Musings on horticultural therapy and the soothing effects of plants and nature
When it is a sunny day and I am not in the garden I can often be found on my bike. One of the things I love about riding is that it gives me the ability to see plants along the road that I would normally miss. And right now the chicory (Cichorium intybus) is […]
Volunteers in the garden are a mixed blessing. For every golden rod (Solidago) that finds its way into my yard, there are more than a few Japanese stilt grasses (Microstegium vimineum) and mugworts (Artemisia vulgaris) that I could do without. Recently I discovered a large patch of poison hemlock (Conium maculatum) growing near the border […]
“Do you still plan to have a class?,” questioned Joy on my cell phone. “It’s raining here in Danbury.” That heads-up caused me to move my setup for my propagation class that had been ready since 10:30 in the morning from the patio to the garage quickly. Luckily, it didn’t take that much time and […]
Now that it is summer, my granddaughters Charlotte and Olivia will be spending a few days with us each week. Never one to ignore the opportunity for free labor, I put Charlotte to task in helping me prepare sachets. I use them as a kick-off aromatherapy exercise during my talks promoting my book, A Therapist’s […]
My pollinator patch experiment worked! For the last two years nothing grew adjacent to the street where my town put in a curb and filled in with extremely poor quality soil. By layering in a yard of compost along with red and white clover as well as a wildflower mix, the eight-foot border has sprung […]
As the harvest of strawberries (Fragaria x ananassa) is about to end, other berries are teed up to take their place. Our low-bush blueberries (Vaccinium angustifolium) will start to ripen in the next week or so with minimal overlap. Protected by bird netting, we have a great crop coming with three different cultivars that deliver […]
The pitcher plants (Sarracenia) in my carnivorous plant garden are awake and hungry. I became fascinated with these bug-chomping specimens over a decade ago when I visited @california_carnivores and saw their collection. Initially, I had only a few in pots that wintered over in my garage. But like many gardeners a few is never enough […]
I have never seen rose hips this big. The largest are 1.5 inches in diameter, looking more like a tiny Granny Smith apple (to which they are related) than the pollinated flower of a native rose. Given their size and number, this might be the year to make rose hip jelly. I will have to […]
The first daylily (Hemerocallis) has emerged, a true sign of summer. These ephemeral blooms come and go in the blink of an eye but define the season so completely with their lovely and expressive forms. Even though this one will disappear tomorrow, there are plenty to take its place.
With increasing amounts of wood sorrel (Oxalis) and purslane (Porulaca oleracea) emerging in the vegetable garden, I am torn between pulling them out to plant rotational crops or letting them be. They spread rapidly, but are delicious. They can form a thick mat choking out delicate seedlings, but they make great salad toppings. Such is […]