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Need winter relief?

The Minnesota Gardening Calendar offers year-round tips for healthy yard and garden care, as well as special ideas for bringing more life indoors long before the tulips pop up. Here are a few:

• In late February or early March, cut slender branches of pussy willow, forsythia, Nanking cherry or red maple, to force into bloom indoors. Re-cut the stems and soak them in a warm (not hot) water bath overnight, then in a bucket of warm water in a 60- to 65-degree location with indirect light. Move them to brighter light as flower buds open.
• Provide higher humidity by placing houseplants in groups. Each gives off moisture through its foliage, creating more humidity in that area. Misting houseplants will raise humidity for a short time but is not a good idea because moisture on the leaves makes them more vulnerable to fungal or bacterial diseases.
• Order seeds now to start indoors under fluorescent lights. Try a few new varieties, along with some you’ve never grown in your garden before. Check seed packets to see how many weeks ahead of transplanting they must be started.

For reliable information about insects, plant diseases, gardening activities and landscaping in cold climates, visit Extension's Yard & Garden site.

Order a slice of heaven:
The 2008 Minnesota Gardening Calendar

The tradition continues for the 16th year with the 2008 Minnesota Gardening Calendar. Once again, savvy Minnesota gardeners will use this annual arrival to decorate another wall and as a resource of monthly gardening tips. They know it has the most reliable information around, since it comes from University of Minnesota Extension and the University of Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station. Each month features stunning, seasonally appropriate photos. A special section introduces new plants from the Experiment Station, including the much-anticipated winter hardy "Blue Heaven^™" little bluestem.

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