Spring is coming!

Even though that crazy groundhog saw his shadow, what does he know! The sun has been shining for 3 days here in the Treasure Valley and my tulips are quietly leaving the dark earth and heading for the sun. I found their tiny little tops peeking through on Sunday - woe to any human or 4 legged critter dimwitted enough to step on them!

I can't wait! This winter seems like it has gone on forever. Enough with the freezing temperatures! Enough with the fog! Let's have sunshine, flowers, fresh tomatoes!

In reality I know we have to have the cold, long dark nights if we want to enjoy the beauty in the spring and summer. While we have been hiding away in our warm houses, all kinds of things have been happening underground. In the weeks ahead, we can see evidence of life if we take the time to get close to the earth and look.

I am sure I can find a spiritual lesson there if I meditate a bit. In fact, the garden is a favorite place of mine to see God's hand at work. There are a lot of every day lessons to be found there.

I have BIG plans for my little space this year. It looks like most of our big trees will be coming down due to old age and I will have sun on my yard! Over the years, I have become a shade plant expert and now I get to branch out into a whole new section of the nursery! With my grandkids living so close now, I can enlist them as helpers and I have lots of plans.

Now is the time to be designing, pursuing seed catalogs and reading gardening magazines. There isn't a lot to do in the garden right now. Get rested up! It won't be long the the fun begins!


This is my grandson Ryan who is going to be my chief builder. I have some projects in mind I will need help with. He's pretty good with a hammer and nails. I am spending some time at his house next week and I thought we could work on some plans.
This picture is at our house beside the flax that does so well here. It is an annual but reseeds itself quite well! The little flowers only last a day but there are hundreds of them on each plant. It is great for naturalizing and is already turning green in some sheltered places in my flower beds.



This is my granddaughter Emmalee. She just turned 4 and loves flowers. I am so excited that I can teach her all about plants and how to grow things. Both kids helped in our garden last year and had a great time harvesting. One of my favorite flowers is the sunflower in all its various colors and sizes. I always plant several different kinds in the garden and anywhere I want a privacy screen. They love the sun and will have brilliant color if they have lots of rays!




I wanted to share my favorite gardening magazine, "Garden Gate." There are always tons of ideas on simple things to make for the garden like trellis, lots of planting ideas, and beautiful pictures. When I was working on my horticulture degree, this magazine was a constant source of ideas for me.

A great book for gardeners and my favorite if you want to grow perennials is "The Well-Tended Perennial Garden" by Tracy DiSabato-Aust. It's is great because it tells you what to do with the plant and when to do it.

Happy gardening!!!