Friday, January 16, 2009

Winter windowsills


I heard cardinals out in the garden yesterday, singing their spring song. It was only one degree above zero when I woke up, but the sun was sparkling at mid day, and there are nasturtiums in bloom, in little jars and vases in the kitchen windows.

For the past couple of years, just before the first really hard frost, I have taken cuttings from the nasturtiums in the garden. They root in water within a few days and begin to bloom very soon thereafter. They can be trimmed back if they grow lanky, which they inevitably do, but it's nice to let them ramble a bit along the windowsills: their leaves turn so strongly toward the light that they press themselves up against the windowpanes, pushing their luck.

7 comments:

JCharlier said...

It's funny, but in the summer the window boxes outside the windows provide greenery and in the winter the window sills on the other side of those same windows provide teh greenery. Wish they could be the same plants so that I could just open the window and plop them out there, as opposed to all this shuffling plants around and replanting annuals each year. Maybe that should be my new years resolution. Naw, I won't see it through. Nevermind.

LINDA from Each Little World said...

Marty — Hello from Linda and Mark in Madison! How nice to hear from you again and see what you're up to.

Mr. McGregor's Daughter said...

I had no idea Nasturtiums could be brought into bloom inside. For that matter, I'd never even consider taking cuttings of them to bring indoors. That's a great idea!

Carol Michel said...

I'm going to try to remember to take cuttings from nasturtiums next fall. Their blooms would be a wonderful thing to have in January.

Carol, May Dreams Gardens

Marty Ross said...

Hello blog friends: Thank you for your comments. I am a slow blogger and it is nice to have readers who comment. I first tried taking cuttings of my nasturtiums bc I knew I would miss them. I had no idea how easy it would be or how well they would respond. Today I have four flowers, and several buds ready to pop. I recommend clear vases or jelly jars, because the roots are pretty, too. Marty

Rock rose said...

I love to know about anything that roots in water. Do you pop them into your salad?

Helen @ Gardening With Confidence said...

Hey Marty,

Great story about gardening coaches. Congrats, again, on winning the GWA award in Portland. I hope you plan to be in Raleigh this year.
Helen Yoest
P.S. I will add you to my blog roll!