LADYBUG SAYS...WINTER'S CLOUDS HAVE `SILVER LINING'

Winter's gray days have been with us for quite some time. No accurate count of days when the sun shone has been kept, but it seems there have been very few since Christmas Day.

There is an old saying, "Every cloud has a silver lining," and there is some good to be found here. When it gets cold and stays cold as it has since winter began,, it is safer for our vegetation than when the weather is cold and then warms up and then turns cold again.

Although there has not been a lot of snow this winter the amount we have had has been good. Snow, apart from being called the poor gardener's fertilizer, is a protective blanket for plants, if there is a good cover through the winter. Temperatures beneath the snow are much warmer and more constant than above the surface.

Late winter often takes its toll if the days are mild and the nights cold. The alternating pattern wrenches shallow roots from the ground, and a walk through the garden may show a number of plants, perched octopus fashion above the soil. These plants can be firmed back in by simply pressing your foot around the base of them, but often the damage is already done and they have died a death of dehydration. This is particularly true of perennials which often have a hard time coming through the winter.

A sharp drop in temperature before plants go dormant for winter is often a greater factor for winter kill than the average low temperature. Do you recall December 1989 when the temperature plunged to sub-zero before shrubs and trees had time to become dormant? Many hollies azaleas, roses and other plants were lost during this period of extremely cold weather. They had not hardened off.

There is a new USDA Hardiness Map published recently, but sometimes other factors enter into the winter hardiness of plants. Generally speaking, our dull, gray days have been beneficial to winter hardiness. The new hardiness map does not take into consideration all of the other factors.

"He who has the seeing eye and sensitive heart finds beauty and serenity in Nature's season of sleep and rest. It is an indispensable period in her carefully planned cycle of the year. But the gardener's spirit lifts after January is gone and he senses the change as days lengthen to shorten night's dark curtain." (Author unknown)

Ed Hume's Garden Almanac and Fall Planting Guide for 1991 is now available. This year promises an upgraded, quality booklet offered at a very low price.

This complete, easy-to-follow, informative booklet on moon sign gardening is written by Ed Hume, one of the nicest persons you could ever meet. It offers a 14-month calendar for 1991 and January and February 1992, including monthly dates for fertilizing with commercial or organic fertilizers, mowing to retard or to stimulate growth, tak-cuttings or making grafts, and the best dates for composting.

It also includes information on eliminating weeds, tilling or spading the garden, drying fruits and vegetables, harvesting root and fruit crops and the best dates for canning fruits and vegetables.

This year's booklet contains an eight-page bonus section on fall and winter gardening. The topics include varieties to plant, when to plant, mulching, cover crops, raised beds and cold frames among others.

Their beautiful catalog, all in black and white with pencil drawings carries a good selection of All-America winners and other favorites. Included are garden videos, gardening books, dahlia and super glad bulbs, and seed selections for cool and short season climates.

They also carry the varieties of flowers and vegetables that are receiving national attention. These include: Kentucky Blue bean, Early Cascade tomato, Olympia spinach, Walla Walla Sweet onion, Round zucchini, Sugar Snap pea, Kandy Korn, Jack Be Little Pumpkin, Easter Egg radish, How Sweet It Is corn, Godetia, Rock Garden Flower Mix, Livingston Daisy, Heliotrope, Cosmos Sensation Mix, Fountain Trailing Mix lobelia, Supersnoop Sweet Pea, Wildflower Mix, Black Eyed Susan vine and Flowering kale.

The short season seed and bulb catalog is free. Write to Catalog, P.O. Box 1450, Kent, WA 98032. However, there is a charge for the Moon Booklet. Topics covered include: varieties to plant, when to plant, mulching, cover crops, raised beds and cold frames, among others.

Send a stamped, self-addressed legal-size envelope and $1.25 to MOON BOOKLET, P.O. BOX 1450, KENT, WA 98035.