ARE YOU STARTING TO WONDER WHERE TO PLANT THIS OR THAT?

 It's called Spring Fever.  Without the snow ( at least as of this writing), I think spring fever has set in early.  Add in  the restricted life we have been living, we gardeners are an emotional mess.

I placed my seed orders on Jan. 1.  All the orders were received by Jan. 17.  There is no more anticipation of "when will they arrive".

There is no solace in buying a coffee table garden magazine with all their enticing photo's, that only makes matter worse.  Add to that the first walk through of a nursery or garden center and we get seduced by colorful pots of spring blooms and end up parting with the grocery money.

 I did join the OSU Microgreens course featured on Facebook which helped for 17 days.  I grew Oregon snap peas and broccoli which are now consumed.  That was helpful to focus on, but now what?  I suppose I could grow another batch of greens or maybe it's time to start focusing on where I am going to plant the seedlings I will eventually be starting.

Maybe this year I should put more thought into color blending.  No-that's too structured for my brain.  Some may refer to my method as being hodge-podge.  I prefer to think of it as embracing the Japanese color theory that there aren't any colors that clash.  I realize that is a very simplistic definition, so, no e-mail corrections please.

My thoughts started rambling throughout the entire spectrum of landscaping: new ideas, more hardscape, different placement, new shrubs, what to dig out and say amen to.

I badly needed to focus.  I pulled out a file dedicated to landscaping articles pertinent to our area.  The in-depth article that proved most beneficial was titled "20 Top Landscape Mistakes".  The information applied to creating a new landscape all of which were good reminders of the pitfalls we may have fallen into but that can be corrected.  

This is a good time to look around and determine if anything is off-kilter that maybe you could improve on.  Starting now gives us a chance to look at plants without being distracted by vibrant new growth.

Take into account the full sizes of plants when you plant especially trees and shrubs that could overgrow a window, view or power line.  In haste, I bought a shrub last fall that didn't get planted.  Now that I look at it I realize it does not have a plant tag so I will have to look it up to make sure I don't plant it in the wrong place.

It is not essential to have a separate veggie garden.  A veggie garden can be bordered with flowers or a flower garden can be bordered with low growing veggies.  Actually  mixing the two is beneficial to attract beneficial insects.

One mistake was labeled as the prison lineup.  It referred to foundation plantings.  Rather than string a line of shrubs along the house, bring the foundation plantings out into the yard with various levels of plants, deeper borders and curves.

Do you have a look-out point?  What would you like to see from your kitchen window, or your study, or where ever you spend a lot of time.  What would you like to see--lots of flowers, a bird feeding station, or a favorite shrub?

I'm guilty of what was noted as shotgun color.  Plant a yellow plant here, another yellow plant over there, here a plant, there a plant.  Lots of plants here and there but not enough to hold them all together to be a powerful sight.  I need to remember to cluster the same plant together in groups of five to seven to be worthy of a second glance.

As Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote in 1857, "Had she not been first mistaken, she would have accomplished less."

Don't forget to check out Gardening: Get Good at It "Tooling Around the Garden" segment Feb. 2 on KPOV 88.9 FM between 9-9:30 am