Chiming In...

So I guess I'm doomed to not actually accomplish anything today...I've got two chapters sitting half completed but that hasn't stopped me from cruising around plant websites all day dreaming of spring.

In many parts of the world, Iowa notwithstanding at the moment, there are two versions of winter. Let's call version one "coldness", simply just cold weather that warrants heavy overcoats, mittens, scarves, and the like. The other version is known as winter, where both syllables are stressed begrudingly and contemptuously Winter set in with earnest in Iowa but a few days ago.

And winter gardener comes the e-gardening season. You're reading the E-Garden Almanac after all! Though I've never really embodied the term almanac in my posts, I'll offer below a brief divulgence of my Internet history today in hopes of teasing you the same way I've teased myself all day.

Seneca Hill Perennials (www.senecahillperennials.com) Oh wow. So much fun stuff, so little money. You can blow a $100 in about 10 minutes. That's power shopping gardening style.

Bluestone Perennials (www.bluestoneperennials.com) Ok, nothing spectacular but generous discounts, good quality plants, and most everything comes in a multiple of three. Plus their 2009 catalog flew into my mailbox yesterday and at about 12:30 AM I made a quick run through. My intial selections totaled nearly $375 but I managed to weed out some unnecessary buys (like EVERY Anemone in the catalog) and the total to a more manageable $125.

Odyssey Bulbs (www.odysseybulbs.com) What am I doing looking at a bulb place in December? Getting a head start on NEXT fall's planting regimen. It's never too early to starting thinking about bulbs. Nothing is active on the site to buy but all the photos and descriptions are still up.

And for the last three hours or so I've been combing through the just-released list of the North American Rock Garden Society (www.nargs.org). Sorry, members-only. But membership is cheap and you get access to 25 packets of the seed exchange (and more later if their is a surplus). Shipping costs chalk up to a nominal $15. How can you go wrong? Most of this stuff is golden.

AND since I have yet to plug myself on here (wink, wink), it's only prudent that I mention my first book that came out last month, the Iowa Gardener's Travel Guide. Check it out at www.iowagardenersbook.com. It makes a great Christmas, New Year, or tomorrow gift for the gardener in the family (that includes you). I'll even sign it for you when we run into each other next.