Flowers, Butterflies and Dreams of Spring

Garden

I spent Saturday at a wonderful Winter Gardening Fair which was a respite from our long, cold winter.  Really, I managed last year to find ways to live with lots of snow and cold, but this year's winter has been almost oppressive.  The snow has been constant, the cold has been bone-chilling, and there have been way to many gray and foggy days.  Even turning on the lights and reading gardening books and catalogs has been of little solace.

I was surprised about 20 miles from home by a ferocious snowstorm that completely covered with road with slushy, slippery snow.  I was about equal distance from home and the fair and made the choice to forge on.  It was a white knuckles trip and I did a good deal of sliding even though I was trying to be cautious.  Two miles from the event site, the driver's side windshield wiper came off and I drove to a parking lot to fix the thing while leaning to look out the other side of the windshield.  I was a little stressed out by the time I finally arrived!

I really enjoyed the seminars yesterday and learned a lot about cold climate gardening.  The four sessions I attended were on prairie gardens, design, perennials and gardens for birds and butterflies.  While listening to the speakers I sketched out plans for my front yard garden space.

I also had fun meeting Genie, a fellow blogger. She's also a transplant from the DC area and I enjoy reading her tales of adapting to life in Iowa and her adventures with gardening.  I highly recommend you check it out her blog, The Inadvertent Gardener, at  www.inadvertentgardener.wordpress.com

I have a huge expanse of grass and more grass in my front and large side yard that I'd like to fill with garden beds.  My two major projects this year will be a fairly big vegetable garden in my south facing side yard and a butterfly garden in the front yard that will run from the street to the house.  I have high (and possible unrealistic) dreams of vine ripened tomatoes and fresh green beans and cucumbers that I'll can.  Oh yes, I plan to reserve at least one or two tomato plants for my favorite fried green tomatoes!

The soil in my yard is perfectly rich and loamy and completely rock free.  Even with my arthritic hands I can dig up the sod with little effort.  I'm anxious for the snow to melt so I can start the work.