Paradise is just a daydream away. . .

This morning while I was in the shower with my eyes closed, head under the nozzle, smelling the Tahitian sunrise body wash while the warm water cascaded down my back, I was thinking about the old commercial where a girl is taking a shower (headshot only), she uses some sort of shampoo or soap and suddenly she's in a rain forest with flowers blooming all around her and green jungle plants everywhere. I loved that commercial and picturing myself in that garden paradise!

I've had a thing for plants and gardens my entire life. I remember as a little girl going to my great Aunt Beth's house and sitting in this room filled with plants like banana trees, ferns and ficus trees (don't remember if it was a sunroom or a conservatory) and it seemed so magical. It may not have been that spectacular but to a little girl it seemed like I was in another world.

I also remember reading "Where the Wild things Are" and wishing my room would turn into a jungle full of adventure. I have always dreamed of having one of those beautiful conservatory gardens like the one at Thanksgiving Point or in the movie Green Card. Of course, everything would die and it wouldn't work out but I still imagine it! I also am determined to plant an English garden one of these days. . .

I do keep a few struggling plants in the house. I have a ficus that I've had for probably 15 years and it's still alive but looks awful and needs to be transplanted into a bigger pot (should have been done 5 years ago.) My other plants are not that old and still looking pretty good.

This time of year, when the weather is miserable and I'm stuck in the house, I love looking at gardening catalogs and planning what I'm going to plant in the spring. I get very ambitious and plan all kinds of new flower beds (which would require new top soil and a grass cutting rototiller and requires help from someone else so it never happens) By the time spring arrives, my plans are toned down a bit to a realistic level. I don't plant everything I want to but I usually have many flowers growing from seed in the garden and perennials that I can cut and bring into the house all spring and summer. I can't wait for spring when the azaleas, rhododendrons, lilacs and peonies bloom and the trees begin to bud and bloom. Perusing the catalogs reminds me that winter isn't going to last forever and gives me hope for the days to come. So if I don't write for a while, just know I'm probably daydreaming that I'm in the garden of Eden or a tropical paradise!