Snow still covers the ground but it's never too early to start planning for spring.
White fluff is still everywhere and to me it's starting to feel a little bit like a ice prison in Northern Michigan. I love the outdoors, but what I love the most about spending time with mother nature is the beauty of the foliage. Green, and I'm not talking about energy saving light bulbs, I'm talking about leaves. I'm not sure what is a more exciting sight for me, a lady's slipper orchid flower slowly unfurling, or the sight of the first spring garden plants poking through the mulch. There's something about seeing the beginning of a new growing season that is just refreshing.
It's not just exciting, it's also a reminder that you're running out of time to prepare your beds for a new year. If you got lazy, or didn't have time to cut back the dead foliage in your garden last fall, that new spring foliage can put a ticking sound in your ear. It means you better get out there and cut back last years foliage so your garden looks clean and the plants can grow out without being impeded by dead, heavy wet leaves or stalks.
If you already took care of your garden clean up in the fall, start thinking about what you want to do with your garden this year. I already have plans to create a bog garden. At my old home downstate I had a colony of more than 40 flowering size Cypripedium reginae, the showy lady's slipper. When I moved to Northern Michigan I lost all but 3. The conditions weren't right for growing them, where I had to put them there was far too much shade. Reginaes need a surprising amount of light.
Start thinking about what you want to do this spring. If nothing else it will be a great day dream.
