incredible, edible andean tubers, and the april chores (it's a triage ward out there!)     

Her plant-breeder father, Dr. Alan Kapuler, has been turning me and other gardeners on to unexpected edibles for decades, but this week it's Dylana Kapuler who's coaching me patiently, this time about Andean tubers with names like yacon, (a dahlia relative, photo at the bottom), mashua (a cousin of nasturtium) and oca (above, a kind of oxalis).  

They're making their way around the world and into gardens, and are nutritious, prolific and just plain fascinating -- and now you can try them, like this. I am!

Though "frantic" is the more accurate adjective to describe me right now,  becoming "strategic" would get me a lot farther, faster, in the face of April's heroic list of garden chores. Let's start with 10 steps that I try to stick to, as I get started erasing winter's havoc. It's like a triage ward out there, and you have to target first things first. Here is how.

miss it last time? antique blooms; my seed excess   

• With help from a collector friend, I've created a list of the best overlooked, oldtime flowers you should try this year.
• I'm finally confessing to my 2014 seed order -- and yes, I binged. Some people eat in the dark days; I seed-shop.