Even though the calendar tells us that we’re still in winter, our intense summer gardening season is on its way. For some, the gardening may slow but never stop. For those in cooler climates there are ways in which you can extend your growing season and start your plants before the next page on the calendar flips. With your early plant planning, it’s not too early to order some markers for your new additions.
Wrapped Up in Warmth
Plants can grow for longer periods in the winter or can get a very early late winter start when they’re wrapped up in cloches or in materials that allow the sun’s life-giving rays to penetrate while keeping out the winter frost and winds. Cloches are like mini-greenhouses that allow young plants to grow in colder weather. A box of wood or other material that is covered with clear plastic or glass makes a great solar frame to warm your plants. Plants can get a head start weeks before other plants that await the right air temperature and warmth for vigorous growth.
Bottles, Boxes and Cages—Oh, My!
Before you clean out your garage, you might salvage some materials that could make a cold frame or cloche for your plants. Frames can be built from household materials like shower doors and old windows. Some people have even used old cardboard boxes covered with bubble wrap to shelter and nurture their plants with warmth. Using a substantial wood frame with a clear roof is reliably sturdy, but you can use lighter boxes, too. As long as your lighter boxes are securely fastened to the ground with heavy stones or stakes, you can use materials like cardboard or tomato cages that are wrapped in plastic sheeting. Some gardeners paint bottles with a sun-absorbing black color and then secure them together in a protective grouping around plants.
On Your Mark…
With plants on a head start to their big growing season, you can plan what new garden markers you might need this year. Winter is a great time to not only plan your garden and start nurturing some tender young shoots, but to decide what styles of garden markers you would like. Garden markers come in different heights and the plates can be put at different angles. Marker stakes can be slender or thick. You can choose what you’ll put on your labels and whether you want to print your labels with a label maker or print them by hand.
At Kincaid Plant Markers we offer you different styles of garden markers so that you can choose the style that best fits your garden and your individual plants. Recently, we have added the Markal Paint Pen Pro-Line HP Series and self-write labels with UV covers to our products. You can choose between the professional look of labels printed with the Brother P-Touch Label Printer or you can choose to script your labels with your own hand. While snowflakes may be falling now, it won’t be long before a white flurry of tree petals fill the skies.
