Gardeners in cold climates need a way to protect the crops they are growing during the winter months. Greenhouses, tunnel houses and cold frames are all great choices for doing this, but what, exactly is the difference between the three of them?
Think of a greenhouse as a small room made out of glass or plastic. The walls and roof are generally clear, although this is not always the case. Electric fans, heaters and automated watering devices are usually an essential part of a greenhouse, although not always. The idea behind a greenhouse is that you control the temperature inside it making it possible to grow plants, such as orchids or other tropical plants, all winter long even in cold, northern climates.
A tunnel house is very similar in size to a greenhouse, but it is unheated. These tunnel-shaped structures are usually covered with clear plastic. Depending on the design of the tunnel house, the sides may raise and lower to allow adequate ventilation into the structure. Tunnel houses are the ideal structure for growing cool season crops all winter long because you can walk into them. This makes harvesting crops nicer.
A cold frame is the simpliest of these structures. It is nothing more than a box-like structure with a clear glass or plastic top. It can be square, rectangle or any other shape you wish it to be. Cold frames are easy to make at home using four bales of straw and an old window. These structures are unheated and used to protect cool weather crops over the winter. They are also useful for hardening off indoor grown seedlings. Hardening off is the process that occurs when seedlings or plants are gradually exposed to weather elements they are not accusomed to. If this process is done too fast, the seedlings or plants could die of shock.
Is it necessary to heat a garden structure during the winter months to keep the plants inside alive?
The answer to this question depends on what you intend to grow. Cool season crops and perennial plants do not need heat to survive the winter inside a garden structure. This is why tunnel houses and cold frames are such popular items.
Are garden structures expensive to buy or build?
Some garden structures run thousands of dollars, while others cost less than $25. The cost depends on what you want. It is possible to build a large greenhouse for under $1,000. That same greenhouse, bought through a greenhouse company, could run $5,000 or more.
If you want to know more about year-round gardening or gardening structures, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Year-Round Gardening, is a great book that covers all aspects of gardening indoors and out, all year long.
Filed under Year-Round Gardening by on Feb 5th, 2011. 1 Comment. 
It is possible to have color in the garden in November, even if you live in a cold climate like Indiana, which depending on which edition of the USDA map you look at, we are either a zone 5 (older map) or a zone 6. Due to global warming, the part of Indiana we live in became a USDA hardiness zone 6 several years ago.
The goal with my outdoor garden is to grow vegetables, herbs and flowers all year-round. Check out The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Year-Round Gardening
This is an autumn crocus.
If you look inside the bird house, you will see even though this was a decorative house, a bird took up residence. The plant is bittersweet, which will keep its colorful berries all winter until the birds eat them up.
A close-up of the bittersweet berries.
Here are some of the helleborus that grow in the shade garden. They will remain green all winter and bloom before winter comes to an end. Some varieties bloom as early as November.
Sedum is a colorful fall blooming plant whose faded flowers remain on the plant for most of the winter.
The fuzzy Magnolia buds create texture in the fall and winter garden.
The colorful foliage of ninebark is still on the shrubs.
The colorful foliage of the euonymus.
I simply love the foliage of the Korean Viburnum.
This is a different variety of Viburnum. The flower bud will open to reveal highly fragrant flowers in the spring.
Who can resist lamb’s ears? They are a great border plant that provides texture and a unique foliage color in the garden, not to mention hummingbirds love the purple flowers!
If you grow ornamental grass, leave it stand until spring. The foliage creates an intersting sound during the winter, helps block snow and the feathery flower plumes look good too. Winter birds love landing on large clumps of ornamental grass in the winter.
Some varieties of mums keep blooming even after several light frosts. The trick is to deadhead, or remove the flowers as they fade.
Here is another variety of mum that is still in bloom.
Rose hips are a tasty snack that is high in vitamin C. Pick them right after the first frost hits them and make rose petal jelly, rose petal syrup or a variety of other tasty treats with them. Dry some to add to homemade potpourri and leave some to create winter interest in the garden and give the birds something to eat. The seeds inside the ones you pick will germinate, so plant some to increase the roses you have and share some with friends! This particular rose has apple scented leaves.
A close-up of a cluster of rose hips.
Sometimes herbs or flowers that dry on the plant, such as these hops, create winter interest.
Bark often creates interest too. Here is a photo of Harry Lauder’s Walking Stick.
Another plant with interesting bark is the hardy orange, Flying Dragon, and yes, it is hardy here in Indiana.
Don’t forget to plant a red twig dogwood. The red bark looks fantastic against the snow. The birds love the white berries. Keep the bark red by removing the older twigs as they turn brown.
Don’t forget to grow some winter lettuce and radish in a cold frame!
Once the leaves have fallen, check shrubs and trees for bird nests. This will help you locate where the birds are nesting come spring and prevent any possible problems. Check out this bird nest in a pear tree! I guess I will need to use bird netting on this tree next year.
