've found germination rates really temperamental.

The basics of seed germination are essential to get right:-

Temperature    A steady constant 73 degrees F is best for most varieties. Large fluctuations will impair germination rates, heating mats are ideal, the top of your refrigerator are usually very suitable for seed growth.  Once the seeds begin to sprout move to a sunny location or under lights.  Most seed failures are a result of incorrect temperature.  Buy a cheap thermometer to monitor it.

Moisture    Water has to enter the seeds for germination to start.  Once this process has started water requirements are minimal and more seedlings die by over-watering than by under-watering.  If temperature and lighting conditions are correct one or two waterings are sufficient for seeds to sprout.  Adding a drop of dishwashing liquid to the water helps absorption, warm water is absorbed faster.  You can either bottom soak or mist the seeds.  Cover with transparent plastic covering to allow light and prevent evaporation.

Light    Some seeds need light to germinate, some will not germinate unless they are in the dark.  Once they have germinated light is vital for all seedlings.  If you are getting a jump start on the season and sowing indoors there are various options.  A bright windowsill (but not in direct sun which will fry the plants) will work, but make sure you turn the seeds to ensure even light.  You can make a simple frame with pvc pipes and hang cheap fluorescent shop lights with S hooks and chain.  This way you can raise the lights as the seedlings grow, maintaining a gap of 2-3” between the seedlings and the lights.  Expensive growing lights are not necessary, but it is important to replace the bulbs every year as the strength of the light dims even if this is not noticeable to our naked eye.  Buy a cheap timer and leave them on for 14-16 hours.

Soil    Soilless seed starting mixes are sterile and formulated to retain water, allow air penetration and maintain the low pH most seeds prefer.  To commercial mixes add 1/3 additional perlitte to improve drainage even more -- be careful not to breathe in the perlite dust.  Place on top of the soil mix a thin layer of spaghnum moss to help keep the planting medium sterile and prevent damping off.  If you seeds do not want light for germination (information can be found on seed packets or on the internet) scatter seeds over the spaghnum moss and then top with a layer of traction sand (coarser than builders sand) or very fine gravel -- this helps drainage and stops the soil being washed away when watering.  If the seeds need light, sprinkle on top of the sand layer.

Scarification    The key for successful germination is for water to penetrate the seed.  Some seeds extremely hard seed coats which make penetration more difficult.  To over come this you can soak the seeds in water overnight, nick the seed coat with a knife or simply rub the seed over with a file or sand paper.  Be careful not to go too deep and damage the embryo. 

Stratification    This is the process of exposing seeds to a cold moist environment for several weeks before planting.  Some seeds require a period of cold to germinate well -- this requirement is a safety mechanism which allows tiny seedlings a whole growing season before they have to survive a cold winter.  To fool the seeds into thinking they have gone through a winter, place the seeds in a plastic bag with some moistened vermiculite and leave them in your fridge for two to three weeks.  Make sure you open the bag a couple of times to ensure they have some air exposure. 

Seedlings    Once your seedlings have developed true leaves either cut off the weaker ones with scissors to prevent overcrowding (don’t pull out as this disturbs their roots) or prick out the plants.  Gradually aclimatise them to their new surroundings, as moving them to a coldframe or outdoors if the weather permits will be a shock.  Make sure you label the seeds carefully when you plant them, with both name, date you planted them and any other requirements.  A #2 pencil works best for this.

A day spent bashing snow from buried bushes and trees.  My first concern was the pieris japonica on the patio.  Instead of reaching above our bedroom window the branches were weighed to the ground under the heavy wet snow.

With the help of a large broom I shook the snow gently from the upper branches, getting covered by wet snow in the process.  After being released from snow the branches sprung back almost to their original height. 
Next to tackle is the old japanese maple in front of the living room window.  The ice that now coats the wet snow is creating such pressure on these japanese maples, especially the weeping ones, the weight and the additional pressure on this weeping japanese maple could be enough to break fragile branches and ruin the form.

