Whole Life Gardening

Garden Reports and Rejoicing – February 4

Today I was impressed by the biennials in my garden. The perennials are either completely dormant or staying close to the ground. This allows the biennials to dominate and they are taking advantage, soaking up the sun while other plants sleep.

One bed is dotted with Lunaria, another with various Verbascum and the entry garden is filled with feverfew. These are all green. They predominate. (Note to self: when I clean out these beds in a month or two, pull most of these self-seeders from the front of the beds.) Biennials only have two years to grow, flower and make seeds so I suppose that it makes sense that they make the most of what time they have.

I love these plants. They wander and weave through the gardens and add both an element of surprise while still being easy to edit where they aren’t attractive. Because their presence in the garden demands both spontaneity and control, they’re a perfect a metaphor for the creative process.

Sometimes creativity waits patiently through dormant periods, waiting for the right time to grow and bloom. It is tough and willing to germinate in the most unlikely places. But like my biennials, imagination frequently benefits from being either cultivated or controlled. Effort, intention and attention pay off.

You'd never know that this bed is filled with perennials...right now, only the Lunaria shows. This allows me to see it more clearly, so I can make my editing plans with ease. Just because something seeds in the garden (or in our lives) doesn't mean we have to let it stay.

February 4th, 2012 | Tags: biennials, creativity, seasons | Category: Inspiration, Life's Gardens, my gardens | Leave a comment

Garden Reports and Rejoicing – February 3

And sometimes it’s difficult to say. Love it or hate it?

It’s been a very busy week, which you regular Whole Life Gardening readers have noticed because of the dearth of posts here. I was speaking, traveling, and at New England Grows in Boston. It was a very stimulating, satisfying, useful and exhausting week. I’m glad to be home and back in a normal routine of preparing for GardenLine tomorrow.

One of the regular features on my radio program is “I love this plant/I hate this plant.” The loves far outnumber the hates. As I gather my notes for the morning I keep remembering a group of Phalaenopsis orchids I saw at the Grow show. They were an electric, startling, unsettling blue blue blue. They were dyed and I think I hate them.

Don’t get me wrong…I have nothing against “color enhanced” plants. I love the spray painted, often glittery Poinsettias that are also done up in unbelievable colors for the holidays. I did some color enhancement myself one summer when it occurred to me that the brown astilbe flowers could be made white again. Let me tell you, they looked fabulous until October.

Still, there is something that is not quite right about these Phalaenopsis. Somehow they don’t cross the line from dyed plant into playful art. Or maybe I’m just not used to them yet. I’ve often said that the plant that I badmouth one month is the one I can’t get enough of the next.

What do you think? Are they fun and fabulous or frightful and foul?

Are they too blue or not blue enough?

February 3rd, 2012 | Category: Garden Reports and Rejoicing, plants I hate | Comments (2)

Garden Reports and Rejoicing – January 29

Sometimes they work out and sometimes not. Usually between the planning and the execution are many small steps to be taken. We get diverted, and then, if we really want to give those plans their best chance to succeed, we come back to the path we were on and continue forward. This is on my mind recently as I order seeds for the coming summer season, and work on keeping other projects on track.

Excitement has a great deal to do with how well we focus on making our plans a reality I think. When we’re enthusiastic about a project it’s easy to stay focused and put in the work necessary to advance. But passion alone isn’t enough. Sometimes plain old discipline is required.

Gardening is good practice in making plans and working toward that goal.

One of the plants I'm looking forward to growing this year is Gomphrena 'Fireworks'. The seeds have been ordered and soon I'll be planning when to sow them and where to plant the seedlings.

January 29th, 2012 | Tags: cultivation, plans, work | Category: Garden Reports and Rejoicing, Life's Gardens, my gardens, plants I love | Comments (3)

Garden Reports and Rejoicing – January 23

The title of this post seems like a contradiction, but hear me out. We have a narrow lot. Although the total isn’t small by Cape Cod standards, the overall property is long and thin. This shape presents several challenges when it comes to garden design.

One of the considerations is how to make it all seem less restricted and create the impression that our land extends in width as well as length. In the lower part of Poison Ivy Acres the added concern is that these lands can’t, because of zoning, contain any permanent structures and we want them to be as native and low-maintenance as possible.

The answer lies in large, sweeping groups of plants. My simple, Photoshop picture shows what I’m thinking. If I plant long groups of plants that run from side to side, the eye will automatically expand the land.

This is a challenge for several reasons. First, it takes discipline to plant huge groups of all one plant. My hort-a-holic self wants to buy many varieties, not just one.

Secondly, of course is expense involved. Buying a group of seventy-two plants costs more, even if they’re purchased as wholesale plugs.

Finally, one must choose something that is going to thrive, ignoring the latest cultivars and more sexy catalog offerings. Discipline again.

Nevertheless, I know that the satisfaction of seeing what results will, in the lower section of Poison Ivy Acres, be worth all the planning, budgeting and self-control. There are times, in the garden and in life, when it’s better to let creativity and serendipity reign, and other instances when prudence and forbearance should

This is the view down to the lake.

A quick drawing with Photoshop shows - in some small way - how horizontal bands of plants can visually expand the view to each side. Now if only the purchase and planting of these swaths of plants would be as easy as the illustration.

January 23rd, 2012 | Tags: garden design, perspective | Category: Garden Reports and Rejoicing, Inspiration | Comments (2)

Garden Reports and Rejoicing – January 21

When I got up this morning it was a bit misty outside, but there was no significant precipitation as I drove into the station. Two hours later, when GardenLine ended, the snow was falling and the roads were getting slick. I was pleased to pull into my garage and know that I didn’t have to go out for the rest of the day.

