A couple of years ago I received an email from a young man stationed aboard an aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf. He had received some watermelon seeds and potting soil in a care package. He wanted to try and grow them but there was a small problem. The ship had a limited amount of fresh water available. He wanted to know how much water they would need and if he could use sea water.

What sticks with me about this man’s question is the fact that he was willing to try to grow something completely out of its element.

Watermelons at sea? Can you do that?

The answer is of course you can. No self-respecting gardener is going to let a little thing like being on an aircraft carrier stop them from growing what they want. Plants that grow where people think they won’t are sources of wonderment and awe. That’s the reason we garden. To see things grow.

Most of us are well versed in the USDA Hardiness Zones. We know what will and what won’t over winter in our area. But what if you really want to plant Pampas grass in zone 3? Obviously this plant which is rated for zone 6 isn’t going to survive even a mild winter in zone 3. This shouldn’t stop the creative gardener from trying.

Containers are a wonderful way to get around the zone limitations. Try experimenting with different types. I’ve seen people plant in everything from whiskey barrels to baby buggies. And who hasn’t seen a flowering commode gracing the lawn of some spirited gardener?

If the container is especially large or heavy put wheels on it before you plant into it. Caster wheels are available at most hardware stores and are easy to put on. These will allow for easy movement backward, forward, and sideways. When winter rolls around simply bring the container and contents indoors. (Except for the flowering commode which should definitely not be brought back in.)

If a plant is rated for a southern zone that borders your own it may grow successfully in your garden. Many gardeners in zone 4 have Hibiscus that over winters just fine even though it is considered hardy only to zone 5. Try placing these kinds of plants out of the wind in a spot with a good southern exposure. Heavy mulching will also help.

Another technique that works nicely is growing perennials as annuals. Basil is a perennial in southern zones, but it grows in many a northern garden as an annual. I have a friend who takes cuttings from her Rosemary plants each fall and propagates them indoors. In spring she takes the cuttings which have become well established over the winter and plants them outside. This is a great option for her since Rosemary is hardy in zones 7-11 and she lives in zone 3.

I answered the sailor’s email and suggested he forego the sea water. It is extremely salty and saline causes plants to dehydrate. I sent him some information on collecting rain water and wished him well.

I didn’t hear from him again, but in my mind’s eye I can see him on deck breathing the salty ocean air and enjoying a big slice of Persian Gulf watermelon.

I read a lot of books about gardening. I have spring, summer, and fall reading lists, and an extensive winter reading list. There are a few works a fiction on the lists, but over half are gardening books. I give titles written by authors I recognize and respect preference, but this doesn’t stop me from reading a wide variety of material. Most of the books that make my must read list are new releases, but I always make sure to re-read at least two ‘classics’ every year. A classic is well worn, with a tea (or coffee) stained cover, dog eared pages, and whole paragraphs swimming in yellow highlighter. If you have a gardening book like this, it’s a classic.

I recently added two authors to my favorite classic author list, Don Engelbretson and Don Williamson. Don Engebretson is a four time Garden Globe winner and a University of Minnesota Master Gardener who has been featured on HGTV and PBS. He is a veteran garden writer with credits in a variety of gardening magazines. Don Williamson has co-authored several books on gardening including Best Garden Plants for Washington and Oregon and Tree and Shrub Gardening for Northern California. He has a degree in horticultural technology and is an experienced landscaping professional.

The pair has teamed up to write a series of garden guides specifically for gardeners in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Their last release, Tree & Shrub Gardening for Minnesota and Wisconsin, is an instant classic which I will return to often. This is a very well written guide for gardeners in Minnesota and Wisconsin. The authors combine their expertise to produce a very useful regional guide. Many garden books attempt to cover too wide of an area to be concise. The information in this book is designed to help local gardeners create striking landscapes with trees and shrubs.

The 75 plant profiles are to the point. Each tree or shrub is listed by its common name first. This is a feature I really like in gardening books. Immediately following the name is a short synopsis of the plant. It includes features, habitat, height, spread, planting and zones. Common pests and problems are noted in each listing. Engebretson and Williamson also recommend species, varieties, and cultivars uniquely suited for growing in the ‘Superior States’.

The pictures are inspiring and the text doesn’t drone on forever. This is my kind of gardening book. I even like the textured cover. It weathered a green tea bath remarkably well.

I plan to add the other books in the series, Perennials for Minnesota and Wisconsin, Annuals for Minnesota and Wisconsin, and Gardening Month by Month in Minnesota and Wisconsin. I showed the book to a friend and my mother-in-law, both immediately wanted to borrow it. They’ll have to get their own copies; I have some serious landscaping to do this fall, mine’s not going anywhere.

I was going through the shed a couple of weeks ago when I happened upon a plastic container full of leftover seeds. Someone must have packed them when we moved last summer. Most of them were from the 2003 growing season, but there were a few varieties marked for 2002 and 2001. They seemed to be in good condition. I began thinking about all the questions I’ve been asked about buying discounted seed and using leftover seed. I have always taken the position that fresh seed is the best seed, and old seed should be not be used, but I decided to go ahead and plant some of these anyway.

I started several trays of peppers, tomatoes, and Brussels sprouts from 2002 and 2003 seed, with a tray of 2001 cabbage seed thrown in for good measure. I planted them heavy-four or more seeds to a container. I didn’t expect great germination but to my amazement, they all came up. I felt myself on the verge of another change of mind. I needed to know more before doing my about-face, so I went on a search to find out more about the storage life of seeds and factors that affect seed storage. Here’s what I found:

• Vegetable and flower seeds will keep for one year without a noticeable decrease in germination.
• Storage may be extended to 10 or more years under the right conditions.
• Seed moisture and storage temperature are the most important factors in determining how long seed can be stored.

Seeds store well when they are kept dry and the temperature is kept low. The drier the seeds are, the longer they will store. Dry seeds also suffer less from cold. They can be stored below 32° F if the moisture content is low enough. Most can tolerate years of extremely low temperatures. Temperatures as severe as -320° F, the temperature of liquid nitrogen, does not injure seed embryos that contain less than 10 percent moisture.

For most garden varieties of seed dampness is a deadly enemy, especially if coupled with high temperatures. Seeds will lose their viability in a few months in a warm, humid place, but can be kept more than a dozen years if well dried and tightly sealed in a container. This explains why our left over seeds fared so well. They were sealed in an air tight plastic container. Even though they went through extreme temperature changes in the last year they were still viable because they were dry.

When in doubt, run your own germination test before planting. Sprinkle a few seeds on a wash cloth, fold the cloth in half and put it on a pie plate, dampen with luke-warm water. Keep it warm and moist until germination occurs-as little as two days for some varieties, up to three weeks for others. If only a few seeds germinate, they are weak and should be discarded. If half or more germinate your seed is in great shape.

Archaeologists in China have found barley, wheat, millet, and bean seeds that are over two thousand years old. Officials report that the seed is well preserved and could be grown through proper cultivation. If they can grow leftover seed from two thousand years ago then I can certainly grow seed from a few years ago. I might even be persuaded to buy some discounted seed this fall. Live and learn.