96 Alladin Nursery
January 5, 2024
98 It’s Coming…
March 8, 2024
Things I’ve Learned By Gardening
I used to think that once I put all my plants in the ground, my garden would be done. Nope. I’ve come to realize it ain’t done and won’t be done until I myself am in the ground—like, six feet under. My garden evolves and won’t stop evolving because the plant offerings at nurseries won’t stop evolving. I’m hooked because of my passion (obsession, some would call it) for All Things Plants. AKA, “I’ve got to have that plant!!!”
If my garden is evolving then I have an evolving relationship with my garden. As I walk through it on paths my husband built, I find myself asking, “Why did I put this plant here instead of over there?” Or asking a plant, “Why are you not growing to your full potential?” It’s a lot of “what was I thinking?” mixed with “hey, good job, me!”
I’m always learning what’s right for my garden and its plants. They usually tell me. And thank gawd I’m not a slow-learner like I was back in my stupid years when I installed this grass…
Phalaris arundinacea ‘unknown species’ (Variegated Ribbon Grass)
How was I supposed to know it’s invasive! It’s even on the US Invasive Plant list.
I learned from that ribbon grass never to assume nurseries don’t stock invasive plants. Let me tell you, they do! So it’s up to consumers to be diligent Googlers before they buy. Yeah, right—most folks go into nurseries as stupid as I was before my garden taught me stuff no non-gardener can imagine.
Now I keep that ribbon grass in check—though I do let it touch its neighboring plants because I love the look. But problem: every summer the bottom of that grass would brown out and the tips would start to flop.
“What’s it telling me?” I wondered, and then: “What if I just whacked it all the way down. Would it grow back fast enough not to look whacked for months?” Well it did come back fast—and quite beautifully. So I whacked it down for winter too! Most of what you learn by gardening comes from trial and error like that. (Notice nobody ever says trial and success?)
And don’t you just love whacking down plants? It’s so satisfying and fun to be a force of nature!
Often when walking along in late fall to early winter, I get whiffs of something rich and earthy, and I’ll say, “I know that smell…”
I love seeing mushrooms in my garden. I’ve learned mushrooms are a clear sign of organic matter in my soil. But I’m not a fan of them when they rot and look like a pile of poop!
If you want to learn all about mushrooms, Hidden Forest Nursery in Sebastopol is offering a mushroom class on January 25, (2024).
You can only learn so much from Google. Live classes rock!!
Along my garden paths you’ll see some annuals that taught me they are reseeders…
Lychnis coronaria (Rose Campion)
Agrostemma (Corn Cockle)
Clerodendrum philippinum (Cashmere Bouquet)
Nigella damascena (Love in a Mist)
All are lovely, but they can get carried away and grow amuck. It’s okay to thin them, you know—or what I teach in my class as “Pluck and Kill.”
Try it and you’ll learn there are no damn plant police hanging around to arrest you for killing plants in your own garden. If there were, they’d never let me out of jail.
Sometimes plants die on their own. And I’ve learned that’s okay too. I don’t sit around moping and wondering why they died. The reason is never…probably…really my fault. (Yeah, I’m sticking with that…)
When plants die my motto is “Just buy more!” And off to the nursery I go. I could go to a bar, but I’d rather be among the living!…
My garden paths take me from time to time past some garden art—whatever that entails—that’s broken. So I grab it and throw it in my art pile near the greenhouse, or else I just shove it strategically back into the ground somewhere—like I did with this metal bird…
It used to sit higher on a stand. Now it has a dress made of grass. Pretty cool, huh? Sometimes I learn by things that break.
But the damn bird is sharp. I put it near the walkway to the pool so I can hear my husband yell at me once again that “There’s something pokey along the walkway!”
Hmmm, do I do these things on purpose just to hear his lovely voice?! Gardens affect human relationships too.
Back in my stupid years, I planted some ivy at the base of our pool bathroom. But the ivy didn’t want to stay at the base…
Front view.
Side view.
Yes, there’s a bathroom hiding in there. It is located in the bamboo garden which, back in the day, was not a bamboo garden but a neatly contained bamboo patch inside a wine barrel. (Gardening with bamboo will learn you things, Friends.)
I let the ivy cover the bathroom because…why not? It was beautiful.
Except one day 2 years ago “that husband of mine” said to me, “Do you realize your ivy has lifted the roof six inches off its frame?”
“What? Of course it hasn’t,” I said because every year I had gone out with my 16-foot pole saw and pruned off whatever ivy felt inclined to head up over the roof.
Well I went to look again, and apparently my pole-saw pruning had not kept the ivy or me out of trouble.
I got my gloves and started yanking that ivy, trying to rip it off. But, oh, oh, it was really hard (wink wink), just too much for me (wink wink). Until my husband saw my well-timed struggles and came to my rescue. He took over and got it done. (Men like to feel needed.)
But the ivy had left squiggly lines behind, all over the cement siding. Instead of sanding them off—because I do not over-exert myself when I can help it—I painted over them. Ta-da! Like new (if you don’t look too closely).
You still see Ivy at the base, but now it’s taught me to keep it there.
When you walk through your garden, do you ever have a smile on your face? I do, especially when passing the 20 Lewisias I have in pots.
Lewisias are tried and true survivors in all weather conditions. They bloom on and off throughout the year, and they’re in bloom right now, Readers! Chop, chop!! No need to Google first. Get out and get you some January smiles!
Now this brings to mind something I’ve learned recently having to do with this blog. I’ve learned not to write about a favorite plant of mine if I plan on buying that particular plant soon.
In my December 15th post, I featured Yucca Bright Stars and mentioned my love for this favorite plant.
Yucca gloriosa ‘Bright Star’
Before I published that post, our local nursery had 7 Bright Stars in stock. But within days after posting, I went to buy a couple as a Christmas gift for my daughter. When I couldn’t find them, the salesperson told me, “Sorry…we just had a huge rush and sold out!”
Lesson learned!
Speaking of my daughter, I’ve always given her strict instructions about how to care for plants. She knows I’m right about such things and has passed my instructions on to her son. Hunter is only 2, but clearly she told him what Grandma said about how to care for the house plant I bought her for Christmas—because NO Bright Stars, People!
Two years old is not too young learn these critical things. When it comes to teaching kids how to care for plants—especially how to properly prune them—I’ve learned you must do it as early as possible.
As a grandmother I have obviously failed my first grandkid, John. Here he is, age 4, pruning my Pistache tree!! With Papa’s pliers!!
Now FYI, I DID NOT take that photo. Believe you me, I would not have allowed that pruning technique from anybody!
No matter how damn cute!!!
