January - February Greenhouse Report

I've loved having a greenhouse this winter. The surprise flower bouquets of pansies, snapdragons, geraniums. Being able to harvest fresh rosemary and mint. The smell of lavender and eucalyptus. All of the plants are overwintering well inside and happy (minus the tender tropical plants that had to be moved inside). There's even a surprise nasturtium in the fig tree pot! It's been a lovely escape for me to go out there and be with the greenery. 

Even lemon verbena, which I was sure was going to die, is coming back with lots of fresh baby leaves all over. My succulents are doing great in here. I'm so happy that I'll have pansies to put out on my porch in a couple weeks when things warm up a bit more (we are still having nights in the low 20s so it's not yet time). The patchouli is even surviving - even though it mostly died, I was able to save a piece of the "mother plant" and bring it inside in a smaller pot. Hopefully it will grow back into a large plant again this summer from the piece I saved. 

There have been a few hiccups. After 2 feet of snow from a blizzard, big chunks of melting snow and icicles fell off the house roof and took out the greenhouse roof panels - it was surprisingly violent, falling from such a big height (our attic is like 35 feet up). Luckily it was all fixable, but it led to a very panicked hour of putting it together by myself. There were some bent parts I didn't think would un-bend, but they did! Crisis averted. 

And then this past week we had aphids. On multiple plants. Which must have come from hatched eggs hitching a ride, exploding now that it's so warm in here on bright sunny days. I'm doing my best to take care of the problem now, but without the natural predators it's hard. The first flowers I'm starting from seed this year will be marigolds. 

The surprise mini bouquets of flowers this winter have been worth all the extra work to come out here and take care of things (not that it's much work - the heat is turned on with the flick of a switch inside in the dining room and then I just have to water once a week and refill the buckets. I just like coming out here to "check on things.") 

What I'm most looking forward to with the greenhouse is happening next: spring planting! Having a greenhouse opens up a whole new world of possibilities with plants for me. There will be a lot more room in here when we can get rid of the buckets of water (acting as heat sinks and humidifiers) and the big heater once it stays mostly above freezing at night. 

This March and April I'm going to enjoy being able to utilize the greenhouse for:

• Trying out cold weather bulbs: ranunculus and anemones. They need cooler weather but protection at night and icy days (but not a warm house), so the greenhouse will be perfect for this. 
• Growing lettuce and baby greens before the ground has thawed. 
• Starting bulbs earlier. The earlier the begonia and dahlia bulbs get started, the earlier they will bloom. I'll start them in recycled starter buckets and transplant them to their pots and beds in May.
• More flowers from seed. Having only one seed starting light and limited space in our small house meant I was limited in how many seeds we could start, and the flowers have always been the first thing to go from the list. This year, once the sprouts are established, I can move them to the greenhouse and let real sunlight do the work. 

The greenhouse is going to be FULL in March and April, with transplanting everything in May. I'm so excited for this next phase!