I love a good snowfall. It’s the only time the region where I live gets totally quiet. No traffic sounds, near or far.

My immediate landscape is visually transformed as well. I love the way that the most functional of structures is suddenly transformed. What was once a fence or plant support is changed into graphic sculpture. The landscape becomes both stark and beautiful.

There are many times in life when our perspective is abruptly altered and we are able to see with new eyes. Challenges call us to see differently.

After a snow perfectly ordinary structures - the fence or the shed - turn into objects that are highlighted and defined.

The raspberry patch becomes a graphic art installation.

January 21st, 2012 | Category: Garden Celebrations, Garden Reports and Rejoicing, Life's Gardens, my gardens | Comments (4)

Garden Reports and Rejoicing – January 18

Currently, my most popular talk is titled “Myths, Lies, and All The Latest Dirt.” In this presentation the image below introduces a spiel about dealing with weeds. The myth/lie is, of course, that if you just buy this product you won’t have to deal with weeds. (Substitute the words in italics for the weed-control product du jour.)

As I speak about the illusion that a garden can be weed-free, I usually mention that years ago, when I was a new gardener, I discovered that weeds are actually a gift.

Yesterday I gave this talk to a local garden club and when I mentioned the possibility that weeds could be a blessing there were audible gasps. Many in the audience clearly didn’t agree.

I understand that weeds are a difficulty and that we all wish this aspect of gardening would just go away. But viewing troubles as a godsend isn’t an original thought by any means. You can find thousands of people who speak about how their dilemmas, diseases, or obstacles were actually a blessing. They frequently talk about these trials as a “wake up call.”

Of course I am in no way comparing the weeds in my garden with someone who has cancer or another debilitating disease. The chickweed, crabgrass, and poison ivy I pull do not compare to the life and death issues that many deal with. Yet the ability to see a difficulty as a blessing comes from the same place.

When it comes to dealing with situations we truthfully have no control over, altering our perspective as we cope with those circumstances can mean the difference between recognition and despair. And most would agree that in choosing to acknowledge a different viewpoint, we usually move toward growth.

This photo shows several baby chickweed that have sprouted under the Heuchera. Despite the mulch and my attention, by the way. This is how life is. Weeds come and must be dealt with, no matter what we've done or which products we've used. I've learned that these weeds are a gift...have you?

January 18th, 2012 | Tags: perspective, weeds | Category: Garden Reports and Rejoicing, Life's Gardens, my gardens, Perennial Maintenance | Comments (8)

Garden Reports and Rejoicing – January 16

Deep in my heart, I do believe… 

January 16th, 2012 | Tags: believe, faith | Category: Garden Prayer, Garden Reports and Rejoicing | Leave a comment

Garden Reports and Rejoicing – January 15

I volunteered to provide this week’s flowers for the front of the church this morning, so as usual I stopped by the supermarket to pick something up. None of the cut flowers called to me. It seemed too early for tulips, too late for mums, and the usual Alstroemeria or mixed bouquets were just too boring. The truth is I was wishing for garden flowers.

It might be January but I was nevertheless dreaming of peonies, zinnias and hydrangeas. Although these are available as cut flowers somewhere, for some price, what I truly wanted was to pick them from my yard. Which is impossible.

Interestingly, what was also impossible ten or fifteen years ago is now commonplace: tropical orchids, available almost all year. In the garden centers and supermarkets you can find a great selection of all types of orchids in full, luscious bloom.

I bought two Phalaenopsis, stuck some curly willow behind them and called the arrangement done. They were stunning, with very little effort on my part. The person who took them home after church will find that they stay in flower for a long time and even produce new blooms from the old stem. All this for under $20.

This was a reminder that although we can’t always have what we want, this is often a good thing. There are frequently alternatives that open doors, minds and hearts, leaving us glad that we’re forced to look further.

I always look for plants that have a combination of open flowers and buds on them, but frankly, even if the plant you buy is in full bloom you'll enjoy it for a long time. Don't cut the stem off completely on these orchids - they usually produce a new flower spike from the same stem over time.

January 15th, 2012 | Tags: flexibility, growth, orchids, perspective | Category: Garden Reports and Rejoicing, plants I love | Comments (1)

Garden Reports and Rejoicing – January 11

As I prepare to give a talk for the Rhode Island Nursery & Landscape Association, I’m once again thinking about how for too long the green industry has focused on ease. Yes, I’m coming back to this again.

Tonight’s focus is on how we’ve all be talking about low-maintenance instead of meaning. Everyone including myself might be saying that we want life to be easier, but if you look at what we humans actually choose to do, it’s clear that what we desire is a life that has meaning.

Most people work, be it at a job where they are paid or on their own in a way that supports their daily needs. That work isn’t easy, but it is meaningful. People choose to get married or live in a long-term relationship. They aren’t called a “significant other” for nothing…such connections are important.

Many choose to have children and any parent will be quick to tell you that raising kids isn’t easy. But the majority of those who nurture children will tell you that it is vital, meaningful work.

Coming back to the garden, I want to stress that all the effort we put into creating a beautiful environment is as profound as any other relationship that we have. Nurturing a landscape is as consequential as maintaining a job, fostering a relationship and rearing children. And it’s just as rewarding.

Looking back on relationships - be it with a workplace, spouse, child, or garden, most see the rewards not the effort.

January 11th, 2012 | Tags: effort, gratitude, life, perspective, work | Category: Garden Reports and Rejoicing, Life's Gardens, my gardens | Comments (3)