Musings on horticultural therapy and the soothing effects of plants and nature
Looking as fresh as possible, projections of saffron (Crocus sativus) leaves emerge from the melted snow. Appearing more like leaves of grass, these appendages are getting the last bit of energy they can before the corm goes dormant. Given this density of leaves, the corms need to be separated and placed in new cages so […]
Upon opening the door to the greenhouse, Juana and I discover flowers on the rosemary (Salvia rosmarinus) bush that I left in the greenhouse over Winter. I rub the leaves and inhale deeply. Amazing! Spring must be around the corner.
Juana decides to spruce up a vase holding fading flowers with a couple of cuttings from outdoor bushes. The buds on both the forsythia and flowering quince (Chaenomeles) are swelling in concert with the warm weather we have been having.Taking out my Felco pruners, I snip off heavily budded branches for Juana’s use. She asks […]
Flowers are always on the supermarket list this time of year. Part of Juana’s Winter survival strategy is to decorate as many windowsills as possible with fragrant and flowering plants.The kitchen sill has daffodils (Narcissus), primrose (Primula vulgaris), a lone cyclamen, and my grasshead. Many of the tiny pots get cycled out every couple of […]
In writing A Therapist’s Garden, I have received so much help from so many people. But in certain ways it is a family affair with my sister-in-law Rosana @artbyrosana drawing a wonderful cover and plate illustrations and Juana my wife tasked with providing two dozen spot illustrations that appear within the book’s pages. Botanical illustrations […]
Even better than finding the blueprint of the greenhouse adjacent to my house (formerly a barn)has been the discovery of the formal garden plans and plant list of the estate. Consisting of over 100 different plant types and 2000 individual plants, it is a wonderful view of what the back of the estate appeared to […]
The amaryllis is decadent. After a month or so, it has exploded with three stalks, the first one of which has six incredible flowers. Even though its whiteness implies chasteness, its excess implies something quite different. It towers over the other tinier plants that surround it in our solarium. This room is where we keep […]
Bone chilling cold. Taking the compost out, the temperature, or lack of one, takes my breadth away. At 10 F in the shade, each puff hurts. When I exhale through my nostrils, little stalactites of ice form on my mustache. To me that is the sign of cold. Most the plants stoically stand, unmoved much […]
Every time I come back from the supermarket this time of year, I always return with a plant. Though spray roses from South America are always appreciated, I try to get plants that will live on in the years to come. Miniature daffodils (Narcissus Tete-a-Tete) are top of my list. Their bright yellow flowers brighten […]
At the entrance of a drab, red-bricked building hidden in the woods, I push the buzzer on the intercom, identifying myself and the persons I am there to see. A crackly, static-laden voice acknowledges my request, and after a minute the large, gray steel entry door swings open toward me. I am led down a […]