Winter Go Away...It's Seed Time!

I have officially reached my seasonal point in the year where I am ready for winter to end.  While wintertime offers a cozy time to eat homemade soup and sip spicy cups of hot chocolate, bhile burrowed beneath a favorite blanket, the barren monochromatic color palette day after day wears on this gardener's spirit.

In the midst of February, I begin to pull out my seed catalogs, dreaming of what I will plant and grow in my garden next season.  I often have to remind myself of the green that will soon replace the gray vacant spaces that surround me.

I love to search though varieties of catalogs, some offering mostly seeds, heirloom varieties of vegetables, and fruit trees.  Some companies have that rare kind of eggplant that I look for, while others have fun things like romanesco broccoli and purple cauliflower seeds.

This year,  I added a Lattarula Fig to my collection of potted figs trees, along with a Blood Orange tree, a wild blueberry plant, and a pine berry plant (a white strawberry with red seeds and a pineapple flavor).

I like to experiment with seeds and plants to see what works and what doesn't.  Some years certain things are successful and other years they don't even make an appearance.  The experimentation feeds my sense of discovery and wonder.

And there is nothing more exciting than receiving that box in the mail one day in march that says "Time sensitive--Plant Materials."

Some of my favorite mail order nurseries are:

Raintree Nursery- www.raintreenursery.com
Burpee Seeds and Plants-  www.burpee.com
Jung Seeds- www.jungseed.com
R.H. Shumway's-www.rhshumway.com
John Scheepers- www.johnscheepers.com
Cooks Garden-www.cooksgarden.com

Happy Hunting!