Dreaming of Flowers

It's officially February, snow and cold winds everywhere you look, and here I am, dreaming of flowers.

I blame it on the seed catalogs.

But whatever the cause, it's got me thinking about what flowers I want to grow in this year's garden.  I know I will have my usual volunteers of cosmos, chamomile, campanula and morning glories, because by now, they pop up in random spots having spread themselves to various other places in the gardens.  I'm hopeful that poppies will come up, but if not, I have some seeds in reserve and will plant out more.  My usual plantings of sunflowers will go in, and I plan to sow lots of marigolds around and about.  For my new flowers, I'm envisioning drifts of dianthus, clouds of violas, batchelor buttons blooming, and with any luck, asters to linger into the fall.  One of my favorite things about my garden is mixing flowers with vegetables, like little pockets of jewels amongst practical garments. Everything grows so happily together, layers of layers of layers, all hidden under the buzzing of bees.

It was a happy thought to bring
To the dark season's frost and rime
This painted memory of spring,
This dream of summertime.

Our hearts are lighter for its sake,
Our fancy's age renews its youth,
And dim-remembered fictions take
The guise of present truth.

--Flowers in Winter, John Greenleaf Whittier