The yew hedges around the perennial garden have practically disappeared under the snow.  They were 5' tall when we planted them four years ago and have grown a few feet since then but are now weighed to the ground.  More wet work with a broomstick to knock off all the snow from their branches.  Everything is groaning under the weight of the snow.

We braved the snow to walk down Millbank Rd and through the Bryn Mawr College Campus.

Calvert Vaux and Frederick Law Olmsted (famous for their Central Park landscaping) were both involved in the plans for the Bryn Mawr College buildings and grounds at the end of the nineteenth century.  Today the campus is snow covered, host to dozens of kids sledding down the hills and college students improvising with dinner trays.
The grounds are beautiful, we walk past through the campus, and then cross New Gulph and pass the Russian House, once the home of the Vaux family, before scrambling down through the woods and home.

I would love to have a gold Apollo's head in our woods that was 6' tall and towered over the snow.  This one lurks in the garden of Scottish artist and poet, Ian Hamilton Finlay. 

The 5-acre garden in Dunsyre near Edinburgh was originally established in 1966, and was called Stonypath.  It was renamed  "Little Sparta" by Finlay in 1983 as a play between the historical rivalry between the Ancient Greek cities Athens and Sparta -- Edinburgh's nickname is the "Athens of the North".   There are over 275 works by the artist, done in collaboration with masons and craftsmen, including concrete poetry in sculptural form, polemic, and philosophical aphorisms, together with sculptures and two temples. 


Little Sparta was a twenty-three year collaboration between Ian Hamilton Finlay and his wife, Sue Finlay, who was in charge of the plantings.  Together they  established Little Sparta as an internationally renowned composition, a combination of avant-garden experiment, Scottish wit and whimsy and the English landscape garden tradition.  In 2004, a poll of fifty Scottish artists, gallery directors and arts professionals voted Little Sparta as "the nation's greatest work of art" and art historian Sir Roy Strong has said that it is "the only really original garden made in this country since 1945".

We visited Little Sparta just before Finlay's death in 2006 and saw him pottering around inside his house.  The garden is now owned by the Little Sparta Trust, which hopes to preserve the garden by raising enough to pay for an ongoing maintenance fund.  It is an incredible place that is really worth visiting if you are in Scotland -- plan ahead as it is only open on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday afternoons, 2:30-5pm, from 4th June to 29th September. 

Much as I coveted Little Sparta's Apollo, I had to settle for one that is much smaller, a stone discard from the garden center I covered with gold leaf.  In the winter he's visible from the kitchen window.  In the summer he disappears from view, seen only when you wander down a path in the woods and turn a corner.

Another sub-zero night, following a sub-freezing day with the winds of 15 - 30 mph putting temperatures down to -15 to - 25 degrees.  Outside the icicles are growing, inside I dream of summer.

Last night I fell asleep with seed catalogues piled around the bed, myriad choices for summer blossoms and mouth-watering vegetables. 

I’m always drawn back to Renee’s Garden Seeds, partly through nostalgia.  I planted my first cutting and vegetable garden in New Jersey with her seeds when her company was Shepherd’s.  At that time she was very “cutting edge” offering heirloom and hard to find seeds and was one of the first in America to introduce international vegetables, flowers and herbs to home gardeners .  In the mid 1990’s Shepherd's Seeds was bought out by White Flower Farm and prices went up while descriptions went down, becoming flowery and useless instead of informative. 

Shepherd's seeds is now out of business and Renee has re-emerged.  I think her seeds are still expensive, but customer service is excellent, the germination rate is very high and (it may be my imagination) the seeds I order from them seem to grow faster than other companies. The seed packets are great, wonderful hand drawn watercolors of the plants on the front and all the information you need about the variety on the back.

The choice isn’t fantastic, but the older I get the less choice I crave.  I’d rather have an expert devote the time to narrow the field to the best in taste and quality and offer a selection of say 5 excellent extraordinary carrot varieties I dither over than 25 that overwhelm me.  Of course you need an arbiter of taste you trust, which in this case I do. 

