After our brief warm up, I'm starting to see signs of spring. Outside, the pussy willows are showing.

And inside, planting has begun in earnest. This is a flat of newly planted echinacea or purple coneflower seedlings.

John was home so I had help for the first day of transplanting. We did all the first batch of seedlings that were ready and also did a few of the perennial plugs I have ordered. Most of the plugs I order are for specific varieties of plants, like lavender, some sages and rosemary that cannot be grown from seed.

As the winter winds down, it's always exciting to see plants in the greenhouse again.

Some winter weather, a warm up for a few days, more winter weather and another warm up. The February roller coaster is in full swing. Ice can be quite hard on garden plants, but it certainly makes everything look like a glistening fairy land.

When the weather is discouraging, I focus on spring. The number of flats of seedlings in the basement is increasing. The combination of cooler temperatures in the basement and being under the lights produces nice, stocky seedlings.

And I received my spring order of pots and soil. After warming up in the greenhouse, I can start filling flats of pots with soil so they will be ready at transplanting time. The smell of warm soil early in the season is a real treat - another indication that spring is coming.

Winter hours for the shop are Thursday-Saturday from 9am to 5pm.