Finally, don’t forget to plant a few holly bushes, out in the landscape. The evergreen plants with red berries look fantastic against the pure white snow and you can take cuttings to use in your holiday decorating!
Filed under Year-Round Gardening by on Nov 5th, 2010. 22 Comments.
Many perennials and cool season vegetables can be started from seed sown in an unheated greenhouse or cold frame, then be transplanted in the open garden once weather permits. An advantage to this is you will get a head start on the planting season and have flowering plants earlier than if you were to start them outside, the exception being if you use the winter sowing method.
It is nice to walk into a greenhouse, even if it is unheated in the middle of winter on a sunny day. The temperatures are sure to be warm enough that you may not need a jacket or coat. You can sit in the greenhouse and prepare the flats, seed them and water them in comfort.
If the greenhouse is a bit chilly for you, using a small ceramic heater should warm it up enough to be comfortable while you are working in it. Rain barrels or other food safe plastic containers can be filled with water and depending on where you live, how warm your greenhouse stays, etc. they may only develop a small sheet of ice on the top of the container which can easily be broken up. If ice is a real problem, look into an animal water trough heater which could be used to keep the water from freezing.
Unheated greenhouses can be a source of real pleasure during the winter months. Don’t forget to add in a few cool weather vegetable crops such as lettuce or kale for your family to eat during the winter.
Filed under In The Greenhouse by on Jan 19th, 2010. Comment.
Here in the Mid-West seed starting is already underway for many of us. Here are some dates and ideas of what you seeds you can start in January.
January 1 – direct sow carrot seed in cold frames
January 4 – pansy, dianthus, snapdragon in flats
January 6 – direct sow peas in cold frames – weather permitting – pea seed will rot if it gets too wet and cold
January 10 – statice in flats
January 11 – parsley, cabbage, celery and onion in flats
January 15 – direct sow carrots and spinach in cold frames
January 18 – begonia and geraniums in flats
January 25 – well established seedlings that were started in flats can be moved into cold frames, weather permitting – remember to do this gradually so seedlings are not shocked unless you have a heated cold frame
Janaury 29 – direct sow carrots in cold frame
The multiple dates for sowing various seeds such as carrots are there for people who succession sow or who did not get the seed sown on the first date.
Filed under Seed Starting by on Jan 12th, 2010. 1 Comment.
Growing mushrooms from a mushroom kit is not hard, in fact, mushrooms are one of the easiest crops I have grown. Anyone, even a child, can grow their own mushrooms. Eat them fresh or preserve them by canning them, dehydrating them or freezing them – whatever you do with your home grown mushrooms it is sure to be a hit!
When your mushroom patch arrives you will notice it is covered in plastic. This is the incubation bag. The patch will look like a bunch of white popcorn that has been melted together with some brown patches on it. The brown patches are future mushrooms.
The first step in the process is to find a saucer large enough for your mushroom patch to sit in. Once you have done that, remove the mushroom patch from the incubation bag.
Put thesaucer in the humidty tent which is the plastic bag with holes in it that came in your kit. Sit the empty saucer with the humidity bag in a dark, cool spot.
Put the mushroom patch in the saucer and fill it with cool rainwater. Do not use chlorinated, filtered or distilled water!
Put some skewers, chop-sticks or knitting needles into the top of the mushroom patch. Pull the plastic humidity bag up over the mushroom patch and fold it down. Fasten the top of the bag with clothespins or paperclips.
Several times a day you will need to open the bag to mist the top of the mushroom patch and the sides of the bag. Use rainwater.
Within about two weeks you will have mushrooms. This process can be repeated several times by allowing the patch to dry out, then repeating the entire process. Some mushroom patches can then be incorporated into logs and established in your yard.
Filed under Tropical and Exotic Plants, Year-Round Gardening by on Jan 7th, 2010. 1 Comment.
Seed starting time is rolling around in the Midwest once again. If you are seeking early blooms this season, now is the time to start seeds of dianthus and snapdragon.
Also if you didn’t get your pansy and viola seeds started back in November, be sure to start those.
These cool weather plants will do fine, once germinated, in a cool greenhouse. As spring approaches and the weather warms, sometime in mid-March to early April, these young plants can be moved into a cold frame and then on into the garden.
Once they have been hardened off, they are sure to survive light frosts. Should a severe frost threaten your area, simply cover them with a make shift cold frame made out of an old milk carton or two liter plastic bottle. Be sure to vent the cold frame so the plants do not cook when the sun comes up the next day.
Filed under Flower Gardening, Seed Starting by on Jan 5th, 2010. 1 Comment.
During the cold, snowy season, I like to share with my readers photos of some of my favorite plants from the previous season. I think it gives everyone a chance to escape from the dreary cold outside their window and helps all of us plan our garden for the upcoming here. So hang on tight to your chair and let’s see what the stars of 2009 were!
