Winter Survival for the Gardener

See if this scenario sounds familiar to you: At first you are grateful to have a respite from the garden chores, a chance to sit down with a book, or get some things done inside the house. Then, sometime around mid-January, you start getting tired of looking out on the frozen world, and your fingers start itching to get back in the soil. Here are some Winter Survival Tips that will get you through, dear gardener, until the earth thaws out in spring. 

1) Decorate your house inside and out with real greenery for the holidays. 
2)Plant amaryllis and paperwhite bulbs in pots indoors for the holidays. They grow easily and are very festive and happy.
3) Steal sunflower seeds from the wild bird food and grow them in pots on a sunny window sill. They will be smaller than they are outdoors, and will actually bloom.
4) If you have whole-seed spices in your kitchen cabinet, try planting some of them. I have grown celery, dill and coriander this way. Kids love this project!
5) Try a terrarium. Get a book such as The New Terrarium by Tovah Martin. It’s full of guidance and inspiring photos for creating your own mini ecosystem. Kick it up a notch with tiny “fairy size” garden furniture.
6) Go for a winter walk and see how many colors you can find in the natural winter landscape (there are more than you think). Birds count; empty soda cans don’t.
7) Look through plant catalogs and dream.
8) Plan your spring projects so that they are ready to go, come spring: contact our designers at Winterberry if you need help with that. We’re here all winter. 860 378-0071.
9) Go to a flower show. Any one will help to disperse the winter blahs; the Philadelphia show will knock your socks off.