The Summerland Advocate-Messenger - Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community

As I look out my kitchen window, I’m not only day dreaming in color for spring and summer, I’m also enjoying the fluffy capping of white as the recent snow covers the landscape. What a fun site as birds are fluttering around the bird feeders and winging their way to the bird bath.

Mother Nature gave us this beautiful winter setting, although I know it also makes for a lot of extra work for farmers and road crews.

My visions and dreams of color have been spurred by the seed catalogs that have been arriving in the mail. If I don’t want to stand at the window and watch the birds, I can settle in my favorite recliner with a cup of hot cocoa and fill my vision with color in the garden catalogs.

Catalogs are filled with yearly favorites plus new varieties to try.

Gathering with friends recently and looking out at the host’s patio, I couldn’t help but notice the wind blowing around last year’s leftover plantings in her flower pots. My thoughts went to what she would be planting in them come spring and hoping that I get to join her on her patio when warmer weather arrives. I can just imagine the sun warming our skin and can hardly wait for that feeling. Until then, I will cuddle under a quilt and daydream of spring.

What will I be planting? Will Mother Nature send needed moisture? Will grasshoppers spring into unwanted action in my garden?

On the more pleasant side of gardening, I am thinking of what seeds to order. I can hardly wait to snip leaves from basil and dill to fill my sense of smell or tasting radishes pulled from the spring garden soil along with fresh green onions. My taste buds are yearning for spring.

How many months do I have to wait for a tasty red garden-fresh tomato?

I’m already thinking of getting out the chair cushions and sitting on the patio waiting for perennials to bloom and for that pop of color in the garden added by annuals.

Our sense of smell, taste, touch and vision are a good thing about gardening.

Just like the combination of perennials and annuals are a good thing in the flower garden. Some wise gardening friends once told me the annuals are a quick pop of color in the garden. The two men encouraged the planting of petunias. They were right and I think of both of the gardeners often when tending my own petunias.

Back to day dreaming. The seed catalogs are fulfilling my garden needs during these winter months. I can’t help but pull out a pen and start filling out an order. When the seed packets arrive, I will probably work my way through them numerous times, listening to the seeds rattle in their paper packages as I decide what row of veggies or flowers will go where.

I guess you could say that this day dreaming is really winter gardening. It brings to mind the song from the group the Mamas and Papas. If you don’t remember it, look it up on the internet, grab a blanket to cuddle under and open a garden catalog. Then you too can hopefully encounter “sweet dreams until sunbeams find you,” from “Dream A Little Dream.”

Until those sun beams warm the soil, I’ll continue to think about what color of geraniums to plant, what to add interest to the pots as spillers, the colored corn I want to plant for fall and the taste of those freshly dug fingerling potatoes from our garden.

The view out my kitchen window may be layered in white, but I’m dreaming color with warm thoughts of spring planting.