DREAMS IN NAVY BLUE

Last night I dreamed of navy blue Asiatic lilies.

You’d think on Christmas night I’d drift off with images of angels, Santas and snowmen … or, at least sugar plums.

But, no, it was lilies, navy blues ones at that.

The lilies were so vivid in my dream that I got up and googled “navy blue Asiatic lilies” and I got a few images that looked pretty darned close to what I envisioned in my dream.

Maybe it was too much turkey and gravy or the warm weather overnight (furnace never turned on all night) but it seems I have left the holidays behind and plunged into gardening season. I’ve already got my Pinetree Garden Seeds catalog so the planning really can begin.

In the dream, I was at some kind of an event like the Ladies Day Luncheon. It was at the La Crosse Center because I spent a lot of time there as a reporter and am quite familiar with the venue so I recognized my surroundings immediately, unlike when my dreamscape includes some random parking garage. As I was standing there chatting with a group of people, a newcomer approached with a pot of navy blue Asiatics in full bloom and handed it to me, I guess because I had told someone I wanted them.

Wouldn’t it be great if real life worked that way?

In a way, it does. Many years ago, when I was the Home and Garden reporter for the La Crosse Tribune, I started a perennial exchange club. People were supposed to write to me with plants they were willing to trade and then I would match up gardeners with each other.

It kind of worked out that way except everyone wanted to trade plants with me. I got some great new plants that way, but no navy blue Asiatics.

Here’s hoping everybody is enjoying the holiday season and for those of you joining me in garden reveries, I hope you find a navy blue Asiatic lily in your garden this year.