The promised early spring weather is taking its precious time getting here, and as a result many of us northern gardeners are beginning to suffer from a form of cabin fever. Whoever determined that rodents were accurate weather forecasters, anyway? Sure, we can plant seeds and take some clippings to keep us occupied. But for the most part of these plants’ beginnings, all we are looking at is some bleak, black soil.

This week, I received an e-mail in my in-box from a gardening colleague who is asking that very question.

	Even the flowers are getting cabin fever!

“Well it has seriously started, cabin fever. I got a call last week from someone in my garden club and she was just ranting. ‘Why aren't there any garden shows? Why don't any of these radio stations have gardening... Where is it...?’

Well, in the back of my head, I recognized it. The symptoms were obvious - cabin fever, or lack of being in the garden. Understanding cabin fever, and often having to restrain myself from trying to take my early morning walk with coffee in hand in the yard because there is two feet of snow still there... I sympathized with her.

I too had in previous years noted how radio and television networks have a cycle of show programming. The fall/winter cycle is generally home renovations. Gardening only follows in the spring and summer. What was apparent to me was that the networks simply do not have gardeners on the programming boards at this time of year. Yes, there are one or two here and there, but likely less that half a percent of all current viewing.

So being the good little action-oriented person I was, I sent a message to HGTV about these. Very specifically, I noted to them that as for us gardeners, in as much as we like to see the garden shows in spring and summer, we are actually IN THE YARD in the spring and summer. We really need the garden shows NOW!!"

Well, my friend’s e-mail met a welcomed response, and the HGTV network will be promoting new gardening programming this spring to the relief of more than a few Northscapers. To quote them, 

“...HGTV will be airing three new gardening or gardening-related programs: Digging Deep, Green Force, Urban Outsiders, and new episodes of the Canadian original series, Take It Outside, as well as encore presentations of Outer Spaces. Our spring schedule starts the first week of April. Please check our website, hgtv.ca, for additional programming information.”

Where are all the gardening programs at the very time we need them most?

Okay so that takes care of April, but what about now? So I started by looking on the various television channels to see what gardening shows are on right now. For the most part, they are traditional lifestyles of the southern and warmer climates, without much ado about northerners and our cold climate gardens. However, if you check out some of the episodes you will see on Martha Stewart or even other talk show hosts, future episodes will include gardening in colder climates. The television industry does not realize that we who live in the north are gardeners as well, and we need to know what we can do to nip ‘Cabin Fever’ in the proverbial bud!

The popular television gardening show ‘Victory Garden’ has a new episode entitled Annual Pleasures scheduled to air on, or around, February 24, on your local PBS station. It is to identify how to grow and use annuals, with a specific reference being presented on incorporating them into an existing perennial border.

So we sit and watch the snow melt - begging it all to hurry up! We might just sit back and tune into the tele, and watch some of the new gardening programming that the networks are beginning to offer us. Remember however, that even though the environment may be warmer than what we are used to experiencing thanks to climate change, it’s still early. But we can still learn and be informed, just a few months in advance of when we would normally attempt what the host is proposing. At least here in our Northscaping part of the world!

So until next time... Happy armchair gardening!

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