There are several heirloom combination packets that are extremely tempting and allow you to experiment with different varieties without wasting vast quantities of seeds -- who needs 500 pepper plants if you want to sample 5 different types?  As a stroke of genius when you order a mixed packet, the seeds are color coded with food grade dye so you can distinguish the different varieties.

This year I'm planting for clients as well as myself and wanted greater choice and more quantity than I see in her catalog.  After skimming through numerous others, I settled on my two other favorite companies.  Johnny's Seeds for great vegetable selection, good prices and customer service and excellent germination rates.  And the old British standby Thompson and Morgan for fabulous flower selections.

I'm always tempted by plants I know I can’t grow.  Old fashioned sweet peas are one of my favorite flowers and I had them twining over our fence in England.  Here I can grow the perennial sweet pea seen above, but it lacks the fragrance of the annuals which on the East Coast of America are usually miserable paltry things that wither before they flower. 

I persevere each year and thanks to last summer's cold wet weather hit the sweet-pea jackpot and fell in love again.    The catalog descriptions   “...graceful beauty .. ruffled blossoms, soft texture and glowing colors ... one of the most irresistible flowers... scent is an exquisite perfume of orange blossoms and honey, surely one of the most seductive of all flower fragrances...”  has induced me to try ONE more time.    I’ve added “Queen of Hearts”, “Jewels of Albion” and “Cupani’s Original” to my long list of seeds to order.  Exquisitely fragrant and heat resistant .. we’ll see!  I'm planning to sow them under lights as soon as they arrive to give them a really early start.

Sub-zero temperatures today and predicted through the week with more snow coming.  I can see the clematis armandii just outside the kitchen windows, I'm afraid with these temperatures I might loose it, though it's too late now to cover it.  The evergreen leaves are still glossy but as it is really best for zones 8 & 9 I'm not that optimistic -- I've lost a couple of others in the past but am so enamored of the fragrant white flowers that cover it in the spring I keep trying.  If it survives, next month it should be in full bud, then covered in brilliant white stars with a wonderful scent from late March continuing through April.  In the UK I grew it on a strong trellis and had to prune it hard every year after flowering as it grew rapidly and could get out of hand.  I haven't had that problem here.  

A quick walk around the the garden reveals that most of the clematis are a complete mess, the snow and high winds have taken their toll and the late flowering tall ones have collapsed into a tangle of jumbled stems.  In a couple of months they need to be cut down to within a couple of feet of the ground -- I usually cut them to just above the first bud.  Brutal as it seems they will shoot up and flower more evenly after this treatment.   A couple of them I will transplant at the same time as they have outgrown their spot.  It’s vital to know what time of year your clematis flower, if you hack back the earlier flowering ones in this manner you will lose most of the years bloom.

In the front of the house we've trained the small yellow flowering clematis tangutica along wire hoops that cover the drainpipe.  The weight of the snow and the winds have torn the supports away from the house and the clematis is flopped on the ground and over the cable wire running to the house.  It's too cold and miserable to do much now but the first decent day I'm going to have to re-ty the supports and prune back the clematis.

The climbing roses and clematis trained against the side of the house are a disaster.    The supporting wires have broken away and are now waving in the wind and the roses are a rampant mess.  It’s going to take hours on a ladder in the spring to prune back and control the mess. 

I still have more clematis to plant next year.  C. Jackamanii is still my favorite with flowers of deep purple velvet covering it during the summer.  Someone had planted it against a trellis by the kitchen window of our  New Jersey house and I’ve loved it ever since.  When we moved I was so attached I was tempted to dig it up and take it to England with us, but didn’t fancy getting caught by customs over a common climber.  I later heard the people who bought our house razed it to the ground, heartbreaking.  If it’s cut to the ground in early spring you avoid the usual tangle at the top of its growth and it’s breathtaking.

Another clematis I cannot live without is the pink flowered C. Montana.  It flowers early in the season, and is a bit of a rampant thug -- I’ve planted a couple by the wood piles hiding our compost heaps.  It copes with the shade at the edge of the woods and isn’t as vigorous.  Once it’s flowers fade you’re left with a lot of green so is good to plant along with a later flowering clematis or rose. 

