waiting for spring

Living in an apartment with no garden to call my own, only a front stoop and some mulch they call 'landscaping' outside my door.

I've started spouting lentils and popcorn from my pantry as I'm desparate to see something grow during this gloomy time of year. Now that they've sprouted they've gone to live with the houseplants for lack of a better home.

I planted marigold seeds saved from last summer too. So far, only one has sprouted. I fear the others were hybrids and have no future.

Spring refuses to come and snow continues to come down and I long to see the tulips I planted below the mulch last fall. This year I will dig up the bulbs and hope I have a new home, new yard and new garden in which to bury them this fall.

About five lily's are sleeping below the mulch too. I don't be able to take them with me. Any potential move would happen while they are still growing - digging them up then might kill them.

I've been looking through seed and plant catalogues for months now, circling and planning, basically just window shopping. I would have no place to put them, besides I would be broke if I bought them all.

I have 50 dollars worth of plants, flowers, bulbs, and shrubs on order, scheduled to be delivered in May. I have broken the news to my mother that there will soon be an influx of plants to her yard. She's very good about letting me use her yard to experiment with new plants. Its unfortunate that she lives two hours away. If I get a house and a yard, with a little luck I'll be able to step out my back door and get my gardening fix whenever I want, without the two hour car ride.