I've Got it BAD!

It started this morning.  I woke up thinking of gardening --- really!

Ya, like I look that good when I wake up?!!

Red Husker Penstemon.  Karl Forester Feather Reed Grass.  I had the  'itch' to pull out my garden journal and start sketching what plants I wanted to put in the new "South-by-Southwest" garden.  Then I started thinking about all the 'bald'/empty spot's by my slumbering 'Crimson Pixie' Asiatic Lilies (Lilium Hybrid) by the SW corner of the addition.  I hadn't been a "red" flower kind of girl until I saw those beauties back in 2009.  The 'Center Glow' Ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius) looks great by them, but what else would compliment those early risers?

 

Not being able to sleep another minute - with my mind just racing, I got up and logged into the web.  It was a beautiful sunny day today, and I pulled the blinds wide open.  The Paprika Yarrow  (Achillea Millefolium) stood tall against the recent snow (it must be melting - on Wednesday you could only see the top of the dried blooms)

Paprika Yarrow (Achillea Millefolium)
Dormant in the snow

I started catching up with the garden blogs I follow.  My adrenaline got cranked up even more!  Garden Walk Garden Talk had a post that really struck me.  Donna has a design series of posts that I could really relate to -  focused on fundamental elements - shape, texture, color.  Check it out....  Cat, at The Whimsical Gardener had a more Zen moment (I need to tap into that!).  And Tufa Girl was another blogger who enjoyed a peaceful moment.  Along Life's Highway featured bunnies in the latest yard art "field report" post -- we know how I feel about bunnies (the good, the bad and the ugly).  I was a reading machine today.  Thanks, as always, for your inspiration.

I went nuts on "Google Images" -- downloading photos of all the plants I have on my '2011 Wishlist'.  Being a visual person - I needed a photo fix to inspire me.  Bee Balm, Meadow Rue, Shooting Star, Astilbe, Jacob's Ladder, Candy Tuft - to name a few.  (Hope I win the Lotto?!)

Then I had to do something tactile.  If I couldn't work outside, I'd add a little color inside....  just a little.

It's organic ... it's color, "The Spring Edition"

This wasn't organic - but was the "Holiday Edition"

Blue has always been my favorite color - but since I've started gardening, green has prevailed.  It's become a feature color around my home....  As I walked about, I started to appreciate what's inside.  Green leads your eye around from the kitchen to the family room...

The striped green vase was a recent impulse buy.  With the addition, I now have a lot of tall walls, so I had to re-adjust my train of thought - think tall.  During the Holidays I moved our Ficus tree into the kitchen.  It was not happy, and promptly started shedding leaves.  Once I moved the tree back into the family room - there was a big vertical void in the kitchen.  When I found some tall bamboo in a local craft store, I ran with it.  The 'next steps' in the kitchen - the back wall needs a 'feature' color, and then I'm thinking a photo collage would be great - combining pictures from my "Budding Photographer" and 'her' generous mother, who shares Mom's digital SLR.

Speaking of the Ficus, I had a fresh look in the family room to appreciate some of the live green there.

Ficus during the Holidays - tolerant but not happy

Ficus - happy back 'at home'

So, I'll see if this blogging is going to help satisfy some of my garden anxiety?  If not, I may have to be sedated.  Or I could channel my energy toward the Lotto --- lots of plants on that 2011 wishlist!

Happy Gardening!
(Come on Spring.......)