From the chair

From Carol Eicher, chair:

Transplanting has been on my mind a lot the past two weeks. I’ve been trying to keep up with seedlings as they grow and need to be potted out of their starter flats. I confess the whole repotting thing is a bit of a project and messy – finding a block of time to set up and meticulously handle the delicate and tiny sprouts. It’s an activity best held outdoors but of course it’s been far too cold. For a brief moment I’m caught up until the next wave – my emerging vegetable seeds – demand more room. Already I’m out of space under my grow lights. Ah space. No matter how much allotted room we have, is this not a constant gardener’s plight?

I for one will be very happy to see April 19 come, the day of our next meeting, because that means I’ll be able to rid myself of lots of seedlings to share with you in my quest to gain more growing room.

I’m excited about some of my babies. Of the 3 alliums that have germinated, Allium caeruleum looks very interesting at 24 inches tall with blue flowers. I’m ecstatic to have a dozen young Gentiana septemfida plants. They were so tiny and difficult to transplant but look like they’ll survive! Then there are still more small plants that show promise for the rock garden - Ephedra minima, Erysimum nivale, Horminum pyrenaicum, Leontopodium alpinum, and Scutellaria alpina, to name a few – nothing particularly rare, simply the thrill of seeing the miracle of their emergence.

To get the most out of our seedling exchange I hope you’ll bring seedlings by your own hand or self-sown volunteers from your garden. Note the change of venue for this meeting. The head house at Ken Post Lab is the perfect place to handle our messy plant transactions. The plant exchange will follow our speaker presentation – the details of both are contained in this newsletter. It will be a full meeting to be sure and one I hope you have marked your calendar to attend.

Happy Gardening,

Carol