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?
I have this as my home page so every time I connect to the Internet I have a leisurely tour of the gardens at Villandry. Make a cup of hot chocolate or coffee, and enjoy the tour. Much of the tour is in the chateau, which is beautiful (especially to a Francophile), but the stunning formal gardens reflect their own lovely precision, planning, dedication, and beauty of this charming French chateau and les jardins.
https://www.chateauvillandry.fr/en/
So beautiful! I have only seen snow a handful of times in my life. I am a southern gal at heart so I couldn’t live where there is snow all the time.
I do think it is so beautiful and a treat for me to see it occasionally. We honeymooned in Colorado. We flew into Denver. We visited Colorado Springs, Estes Park and Vail. On the ride up to Vail there was a snow storm. It was quite scary to us as a couple from New Orleans.
We were married in April, spring time. Ski season had just ended so we were surprised about the freak snow storm that blew threw. Most snow that I have ever seen in my life!
I especially LOVED the beignets - what a delicious (and fattening) treat they were.
But I've never experienced such heat and humidity. I almost passed out when I got off the plane - it was like opening an oven door. Eventually I got used to it, but it was a challenge. I guess we all are acclimated to the areas in which we've spent the most time.
I liked snow a lot more when I was younger; still, there's nothing like a good blizzard to justify in home confinement, making a pot of soup and reading a good book while wrapped up in a quilt.
Cuddling up under a quilt in a blizzard is a luxury only allowed to those who don't have to be out there scraping off the car, shovelling a trail out the driveway and hitting the roads to get to work, the only way to get to stay under that quilt would be if the roads are closed, and that seldom happens.
Looking forward to those 400 bulbs.🌸🌷🌷🌼
Very blustery tonight.
I still love the snow storms! Difference now is I prefer to stay in rather than out playing.
We planted our tree and camellias 30 years ago. The camellias are a pretty bright pink.
It’s Jackson Square but the monument of Andrew Jackson isn’t in the square anymore.
The mayor had Andrew Jackson and General Lee removed from Lee Circle due to the African Americans in our city feeling that they did not want the monuments because of what these men represented.
Yes, St. Louis Cathedral is beautiful! We went there for midnight Mass this year for Christmas.
Cafe du Monde is on Decatur Street and serves delicious cafe au lait and beignets!
Yes, it’s very hot and muggy here in the summer due to our humidity. I don’t think I could become acclimated to the bitter cold. I remember visiting New England in the fall to see the foliage and I was freezing!
I can’t imagine how cold it is in the New England states in the winter! The autumn colors were spectacular. What a treat for us to see because we don’t have that here. The leaves were bright red, orange and gold like they had been painted! It was gorgeous!
My husband was offered a job in Massachusetts and I started crying thinking about the long ❄️ winter. So, he turned the job down.
Sometimes, I regret not trying living in a different area. I kept thinking about having to bundle up my girls in snow suits in the winter. They were young at the time. Who knows? Maybe they would have loved it. My husband grew up here but appreciates the change of seasons. Not me, I could live on a tropical island 🏝 all year long.
I always say that if I would be in the habit of buying lotto tickets (I am not) and I won mega millions that I would buy an island of my own. Hahaha
Maybe it would be fun to see a white Christmas though. All we get here and it’s RARE is a few flurries. The whole city shuts down because we can’t drive in the snow! Hahaha
Other places have ‘snow days’ off for school children. We have ‘hurricane days’ off.
Well, going around with that hose, there are a few bulbs that have started to come up already. It is too early for them! Go back to sleep!
midsummer daisy. Hoping these are the ones that will spread all over by themselves.
It can be aggressive but I love it. I even have it in my garden beds. No need for mulch anymore because it’s so thick. Never any weeds in it. It must choke out the weeds by being so dense.
Glad, the package says:
Open pollenated
and
Untreated
Non GMO
Certified organic
Perennial in USDA Zones 5-8
Deer resistant
Drought tolerant
Attract pollenators
(Uh oh, Bees?)
Then, there is more info on the inside..
These are going on the back 40!
Sheesh, they cost $2.50 for seeds, in a very pretty package.
I think the timing may be perfect, nice day to do it, then high's in the mid 20's tomorrow with snow overnight.
And what the heck! Even thinking about it got twinges in my back?
Done now. The seeds were packaged for 2017, have been kept in a dry place and zip lock bags. So, hopefully at least some of them will come up. If not, the only thing lost is the cost of the seeds when I bought them three years ago? Doesn't seem possible.
There are many bulb sprouts everywhere. Maybe they will go back to sleep now for awhile.
Our state tree is our lovely magnolia tree that blooms later on, around April and May, ending in June with large creamy white flowers. This tree is very common in our city. It’s an evergreen. This tree is native to our region.
I just love seeing a burst of color in the winter so I planted a Japanese magnolia with a beautiful pinkish, purple color flowers. Mine has always had tons of buds so it blooms like crazy. So pretty! This tree is deciduous.
It is being landscaped and a drip system put in.
Minding my own business, I just came in from outside. I helped take down the christmas lights, raked a few leaves, and found it is a mess out there. No worries. Spring is here.
Magnolia trees do very well here in So. California. I like them because growing up, we had two out front at the curb, my Dad had planted. Big white blooms!
Do not need a gardener to come and blow leaves around, but I do need help out there. Maybe a handyman? Move this portable fence over here; move a few pavers; empty the leaves into the trash bins; pull weeds (gardeners just spray poison). Build a doghouse for my hubs???
I’m with you. I hate chemicals! So glad you love our sweet magnolia trees. I have a gorgeous painting of a magnolia blossom in my living room. So southern!