Before buying more, thin your seed stockpile; compost or share the rest
These catalogs are tempting, but it's best to check over the seeds already in hand before ordering more. (Those golden beets? From 2015 -- and headed to the compost pile.) Kathy Morrison
January is both the month of organization and the month when gardeners finally dive into seed catalogs or jump down the rabbit hole of online seed sources. So much fun to choose new varieties to grow!
But first: Declutter that seed collection so everything is up to date and viable. Those onion seeds from 2021 likely should be tossed (in the green waste or compost), since onion seeds last only a year or so. Tomatoes, on the other hand, can do well up to five years, maybe more, so there's no point in buying another packet of a favorite variety without knowing how many usable seeds are left.
As for those other seeds that went unplanted last year: Is there really room in the garden for a patch of Cinderella pumpkins? How about donating them to a good cause (a school or community garden) or trading them in a community seed swap?
Johnny's Selected Seeds online has excellent charts showing seed viability and storage life estimates. Not just vegetables, they cover flowers and farm/cover crop seeds. (Oh, yeah, can I still use that red clover I bought a few years ago?) The Johnny's website also offers tips on seed saving, storage and how to test seed viability.
Seed viability vs. seed germination rate is an important point when saving seeds. As Johnny's notes, "Both germination rate and seed viability can decline with age of the seed. Viability refers to a seed's ability to produce a vigorous seedling. Seed viability typically declines before germination rates do, so it is possible for old seed to still germinate yet produce weak seedlings."
Also important: Seeds must be stored properly. Keeping them in a hot garage will cause them to deteriorate faster than in a closed box in a cool interior closet.
So, what to do with older seeds of varieties you like and want to grow again?
-- Mix them with new seeds if they're scatterable (zinnias, poppies);
-- Start some old ones alongside some new ones (I do this with Juliet tomatoes);
-- Give the old ones a chance. Debbie once found 6-year-old beet seeds that grew just fine; other older seeds never germinated. But unless this is just a garden experiment, as hers was, have a newer backup.
For more information on seeds, seed packets and seed saving, see the UC Sacramento County Master Gardener Garden Note 128, "Understanding Information on a Seed Packet." Search for GN 128 on this page of Master Gardener Publications .
Watch for seed swaps in the region late in the month. National Seed Swap Day is Jan. 25; here's information on the event in Loomis. The Placer master gardeners also will present a workshop on seed saving Jan. 11 during their monthly open garden.
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Garden Checklist for week of Jan. 12
Once the winds die down, it’s good winter gardening weather with plenty to do:
* Prune, prune, prune. Now is the time to cut back most deciduous trees and shrubs. The exceptions are spring-flowering shrubs such as lilacs.
* Now is the time to prune fruit trees. (The exceptions are apricot and cherry trees, which are susceptible to a fungus that causes dieback. Save them until summer.) Clean up leaves and debris around the trees to prevent the spread of disease.
* Prune roses, even if they’re still trying to bloom. Strip off any remaining leaves, so the bush will be able to put out new growth in early spring.
* Clean up leaves and debris around your newly pruned roses and shrubs. Put down fresh mulch or bark to keep roots cozy.
* After the wind stops, apply horticultural oil to fruit trees to control scale, mites and aphids. Oils need 24 hours of dry weather after application to be effective.
* This is also the time to spray a copper-based fungicide to peach and nectarine trees to fight leaf curl. (The safest effective fungicides available for backyard trees are copper soap -- aka copper octanoate -- or copper ammonium, a fixed copper fungicide. Apply either of these copper products with 1% horticultural oil to increase effectiveness.)
* When forced bulbs sprout, move them to a cool, bright window. Give them a quarter turn each day so the stems will grow straight.
* Browse through seed catalogs and start making plans for spring and summer.
* Divide daylilies, Shasta daisies and other perennials.
* Cut back and divide chrysanthemums.
* Plant bare-root roses, trees and shrubs.
* Transplant pansies, violas, calendulas, English daisies, snapdragons and fairy primroses.
* In the vegetable garden, plant fava beans, head lettuce, mustard, onion sets, radicchio and radishes.
* Plant bare-root asparagus and root divisions of rhubarb.
* In the bulb department, plant callas, anemones, ranunculus and gladioli for bloom from late spring into summer.
* Plant blooming azaleas, camellias and rhododendrons. If you’re shopping for these beautiful landscape plants, you can now find them in full flower at local nurseries.
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