A winter repose ...

I've noticed in the past several years that there's a definite energy pattern to my gardening efforts. In the Spring and Summer, i can literally stay outside for hours, weeding and mowing and pruning and digging and such. At times, the only thing that brings me in is the visibility challenge at sunset. In fall, the rains start and although i'm not adverse to weeding in the rain, it's not my preference! So i start to stay in. By winter, the grounds saturate, the tractor has had its annual service and been put into hibernation, and i find myself mostly looking out at the grounds through the window glass with a mug of something steaming in my hand, envisioning what i might plant come Spring. There's plenty to do out there. Plenty of "clean up" i could do if (a) i had a chainsaw and (b) i had the energy to work outside. It taunts me, some days. Somehow, though, i just don't have the energy to accomplish anything outdoors in winter (aside from "emergency" stuff like the recent post-windstorm clean up)! Anyone else feel that way?

'Fraid so. I bought a Naturelight that helped me get through all the holiday chores and decorating but right now the blahs are winning. I just got the 5-HTP supplement Pixydish recommended... we'll see if it revs me up as much as it has her.

I've been on a mission since the windstorm on the 14th. I've come to a halt as the snow and frozen ground are not allowing me to get any thing done at the moment.

The grey skies do not help, do they? I picked up a bundle of gardening magazines to browse through yesterday from the library, most have already gone back.

To keep me going, I hit Home Depot this morning for misc. items to make garden tags, gardening supplies, etc.

I hope the sun shines your way soon to get you in the "spring" spirit.

Best of the new year to you.

Same thing here: I spend about a month of cold and wet digging dahlia tubers and by the time that's done I don't want to see the garden or think garden for at least 3 weeks ....... LOL. But there is plenty of clean up to do: perennials to trim, weeds still popping, shrubs to trim, trees to move, fallen trees to cut to bits with the mighty Stihl chainsaw. I just wait until it's more temperate in February.

Estreya, I am so bad- chomping at the bit- in Spring, that twice I've made coffee at 3 a.m. trying to rush sunrise! I am all done sleeping. Ready to go, just drumming my fingers waiting for dawn! A 16 hour day outside is quite feasible in those blissful days of late Spring. I remember my hard-gardening mom beckoning from the yard for a kleenex and a glass of cold water. We would honor her request and stand on the back patio yelling "Where ARE you?" It was dark to us in the house, but she was still out there able to see in the waning light at 10 pm or so!

And how dreadful was the recent power outage? The shortest, darkest days Winter can dish up were left to the task to light up our lives? I remember standing by the kitchen window at noon, usually a wonderfully bright and sunny location, feeling like a 2 watt bulb was lighting the world. Grim. And then: light gone, candles on by 3:30 or 4 pm for the long night.

The great news is that days are getting longer and it won't be long before the tree frogs sing! And but at least we're not in Denver!

Or yes, at least we are not in Denver and at least we have back power and Internet access.
At least we can search for gardening articles on Internet, do some reading and seeds ordering.
I usually in winter like a build a list of gardening projects for next year, ideas of some projects i find on internet or in old magazines or just from looking from my window.

Just remember "From day to day the days are longer" and enjoy.

It helps when you can begin to see changes in the garden. The Herald crocuses I planted in front of my office window are poking up through the fallen leaves already and the hellebores have nice fat buds coming up. That's cheering! Come on spring!

Yes, at least we are not in Denver. My greenhouse is my downfall, since it is warm and bright in there. Well, at least warmer than outside. I accidentally stayed in the greenhouse last night until 1:30 AM. Whoops!!
I start celebrating on December 21, which I think should be the real Christmas day. Then we would be celebrating the birth of the Son and the return of the Sun! A two for one celebration!
It's cold but sunny today so I think I will brave the outdoors. FYI, when you have the winter blues, if you can make yourself get outside, even if it's an act of will to do so, it will make you feel better.
Glad you got the 5-htp, Katy. It's good stuff. Don't be afraid to 'play' with the dosage a bit. If you don't see a difference in mood, take more. It's very hard to OD on the stuff.
Hey, the hellebores are starting to bloom!

Pixy, I've ordered the supplement, but will have to wait on the light, darn it, just not in my budget at the moment (I will check with the insurance company, though). And boy am I with everyone - the blahs are so bad. The thing that's helping me a bit today is having my grandson here, but mostly he just wants to play with the game cube - lol! I do have a couple new books, but just can't seem to make myself dig into one. Now, company is coming tomorrow and I have lots of housework I could be doing, but noooooooo . . . here I sit. I did go outside a few times just to breathe the fresh air. DH gave me an "alligator lopper" for Christmas - and I haven't even been able to make myself get outside and try it (of course, it will be noisy - part chain saw - and noise stresses me out, too).

Ahhhhhh . . . poor us . . . having to wait for Spring!!!

