What To Plant in 2012? Share Your Dreams and Receive Free Seeds from Renee's Garden

"Things I'd like to paint in 2012" is a post on "The Blackbird Sings", one of my favorite blogs. It's written by English artist Natasha Newton, who paints birds, trees, houses, and landscapes, and I was charmed by her list of "want to paint" in the new year. And it got me dreaming, only three weeks into winter, of what I'd like to plant this spring.

I'd love to hear what you hope to plant in 2012. As an inducement for you to post your list here as a comment on the blog, Plant Talk is teaming up with  Renee's Garden Seeds for a free giveaway of brand new seed varieties. Send in a short list of your dream plants for the new year, and Renee will send you a seed packet or two. Please include a brief description of the plants on your list so we can salivate over them too.

Here's my short list:

- A hedge of 'Sunshine Blue' blueberries - I love the idea of an edible, evergreen hedge of these handsome little shrubs (3-4 feet high). The foliage looks good all year, with hot pink flowers in springtime followed by tasty berries from early August through September. Available in local nurseries and from Raintree Nursery near Morton.

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Lots of lettuces, for no other crop produced over a longer season, saved me so much money at the grocery store, and livened up our family meals last year. It was such a shock to go back to store-bought lettuce in October! I love the various special blends of cut-and-come again lettuce seeds from Renee's Garden, like "Farmer's Market Blend". No lettuces are more beautiful than Renee's "Monet's Garden Mesclun", an inspired blend of textures and colors. Purple, chartreuse, ruffled, scalloped, delicious and fresh. And I can't wait to try some of Renee's new varieties - see my post later in the week for a description of new-to-2012 varieties.

Flower Carpet Amber Roses - I'm determined to find space for these hardworking, easy-care, knee-high  roses in my favorite color. They bloom all summer and put on quite a show, even in less-than-perfect conditions that most roses wouldn't tolerate. I'm wondering if I can grow them planted right into gravel at the base of round feed trough planters to form apricot ruffles up against the galvanized metal. Now that would be a real test of carpet rose vigor and adaptability.

I love strawberries, but they're taking over my little garden - I'm afraid I have to face up to ripping most of them out before the entire place is shrouded in strawberry runners. I'll replace some with the smaller-leafed, much-less aggressive alpine strawberries (fraises des bois) with tiny berries that taste of champagne. I'll edge some of my raised beds with the yellow-leafed variety 'Golden Alexandria'.

It's only January...I'd better stop...please let us know what plants you're dreaming about...and see my next post for a list of the brand new, multi-colored and flavored lettuces and greens that Renee will be sending out to Plant Talk readers ....

Comments

[Donna]

I'm planting the first garden in my new home this year and want to plant lots of veggies, including lettuces, carrots, zucchini, green beans, etc. I also hope to start zinnias from seed to border my beds.

[Chris]

Oh my..where do I start? I love Renee's Garden Seeds so I hopped on over to see what's new this year. Like you, my list is long but a couple things I'd like to try are;
Renee's lettuce mix~Stardom...gorgeous purple and green.
Renee's Mexican Sunflower~Torch Tithonia...a beautiful, reddish, orange sunflower to brighten up the late summer, early, fall, flower border.
Renee's Isis Candy~cherry tomatoe...because I'm only going to grow cherry tomatoes from now on and this new one of hers looks so pretty and I hope, sweet tasting!
The sunflower~Moulin Rouge or Renee's Chocolate Cherry or both! :}
Ok, I could go on and on...PS. I have a little Sunshine Blue...from Raintree! It's a beautiful, little blueberry plant...perfect for a container!

[Ruth]

I have lots of alpine strawberries and love them. While they are not aggressive, they seem to be beloved by the birds, who eat them and spread the seeds throughout my yard and I have colonies everywhere! In the shade, I've sort of let them form ground cover, but this year I really have to cut back a bit! Also have Sunshine Blue and I cannot say enough for the little bush. I'l love to see hedges of it everywhere!n My planting this year includes, sadly, taking out my fruit trees. The critters have won, and I haven't harvested more than a handful of fruits for a couple of years. Fencing is not possible here. The will be replaced with Japanese Stewartia, underplanted with a few sasanquas for winter interest. Not a bad trade, but it will be a shock to have young trees again.

