Did I Plant That?

We had a lovely snowstorm on Thursday evening. Unlike the last storm, this was light fluffy snow like confectioner's sugar. I loved walking in it when I took my evening walk. But lovely as it was, I'm tired of snow. I want it to be spring. I want to be able to play in the gardens.

This year, I am being much more organized about my planting. Normally, I order my seeds with a clear picture in my head of where I'm going to plant everything. By the time the seeds arrive and then the time to plant them arrives, I have completely forgotten all my plans. I always end up hurriedly making decisions and just planting like mad.

One problem with that. Since I try to grow new stuff each year along with old favorites, when the seeds start germinating, I can't tell if they are weeds or one of the new flowers I am trying that year. I let things grow until it becomes clear whether it is friend or foe. In an effort to avoid that, I started making "planting diagrams". In my annual planting frenzy, I would take a few minutes and at least list what I planted in each garden in the approximate area of the bed. That has been helpful, but is still not a solution.

This year, I have the solution. When I ordered my seeds, I recorded in which garden I wanted to plant each variety of seeds. Using that list, from time to time, I make actual drawings of exactly where in each bed each type of flower will go. Based on my careful records, there should be minimal "Did I plant that?" this year and many fewer weeds.