At the seed library event at the Laramie County Library in mid-March, 600 excited gardeners picked out of 150 seeds. If you missed it, there are more free species cataloged on the third floor of the main library and on the branches of Pine Bluffs and Burns, said library staff member Kelly Johnson.
The Laramie County Master Gardener can wear it and see the bean sprouts every hour, showing how to extend the growing season when a gardener corners, how to fold a pot that makes seeds from a newspaper, and how to slide dried beans and wet cotton balls into a small plastic bag along with stretchy bands, and you can wear it and see the bean sprouts every hour. I don’t think the child refused the offer.
Some of the people I chatted with included veteran gardeners who had immigrated from Texas. He is the first time he tries to grow vegetables in Wyoming. Another man confessed that he had never grown anything before and came to see what it was. Someone else showed me a photo of the meadow I wanted to make in my garden.
One woman told me she already had a big vegetable garden. Another woman confessed to being a beginner and came with a friend to support her. Someone else confessed this spring that she was an intern at Master Gardener. The strict classes will finish in March in time for the intern to make all that new knowledge work.
Gardening in Cheyenne in April is part of the indoor and outdoors. Indoors, my forced spring bulb has finished. Crocus, daffodils and some tulips worked, but the others didn’t. I’m reverting the leaves, and one day I’ll find a place to plant them this spring and have the opportunity to build their bulbs for them to bloom next spring.
In April, outside, you need to lift a little leaf mulch, knowing that other spring bulbs are sending films. I don’t want to remove all the mulch – it provides protection when snow falls in May.
At home, most of my amaryllis bulbs are in bloom. I don’t let them bloom for Christmas, but I give them water and sunlight all year round. I’m from mid-March to mid-April when they’ve flowered for the past 8 years (some bulbs are even older), and at 85% of the time.
April is the time to want to bloom most of my orchids too. For the first time this year, I decided to put up two flower spikes each, rather than one.
My accidental wave petunia experiment is going well. Last fall, before frost, I cut out all the stems that were still in bloom and put them in a vase. They continued to grow the buds and then the roots grew, so I potted them. The original plant was reduced to nubs and started to start new growth where I placed it in the garage, so I brought it in too, giving it a lot of light and fertilizer.
Mark is ready to start his tomatoes. Heat mats, shoplights and plastic domes keep moisture until they sprout.
Outside, I still cut down most of the perennial flowers. Some flower heads still have seeds and birds can use them for perches. Cut the fallen stems into 6-inch pieces and add them to a thin layer of mulch of leaves.
Two large trees in my garden leave a thick layer every fall, and by spring I start peeling it into a compost pile bucket with a bucket. There is also a wooden mulch that was infused by a neighbor next to the street where I need to clean it up.
Little by little, in May, I reduced the old perennial stems. However, I have heard that some hollow ones, especially upright, should be left in order for beneficial insects to lay eggs and remain 12 inches tall or so.
If the soil was dry enough, I could start digging out more grass, so I have room to plant more perennials. Mark digs up lots of vegetable beds raised in his backyard, as the trees are filled with roots each year. But without tree roots he can go to the till of raised beds, no dig options, create a soil structure and add a few inches of compost.
And there may be May when you shuffle your vegetable pot before you get in and out before you’re sure the freezing night will be over.