[Lynnda]

I am so excited about veggie gardening this year because my son-in-law is building me raised beds at their house (they get more sun than I do). I want to plant peas, beans, cherry tomatoes, salad greens, raspberries, blueberries, squash, and of course, pumpkins to supply all of our Halloween needs!

[Karen]

This year I want to plant a little salad garden in a metal trough like you have in your garden! I am dreaming of fresh green salads. I also want to plant hanging baskets of cherry tomatoes to go in my green salads. I am craving tomatoes that actually taste like tomatoes! Hopefully we will have better weather than last year for tomatoes.

Also, I want to plant some tea herbs, such as lemon balm, chamomile, and mint varieties. I love herbal tea and I think it might be fun to create my own blends.

I am dreaming of spring right now!

[Emily Martin]

I hope to plant poppies, columbines and fragrant sweet peas. Maybe a pumpkin vine. A mock orange and huckleberries. I plan on starting cherry tomatoes soon and grow them in pots that warm up on the patio. I'd like to find another place for more strawberries, and I'll need more peas.

[valerie Easton]

Thanks Emily - so fun to be dreaming of spring planting on this snowy morning.

Please send your mailing address to me at valeaston@comcast.net; I'll pass it along to Renee's Seeds and they'll send your seed packet to you.

Thanks so much for participating...
val

[valerie Easton]

Hi Karen,
Thanks so much for participating - love the idea of an herbal tea garden; now you've got me dreaming.

Please email me your mailing address at valeaston@comcast.net and I'll have Renee send your seed packets to you...

Best,
Val

[Caroline Holloway]

I have a small pottager and love to mix flowers vegetables and herbs. Old fashioned sweetpeas on willow twig stakes with breadseed poppies are stunning amongst the lettuce and mesclun. Japanese cucumbers are easy to grow and delicious all summer long and happily trail along the garden fence. Such fun dreaming of summer as the snow falls outside.

[Connie Schutte]

Over the last few years we have built a fruit pottager with blueberries,raspberries, and plum trees. I am looking for the hedge to plant on the fourth side - rugosa roses,Spiraea japonica ‘Little Princess’on two sides. Hoping it will a long hedge of 'Endless Summer'Hydrangeas, as they seem to do so well in our colder east King County.
Also looking forward to adding columnar apple trees in the last raised bed - thinking of Golden & Scarlet Sentinal from Raintree.
of course, as soon as the snow is gone, I will turn over a bit of ground to plant peas. Looking forward to trying the cucumber varieties that I couldn't get to grow last year because we had such a cool start to the summer - Rocky and Summer Dance.

[valerie Easton]

Hi Connie,
I grow Golden Sentinel columnar apples - they're beautiful and productive. Thanks for your dream list for spring - please send your mailing address to valeaston@comcast.net, and I'll pass it along to Renee, who will send your seed packets to you -
Val

[valerie Easton]

Hi Caroline,
I love old-fashioned poppies and sweet peas, too - and after reading your comment I'm going to need to grow some Japanese cucumbers this year....if you'll email me your mailing address (valeaston@comcast.net) I'll ask Renee to send you a seed packet or two...

Thanks for your comment -
Val

[valerie Easton]

Hi Lynnda,
How good Brooke and Rob get more sun, and you get to garden at their place. Give your beautiful grandbaby a hug for me (I loved her photo on the Christmas card) and send me your mailing address (valeaston@comcast.net)and we'll send you some seeds to plant in those new raised beds -
Val

[valerie Easton]

Hi Ruth,
Stewartia underplanted with Camellia sasanqua sounds lovely. If you'll send your mailing address to me at valeaston@comcast.net, we'll send you some seeds for early springtime; nice to think about on this snowy day.
Val

[valerie Easton]

Hi Chris,
I think cherry tomatoes make the most sense for our climate too - and these new kinds sound so tempting on a snowy day....please send your mailing address to me at valeaston@comcast.net and we'll send you some lettuce and greens seeds.
Val

[valerie Easton]

Hi Donna,
Edging your vegetable beds with zinnias sounds beautiful - I love all the colors zinnias come in....thanks for commenting. Please send your mailing address to valeaston@comcast.net and we'll send you some seeds to get you going on planting your new garden -
Val

[Pamela Gee-Oliver]

