Arugula Indoors and Out, Your Lavender Retreat, Flower Shows and Tropical Hibiscus
As a very snowy February wraps up in our Vermont garden, it’s hard to believe that spring is technically only a few weeks away. I know the weather changes quickly this time of year and I have noticed that traveling to flower shows and garden talks. All I have to do is travel a few hundred miles South and the snow disappears.
Speaking of traveling, I’m busy this time of year doing garden talks. And it’s flower show season. I highlight the next two flower shows I’ll be speaking at in March in this newsletter. Check them out and if you’re in the area, stop by to say “hi”. Also, check out your local area flower shows. They may not be as grand as the Philadelphia or Northwest Flower Shows, but they definitely have a local flavor.
I was peaking in our unheated greenhouse after I dug a path to it through 1 foot of snow. And yes, even after all that cold and snow, my arugula is still alive and even has some new growth. It got me thinking about growing arugula and how much we love that green. I talk about getting started with arugula, even now indoors, and growing it throughout the season in this newsletter.
It’s also a good time of year to dream a bit. Many people are stressed with everyday life, and gardening is always a welcome relief. How about being a little more intentional with your garden this year? I talk about creating a lavender retreat in your garden area. Lavenders are beautiful and soothing plants that grow well in many gardens. I talk about creating an oasis of lavender using a number of different varieties here.
I was in Mexico for our niece’s wedding last week and it was spring! There were lots of flowers blooming including the tropical hibiscus. For those gardeners who are snow birds, you know this flower as a landscape plant in places such as Florida, Texas and California. but in the North, it’s best treated as a summer outdoor plant in a pot and winter houseplant. I talk about ways to grow this tropical beauty here.
The flower show season continues. I’ll be speaking at two more flower shows in March. First up is the Philadelphia Flower Show. It’s the largest and oldest indoor flower show in the country and I’ll be speaking on Sunday, March 2nd at noon on No Dig Gardening. Stop by if you’re in Philly then. The second show is the Vermont Flower Show in my home state. I’ll be talking on Friday, March 7th twice; once on Foodscaping and then on Summer Bulbs. If you’re in the area, come to the show to hear me, and other speakers, and enjoy the sights and scents of spring. All my talks are sponsored by Velcro.com. I’ll be giving out free Velcro Brand Plant Ties to everyone who attends my talks. See you soon!
Until next time I’ll be seeing you, in the garden.
Charlie
Where to Find Charlie: (podcasts, TV and in-person)
- In the Garden (WCAX-TV CBS) – This week: Unusual Vegetables
- All Things Gardening on Vt Public Radio– This week: Clivia Houseplant
- WJOY In The Garden Podcast– This week: The In the Garden Radio Show is on hiatus until March, 2025. Check out the past podcasts here
- Where’s Charlie Speaking? 3/02/25- Philadelphia Flower Show, PA
How to Grow: Arugula
Arugula (Eruca vesicaria sativa) is one of those easy to grow greens that can be planted many times in your garden, container or home throughout the year. Arugula is also called rocket. Depending on the variety, it has dark green, serrated leaves that grow quickly in cool weather. I mentioned I saw our arugula that overwintered in our unheated greenhouse, started to grow already. That’s typical of this tough green. It can overwinter in zones 5 and warmer for a great early spring treat. It can be planted in the ground as early as March or April, depending on where you live. And you can succession plant it throughout the growing season, except during the hottest times in summer.
The classic wild, Italian arugula is called ‘Sylvetta’ or “wild arugula”. It has smaller, more serrated leaves and a stronger flavor. It’s also know as rucola selvatica. There are cultivated varieties with larger leaves and a less spicy flavor. ‘Astro’ and ‘Surrey’ are two selections that are more heat tolerant, too, with strap-like leaves.
