What will you be doing in your spare time????
What is the latest you might still get snow?
I know someone in Thunder Bay,that sometimes gets snow in May,lasting until June.
Good Luck with your germination rate.
Don

It is variable here. Out last frost date, is june 1st, and ive seen it well before that as well. Personaly ive never seen snow past may ( early). But i know it has happened in the past. Usualy, snow is gone by march or april, and the ground can be worked april or early may ( I know im definetly living in the wrong area!!!!)

There are many many times, when the city sees rain, while the country still sees snow. The lake has a moderating effect around 10km inland, the closer tot he lake you are, the warmer youll be in the winter. The country is always 10c colder then the city in the winter, and is always warmer in the summer.

This is my spare time LOL. Ive nbeen off work since october due to a back injury ( im fine though, jsut have to be careful), so i wo nt be working till february, or march. When i do start working again, i bet ill be regretting having 200+ pots of seeds growing, but for now... im killin the time left of winter 😀

35 seed packs to germinate...holy moly 😯

LOL ya..... should be interesting to say the least

Good luck Jesse

No better way to keep busy,than doing what you love!

Canadianplant, did you ever have any luck with the eucalyptus seeds? 😆

They are stratifying.... As far as i seen, they all needed to be stratified, except one kind, that i sowed a few weeks ago, nothin yet.
What about you?

I haven't started germinating most of them yet. When I was getting some seeds ready to send to someone, a few E. neglecta seeds fell on the floor, so I swept them up, threw them in an empty pot, and a few days later there were seedlings! The same thing happened with another Australian species, callistemon pityoides 😀

that's one long list! You'll be busy all spring & summer. The only difference between your list and mine is that 80% of mine will be Yucca hybrids!

Wow, June 1st is late! Last frost date here in SE Wisconsin is April 26th.

Damn it cameron.... LOL I have a pot of those actualy, with nothing so far ( a bit of mould i scooped out). Grats on the good luck 😀

Ya tim.... if i had a bigger yard, if have lots more stuff. Then again, i hae a wholepack of agave montana seeds. That i havnt had a chance to pot up yet... You just reminded me

Ya, it isnt usualy that late. Its our average. We usualy have a long time between frosts, or light frosts, then when we let our gurards down BOOM, frost. My climate is close to duluth ( im only 3 hours north up the highway), except the lake moderates the temps alot more. Just 20 minuts from my house was seeing frosts a month before my house ever seen anything. Lots of things are going to be planted im may again ( last frost was may 8th last year and first frost wasnt till a few days before halloween). WX your a good 10 + hours south, suprising how much of a difference that plays on frost dates ( i think even down in southern ontario isnt untill late april or early may).

Since barb has got the wheels turning ( she asked me what I meant about "palm edition"), I think i should explain a bit.

im starting to get quite a collection of trachy seeds, as well as other cold hardy types. I of course, crazy as I am want to try to over winter one here. Im hopeing to plant some seedlings, to experiment with this year. Im hoping to have at least one palm to try. Seedlings are a bit easier to protect, but as you all know, arent as hardy as their older counterparts. Then again, plants started directly in your garden are apperantly more hardy then if you planted a potted specimin ( something to do with not restricting root growth). Long story short.... Im going to see what happens.

I very luckily found all our old c9 christmas lights. Ill jsut have to get some replacement bulbs.]]

On top of that, Im hoping to have some eucalyptus, to try and grow as a die back perennial.

Some of you might be wondering why i have so much food. Im trying to create a sort of food forest. IT takes quite a bit of explaining, but it is essentialy nnot gardening by most normal means. ITs permaculture, or a form of sustanable gardening, which gives me toom to have exotics, food, and native wildlife, while making less and less work for myself. No tilling and minimal fetilizing (besides compost and rotted manure, and the soil). This is going to take a few years to take off. I have some hazelnuts in the f ridge, hopefully ready to sprout. Im not going to have a monocropic type garden for my food, the carrots, tomatos and what not will all be interplanted between the ornamentals/non food plants, back planted with tall shrubs, or one or 2 large trees. This creates a forest edge,in which eventualy very little care is needed

plants started directly in your garden are apperantly more hardy then if you planted a potted specimen

That's why growing palms outdoors is so puzzling to get correct.
They're hardier as they get older, but need to become established first.
An enigma for sure.

You're too young (way too young) to remember Ruth Stout but she was the old lady 30+ years ago who became famous in organic gardening circles for her "no tilling" practices of veggie gardening. She brought in literally tons of spoiled hay to mulch her garden, and created fabulous soil where everything grew to its maximum yield.

Good for you Jesse.
One day we'll read about your interplanting successes.

Barb

Actualy barb, ruth was mentioned in a book i read, called gaias garden - a guide to homescale permaculture.... I cant remember the actual infor about her, but i definetly reconise the name.