• Home
  • Meet Mary Schier
  • Speaking
  • Writing
  • Contact
  • Northern Gardener Book

My Northern Garden

October 25, 2010 · 6 Comments

Six Months of Gardening in Minnesota?

Climate

This past week, I picked basil in my garden and made pesto — a typical garden activity for August or September, but it’s late October in Minnesota and the garden has been growing strong since early April. The petunias on my front porch are in full — glorious, really — bloom, and with the wimpy frosts we’ve had, many annuals that have never been covered are still blooming like it’s mid-July.

orange marigold in bloom

Marigolds and other annuals are still blooming strong.

We’ve enjoyed more than six months of solid gardening in Minnesota this year — a season that is by my estimate at least two and maybe four weeks longer than normal. The combination of a near perfect winter with plenty of snowfall and an early snow melt followed by very moderate spring temperatures put most gardens two weeks ahead of normal this spring. On the backside of the season, an extended Indian summer has lengthened bloom and harvest times.

red salvia covered with frost

Salvia were hit by frost on Oct. 3, but much of the garden continues to grow well.

In my garden south of the Twin Cities, we had a legitimate frost Oct. 3, when the overnight temperature dropped to 32, but since then the weather has been more like mid-September than mid-October, adding weeks to the season for gardening in Minnesota. According to climate data maintained by the University of Minnesota, by late October all of Minnesota except its warmest spots (Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport, Winona, and Stillwater on the U’s chart) should have not only experienced a frost, but a hard freeze, which is an overnight temperature of  24 degrees F. We haven’t even come close to that — and while the forecast for this week calls for rain and cooler temperatures, overnight lows won’t fall much below 30.

Whether this is an aberrant year or the hallmark of a trend, it is both exciting and frightening to Minnesota gardeners. The prospect of another few weeks of warm weather means our gardening choices expand significantly. Japanese maples — no problem. Peach trees — sure, give them a try. Harvest lettuce from April until Thanksgiving — you can do it with a little cover.  Suddenly, we’re gardening more like Chicago or Des Moines than Fargo or Winnipeg. But with more heat (and possibly more precipitation) come new bugs and diseases and a great deal more uncertainty.  Can we plant longer season vegetables, like some melons and tomatoes, confidently? Or should we stick with proven plants and varieties? How much can gardeners “push the zone”?

For now,  gardeners may want to consider a two-pronged approach. First, rather than going strictly by the calendar, try using phenology — the study of nature signs — to determine when to plant or do other garden chores.  Several Minnesota websites describe these nature signs and their relationship to gardening. (My favorite is to plant peas when the spring peepers come out.) The second approach is purely practical: If you want to push the zone, don’t buy anything you can’t afford to lose. So, if you have your heart set on growing peaches in Minnesota, give it a shot, but plant your tree in the warmest spot you’ve got and be prepared to see a dead tree come spring.

In the meantime, I’m heading out to admire my flowers. This can’t last much longer. Really.

Related posts:

  1. Will Newly Planted Plants Survive a Cold Spell? With a couple of inches of snow falling and temperatures...
  2. First Bloom The seasons are changing rapidly here — and, in true...
  3. Fall Bloomers: A Sign of Zone Creep? Maybe it’s the heavy rains we have had this fall...
« Don’t Do This: Tree Strangled with Dog Chain
This Organic Life: Confessions of a Suburban Homesteader »

Comments

  1. meemsnyc says

    October 25, 2010 at 7:04 pm

    That’s great that you had extra weeks of the gardening season. It’s been unseasonabley warm this week and our plants love it.

  2. Karen says

    October 26, 2010 at 7:05 pm

    Yes, it has been the same here in Wisconsin, and it kind of gives me an unsettled feeling, too. As you say, more bugs to deal with, more diseases and the temptation to plant things way out of my zone and budget, too! So, yes, it’s been great on one hand and kinda creepy on the other. I like the idea of phenology, and will have to read up on it. I know my animals can sense when things are changing. Time for us to take heed. Now if we can just survive this wind storm! Hope all is well with you in Minnesota.

