Recently, on a day with snow & storms, I was restless and housebound, so I posted a picture from several years ago of German Irises blooming in my garden. And it received many likes. But one friend was moved. Karl wrote, "About this time of the year my Mom would receive catalogs from places like Burbee et.al. and pour over them looking for things to plant. She'd start her seed flats using seeds or cutting that she's save from the previous summer. Thanks for bringing back those memories. It's been a long time."
And I agreed, EXACTLY! January is catalog season! All the new varieties, the classics, the never-tried... I spend my winters pouring over them! And the perrenial catalogs come next! Oh, the flowers, the bulbs, the potential beauty and fragrance! Now is 'Dream Garden' time, when your future garden is perfect and everything grows to height and blooms wonderfully...
I don't think about the shriveled twigs that should have been a moisture-loving plant or the gloppy mess that was over-watered; I don't remember the veg plant that stayed 4 inches tall all season and never produced, or the row of seeds I planted 2, 3 or 4 times before I gave up. Now is not the time to worry about space in the shade or digging another bed to fit more iris--this is the time to dream. To design in your mind the best garden you've ever seen! Or grown!
My January garden is perfect. It is weeded, well-watered and lush. The lilies reach taller than me and the lupines bloom in every color all spring. The iris start blooming the Thursday before Mother's Day and delight until Father's Day. The tulips return. The columbine are tall & lovely and never have slug damage. The herbs are bushy and aromatic. Nothing needs to be dead-headed now. It's all just perfect.