Many perennials and some annuals need cold, moist stratification to achieve germination.  Boiled down, this just means copy Mother Nature. When a flower drops its seeds, it will often sit on the ground and refuse to come up until it’s been smacked silly with some brutal winter.  Seems a bit masochistic to me, but whatevs.

Every year around late September, I think, It’ll be so nice in winter to regroup, get cozy, and plan the garden for next year. When the first frost hits, I take off my bra, put on my wool Darn Tough socks, stow away the cold brew tea, pull out the Earl Grey, and curl up under a blanket with my dog at my feet.

And then five minutes later, my nerves get bad and I start to itch…Is it still winter?

Nasturtium is the perfect Seed Sowing 101 participant. And yet, even after graduating to trickier perennial sowing, we keep coming back to her. We know she’ll germinate. We know she’ll proliferate. We know she’ll show up and do us proud.

This is one of the few plants where the botanic name is more delightful than the common name (Purpletop Vervain? snooze).  ‘Verbena Bonariensis’ happily bounces off the tongue, as do my praises of her as an easy, reliable, and stunning flower beloved by both humans and pollinators. 

So if you’re like me, here’s how to have them even in the colder zones (at or lower than zone 8).  Dahlias are considered a tender perennial.  This means that they can come back every year but they cannot stand sub freezing temps. 

It was two summers ago when I put out the first free plants on my front lawn.  I had sown too many tomatoes and couldn't bring myself to dump them in the compost heap.

I’ve mentioned before how my stubborn ass refuses not to have a greenhouse in my backyard in a Chicago suburb. 

Join the great inconsequential debate!

All of this boils down to the classic “right plant, right place” methodology. Once you know your growing conditions, you can find the right plants to fit in.

But I think Goldilocks was onto something.  Not too hot, not too cold; not too hard, not too soft; not too poor, not too rich; not too hungry, not too full.  Somewhere in the middle, that’s humanity’s sweet spot

This is the Middle Garden, at least how it lives in Blog Form.