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Haha, Hi friends, how are you all? I hope you are well :=)

February goes by so quickly, even when it’s a leap year – this is mostly why I like the month so much. But as for gardening, it’s still a bit too early to get excited. February, for us, is when we begin to notice the daylight hours increasing ever slightly. When March finally arrives, those of us in the Nordics are fully realizing daylight is gaining. Our morning wake-ups are greeted by actual sunshine instead of darkness – hurray! March is when things start to really shift gears and garden season excitement starts to amp up. That is, for me at least! 🙂 Others may be a bit ahead or will join in later, but we’re all looking forward to the same thing – a happy, productive AND enjoyable gardening season!

For those not in Finland, everything here is dual language; with the two languages of both Finnish and Swedish written on everything. The month of March is Maaliskuu in Finnish, but the Swedes call it Mars! When I hear maaliskuu, pronounced mah-lis-koo my ear still hears malice – so I think to myself it’s the month of malice – just a personal chuckle. But in this instance I’m really enjoying it being Mars! Take the joys as they come!

What have we been up to? Absolutely nothing. Pekka did finish a massive 6000-piece puzzle that had been sitting in our living room since Christmas. We’d started it during his work holiday, and considering it was atop a full-size sheet of plywood, there was no chance of missing this massive ongoing project directly at the center of everything. Our normal Christmas puzzles are 3500 pieces, the two new ones we each had bought were 6000. Wow, what an undertaking! We’d actually completed a new 3500 piece so fast, we decided since it was still Christmastime, we’d also do one of the new larger sized ones.

The larger size required the purchase of a full sheet of plywood to assemble and hold the completed puzzle. Pekka went out and brought back a sheet the next day so we could get started. With double the puzzle pieces, just emptying the bag and basic sorting took a very long time. We like to start with locating and placing the edge pieces, and pulling unique colors or patterns to the side. Is this the way you begin a puzzle too? We’ve had two cats (Viiru and Greta) since we’ve been here at Vanha Talo Suomi, and each of them has always been big into helping us while we’re working on the puzzle! Sometimes they have helped to lose a piece or two, we mostly locate the missing pieces – I think one time the vacuum might have accidentally captured a downed piece – but the cat in question helped it get to the floor! The final 2023/24 puzzle lay fully assembled, minus one piece – directly in the center! Dramatic! After Pekka loaded it all back into the box, I conducted a thorough search and found the elusive piece tucked far away under the living room rug. Luckily, we were able to locate it to put back in the box for next time…never again. That puzzle was HARD!!! We still have one more 6000 pc waiting on the shelf for next Christmas! Yikes!

Our daylight hours have been increasing in the background, almost imperceptibly, but slowly accumulating until one day, the realization that yes, yes indeed, the days are really lighter, and longer; and yes, yes, the darkness is slowly diminishing hit me. I’d like this time of year even more, if the weather was actually at a point where you could enjoy yourself out there. The month of February brought with it some days of high pressure which gave us beautifully clear skies and cold temps, combined with the usual weeks of late winter gloom. All in all, quite a bit of the expected and regular weather we are accustomed. In some years the amount of snow is more, and some years the snow is less at this point of the new calendar year. I can guesstimate we have about 40 cm of snow on the ground. But after all the rain which fell during the periods of high pressure, all the snow is very firm and heavily compacted. Things are at the “ouch phase” of the season, I recommend not to fall down anywhere. We may have actually gotten over the hump of that terrible period of the season where the ground is still frozen in places and quite treacherous for pedestrians. I prefer not to venture out too much unless necessary – I’ve already experienced the “ouch phase” first hand just going to the mailbox!

