sNOOOOOOOOw! My winter fix + the cheap way to fill your garden.

Waking up this 30-degree morning to find a blanket of heavy wet snow on the ground was a bit depressing considering the beautiful spring weekend I just experienced just hours before. But at least it was a workday (with no chance of me spending a minute outdoors apart from my commute). All I can hope for is a warm front by this weekend. 

So what gets me through through the winter (and bi-polar spring days)? The equivalent of the Sears Christmas Book for kids—my mail-order gardening catalogs. Last year I discovered mail-order gardening: a super-cheap, low risk way to try plants and fill bare beds on a budget. It's awesome and not just for bulbs and bare roots—real, live plants, ready to go in the ground and bloom! But mail order plants, you say skeptically? It's true. The plants come packaged beautifully to withstand postal travel and have great root systems to acclimate quickly to your garden. I have ordered 30+ plants this way and as much as I love browsing a local nursery or even Home Depot, the mail is my go-to flower source.

Daisies in the background. Miniature hollyhock (pink)
in foreground.Not such a fan of those, so I got
a refund voucher to use on my next order.

I use a web nursery called Spring Hill (www.springhillnursery.com). They specialize in perennial flowers, but also offer some roses, grasses, shrubs, and trees. They get mixed customer service reviews online, but a) I have had great success with their products, and 2) they are the cheapest I have found, especially when they run their one-cent sales (essentially two-for-one offers). And 3) the best part: They offer a lifetime guarantee on any plant they sell. This I have fully taken advantage of.

Plant dies—they'll send you a new one or refund your money. You don't like the way the plant looks in your landscaping—same thing. I have had multiple replacement plants and refunds sent over the last year with no hassle; it's a no-risk way to learn what grows in your conditions and what plants you actually want to look at year after year.

So have a little fun before the weather warms up and make your wish list for the season! I already have new plants on the way!