Is the cold getting to you?  I have to admit I was ok with it until I came home from holiday traveling to zapped plants in my sun porch (which normally is a great place to over-winter –  cool but frost-free – but you know how it goes with a Polar Vortex…things change).  You should see my giant clivia.  ;(  I brought the poor thing inside the main part of the house to warm up and I am hoping there might still be some life in those limp strappy leaves.  It just got that cold.  I am looking at the upside – all our pipes are intact and I am hopeful about all the news that this deep chill will knock back or kill off a few invasive insects.

Now that I have probably lost a handful of lovely plant friends I feel like I need to think about new plant babies.  It isn’t quite time to start seedlings (at least around here) but I am going to give it a try anyway.  I haven’t started seeds in years (it is too much work and I have had too little time and patience) and I expect my success rate to be low.  It’s like I have mothers guilt and now that I have let down some of my children by leaving them in a too cold room I must make new ones.  (Isn’t there a terrible movie with this ridiculous plot line?)

Since last summer was a struggle (given the book), I dug through my seed stash to see what I had bought but never got into the ground.  (The pile was rather large).  Lemongrass, Costmary, Lime Balm, Feverfew and Toothache Plant (spilanthes olearcea) re-charmed me and I am planting them up.   The last frost around here is officially May 10th but I gamble with that every year….usually I chop it back by a good three weeks and hope for the best.  So going with Mid April as my target, I am about 14 weeks out.  The longest recommended date for indoor sowing on any of these guys is 8 weeks.  I figure that is perfect since I will have a few weeks to figure things out, lose everything to cat or kid damage and still be able to start all over again with time to spare.  Lets all cross our fingers that I get a few plants for my efforts!

Here are a few things I’m using to get things going:

• Jiffy Peat Pellets (I can plant these directly into the containers or ground later and avoid transplant shock)
• Grow Lights (this is all going down on the un-used dining room table.  I am swapping out the regular downward facing bulbs in the light fixture for grow lights – much easier than trying to rig up a grow light)
• Rapid Rooters (because yes, I spent my holidays back home in Colorado — and now I am all over the hydroponic craze) – I’m super curious to directly compare the Peat Pellets to the Rapid Rooters – I’ll let you know how it goes.

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Lowes.  This is a series that I am doing through the end of the year.   I am not an employee of Lowes and all opinions are my own.  See the other posts in this series.