Musings on horticultural therapy and the soothing effects of plants and nature
Juana reminds me that we could use a line of bulbs along the fence that was extended late Summer. Outside the fence is now inside. All of the local stores are out of daffodils filling their spaces with Christmas effluvia, but great deals can be had from mail order companies. I am able to get […]
It’s a cold morning outside to fill the bird feeders. I notice that the bird bath is frozen solid; a few birds land on its edge and are thwarted in getting a drink. I wait until things warm up a bit and install a heater so the birds can continue getting a drink as the […]
Preparing for horticultural therapy classes sometimes calls for working well in advance. For some of my classes this Fall and Winter I need a variety of cones and nuts. To best collect them I start foraging in late September and early October before the leaves fall. This year I am fairly successful in collecting cones: […]
Ironically, the first zoom class at Ann’s Place a few weeks back is held on a lovely day and could have been outside. But everyone seems content and snug in their dwellings to make leaf lanterns. And as the craft requires the use of an iron it may not be a bad idea to do […]
We have had more Indian Summer days this season than for the last 10. A fleeting freeze followed up by days of balmy weather confuses not only people but the plants surrounding us. The first seasonal misfit I find is a lone buttercup emerging from the bed of wild strawberry leaves surrounding it. Its tiny […]
It is late in the season to be stacking wood next to the house. We typically do it in early rather than mid Fall. But this year’s spate of warm and active days has let us delay this task. Every year we burn at least a cord and a half of wood so it is […]
Northern sea oats (Chasmanthium latifolium) is one of my favorite grasses that persist well into Winter. Developing expansive seed heads that turn a purplish brown, it waves to and fro in even the most gentle breeze with a soft and pleasing rustle. Its stalks become a light brown but not a dry looking brown as […]
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 […]