Gardening by the calendar

Last update: December 8, 2009 - 6:40 PM

Want to know when to resume feeding your houseplants? How early to start seeds indoors? When to mulch your flower beds? Given our, ah, unique climate, you can't always garden by the calendar in Minnesota. But the 2010 Minnesota Gardening calendar provides good general guidelines for tending to your lawn and garden.

Published annually by the University of Minnesota Extension Service, the calendar has month-by-month gardening tips, state maps showing USDA plant hardiness zones and spring frost-free dates as well as resources for northern gardeners. Each month also features attractive, season-specific photos of Minnesota-grown plants -- from bittersweet, to magnolias, to mountain ash, to poinsettias. Proceeds from calendar sales are plowed back in to horticultural research and outreach.

This must-have for local green thumbs carries a suggested price of $13.99, but the price may vary by location. It's available from the extension office (1-800-876-8636 or go to www.extension.umn.edu and search for "Minnesota Gardening"), the Minnesota State Horticultural Society (651-643-3601) and some Barnes & Noble bookstores.

CONNIE NELSON