Birth of lambs a welcome sign of coming spring

The first lambs were born on our farm this week – a perennial and much welcome sign that spring is soon to follow. Lambing season marks the beginning of our farm year the same way that sowing those first seeds marks the beginning of a new gardening year. The birth of young animals and the sowing of seeds offer the perfect form of hope and renewal: a heart-warming, satisfying, peaceful blend deliverable only by Mother Nature.

Speaking of seeds, a friend recently sent me a baggie filled with wisteria seed. Beautiful, half-inch round black-speckled brown seed, it is. Wisteria seed is robust-looking, appearing as though it is well-suited to meet and beat the odds nature throws its way. Wisteria seed and pods are toxic – deadly, in fact – so they should be handled with care and kept away from children.

Many gardeners think of wisteria as a tender perennial vine not suitable for growing in northern zones. Yet, wisteria will indeed grow here in northern New England! In some exposed locations, the vining plant produces only vegetation – pretty finely dissected leaves that provide beautiful texture in their own right. The more tender flower buds may “kill” over our sometimes bitter-cold winter months. However, some specimens and varieties, especially those growing in protected locations, or in microclimates such as those along the Maine coast or large waterways, will produce long inflorescences, draping lavender blooms in early summer.

Vines may be grown from seed, although it is not the preferred method of propagation in the horticulture trade. Wisteria is propagated commercially by taking softwood cuttings in summer. Three- or 4-inch-long cuttings are clipped from mature wisteria vines in midsummer, dipped in rooting compound to encourage rapid root development, placed in potting medium and set in a moisture-controlled environment to take root. The plant also may be grown by grafting or layering.

Patience is required to propagate the vine by seed since it can take a decade or more for a plant produced from seed to generate the much-sought-after blooms. Seed should be soaked overnight in a bowl of water and sown two or three to a pot. It should be planted at a depth of one-half inch. Germination can take up to one month.

A Waldo County reader asked another seed-related question this month: “Can you start day lilies from seed? If so, how?”

In fact, seed propagation is only used to produce new cultivars. Seed saved from cultivated varieties of day lily will not reflect the same growth patterns and flower color as the parent plant from which the seed was saved. A propagation reference offers this advice: moist-chill (stratify) the seed for six weeks. Practically speaking, this means a gardener would freeze or refrigerate the seed in an airtight container for six weeks or more. When sown, seed should be covered with a fine layer of soil and should be kept moist, but not saturated. Germination can take three to seven weeks at between 60 and 70 degrees F.

Attention readers: A Glenburn reader wrote to inquire if there are any African violet groups in the Penobscot County area, perhaps associated with the African Violet Society of America. If you know of any that focus on the care and cultivation of African violets, write to me at the address below and provide the information so I may pass it on?

Diana George Chapin is the NEWS garden columnist. Send horticulture questions to Gardening Questions, 512 North Ridge Road, Montville 04941 or e-mail dianagc@midcoast.com. Selected questions will be answered in future columns. Include name, address and telephone number.