Spring Plans

March 19, 2024March 18, 2024 MstldelanoLeave a comment

I can’t believe it’s the first day of spring already! It feels like New Years Day happened just a couple of weeks ago. The time is moving quickly, and, quite honestly, I wish things would slow down a bit. That’s not my normal opinion, by the way: I’m a summer baby so I always greet the spring season happily, as I know it will quickly give way to my favorite time of year. But this year, because my life has been especially hectic and not going exactly as planned, I find myself yearning for an extension of the winter season. I would love just a few more weeks to transition into springtime at a pace that works better for me.

In any case, my time-controlling powers have not yet kicked in, so today remains the vernal equinox. While I wish for a little more winter, I am delighted to be closer to the warm, sunny days I crave. I have been eager to do a proper garden project, and this will be my year to do it. I’ve reviewed the Old Farmer’s Almanac website to see which plants I need to start this month. I’ll also be taking a few visits to Home Depot, Lowe’s, Southern States, and any other garden shop that can help me get a solid start.

Part of my garden planning is thinking of a theme. It’s a lot easier for me to wrap my mind around what I want to grow if I can see that it all works harmoniously together. I’m thinking I’ll stick to lilies for this year: day lilies, true lilies, lily of the valley, and canna lilies (my favorite, calla lilies, don’t do well in my hardiness zone, so I’ll skip these for now). I’m envisioning lily of the valley hanging over my balcony, with the rest of the lilies on the sunniest side of my home. I’ll probably also add another rose bush or two, as well as planting another jasmine plant and peony plant to give more volume to the jasmine and peony plants I currently have.

I’ll keep you posted as my garden project comes together. I’m particularly excited for this year’s garden, as I’m hoping that being in the yard will help me savor the spring and feel like time is moving a bit slower. . . As I think about it, maybe time isn’t moving faster: maybe it’s me that needs to slow down. I can make slower, more intentional movement and activity a priority, and I think that will make the difference for me.

That’s it for today. I’ll talk to you all soon, and Happy Vernal Equinox!

The Latest Garden Blooms

June 8, 2021June 9, 2021 MstldelanoLeave a comment

I haven’t posted any new garden pictures this year, due to my hectic schedule (no time to plant as many flowers as I intended) and the intense heat that we had. Sadly, my peony blooms have all fallen off, and my roses are budding more slowly. But this is the natural evolution of things, no? Spring comes, the blooms arrive, the blooms fall, and then the summer blooms take over. It’s a lovely natural process that I can appreciate. Here are some of the pictures that I took right before we got the rain that gave us some relief (LOL!) and a few from the days right after the rain. Enjoy!

My azaleas showed off this year! So gorgeous.

I love my peonies. They never stay long enough.

This is the first year that my dogwood bloomed!

A new crepe myrtle that my father gifted me for Mother’s Day: I haven’t transplanted it to my garden yet.

life curation · relaxation

Garden Planning – The First Steps

February 16, 2021February 16, 2021 MstldelanoLeave a comment

As if I’m not already busy enough . . . I have started working on my garden plan for this year. You see, last year, spring caught me quite by surprise (probably because I was starting to tutor more and COVID became an issue when I should have been doing my garden planning). So while I did grow a few things, I didn’t have nearly as many flowers and herbs as I would have wanted. I believe that a failure to plan properly is why my garden was so unimpressive.

Last year, I also completed a course in herbalism and became a certified herbalist. As part of my continuing study, I knew that I wanted to grow herbs, veggies, fruits and flowers that I can use in my practice. Also, part of herbalism involves studying plants throughout the four seasons, so that you can become intimately familiar with them. The best way to do that is to grow them from seeds/seedlings and observe them for a full year or two. I can best do that by growing them myself as opposed to trying to find certain plants “in the wild” and trying to keep up with them that way.

This year, I’m going to do better. I’ve already read a book about lunar and biodynamic gardening (book review posted here) as well as a book about how to group your plants in your garden. I’ve purchased some seeds, some seedling trays, and I have some soil left over from last year. I have my supplies, but now I have to actually work out a schedule for what to do and when to do it.

