Winter Dreams
A gardener’s spring begins in winter, in the imagination. And the imagination is a kind companion, forgiving and forgetful, encouraging and enthusiastic. Last year’s failures are recast as character builders and learning experiences. The coming year is still a blank palette. The seed catalogs are spread from hell to breakfast. Ideas loom large but still seem achievable. Pragmatism may win later in the year but now is the time for optimistic indulgence.
And what indulgences! I am actually envisioning a gardening year where I thwart gophers, vanquish deer, redesign plots and finally grow tuberous begonias from seed. Quixotic you say? Well, we’ll see.
Fedco, my mainstay seed company, knows about these rose colored glasses that we don in the dead of winter. This year marks their 30th year of doing business and the catalog ‘s catch phrase reads “30 Years of Spring Fiction.” Extravagant descriptions, gardener’s purple prose, fill the pages and tempt the winter vulnerable to further excesses of ordering.
But honestly, who can resist a winter squash, Sweet Meat, that “grew over the bean trellis, vaulted the 8’ garden fence, and ran off into the woods like kudzu with pies attached.”
posted by a gardener @ 9:37 AM
18 comments
18 Comments:
This is definitely the time for optimistic indulgence and rose-coloured glasses. You are so right about that!
How true! This year, I'm not going to have any problems with rabbits!
Carol, May Dreams Gardens
Very nice blog!
I am in the midst of starting my first garden. I ordered catalogs from about ten companies. I sought out the rare seeds, the heirloom, the organic. I ordered from four. So far. I spent $100 in seeds. Eek. I think I'm going to need a bigger space, lol.
Exactly. Every year I swear to the neighbors that this is the year things are going to look really good. I love the part where the leaves start to peek out and you think IT IS ON. And every year, I progress a few feet further toward the back fence, with things shaping up. At this rate, I should have the whole thing looking good in another 10 years.
Yes, it's true, some of the best gardens I've had have been in my imagination. I guess it's a case of hope springing eternal...
You are so right, my gardening always goes through winter, clearing the debris planning the spring plantings, getting the ground ready etc, and then the storms come wreck everything, the last one actually blew over my homebase garden furniture and broke it so another thing to add to may list to buy in the spring and I start again, last years failures come off the list to make way for new and better plants.
I'm new to Blotanical. I see you haven't posted in a long time. I hope you are doing well.
Nice blog. I too start planning out my plants in the winter. It really helps to get the head start. That's what I did when planning out the liriope groundcover I'm currently working on.
I love this so much because it is so true. It is how I get through the bleak winter months, on dreams of my next garden.
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