Let's Talk about Gardens

Lori - I just finished and posted the Order form for our Master Gardeners plant sale...was talking to my girls today about what we will order- including several flats of pollinator plants , herbs, and hanging baskets. We use a local grower who grows all neonicotinoid free seed, and we sell to our group at 30% over wholesale. My grandson can't wait to grow his own broccoli and carrots! And "green stuff for Tank" - their 75 lb rescue tortoise . Last year he kept his own pot of marigolds alive for 4 months. Now if I can teach him to weed!
Just thinking about the gardens makes me not mind winter so much.

Thanks, @loribmt. Yes those dang gremlins struck in force last week when I lost connections to internet, smart tv and....landline phone!! Hadn't realized how dependent I was for "cyber support/diversion" until the three day "fast" sent me to in-office local provider who scheduled a tech visit on...Saturday. Hard to believe but oh, the relief for getting "re-instated" with my favorite cyber sitters!!!

Yes to trees and the lives they support! My first gallery purchase was a lovely lithograph of bare trees overhanging a stream. Many years and purchases later, it remains my favorite.

How lovely to live near a woodland with wildflowers and the occasional deer visitor. I cringe at the thought of logging. Living in a city and arid southwest part of the country, we have to drive many miles to experience a forest.

Favorite flowers??? Oh my, that reminds me of our little 5 yr old's question to his mom when told a little brother was on the way: "But Grammer will always love me best, right Mom?".... Depends on the season, what survived the winter, what new treasure I've found to add...smiles. Can tell you my favorite hands down veggie though!

While it is always a pleasure to gather tomatoes, bell peppers, squash, cantaloupe, okra, green onions and herbs, Swiss Chard is the hero that continues to live and produce throughout the winter! A late introduction to chard by a neighbor, I was thrilled and amazed that my first seeds sprouted and flourished that first winter.

What are your favorites in the garden? Do you have valiant warriors that return year after year that provide the foundation of what you add?

@sueinmn Few things spark excitement like the first orders for plants!! Especially since you live in MN and I’m in WI our season for enjoying gardens and baskets is short! Half the fun is looking through the catalogs for plants. It’s so wonderful you’re able to share your Master Gardening knowledge and skills with your grandchildren. How old is your grandson? He’s obviously ‘got the bug’ to garden! That’s awesome. I had to do a double take with Tank!! 75 pound tortoise? Wow. Tank’s been around a long time to have gotten to that size.
I’m still on a hiatus from doing any gardening or working with soil, even with mask and gloves, because of potential fungal issues after the bone marrow transplant. It’s frustrating because a friend and I were interested in the many heirloom plants available. For now I’m content to see what she grows and hope to resume the feel of soil between my fingers again! At the lake there are no flower or veggie gardens but at our house in the city, we have a large garden area with raised beds. We’re now sharecroppers as our neighbor uses the garden plots and we get to enjoy the fruits of their labor. Win win. LOL.

Lori - I understand - I had a 2 year hiatus while I battled a mycobacteria lung infection, now wear an N95 mask & gloves to "play in the dirt."
Tank is an adolescent - best guess around 20 years (he was rescued as a 15lb youngster)
Superman will be 5 in May - they only live 2 miles from us, and he loves gardens, trees, being outdoors (so do Mom & Dad) - he helped Auntie plant marigolds at my house last summer, and asked for some of his own, which he tended until frost. We didn't realize how much he loved it until he started planting sticks in the snow - he's sure they will grow into trees in the spring! So we've planted the seed with Dad to have him help build a beginner 4X8 raised bed in a corner of their yard and give him ownership of part. Both my girls got their first gardens at about that age, and have been gardening ever since - they owned a duplex for 10 years that had only a token lawn, the rest was flowers and vegetables. (His Mom has been on hiatus for a few years with 2 preschoolers, a dog & a tortoise in the yard & a full-time job but she's ready to dip her toes again.)
I'm excited because the plants we're offering this year are 80% natives & heirloom veggies. We even have a treasure called a "Pollinator Flat" - 3 each of 6 different natives for $40, 4 types to attract bees, hummers, monarchs & other butterflies.
Sue

