Cold Days & Thoughts of Warm Summer Plants

The weather has turned quite cold - -30C. Yesterday, I went down to the lake when the wind picked up to see if I could get a shot of the water crashing against the shore - unfortunately it was a strong north wind blowing off the land - so no large breakers, but still a lovely scene. On the horizon were the snow squalls blowing around the Niagara area.

My first seeds have arrived from Veseys in Prince Edward Island. I'll be starting my Hibiscus 'Red Shield' the week of the 24th of February - 10 weeks before my last frost date of May 12th. I use it as an accent plant - it grows about 3-5 ft high and has never bloomed for me; but that's no problem as it has lovely dark burgundy leaves that secure its pride of place in the garden. It has a very narrow growth habit, so I try to grow 5 or so very close together so that it makes a really good show. You can check it out at http://www.veseys.com/ca/en/store/annuals/hibiscus/redshield.