Garden at Hoverfly Meadow

24/03/2026

For those nearby, Alcona Conservation District is having their first native plant sale. Good for those new to native plants, selection is a bit small as they are checking to see if it will be successful.

ALCONA CONSERVATION DISTRICT

23/03/2026

Received a botanical garden block set a few months ago, like Lego, but, one of those cheaper companies that makes the designs that Lego doesn't. Been busy with garden things and hadn't started it, then realized I had a week where I can't really do any gardening prep and decided to start it. Only, this little raven fellow was still in my block trays from fall. I started and then forgot all about him. Anyhow, finished him so I could start the next. He looks cute I think. but not quite, think this isn't official lego.

20/03/2026

Well, look who's popping up a bit early! Jack in the Pulpit, Arisaema triphyllum, has decided to show up a bit early. I had plans to double stratify this one- these spent 60 days in a baggie of dirt in the fridge and I moved them to the heat mat March 9th with plans to move back to the fridge in 60 days. A few days ago I was like, wait, is that a spot of green? I assumed it was algae and moved on. Anyhow, nope, it's sprouts. All 10 seeds have started germinating, all had an emerging radicle (the little first root piece) and around 4 of them had the start of cotyledons (first little leaf/stem piece). Today they each got their own little pot since nobody wants to grow up in a sandwich bag. lol

20/03/2026

I thought this one was growing leaves the other day- and here we are, first to the finish line for this group of fig cuttings. This one is Celeste and there are roots as well. This one arrived in the mail Feb 27th and it probably took me a few days to bag it up. It's crazy how fast some of them root. That's less than 20 days to roots and leaves for this one. I think one of my Campaniere figs may also have roots. These are so much fun to grow.

08/03/2026

Took advantage of fake spring to shuffle some things in the yard. Brought my winter sow containers onto the porch instead for the remainder of the year. Several had blocked drainage holes, so I drilled new holes. My large pots that I planted tulips in all had standing water- because the bottom half of the pot was still frozen. So, I ran around with the drill putting extra drainage holes in everything. I'm trying not to look at the garden- everything looks dead this time of year, and then it surprises you by coming back. But glancing at it now always gives me a bit of anxiety. The yard is so wet this year.

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06/03/2026

Not the most photogenic time of year- but, here we go again. Next set of fig cuttings has arrived and finally been bagged up to root. One of the little blueberry plants I picked up as a bareroot is already flowering, a little early, but it is in a pot inside as dirt is still under at least 6" of snow.
Before you gasp in horror at all the single use plastic- I want to ease your mind a bit by letting you know that I bought a box of 'candy bags' at a thrift store around 16 years ago back when I used to sell vintage stuff on Ebay. Somebody had apparently given up on a soap business as there was a lot of soap making stuff as well and then this case of bags for $1. This case of bags has protected a lot of vintage items on their way to new homes. I had exactly enough to finish this set of figs. It felt strangely poetic. Next year I will come up with a different method- I didn't mind using this method this time as I had the bags leftover from my used bag stash- but, I won't be buying more bags to do it again. Though, maybe I'll just dump these out and reuse them.
I'm a little nervous about the workload I've set myself up for- but at least it all happens in May. Enjoyed the last couple warm days- been bringing all the little seedlings and dormant plants outside for a fieldtrip then hauling them all back in at evening time. My winter annuals are doing so well! Collinsia verna is definitely very well winter adapted. It spent it's first overnight outdoors and got to 25 degrees and looked just fine today. The smaller of the corydalis flavula looked a bit worse for wear spending the night outside, but, the larger ones seem fine with it. I'm acclimating the brussel sprouts as well, they are outside during the day and garage at night. Artichokes got mostly up potted today and spent the afternoon outside- but garage will get to freezing, so they are back inside for overnight.
Tomorrow, my first large preorder shows up, approximately 32-26 plants- there was possibly a couple cancellations- so we'll see what shows up. This order is dormant hardy hibiscus, hydrangeas and lilacs. In transit in another order is also some dormant bareroot native roses and ferns. A dahlia tuber order also looks like it has shipped- a bit early, but if there's a heat pack it should be fine. Guess I'll know on Saturday if that was okay. I got some tomato seeds in a trade this week- but, probably need to wait at least another week to start tomatoes. I also got in my first group of strawberry plants for the year, 10 packs of eclair, seascape, flamingo, white caroline, and albion.
Fortunately, I think after this load of stuff, nothing else ships until first week of May, so lots of time to get this all settled in before I need to pot up a lot more little plants.

03/03/2026

Ah March, easily the worst gardening month in northern Michigan. It would be easier if there weren't so many dahlias in my house. I sent in a funky looking one for testing at MSU, it should have arrived today. Hopefully that one will get the all clear and then I can start moving them out to new homes as I have way too many. Had to start them early though because of that frost damage on some of them. Glad I started peppers early though- a couple varieties failed spectacularly so I still had time to plant them again. It is going to be warm enough to put my brussel sprouts outside during the day for several days this week, really excited about that because I am running low on shelf space. Think I need to really consider some kind of lowtunnel for next year- my garden aspirations don't fit in my house.. lol

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23/02/2026

I keep meaning to post here- but I've been so busy with dahlia things I just haven't gotten to. I started waking my tubers, I started too late last year and don't want to do that this year. I lost a couple varieties to the heater unplug incident- but, just about everything overwintered beautifully. This was my first attempt overwintering them and I'll admit to being way too proud of my modereate success. lol These are seedlings from seeds I collected during the summer.

14/02/2026

Been doing the bleak task of trying to salvage my dahlia tubers from when their heater got left unplugged and they got down to 29 F. It's not fun. It's better than I thought it would be, so far no variety is a total loss thanks to how much pine shavings they were in. But, it's sad to go from extras to trade to just enough to have what I had last year. Was really hoping to add more varieties with trading. On a happy note, I have 6 rooted figs. Did so much better than last year.

10/02/2026

Found a folder of photos I missed editing over the summer. I was looking for dahlia photos as it's almost time to start trading dahlia tubers- I'm still missing a chunk of dahlia photos, no idea where I saved them, but these ones were fun to find. If you really want to enjoy gardening, it really helps if you also enjoy the bugs. Looking forward to seeing my little insect friends again soon.

08/02/2026

2 successes and a failure. My Q. prinoides failed- when someone says to store in an unheated garage important that you clarify what temperature they mean. Frozen solid doesn't work when they're sprouting. Artichokes doing well so far. Ancho peppers doing well. Groninger br sprouts trying to damp off, but, they always do that. I have 54 in this tray and another 20 in a pot to replace any that damp off in the tray. I only need 20.

02/02/2026

Wrong time of year to start these, they are better when harvested in fall, but, these were old seeds and I want to try some as an experiment in a different location. I hope my onion seeds are good, I don't see a single onion sprout yet. Last year I thought they came up in about a week, but, it's been a week and no growth at all. If no sprouts in another few days I guess it's time for a new pack of seeds. They are seeds I've had a couple years.