Our Connections to Gardening (and gardeners)

 Wow! What a year! People are learning that plants can provide so much for us during a pandemic. When groceries and essentials became tough to get, gardeners grew more gardens! Edibles like fruit trees, berries, vegetables, herbs, and so many other food plants were sought after by old and new gardeners alike. The plant connection continued through so many parts of our lives to help us find comfort in our own homes, gardens, and selves. 

A friend's raised vegetable garden

I spoke with my niece Becca recently. She has recently moved with her boyfriend Raf and dog, Nala, to a new place. Her job has been downsized, so she is looking for a new one. Away from her friends and family, life has changed. I asked her if having plants helped her out. She started collecting succulents awhile ago.

Her collection takes up the better part of a room in her new home. She answered yes. She said that "while the world is on fire", these little plants make her focus on a routine. They get checked daily, though Becca waters sparingly. When new leaves appear, she is happy. Becca said that while she has been stuck indoors, unable to go on all the adventures she once did with friends, the plants bring life inside. The first time she went to re-pot her plants was intimidating, but she powered through it. She encourages her sister and friends to try to grow something just for the fun of it.  Becca and I have spoken about the lessons learned when a plant doesn't thrive. It is instantly compostable, causing no harm to the environment. It happens. We move on and try again. 

Last summer, I got a chance to walk through Ladew Gardens a few times, either alone or with a friend.  Emily Emerick, Ladew's Executive Director, told me that the gardens had more first-time visitors there than ever before. The walk through the gardens was both calming and inspirational. I took note of many of the plant combinations in pots and in the garden and copied parts of them for my garden. On a side note, I took my physical therapist, Megan Rich, a true lover of plants with me. 

Megan framed in a hemlock doorway

She loved the gardens and showed me some better ways to navigate the sometimes challenging landscape physically. Now I can claim that Ladew, and gardens in general, help me both physically and mentally. 

Truth be told, I already knew that. Having worked around plants for a lifetime, the air I breathe is fresher, the humidity in the greenhouse is invigorating (except for in the heat of summer), and being outside in the sunshine is wonderful! But it's the people who make my job so fulfilling. When Anne Lynn stops in with a bouquet of dahlias, Nolen sends photos of his prized hardy hibiscus,

One of many of Nolen's prized hibiscus

Eric and his family put in a beautiful new pond; Don shares the hot pepper plants that he grows from seed; it's understood that gardening connects us. My neighbor, Chuck, who helps me out all the time, is putting in raised beds this year. I foresee a collaborative garden between neighbors. Friends and families working together in the garden this year have been a remarkable experience that working from home has enabled us. The Weinberg Village Community Garden in Owings Mills has raised bed gardens that residents are able to plant. Volunteers, including students from The Jemicy School, help on planting days and garden clean-up days.

The Weinberg Village Community Gardens

We are lucky to live in a region where so many plants grow with ease. Our communities come together to help each other, even providing extra garden harvests to food banks. Gardening brings us together, helps us enjoy nature and the outdoors, and offers too many other benefits to mention. 

Weinberg Village Volunteers

Are we ready to keep this momentum going? Everyone I've talked to has answered a resounding yes!

Gardening Has Not Been Canceled

Gardening here in Maryland has taken on new life. I've been lucky enough to work through this pandemic, but have spent much more time at home in late afternoons and evenings. Plants are flourishing; tomatoes are too abundant to use immediately after harvest.  Luckily, they're plum tomatoes, so I'll freeze them for use later. 

Two weeks before the harvest

 Summertime, as usual here in Maryland, flips between drought and tropical storm-induced heavy rains. A friend who lives in Southern Maryland has had 11 inches or more of rain this past week! Her fruit trees have floated up into her pasture, roots and all. Still, with all of its challenges, gardening gives us a nice break from the news of the day and allows us to nurture nature on our own terms. 

Walking through the garden center today, I've made plans for more planting. The vegetable garden gets a restart. I consider this season 3 in the garden. The first round in March-April was for peas, cole crops, and lettuce. Season 2---tomatoes, peppers, watermelon, and zucchini. Season 3 will include broccoli, lettuce, and beets in my own garden, planted in pots around the patio. 

Spinach, Swiss Chard and Lettuces

Great time to plant herbs too!

Coneflowers, hardy hibiscus, sedum, ornamental grasses, asters, and mums are a few things that can be planted and give the garden color for another couple of months. Rudbeckia, heliopsis, the aforementioned coneflowers, and coreopsis all feature daisy-shaped flowers with seed centers that birds will love long after the plants finish blooming. 

Hardy hibiscus blooms are dinner plate size

Ornamental grasses

Sedum a few weeks before color

Mums

Captivating coneflowers

Black-eyed Susans

Coneflowers

Pond plants are blooming too. Lotus, waterlilies, and cannas add color to the water garden. The Koi bring delight to everyone. Watching kids feed the koi with enthusiasm is a highlight at the big pond daily at 12:30. 

David topping off the ponds

Water gardens

During storms and times that it is just too hot outside, we move inside with houseplants. Decorating with plants is fun; choosing the right pot to go with our plant and inside spaces brings a bit of nature inside. 

The dracaena is on its way to a new home

Gardening was not canceled this year. We've met many new gardeners. Please use our resources, including signage, handouts, and knowledgeable people, many who are passionate gardeners themselves. 

Keep calm and garden on!

Hot, Hot, Hot

A look to the weather forecast this week reveals that we're in for another hot spell! For those of us that garden, that can only mean more watering chores.
Container gardeners should check their pots daily for water. Flower and vegetable gardeners with garden plots can put a rain gauge out; most of the garden would like an inch of water a week. Water at the root zone to avoid splashing water on plants' leaves. Pictured above are Billy's beans being watered by a garden hose connected to a soil soaker hose with straw over the top to retain moisture. It is better to water early in the day to allow foliage to dry out before evening. Give plants enough water to encourage plants to root deeply; watering lightly will keep the roots too close to the surface causing them to dry out faster.
Most lawns will go dormant for the summer, giving us a break from mowing.
Check the garden center for all sorts of watering tools and supplies, from hoses and rain wands to automatic drip watering systems.