Its that time of year again. When I become really really interested in being surrounded by a huge jungle of gorgeous, green, leafy plants smelling of peat and moss and wet dirt. When I develop selective amnesia and forget all of the plants I killed last year during this phase.

It all started on Monday when I went to Costco. They had this huge sign hung just as you entered the warehouse proclaiming "Our Garden Center is now open!" And each aisle had a tall rolling display cart filled with flats of flowers and vines and ferns and bulbs and every good thing you can imagine. I picked up a flat of 12 small pots of various types of ivy, some sort of spiky tall grass, and a hardy vine that I couldn't locate a name for, but that I recognized as the one plant I didn't kill last year. I also couldn't resist the growers bunches of tulips in all sort of fun colors in the cut flowers section, and walked away with yellow and white ones.

Tuesday after work turned out to be a comfortably warm evening, so I spent some time pulling my patio out of its late winter doldrums. I rearranged my remaining firewood to form short, tumbled looking "shelves" for my to place pots and other miscellaneous things. I swept an impressive amount of leaves out from under my bench. And I dusted off the empty pots that were sitting in the storage closet and got to potting my loot from the day before.

Now my patio is tidied up and my newly-filled pots are arranged artfully on the various levels of firewood I created for them. I've started up my old habit of eating breakfast outside, but sometimes its still too chilly for me to stay out there long. I've stopped looking at the weather for myself, but rather am always looking out for an unwelcome mid-April frost that might endanger my patio. So sad. :) (I'll post some pictures when I get a chance!)