Salable Plants from Cold Frames – Pansies and violas, Hardy Cyclamen, Primroses and Delphiniums

Pansies and Violas

Pansies and violas can be grown through their entire cycle in the cold frame. They are good sellers for chain stores, roadside markets, or potted singly in 2-inch pots as a specialty for Mother’s Day. Pansies are large and attractive, but the smaller-flowered violas bloom more profusely and for a longer season. Sow seeds in mid-July in flats of loose, rich soil. Protect the frames during winter. When days warm up in late March or early April, remove the protection. Both pansies and violas bloom soon after the ground thaws.

Hardy Cyclamen

Strictly a specialty, hardy cyclamens are closely related to Cyclamen indicum of the florists’ shops. They can be grown from seed sown in the cold frame in late September. It can be profitable to devote an entire frame to them, leaving them in it until they reach flowering size or selling them out of the frame before they reach maturity. When the weather warms up in spring, start watering and ventilating the planting. Cyclamens form minute underground tubers before showing top growth. As the leaves appear, shade from the sun.

Instead of growing them the whole year in the frame, you can plant them in 3-inch pots and plunge in a shady garden corner or set them in the lath house for the summer, returning them to the frame for wintering.

Primroses

Hardy primroses such as the orange-flowered Primula bulley-ana, yellow and red P. beesiana and alpine varieties, like the blue-purple P. denticulata and rosy-flowered P. cortusoides, can be grown from seed to maturity in the cold frame.

Sow from May to July in light soil, covering with about )i inch of sifted soil. Keep moist and shaded until germination occurs. As plants grow, pot them up in 2-inch pots of rich, humusy soil. For early spring sales, shift to 5-inch pots in September and grow on in a cool greenhouse. If you don’t want to give them greenhouse space, winter them over in the frame and pot them in 5-inch pots after the ground thaws and new growth shows. Primroses can also be sold from flats.

Delphiniums

Perennial-or biennial-delphiniums which flower the second year after planting, are prized for borders. The annual sorts which flower from seed the first year are not so popular. You can sell perennial delphiniums in large or small flats or offer them in Ferto-Pots or the newer Jiffy-Pots made of peat. The buyer can plant them pot and all in the garden and the pot will slowly disintegrate in the soil to let the roots come through.

Sow seed directly in a frame or in flats when the temperature is around 55 degrees, either spring or fall. Keep the soil well moistened during germinating and after seedlings appear. Protect the frames with mats during the winter. When growth shows in spring, water well, ventilate the frames, and give the plants an all-purpose fertilizer. Delphiniums like an alkaline or sweet soil. If you sow early in spring, give seedlings a light application of garden lime at least twice during the summer. Fall-planted seeds need liming the following spring.

Keywords: Greenhouse Gardening, Landscaping, Plants, Pool, Gardener, Landscape, Trees

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