It's almost time. I just scheduled an annual play date with dear friends to plant seeds in our backyard green house. We inherited it from the lovely people that built our house and it makes early season starts such a joy. I am dreaming of starting trays of salad greens and basil. They make such lovely combinations. The brasiccas: cabbage, broccoli, kale and chard. Many varieties of tomatoes, including lots of tasty "cherries", some in pots out our back door; cucumbers and some egg plants. Fell in love with these last darlings flowers lst year... Squashes! Zuchinni, summer squash, acorn, pat a pan, butternut and blue hubbard. Flowers to plant amongst the veggies, and attract garden partners: beneficial insects, like marigolds, zinnias and cosmos. Lots of sunflowers to place at each rows end, delighting us all season long, and feeding the birds at seasons end. Oh, I could go on could n't I? Peas, beans and carrots we won't plant ahed, but direct sow in the garden when the soil finally warms arond Memorial day, and more flowers for the hanging baskets: petunias, schizanthus, bocopa, nasturium, dragons and lobelia. Oh, and more blueberries!! There's never enough, they all get eaten up right there in the garden. Is it time yet???

[Linsey]

Oh Pamela, I'm jealous of the left-behind greenhouse. I'm checking my mailbox daily for "April in Paris" sweet pea (supposedly an olfactory dream) and "Danish Flag" poppy, which I'm going to plant in honor of my Danish hubby. I've got more greens on their way than I know what to do with, but there's always the Vitamix for green smoothies, right? ;) I'm going for the random greens like Erba Stella. Just thinking about zucchini and tomatoes makes my mouth water! I also got a HUGE packet of Northwest Wildflower Seed mix from the Xerces Society; I'm hoping for colonies of buzzing bees!!

Val, this is great dreaming on a snow day!

[valerie Easton]

Hi Linsey,
I adore 'April in Paris' sweet peas, and I think I remember Renee telling me they were her favorite for their heavenly fragrance.

If you'll send your mailing address to me at valeaston@comcast.net, I'll ask Renee to send seeds along to you....

Thanks for participating -
Val

[Jennifer Carlson]

As the snow falls, I dream of tasting spicy radish greens from Vietnam. "Hong Vit" are gorgeous enough to add to the ornamental beds. I'll try purple Kohlrabi, a summer blend of salad greens that can tolerate the (Let's hope) heat,a compact zuchini or summer squash for savory dishes... I love the idea of filling some shadier spots with alpine strawberries to complement my bigger varieties that are growing under my bluberries. Columbine in red tones, some violas for garnish,and some other flower for hummingbirds...

[DariaW]

Funny you should mention it, though I'm not a fan of New Years resolutions, this year I've resolved to stop waiting to try growing plants I've longed to try for years, even decades. It's like snowdrops, which I fell in love with when I checked The Secret Garden out of the library at Kellog Jr Hi, just from the description and Tasha Tudor's illustrations but it was 40 yrs. before I could put them in my garden. Too long! I've wanted thalictrum polygamum and Jack in the Pulpit, both East Coast natives, for more than 30 yrs, Twinflower for even longer. Maybe some native lilies, before I run out of time. And who knows, if I apply myself, maybe one day I'll figure out how to grow sweet peas if I just keep at it.

[Karen]

Hi Valerie,

I'm planning to plant more perennials, especially hardy fuchsias and lavenders. This year I resolve to find a better location in my garden for dahlias and will be more diligent about digging up the corms before winter hits.

I wish I had more sunlight for growing veggies (it's not a matter of too much shade from trees - it's the house iteself that blocks the light). If I were able to, I'd grow fennel, asparagus and artichokes.

Thanks for all the inspiration that you provide.

[Deb Brown]

Love Renee's Seeds. I want to plant a butterfly and hummingbird garden this year. Such delight watching all the activity!

[Niki]

Hi Valerie,

I decided to experiment this year by planting more of the vegetables and fruits I love most. Here is a short list of the varities new to my garden this year.

Cucumbers: Satsuki Midori, Viridis, and Cetriolo Melone.

Melon: Noir de Carmes melon

Spinach: Strawberry Spinach

I planted sweet peas for the first time last year and really enjoyed them. I'd like to plant another variety this year. April in Paris seems to be loved by many.

I also want to plant a rugosa rose like Blanc Double de Coubert, Darts Dash, Marie Bugnet, or maybe one of the rugosas in the pavement series.

[Lynn Coulter]

Hi, Val. I'd love to grow those alpine strawberries, so they are on my list of dream plants, along with moonflowers. BTW, i posted about your offer on my blog, at http://www.LynnCoulter.com. Your blog is lovely!