Musings on horticultural therapy and the soothing effects of plants and nature
Time and age make me hire help to split a felled 60-foot plus red oak tree. For nearly a year a 40-foot-long pile of logs (some of which are 30-inches plus in diameter) have been sitting in the back, drying out. It is a perfect day to work outside with just a touch of crispness […]
Japanese maples continue to be the last to lose their leaves. They stubbornly hang onto them almost as long as do oaks. All the large Japanese maples planted on our property started as seedlings on Long Island over 30 years ago. We brought them over in pots and today they surround the house. Other smaller […]
Autumn light is unique. Spaces that have been in constant shade for months now are illuminated with dappled light and colors. The carpet of newly fallen leaves each day changes with the light of each hour. It is noisier season as a scampering chipmunk sends up rustles of sound with every step and leap. I […]
With Jack-o-Lanterns lined and lit up and candy in a bucket, Juana and I wait in vain for Trick-or-Treaters. Like many years prior, no children make the trek up our stairs to our front door leaving us with a pot of candy to consume. That’s why we now buy candy the we like best. Prior […]
It’s been a month since my last horticultural therapy class. This will be my last one in person with my clients from Ann’s Place till the Spring. I am putting together a mash up of my Fall Festival and Dream Pillow classes to make up for lost sessions. It is a crisp, windless day for […]
Japanese maples (Acer palmatum) are one of the few trees still holding onto their leaves resisting the urge to abandon their perches. But beyond the maples, there are a still a few colorful trees out there with one of my favorite being witch hazel (Hamamelis virginiana). Unlike most understory trees, witch hazel blooms in the […]
In the dark days of Winter many of us keep an eye peeled for signs of Spring. A lone crocus, snowdrop (Galanthus nivalis) or grape hyacinth (Muscari) is hoped for. This time of year I look for some of the final Fall flowers. One of my favorites is saffron (Crocus sativus). Leaves of saffron appear […]
We took down all of the sunflowers as many were nearly denuded of seeds leaving empty, broken brown stalks. Juana and I are able to save a few for next year’s plantings and some she fashions with other dried vegetation into a wreath. She starts by taking invasive porcelain berry vines and wrapping them into […]
New plants pop up in our yard all the time and white snakeroot (Ageratina altissima) is one of the latest. This native herb, part of the aster family, has a lovely, late-blooming flower that has established itself on the edge of my yard where the grassy/weedy lawn stops and a wide herbaceous border begins. Unlike […]
Walking down the driveway this morning for the newspaper, I see the effects of the first frost. The raised bed where string beans and sunflowers stood tall only weeks ago is covered with a powder-sugar veneer of white. The sunflower stumps stand erect but appear to shiver at the first extreme cold of the season. […]