GREEN GUY REPORT: Week of February 16

This has been the warmest winter I can ever remember, and ourspring bulbs in the garden are popping up. Daffodils, crocuses andsnowdrops are all saying HELLO! We have several weeks to go, andthe fat lady has not yet sung.

So anything can still happen — a sub-zero blast or a blizzardare still on the table. As much as I am loving it (and thinkingthat I now live in Durham, North Carolina), I don’t.

Most of us city folks don’t have a greenhouse to have fun in atthis frustrating time of year, but we do have windowsills! Yes,these mini-greenhouses are a place to start your seedlings. Watchthose surprises pop up and bring a smile to your face!

Do go out and buy those seeds; don’t start them too early! Weall get excited about buying seed packets and want to run home andplant them right away. Starting seeds too early can be disastrousfor the little babies.

Once they start growing, you have to know where you want toplant them, or set your pots when it comes time to move themoutdoors. If you don’t plant or place the pots outside, they getleggy and die for lack of sun, air — yada, yada, yada.

Plant your mini-greenhouse and time it according to the packets,so when they sprout and get their third and fourth leaves, you willbe able to put them outside without threat of cold or snow.Temperature has to be in the 50s at night for most annual seeds,and 40s at night for most perennial seeds. Heated trays you plug inare marvelous, and the seeds respond very well to their extra heat.(The Internet is a great way to shop for a window sillgreenhouse.)

Try it all; don’t be afraid to make your window a laboratory.Take a chance! Nothing in the dead of winter can be more fun thanwatching a seed turn into a seedling and then a baby plant. Or ifyou’re really lazy, just buy some pussy-willow branches. Make surethey are fresh and stick them in water. Most of the branches willroot in about a month.

You say you can’t plant them? Give them to a community garden!Ain’t life grand?

Jimmy Johnson has 20 years experience as a professionalgardener. He is the owner of the renowned landscape design companyGreen Earth Gardens. He is also the principal designer of BayRidge’s very own Narrows Botanical Gardens.