Summer dreaming

Winter is here. Today the weather was beautiful, but freezing cold. We hardly ever get snow here in Christchurch but we get some hard frosts - this morning's was -3 degrees. That was followed by a sunny day, but it was a winter's sunny day - the kind where if you step from sun into shadow, the difference is about 15 degrees. There's not much else to do but curl up (in the sun, of course) with a cuppa and a seed catalogue.

Luckily the new Kings Seeds catalogue arrived yesterday. I quickly whipped through it and circled all my wants. Last year I was so excited to finally have a dedicated vege patch that almost all I ordered was vege seeds, and I still have plenty left for this year. However, I miss my flowers! I want a colourful beautiful cottage garden, as well as a lovely decorative and productive potager. That's not too much to ask is it?

My flowery wants include:
Calendula sunset tones
Dianthus clove pinks
Gilia birds eye
Godetia azalea beauties
Lavatera parade

Of course, there are some more veges and herbs to try:
Bush basil
Coriander indian summer
Bean yard long dwarf
Bean sunset runner (with beautiful pink flowers, this one counts as decorative too!)
Carrot mini sweet
Pumpkin baby bear
Squash delicata

As always I'll be trying one or two different tomatoes. This year I'm going to order from Bristol Seeds. I'm eyeing up Amazon Chocolate, Brown Berry and Sunset's Red Horizon.

In the meantime, I'm looking at my photos from seasons past, and reading blog after blog. Northern hemisphere gardens are looking lovely right now, and I'm getting plenty of ideas for when the days warm up again.

Here's a mini cross stitch I've started. I was given the kit by a clever thrifter who spied this in the Sallies and thought of me. It's a great way to while away a winter evening. Hopefully by the time I've finished it, it will be time to sow seeds again.