I had started a Chinese mandarin orange from seed 3 winters ago, it is getting to tall now for the counter that I was putting it on. So I am finally removing the counter, it needs to go anyway, and then I need to build an adjustable bench until the plant gets taller. The bench will allow it to get the most light through the window as I don't use a grow light. I have planted a couple more seeds from what I think is an American variety, they were sold with a part of the branch still attached, not sure if they will sprout. Also I need to fix up some bird houses before the occupants show up.

Wayne, I’ll have to give growing citrus from seed one day. I didnt know this could be done successfully, I had assumed most plants are grafted/propagated.

Was your seed from a grocery store purchased fruit? I rather like eating blood oranges and kumquats, which are available right now in some stores.

This is our ‘Dancy’ tangerine tree today, we’ve had it for about five years now. When we purchased it was already a large plant, it definitely takes up more room now and is a challenge to find adequate space for it. We also don’t use grow lights for it:

I love the sound of birds, I’ve taken to playing bird sounds when driving to remind me of the warm months. Perhaps I’ll get the hummingbird feeder going this year. We also have a woodpecker who occasionally pecks at the house siding.

That's a very nice looking plant, yes the seeds were in a couple of oranges that I had bought just before Christmas, mandarins are supposed to grow true to seed source is my understanding. Spring is getting closer

PNR, that is quite an amazing orange tree, sure makes me wish I had a large four seasons sunroom!! Have you ever had troubles with insects on that tree? Years ago, Sears McConnell Nurseries had sent out an awesome little catalog offering a citrus collection in which I received nice sized flowering plants. Problem was they ended up being extremely insect prone, spider mites, mealy bugs, aphids, I had needed to just give up on them.

Ahhh, bird sounds, don't you just love meadowlarks, loons, song sparrows and chickadees! I sometimes have had meadowlarks singing the forest behind my house and the loons are just across on the lake, what a wonderful sound to hear during a warm summers night!

Here's some of the things I have going ...

'Elise' lewisia ... these are fantastic flowering plants for containers or in ground.

'Santos Purple' verbena that must be thinned and transplanted asap! This is a tough plant that blooms for months on end, photo enclosed is from my place.

A fraction of my current rose seeding crop, I have others that are more advanced in growth.

Barberries from seed collected from several varieties I grow.

I also have 'Big Rose Bronze Leaf' and 'Gryphon' begonia seedlings beginning to emerge. I also need to sow the 'Bada Boom' wax begonias.

What a nice thread. In the winter I love to go thru seed catalogues, sort my seeds, and make lists of what I want. I spend a lot of time researching apples and trying to find new varieties to graft. Here is a picture of my chickadee, I took it in -40C weather. He should tuck his little toes in underneath himself or they will get cold.

Thanks Wayne, good to hear, I'm gong to see if I can still find kumquats for sale, hopefully I can get some seeds.

FrozeBudd, yes the tangerine tree is somewhat prone to red mites and aphids, misting keeps it down, or if I can, I cut off any leaves and stems if I see bugs on them. Your seeding is well ahead of me. I used to work at a garden centre years ago, and remember getting a rash on my arms from just watering the verbena. Your variety looks different than what I see in the garden centres. I am always seeking long blooming plants.

Ubro - great photo!

9/9 of my Sungold tomato seeds planted are now up! Great to see those germination rates from seeds purchased last year. Heating mats seem to help greatly.

I also grow citrus and yes you can start all from seed but they say that some will not fruit for many years. I think mandarine is one that will fruit after only 3. Read on the citrus forum they are a font of info and very helpful.

wayne-- I think the variety of mandarine sold with stems and leaves were owari satsuma. I had some and they were delicious.

Wow the citrus forum is very helpful, I had no idea citrus growers are so dedicated. I decided to pass on planting a moro blood orange seed, looks like that's one which may take 5-10 years. I started following this thread on kumquats grown from seed, it's quite inspiring, [https://www.houzz.com/discussions/9-meiwa-kumquat-trees-from-seed-dsvw-vd~4615040?n=47[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/9-meiwa-kumquat-trees-from-seed-dsvw-vd~4615040?n=47)

Another favourite gardening activity in winter I have is of course shopping! Orders I have placed this year include Stokes, Botanus, Lindenberg Seeds, Veseys, William Dam Seeds and the Lily Nook. Rona also sells the big bales of Pro-Mix BX and HP for $31.99, so I got a couple.

