
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?
Capt I bet you know the answer to that one.
But the geese could also just be moving to another area before migrating. I find it somewhat comforting when I hear their honking - another year has gone by; it's time for the annual fall activities of human and wildfowl alike as we each prepare for winter in our own ways.
BTW, has anyone ever seen the movie Fly Away Home, about a young girl who with her father fly ultralight aircraft to lead a flock of orphaned geese south for the winter? Doing a bit of research, I found this was based on the work of Bill Lishman, who has researched and led teams of wildfowl on migrations. There's even an organization devoted to this.
Apparently some wildfowl don't know how to migrate after the elders in the flock die off (hard to imagine they all die off and there's no learning curve at all for the younger ones) and those who haven't migrated require guidance in learning how to do it. Enter humans and ultralights guiding migrating fowl South.
Windy, I'm guessing you're a bit ahead of us in the fall color transition. I didn't know you had butterfly bushes; it must be exciting to see the monarchs clustering on them before heading south.
I assume the turkeys are wild? I've seen a few occasionally down here, usually together, feeding in an area close to one of the local state parks. It's always exciting to see them....suddenly an area well populated seems more rural, and there's a sense of being out in mid Michigan someplace. I feel the same excitement at seeing deer, egrets and herons in this area.
Up here in northern Mi it's cooling off, the leaves are beginning to turn, the leaf peepers are coming up from Detroit and doing the winery and cider tours, my butterfly bushes have had tons of migrating monarchs but they're gone now, along with the hummingbirds, the young turkey flocks are hanging out under the bird feeders getting ready for another long winter, and the apple crop is great this year. Also getting tomatoes, onions, potatoes and a variety of squash at the farm stands. I've changed all the fluids in the tractors and we're ready for winter.
I think though that it's the glare of the white space that's bothering my eyes.
Ladybug, I love elephant ears; I'd plant a whole border of them if they weren't so expensive. Do you save your tubers from one year to the next? Can they be divided? There's a giant Thailand version that's mammoth. Someday I'll buy some tubers for it. It'd would make a great neighbor barrier.
Glad, the oaks in our area produce a variety of burnished rust leaves as they turn, and hold their leaves not only longer than other deciduous trees but sometimes over the winter. I like oak leaves for garden mulch, but I also just love the subtle range of colors when they're in their fall wardrobe.
The acorns will of course bring squirrels to the area. Too bad they can't be trained to plant where we want things planted!
Some of the trees in my area are already perhaps 75% arrayed in their range of fall colors. The combinations of red, burgundy and golden seem to the vanguards of the color change.
Saw a "v" of Canadian Geese heading south the other day. I thought they waited a bit longer, but perhaps that group wants to arrive at their destination earlier than others and stake out the best grounds.
Glad, I'd like to persuade the squirrels to do the ground cover planting for me. They certainly feel free to romp around, dig up holes and move the bulbs!
GuestShop, I do like yuccas and other fleshy plants. You've given me an idea; I might start with one xeriscaped bed, and go from there. I'll have to check on the agave though; I'm not sure they'd survive our winters here.
And I LOVE the flowering grasses! I saw some beautiful ones today; they were about 10 feet tall. I knew ornamental grasses could grow to about 6' tall but wasn't aware they could grow to about 10 feet. They'd made nice neighbor screens.
I like your idea of a naturally developed area, compliments of other plants in the area. Unfortunately, the trees of neighbors are planting my garden with their offspring which are commonly known as "junk trees." I wish the one Japanese Maple and another neighbor's Rose of Sharon would volunteer to send babies to my yard.
Moved a planter pot then a 3rd, sat down to pull it being very careful.....
Help, I'm in my garden-and I can't get up.!
Nobody was home.
Time to wear my leggings so my hips, knees, ankles don't freeze up.
They are outside, in the garden. If is cooled today, 79° F.
Sun, and just now some clouds.
The irises I planted about 5 weeks ago (barefoot) are growing well. The barefoot iris I received 10 days before going to Idaho, I soaked in water for 24 hours when we arrived home yesterday afternoon. I am going to plant it now, hoping it survives.
I don't know what area of the country you're in, so if you're in a hot West or SW area, try to find a cooler place to store the root. Keep it out of the sun one way or another.
Another alternative is just "heel it in" in a temporary place so it gets the benefit of soil, then when you're ready to plant it in its permanent home, dig up the root ball with the iris root and replant the whole thing.
BTW, is that the Abe Lincoln rose in your avatar?
Any experience with this? Thoughts?
Yosemite is but a distant dream in the past.
Just being so grateful for all of you here, on the gardening as therapy thread.
Our garden actually looks much improved, as I said before.
The bougie is thriving, the rose bush has 4 buds, there is a unique patch of St. Augustine grass left, bright green, growing fast, in a circle surrounding the tiny apple tree, also thriving! Couldn't have asked for a better border to keep the
water from draining away from the tree. Never have seen anything like it. But after trimming about 15 inches away from tree trunk, adding new topsoil and feeding the tree with the normal, popular liquid-it appears a miracle! Really!
So, I am happy with my yard, garden, best ever! Dear hubby is on his own schedule, and has self-motivated for about 4 months now! Lots of praises go out to him for his meticulous hand gardening. Now, less damaging work for me, I am getting better now that I quit trying so hard and hurting myself in the process.
How does my garden grow?