What's Wrong with this Picture?

That's right...nothing!  I went to a local garden center to buy some seed packets. Castor beans, kohlrabi, sunflowers and nasturtiums.  A great selection of seed suppliers from around the country. And then I discovered their .10 seed packets from 2012.  The germination might not be 100% but that's ok.  749 seed packets later...look out 2013 garden...you're gonna ROCK!

Planning this Year's Garden

Planning the Garden from the January 1906 issue of Garden Magazine

This time last year it was 80 degrees. Way too warm for an early March day in northeastern Illinois. Now we're back to almost a real winter--24 degrees and big gusty winds. And that sends me back to the seed catalogs.  So many things to order that I can't find in the garden centers just yet.

A seed blocker so I can make my own cubes of soil (and thus skip the pots). And some Painted Lady runner beans. And some new zinnias for the butterflies.  And chardonnay.  For when everything is blooming in June.

It's the Chicago Flower & Garden Show this week.  The Art of Gardening.  Looking forward to it as the last bit of snow melts off the vegetable garden.