Some things I was close to ordering, but passed onto the wishlist for the future:

'Fru Dagmar Hastrup' rose from Whiffletree Farms. Looks like they got a good selection of fruit as well, https://www.whiffletreefarmandnursery.ca/catalogue/ 

Baby's breath 'Gypsy Deep Rose', osteospermum and calibrachoa seeds from Swallowtail Seeds (these are sometimes so expensive, in such large quantities, or hard to find in Canada it's worth ordering from the USA), https://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/

'Louise Bugnet' and other Canadian heritage roses from Cornhill Nursery, http://www.cornhillnursery.com/Roses.html 

Miniature roses from The Heather Farm, http://www.theheatherfarm.com/

Lily and oriental bulk bulbs from Costco.ca - $47.99 for for 42 bulbs & free shipping, if I had only known sooner! My understanding is no membership is needed to shop their website, https://www.costco.ca/bulbs-plants-seeds.html

Thanks Ubro for the cultivar name, will check it out.

Geranium ‘Mint Chocolate Candy’ came up today:

‘Sungold’ cherry tomatoes, best sweet flavour combined with productivity last year out of the varieties I tried. Already growing quickly, these were planted last week on the evening of Feb. 15, here they are today Feb. 21:

Cherry tomato ‘Black Cherry’ has not come up yet, but being heirloom, growth was slow last year.

I haven't started my tomatoes yet I should get on that. I love gathering ideas for spring plantings, this year I am trying out water lilies as my newest experiment.

My Kratky hydroponic method of growing romaine is doing great. I have the lights set up for the cut flowers I grow for market so this was an easy thing to add. Lettuce is the one thing I would like to grow myself in the winter to eat. One 4ft florescent fixture will light 12 of these pots, I am going to do them in rotation so I always have some ready to go. These are about 4 weeks old in another 2 they should be ready to eat.

I’ve never heard of the Kratky method, it looks much simpler compared to other hydroponic methods I’ve seen!

Indoor herbs also help get me through the winter. I learned green onions bunches grow and increase very well at room temperature with a small amount of water:

I’m glad, today it has ‘warmed up’ to 3C here!

It's a closed unit with no need to add water thru the growing period. You grow your seedling in a 2"net cup in coir or a rock wool cube, suspend it in the hole in the top of the lid (2") and just make sure the water with fertilizer is 1 " up the net pot. Leave it alone till you harvest. The plant grows roots down into the water and as the water is used up it has roots in the air that provide oxygen and roots in the water that take up the nutrient. This way the plant doesn't drown and the roots don't rot. Herbs are supposed to do very well, especially basil. My containers are from the dollar store and cost $1 each. I put a dark plastic bag over them so algae won't grow in the water.

Here is a picture of the roots, it really is a set it and forget it

One of my favourite winter garden activities happens just before i fall asleep at night. I walk through my summer gardens in my mind and just breathe in the atmosphere. Doesn't always help me sleep better, but it's something nice to do. :) Sometimes i get good ideas too! (if only i could remember half of them!)

I've planted a couple of flats of seeds so now is the time for "sprout-watching". Most of them have come up in the week since they've been planted. I'm also trying "Evening Scentsation" this year, hoping to plant them in a couple of places where their scent can be caught.

It's too early for tomatoes, IMO - will start them closer to the end of the month. My grandson wants to grow popcorn this year. We always start his regular corn in May but i'm thinking the popcorn will have to be started in April.

Right now we have so much snow that any idea of spring seems to be a distant dream.

I walk through my summer gardens in my mind and just breathe in the atmosphere.

I hear you LOL. Just before sleep I have built a pond, made a better grape trellis, grafted beautiful fruit trees, and created a weed free garden. Dreaming of what will be is a lovely way to start the night.

I showed the petunias yesterday, ‘Evening Scentsation’ and ‘Opera Supreme Raspberry Ice’. The seeds seemed expensive, but it’s nice to see them packaged in a vial like so:

Package says they are originate from Japan! I was also happy to get 25 seeds instead of the listed 20.

My primary daydream is of my ‘Winnipeg Parks’ bed, this is where my mind always wanders to. I was happy with how all six plants were finally established last year:

PNR, here's 'Marie Bugnet' (or 'Rita Bugnet'?), the poor thing had remained potted and left to languish for three years before finally getting its roots into the ground. It's a beautiful rose with individual blooms that last longer than that of most rugosas. Also, am looking forward to growing 'Louise Bugnet'!

