Happy New Year

Well, the snow and ice have all melted. Everything looks so brown. :( But, I've been reading in other blogs that the seed catalogs are arriving. So this gives me hope. And it's a New Year. :) Yeah.

This is sedum that my neighbor gave to us. He took it from his garden and hauled it up to our house, split the plants and showed me how to plant them. This area was full of white landscape rocks which I had to move by the wheelbarrow full. But it was worth it.

Poor climbing rose bush. I should have pruned you when I had a chance. Oh Well, there's always 2009.

How to become a V.I.P. at the Garden Show

I woke up this morning and turned on wgn 720am and was listening to Mr. Fix it, Lou Manfredini. I heard him say that if you want to be a VIP at the Chicago flower and garden show on Saturday the 15th you have to be the 5th caller. So I called. I never call. I sometimes wonder who these people are that actually call radio stations hoping to win something. Well I called and sure enough it rings and a women answers the phone and says, "hi your the fifth caller". So, long story longer, I won 4 tickets to the garden show.

It's funny because I've never been to the garden show, but I was just thinking about going earlier this week. Then I looked it up and saw that it was all the way in Rosemont and cost $14 to get in on the weekend.

So is that great or what. I am a VIP. Woo Hoo. Should be fun. I think the whole VIP thing just gets us in the door at 8am and we get to see Lou Manfredini which should be interesting. I'll share more details when the tickets and information come in the mail.

P.S. quick update, some of the seeds in the coffee filters are sprouting, and some of the morning glory dwarfs are sprouting in the soil. How exciting, I guess I did something right...... So far. (Pictures to come)

Let the Planting Begin

Well we have begun the planting of seeds. I have a sick feeling though that nothing is going to sprout. Isn't that such a bad attitude? I'm usually much more optimistic. The seeds were so so small. Some of them like pieces of dust, and I just didn't know how to handle them properly. And then, some said "cover slightly" others said "plant to a depth of 1/8in". What is the difference? ARGH..... I guess it is a waiting game to see what sprouts. Here's what we have planted so far:

• Nemesia Mello 36 medium cells
• Morning Glory Pin Ensign 36 medium cells
• Nicotina 18 small cells
• Hollyhock 18 small cells
• Lobelia 18 small cells
• Penstemon 18 small cells
• Salvia 50 medium cells

And I am also trying the paper towel method with 1/2 seed pack of Morning Glory Flying saucer and 1/2 seed pack of Lupine Sunrise.

I still have two empty trays to fill and two more shop lights to hang. Here is a picture of the setup in the basement and some of the seeds I've bought. Fingers crossed.

Here it goes

Ok, so yesterday my son, Maxwell and I went to the garden shops to get some seeds and things to get the garden started. Max, being all of 6 months old, didn't have much of an opinion about what we should plant this year. But he did behave and seemed to have fun.
We bought 24 packs of seeds and with that we got 3 free pack of tomato seeds. I went to a place called Sid's here on the south side. It was actually really nice and had a nice selection.
I would have liked to order from catalogs, but I never ordered any catalogs and I feel like now it is too late. I'm wondering if it matters if I buy them in the store or by catalog.
I wasn't sure which seed company would be the best to buy so I decided to go with a few from each that they had at Sid's. We bought seeds by: Aimers (Lake Valley Seed), Lake Valley Seed, Livingston Seed Company, Burpee, and Thompson & Morgan. We also bought, a few Jiffy plastic containers with plastic covers and some seed starter mix.
To keep track of what I plant I created a journal at www.davesgarden.com. Does anyone have a better site, or program to use to keep track of planting and seeds? Here is the link to the journal I created, http://davesgarden.com/community/journals/sj/jacobs248/0/ .
Now I need to run over to Menards tomorrow and get a few shop lights. I'm pretty excited about this. I'll have to get a picture of the setup after I get the lights and get the seeds planted.
We've never grown plants from seeds, and we are completely redoing the garden that we inherited when we bought the house 2 years ago. If anyone has some suggestions or sites that could help me along, please feel free to share. Thanks.