I have anenomes blooming already.
My daphnes are just about to open up its blooms.
My primroses are trying to show their faces.
Many of my rhodies have some nice blooms just sitting there ready to open up.........
My hellobores are setting great new green leaves and some have some blooms, just about to open up.
I have some daylilies setting new leaves up.
Many shrubs and bushes have new leaves on their stems already.
My one rose bush (which I just love the smell of, 'Veterans Honor') is setting new leaves too.
So................
Plants are thinking it is time to get going but................. it isn't really time..............it is still freezing here (barely above 35 degrees during the day..............
As of last couple days after work, I try to do a few things in the yard but my hands get so so cold..............
So am inside getting fatter and fatter as time goes on.........................
Need some sunshine outside to work in the yard
So hope it comes this weekend.................

Ahhhh. I spent time in the greenhouse today and also spent about an hour outside. Moved some ginger that has never flowered for me into a sunnier spot. I'll give it another year or so, but I fear our growing season is too short. Planted some seeds of Tricyrtis latifolia and Digitalis obscura. I have Echium wildpretti popping up (hurray!) in the seed trays, and also some wallflowers. I saw that one of my heuchera seeds has popped. I have planted three species of echium seeds. If I could only get one, i would choose the E. wildpretti, so I'm glad to see it's little leaves.

Sometimes the trick with that seasonal blah feeling is to just MAKE yourself go outside to complete one small task. You might find yourself getting into the groove and not coming back inside right away. My DH gave me some waterproof cold weather work gloves for Christmas. They are great!! I cannot stand it if my hands are too cold. I put a hand warmer into each glove and I can actually put my hands in water and the hands stay warm. This is a big miracle in my mind. Here is a link to the manufacturers website. Their entire catalog is on-line. If you click on the item, it will give you a closeup. Mike got my gloves here in Tacoma at a store that sells work clothes. These are a little pricey, but they are worth every penny. http://www.occunomix.com/catalogue.html

May I join in?

There must be a way of getting ourselves to not beat ourselves up for wanting a bit of the cold weather off. Hibernating is not such a bad idea. Like the rest of you, I am sitting here itching at myself to get out there and DO something - and then turn back and think not now - and back to my books, and an overwhelming feeling of sloth and condemnation. I have just finished reading Jane Brown's Dear Henrietta (18th C. woman gardener who found winter wonderful gardening weather but impassable roads), and just started Jenny Potter's Strange Blooms (the John Tradescants (father and son) biography (this time 17th C.)) - both worth reading, but Potter's is better reading) and yet I still feel as if I have 'wasted' my time - I should be doing.

But my point is, why can't we take some time off without feeling guilty? When did gardening become such a must-do? Surely a period of reflection, rest, recuperation and yearning is as valuable as wading ankle deep in mud and slush. And particularly when so many of us also work in other capacities as well - wife and gardener, employee(er) and gardener, mum and gardener, daughter and gardener, laundry worker and gardener, housedecorator and chainsawer and gardener! - what ever combinations apply. Perhaps, and I know this is another thread - but perhaps One Billion Trees has another lesson to add: time has to be elastic - you really can't plant 1 Billion trees in one year, it takes time and care.

My resolution: Some times I need time off.

I'm not so sure I can get that right all of the time, (I'm pretty driven), and you are right sometimes I do need a shove out the door, but I am going to work on enjoying time off too. (Oh and by the way, I thoroughly believe if I stand at the window at 4a.m. with a cuppa it does make the dawn come sooner!)

I wish all of you a good gardening year, from yours on the other side of the pond, who is as desperate to get going again, and equally desperate to enjoy not getting going again.

Oh yes, I can certainly relate to learning to enjoy 'time off'. Key on the word 'learning'. I don't appear to be mastering that particular skill, although I yearn to do so. I can almost see myself sitting around reading a good book, but then I realize it's only a mirage after all! LOL! And I love to read!

But I don't think we are talking about the same thing here. The kick out the door I'm referring to is not toward accomplishing a gardening goal. It's to get some light - natural light. Just taking a walk will accomplish the same thing, or even sitting outside watching the birds or just doing nothing. When I am under the spell of the darkness of winter, I do not even feel like reading a book, even if I could organize my mind long enough to choose one to read. If I could enjoy it as 'time off', that would be wonderful. I do try to do so, but the physiological effects of the lack of sunlight give me a profound lack of motivation to even make a cup of tea, much less drink it. I would have to get out of the bed to do any of these things and my body tells me that there is not enough light for it to actually be daytime, so I must continue sleeping. Really, I think I must have been a bear in a previous life. I do so like to hibernate. Unfortunately, the world does not stop just because winter is upon us, so I must cope.

So I rely on my treatment light and the amino acid supplement to see me through winter. It's not an uncommon problem in this part of the country, and I would be surprised if it were uncommon in the U.K. since we are at about the same geographic parallel. I know some people here who actually are glad when winter comes. They love the rain and the grey, low clouds, the short days, etc. They stay inside happily and putter around doing 'indoor' things and enjoy the natural rhythm of the seasons. I find that the longer I live here, the less likely I am to enjoy the winter season and the more I crave sunshine. I say I know some people like this, but not very many of them.