I too am a fan of 'Winnipeg Parks', this is a look alike I developed a few years ago with stronger disease resistance and being much more hardy.

Some of this year's rose seedlings progressing along.

Ubro, smart little hydroponic setup you've got there, I should utilize something like that in my basement.

I think that a lot of us are trying ‘Evening Scentsation’ petunia, I'll put this in planters on the back deck at nose level.

This long winter has me thinking about my first encounters with these plants...

Last year I was wandering around Olds College and walked by some huge hanging planters surrounding their rose garden. A lovely fragrance wafting from the planter caught my nose, it turns out it was from a light purple petunia - I was surprised it had fragrance. Then I checked out their beds of AAS winners, and there I found more of the same purple petunia, that's where I discovered it was called 'Evening Scentsation'. It looked like a good performer, low growing but lots of blooms. I've since learned there are a few other fragrant petunias.

'Winnipeg Parks' became the start of my rose obsession four and a half years ago. We had just moved to town, and I was walking my dog in the neighbourhood. I came across a well-manicured bed which looked like it was recently planted, and at the front of the bed was this HUGE glowing hot pink rose as wide as my hand, which looked like a hybrid tea rose. I remember feeling stunned something like this could survive here. Growing up, the only roses I knew which could grow in this climate were the ruffled type (which I now know are Hansa and Therese Bugnet).

Then I started thinking along the lines of 'if they can do it, so can I'. 'Winnipeg Parks' was the first variety of rose to add to my garden, and I have often considered planting it exclusively, or many more hedges of it (inspired by this rose grower, the images in this post search works, but not in the posts themselves). I like this story too, from another who got hooked onto roses through Winnipeg Parks.

I love the huge blooms, vibrant flashy colour, vigour and bush shape. I usually get about three flushes of blooms per year, with the last flush just before the killing frost. I like how it actually has some fragrance, unlike many of the other more recent crown hardy roses. But I agree, it can get some blackspot & mildew, and canes do die off in the winter. It's exciting you have a look-alike rose which is hardier and more disease resistant! Last year I hardly got any blackspot/leaf spot/mildew on most of my roses, but there have been some years where there have been lots.

Some more photos of my 'Winnipeg Parks' plants, they are in one of the more sheltered spots in my yard, the soil here was also heavily amended:

FrozeBudd, your seedlings look great! My seeds are sitting in the fridge now. I agree, the blooms for 'Marie Bugnet' do last much longer than other rugosas. I need to move mine, I didn't fix the soil and it got chlorisis last year:

How do you survive zone 2 and 3!! I didn't think people were living in zone 1-3. Glad to see some bright colors in the far far north. Do they bloom for a few months? I've just gotten into roses and have lots to still learn. I have one starting to push spring growth.

How do you survive zone 2 and 3!!

very carefully, LOL

Many many beautiful flowers survive in zone 2 how about peonies here are some of mine.

Many years ago - 5 or more, i bet - we had a "lurkers" thread here because we found out from comments like that from Matt that a lot of people from higher zones lurked in this forum because they were amazed that anyone could garden in the colder zones. So we asked all the lurkers to post and tell us where they were from and what they thought of the forum. It was a fun thread! Probably has dropped off the end by now, though. :)

Edited to add that i started looking and you can't even go page to page here anymore, just have to keep loading more threads on the same page. And no way i was going to try to go back 5 years! LOL

Matt, lol that is a good question, I wonder myself how I survive here. The longer summer days help, it's visible from before 5am to as late as 10-11pm on some of the longer days. Glad to hear you are getting into roses! Yes, I get rose blooms from about mid June to about September, some roses are more prolific & repeat bloomers than others. Do you know what kinds of qualities you are looking for in roses; a certain look or colour, lots of blooms, health, fragrance, hardiness, etc?

When I started growing roses I mostly wanted ones which looked like hybrid teas, now I'm more interested in fragrance and ones where I do not have to cut dead canes from winter.

Here's my most floriferous rose, 'Champlain', it looks like this for most of the summer season until frost. It is a very "true" primary red colour. It dies back close to the ground each year and regrows to what you see below. Unfortunately, it's not my favourite as it gets more powdery mildew compared to others:

Marcia, I think I found the lurkers thread, it's so interesting! https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/1889669/lurkers-please-sign-in?n=123

Ubro, is that Bartzella itoh peony? I love Bartzella, another plant I stumbled across at Olds College. Theirs had a great lemon scent, and was absolutely stunning - the bush was huge, at least a metre across with at least 20 flowers. Mine has been a bit stinky and slow to establish. I think it's three years old now, last year it had three blooms. Lol, looks like it increases by one bloom per year:

Very good thanks for finding it! I love the reds, orange/reds anything bright. I don't know a lot of names names yet but learning. Guess I have to take all that into count. I go off looks when I buy ( of course later checking max height and width). Fragrance, yes that's a big one and showy. I don't know about roses but some other plants we can go one zone higher. Especially if planted next to the house. Is that a thing? Powered mildew seen that working at the nurseries :( what is that from?

