It’s not a good idea for me to be buying seeds online when there is snow on the ground. Or during February. Or when the days start getting longer and you see a crocus.

That's because there is always some little plant that I am lusting after. This year it was Marshall lettuce – a bright burgundy romaine-type that I saw last year. In my mind, and perhaps in real life, the critters seem to leave the red lettuces alone.

Anyway, in search of Marshall, I found a lettuce named Drunken Woman. And then there was green cotton and then…

To advance the thread of another one of CSM’s Diggin' It bloggers, here are a few other seed sources for those cold, windy, yet promising days when you think spring is almost here.

Seeds from Italy seeds have been very successful for me. Big packets of basil, arugula, zucchini, and beans have germinated well in my garden.

Skyfire Garden in Kansas has a nice seed list, and last year I bought several varieties of tomato seed from them. I found them when I was desperate to locate some Eva’s Purple Ball seeds. I love that tomato!

Park Seed had Marshall lettuce, which is so gorgeous. It’s a very big company, so they have lots of other things, too.

Things are starting to look up in the garden. Once freed from the snow, my daffodils grew four inches in one day. On these quiet days, before spring really starts racing, it is lovely to walk through the woods, see the skunk cabbages emerge, smell the air, and delight in the softness of early spring. It is too soon replaced by the mad rush of daffodils, tulips, cherries, and growth, growth, growth. But it won't be long.

Donna Williamson is one of nine garden writers who blog weekly at Diggin' It. She's a master gardener, garden designer, and garden coach. She has taught gardening and design classes at the State Arboretum of Virginia, Oatlands in Leesburg, and Shenandoah University. She’s also the founder and editor of Grandiflora Mid-Atlantic Gardening magazine, and the author of “The Virginia Gardener’s Companion: An Insider’s Guide to Low Maintenance Gardening in Virginia.” She lives in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.

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