So much good news it is a little surreal feeling.

So... It has been a pretty stunning month or so.

Let's start with this:

That is my book. Multiple copies of it. Sitting in a box. On my desk. Excuse me while I run around screaming. This means that if you pre-ordered it on Amazon, it should be arriving soon. If you haven't yet, you can go do it here: http://www.amazon.com/Plant-Breeding-Home-Gardener-Vegetables/dp/1604693649/

Okay. That is a lot. But there is also this:
http://www.organicgardening.com/living/the-new-generation
That is Organic Gardening magazine, and that is a picture of me. Which is pretty insane. Not an article by me in organic gardening, which would be cool in its own right, but an article about me and five other young plant people. I'm kinda in shock. I also really, really wish my Grandma Tychonievich was alive to see it. One of her proudest accomplishments was publishing an article in Organic Gardening about growing asparagus. She'd be very happy to see her grandson gracing the same pages.

Moving on, how about this? http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/07/garden/trees-that-make-the-best-neighbors.html
A great article recommending Arrowhead as a source for cool trees and shrubs, in The New York Times. Not too shabby.

Closer to home, we just finished hosting the annual Winter Sucks Party here at Arrowhead

Normally this space is full of plants and dirt and pots. This is what it looked like halfway through decorating. The next day, that counter where we usually box up plants for shipping was COVERED with amazing food, and the tables full of plant friends and customers. The weather was decent, and we had a great time. If you live fairly nearby, you can plan to come next year -- it is always the last Saturday in February, and of course we also have the Summer Rocks party in July.

And on top of all that good news, perhaps the best is this:

Cyclamen coum is flowering and SPRING IS COMING!!!!

Saturday morning (mildly inappropriate) gardening cartoon

Can you think of another way to say “has pink flowers”?

Phew... So, I've not been writing much here lately because I've been busy writing plant descriptions and other text for the 2013 Arrowhead Alpines online catalog. Which, along with a whole redesign of the website and catalog and a new logo and all sorts of other fun new stuff went live this morning. There is still a bit to do actually, more descriptions to update and photos to add, but we've gotten a LOT done, and pretty proud of how it is coming together.

I am, however, pretty darn tired of describing plants. I like writing, and I like plants, I like writing about plants. But after a few hours, it can get a bit maddening. There are a lot of plants in the world with pink flowers. And we grow a lot of tiny rock garden things. And I only have so many synonyms for those traits at my disposal. After a while, one gets slap happy, and the descriptions get increasingly bizarre...

That being said, there are a quite a few new things in the catalog this year that I'm really excited about. Excited enough to link to them here, but not enough to write more than pretty minimal descriptions here... follow the link to what I say in the catalog if you are intrigued.

Lakeside Daisy

A crazy rare, beautiful, highly endangered native plant. With shrinking habitat to grow on in the wild, it could really use a safe haven in your garden.

Plantago 'Purple Perversion'

I'm SO stoked about this... the first ever variety I've bred to actually be for sale! Yes, it is a crazy version of a weed that no sane gardener would really grow, but hey, don't burst my bubble. And it IS kinda cool looking.

More and more daphnes! You may have noticed that I've gotten bit by the daphne bug in a BIG way since starting at Arrowhead. I love the things without any hint of moderation. They make my heart go pitter-patter We've gotten some new things from Brigitta's collection propagated and in the catalog, some for the first time ever, and more will be on the way later this year. I'm also scheming to start breeding the things when the come into bloom this spring. Going to be EPIC.

A bunch of spiny stuff...

Keep this up and we're going to end up as Danger Garden East... We've got some really nice agaves, and I really love the Escobaria cacti we grew from seed this year. They're incredibly cute, hardy, AND not as obnoxiously vicious as those darn opuntias. I'm officially going on record as loathing opuntias. Yes, they are cool looking, but not cool enough to make up for their bad temper.

So. That is that. Happy 2013 shopping season everyone! I'm going to be busy taking cuttings a lot for the next little while, which leaves lots of time to think up blog posts, so stand by for more content here in the near future. Maybe. Brigitta said something about putting together another list of descriptions that need writing, so we'll see.