With the weather warming up this week, I have been browsing through the yard and garden stores.

All the colorful flowers and alluring smell of herbs has just been irresistible, I have felt like a kid in a candy store trying to decide which floral, and vegetation species I want to add to my flowerbeds and planters.

There are a few favorites that I always have to include each year and on my list to buy is Asparagus ferns.

I have lost track at the number of years I have bought these willowy ferns to adorn my front door, but after I learned they could tolerate the sun, each spring I plop them right into my planters.

This variety likes to be pot bound, so they are easy to manage and will stay pretty healthy even when the owner forgets to water on a regular basis.

My friend Libby Beard, who owns the Flower Center, sells them at her nursery and to make sure she does not sell out of them, I have already secured four, and I am thinking I could use a couple more.

Another of my must haves are impatiens. These annauls come in all kinds of colors and it is fun to mix and match different shades. I am typically not a fan of the color orange, but I love planting orange impatiens in the same pot as hot pink ones. It is my personal favorite combination.

Last year, I had a few of my Elaeagnus shrubs cut down to make way for a perennial garden and am already enjoying some early spring blooms.

Plans are to add to this flowerbed in hopes of it eventually attracting bees and butterflies.

And then of course there are my boxed beds that hubby and I put herbs and tomatoes in.

Last year, the tomato plants really did not produce, I think we had too much rain early on and then when the drought set in, we were just not vigilant enough to keep the plants alive.

Also, weeds took over my herb garden like never before, so this year my goal is to do a better job of eradicating these uninvited plants.

I read somewhere on the Internet that using vinegar as a weed killer works great. If there are any gardeners that have had success with this method of weed control, please feel free to send me a thumbs up!

As a little girl, working outside was never something I enjoyed. Cutting and raking grass was not on my cant’ wait to-do list, but once I grew up and became a homeowner, things changed.

I guess it was my aspiration to make the yard look nice, but what I found was so much more.

Working in the dirt, planting young foliage and flowers became cathartic.

Not only, was it nice to be outside away from TV and telephones, when those tender plants began to grow and produce leaves and blooms, I experienced a feeling of accomplishment, that I had started something and had seen it through. The added bonus was the beauty and that made me smile.

Right now in Vicksburg, azaleas and dogwoods are bursting forth everywhere and the kaleidoscope of colors are breathtaking.

For those that may be in the need of a pick me up or just want some eye candy, take a drive, spring is here, smile!

Terri Cowart Frazier is a staff writer for The Vicksburg Post. You may reach her at terri.frazier@vicksburgpost.com.