Seedlings and Prep Work

Our seedlings are off to a good start this year, though we are battling string algae in our propagation tubs. We have over a dozen Euryale seedlings started, most have two to three floating leaves and are growing steadily. Only three of our Victoria seeds have sprouted so far, a decline from years past. We have tried raising the water temperature to near 90 degrees F, but so far most have just slumbered away in their ziploc bags. Of the three that sprouted, two have three floating leaves and the other has two floating leaves. Volunteer Karen Webbink will be in this morning to help with our weekly fertilization and water changes. Also on the agenda for this spring is cleaning up the metal stands that are used to grow our waterlilies at the optimum depth in the ponds. Volunteers John Wyman and Jeff Prather were here at the Gardens yesterday to begin cleaning off any rust that had formed over the winter months. Next week they will begin to apply a fresh coat of black rustoleum to each stand to keep them sturdy for the summer growing season. The guys also did some clean up in the ponds and checked on our hardy waterlilies. We will begin dividing these in early April!