Other early flowering favorites are the purple flowering President and the white Henryi.  These two are fabulous training into the lower branches of a climbing rose, I plant them about 3 feet away and tip the bamboo supports they are trained on towards the rose, the tendrils will soon start clambering along the rose stems.  I’ve never had much luck planting them in the same hole, after a while competition wins out and the rose roots overwhelms the clematis which suffers a lingering death

Even a powdering of snow changes the landscape. Contours are smoothed, clutter disappears and the winter garden becomes magical.

Gardens with good bones shine, the usual detail is erased and the bare bones are exposed.  Trees, hedges and walls, garden pergolas and garden structures are clearly etched in the landscape and the usual stars of the winter landscape take back stage.   It is the only time of the year that I really yearn for topiary.  In a few years the front garden will benefit from clipped box balls and stark yew hedges that are currently in their adolescence.    These evergreen workhorses form the backbone of a winter garden.

Grasses start to look bedraggled, the tight green of the taxus cuspidata provides balance to the billowy whiteness of a snow drenched landscape.

In the center of one of Sissinghurt's courtyards is a great copper pot, planted out with bulbs in the spring, followed by a succession of annuals.

Planting tulips and bulbs directly into pots worked for me in England, but they failed abysmally here, the bulbs rotting down into a soggy mass during winter's freezes and thaws.  

This year I filled plastic planting pots full of potting soil and layers of Princess Irene and Orange Emperor tulip bulbs and planted them in nursery beds.  I'm hoping they will be ready to remove and plant out in the spring.  The holes the pots leave I'll fill with dahlias and other tender tubers I now have wrapped in shredded paper in the garage.  

My copper pot is currently filled with snow, brimming with little but ice.

Another day of snow and storms -- a good book and hot chocolate kind of day. I have a pile of gardening books by my chair to sort through for design inspirations.  More importantly, I just pre-ordered my 2011 Yellow Book online from the National Gardens Scheme.  Every February in England the National Gardens Scheme publishes its bible of garden visiting, the Yellow Book.  The 2011 edition features over 3,700 gardens that are open for charity, most are private and not usually open to the public. 

Anybody who doubts that the British are bonkers about gardening should get their hands on a copy and read the descriptions of gardens that range from tiny terrace plots to rolling country estates, all jostled side by side within the pages.  The descriptions themselves are worth the price of the book  -  £14 online including p&p to the USA from the National Gardens Scheme website.  This year it is in a new format and full color.

You can also search for open gardens on the NGS garden finder page, which is helpful if you're planning a trip to England this summer and only want to know what's open during your visit.   Another great way to spend a snowy winter day.  

You have to plan your trip ahead of time, as not all gardens can be visited on a whim.  Some are by appointment only, others are community efforts with a street or village banding together to throw open their gates.  Over 2,000 of the gardens have plant sales and 2,500 "provide the all important teas and home-made cakes," a staple of every good British garden visit.  The peak month for garden openings is June, some like Great Dixter are open all year round. 
Cosmic SpeculationIf you’re living in or visiting Scotland, the Yellow book will not do you much good as it only covers gardens south of the border.  For Scottish gardens you need to visit the website of the Scottish Garden Scheme.  

I live in hope that our annual visit to family coincides with the opening of Charles Jencks extraordinary Garden of Cosmic Speculation at Portrack House in Dumfries. 

Over the last twenty years he has created a private wonderland in the grounds of an 18th century manor house complete with twisted grand-scale landforms, lakes, a geometric kitchen garden of the Six Senses, woodland walks, a Nonsense Building designed by James Stirling, sculptures that include one of DNA and a newly completed comet bridge. 

This year the garden is open Sunday, May 4th from noon - 5pm, needless to say we will not be there but if you’re in the area for £6 you can take the tour.  Maybe I should just book a trip to Dumfries now.