Seed Dreams

Are there any gardeners who can resist the lure of seed catalogs or seed racks at the nursery or in department stores? If so, I'm not among them!

I'm trying to rein myself in and limit my purchases to what I can realistically germinate and jump start in flats in the basement. OK. Here's my happily-obsessive process.

After I set up the seed-starting paraphernalia, I spend a ridiculous amount of time working out how many seeds in each packet I should actually start indoors. Do I risk directly planting the snap peas outdoors or should I be cautious and start them inside? Hold on! I can try both methods since I have enough seeds to experiment. And how about onions and leeks. Should I give them a try this year? I love to eat both so why not? I can safely start them right now and not worry about it being too early in the season. They're slow to take off so won't suffer if I can't transplant them outdoors in the vegetable garden until late May (when the odds of a late frost are with me). I definitely won't start other vegetables until April since I don't want leggy, miserable seedlings languishing in the basement flats. But I can almost taste the lettuce, spinach, and green beans just by looking at the packets. No! Resist the temptation! Wait until April!

Next come the flower decisions. Which annuals do I really want to have in the gardens this year and exactly where? Some choices are no-brainers. I must have nasturtium and petunias for the flower pots and window boxes. Ageratum is always nice.

How about some Mexican zinnias, the true ones? These heat lovers must be started later. Darn! But there are always petunias, coleus, geraniums, and impatiens that can be started now. They take forever to get to a garden-transplant size.

Then too, there are the heirloom varieties that are fun to try. Why not see and taste what people enjoyed 100 years ago? But which ones and, again, where?

If I'm true to form, I'll have a zillion plants and nowhere near enough room in the gardens for them. Not a problem! Friends will be delighted with the bounty!