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It's February and to no one's surprise, I have a severe case of spring fever. It didn't help that the Cuming County 4-H Extension assistant presented on the topic of basil at our recent garden club meeting.

I can hardly wait to watch basil seeds sprout in my new seed-starting system and then to smell the fragrant leaves of the plant. There are so many ways to use basil.

The herb isn't just for adding flavor. It can be used as medicine, an aromatic, spicing up food and yes, even for it's beautiful shiny leaves. Basil is a great filler in a bouquet of flowers.

While that all sounds wonderful, basil isn't always happy. The plant doesn't like cold weather or wet conditions. It would prefer to be be watered at the base of the plant rather than over head sprinkling. It also needs to be deadheaded regularly to keep producing leaves that are at their best flavor.

Oh yes, basil growing out my back door is something I can hardly wait for as we inch our way into March and spring.

It's hard to resist keying in to the internet, flower color trend for 2023. One of the results listed fuchsia. Okay, that might be a color to try in the flower garden this year. I'm due for a change. Of course, I will still plant Vista petunias but just might intermix the Bubblegum Vista with another color in that variety of petunias.

Looking forward to spring in the garden helps brighten the black and white days of February and March.

It's just about time to plant seeds in the garage as the outdoor temperatures warm up, of course helping warm the garage.

I'll make sure to use my warming pad for the seed trays and possibly some heat from above. As the seedlings emerge, I will add a grow light.

It sounds so exciting to be able to anticipate the seedlings sprouting and growing in their trays.

Yup, it's spring fever I have. I will tend to it looking at the seed catalogs that arrived earlier in the winter and playing in my seed-starting mix and waiting for sprouts to burst through the brown mix.

I'm sure that, in just a few weeks, my symptoms will be gone and, like all gardeners, I will be outside soaking up the spring weather, not just standing and looking out my kitchen window with symptoms of spring fever.