*Divide houseplants with multiple crowns—e.g., African violets, primulas, spider plant, peace lily—if more plants are desired or if the plants are simply getting too crowded for their container. Water the plants a few hours or the day before dividing. This will protect the roots somewhat during the re-potting process.
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* Walk on the wild side – try some new salad greens. Buy seed of arugula (also called rocket salad and roquette), corn salad (mache or lamb lettuce), and radicchio (Italian leaf chicory). These greens have much more flavor than lettuce and will put some pizzazz in salads. That’s about as exciting as my life gets.
* Vegetable seeds to start this week: broccoli, early cabbage, kohlrabi, and thyme.
* Flowers to start this week include: Coreopsis, Gaillardia, Hibiscus, Hollyhock, Heuchera, and statice.
* Do not cover seeds of the following plants when sowing indoors, as these seeds will germinate more quickly if exposed to some light: dill, lettuce, parsley, savory, ageratum, begonia, bellflower, browallia, coleus, columbine, coreopsis, feverfew, flowering tobacco, blanket flower (Gaillardia), impatiens, petunia, poppy, salvia, snapdragon, stock, and sweet alyssum.
* Check the perennial flower border for evidence of any plants that have heaved out of the ground with the fluctuating freezing/thawing cycles of late. Most likely, the plants that have heaved are those that were planted last fall. Gently push these back into the ground if possible. Otherwise, apply some potting soil to cover exposed roots.
* Pause a moment to enjoy any house plants that have come into bloom. In our home, African violets are in flower after an interlude of several months. Also in bloom is clivia, another house plant of African origin. Getting clivia to bloom is a little tricky as it requires total neglect, i.e. no water, no fertilizer, from October through December for it to bloom in winter.
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Diarrhena! That probably got your attention. No, it’s not an intestinal malady.  It’s the botanical name for beak grass (Diarrhena americana). I have to admit, the name stopped me cold many years ago as I was perusing an issue of American Nurseryman (March 1, 2008). What kept my attention was the reference to beak grass as being suitable for dry shade. That’s a tough combination, dry and shade. Not many plants thrive under those conditions.
Kevin Tungesvick, author of the article on Diarrhena, describes the grass as having “arching, dark green, shiny foliage throughout summer; attractive seed heads in late summer and early fall; golden fall color.” Beak grass is native to the Midwest and is hardy to Zone 4, which makes it hardy to just about anywhere in New England. It grows to a height of 18 to 24 inches. I think it deserves attention.
