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?
Sharyn, maybe if daffodils are so good to eat, we should be putting the blooms in salads, yum!
As to daffodils, those little critters with the long fluffy tails that jump from tree to tree like to come down into the garden and rearrange bulbs. I've seen squirrels actually digging up the bulbs and found them growing next year where I never planted any.
I will prune them taller so there will be more!
As far as daffodils go, the bulbs for them might have been cultivated and blown away. They are no where to be seen.
The bouganvillias are not dead! Little tiny green sprouts after applying miracle grow last week, and watering more, loosening the potting mix (cultivation), shows some exciting changes! That was rewarding, and very therapeutic too! The best part was having my friends talk me through the process. Now, I will be cutting off the dead tops, about 4 inches. Thanks everyone!
When we drive into the driveway, I am becoming amazed at how with just a very little time out there the yard is looking very good.
We were both out there, and a few grasshoppers were on the bushes. They eat the plants-there may be a dispute brewing about whether they are beneficial, but yucky. They don't really spit out tobacco, do they? Where did I ever get an idea like that-a cartoon or something?
Poverty is everywhere, in Idaho, probably in the northern part of the state where they get heavy snow. Boise area is nice.
I apply this to everyday life as well.
Is this the bougainvillea that if I remember correctly you thought didn't survive the winter? If it is, you could try 2 things: (a) repot it in a container where it doesn't have to compete with grass or other plants, or (b) take cuttings and root them so if the mother plant fails, you at least have some new offshoots that might survive.
Tomorrow-watering is relaxing! I will take a look at the dead bouganvilla to see if there is any hope at all. Could not find a receipt to return them-guaranteed for one year!
When I researched it as a possibilty, it was interesting in that they have an airport. There was something fishy about the airport, I forget what it was.
The area I looked into was Coeur' d' Alene (sp.).?
There is snow, which I would love, however maybe too harsh an environment for me.
Santa Barbara was nice-if I had enuff money. They also have a high population of transients who live there due to the climate is tolerable year round. When then president Clinton visited, the authorities had to round up the homeless and remove them (just for the visit-not help them!). The people there are nice and friendly-all of them. They have beautiful gardens too-and a Museum of natural history-a great place of employment-also with gardens.
Where do you want to move to?? I Want to move to Idaho.
Bloom where you are planted is excellent advice!!
"Bloom where you are planted." General statement, another cliche' to be interpreted by the recipient.
She came to me years later, asking if she should leave her husband, but not telling the truth about why. I said that I could not advise her, but repeated what she said to me so many years ago. "Bloom where you are planted". She returned to him.
She became happy planting roses in her garden, winning ribbons at the fair.
In her memory, I will plant a yellow rose in my garden this year. She was originally from Texas, when married to my Dad, he used to sing "The Yellow Rose of Texas" to her. Both happy and extremely sad memories all at the same time, but others on here who really loved their mothers have helped me to remember some of the good. So, thanks, everyone!
Maybe if I see them growing in neighbor's yards, I should slink out there at midnight in a Ghillie suit (what is that?, btw), put on a miners hard-hat with a light, and dig out the little invasive, but pretty buggers? Lol.
Who's starting seeds inside? Anyone have one of those great flora-carts with 3 or so levels of trays with fluorescent lights above that can be adjusted to be closer to the seedlings? That's one of my long time wishes, as well as a place large enough for such a large seed starting arrangement.
We're almost halfway through February; time to be drawing up garden plans, starting seeds, and doing our exercises so our backs can hold up through several months of gardening!