It’s February 17 and I’m already wrist deep into planning my spring garden. The timing seems about right. Just about this time each year I start noticing sure signs of spring -- a few green leaves poking through the barren ground, the bud of a daffodil and a few buds on trees or shrubs. Just the sight of these phenomena sends me into a tailspin. The mere prospect of new spring growth causes the gardening gene in me to resurface. Maybe I should call it the “gardening bug” instead of gene. It’s like an illness that I have no control over and from which I am failing to recover.
Every August as I look at my brown, wilting garden, I swear that I am not going to buy a million plants next spring. I swear I will not fall prey to beautiful garden landscapes in magazines, local garden club plant sales or neighbors enticing displays of nature’s wonder. Instead, I swear that I will dig up all flowering and out-of-control perennials, replace them with standard builder-grade landscaping shrubs and call it a season. I’ll become a container gardener…just have a few, gorgeous containers, and let the yard be a boring, clean-cut, landscape that is relatively easy to keep up. But, nooooo. Each February, the bug bites and I am totally and utterly screwed.
I mean, I just came home from WalMart with gardening supplies for God’s sake. It’s February and even here in North Texas, it’s a little premature! The real reason for the trip? To buy Tylenol, soup, crackers and Sprite for my son who is home from school with the flu. Oh sure, I came home with the stuff for my son, but I also came home with 2 seed starter kits and a new hanging basket for my backyard -- a basket that I will not be able to fill with plants for at least 6 weeks.
Okay, I will confess that my WalMart purchase was premeditated. I am trying something different this year that makes my early gardening spending spree plausible – dare I say, even downright smart! I am trying to save money by starting plants from seed this year.
I have started some plants from seed in the past with relative success but I have never done it for the majority of my garden. But this year I am going to try to start all my annuals and a few perennials from seed. Crazier yet, I am going to do this all within the confines of my small laundry room. This should be interesting, maybe even crazy! Am I delirious?
For now, however, I am going to feel good about my new venture. I’m even excited about it! Yep, the gardening bug has gotten me good again this year. I didn’t even have to crack open a spring issue of Better Homes and Gardens. Dang, here I go again.
Every August as I look at my brown, wilting garden, I swear that I am not going to buy a million plants next spring. I swear I will not fall prey to beautiful garden landscapes in magazines, local garden club plant sales or neighbors enticing displays of nature’s wonder. Instead, I swear that I will dig up all flowering and out-of-control perennials, replace them with standard builder-grade landscaping shrubs and call it a season. I’ll become a container gardener…just have a few, gorgeous containers, and let the yard be a boring, clean-cut, landscape that is relatively easy to keep up. But, nooooo. Each February, the bug bites and I am totally and utterly screwed.
I mean, I just came home from WalMart with gardening supplies for God’s sake. It’s February and even here in North Texas, it’s a little premature! The real reason for the trip? To buy Tylenol, soup, crackers and Sprite for my son who is home from school with the flu. Oh sure, I came home with the stuff for my son, but I also came home with 2 seed starter kits and a new hanging basket for my backyard -- a basket that I will not be able to fill with plants for at least 6 weeks.
Okay, I will confess that my WalMart purchase was premeditated. I am trying something different this year that makes my early gardening spending spree plausible – dare I say, even downright smart! I am trying to save money by starting plants from seed this year.
I have started some plants from seed in the past with relative success but I have never done it for the majority of my garden. But this year I am going to try to start all my annuals and a few perennials from seed. Crazier yet, I am going to do this all within the confines of my small laundry room. This should be interesting, maybe even crazy! Am I delirious?
For now, however, I am going to feel good about my new venture. I’m even excited about it! Yep, the gardening bug has gotten me good again this year. I didn’t even have to crack open a spring issue of Better Homes and Gardens. Dang, here I go again.
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