As you can tell, arugula likes it cool. Hot weather, overcrowding or water stress will force it to bolt quickly. Even before it bolts, the flavor turns spicy. It’s best to grow the broader leafed varieties if you don’t like the spiciness of the wild types. Pick it young for a milder flavor.
Plant arugula seeds in early spring as soon as the soil in your raised bed garden dries out. Arugula seeds will germinate at low temperatures, so don’t wait too long to sow. I like to do succession plantings of arugula seeds every few weeks into late June for a continuous harvest. Make each planting small to prevent an over abundance of arugula and in case the weather turns hot quickly and the plants bolt. You can also shade the arugula plants in summer with a shade cover to keep it cooler.
Come August in the North and later in the South, start seeding again every few weeks to harvest arugula crops that last into winter. The flavor stays sweeter in fall because of the shorter days and cooler nights. You can even overwinter plants in an unheated greenhouse, hoop house, or cold frame. They will survive the winter but you need to eat them in late winter before they go to seed. They naturally are biennials. You can let the white flowers go to seed in summer. The next spring you often will find arugula plants popping up throughout your garden. It’s a fun and surprising early spring treat. You can even sow seeds indoors under grow lights all winter long for some arugula during the dark days.
We like eating arugula in salads mixed with milder greens for a bit of a spicy flavor. They also are great in omelettes, sandwiches, soups, on pizzas and in most any other recipe as a side dish.
Learn More About Growing Arugula here
How to Grow: Lavender
More and more, people are turning to gardening as a way to relieve stress. Anxiety relief and getting in touch with Nature are often the two primary reasons people garden. If you’d like to really up your stress relief game, why not create a garden or garden area that’s specifically for sitting and relaxing?
Lavender is one of the herbs known for its relaxing qualities. For generations, lavender flowers and greens have been dried and used in potpourris and sachets to help people sleep as well as used in candles and as essential oils. The fresh flowers and greens have the same relaxing scent plus, the flowers are beautiful, too. Simply looking at beautiful plants is another way to help you relax. Creating a sitting area in your garden loaded with lavender is a great way to get started.
To create your Lavender Retreat, start with plants that will give you a little privacy. Grow a wall of greenery around your sitting spot using native grasses such as Bluestem Grass and Red Switch Grass. These two grasses grow 4 feet tall with colorful leaves. They’re easy to grow and will expand slowly over time. Then bring in a favorite bench or chair and surround it with lavender plants. ‘Grosso’ lavender is famous for its scent. This French hybrid is hardy to zone 5, has silvery foliage and purple flower stalks. ‘Phenomenal®‘ lavender is a similar, newer hybrid with good cold, heat and humidity tolerance. ‘Sensational™‘ is another lavender in this group that has great tolerance to heat and humidity with a more compact growing plant.
Plant groups of these, and other lavender varieties, around the sitting area. If you mix in other perennials, make sure they like similar growing conditions as lavender. Lavender likes full sun, on well-drained soil that’s not too fertile with good air movement. Yarrow, euphorbia, and salvia are good companions. Enjoy the sights and scents of lavender in summer and remember to harvest some flower stalks for drying and using indoors in winter. Most importantly, take some time each day to just sit, watch, breathe and rest in your lavender oasis. You’ll enjoy the motion and sounds of the grasses, the colors of the perennials and all the bees and butterflies that visit the garden.
Learn More about growing lavender here
Flower Shows
It’s been a snowy and cold winter in the many parts of the country this year. All the more reason to get excited about spring. A good way I’ve been celebrating an early spring over the past 20 years is by attending an indoor flower show. Flowers shows have been happening in England and Europe for decades. The most famous, of course, is the Chelsea Flower Show in London that’s been happening since 1913. Because of the mild climate, these flower shows usually occur outdoors in parks and in public gardens.
