This time of year I get antsy with the heebie-jeebies, jumpin’ heebie-jeebies. That’s the slang we used in Mississippi when we children had to stay indoors too long. Perhaps the adult word is “anxious”, meaning full of desire and endeavor; eager for a thing, to do something. If there’s one thing about gardeners and landscape designers, we like to ever be doing something.
I am eager for spring. At Gardens to Love, we are all eager for spring to begin to warm the soil, chase away the frigid temperatures and cold west winds, to swell buds into blooms. We have cleaned up the beds and borders, and laid fresh mulch, begun structural pruning, and so we are ready, “antsy” for spring. In my small, town garden that is sunken below the grade of neighbors and oriented east to west, there is little southern sun to warm it, but plenty of cold night air to chill it deeply in winter. Perhaps you have similar? A garden patio perhaps with flowers and plants just waiting for warm, wet air? This seasonal waiting certainly has me dreaming of new garden patio designs and the spring to birth it all. And the Georgia spring is fascinating for plant life across metro Atlanta from Smyrna to Decatur.
On a recent bright winter evening lit by the full moon and just before dinner, I found myself strolling through the garden looking for something to do at the approaching weekend. The unusually frigid temperatures kept me inside where regardless of the dark sky or cold days I could dream. I could dream of an early vegetable garden brimming with English peas and lettuces and kales and carrots to share with friends. The dreaming continued on to the perennial and rose borders where there may possibly be room for another rose, Falstaff perhaps, and many more bulb flowers. With new seed and plant catalogs for planning and a bit of hard work, the dreams become reality in spring. Glorious spring, please come. I’ve got the heebie-jeebies.
Marcia Weber
The plants that thrive in different seasons can be so different from each other and elicit garden and landscape maintenance throughout the year – see more on our upkeep services.