Happy New Year everyone! Ok, so my green haven isn't green now. With Christmas over and a fresh snowfall my green haven has turned a brilliant shade of WHITE! We all say that snow makes everything look so clean and new. We all want to believe that the cold weather and wind and snow will only be here for a short while, but let's get REAL. We are stuck in this white, soft stuff for at least 3 months, or 77 days (whichever comes first).

Yes, I do look outside and think how beautiful it is. That's just before turning quickly to look at my green haven inside. Now I can flourish all my attention on my indoor plants that I neglected during the summer and fall. They love it. I water them regularly and even talk to them (when no one is around). They reward me with green, green and more green. The dracaenas's get dusted and the parlor ferns get misted.

I get bags of new dirt from Wal-Mart, cover the table and floor with newspapers and get out the hacksaw! Now is the time to multiply. I chop away at the spider plants, saw the ferns in half and before you know it, I have two or three of everything.

Don't feel bad about all the dissecting, my plants really love having "partners" to share the room with. I know because they told me so. Never be afraid to propagate (that's what they really call it) your house plants. All this fussing and chopping and spraying will give you lots of plants and use about 7 of those 77 days of winter and now there are only 70 freezing winter days to deal with.

Another good thing to do during the winter is read all those great garden magazines you bought during the summer. Plan the things you want to do outside when Spring rolls around. This advice is given with a grain of salt. Actually Epsom Salt. Did you know that Epsom Salt is good for your evergreen and lawns? Now is a good time to buy lots and lots of Epsom salt and sprinkle it over the snow so when it melts it will dissolve and make your garden beautiful in the Spring.

Now another week has passed and only 63 days left. Around this time I start to pull out the pictures of my spring and summer garden and gaze at all the beauty. All the flowers that were once so brilliant are caught on film for me to enjoy over and over and over and..over.

This reminds me that I cut some of those great roses, impatience and pansies and carefully placed them in an airtight container filled with silica sand to dry and enjoy during the long winter. Speaking of impatience after searching for two weeks for these containers (without luck), I now only have 49 ugly days of winter left. I know I'll find those dried flowers in May.

Today I told my husband about all my plans for the garden in the spring. I'm going to move some junipers, put in another pond and make an arbor up the back. I'm not sure what he mumbled as he left the room. He's not as much as a garden enthusiast as I am, but I'm sure he agreed with all I said.

Tomorrow I am going to tackle a Topiary. I have the wire hangers and pot ready, now all I need is about 50 lbs. of sphagnum moss and I'm off. This should probably pretty much get me to Valentines Day, and before you know it, it's spring, well almost. Anyway, I apologize for all the complaining. Actually, the green haven I long for does look like a Winter Wonderland now and hey, 77 days aren't all that long.