A display of striking, contemporary glass vases waited on the counter where I paid for my bulbs in the Heath family’s Bulb Shop in Gloucester last week. A Hyacinth bulb nestled in the curves of one of them; with thick white roots emerging from its base reaching into the water below. These were tall, crystal clear vases designed for forcing bulbs indoors during the winter. Their height allowed room for the bulb’s roots to grow freely, as they do...
Growing our own plants from seeds opens up a wide horizon of choices never even imagined by those who depend on the big box stores for their starts each spring. There are many varieties of vegetables, herbs, flowers, and trees that have never been marketed in our area as seedlings. Even within a popular type of vegetable, like tomatoes, there are many delicious named cultivars, many of them heirloom, not in commercial production as seedlings. Malabar spinach, a vining...