High pressure is with us once again, and the sun is beaming us with glorious rays of sunshine. Not yet feeling the urge of “spring-cleaning”, I did feel the urge to clean and vacuum the floors downstairs. With all that sunshine illuminating the dust bunnies in nearly every corner, I had to get into action. Greta is shedding like a fiend and wherever the dust is coming from, it can just go right back to wherever it came! Things are looking quite a bit spankier now after a few hours of mopping and the vacuum! Phew what a workout! I’ll save the real “spring-cleaning” for a bit later, wink wink…

I do think “spring fever” is real. And I do tend to experience a physical rush to get active. It generally results in me being more willing and almost excited to get things around the house & yard clean and tidy. To put things right, after months of being cooped up in the house, is a much-needed thing. Being able to open windows and doors and not freeze or cause all your heating to vanish is one of the great joys of spring. I’ll get to all those windows eventually, and with the added enthusiasm a good “spring fever” can bring, I hope I’m ablaze in fever! For right now, I’m looking forward to when the temperatures climb enough that I can happily open those windows to air out the house!

One reason I’m looking forward to airing out the house this year especially is because we’ve got a bit of a smoky house at the moment. No wildfires or anything like that, just a smoky afterthought which was caused by wood smoke which didn’t rise into the flue and out of the chimney like it was supposed to. The result was smoke settling into the stove, which then promptly filled our living room. Fun times! I think most of the smoke-smell is gone, but I also think some is still being held in our large wool rugs. I’ll bundle up the rugs and take them to the matonpesupaikka, which is the Finnish word for carpet cleaning place.

Municipalities set aside areas in nearly every community, (there are fewer locations now than in previous decades.) Anyway, it’s a place where you can bring your rugs and wash them in cold water (city provided) in long sturdy stainless steel basins, then hang them up to dry on elevated drying racks. No one steals your rug! And it’s quite nice if you clean up after yourself, take home your washed and dried rug promptly, and even run the water for the next person when you’re done washing. The longer the water sits in the basin under the beaming rays of sunshine, the slightly warmer it will might be for the next washer. I’ve not used these things to wash rugs before, but it sounds like the logical and beautiful (thanks Lohja City) solution to smoky rugs. Luckily, we have one just down the road in the Routio neighborhood.

Unfortunately, I have to wait until the city opens the taps, which doesn’t happen until after the threat of freezing pipes is far in the rearview. You might be thinking to yourself, why doesn’t she just hang them outside on that large terrace!!! Sadly, I can’t hang the rugs on the terrace railing to air out, since we lost a large portion of the railing when it was torn right off by heavy crashing snow falling onto the terrace. It’s a bit “hazardousy” out there at the moment! Note to self: it might be time to possibly consider installing snow guards on the roof for the terrace side! And, we can officially add terrace repairs to any “imaginary” to-do list! hint, hint…

That rather long-winded summary of February thankfully concludes NOW. I’d like to happily tell you what I’ve got cooking as far as one garden plan this year. I did buy some seeds! I know I’ve said on numerous occasions I would never do seeds again, but last years’ successes have given me the hope I needed to think I could do it again! I think I mentioned in January getting seed catalogs, but I ended up only ordering from one place – which was a new find, and in all places, Latvia! Finding this place completely by accident seems to have been a cosmic sort of thing. I’m not going to wonder about it too long, but I am happy to have discovered this great source of seeds called, TherapyofFlowers.com My order was small, arrived really quick, and their prices are outstanding. I should have ordered more seeds as they had so many lovely choices! Next year 🙂

Here’s what I ordered:

If you’ve looked at the items above, you may have noticed many of the seeds I chose are in the same color family, with flower shapes being the only part which is different. That’s on purpose, not a bug! I’m growing these similar colored seeds for only one garden spot, in an area we now refer to as the greenhouse bed. We have a large grouping of roses which have been planted over several seasons, with varieties of David Austin’s The Ancient Mariner and Lady of Shalott being in the greatest quantity. Between the mid-pink and apricot-orange tones of these roses and other roses nearby, I think the blush tones of my seed choices will compliment the entire grouping – even more so than all these roses looked last summer. What do you think?

