Winter Gardening Projects
The cold winter months are a great time to bring nature inside with colorful indoor plants and prep your outdoor garden for spring. Get details and tips for winter gardening projects in this video by P. Allen Smith:
Amaryllis
Amaryllis has great “flower power” and comes in many different colors. You don’t need soil to grow them and get them to bloom. If you take the soil-less approach, be sure to place beads, rocks, or other materials in the bottom of your container to keep the bulb from actually sitting in water. To keep these flowers looking their best, place them in a cooler location in your home that doesn’t get a lot of direct sunlight. Amaryllis will move in the direction of sunlight, so rotating the plant daily will keep them centered and straight. After all the flowers have wilted, you can cut the stems off near the base of the plant; the foliage fortifies the bulb such that it will produce another beautiful bloom next year.
Containers, Liners and Top Dressing
Poinsettias, paperwhites and orchids are wonderful for the winter, and you can plant them in different types of containers, including galvanized buckets, around your home. When bringing houseplants indoors, put a waterproof liner in the containers they will be planted in. You can use plastic store bags, freezer bags or aluminum foil; make sure you don’t pierce them. Floor guard plastic saucers are virtually invisible and also provide moisture protection. Top dressing a plant in sheet moss or Spanish moss gives it a decorative finish and helps it retain moisture. If your plant comes topped with mulch or bark, you won’t need top dressing.
Fireplace Wood Ash
If you have a wood-burning fireplace, once the wood is burned, you or someone else will have to deal with the ash. Use fireplace tools to clean out the firebox and fill an ash bucket. Wood ash contains about 1% phosphorus and about 5% potassium; you can use it to side dress your outdoor plants and change your soil’s alkalinity.
Rose Bush Pruning
Pruning your rose bushes will cause them to bloom prolifically in the spring. Wear gauntlet gloves and leather to protect against the thorns. Using a pair of pruning shears, cut out any dead material and everything that’s under the size of a pencil. Shape the plant by locating the dormant buds and cutting just above those that are growing out. Feed them every six weeks during the growing season.
Orchids
Orchids are the easiest blooming houseplants you could possibly grow. They come in many colors and make a wonderful addition to any home. The major mistake people make is overwatering them. They only need water about once a week; you can even put just a few ice cubes on them to keep them watered. When buying orchids, make sure they’re staked and that the stems aren’t broken. Try to find some with extra buds. Orchid flowers will last up to three months, but the more unopened buds you have, the more “flower power” will come out of that plant over time.
Place orchids in indirect sunlight to keep them alive and vibrant. You can put two orchids in one container. Remove them from their plastic containers and transfer them into freezer bags, leaving the tops open. Place them in the container and arrange them so that they move in one direction. Wedge in newspaper to hold them in place. Replace the stakes with kiwi vine to add visual interest and use natural clips made from jute-wrapped wire. Cover the tops of the orchids with moistened sheet moss.
Paperwhites
If you want fresh flowers in the house throughout the winter months, grow paperwhite narcissus. Create a bed in a glass jar using white and/or black beads and place the bulbs on top. Fill the container with water up to where the water touches the base of the bulbs. Place the container in a room where they’re away from direct light until they root in (this will take around a week), and then move the container to a place where it can get more light (maybe near a window), and watch them bloom.