Here is the first rose I planted last year. With the last flower of 2017, photo taken in end of Oct

Yes, i can push zone 4ish in the southwest corner between the house and the porch, and often plant things closer to the foundations to give them that extra advantage. That's were my Himalayan Blue Poppy was all those years ago - it actually bloomed a couple of years in a row!

PNR, how did you find that thread?! You have more patience than i do. How long ago did i say it was posted? LOL You know, my first inclination was to say 10 years ago and then i changed to 5+, but, holy cow, 13! It has been awhile! Now i'm going to read it.

If i remember correctly, many of the people from warmer zones thought our colours were brighter here. Oh, and i have to mention, that i found links to our old "Bubble of Denial" threads from here. Now that was fun!

Matt, you might find the HelpMeFind rose database helpful, you can look up every rose ever registered and see user photos, comments and ratings about it: https://www.helpmefind.com/rose/plants.php

Powdery mildew is a fungal disease, some roses are more likely to get it than others, or if they are stressed (like bad soil/underwatered). Humid conditions can also make it worse. I find spraying roses which are affected by powdery mildew with diluted milk really helps, although it takes repeat applications and leaves a white residue.

There's a lot you can probably grow in your zone, great to see you still can get blooms in October! A few years ago Walmart started selling really affordable roses for about $7-$15 each, I get these for roses I'm not serious about as the quality can vary. I also plant the more modern roses deeply, which seems to help. For better quality roses I go to the dedicated gardening nurseries, and for speciality stuff I order online.

Marcia, I use the search function at the top, but give it a second to load, and make sure I press enter with the search term followed by 'Far North'. If I press enter without waiting, it searches 'Advice', which I think is ALL the houzz discussions. Maybe this screenshot better explains:

I do agree roses are brighter in cooler conditions when the sun/heat doesn't fade them as much.

Here's one of my favourite old photos after a very mild winter in zone 4-ish Calgary (I think it rarely went past -2C this year, aka hoodie weather). This is 'Morden Centennial' growing off of the #1 highway in central NE Calgary!

Yearly takeover of the dining room table photo from today, tomatoes are a bit purple and stunted in growth, I think from too cold temps.

Petunias have now also sprouted, this is the first time I’ve grown them from seed, I’m happy as it’s almost 100% germination. They are incredibly small seedlings, hard to believe they will turn into robust flowering machines with time. Hope to try overwintering a few petunias again this year, I wish I had kept a few plants of Vista Bubblegum, what a monster of a petunia.

Some rudbeckia are up already as well. I was expecting 15-20 days, yet it’s only been a week since sowing!

That's where the lid to my seed bin has gone!

I ended up caving in a while back and did order some roses online.

Happy day, miniature rose order from The Heather Farm came in today. Much better value than I was expecting, the roses were larger/more established than I anticipated, fully leafed out and healthy, and shipping was reasonable for my location ($14), I am very pleased with this order! I decided on their fragrant collection, plus two other minis:

Also got my plug trays today from William Dam Seeds! Not sure yet what will be planted in these, but they are so much sturdier than the other cell packs I’ve been using:

Marcia, lol the glass lock lid? Those containers are the greatest!

You will like those plant trays, they last for years. I have never heard of The Heather I will look them up. I wonder if climbing roses would respond like grapes? I can lay my grapes down and gain a zone or two when well covered before the cold hits.

Whoops, I had to edit my above post, forgot to add 'Farm' to end of The Heather Farm, this is their site, http://www.theheatherfarm.com/.

I'm sure climbing roses with flexible canes can overwinter like grapes, I've read of growers from the Calgary Rose Society who do this. Some climbers I'd love to try one day are Nahema, Eden (Pierre de Ronsard), and Viking Queen.

I just checked it out, some nice plants and at decent prices.

I didn't realize that was a glass bin. Mine are plastic. No idea where the lid went but it doesn't matter because the seeds tend to overflow anyway.

