A Mid-Winter’s Morning Dream

I woke up this morning to a light layer of snow that blanketed my garden and softened the light (below). And while that darned groundhog saw his shadow yesterday, I can’t help dreaming about planting my garden this year.

The stack of gardening magazines is really piling up already – I can’t seem to resist them every time I go to the store.  I’ve been studying Fine Gardening, and the many Better Homes & Gardens SIP’s each morning.  I plan to populate the area above (see green arrow) with flowers of all kinds – it gets lots of sun and has very rich, well drained soil so things grow splendidly. I already have several roses, and peonies – which bloom amazingly as long as the moles keep out of them.

Of course, I’ll confess that last year I let more than my share of really obnoxious weeds take over – but let’s just let bygones be bygones already.  I have a new area that I’ve been filled in for the past 18 months that will make a great spot for veggies – all fenced in and everything.

Clearly I’ll need to plant all this from seed – and I’ve found lots of tips and ideas that I’ll get started on in a few weeks.

But my mind at the moment is on bulbs – since those I can see flower right away thanks to a little gentle forcing.  I went out last week and picked up an array of hyacinths in pinks and blues and planted them in pots outside and inside.

The planters outside – here’s one of a pair of rusty urns – will be awhile, but my indoor bulbs are coming along really well.

I have the big pot below, replanted the urn after the paperwhites were spent, and scattered little pots and vases like the one above – full of gorgeous blossoms-to-be all over the house.  I just the jewel color and bright scent of the blooms when they come up.

In BH&G’s Garden Ideas & Outdoor Living (on stands now) I found this great idea for hyacinth vases that I think look really neat.  My forsythia is quite a ways off, but in warmer parts of the country I’m sure they can put this idea to good use right away.  Just grab some quilted jelly jars, or plain old Bell jars, and put in a bulb, and a few sprigs of forsythia and perhaps some other twigs and tie them like a tepee with raffia or a brown twistie.  I think this is adorable and what a wonderful Valentine’s gift this would make coupled with a hand written note or poem.

On the subject of Valentines I was also reading the SF Chronicle online this morning and found this great Garden Bon Bon gift set that looks really great – these were created by a landscape architect in Seattle named Anne Dowell and are actually seed balls mixed with clay and compost and decorated with cinnamon, coffee and turmeric (natural pesticides).  Each box has eight bonbons in either an Italian Herb Selection with basil, parsley, chive and thyme, or an Herbal Tea Selection with lemon balm, chamomile, borage and stinging nettle.  More info here>>

Tagged as: bulbs, gardening, hyacinth, snow, winter