Spring Arrives in a December Mailbox

Like most of the country, here in Harrisonville (just south of Kansas city), we are hunkering down for a big freeze. The high for the Chiefs game tomorrow will be a whopping 8 degrees---with any luck. My husband, David, double checked antifreeze strengths in all three cars, something he's done only twice in the eighteen years we've been together. And, I would say this is definitely going to challenge all those marginal zone 6 perennials I planted on the advice of nursery people who assured me that our winters aren't as cold as they once were. Needless to say, and according to our weather forecasts, it's going to feel like Alaska around here for the next few days.

So imagine my delight when I opened my mailbox this afternoon and saw the vibrant, rich colors of a spring seed catalog staring out at me!!! Thrilling. And less than a week from Christmas! What caught my eye was the picture of a red and white marbled grandiflora rose called Rock & Roll. I saw this rose at The Family Tree nursery last summer. Not to be harsh, but seeing the rose in person was less spectacular than seeing it splashed across the front page of my new seed catalog. The roses were small and the variations of color weren't nearly as striated. Anyway, my mailbox is about 75 feet away from my front door. It seemed like an eternity to reach the mailbox with the bitter north wind whipping around my exposed face but with seed catalog in hand, the trip back to the house didn't seem nearly as miserable or lengthy in duration!

Tossing all other pieces of mail aside, I sat down at the kitchen table and started perusing the pages. Of course, have-to-haves immediately began jumping out at me. I'm particularly excited about a new Gaillardia called Dakota Reveille. It's the first double ball-type I've seen to withstand temperatures to zone 4. Yipppeee!!!!!!!! I have perennial Gaillardia but they are the more daisy-like type in appearance. And I love to grow Cosmos every year. I try to find a new and exciting variety to experiment with. This year, looking at the seed catalog, it appears that Double Click Rose Bonbon may just be the ticket. The blooms are fully double, rose/lavender petals borne on 36 inch stems. Perfect for the back of the border. I also have my eye on a clematis called Empress. This variety, with its candy-pink double blooms, which have darker pink midrib markings and a spiky pompon center, would be a great addition to my clematis collection. It doesn't hurt that Empress is also my favorite flower color!

As my eyes scanned the delightful pages of the seed catalog, they came to rest on the word bulbs.That's when I was ripped from my futuristic daydreaming and jarred back into the present. During the winter, my garage rarely dips below 40 degrees. However, with a wind chill factor of -20, I need to get off this computer and start helping David tote my stored bulbs to the basement.