I was outside studying all my garden spaces just yesterday. Since I live in South Carolina, my gardens are never empty. They may be devoid of the bounty of summer vegetables and hot-weather flowers but, even in January, the Scotch broom is in full bloom, and even the Lenten roses are blooming in my fence gardens. Due to our extremely mild winter, daffodils and jonquils are up about 6 inches and their blossoms are ready to open. The vegetable garden is bursting with huge mounds of winter greens and the herb garden is still dotted with bunches of flat leaf parsley, hardy thyme, and lambs ear.

   I'm making my wish list now from all the lovely seed catalogs and, in my mind's eye, when I look at my gardens, I can already envision the Amish paste tomatoes hanging heavy on the vine, and the fine, sweet French breakfast radishes showing their slender shoulders beneath their delicate leaf umbrella.

   Winter is a time for gardeners to plan and to dream. To everything there is a season.

Submitted by: Debbie Burgess