Tulips say spring to me in a way no other plant does. I really enjoy seeing them come up and bloom. I wish they were a bit more prolific here like daffodils, but hey, at least a few seem to come back year after year.
I love the dark colored flowers of Akeiba. Some years it blooms, other years it doesn’t. This year one vine bloomed and the second one did not. You need to vines for cross-pollination to get fruit. So far I have not had any fruit set on my vines, but I am sure it is just a matter of time.
The common name for Akeiba is chocolate vine. It is said the vine emits a chocolate scent when in bloom. The flowers do have a slight chocolate scent, however it is not a wafting scent. Of course, as stated above, both vines have not been in bloom nor has either vine ever been in full bloom, so I will keep waiting and hoping. A wafting chocolate scent would be fantastic!
Ah, what would an exotic garden be without exotic plants? Best of all, this one is perfectly hardy here in Indiana. Dracunculus vulgaris is the scientific name of this beauty. The first several years I had it, only the leaves came up, then in the summer of 2009 this beautiful flower formed.
This dark beauty is Zantedeschia ‘Edge of Night,’ a fine introduction from Dan Heims at Terra Nova Nurseries. Dan comes up with the coolest – and I do mean coolest – plants. Don’t take my word for it though, visit his website and take a look at the unusual plants there that just beg for a place in your garden!
While it is true there are not as many photos here as usual, the summer of 2009 caught me inside writing several books including The Complete Idiot’s Guide To Year-Round Gardening. So, that is it for the photos now. I hope you enjoy them and find some new plants for your garden in 2010!
Filed under Chocolate Colored Plants, Chocolate Scented Plants, Flower Gardening, Tropical and Exotic Plants by on Jan 1st, 2010. Comment.
It’s official – Amazon is taking pre-orders on The Complete Idiot’s Guide To Year Round Gardening. Order your copy today so they are not sold out by the time the book is released in February 2010.
This book is so cool because it tells you, no matter what hardiness zone you are in, how to garden year round. It doesn’t matter if you have a heated or unheated greenhouse, garden indoors, use frost covers or cold frames, you can defy nature and grow many varieties of fresh produce year round.
Here in Indiana we have been successful with a variety of produce – lettuce, peas, radish, turnip, carrots, to name a few. In 2008, using season extending ideas like you will find in this book, I planted tomato plants on April 1.
Don’t miss your chance to own this fantastic book. Even seasoned gardeners are sure to learn something – and don’t let the name fool you, The Complete Idiot’s Guide To Year Round Gardening should be on every gardeners’ bookshelf!
Filed under Tropical and Exotic Plants, Year-Round Gardening by on Jan 1st, 2010. Comment.
It is a cold, snowy 16 degrees F here today. As you can see from the picture above, my little unheated cold frame is not in a protected area. Behind it is the towers of the city water company. Last fall I planted some Wakefield Cabbage in there as well as some lettuce, spinach and radish seed. The lettuce and spinach seed did not germinate for some reason, but the radish seed germinated and grew just fine. Today, January 1, 2010, I was able to harvest fresh radish from inside the cold frame.
I did not use frost cover inside of the cold frame like I should have, nor did we get the bottoms and ends secured. If we had done both of those things, I am sure the harvest would have been better. Some of the smaller radish were frozen and soft, so I put those in the compost pile. The cabbages have faired pretty well, although I suspect they will bolt come spring.
I closed the cold frame up too early last year which meant the inside was much warmer than what cool crops like it. I was in a hurry and not really thinking about venting it on warm days.
After harvesting the radishes and pulling any tiny weeds that were trying to sprout, I used my handy circle hoe to work the top of the ground. The soil was quite dry and easy to work.
The next thing I did was water the raised beds. I did not drench the soil, I just gave it a gentle watering with a watering can. The top half inch or so of the soil is damp. That should be damp enough to allow the seeds to begin to germinate. In another couple of days, I will go back out and give the soil another sprinkling of water.
There are two beds inside of this particular cold frame. One is half filled with cabbage and the other half of that bed is where the radish were. I left that area unplanted for now. It will be the next area I plant, but for today, I chose to use the bed where nothing had been growing. I chose seeds from Renee’s Garden. Today I planted Romeo Round Baby Carrots and Asian Baby Leaf Gourmet Mesclun Salad. Both of these should do fine. I do not expect the seeds will germinate immediately, but we shall see.
We are in Indiana, zone 5/6. So as you can see, with a little protection is is possible to have a year-round garden, even in a cold climate. Want know more? Than check out The Complete Idiot’s Guide To Year-Round Gardening by Sheri Ann Richerson and Delilah Smittle.
Filed under Tropical and Exotic Plants, Vegetable Gardening, Year-Round Gardening by on Jan 1st, 2010. 2 Comments.
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