What's Up at the Nursery? March 2, 2024
By Lise Fracalossi
Spring is fast approaching, and we have been busy here at Red Trillium Gardens!
Did you notice our new look? RaigeMage wrapped up our logo and banner design last week, and this week I’ve finally been able to implement it! (Being a former web developer helps!) My guidance to him was “Art Deco trillium,” and I think he’s done a bang-up job of capturing that. If you see any infelicities with the site associated with those changes, do let me know!
The banner image for this post features amber jelly fungus (genus Exidia) on a fallen twig in my yard. It was around 20 degrees Fahrenheit that day (-7 Celsius), so it’s frozen jelly! (Mmm mmm good?)
This week we finished winter sowing seeds that require cold moist stratification. Hopefully we have enough cold days ahead of us for them! We still have some “no stratification required” seeds that we plan to sow, but we’re running out of places to put them in the “plant dungeon.”
We’ve also begun sowing peppers of various sorts, both for our own use and for market. Habañeros were sown last week, and jalapeños and bell peppers are on the agenda for this weekend. Peppers take a long time to reach maturity, so it’s best to start them early to ensure multiple harvests. Although, again: we’re limited by space and equipment.
On that note – and by popular request – I’ve put together a “How to Help” page, with a “wishlist” of supplies that we could really use. On the “high priority” list are shop/grow lights (both 2’ and 4’ varieties), light timers, heat mats, and humidity domes. While we try valiantly to reuse or upcycle as much stuff as possible, there are simply some supplies we have to buy in. As an extra incentive, we’re offering a free (small) plant in the spring to anyone who contributes.
Are you following us on Instagram? We’ve posted a few reels you might like – one about how we upcycle milk jugs into plant labels, and one about Chamaecrista fasciculata, or partridge pea. (Probably the topic for our next Native Plant Showcase!)
(I’m still not very good at this whole “video editing” thing. No one told me that was required to run a native plant nursery!)
I found out too late that this is Invasive Species Awareness Week. I didn’t have time to whip up an appropriate blog post, but may I direct you to this older post I wrote about multiflora rose??