It's become clear to me through posts and PMs that there are some gardeners here just waiting for the chance to discuss gardening!
So, I was thinking... how do you use gardening, or how does it affect you if you need a break, need some respite, need to relax, need inspiration....how do you use it as a therapy tool in caregiving?
What are your activities: Do you go out and pull weeds, read a magazine, design new beds? Look through garden catalogues? Go to garden stores?
And what interests have you added to your gardening? Visit estate or garden displays? Do you go to garden shows?
Does anyone design and plant Knot Gardens? Raised bed planters? Assistive gardens? Pollinator gardens (and have you thought of ways to help the bees and butterflies?)
Are your gardens primarily for pleasure or food, or a mix of both? Do you grow plants for medicinal purposes? Which ones, how do you harvest and process them? Any suggestions?
Do you grow plants that can be used in crafts, such as grapevines for wreaths and lavender for lavender wands? Do you make herbal products such as creams, lotions, chapstick?
What else can you share about gardening and the means in which it nurtures your soul?
Are you aware that BHG and I believe Fine Gardening at one time offered software to design gardens? I'm not sure if they still do, and for me it would require spending too much time squinting at a commercial program, but it might "blow away" the HOA people if they realize you're a planner by profession.
CWillie, I've been toying with the idea of raised beds for years; I like the concept, and the ease of maintenance, but, I guess I'm lazy when I think about building them.
Sorry about having to buy new tires. Plants are so much more fun! Do you compost on the area that's so dry?
Daughter, I've never seen Mexican heather. Is it more or less hardy than "traditional" heather? I assume it's perennial? I understand that loropetulum is in the witch hazel family. Do you use it for any witch hazel type preparations?
Smeshque. what zone are you in? I ask b/c of the bulbs you want to plant. Are you looking for annuals or perennials? Would dahlias or colacasia (elephant ears) overwinter safely in your area? I've grown Asiatic and Oriental lilies - beautiful selections. They're bulbs and if happy will spread and spread over the years. I grew Trumpet Lilies at one point; they're quite dramatic.
GA- you sound like you have a good plan and garden will look lovely.
cwillie, daughter, glad- sounds nice what you all have going on
Realtors with whom I've spoken indicate I live in a strong sellers' market area, and I want to move as soon as I sell my father's house. I've always wanted a formal garden, so now's the time while I still have the large yard.
The daffodils and Siberian Squills are in bloom, I'm salivating at the great prices I've found for glads, dreaming of planting large elephant ears with dahlias inbetween them along the fence, and sometimes getting so excited that I get headaches trying to figure out how to do it all.
What is everyone else doing now? Have you bought your early plants? Started seedlings in pots? Hardening them off now? Visiting garden stores to select your plants for this year?
Or are you waiting until May to ensure that there are no more snow storms hiding around the corner?
Garden- hope you did just that, relax and keep warm and dream of homesteading. :)
Hope the cold goes away for you all. Today was nice and sunshiney, in the 80's. Now the wind has picked back up, but still quite warm.
It's somewhat difficult to think of gardening in these winter resurrection days. The Siberian Squills and tulips survived the deep freeze, but plenty of branches are down and on the curb for pickup.
Today is a day to relax and just keep warm while the winds howl outside.
I am a city girl at heart. Married a country boy. So yeah, hear I am.
Tomorrow is supposed to nice and warm and sunshiney. So crazy.
Oh yeah and we got some bees today. :) been waiting a long time to get some. Tired of paying so much for honey. Looking forward to getting more, they are so fascinating.
Finally, final decision (I hope) on a house plan. Now onto placement on the lot and landscape plan with tall fescue lawn, drought tolerant plants but not cactus tolerant. Agastache, spirea, Echinacea, and other thoughts appreciated. Fat Albert Spruce, Autumn blaze maple.....
I hesitate to even go out given the winds and extensive ice. And I'm not prepared to see my lovely little crocuses battered about.
Yesterday brought chilly rain; overnight brought some snow, freezing rain and icing up. Fortunately I didn't lose power. It's been a while since we've had this extensive an ice storm.
The yard and garden are covered in ice, lovely crystals which would be shining if there were any sun present. Still, ice is lovely, and has such a magical sheen.
One of the trees in the garden has been a widow maker for years. Right now there are 3 branches that are bent over at about a 30 degree angle, and another that's held steady at about 45 degrees for several hours. Another smaller widow maker has only one branch at the 45 degree angle.
I really do hope they crack and break off because they're in a location where getting to them is impossible with a cherry picker, and they're not strong trees and stable for climbing.
Anyone else hit by this late winter storm?
Wind is so disastrous today.The fields are just tornados of dust. I hope it stops soon. I saw a documentary once about the dustbowl. How some women went crazy because of the wind and they could not keep the dust out if their house. I can see how that could happen.
The wind, o the wind....cannot go outside! Went out to tie up a 12 foot high vine, it i s a very cold wind. That thing was going right over if I didn't. Dust in my eyes, boards pounding against the neighbor's carport, left from asbestos cleanup...just dangerous!
The electricity blitzed for a time, after a loud bang. It could have been a blown transformer down a ways, but this not knowing.......
My garden will be needing therapy after this.
Of course they're predicting freezing rain on the weekend.
We actually have a hoop house. Unfortunately this is only our first winter with it and have not heated it yet. SO up until the last two cold cold days, we weren't concerned about the cold, it was staying warm in there. But since we have plants that are ready to produce fruit we got scared to lose them so we also covered with the leaves for insulation. it worked, thankfully.
hoping to have heating this next winter. We had tomatoes growing until the end of December, then one extremely cold night lost it all.
But your gardening is the kind I enjoy, and love to do. Hoping to get to do some flower gardens this year. A pollinator garden.
I'm trying something different this year, a culmination of years of drafting garden plans in the style of a formal garden. I'm creating beds, bordered not by boxwood or typical shrubbery type plants, but by daylilies, irises and other perennials. I plan to hide mulch inside the beds at the base of the borders, and rake it out to protect as necessary against frigid weather.
We too are having a peculiar spring. We've had snow 4 days, more last night, including up to 6"in the northern suburbs.