I took that photo yesterday morning as the sun was rising. I love my garden even in the winter, but like most rabid gardeners, getting through the winter patiently is not my strong suit.

Especially now since I am in recovery to rehab stage from my knee surgery. But I have to be patient and I have to do things the right way because I have a lot of gardening to do in the spring!

So as I warned people a while back I am at present going through my gardening magazines, gazing longingly at plant catalogs and websites owned by nursery folks I patronize. And the pile of gardening books is growing.

Some of the websites I am lurking on include:

Antique Rose Emporium

Go Native Tree Farm

RareFind Nursery

Rhododendrons Direct

Brent and Becky’s Bulbs

Yellow Springs Farm

Gardens Oy Vey

David Austin Roses

HydrangeasPlus

NH Hostas and Companion Plants

Crownsville Nursery

Morning Star Daylilies

I will note for those new to this blog that I don’t just mail order plants. I love local nurseries and growers too!

I already have my wish list of plants. It’s not a huge list because face it, I have planted a lot of plants over the past few years! But I do have a small list and then there are my lists of every year things in the category of herbs and some annuals. In particular true red zinnias. It is hard to find good true red zinnias unless you grow them from seed. And I am not good at growing zinnias from seed for whatever reason.

But speaking of seeds, I have placed my order for my New Mexico hot chili peppers. I love the chili peppers out of New Mexico. They have a wonderful flavor and you can get them in varying degrees of heat if you don’t like hot. I start the seeds and then they go into pots. They grow best in pots is what I have discovered. And I just like the plants as well.

My arborists at Treemendous Tree Care have taken good care of us the past couple of years. so we are (knock on wood) doing really well and soon they will be back for their spring trimming and treating my trees for things like spotted lantern fly. When you live with woods I believe it’s our responsibility to take care of your trees. They can’t just completely take care of themselves. 

As a related aside, have you joined any local arboretums to you? My favorites locally are Jenkins Arboretum and Scott Arboretum. And I also must mention Winterthur and Longwood Gardens. I will also note that these four places I mentioned have programs even throughout the winter that you can look for to keep you going until you can dig in the dirt in the spring. And as long as the weather permits most of these places will allow you to wander the grounds even in the winter.

I can’t wait for spring for the little tiny woodland wild flowers to emerge like bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis). But for now it’s gardening day dreaming for me. And watching my winter birds in the garden.