  3. Barbara says

    October 27, 2010 at 1:54 pm

    Like you say, it’s hard to know whether to be happy or suspicious about the long summer. And it’s sort of un-Minnesota-like, isn’t it. Your ideas about how to deal with it sound practical and doable.

Trackbacks

  1. Fall Bloomers | My Northern Garden says:
    October 27, 2010 at 3:16 pm

    […] My Northern Garden Sharing experiences and ideas about cold-climate gardening Skip to content HomeAbout MaryMinnesota Garden Blogs ← More than Six Months of Gardening in Minnesota? Yep. […]

  2. Lavender Blooms in December | My Northern Garden says:
    December 17, 2010 at 2:05 pm

    […] I brought in a French lavender (Lanvendula dentata) plant from outside in November. Because of the extended Indian summer we had — which now seems decades ago due to the relentless snow of the past week — this […]

  3. Garden Surprise: Lavender Blooms in December says:
    October 4, 2018 at 4:03 pm

    […] I brought in a French lavender (Lanvendula dentata) plant from outside in November. Because of the extended Indian summer we had — which now seems decades ago due to the relentless snow of the past week — this […]

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Connect

  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • RSS Feed for Posts

Grow it, Minnesota Podcast

Now Available!

My Northern Garden book

Follow on Instagram

mynortherngarden_mary

New plants. Gear. New zones (yikes!) The trends th New plants. Gear. New zones (yikes!) The trends that are driving what you’ll see at nurseries in 2024 is my topic next Tuesday, Dec. 5, in a webinar hosted by my friends at @mnhort.

It’s free for hort members, and only $5 for nonmembers. Sign up at northerngardener.org! 
.
.
#gardentrends #newplants #mnhort #mngarden #cutflowergarden #homesteading #gothgardening #barbieplants #northerngardener
The desert landscape could not be more different t The desert landscape could not be more different than Minnesota’s but so interesting to visit. Here it’s all about texture, size and drama. If you are ever in the Phoenix area, the Desert Botanical Garden is a must-see. 

#gardentravel #thanksgiving #desertgardens #cacti #sonomavalley
What’s your new plant zone? Be sure to check you What’s your new plant zone? Be sure to check your zip code over at planthardiness.ars.usda.gov because there are some portions of the Twin Cities and a whole lot of Minnesota that is still in zone 4 or zone 3. I have more on my blog. Find the link in bio or stories. 
.
.
#hardinesszones #zone5a #zone4b #zone5 #zone5 #mngardening
Lots of zone 5 in MN in this new USDA map. #hard Lots of zone 5 in MN in this new USDA map. 

#hardinesszones #needsmoreresearch #mngardening
RIP, Lola. First photo, 2013, when I was taking he RIP, Lola. First photo, 2013, when I was taking headshots of @resawithoutherspoon and Lola decided to pose, too. Second photo, August 2023, snoozing in the sunroom as an old dog should. She was 15 and spent 13.5 years of her life with us. We will miss you, old girl.
Northern gardeners love their daylilies, and none Northern gardeners love their daylilies, and none more than Wayne and Bonnie Johnson. I had a chance to visit their garden in Alexandria and Wayne shared his 40+ favorite daylilies for the north. Check out the blog post and video over at @mnhort or read the article in the latest issue of Northern Gardener. 📷: Wayne Johnson & me. Link in bio and stories. 

#daylilygarden #mngarden #coldclimateplants #dayliliesofinstagram
Both Christmas and Thanksgiving cactus (Schlumberg Both Christmas and Thanksgiving cactus (Schlumbergera) bloom in response to lengthening periods of darkness. Street lights, lights in the house and other artificial light can interfere with bloom, so move them to a spot where they will get 12 to14 hours of darkness.

