• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary navigation
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Carol J. Michel

Award winner author of gardening humor books

  • About
    • Contact
  • Blog
  • Books
    • Shop
    • Gardening Humor
    • Children’s Books
    • New – The Halloween Hare
  • Social
    • YouTube
    • Instagram
  • The Gardenangelists Podcast
  • Gardening Humor
  • Children’s
  • All Books

May Dreams Gardens

I survived January

February 1, 2012 By Carol Michel 8 Comments

January. Where for wert thou, January?

Where were your blowing winds and frigidly cold temperatures?

Where was your snow, your ice, your sleet?

What was that all about, January? Sunny days, moderate temperatures, even thunderstorms?

January.  You hardly made us suffer. You made us nervous with your mild and meek ways.

Now we fear, you, February.

We fear February because we are conditioned for winter. For snowed-in days, for bone-rattling cold, for ice, snow, sleet and cabin fever. If January didn’t deliver winter, surely February will.

Welcome, anyway, February.  You are one month closer to spring. Please be kind to us. Do not make us suffer for the sake of January.  Please. Do not.  But please give us a little more winter so we can appreciate spring when it arrives.

An extra day of winter, you say, February? Thank you.  One extra day of winter will be quite enough and will give me more time for my “to do” list.

To do in February:

Inventory seeds on hand and then buy more seeds than any one gardener could ever plant.

Clean up the sunroom and remove any evidence of indoor plants that died when I forgot to water them.  (Just one, I think, no need for panic.)  I won’t clean too much though – it makes the garden fairies wintering over in there nervous.

Line up someone to come and remove that suckering excuse for a large viburnum in The Shrubbery and maybe have them remove the other one that seems not to have survived two dry summers.  I need a clean planting palette and “remove large shrubs” is no longer on my list of fun gardening tasks to do. Instead, I’ve added to my list of fun gardening tasks “watch someone remove large shrubs while I dream about what to plant there instead”.

Contact garden designer for assistance with The Shrubbery which isn’t quite the garden area I want it to be yet.  I must also thank her again for leaving me that book, The Garden that I Love.

Prepare a little presentation on “Grow Vegetables – No Excuses”.   There really is no excuse to not grow a few vegetables, if you are any kind of gardener at all.  One would think that it is part of every gardener’s DNA to grow vegetables, but apparently it is not. 

Finally, if February turns out to be meek and mild like January, weed the vegetable garden. (Now that’s funny. I am conditioned by years, decades, of Midwest gardening to not even think about doing something in the garden in February, even if we have some nice days.  Though, I could be convinced to watch someone remove some large, suckering shrubs.)

Filed Under: Blog

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Lisa at Greenbow says

    February 1, 2012 at 11:29 am

    It is a little scary, this warm winter we are having.

    Reply
  2. Fairegarden says

    February 1, 2012 at 12:43 pm

    I like your to do list, Carol, especially the buy more seeds than anyone can plant. It is good to know thyself and get on with it. As for no excuses about growing veggies, please include herbs, too. Anyone who gardens can grow some parsley, sage and thyme and overwinter rosemary in a pot if it is too cold for it wherever they live.

    Frances

    Reply
  3. Layanee says

    February 1, 2012 at 1:00 pm

    I do hope February doesn't masquerade as January but so far, so good. Get those chores done.

    Reply
  4. Dee/reddirtramblings says

    February 1, 2012 at 1:47 pm

    I'm a bit afraid too.~~Dee

    Reply
  5. growingagardenindavis says

    February 1, 2012 at 2:23 pm

    I'm trying to convince myself I'm willing to suffer in February for the sake of the summer. We desperately need more rain. But the non-winter has been nice here too.

    Reply
  6. Erica Smith says

    February 1, 2012 at 4:12 pm

    "Grow Vegetables – No Excuses"

    Oh, I like that title.

    Good luck with the seed buying, and let's hope the non-winter becomes one before the suspense gets to us.

    Reply
  7. Gardener on Sherlock Street says

    February 2, 2012 at 11:11 pm

    The first winter storm of February is at our door step. January was crazy warm. I've been pruning and digging. Digging, in January. I fear February.

    Reply
  8. Cindy, MCOK says

    February 2, 2012 at 11:50 pm

    We've not had much of a winter here, either. We're getting rain instead, which is absolutely wonderful!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Updates from Carol Michel

* indicates required
Email Preferences

Categories

  • Blog (3,065)
  • Internal (2)

Blog Tags

annuals Blogging books bulbs dr. hortfreud embrace fairies fall family flowers fruits garden bloggers bloom day garden bloggers book club garden design gardeners gardening gardening geek gardens hoes holidays hortense hoelove houseplants humor indoor gardening insects lawn letters to gardening friends perennials rabbits reviews Secrets seeds shrubs spring tools trees vegetable garden vegetable gardening vegetables weather weeding weeds when a gardener wildflower wednesday winter

The Gardenangelists Podcast with Dee Nash

Gardenangelists Podcast

Footer

Gardenangelists Podcast with Dee Nash

Gardenangelists Podcast

Connect

  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • maydreams icon

Quick Links

  • Home
  • Contact
  • Books
  • May Dreams Gardens
  • Podcast

Updates from Carol Michel

* indicates required
Email Preferences

Sign up for my new substack newsletter

Copyright © 2023 · CarolJMichel.com · Sitemap · Privacy Policy

Book purchase links are affiliate links and Carol earns a small commission if you make a purchase.

We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
Do not sell my personal information.
Cookie SettingsAccept
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
SAVE & ACCEPT