A Garden Center

Winter has faded and life is returning to the woodlands and fields.The Trillium and Adder's Tongues are not yet flowering in the woods. We have white Trillium, red and, occasionally, painted Trillium nearby. Adder's Tongue also known as Dogtooth Violets, Fawn Lilly and Trout Lilly in its various forms are often found together with the Trillium. Southern facing hills will soon be covered with both.

Spring comes late to Central New York. We are closer to Toronto, Canada, than we are to the Big City, New York. Just a tad south of the Lake Ontario snow belt, (it occasionally drifts through us with dire results) we have very white winters. This makes spring doubly enjoyable. One of the pleasures I have before the world turns green is wandering through garden center greenhouses. When the snow melts the urge to grow things becomes strong.

My own indoor greenhouse is full of seedlings. The Brugmansia is now growing rapidly. After they germinated I removed them from bottom heat. They went static at a temperature of 55º to 60º F. Returned to bottom heat they responded with a vengeance. I even have hopes of having them flower this year. They will not reach the magnificent height they have at the Watson Garden Center near the village of LaFayette. Some there tower over me and are festooned with flowers. Various varieties of Brugmansia are a specialty of Art Friedel, an escapee from the field of advertising in the Big City who has returned to his roots. His greenhouse is a riot of color. Entering it from the drab post-winter landscape is similar to Dorothy going from Kansas to the land of Oz. Clicking on the thumbnail will give you a larger image.Clicking on "Go" "Back" in the Taskbar will return to this page.Alternately, you may open it in a new window and then delete that window to return to this page.

A Bougainvillea, James Walker, is in the foreground of this photo with a big Brug in the background. A large sign at the Brugmansia warns that it is toxic. Deadly, but a beauty dripping with flowers. After only two years from a cutting, it is enormous. Growing all year long in a greenhouse does speed things up. Outdoors, north of Zones 10 to 8, it slows down in the winter. Here in Zone 5 (sometimes slipping to Zone 4) it slows down to a

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