In the time between Christmas and the New Year when it pours rain outside, snow covers your driveway, or all of the wintry mix from the night before turns into ice and sludge; it is difficult to imagine: gardens and gardening.
Perhaps you are binging your favorite show just I am with the BBC’s Gardeners World on Amazon Prime. Maybe you enjoy snacks for a much needed hibernation from the rest of the world. Or perhaps you enjoy the rush. You hurry out to the after Christmas and before New Years’ sales.
A Time for Dreams
Winter is the time to dream. It is the time to plan and design your garden or gardens; no matter if your space is big or small.
It is the time to begin sowing seeds indoors or in your greenhouse. I plan to shape some beds and winter sow once the rain stops. Right now, I am creating a website for Corrie’s Acres, the unofficial name of our former Christmas tree farm, with the gardens, blog, and all social media links.
(I had started a blog for Corrie’s Acres in September, but I did not feel I had enough room for everything, so I am working on a Google sites.)
I am in a transition from the harder days of grief to haven that heals the heart. I no longer feel the need to set goals for the new year, nor do I feel sad after Christmas. Corrie’s spirit engages with mine through the plans, design, creation, and planting of the gardens. One TikTok follower wrote: “I just feel Corrie’s energy through you. She just feels happy to me.”
I could ask nothing more than for Corrie’s spirit and memory to be felt this way. She possessed joy, and I hope it shows through all aspects of the farm, gardens, and life we live.
Winter gives the gardener a time to rest, dream, and plan. As I reflect on my 2024 growing year, I remind myself that I am still a beginning gardener. I am ambitious, and I learn quick. I share what I know, but after three years of garden experience, I want to share all the garden favorites I’ve loved before (inspired after the popular YA book To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before.)
*As I mention all my favorites below, I do not receive a commission on any, except for the Gro-Rite Garden if you tap on the link and purchase one. I truly love this raised bed, and all of my other favorites are genuine reviews after two years of purchases.
1. Favorite Garden Centers
There are beautiful places around the world with magnificent gardens. But I love North Carolina, and view it as garden country. It has four full seasons. With a longer growing season, a variety of plants in zone 8a have opportunities to thrive.
From where I typically shop for plants in Shelby to Asheville, North Carolina; multiple greenhouses exist. Shelby is known to have three specific nurseries to which gardeners from all around will visit.
My nickname name for these 3 nurseries is the Green Triangle: S&K Greenhouse, Stacy’s Garden World, and Cline’s Nursery.
The owners of all three businesses are genuine people with a love of plants and interest in the customer’s specific needs for their garden whether house plants, herbs, or the great outdoors. Of the three, S&K and Stacy’s are my go to greenhouses. They are the best choices for my wallet and interests.
There is so much I love about both greenhouses, but there is too much for one post. Here I share my best-loved fact about each before I share my number 1 greenhouse.
What I love about Stacy’s Garden World:
When it comes to the choice of perennials, Stacy’s Garden World is the place to go. I recently read a review on Google for Stacy’s that said that the prices were more than Lowe’s, and I laughed because Marty’s $6 blue pots are amazing with the size you get as a gardener. Marty and his team grow almost everything in their greenhouse. I have also divided several perennials from Stacy’s with success.
What I love about S&K Greenhouse:
I never thought about winter interest prior to S&K Greenhouse. In the first year after Corrie met her sunset and I gardened in her memory, I ventured to buy whatever plant spoke to me. I purchased so many Asiatic lilies. That is before I ever understood the importance of winter interest.
This is a complex part to explain because S&K not only offers on the widest varieities of conifers and evergreens I have ever seen, Justin Lane explains on the YouTube channel, hyperlinked above, the importance of winter interest plants. Another common one they sell is the Arctic Fire Dogwood, which has beautiful red stems.
My Favorite:
This is hard for me because I adore both nurseries and the owners are personable and truly know their information about plants. They’re both competitive, but in a respectful way. I have to go with:
S&K … As Corrie would say, “That’s my favorite.”
2. Favorite Raised Bed
I did not think that I was ready for a raised bed with all of the renovation work John had to do on the house and the self-education in which I was still involved with how to plant until the Gro-Rite Garden.
Garden beds take time to put together. I know from the no dig garden beds that I started from January 2024 to now. I have had to put more than one layer of cardboard down for the pathway, and this has been successful. This is just one example of what it takes to assemble a garden bed.
The Gro-Rite Garden can be put together in 10 minutes or less, and you can take it apart. It is lightweight, so you can carry to where you want it to go.
I am neurodivergent, and sometimes I look at directions differently. The Gro-Rite Garden was easy to assemble. No tools or screws are required. I love the part about the no screws. The kit has rods you slide right in, and you can choose the different shape of the Gro-Rite Garden you desire.
3. Favorite Place to Buy Seeds
When Hurricane Helene swept through Western North Carolina, it hit many of the places my husband I and love to travel for day trips. The people of Western North Carolina still need help. Many people lost their homes, roads were washed out, and businesses lost.
Sow True Seed in Asheville still stood after the storm.
While I have learned how to collect seed from plants, as well as propagation, gardening has opened me to new possibilities I had never imagined. When I buy, I want to support mostly North Carolina and small businesses. (I write mostly because my favorite bulb company is in Virginia.)
I was the most successful with zinnias, marigolds, sunflowers, four o’clocks, and pumpkins. I will try more this year from seeds I’ve collected and Sow True Seed. During December, Sow True Seed has free shipping on all seed orders.
4. Favorite Place to Buy Bulbs
In 2022, I experienced the beginner gardener growing pains of where to buy and not to buy. During 2023, I began to research the best places to buy bulbs. Brent and Becky’s out of Gloucester, Virginia sells flower bulbs on site and online.
This unassuming place, which will send bulbs and directions wrapped in newspaper feels like you’re going back in time. It is not pretentious, and everything is carefully wrapped. Brent and Becky’s sends you specific directions for the bulbs.
I have done a few TikTok videos with bulbs from Brent and Becky’s. Most recently, I have shown the Bridal Daffodils and early spring irises in the Gro-Rite Garden.
I put the last of my Brent and Becky’s tulips in the Wall Garden on Saturday, December 28 in breaks between the rain, along with Sow True cut garden flower seeds. During the spring and early summer, I planted gladiolas, dahlias, and calla lilies. I put the calla lilies and dahlias in pots before I planted them in different gardens on the property.
You can begin ordering spring and summer bulbs in January. They don’t come then, but will at the appropriate time for your gardening zone in the spring. However, it is good to order now because they will run out of certain bulbs, especially the dahlias.
The beauty of the bulbs thus far from Brent and Becky’s helped me decide to buy certain bulbs from them from now on rather than buying those same flowers. For example, the calla lilies grew taller than ones I used to purchase from the store. The dahlias appear more like dinner plate size even if they are not.
On my next blog, I’ll share my favorite flowers, evergreens, perennials, shade plant, and herbs.
Corrie's Season 