In the United States, many areas can’t wait until April and May to create an outdoor flower show. We need something now in the depths of winter to inspire us. So, a truly unique phenomena started back in the 1800’s. It’s an indoor flower show. The first public, indoor flower show in the USA was in Philadelphia in 1829. It’s claim to fame was it introduced the poinsettia to the American public for the first time. Now most United States indoor flower shows occur from January to March, when Northern gardens need a little sight and smell of spring. Some flower shows have come and gone over the years. Over the past 20 years, I’ve talked at flower shows in places such as Boston, Vermont, Maine, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Albany, New York City, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Chicago, Seattle and San Francisco. There are many other cities around the country that host these shows as well. The largest and oldest is the Philadelphia Flower Show. It feels like a Broadway show with artistic displays of flowers, trees, shrubs, bulbs and vegetables, music and a light show to make it a truly theatrical experience. The Northwest Flower and Garden Show is also a favorite. It has beautiful display gardens, but also a seminar series that’s second to none.
And that’s the beauty of these indoor shows. Most people are attracted to the flower displays, which often cost thousands of dollars for the landscape nursery companies, public gardens and other groups to create. Some flower shows, such as the Vermont Flower Show, decided to merge their talents. The Vermont Nursery and Landscape Association hosts the show. Many landscape companies, nurseries and garden related businesses work together to create one big display garden. The sight of thousands of bulbs in bloom, and shrubs and trees such as lilacs, magnolias, red bud and forsythia, forced into bloom early is truly an amazing sight. The smell of hyacinths and lilies mixed with the ever present smell of wood mulch gives everyone a remembrance of spring. The sounds of running water or other garden sculpture adds creativity and wonder.
While I love all the plants, individual displays with stone work, structures and even the green grass, for the dedicated gardener, the seminar series are great. This is a way to hear multiple speakers talk about a variety of gardening topics and for you to ask questions as well.
So, check out your local flower show right now. Your show may not have happened yet, so you still can get a chance to experience an indoor flower show this year.
Go here for more on the Vermont Flower Show
In Our Garden: Tropical Hibiscus
On our recent trip to Mexico for a family wedding, we took the opportunity to spend some extra days enjoying spring in this tropical country. I particularly loved many of the Thunbergia evergreen vines, such as the Blue Sky vine. They were in full bloom cascading over garden walls. But the flower that stole the show was the tropical hibiscus.
Tropical hibiscus is a landscape shrub in the warm climates of zones 10 and above. I’ve seen it growing into a 4- to 6-foot tall plant in Florida, Texas, Arizona, Hawaii and California in our country. This is a frost sensitive plant, so only grows outdoors in frost free areas of the USA. This evergreen features large, disc-shaped flowers in a multitude of colors from light yellow to deep red. The flowers also can be single or double petaled. They’re loved in the tropics because they bloom from spring into fall.
For most areas of the Unites States, tropical hibiscus is an outdoor plant only for the summer. With temperatures dipping below 45F, the tropical hibiscus plants start to suffer from the cold. It’s best to grow them outdoors in large containers once the temperatures are consistently above 60F. They will respond with rapid growth and flowering by summer time. And the flowers will continue into fall. Many gardeners will use tropical hibiscus in the landscapes mixed with other heat loving plants such as canna lilies and kniphofia.
Tropical hibiscus like a well drained soil, but need lots of water and fertilizer to keep growing and blooming. Outdoors they don’t really have many pest problems except perhaps aphids. But buying new plants every year can get expensive, so some gardeners try to overwinter their tropical hibiscus indoors. If you have a grow light set up, that should work fine as long as the air temperatures stay warm. Watch out for hitching aphids that come in with the plant. If you just have a sunny window, be prepared for a shock. Your hibiscus plant will probably drop most of its leaves and certainly stop flowering from December to March. But that’s okay. Just reduce watering to a minimum and keep as much light on the plant as possible. By March or April they should start to leaf out again. Once it’s warm enough, move them into a protected place outdoors to continue growing.
Go here to learn more about growing Tropical Hibiscus
Copyright © 2025 Gardening with Charlie, All rights reserved.
