Spring seed catalogs in January?

I got my first one just the day before yesterday and I always enjoy them, especially when it's cold and nasty.

I really enjoy looking through all the pictures and making tenative plans for next year's gardens. Seems like it renews the promise that spring will come or something.

Ah. The annual planning of the next crop failure. Johnny's got it exactly right.

I always look forward to these catalogues. Not only do they arrive during the nasty weather time, they also arrive just about the same time the tax forms come in.

I got one last week. I pitched it without looking at it. Last year I made the mistake of ordering with the promise that the stuff wouldn't be shipped until spring. I got it two weeks later. I was not amused. They wanted me to pay to ship it back...yeah, don't think so. And no, they weren't just seeds, there were a couple plants too. I tried to plant them in pots until spring but they all died. I don't even bother with these companies anymore...I have a local greenhouse that is much nicer and more fun to visit in the spring.

I have a persistently brown thumb -- not a hint of green. It doesn't keep me from trying, though. I live in a spot where it's very snowy, so getting the catalogs gives me my first glimpse of color for the year. In the winter, it's also easy to pretend that the garden will be different this year. I get out graph paper and plan what to plant where, but by the time spring arrives, the plans go out the window and I just up planting this and that all over, with no real eye for design. I end up sweaty and filthy and cursing, but it's still great fun.

I go through and dog-ear everything I want to buy. Then I go check my bank account. Nope, not a millionaire yet.

I like to look at the pictures, but I'm leery of ordering plants by mail. I like to be able to touch them, sniff 'em, pick at the leaves. We have a nursery not far from me where I go each spring. It's a bit pricier than the catalogs, or buying my stuff at Home Depot, but the quality makes up for the cost.

I love them. Spring comes early in the South. We eat garden peas when the up Northerns are putting them in.

Gosh. No wonder I'm tired. Yard work never stops here, either.