As to which is which, it’s in the leaves. The Christmas cactus (Schlumbergera bridgesii) has a rounded tip on its leaves. The Thanksgiving cactus (Schlumbergera truncata) has a pointed tip. The Thanksgiving cactus blooms sooner though I have had mine bloom in November, December and April! 

They are not desert plants but are native to the rainforests of Brazil. Water them when the potting mix is dry to the touch. Fertilize monthly from April to October for best growth and bloom, and let them get slightly pot-bound before even thinking about re-potting.

#Christmascactus #thanksgivingcactus #Schlumbergera #holidayplants #indoorplants #mynortherngarden
Most flowering plants sold in grocery stores and f Most flowering plants sold in grocery stores and florists are like bouquets. They’re beautiful but fade. But some of them can be kept growing in the garden. 

I believe this was a daisy mum (Chrysanthemum x morifolium) which is USDA Zone 5 hardy. It probably would not come back next year in zone 4, but it sure thrived in a container. Plants are forced into bloom to be sold as gifts — and I think this one was even dyed to give the bloom that more pure purple color it has in the before image. But, I love the magenta color of the second flush of blooms.

To get this to rebloom, I removed it from its original pot, cut off the blooms and put it in a larger container on my deck with fresh soil and occasional fertilizer. (A salvia grew in the same pot.) It didn’t start setting buds until October, so I knew it was touch and go on whether it would bloom before frost. I ended up putting the pot in the sunroom so it can finish its bloom and we can enjoy those amazing magenta flowers. 

What’s next? I may take a cutting of the plant to see if it will bloom again next year!
Are you a bonsai person? They’re not easy but I Are you a bonsai person? They’re not easy but I picked up a few tips from the bonsai curator at @longwoodgardens this fall. Link to blog post in bio and stories. #bonsai #gardentips #indoorgarden #mngardener
Why grow mint in a pot? To prevent it from taking Why grow mint in a pot? To prevent it from taking over your garden! Check out the roots one plant produced in one dry season in USDA Zone 4. If this had been in the ground, it would be mint everywhere. #mint #howtogrow #herbgarden #containergardening #mngardening
Rocks over black plastic — the worst. Here I rip Rocks over black plastic — the worst. Here I rip out four hostas by cutting the plastic in order to plant hydrangeas. The roots of the hostas were both above and below the plastic because when you give a plant a tough situation, it’s going to find away. The rocks are part of my HOA’s design aesthetic so I can only work around the edges to make things healthier for the plants around my townhouse. Wish me luck! 

#rockmulch #justsaynotorockmulch #replanting #hydrangeas #provenwinnerscolorchoiceshrubs #letsdancehydrangeas
Too many blooms weighing down your hydrangea? Clip Too many blooms weighing down your hydrangea? Clip a few off for dried arrangements. I follow the method from Laura of @GardenAnswer. Cut the branches at an angle between two nodes and put them in a vase with just 2 inches of water. That’s it! Don’t add more water. Just let them dry in the vase. You can leave them there for winter decor or use them in fall and winter decorating projects. Easy! 

#gardendecor #falldecorating #hydrangeas #FirstEditionsVanillaStrawberryHydrangea #driedflowers #easyproject
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Top Posts & Pages

  • How to Pollinate a Meyer Lemon Tree
  • How to Grow Lemons in the North (Plus a Recipe)
  • Can You Eat a Sweet Potato Vine Tuber?
  • What to Do with Not-Quite-Ripe Winter Squash? Recipes Included
  • Is Your Northern Garden Now Zone 5?
  • Growing Lilies in Containers
  • Big Changes in Minnesota Hardiness Zone Map
  • How to Winter Sow Wildflowers
  • A Sea of Poinsettias for the Holidays
  • Jams, Jellies, Preserves: What's the Difference?

Post Categories

  • Books/Writing
  • Climate
  • How to
  • Plants
  • Recipes
  • Uncategorized
  • Why We Garden

Copyright © 2023 · captivating theme by Restored 316