So really, I think that this need to get outside is not about guilt that we are not out there sloshing around in the wet mud so much as it is wishing that we felt like it, even if we didn't do it. It really would be lovely to be slothful! If it were a choice, and not a physical condition! LOL!

Cheers Laurie!
I can offer a slightly different take. I don't feel guilty - I feel as though I am missing out.
I don't care if it's cold, I want to be out there. Besides, I am too hyper.
I've realized over these past many years, that I prefer being outside to being inside. Granted, the climate here is much milder than some others, but we all have a comfort zone.
I had not thought of all this from your point of view, but I agree with you that we need a rest from our labours.
I enjoy a walk around the property to capture a different perspective when the plants are at rest, and fresh air is always good.
Wishing you a thoroughly peaceful rest!

What wonderful words here, as always! Though i think my original post may have had a more melancholy tone than intended. I actually do love winter. I love the fragrances of winter - slow-cooking meats and something just-sweet-enough cooling on the counter top. I love the light plays of winter, so different than in other seasons, and the fact that candles can be lit before dinner. I love the clothing of winter - cozy woolies and cuddley fabrics, so forgiving of the extra winter-pinch-inch.

Having said that, though, the points made here are keen. I should NOT feel guilty for happily "nesting" indoors while the cold outside world awaits my attentions. And i SHOULD bundle up and get my skin outside for longer than it takes me to get the mail. Those gloves are a great idea too, for those extraordinary occasions when something out-of-sorts forces me to get my hands muddy. :) And i'll have to add plants to my bed planning that will pierce the ice crusted ground, as so many of you here have suggested ....

Thanks for your thoughts, all ...

:)

PS to Poochella: What a great memory of your eagle-eyed mother! Thank you for sharing it ....

estreya, I used to think about motivating myself this time of year but then I started hybridizing Hostas. right now I have 5 shelves of Hosta seedlings growing that I'll move out into my greenhouse in mid March. also I have stacks of catalogs that I'm looking through to add to my collections of Hostas, Epimediums, Helleborus, Acer Palmatums etc. there's nothing more beautiful as next years garden (not sure if that is how it goes but you get the message ) it's always nice to dream. Jim King

Oh I LOVE the catalogs!! It's so true: nothing is as beautiful as the 'next year's' garden in my imagination!

It's true! And my gardens are still very much the empty canvass. Though in truth, 2007 will be dedicated to the planting of more trees and shrubs, with the "lower level" perennials to come later. For some reason, i can't seem to wrap my brain around an entire garden design, so i seem to be approaching things in height order! :) The one exception will probably be a clematis vine, which i plan to plant on some kind of tall iron trellis, making it fall into the "tall" category. :)

I know. I'm such a gardening neophyte.

There certainly are some excellent, deep thinking writers on this thread - a joy to read!!

I, too, have discovered in later life that I much prefer being outside - however, I also do not like to be cold (especially my hands and feet, of course!). Soooooooo I stay indoors and do basically nothing . . . like Pixy, I can't even organize my thoughts enough to start a book, and I have several to read (Laurie, thanks for the suggestions, too!). Now catalogs I can persue quite easily!

I've already gone outside a couple times just to breathe in the fresh air and the sunlight - glorious!

Enjoy your day, everyone, I have family coming for our Christmas celebration. Should be a lovely day (except then my grandson will go home!)

Our turn for the winds - and it has been playing havoc with the telephone lines. But we seem to be back on line for now, and at least that is all that has gone down (well except for a couple trees down in the woods - got the chainsaw going yesterday, hurrah! Who was it that was saying they'd buy a pink one if it was available - hmmm, me too. Must write to Stihl about that - I hate pink, but I would just love one!)

Pixy - I didn't mean to dismiss the weight of winter that can really hit hard for some, and looking back over my comment I think I was thinking more about me than listening to others. I really am struggling with stopping myself from 'doing' - to just spend some days in neutral and wander abit. But I also do appreciate that for some that physical feeling of sunlight hunger is utterly debilitating, and you are right it is quite common here too. I wish I knew what to suggest, but can only think to send you my warmest thoughts, and say that the days will get longer and brighter again.

Thinking of you.

I have to go walk the dog daily: that gets me outside and moving, sun or no sun. After today, I will have no need to race out and find the 5-htp supplement because I HAVE SEEN THE ROSY GLOW! I'M SURE OF IT! (although, it could have been some opthalmologic hot flash LOL) Spring is coming when you see the rosy glow!

Along I-90 east of Issaquah, on either side of the freeway, there are swaths of alders interspersed with the usual evergreens. I watch them all year and today I'm sure: the rosy glow of buds forming is clearly visible! The light was brighter than recent days so I'm confirming it: The Rosy Glow is on, buds are forming, and spring is marching ever closer. Three Cheers!