Dreaming of Spring

About this time of year, I start getting gardening catalogs in the mail. A few more seem to come every year, to the point where I'm wondering who on earth these companies are and where they got my name. I guess if you order from one seed/plant catalog, every other company finds out about it. They sure have the marketing angle figured out. There's nothing more appealing in the middle of a cold, dreary January than pictures of green leaves, beautiful flowers, colorful vegetables, and perfect fruit.

So far this year I have a six-inch stack of catalogs to look through. I've been saving them for a time when I can curl up and and browse to my heart's content. I think tonight's the night. Even though I've got a list of what I'd like to plant in a few months, it can't be complete yet. Besides, I haven't decided whether I should plant grapes or pears or something else for my fruit perennial this spring. 2 years ago I did strawberries, and last year we got raspberries started. Someday I'd like grapes, pear trees, cherry trees, currant bushes, and maybe blueberry bushes if I can get the soil amended right. Oh, and a plum tree. And maybe some hardy peach trees if I can find any that will survive this far north. Mom has all the apples anyone can use, so I probably won't plant those. But any other fruit is an option.

I want to start some tomatoes, peppers, herbs, etc. from seed this year, so I need to pick varieties and order seeds and such. And there's always a few new perennial flowers to flesh out my flower beds. It'll take some time to narrow that list down.

So I'm off to make some tea and settle in with my catalogs and my list. The knitting projects can wait for a night. I've got gardens to plan!