Bubbling Over with Garden Plans

Right now this is all covered under a foot of snow. Still. Will I ever see green grass again??? Will the compost dead spot recover this year?

So I made the mistake of wandering down the garden supply aisle at Sam's Club. I usually ignore the display full of bulb and bareroot plant cartons, because, really, do I need any more concord grapes? And I have never understood why retailers in this lovely state of Utah try to sell blueberries, rhododendrons, azaleas, and such here because Utah does not have, nor will EVER have the right kind of soil to help these plants thrive. I know. I bought a pair of beautiful little rhododendrons years ago when we first moved into our home. Within a couple of years they had withered to forlorn little twiglets. I put them out of their misery that year and dug them out. It didn't matter how much peat moss, fertilizer for acid-loving plants (the soil kind, not the drug, funny person), pine needles, or vinegar water I poured over them to try increasing the acid levels in our very basic soil. Anyway, retailers selling plants that will never do well here to the unsuspecting makes me a little cranky.

Rant over. 

I stopped in front of the display of bulbs and bare root plants. And plants caught my eye. Echinacea, which my bees would love. And it's drought tolerant. Some raspberry and other berry starts that are different from what I have also caught my hungry eye -- golden raspberries, for one. And my mind started to rearrange my yard, making room for the new possibilities. 

I was bitten. And infected. 

So the new garden plans have taken over every waking thought that doesn't have to do with piano. Piano is the other all-encompassing focus every March. Plants and Piano. And bees. Gotta get those ordered. And I think my next chicken flock will be all Red Stars, which my sister-in-law Lauri loves. She shared a dozen beautiful, fat brown eggs with us last week. I can see why she loves them. 

Oh dear. My brain is buzzing. And flitting from one thing to the next. I'll spare you the inner lack of mental focus and go pull out my Sunset Western Gardens book. Again. Spinach. Beets. Coneflower. Thyme. Pumpkins. Peppers. Tomatoes. Asters. Hyssop. Lavender. Sunflowers...