 
It is January and though it is winter for many of us there are still a few outdoor gardening things we can do.
If your ground is not frozen, you can still take soil tests – take separate tests for lawns, vegetable and flower gardens or shrub borders. You can get your soil test from your local extension office.
And if you soil is not frozen you can apply lime as needed – your soil test results will tell you if you need lime (do not apply lime if your ground is frozen).
You should still be adding organics (your garbage) to your compost pile or bin see TheGardenLady10/24.
Whatever time of year, all year round, you can always prune Dead Wood on trees, shrubs and vines. Be sure the wood is dead when you are pruning in the winter and not just dormant.
But if the ground is frozen or there is lots of snow, this is the best time to be snuggled indoors reading all those gardening books you received this holiday season or borrowed from your local library. And now instead of fattening sugar plums dancing in your head, you can plan and have dreams of your garden in 2008.
The All America Selection of Plants is dreaming about your garden, too, see here, as are other organizations like Proven Winners (Proven Winners calls itself ” the leading brand of high quality flowering plants in North America” and sells under the Proven Winners) or the the All-America Rose Selection Award committee.
And what exciting dreamy plants are coming to you from your gardening stores or catalogues or wherever you shop for plants. These groups have been choosing what they think are the winning plants for 2008.
For example among the annuals AAS has chosen this year is an African Daisy Osteospermum ‘Asti White’ as a bedding plant that stays open whether it is cloudy or not and is drought tolerant. Or Viola ‘Skippy XL Plum-Gold’ whose abundant flowers will steal your hearts. See photo above, which was taken from Joan Swenson’s column.
Or among the perennials there is Asclepias tuberosa ‘Western Gold Mix’ – a plant that will attract numerous butterflies and will thrive in alkaline soil and is exceptionally drought tolerant.
The Proven Winner ‘Dolce Blackcurrant Coral Bell’ Heuchera hybrid has purple-black leaves with silver accents that is deer resistant, can be for a shade garden and attracts hummingbirds.
Or do you want a rose for your garden this year? From Proven Winner’s “Oso Easy” series is a new rose called ‘Peachy Cream’ – a creamy peach, semi-double flower that is a fragrant ground cover.
Or from the All-America Rose Selection Award for 2008Â is a grandiflora rose called ‘Dream Come True.’ This rose has large golden blooms with dark pink edges and with a mild tea fragrance and is described as very floriferous and reblooming
throughout the growing season.
Dream on. And let TheGardenLady know what you have chosen. Send a photograph to share with all the readers.