Someone posted a wonderful quote on my gardening group’s page:

“Every gardener knows under the cloak of winter lies a miracle – a seed waiting to sprout, a bulb opening to light, a bud straining to unfurl. And the anticipation nurtures our dream.”

– Barbara Winkler, American author and editor

So I have a confession….I ordered plants yesterday. And when they arrive, my husband will say “ummm where are they going?”

So I ordered yesterday from Broken Arrow Nursery in Hamden, Connecticut. I have purchased from the via mail order and in person. What made me think of them was the garden webinar I was on last night. David Culp was the speaker and Broken Arrow comes to his Galanthus Gala – it’s where I bought my super lovely and amazing Japanese maple Acer palmatum Bihou. Last year was when I figured out this event was so close to home, so I was too late to sign up for lectures, so I attended to see it, get Mr. Culp’s then newest book….and visit Broken Arrow Nursery’s plant tables there.

And what did I order yesterday you might ask? Oh this is what I ordered:

• Chaenomeles speciosa ‘Scarlet Storm’ – Scarlet Storm Flowering Quince
• Corylopsis pauciflora – Buttercup Winterhazel
• Hamamelis x intermedia ‘Burning Desire’ – Burning Desire Hybrid Witch Hazel
• Hydrangea serrata ‘Kokonoyama’ (‘Kokonoe-yama’) – Kokonoyama Mountain Hydrangea
• Hydrangea serrata ‘Woodlander’ (Woodlanders Form) – Woodlander Mountain Hydrangea

I think everything will fit. I will figure it out.

I was walking around today….putting down deer repellant. I wasn’t going to spray for deer again, until I looked in the woods on one side. A dozen deer. Mostly does. And I did not want to give them the chance to be does who are garden hoes. My rhododendrons wouldn’t like it and they have already tried to nibble the Rosebays, which always puzzles me because deer usually find them poisonous. The Rosebays are still small. When they grow, if they can survive their formative years co-existing with deer they will be large and lovely.

“Who loves a garden still his Eden keeps, Perennial pleasures plants, and wholesome harvest reaps.”

– Amos Bronson Alcott, 1799-1888, American Transcendentalist and educator and father of Louisa May Alcott

I love rhododendrons. My favorite rhodie guy is Jim Hoffman who owns Rhododendrons Direct in Oregon. I will admit to ordering two more to be delivered this spring. I ordered Boule de Neige and Firestorm. Firestorm is a red. I have a distinct weakness for red rhododendrons if it’s the right red.

And I ordered one rose from Antique Rose Emporium. Old Blush. She’s an old China rose. Had her years ago. It is a Chinese origin rose that was introduced to Europe around the 1750s. It is a relatively carefree rose. I have been reintroducing myself and this garden to old roses I grew years ago. These older roses are far less of a hassle. This one is shade tolerant (which does NOT mean it will grow in complete shade although it does tolerate partial shade) and disease resistant. I have the perfect spot for it. (yes, really, no plant moving involved.)

“It will never rain roses. When we want to have more roses, we must plant more.”

– George Eliot (Mary Anne Evans), 1819-1880, British author of Middlemarch, etc.

So this is a pretty tame mail order list for me. But as I was out wandering the garden deer proofing today, I walked all my beds.

Yes I do garden outdoors in the winter. Not as much as normal, more of a taking stock exercise and admiring the structure of the winter garden. It is this time of year that I love that I planted all my red and yellow twigged dogwood shrubs. They are just popping with color!

The winter garden is also alive with birds. Watching them brings me great pleasure.

I also have books, and gardening magazines to go through. Earmarking pages of things to think about. And jotting things down in my garden journal before I forget. I am the worst at writing things down I actually need to remember…like specific cultivars especially of things like day lillies and hostas!

I will close with one more gardening quote. Leave me a comment and tell me how your garden grows (figuratively) in winter.

“The love of gardening is a seed that once sown never dies.”

– Gertrude Jekyll, 1843-1932