[Arid_gardener] Discouraged

[Carolyn Stoffel]

I'm discouraged. Royally discouraged.

We had unusually severe cold spells in December and January. (Don't even 
.ask. about my heating bill!) Even Phoenix nurseries were hard hit - one 
speaker at our garden club said he'd lost $750,000 worth of plants.

I planted lots of seed and bulbs about November 1st. I don't know how 
old most of it was so lack of growth wasn't a real surprise. I also 
planted two Egyptian Walking Onions and a multiplying onion I'd 
purchased a wook or so earlier. The two Egyptian Onions are growing, the 
multiplying onion disappeared.

In early January, before our second cold spell, I planted two snow peas, 
32 beets, and just over 100 ranunculus bulbs. One pea came up, then 
keeled over. I had three sets of beet leaves, two from one seed; didn't 
have to thin because one died. A ranunculus bulb, or maybe two, started 
to grow, then another; they've all died. I was surprised today to find
another beet leaf. All the above went into a free-standing, raised bed.

I recently purchased six pots of ranunculus in bloom, which were planted 
in the raised bed. They've already quit blooming and some have died 
back. They were pretty pot-bound. I pulled the driest one up today 
(Sunday) - the roots hadn't spread into the surrounding soil at all. Not 
all the buds bloomed, and severakl of the flowers were down in the foliage.

As I read the planting guide, it's too late for more beets or peas, but 
I can start planting other things - could have started early this month.

I'm just not certain which plantings I should give up on. I'll probably 
keep the few beets and the onions. The blooming ranunculus are drying up 
fast, so I can pull them up very soon.

Question is, do I want to buy more potted-and-in-bloom ranunculus. The 
six I bought were$6 each for two bulbs. I stopped at K-Mart Friday and 
they have three bulb pots for the same price.

Carolyn Stoffel
Phoenix