I am sure I could never make it in the north. Even the weather we have this time of year in north Texas gets me down. I hate the grey sky and the way I cringe from the cold wind under my coat.
In search of some diversion I headed to a used bookstore. Whenever I am in any bookstore I always check the gardening section to see what I can find. This time I came across a slim spiral-bound paperback called Dallas Planting Manual. According to the forward it was orginally “compiled” by Mrs. Edward Belsterling in 1941. This was the Eleventh Edition, published in 1981 by the Dallas Women’s Club.
It includes a “monthly calendar” with gardening tips. For February the advice includes, “start a garden diary. It will be your most valuable reference book. Keep records of time of bloom, combination of bloom occurring at the same time and of what is blooming in other gardens that you would like to have in yours. FEED THE BIRDS.” Sound advice.
The things to plant this month: potatoes and onions, larkspur, poppy and dahlia seeds. “Bare-root roses should not be set out after the 15th.”
When I first started gardening the only books I found were written for the north. They were totally out of sync with the seasons in Texas. There are plenty of books written about gardening in Texas now, but even those are not always relevant. Texas is a pretty big area and what works in Amarillo does not necessarily work in Corpus Christi. So I am happy to find a book that is specifically for my area, especially one written by an amateur whose voice I’ve never heard.
Besides the monthly calendar there are sections on soil and bed preparation and descriptions of the most popular plants. I am looking forward to reading it.
Comments (4)
When I started gardening it was difficult to find information about growing plants in a colder climate. Everything seemed to be written for that wide swath in the middle of the country. The same is true of NY as Texas: what does well in Long Island (my grandmother used to grow figs there!) would croak in Watertown. But I haven’t found a book similar to yours for my area. Maybe I’ll have to write it!
Heck, I was planning on getting out and weeding around the tulip shoots, but the ground is frozen solid!! maybe next week,
Don’t think you could make it up in the north? You don’t know what you’re made of until you’re tested. (That’s one reason for living in the north country, to know you are alive.) As the Bird Lady (that’s Wanda Nielsen) of Rugby, ND, said when I asked her about North Dakota’s hard winters: “If you want some spring, summer, and fall, you’ve got to put up with some winter.”
Aye, it puts grit in yer gut and steel in yer bones.