And let some leeks go to seed!!!

[Cindi]

For you that grow leeks, let some of them go to flower the next year, the bees and beneficials too love, and I mean love to work the flowers!!!  I have seen as many as about 8 bees on a leek flower cluster, which can be about the size of a softball ball.  Beautiful, and they are something to look at tooo.  Have a wonderful and beautiful day, love our life.  Cindi

[reinbeau]

I've got a strip of them out there still, I have no idea if they'll make it through the winter, though.  Here's hoping!

[sarafina]

:shock:  I hope it doesn't make your honey taste like onions !!! LOL   

[reinbeau]

No, it won't at all.  All the pollinators love the alliums (onion family), I've got many different varieties out there in various beds and they're always loaded with bees when they're in bloom.  I've posted this before, but here's a little circling onion out in my perennial border:

[Cindi]

Ann, I am pretty sure that leeks are very hardy.  I have leeks that grow here throughout the winter and live long into the spring. These are the ones that will set the flowers if I don't pull them to eat.

I think that leeks are somewhat like the brussels sprouts.  The chemical reaction that the cold weather causes makes them become more tastier after the freezing. This is common to many of the overwintered type vegetables, something about the freeze and chemical changes within the plants.  Good luck, hope they come through, but I have confidence they will.  Beautiful day, beautiful life, beautiful. Cindi

[Burl]

I once had a leak in a rubber boot .  It made my feet smell bad .  But , then again , I think that I may be built upsidedown , because my nose runs and my feet smell .  Oh , " shall-it" never come to such an end !
                                                                             ---Burl---

[CBEE]

leaky boot.. I had a nice leak in my chest waders back in the fall :shock: water was cold too... by the time I could get back out of the river there was as much water inside the waders as outside :evil: Got back to the house asap and just about sat on the wood stove for 2 days before I got back to normal.. Well , as normal as I can get anyways  :-D
Nice pics.. Got to plant some more of those types

[reinbeau]

Cindi, you're right about the leeks and brussels sprouts getting tastier with frost, however, there's a limit to their survival.  My temps are far harsher than yours, and the frigid weather lasts for far longer.  I'm so jealous of your climate!  I won't be able to work in my garden until mid-April, especially now that I've moved those raised beds to the backyard.  In the past I could plant peas in the raised beds in mid-March because they were thawed and drained, but the ground beneath them was still a bit frosty.  Now the water has to drain from the whole garden before I can plant.  Look at this, I'm rambling - I've been hanging around you too long!  :lol: :lol: :lol:

Long story short, I'll let you know if any of the leeks actually make it and grow.  Cross your fingers for me (and for our bees!)

[Cindi]

Ann, ha, you will be assimilated!!!  YOu will be a ramblin' girl too, it just takes a little practice.  I'll cross my fingers for you and the leeks, hope, hope, hope.

Yep, our weather is much milder for sure.  Our frost is gone, the days are getting warm and only a shimmer of frost at nights when it is clear.  That could continue on until the end of April.  I don't set out any transplants til May 1 or even a few days later than that.  But I can set seed for carrots and peas now.  Not that I will, I have too much other stuff to do right now, but we can show these early things, and stuff like broccoli too.  Don't be jealous, Ann, you probably have niceties around your place with regard to weather and plants, that I don't have here.....soggy, Pacific North West.  Beautiful day, awesome and great life, Cindi