Daffodils, tomatoes and roses, oh my!

Hi all!  Today is a lovely day!  All sunshiny and fresh smelling.  We've had a few days earlier in the month when it got up into the high 60's!  And although it's not near that warm today... the sun is shining and the air feels fresh!  So much so that I've pulled out my flower catalogs and my seed catalogs AND my pictures of magazine cut outs featuring gardens!  I'm thumbing through them saying, "oooh!  I want that!  And that!  And OH, that one too!"  I'm looking at photo's of gardens I admire.  And gardens that look basically similar to what my new yard will look like.  (Don't get excited, nothing is a done deal yet.)  I pulled out my garden notebook and I'm patting myself on the back for having finally followed through with a good idea.  And that is to keep track of the plants that I've planted and the plants that I've moved around over the last two years!  I even marked what days I planted seeds and plants and how long things took to germinate and thrive.  Man, when I'm good, I am just that good!  ;-

Okay, maybe I'm patting myself on the back a bit too enthusiastically!  I've always wanted to keep a garden diary.  I've thought about doing just this type of thing for years and years.  All those years of messing around in the tiny yards in our government quarter homes.  Trying to find out exactly what "dappled light" really was.  And trying hard to think about other people and what the next family would be willing to do in the yard or even what they wouldn't do in the yard.  The thought that all my hard work would fall to a family that didn't have time or wasn't interested in "gardening" was really hard for me.  So I would try to do plantings that didn't take a lot of maintenance.  And hope for the best.  But now....  for the past two years I've been able to really get my hands dirty and experiment and purchase plants that I've always wanted!  Lavender, Roses, Tulips, Daffodils, Ferns, Hostas, Day Lilly's and so on.  I've drawn pictures in my garden diary to keep track of where I planted things and where I've moved one plant to another place.  And that's just my flowers.  I've got records of my vegetable gardens too!  Even stuff like when our last frost was, when we planted our first tomato plants.  AND I've kept track of some of the bird migrations!  I mean, come on!  I NEVER thought I'd be that detailed!  Heck sometimes I amaze myself... gosh I'm boastful today!

So for now I'll just sit here and look at these photo's and thinking "can I make our next house look wonderfully, interesting?  Can I make it special to be in?  Can I make it so my yard invites everyone who sees it?"  I sure hope so.  At least, I will record and track all that I do in the hopes that someday it will be as I see it in my minds eye.  ;)

Peace and joy to you all.  And enjoy your daydreams....