In the house with fire going looking out thinking how cold is it? forget it dont want to know. I guess you can tell Im not a winter person.

Trading on the seed exchange forum here!
Waiting for new seed and plant catalogs to come and rereading my ratty old ones thinking "Why didn't I order that last year?"

I'm like you, Yeona, more a dreamer than a doer. When it comes to gardening, I love to plan, plan, plan! I will get graph paper and draw out plans for bedding and garden designs of all sorts. And I will make list after list of plants I want to get and organize them in a thousand ways. I also hope these forums will stay pretty active during the winter because I love to come here and get ideas.
Right now I'm planning a large cut flower garden/small market garden for next year so I have lots of planning to tide me over this winter. I just hope the doing will follow up on it next spring!

A fire sounds lovely, especially on the cold rainy nights we get where I am, Kim Pa, and weÂre having one now. Good idea DaisyDot. Although seedlings don't like me much and I lose more than I grow... I especially want to try the blue delphiniums which was suggested to me on a blues thread. So hopefully those will work.
I've got so many drawings Edie Arkansas, because I have to revise everytime I buy a new plant that I've had to resort to numbering them.
Thanks for the replies.
Yeona

Seed catalogues, plant catalogues, and newly acquired garden books (through a book trade if possible) can keep one busy through January. And then all hell breaks loose. Having bought too many seed packets, as usual, it is time to decide the starting times for the seeds, the method needed, and where to put the new plants in an already too crowded garden. Also a garden bench is built to be chanced off for the local garden tour. Plus maybe the most fun of all, trading on the Garden Web. This is the place to go if one wants fast action as someone is always entering new stuff it seems like by the hour.

I love the leisurely evenings of thumbing through catalogs, dreaming about the plants I want, and planning new sections of the garden. My main winter hobby, though, is scrapbooking. I've been doing it for a few years now and it is so fun to look through all of the pictures of holiday gatherings and summer days. I usually spend the evening with a huge smile on my face, showing pictures to my husband saying, "Remember that day? We had so much fun!" :)

~Lee Anna

Interior decorating, with the major problem being how to work around all the tropical plants I had to bring in for the winter. I'm redoing my office this year. Going with a tropical Caribbean theme since I've got the plants already, plus I have iguanas and poison dart frogs in this room, so it's gotta stay hot and humid. Already painted top part an orange-yellow, bottom an orange, with a green stripe at the chair rail, and blue trim that coordinates with the carpet. I can almost hear steel drums even now....

Buying more tropicals, much to the chagrin of my husband (Lowe's is clearing out their tropical houseplants- $3 for 10" pots- they had philodendrons, palms, crotons, and others at my local Lowe's. I'm hitting HD tomorrow).

Planning more gardens, of course.

School. I'm getting my BS in biology.

Skiing when I have time and money. I miss real winters.

Surfing online looking for more garden information and making my wreaths and Christmas presents...a real Martha Stewart kind of gal.

QS

I spend my free time decoupaging plant containers in winter - I hate to spend money on decorative containers but I cannot deny that they do add to the display.

I also update my garden album and plan the garden for the coming year.

Usha

Although I love sitting inside in the winter with a good book and a good cup of tea, cocoa or coffee, I also like being outside in the snow, enjoying a crisp blue and white day cross country skiing. There is a lot of beauty in a forest that is covered by green during the winter. The bare bones of the forest show and you can appreciate them in contrast to the snow.
Planning is good, activity is good too.
Mima

Reading my garden books, magazines, planning spring garden and garden decorating ideas. Inside decorating, drinking hot chocolate, praying it doesn't get cold enough to freeze the chicken water! Mostly staying warm inside waiting for spring! But this year with a new computer may do a lot of web surfing!

Skiing -then coming in and sitting by the fireplace with a glass of wine and looking at the garden catalogs.Also LOVE a good blizzard when I don't have to go to work in it.Something very cosy about just sitting by the fire with the wind howling outside.Also like walking after a snowstorm at night-sooo quiet.

I love to get that cup of coffee and sit in my chair and read,look and try to decide what I want to plant for next year. Also love to get out my cross stitch and finish or start a new project. I have many.LOL Blessings, Nora

I stay busy taking care of my 70 orchids, 8 birds, 3 fish tanks, guinea pig and French Bulldog. I'm happy. Sally

Our winters are pretty mild by comparison to most. (Ocala, FL) When it gets real cold (usually temporary) I do experiment with hard wood cuttings, plant propagation and seeds in a makeshift GH in the garage. It usually warms up in the late a.m. so I can do some gardening, like removal of dead limbs and weeds, etc. and I hike. Of course I have received every seed and nursery catalogue known to modern man, so that does provide some light reading material and a chance to do some "Blue-skying" about the Spring and additions to my butterfly garden. My husband shudders when those things arrive in the mail!

Winter is when I plan, like so many others. I spend time on line, searching for special varieties of iris, daffodils, tulips, or tips on pruning, special care, etc for plants I have. If it isn't freezing or pouring down rain, I'll go outside and just look at things, to see what I can add.

Winter is my favorite time of year. I live in south Louisiana so it doesn't get that cold here for long. My favorite thing to do in the winter is snuggle up to the fire in the early morning hours with a cup of coffee. Then after it warms up a bit I head out to the greenhouse to take care of the things in there, plants and inscets alike. Last year I had an aphid infestation. I have blooming hibiscus and mandavilla plants, all my ferns, containers and all the cutting I took to take care of. I also love to cross-stitch, read, cook, read, plan the spring gardens and read. Did I mention I love to read... LOL.

Cajun

I love to walk into my greenhouse on a cold day and enjoy the warmth and see what may be blooming that day. I, too, like to go out at night after a big snowfall and listen to the "quiet". I start my holiday decorating right after Thanksgiving and that keeps me busy for a while. I cut alot of fresh greens to use inside and out. And deciding what seeds to order is also on the list. I have a small, roadside stand where I sell plants and I like to supply new and unusual things for my customers. I have the winters off from my "real" job and it allows me to spend lots of time with my 4 parrots. That has to be my favorite thing of all.

Feeding and watching birds while reading seed and plant catalogues is what I do to survive the winter. Also, football and basketball help.

i love to sit at my spinning wheel next to the fire& spin my lovely soft fleeces.i also enjoy reading my many copies of earth garden magizines,there is always something of interest in them!,they are fantastic,Oh yes & ofcourse a lot of planning the vegie garden is a must.

Discussion with the other half what/how many vegetables to grow in the garden next season.

Ankrara's Hobby Corner