Nice roses. I wish i had room for more. I had a Fairy Rose (yours is Sweet Fairy, i see) that was Zone 4 and lasted several years.

I think the Fairy lasted about four years before not returning one year. It wasn't exactly miniature, maybe 2 feet tall or a bit taller. I don't have a picture of it on this computer - would have to search for it. :)

I searched. This was taken in 2012.

Marcia, your Fairy rose looked like a blooming machine!

LOL I broke in and ordered the oriental/orientpet lily collection from Costco. I’ve been eyeing their plants for a few years now, hopefully the order works out for me.

If anyone is looking for the Canadian Shield rose (released last year for Canada’s 150th birthday) Costco is selling 6 bareroots for $64.99, https://m.costco.ca/49th-Parallel-Collection-Canadian-Shield™-Set-of-6-Shrub-Roses.product.100340490.html

I bought one potted Canadian Shield rose last year for about $20 at Superstore. It’s a very vibrant true red, continuous blooms. Unfortunately no fragrance which I could detect. I’m hoping some fragrance develops as it gets older, some of my roses have done that.

Oh my - that is gorgeous! I hadn't heard of them. The nearest Costco is in Winnipeg but my daughter-in-law has a membership. Hmmm - but i don't think i have room for 6 of them! Very tempting, though.

The Fairy rose was beautiful and bloomed nicely as well. 2012 was a good year for everything, it seemed - plants, that is. I must have gotten it around 2010 or so - it was for my granddaughter's little garden which was pink everything! She liked fairies too, so the rose was perfect. She's a little older now (almost 11, she keeps informing me) and gardening now "is not her hobby", but her little brother is a corn gardener. :) Someday i'll have to get a picture of him in his patch holding a pitchfork!

PNR, those roses from The Heather Farm sure do look healthy and sturdy, I'll need to place an order for next year! Also, that's probably the best looking planting of 'Winnipeg Parks' I've yet seen! Good to know that you had liked the 'Evening Scentsation' petunia and I remain envious of your tangerine tree!

My window is crammed with all sorts of seedlings, every thing from lewisia to verbena and masses of rose seedlings, some of which are budding up. I also have a few cedars I started from seed two years ago and lots of rooted thuja 'Mirjam' cuttings. 'Mirjam' is a yellow mutation of 'Dancia'. The 'Gryphon' and 'Big' begonia seedlings are progressing nicely from what had been the tiniest seedlings! Zinnias are getting an extra early start, as they tend to take a bit of time to bulk up and bush out. The 'Dreamland' mixture is excellent and earlier and more free flowering than 'Magellan', both of which have excellent high quality blooms. Previously, I've grown some of the first year flowering sweet William and now giving my hand at 'Amazon Neon Duo' ... and for containers, I have abutilon 'Bella Select'. I'm tired of this long cold winter and eager to get back outside!!

The Amazon Neon Duo is easy to grow and gets pretty tall. It makes an excellent cut flower. Another easy to grow flower with interest is Craspedia, easy to grow and lovely in bouquets or just pretty in the garden.

I've tried Craspedia several times and never got it to grow or bloom for me. >:(

I am a cut flower seller and I grow many flowers from seed each season. I track all my methods in a big binder ( back to 2006) and according to the notes Craspedia has to be germinated warm, the warmer the better.

Ubro, I'll have to try craspedia, it's definitely a bit different! As for first year flowering sweet William, a few years ago I grew 'Jolt Pink', it was pretty decent, but what I did not like was that even under ideal conditions, the flowers had folded up on themselves in the late afternoon as if it was drought stricken. I'm thinking of using the 'Amazon Neon Duo' as a background plant to mix among small shrubs and perennials.

Thank you FrozeBudd, I looked up ‘Big’ begonias and am intrigued! I’ll have to give them a try one day, I had previously thought begonias had to be grown from tubers. I’ve recently recognized I like unique hybrids the most, these are often my favourite plants, from geranium ‘Rozanne’, peony ‘Bartzella’, and petunia ‘Vista Bubblegum’, and ‘Sungold’ tomatoes - it’s amazing what human effort can create!

I was inspired by stunning rose bed photos from a gardenweb user by the name of Pappu when I planned my Winnipeg Parks rose bed, I noticed Pappu’s key was planting all the same type closely. Here the canes die back quite a bit from the winter, so I planted six plants about 18” from each other - I could probably fit a few more on either side, lol.

