I could talk about my garden for hours. My sister-in-law, M and I try to meet for lunch once a week. We catch up on one another’s life, projects, and we just chat. We both enjoy it. One day, I was (probably) boring M by talking way too much about my gardens. She waited until I paused for breath and asked “What do gardeners DO in the winter?”

It was a darn good question, and I had to think about it. I doubt I provided a complete or completely truthful answer. Now that it is winter (a whopping 7 degrees F tonight), I remember! In the winter, gardeners plan for Spring!

Planning the Garden

The seed catalogs are beginning to arrive and I realized that this may be my favorite time of year… I curl up in my comfy chair, with the Spoiled Mutt on my lap, the fire glowing in the fireplace, a pile of garden catalogs beside me and dream of Spring.

I plan and envision my perfect garden…a fantasy of beauty. Because it’s a fantasy, every plant is lush, green and healthy; blooming prolifically just like in the seed catalogs. There’s no poison ivy, no weeds, no rabbits, squirrels or deer to eat my precious plants; no mosquitos, no chiggers, no humidity, no watering, no sweating and no sore muscles.   BORING!

I’ve just changed my mind…this isn’t my favorite time of year. I think I want the challenges, the problem solving, the true pleasure of accomplishment. If gardening were easy; if there was nothing left to learn or nothing new to try…would we still love it? Would we take the same amount of pride in the beautiful, bountiful results if we didn’t have to sweat and weed and water and mulch?

I think the efforts and frustrations of gardening are a part of why we garden. Isn’t it a great feeling when you straighten up from weeding and the garden looks neat and lovely? When you’ve spent a morning planting seeds in the ground and your back aches, but you can’t wait to see if they sprout? Life is good in the garden…. even the “bad” parts.

Well, not all the “bad” parts are good…. I mean, Japanese beetles? Really?

Stay green, Good Friends!