Morning Sun: The Best Thing in the World

Season 5, Episode 20, March 29, 2023

Carol Michel

and

The Gardenangelists

Mar 28, 2023

(Some of Dee’s tulips not eaten by voles.)

On this week’s episode, we talked about tulips, rhubarb, the book The Seed Detective and various and assorted other topics.

Do you ever wonder how we decide what our episode titles should be? Sometimes, like last week, the title of the episode is based on the actual topics of the episode. Other times, like the week before last, the title is based on something one of us said.

This week, it’s based on something Dee said. She’s right in saying it. Morning sun is the best thing in the world.

(Did you just look out your window to see if it was sunny? I think you did. I did when I wrote that, and yes, it is sunny here. Oh, I looked again. Still sunny!)

Before we got going on our actual topics, Dee talked about some new plants she got from Southern Living Plants: Royal Hawaiian® ‘Waikiki’ Colocasia and Red Sky™ Ilex. She’s going to try both of them just as soon as it warms up and in the case of the Ilex, just as soon as she figures out where she’s going to plant them.

I talked about the Cool Wave Pansies I bought at my local greenhouse, an impulse purchase I made when I was there buying other pansies and violas a few weeks ago. They are perfect for hanging baskets, which is what I potted mine up in. (And I’m glad I bought them when I did because when I went back yesterday, she was all out. Someone came and bought all she had! As sometimes happens. So be sure to grab that plant you want when you see it.)

In other news, I’ve gone overboard with plant labels made with my new Epson label printer. They are fancy. And Dee has a boat for sale!

Sailing on…

For our flower topic, we talked about tulips. We both agree that Brent and Becky's Bulbs, a family-owned business, is an excellent source for bulbs. Their fall bulbs are ready to be ordered! (That is not an affiliate link, we just like them a lot.)

If you have trouble with voles eating your tulip bulbs, check out Dee’s article about voles that she wrote for Family Handyman’s website.

For our veggie topic, we decided on rhubarb, another perennial vegetable. While most gardeners grow rhubarb from a root stock or a division from another plant, we did discover that True Leaf Market sells Rhubarb seeds. But honestly, buy the roots to plant.

Our book this week was The Seed Dectective: Uncovering the Secret Histories of Remarkable Vegetables, by Adam Alexander. (Amazon link). I listened to the audio version and Dee is reading the book. We both agree it’s a great resource for the history of some of the vegetables we grow.

That book and Nan Ondra's post Don't Be Ordinary, Grow Seeds With a Story, which was our dirt, really drive home the need to keep growing older varieties of both vegetables and flowers so they aren’t lost forever. We encourage you to visit Nan’s online seed shop for some unusual flower seeds.

(Some of Dee’s seedlings in her greenhouse.)

And that finishes up this week’s episode.

Still sunny!

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