With seeds, there are endless choices, it’s easy to go nuts and buy too many. I’ve gotten a firm hold on those compulsive urges and don’t seldom waver once I’ve decided what it is I’m searching to find 🙂 With many seed choices, as well as with any plant, it all comes down to the most basic criteria of hardiness. Many, but not all of the most beautiful seed and plant options are already out of the window. I don’t enjoy growing seeds that much! Maybe one day I will be willing to set aside the time to start annuals and seasonal tender plants. For now, I’m focused on what will survive and hopefully thrive in our Finnish climate. So for me, perennials with the occasional annual are all I’m buying and willing to grow under the lights. Scattering seeds outside in the hope of something happening has usually been a big disappointment for me. But I’ve seen others enjoy a bit of success with winter sowing. I will likely lean into this method eventually and try a few things like poppies, which I love. (Lauren’s ‘Grape’, I’m looking at you!!)

And with the endless variety of seed and plant colors to choose from, my method of following a determined (some might say, restrictive) color palette for our garden, has been an approach which influences what I lean towards when it comes to making new seed and plant choices. Overall, in the gardens I enjoy viewing the most and in our own gardens, encouraging cohesion through repetition in planting and color not only holds a garden together, it compliments all the various aspects and elements to become and remain harmonious. And in closing, maybe someday, plant diversity and increases in availability will be something worth writing about here in Finland. For years, I’ve noticed the same boring options for sale at the local shops. These are good basics, but I’m hoping for the day when supplies of different hardy plants and trees finally flood the Finnish nursery marketplace. I think Finnish people will be incredibly happy with increases in selection. I know I will be! :=)

As for hardiness, maybe you missed it. The USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) updated the hardiness zone map nationwide for North America (USA) last year! Here is the new map, details about the old map can also be found there, as well as a bunch of other details and reasoning for the update. Click links to learn more. As of this minute, Finland is sticking to the same map they’ve been using! hahah. Our last frost date page gets a lot of hits this time of year. Rest assured it’s still there!

What other current events are happening here…well for us, nothing from what I’ve already said. But for kids everywhere throughout Finland, it’s craft season! They are undoubtedly preparing twigs of pussy willow with colored papers, fuzzy pipe cleaners, feathers, and googly eyes to swap for candy (Virvon Varvon) on Palm Sunday. Which if you didn’t already know is later this month on 24 Mars, I mean March! :DD Last year nobody came to get candy and I had to eat it all myself, haha. I think we might have stiffed them the previous year when I forgot to get candy and a flock of disappointed kids had to try their luck at a different house. DON’T LET THAT HAPPEN TO YOU!! Get your candy early! I still feel badly about that one time! I have a calendar reminder every year now to remind me. I’m giving this candy scheme serious consideration! :DD

I guess all that’s lacking now, are photos. When we had snow in heavy layers, this scene was especially lovely, and as I said, high pressure systems brought quite a few sunny days, so this is how I captured it. The sun is still beaming right now and there are a lot of warm spots Greta is finding to soak up the rays. 🙂

As earlier mentioned, there’s still 40 cm of hard compacted snow covering the ground throughout the yard. But nowhere as much as depicted in the photos. These wonderul sunny days might turn cloudy through the rest of the week, once the high pressure moves off. But nevertheless, snow is gonna melt and eventually the ground will thaw out. Hope it’s sooner rather than later. There’s much to do out there starting with apple tree pruning and oh, yeah the terrace railing! As well as a hundred other tasks.

We were really excited to be contacted recently with a request for private garden tour for a group visiting from Sweden. Our June calendar is filling. I guess it’s not too early to remind you, that if you are thinking of, or want to visit Vanha Talo Suomi this season, please contact us and set your date and time before taken by others.

Enjoy the rest of the week and all that is coming this month in your neck of the woods! I think St. Patrick’s Day is around the corner! Éire go Brách!! And of course Candy Day (Virvonta), I mean Palm Sunday and finally Easter. So much to celebrate!! Have yourself a very happy Mars!!

Until next time ❤ from Kate @ Vanha Talo Suomi