For assistance with scheduling my garden activities, I’ve been relying heavily on the Farmer’s Almanac website. There is a great, easy-to-read guide on when and how to start seeds indoors, as well as a guide for vegetable gardening for absolute beginners. Now, I’m growing herbs as well as flowers, fruit and a few vegetables, so I will have to check some other websites to get a good schedule for my non-veggie plants. But the Farmer’s Almanac website has a handy calendar to help you plan your vegetables based on your zip code, so I’m glad that they have made it so easy!

In the weeks to come, I’ll share my list of veggies, herbs and flowers that I’m growing, as well as any tools or resources that I’m using to help me with the gardening process.

Do any of you have a garden? If so, when do you start planning your garden? I’d love to hear about it in the comments below!

reading list

Book Review: Lunar and Biodynamic Gardening

January 26, 2021January 25, 2021 MstldelanoLeave a comment

Hi friends! I’m really excited to discuss today’s book with you all. As you all may know, I’m still a new(ish) homeowner, and I love flowers and gardening. So instead of waiting until March or April to start thinking about my garden, I decided to begin my garden planning now, so that I can hit the ground running after the first frost.

The book I’m reviewing is Lunar and Biodynamic Gardening by Matt Jackson. The book focuses on gardening in a way that allows you to create an optimum environment that supports the plants organically. This focus on healthy soil, working with nature’s natural rhythms, and disturbing the environment as little as possible makes it so that both the plants and all wildlife thrive.

Unfortunately, I got this book from the Dollar Tree and I’m unable to locate it on Amazon. However, the author has another book on Amazon that may be worth checking out (it covers the lunar phases and their effects on plants). Make sure to check that out if you enjoy this sort of content.

This book is broken down into six, easy-to-read chapters. The first chapter teaches the basics, explaining what lunar gardening and biodynamics are, and how these two differ from one another. The next chapter outlines what you need to start, depending on the size of your intended garden. The next chapters focus on soil and compost, growing food, growing flowers, and container gardening.

The author resides in the UK, so he is located in the Northern Hemisphere like me. But, he has generously provided resources for readers that may be in the Southern Hemisphere. He also shares resources to help readers get further clarification on certain principles.

I love how accessible lunar and biodynamic gardening approaches can be for novices. Jackson does a great job explaining how to work with various yard/garden sizes. My yard is medium sized, but my garden will be planned as if I have a small yard, and if I’m inspired, I will expand in future years. It’ll be great to start small so I can really master the concepts before I dive deeper.

In this world of law of attraction/conscious creation, it’s really easy to focus on the spiritual or esoteric sides of things to the point where we may not see the practical side of tuning into nature. But this book is a great reminder of how energy works, and how everything works together. I’m fascinated by the moon cycles, and I’m eager to see how these principles influence my garden’s success. I’ll be writing about this in upcoming posts, so look out for updates!

That’s it for today. I hope you all are staying safe and having a great day. Take care!

*This post contains affiliate links.

health · life curation

Preparing for Mid-Summer Gardening!

June 23, 2020June 24, 2020 MstldelanoLeave a comment

I have still been enjoying time out in my yard, and I’m considering what plants I can start in July (since I was SO behind the ball this season). For the record, I didn’t know that I was going to be so fascinated with gardening, flowers, and nature in general this spring. My fascination blindsided me, so I’m very LATE in garden planning. But that doesn’t mean that all hope is lost! There are quite a few plants that can be started in midsummer and still thrive with ease.

Burpee’s website outlines all of the crops that can be started in July. I wasn’t interested in growing vegetables per se, but if I change my mind, I may try to grow squash. My preference is smaller herbs and maybe some flowers. I found this guide published on The Spruce to be the best one for planning the kind of plants I would like to grow.

The only thing currently blooming in my yard: my gorgeous gardenias!

I’ve very interested in growing cilantro, garlic, basil and (perhaps) arugula or looseleaf lettuce. I want to start small and then expand into bigger plants. I really enjoyed seeing my overall growing options over on the Old Farmer’s Almanac website. There are a lot of plants that can grow in my zone (zone 7) so I’m excited to see if I can squeeze in one more herb or maybe even a fruit (perhaps blackberries or raspberries).

I watched this fantastic video that also gave me some ideas for what I may grow in my zone in July. I like that this guide can be used for multiple zones, not just zone 7. Rare Seeds’s YouTube channel is a wealth of information.

Will any of you be trying some midsummer gardening? Let me know about it in the comments!