We’re getting some good snow melting here today, exciting to see the daffodils growing again by the south foundation, hopefully spring won’t be too long for most of us! Until then it’s more indoor sowing for me, the more it snows, the more I’ll plant indoors.

We started some edible sandwhich sprouts yesterday, can’t wait to eat them.

Here is a picture of some of the cut flowers you might like, amazon neon is on the far left. As you can see it is pretty tall. The suns are Pro Cut Orange, statice Seeker is the blue and pink on the right. Echinops is the ball in the front, a wonderful plant that loves it dry and hot. All are started from seed except the echinops ritro blue, it is a perennial.

Well, I think that everyone is again back in hibernation, the weather is very cold here and appears we're in yet several more weeks (or longer) of much below normal temperatures. I don't know about you, but I find it challenging to sort through the seed packages and get things started when it feels and looks like February. But, otherwise, my seedlings are doing great, maybe a bit on the slowish side due to it also being a bit cool in my house, though nice sturdy plants they are and a few rose seedlings are just about ready to pop!

Ubro, that's a great pic! This will the first year that I'll again attempt sunflowers, sclerotinia stem rot had really taken hold and forced me to give up on them, though it's time to give another try! I have two types of globe thistle, I think Echinops Bannaticus 'Blue Glow', which is sturdy and somewhat coarse, though a disease resistant plant and Echinops Ritro Ruthenicus with finely cut silver foliage and silver stems, this one is especially very attractive, though susceptible to blight that often makes the entire thing melt away. Though, I had planted the two types side by side and I have gotten a few apparent hybrid seedlings that retain that really nice silver foliage with the added bonus of blight resistant.

PNR said ... "I’ve recently recognized I like unique hybrids the most, these are often my favourite plants, from geranium ‘Rozanne’, peony ‘Bartzella’, and petunia ‘Vista Bubblegum’, and ‘Sungold’ tomatoes. I always chuckle a bit when I see my friends just stick with the very old varieties. The same old ancient marigolds and 'Straight Eight' cucumbers with their thick tough skins and less than ideal disease resistance, each to their own :). I guess, that's why I enjoy hybridization work and creating something new and unique that is prairie hardy and disease resistant.

Marcia, I grew 'The Fairy' many years ago, it was crown hardy even during winters with very little snowfall. I do though recall those nasty skin catching thorns! Another crown hardy one is 'Bonica'. I once several of these along the east side of the house and laid the canes to the ground for winter and did they ever put on a huge display on those older canes! I now would like to track down 'Royal Bonica'.

Yup, -26C and a wind! I am back in hibernation. I am always looking for new varieties of seed. I keep records of what I do with each type and whittle down the selections till I only grow what works in my soil and climate. Tomatoes are down to 2 after years of growing many kinds, Chef's Choice, and Super Fantastic. Cucumbers are still in trial, I am doing a small gherkin for pickling and a long english. I agree with straight 8 not the best. I find the Homesteader pea to be very mould prone so I no longer grow that a well, but it is a staple for growers around here.

For a cantaloupe the best is Petite Gris, I harvested 35 off of 3 plants last year. We cut it up and froze it on cookie sheets. Thrown in a smoothie in the middle of winter is the best. The trick with melons seems to be a very early start, pot up often, and have a large plant in about a 1 gal pot by the time it is set out.

Hibernation here as well. The weather is so discouraging. I mean, -20 at the end of March? I'm sure it's not unheard of, but seriously, it has been such a long winter already! Even the sprouts of things i've already planted are lagging. Only the impatiens have really taken off. And several of the petunias damped off, including half of the Evening Scentsation. :( I never took precautions because it has seldom been a problem for me, but everything is sprinkled with cinnamon now!

Good advice about the melons. I'll definitely have to try that. My grandkids have some cantaloupe seeds so we'll get them started soon. My grandson the corn gardener is going to try popcorn this year and that will have to be started early as well. It's hard to get into the mood, though!

I also plant the melons at the start of the year in black plastic just to get the soil nice and hot. I removed it later in the season because I did not lay irrigation underneath and they needed more water.

If you do use plastic you have to lay down a little bit of wire mesh or the wind whips the vines around on the slippery surface and they twist and bend. The mesh allows them to grab on and stay anchored.

I hate cantaloup, I planted these for my husband and now, after eating my own juicy fruit I like it a lot better.

We do black plastic too for anything that needs warm soil. We also have some "swamp matting" that my husband got from somewhere and that works well because it's porous. Melons would do well on it as it's not as smooth as the plastic. I'll have to remember that this summer. :)