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?
Seriously, when DD said it was a cucumber tree, I'd never heard of that. So I was really quite baffled, until she told me that she thought it was a kind of magnolia. When I lived in Kansas we called them tulip trees. (But where do the Dutch get the bulbs then and what abt that tulip bubble in the 17th century ... oh we could go on and on.)
But we won't, will we?
I'd love to do hydroponics, and when I do, I'll mimic his system of gutter tube plantings, because hardly any space is needed. I think he might have a website for his "urban garden." ... ... since you said you were seeking more space for your hydroponics, I thought of his "small space" system.
ETA: went and looked online, if you Google "vertical hydroponic garden," you can see ones that have a gravity assisted watering method. I think they're so cool and look quite easy.
Ho ho ho - actually, they're a gourd - same family as melons and squash. Quite easy to grow if you're in a warm climate or have a greenhouse, but they take some space.
With my mom gone, I am doing 150 things at once, including trying to move stuff from the basement upstairs (give more space for my hydro), namely my books. It is a slow process.
I grow lettuce, herbs, and attempting a gardenia (just using the grow lights for that), and will try and use the lights also for a couple of Amaryllis.
But where do cucumbers come from, then???
Signed,
Baffled
I potted up some geraniums to bring in for the Winter and a couple of bean seeds sprouted, flowered and set beans. Unfortunately the cat ate them.
You weren't off topic, and your post was lovely.
Geez, what was I saying-even I cannot figure it out now-I am thinking it went along with another post which was deleted.
My point was the website issues were taking over all the threads.
Coming here to 'Gardening as therapy' has always been like a mini vacation for me.
I am still surprised that my bouganvillia has kept a bloom all through the winter weather. But I will need to go grasshopper hunting, dig around in the dirt for eggs?
The cape honeysuckle vine has been prolific in blooms since October-orange blooms everywhere. A few succulents have orange blooms too. This was nature's design, not mine, but I like it.
My big old Christmas cactus has one bud...LOL. Well, it was always more of an Easter bloomer, maybe I'll get more later.
Lots of rain here in NorCal and central California. Does it mean the drought is over? No!! Water management is a big part it.
I am hoping the iris bulbs don't rot even in our sandy soil here that is not getting a chance to dry out. It is nice having all this rain and snow pack for the Sierra Nevadas. There has been flooding north of us and in the coastal wine region.
Many bulbs will start to bud and bloom next month, almonds will blossom next month too.
Wanting to talk about the topic
Which is gardening
And having a personal relationship
With a human being, or several
Not being concerned with website development.
I am no big fan of "modernism" and certainly not "mid-mod" (ughhhh.....I grew up w/that, hated it then, still hate it now!)......but after years of working at the Saarinnen-designed GM Tech Center, esp. the Design Center, I have a true, hard-earned appreciation for his work.....just visit in the fall, enjoy the "campus" (yessss.....he designed both indoor and outdoor spaces) and the sunlight reflecting off the building's exterior.....brilliant!!!
OOOPS!.....I'm inadvertently hijacking GA's lovely thread, so sorry.....I hope she will forgive me since we are neighbors, so to speak, and both love Cranbrook where Saarinnen and Eames (his best friend) taught for so many years.
Re: Roses.....I have a huge, ancient rose bush (no idea what kind) out back....which faces West, and to your point, is absolutely assaulted by all the weather, all year....this bush was here when I bought the house 20+ years ago....the only thing I've ever done is to pull out old, dead canes.....she blooms profusely every year.....deep, blood-red roses.....what a survivor!....the blooms lay down all over my slate patio and I do so very little to help her!
I am watching my indoor amaryllis spring up higher every day, I have a collection of bulbs I've saved over the years but somehow only the red ones bloom consistently. I'll take any colour in Jan/Feb, looks like 5 or six buds started!
I don't think your Arctic Flames will ship until your planting season. It's been my experience that the companies go by zone hardiness and ship for your spring season.
It's so cold now it's too cold sometimes for even people to be outside!
I don't think they'll ship for a couple more months, though.
Interesting! :-)
Ali, I just checked out Arctic Flame - it's a real beauty! Dutch Gardens, one of my favorite catalogue plant suppliers, has it on sale. I could easily add a few of those to my garden as well!
DG states that it's hardy to zone 3, so it should survive in your area.
A word of caution though - I lost almost all my roses that I planted in the garden, because it was open to the south and west winds, the latter of which blew around the house back into the garden, and devastated the roses.
A neighbor told me she saved her roses by putting up a slat fence, like the kind seen on beaches for winter protection.
Have you ever looked through David Austin's website or his catalogue? If you haven't, prepare to sigh so much you'll find yourself breathless.
I think some Sub Zero rose bushes would go there nicely. Says they have 2-4' spread (good size), come in a nice pretty red called Arctic Flame, and will work for my zone 5b. I can get a 4 count of 2 year old starter plants for quite reasonable, and hopefully future home owners will appreciate my efforts. I know that dead bush out front isn't particularly attractive, so I'm wanting to figure something out for early Spring planting.