Lori - I understand - I had a 2 year hiatus while I battled a mycobacteria lung infection, now wear an N95 mask & gloves to "play in the dirt."
Tank is an adolescent - best guess around 20 years (he was rescued as a 15lb youngster)
Superman will be 5 in May - they only live 2 miles from us, and he loves gardens, trees, being outdoors (so do Mom & Dad) - he helped Auntie plant marigolds at my house last summer, and asked for some of his own, which he tended until frost. We didn't realize how much he loved it until he started planting sticks in the snow - he's sure they will grow into trees in the spring! So we've planted the seed with Dad to have him help build a beginner 4X8 raised bed in a corner of their yard and give him ownership of part. Both my girls got their first gardens at about that age, and have been gardening ever since - they owned a duplex for 10 years that had only a token lawn, the rest was flowers and vegetables. (His Mom has been on hiatus for a few years with 2 preschoolers, a dog & a tortoise in the yard & a full-time job but she's ready to dip her toes again.)
I'm excited because the plants we're offering this year are 80% natives & heirloom veggies. We even have a treasure called a "Pollinator Flat" - 3 each of 6 different natives for $40, 4 types to attract bees, hummers, monarchs & other butterflies.
Sue

@fiesty76 That was a silly question to ask a gardener...what’s your favorite flower? I loved your analogy with your grandson. You’re so right it is too difficult to pick one favorite, but for flowers my perennial favorites, pun intended. are my very prolific Black Eyed Susans and the cosmos who reseed themselves annually. There are certainly more glorious, lavish blooms than those two, but they spark a sense of whimsy and happiness that just make me smile when I walk past. Chunks of the rudbeckia have been brought along with me with every move we’ve made since the 80s. Now my daughter has some growing (taking over) her gardens.

@loribmt, Naw, I don't think your question silly at all. I'm just indecisive by nature...lol! I'd put cosmos near the top of my list as well because of their easy "seed recapture" and annual self-seeding. They do capture a sense of whimsy and delight as they dance in the breeze! Disappointingly, Rudbeckias have not proven as successful nor prolific for me. Not sure why but like marigolds (highly touted as one of the easiest to grow from seeds) are surprisingly difficult to keep going for me.

With each of my daughter's moves, she's requested a "new starter seed package from my garden". It was fun to put together a variety of easy starters for her. With her family move from IL to CO a yr ago August, I was delighted on my Sept. visit to find feverfew in her new yard. Mine had died out so for the first time I was able to bring home a lasting bit of the visit with the family.

Having them again in my yard this past spring/summer was a double bonus because none of us could have imagined in 2019 the changes that would occur due to the pandemic or that it would be so long before (16 months so far) before we could be together again.
Now as vaccines become more available, there is real hope that we can again visit in person sometime in 2021.

An arctic blast hit this week bending my daffies near the ground. No snow but ice has transformed the trees, shrubs, emerging hyacinths, tulips and blooming mounds of pink oxalis lining street flower beds into a crystalline fairyland.

Yay to the promise of spring and thoughts of new additions to our gardens. Smiles to all!

@sueinmn, Loved your little 5 yr old's planting sticks in the snow to become trees! Were you tempted to replace a couple of them with sprouts in the spring?

@fiesty76. What a bit of mischief (and encouragement) that would be for a 5 year old! Force some forsythia or even apple blossoms from little branches and put them in the snow. We used to force blossoms this time of the year when my daughter was little. Fun to see life awakening after a cold winter.

You are very lucky to be able to start plantings from seed. What is your secret?
Every time I buy seed packets the birds just eat the seeds, so there goes the flowers. My Gardner tells me to buy flats, or 6 packs of already started plantings, I do, but it get very expensive to do this 2x a year, so now I put big flat flagstone down, but really love the flowers.
Any suggestions, other then stone and concrete?