Good afternoon, gardeners, horticulturists, and flower growers. May is almost over, but here in Krasnoyarsk, spring just refuses to come. There are occasional frosts at night, and the days are bitterly cold. The soil is so damp, it's almost a shame to sow seeds in the cool ground.
But we’re slowly digging, we’ve dug up the earth, and stocked up on water.
We planted tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers in the greenhouse, covering them with a covering material to prevent frost damage. During the day, the covering material should be removed, as on sunny days, the leaves in a closed greenhouse, especially under the covering material, get burned and turn white. Unfortunately, we can't open the greenhouse in the mornings; we go to the dacha after work. And there are almost no sunny days. The days are mostly gloomy, gray, with overcast skies. The sun no longer favors us.
What did I do to prevent the delicate leaves from burning? I uncovered the seedlings and laid covering material along the walls of the greenhouse, as the polycarbonate cools at night and the young seedlings could freeze. I stretched a thin tarpaulin over the top, preventing the bright sun from scorching the seedlings. There's no longer any frost, so we leave one window open in the greenhouse. Forecasters are promising summer weather by the end of May. Today, May 30th, it's been raining since morning and the temperature is only 12°C (54°F). Is this really summer weather?
At the beginning of April, we sowed radishes, spinach, lettuce, watercress, and arugula in the greenhouse—all these first vitamins have already been picked.
At the end of April, I took the roses and chrysanthemums out of the cellar. They had sprouted well in the greenhouse.
The other day we planted them in flower beds.
Our reference point is a rose that survives the winter well and has opened its leaves.
For an experiment, I brought pots of carnations into the greenhouse in the fall and buried them in the soil. They overwintered and are growing shoots.
In open ground, the grass carnation also survived the winter.
The perennial aster survived the winter well, completely green. This year it will delight you with its blooms.
Also at the end of April I sowed summer flowers, cabbage seedlings, zucchini, corn, pumpkin, watermelons, sunflowers, everything is growing slowly.
I moved the flowers I grew in the apartment to the dacha. I also have petunias, coleus, and geraniums at home.
And at the dacha, flowers are slowly sprouting—peonies, lilies, lupines. Some have already sprouted leaves, and others have blossomed—primroses, muscari, moss phlox, bergenia, and pasqueflowers.
The white bells of lilies of the valley and spirea are about to bloom.
Honeysuckle, felt cherries and plums have blossomed.
Everyone needs warmth and sunshine—the blades of grass, the trees, and the flowers—but there's no warmth at all this spring. I'm so looking forward to sunshine and lots of dandelions. Meanwhile, the very first dandelion has bloomed, and I'm so happy about it!
What was your spring like this year 2023?