Wednesday, January 13, 2010

The Garden in Winter


Well, it's that time. The snow is deep, the soil is frozen, the garden sleeps. It's the new year, the Christmas tree and the yule greenery are taken down, and we need a touch of Spring to look forward to gardening again. If you're like me, you have a few plants wintering over under grow lights that you can visit with. Your house plants are enduring low light and excessive dryness of the heated indoors. But don't despair. Soon the seed catalogs will begin arriving, with their full-color photos of red tomatoes and towering bouganvilleas. Ahhh, that helps dispel the Winter chill. Winter is the time to start planning out what changes you want to make in the garden. Do you need to rotate any plants around? Did something not work where you had it? Is there a new section you want to fill out this year? A cold day is a good time to plan out what new plants you need for the garden. If you are starting anything from seed, this is also a good time to start assembling your order.

To really get into the gardening spirit, try attending a big Home and Garden show. If you've never been to one, they are great fun and a good source of inspiration. The best part is, they are only a matter of weeks away! The Philadelphia Flower Show is at the end of February. In my area, the Capital Home and Garden Show is in February also. Go to TSNN.com and select Home and Garden from the drop-down Search box, and you'll get pages of upcoming shows. You can also check the Weekend section in your local paper or just google Garden show or Home show in your area. Ahhhh, can't you feel that Spring thaw already?

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