Choosing which variety of tomato or other edible to grow from seed can be overwhelming, particularly for gardeners new to seed starting. If, after following my earlier recommendations, your head is still spinning here's some of my favorite edible varieties.
January is the time for Connecticut gardeners to dream up plans for the spring and summer garden. For gardeners who start indoor seedlings, it's time to order seeds. This can be a daunting task if you read every catalogue that comes in the mail. Most people don't have this amount of time … I know I don't … so my first weeding project of each growing season involves weeding seed catalogues.
My Connecticut gardens are finally covered in snow but this doesn't mean all plant material has stopped growing. In a sunny window an amaryllis has grown from a small shoot to two-feet of blooming potential and, nearby, running a close second in the growing-taller race is a swelling stack of seed catalogues.
Coleus, dressed in orangey reds, or deep maroons and bright greens, or solid limey green; any way you look at this group of plants you must admit they are foliage fashionistas There are varieties for sun, shade, and anything in between. Some are tall, others short, and the amazing range of colors from the ever increasing varieties allows just about anyone to use them in gardens and containers – I do both. Coleus are easy to start from cuttings or seed – I do both. Plus, they make good houseplants for all the northern gardeners – like me – who crave color during winter months. Coleus adorn my kitchen windowsill (bright light but no direct sun) most of the year. In late summer, I load fresh cuttings into vases of water and wait for them to root. From rooted cuttings they become small potted plants. Some years they adorn window sills all around the house, other years I manage to save just a few – usually depending on how I'm able to control aphids – but most often you will find my sills holding a coleus collection.
I have just one question for anyone who has never planted moonflowers (ipomoea alba) – what are you waiting for? Yes, in northern gardens they take some time to flower, and yes, they must be started indoors to insure adequate time for flowering before frost, but just look at the rewards. The five-inch diameter blossoms in this photo opened last night and remained open into the cloudy morning – a few smaller blossoms had opened over the previous three nights – and the vines are covered with buds ready to open.
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