Visions of fresh cut herb and flower bouquets for the upcoming season are filling my thoughts these days!
January usually seems pretty long here in Ohio... and gray... and cold... and snowy... and well, you get the idea! I keep trying to convince myself that I should enjoy winter since there aren't bunches of weeds to pull or garden work to do; just time for all of it (and me) to rest a bit. And in some sense, I guess that is rather nice, but absence makes the heart grow fonder as the saying goes, so winter becomes the time for wistfully paging through seed catalogs, planning for the coming year, and rather forgetting just how much work is involved in all of it!
This year, a few days of warm weather and rain instead of snow have made for some super-soggy conditions but still a welcome glimpse of spring in the middle of the winter! I know it won't last, but I'll enjoy every muddy minute of it while it's here! It also gave us a chance to walk around the yard and agree on a location for the new cut flower and herb garden that I want to plant this spring. While I liked the original spot out front that we had talked about in the fall, knowing that it tends to flood after a heavy rain was a bit of a concern... like "I just planted a bunch of seeds and baby plants and now they're all gone" kind-of concerned! So... time for a Plan B to avoid a very real drowning possibility! Thankfully, we came to an agreeable spot that won't have drainage issues and still has lots of space for me to enjoy!
Ideally, it would have been nice to rototill the ground and prep the area in the fall, but spring will do as the herbs and cut flowers shouldn't be as particular as the vegetable plants! Hopefully the weather will cooperate to be dry enough to turn it all over and get things ready without having to wait too long to plant; trying to rototill mud is just no fun and really makes a mess! It's always so difficult for me to wait until it's dry enough though -- I'm like a kid on a long car trip constantly asking if we're there yet! The vegetable garden was thankfully rototilled in November and has a nice partial covering of compost compliments of the chickens and the rabbits... so getting just one new bed ready to go should be better than having to do both of them!
Now that the spot is agreed upon, I can get back to the current difficult task of narrowing down my long list of what I want to plant and placing the seed orders. A couple orders have already been placed and have arrived much to my delight! Herbs and edible flowers, pumpkins, heirloom corn, sunflowers, and more just waiting to get growing! I'm not much of a shopper unless it's plant shopping! (For a sneak peek at what's going to be growing this year check out my Pinterest 2017 Gardening Plans board here☺). So many beautiful heirloom, non gmo and organic seeds! It might possibly be an addiction...
So many beautiful pages of seeds and possibilities! No wonder I'm dreaming of a season filled with fresh cut herbs and flower bouquets, blue pumpkins and tasty French pumpkins, purple tomatoes, painted corn and blue corn, sunflowers, marigolds, and so much more... may our January visions become June reality! Happy gardening dreams everyone!
PS. With all my excitement for what is new and coming, I shouldn't forget about all the daylilies! If you haven't already discovered my daylily obsession I suppose it is time that I confessed! We grow about 300 varieties in the flowerbeds and there are many divisions in the sale bed just waiting to find their forever home! Over one hundred varieties for sale this year in all sizes shapes and colors and the divisions are huge! These are not the size plants you are used to buying at the garden centers or mail order... they will bloom well this year without having to wait a year or two to fully enjoy them! And at $5 each, or buy 5 and get the 6th one free, they are a great deal too! If you understand the addiction and need more plants (welcome!) we also offer quantity discounts of 35+ for $3.50 each or 100+ for only $2.50 each. Divisions are state inspected by the Ohio Department of Agriculture and are grown without the use of pesticides and other nasty stuff as are all of our flowers, herbs and vegetables! Dayliily plants will be available beginning in May; please contact me if you're ready to adopt some more! Plants are for local pickup only, thanks for understanding!
