Seedlings already started: kohlrabi, broccoli raab, Hy.broccoli, parsley, lavender, cilantro, leeks, onions, scallions, some lettuces, male, red and green cabbage,.and celery. Already wintersowed/direct sowed some carrots, radishes and shallots under low tunnels. There are also some lettuces, kohlrabi, and arugula that survived our winter without protection that I went ahead and covered for spring as well as a handful of broccoli plants. I'm not sure if they will head after overwintering but I don't see why not so I'm protecting them as well. Next week ill start the rest of the lettuces and then cauliflower, di cicco broccoli and a few others indoors. Those will all get transplanted out under double. Cover end of Jan/early Feb at which time ill also direct sow beets and spinach and more carrots. I still have a couple frames to construct so I need to get a move on. I'll be starting time, peppers.and eggplants end of Jan also. All my cucurbits ill start in Feb for may transplant. Hopefully all my nightshades can go out in April assuming I got spring stuff in early enough. Peas will also direct sow in feb, which will then hopefully be done in time for may/early June beans. I can't wait for.it to be march! Hope to be getting my first harvests by then!

My sis lost her dh of 32 years this fall so I'm trying to cheer her up with some flowers. She's also physically handicapped, which means I have to do some things which need as little upkeep as possible. She loves hummingbirds and has an area I can plant which she can enjoy from inside. So, I'm looking at cardinal vine to grow up her front porch. My hummers love it. She also loves wildflowers and has a lot of them along the bank of the stream which goes thru her yard. I'm going to see what I can add to that for her. That will probably be my biggest project. This fall I already planted daffs near her back steps so she can enjoy a little color when she does get out this spring. Nothing like those first spring splashes of color to brighten your day and daffs are always cheerful. She's in the mtns so I have to gear my thinking in a different direction from my normal zone pushing tropicals around here. WooHoo! I'm a Great Aunt! Looking for some good shade plants that need minimal care for the new Mom. She loves gardening but her time will be very limited this year. I told her I'd help with some suggestions, after I do some reading. For me, I need to finish a lot of projects this year, like the tropical bed (finish the wall), the ginger bed (wall) and my front yard bed (edging and a path). Would like to add to the side bed and make it high enough to sit on while working in it. I'll be doing more Gingers, Elephant Ears and Brugs! Throw the water and fertilizer to them and they're real happy!

Caroline, that is a wonderful ritual to have with those Martins! How sweet for you to share spring's arrival with birds who have flown so far. I have robins who have been here since February. I told them they should have checked with the weather channel and they would have known to slow down their trip. My new spring project is below. I have one of those big oak entertainment centers. It is a nice one by Hooker. I had to have it, even though the TV we had at the time filled less than half of the TV cabinet portion. I bought a couple of cubes of drawers to hold bills and postage and checkbook stuff and filing for paperwork and had that in there with the TV for years until we moved to a bigger screen. Well, every time we move to a bigger screen these days, the TV people make the icons on our menus smaller or the print on the screen smaller. Our 38" screen is too small already and we are going BIG. 70" DH says! So I need to ditch the Hooker cabinet, which is fine with me. I hemmed and hawed about maybe getting a table and chairs to put there. Then I decided I needed the storage that the Hooker cabinet supplies, plus I finally made my gnome garden and I need a place to display it, near the patio door-window. So I spent a couple of weeks on Craigslist and investigating a couple of sites where people are making old buffets and dressers into entertainment centers. I ended up with something I did not expect, because I never expected DH to like it. It is ornate and kitschy. It reminds him, he says, of the great movie palaces. We have a couple of restored theaters here in Detroit and they are ornate as all get-out. Gold leaf up the wazoo. So this is what is going to replace our big TV entertainment center. A big TV will mount on the wall over top of it, and a recliner that I had to put out in the garage when I got my lift recliner will come back inside and will sit next to it. I am working on it to get rid of white "antiquing" that was done to it. DH did not like the white they used to accentuate the acanthus leaves and cracks and crevices, so I have stain pens and am darkening all of the white areas to dark walnut and then lightening the high points with cherry. I have red mahogany for other areas and a darker gold leaf paint to redo the gold because DH also does not like the weathered look and wants it all shiny and new. I am going to remove the top drawer and use the open space for the receiver, DVD, and cable box. I am thinking to put colored glass over the front of the open space. I just ordered 2" lions head drawer knobs with the lion holding a ring in his mouth. I ordered from Lee Valley Tools in Canada, and got the hardware to hold the glass door in place, as well. I ordered enough lion knobs for the top drawer, just in case we ever use it again. I wanted to keep it and hinge it down, but DH did not want to have to get up to lower it to operate the TV, though I told him we could just leave it down unless company came. The top of the chest is "faux marble" so I am thinking plastic of some kind, though it may be stone. It is made of pieces of stone or something, put together like a true butcherblock is made of pieces of end grain wood. Question: Should I gold leaf the lion toenails on the lions feet at the bottom of the chest? I do have a second color of red-ish gold that I could use. Here is a link that might be useful: Lions Head Ring Pull at Lee Valley

And the time will/may come when there are more columns to add ....maybe... the year you bought it, size of plant (mini, S, M, L) E for early riser/L for late, F for fragrant, year it died and causes noted . . . yada, yada, yada ...yup, you said it best ... Geekdom ... and I too am a member of that club! Lol Pipping this year started early with Plantaginea leading the pack before mid-March. By the time the last one emerges we are into May. Last year Made You Look was the last to appear and that was likely later than the usual "late" due to a prolonged winter. I guess 6-8 weeks would be average here.