Gardening as therapy.
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?
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I googled prairie lilies - they’re beautiful. Very striking. I wonder if they would grow down here.
I have a bed of anemones but they are not the compact variety you speak of. They are tall and pink and I have to shoo the deer away from the buds. They grow in a bed with forgot-me-nots, a variegated grass and the native pink bleeding heart which is a really pretty combination. I can’t take credit for it though; that goes to the previous owner.
Thats so awesome about your hellebores! I’ve never propagated them from seed - - I’ve never propagated anything but vegetables and blue flax from seed. I think you need to have an ultra-green thumb to be successful, which you clearly do. Oh wait….moon flowers. I’ve grown them from seed but eradicated them from my garden when my GD was a toddler and prone to eating things she shouldn’t.
Psue - nothing very interesting - more weeds than anything and poplar trees and tansy. There probably are some Alberta roses which are worth keeping. In the area there are nice wildflowers like Prairie lilies and Canadian anemones. I don't think there are any deer. We never saw any over the years.
Raised beds are great. I'm sure your dd will do well with them. You had lovely veggies at your old house. There are veggies that grow in clay soil.
Love Mountain ashes. Our berries stay on the tree and look lovely when the snow falls. I wouldn't care for cleaning them up off the driveway.
I am so excited that my hellebore has lovely seed pods - about 8 to a flower head. Apparently you have to sow them as soon as they ripen. They don't keep/store well and they can produce plants which flower in different colours from the parent plant. You know I have to try this.
Down to 3 catalpa seedlings and I think one is on it's way out. The attrition in nature is so high, I am not discouraged, but expect this. Hopefully we will save one or two. If not I will start again with fresh seeds. I have learned a few things about what they like and don't like.
I leave the veggie gardening DD. She built some great raised beds last year and is learning as she goes. Over the years in the high desert we narrowed down our vegetable gardening to tomatoes, herbs, zucchini, rhubarb and incredible beets. Seems those things really like sandy, volcanic soil. I wouldn’t know where to begin with veggies here in this sloppy clay even if we didn’t have to compete with the deer.
The first house I bought had large Mountain Ash trees on both sides of the front walk. Beautiful trees especially in the Fall but it wore me out trying to keep the crushed berries from being tracked into the house.
My garden at the house changed a lot over 40 years. We started with nothing in front but a small fence which we knocked down. Now there are two corner beds with junipers and some flowering plants, and a couple of fir trees, and a Mountain ash - nice for colour. Right in front of the deck are roses and japanese anemones which I want to plant at the lake as well. The back has changed to be trees and shrubs, hardy roses and a few perennials - low maintenance but the Manitoba maple is a pain. The main tree is nice but the seedlings grow everywhere. Someone else's problem now.
Moving the hellebore discussion here - I don't know how well it will do as a house plant, but I believe it's possible to keep it going indoors till next spring. Then it could go out on the balcony or get planted at the lot. It's a bit cold for them here but in a sheltered location it may do OK. Worth trying I think. Meanwhile they remind me of my japanese anemones which is nice and, thankfully the cat is losing interest in it.
Love hoyas too. We have one slip from R's uncle - a regular green one and the variegated one we picked up the other day. Uncle M has fluorescent bulbs in his garage (which he uses as a greenhouse) and plants grow like crazy in there. Apparently the parent hoya is all over the place. Looking forward to the hoyas blooming. I want a couple of anthuriums and african violets. I think they will bloom if placed by the windows.
Any flowers look good anyplace, so I don't worry so much either
Most everything here is viewed from a distance so I use the ‘squinty blob’ technique. I point my eyes toward a bed and squint, then try to imagine the general shape and foliage color and texture that will look good with what’s already there. The problem with that is I’m actually planting for the next owner unless I buy everything BIG.
Maybe I’m going at it backwards……
I do pay attention to shade and sun etc .
But my successes are hit or miss . I’d guess 70% success rate .
I like this time of year when I don’t feel pressure to work outside so I have time to plan the big things I need to do next year. It’s also good to note and reflect on what I accomplished this year, otherwise it’s hard to see progress.
Next year is going to be a big ‘surface’ year. I need to start putting aside $ for gravel and compost and figuring out how many cubic yards I will need of each. I am really, really bad at that. I mean REALLY.
Not bad at all here, just a few limbs down. The silver lining for me is that most of the remaining leaves were blown off the trees at once so a couple hours of blowing between showers and I should have them off the driveway and down in the ravine.
I hope your neighbors get their burnt roof tarped before your rain hits. I feel so bad for them - their holidays are not going to be very pleasant.
We just need rain!!! It's coming they say......
About sprinkler systems.
A neighbor did not turn off or adjust their sprinkler system at winter time.
They would go on at 4:00 a.m., overflow the walkway, and freeze into a section of ice, causing a slip and fall hazard on the walkway.
I want a salmon one too and have a place I will try one when I can find it. I've never put one outside.
So I wonder if that does it. I have insane blooms and it grows like mad
So, I am supposed to bring what's left of my Christmas Cactus indoors?
Okay, I will.
There is a daylight lamp I can put next to it.
And maybe feed it.
Mine are in my 3 season room, with a lot of windows, and honestly hardly ever use the electric light in that room.
Peasuep 😜, that's adorable 😍
Toss that worthless thing and start over. ; )