Sage Garden Blog

Date

December 12 2018

Written By

Dave Hanson

Tips for Indoor Succulent Care

Written By Dave Hanson - December 12 2018

Succulents make such wonderful, funky houseplants... but winter care indoors does have a few challenges. Check out these easy tips to help keep your succulents flourishing rather than disappointing you!
1) Lots of light. Although succulents are generally lumped into the "low maintenance" category, most varieties do require the brightest location available indoors. This rule of thumb is particularly true of succulents with rosette style leaves, such as sempervivum, echeveraia, graptoveria and aeonium selections. Not only will these plants be healthier in more light, they often look significantly more saturated when getting all of the sun they crave.

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Date

October 10 2018

Written By

Dave Hanson

Houseplants can brighten your day

Written By Dave Hanson - October 10 2018

Ever notice just how good it feels to be surrounded by plants? I sure do and as we can see on Instagram - or observe in our homes, offices, public spaces and even some institutional settings - many people relate to the positivity that comes from being in proximity to greenery. When you think about this, even in the context of the massive renaissance houseplants are experiencing at the moment, humans hooking up with plants is nothing new; think about all of the ancient public gardens, Victorian hot houses, healing asylums in the countryside and other centuries-old examples of humans going out of our way to cozy up to cultivated botanicals.

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Date

September 13 2018

Written By

Dave Hanson

Getting ready for the indoor garden

Written By Dave Hanson - September 13 2018

Now that we have had some cooler nights... even light frost in parts of Manitoba, many gardeners are thinking about the transition to indoors. Here are a few ideas to help you organize for this next season:
Zones tell us a lot. The zone hardiness info that we often reference when thinking about perennials also helps identify the best plants to grow indoors through winter. As a general rule, evergreen plants from high zones (9 - 11) are the easiest to keep through winter, as they naturally want to grow year round in warm conditions. Lower zone plants (1 - 4) really need a significant cold period, and do best when planted into the outdoor garden for winter. Annuals (yes, that includes most types of basil) really do not transition indoors as houseplants, as they often require long daylight hours and finish their life cycle as they flower at then end of their first season. With this information in hand, it is much easier to succeed with bringing summer plants indoors. 

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Date

September 07 2018

Written By

Dave Hanson

Getting the most out of your basil...

Written By Dave Hanson - September 07 2018

Ah, the fragrance of basil is just so summery, and it is not uncommon for gardeners to want to keep this vibe alive by bringing basil indoors for winter. However, more often than not, the love affair comes to an abrupt end once basil sets its mind to flowering and drying up in the diminishing daylight hours of fall. So what can be done to succeed with basil indoors?

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Date

March 03 2017

Written By

Dave Hanson

28 Day Indoor Garden Challenge videos

Written By Dave Hanson - March 03 2017

In 2016 and 2017, Sage Garden gave away close to 2,000 packs of organic seeds to let gardeners experiment with what could be grown, to eat, during the 28 days of February. The idea is to try something new, bridge the gap between late winter and the start of gardening season outdoors, and to have some fun! Participants took up the challenge in regions as far away as Poland and Taiwan, and from coast to coast in Canada. 

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Date

January 07 2017

Written By

Dave Hanson

Planning your indoor seed starting

Written By Dave Hanson - January 07 2017

Come January many gardeners start to twitch, an impulse that is perfectly naturally. We can actually imagine spring somewhere in the future, not really so far off. A common strategy for attending to the gardening urge is to grab some seed packs, and basically start planting. Great idea, as it is easy to see (and feel) the benefits of emerging green in seed trays. However, frustration can creep into this process. Timing is among the top variables that impacts seedling success, and at the end of the day a strong reason for planting is to find joy - not stress - in those little seedlings.

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Date

November 04 2016

Written By

Dave Hanson

Tips for growing Christmas Cactus (and getting them to bloom!)

Written By Dave Hanson - November 04 2016

I bet you have had one of these in home over the years! Christmas Cactus are very long-lived classic houseplants - and often passed down through family or as gift to young adults moving into a new apartment or first home. Not to mention they are popular in offices and other public spaces! All this because Christmas Cactus can be very good companions... and spectacular when in bloom.

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Date

October 28 2016

Written By

Dave Hanson

How to store non-hardy bulbs indoors for winter?

Written By Dave Hanson - October 28 2016

A very common inquiry from gardeners has to do with storing bulbs such as Canna and Calla Lilies. These are are valuable bulbs and a category of plant that is next to impossible to purchase from organic sources; by saving your own plants you can multiply your stock and support ecological stewardship by avoiding the re-purchase of chemical-intensive products... not to mention save yourself money!

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Date

October 21 2016

Written By

Dave Hanson

Moving plants indoors late in the season

Written By Dave Hanson - October 21 2016

This week many local gardeners got our first taste of real frost... about 20 days past that average first frost date so that is pretty good! However it may also mean that plants intended for wintering indoors got a real taste of cold weather. Often houseplant-y selections such as rosemary, bay leaf, myrtle, geraniums, jasmine, sages and many others look none-worse-the-wear after initial exposure to frost; however trouble often starts to show up a little while after coming inside. Here are some easy ways to give your late-movers the best odds of success indoors:

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Date

September 23 2016

Written By

Dave Hanson

Can I move my perennials now (in fall) or should I wait until spring?

Written By Dave Hanson - September 23 2016

Fall is a time for garden renovations. At this time of the year we can readily visualize changes we want to make using the "data" that relate to our gardens' dynamics (exposure, soil conditions, plant height, colour combos etc). And whether due to plants growing larger than expected or simply for maintenance purposes it is very common to wonder about moving or dividing perennials in September / early October.

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