First of all I must express my deepest thanks to the dear one who made this possible. I was given the gift of a donation to start a pot garden on my deck and I am beyond delighted and so very grateful. My deepest most gracious thanks to you dear one, you know who you are.
I am going to plan this very carefully. After therapy I went to Lowes Garden Center just to look. I decided to buy three plants just to get things started, to bring some color and a sense of things beginning in earnest. Most of what I will be growing will be from seeds, some bulbs, little plants I can find inexpensively here and there, perhaps I will be fortunate enough to get some cuttings from friends with established gardens, there are so many possibilities and I am so excited. I am lit up like a Christmas tree!
I was in Lowes for some time just looking and looking at everything. I didn’t want to buy much to start and finally decided on these two pelargoniums and the gorgeous pot of ranunculus. I also bought a few bags of potting soil on sale. I have a handful of small pots here and will be on the lookout for inexpensive or even free pots. A hodgepodge will be fine. It will be fun to “grow” my garden, adding to it in bits and pieces, a pot here, a few seeds there. I saw some pots at Lowes that I liked but I didn’t want to spend too much too soon. I am portioning out my funds carefully.
I like a wild array of colorful flowers and herbs. I have never been a vegetable gardener, with a few rare exceptions, and because it’s just me pretty much anything I tried to grow, food-wise, would produce too much. But I can never have enough flowers. I have a pretty good idea what will fill the handful of small pots I have here, my beloved “Nasty Ladies.” (Nasturtiums) which I have usually planted in every color they come in. One of my favorite places to get seeds because they are very economical and have a wonderful selection is Pinetree Garden Seeds. I have purchased seeds from them for nearly 30 years. They are wonderful people to deal with too. They have a wonderful website and you can get their paper catalog too. I just ordered one. That’s something else I’m having fun doing, ordering paper copies of my favorite garden catalogs. I read garden catalogs like other people read novels! At least I used to. Now I want to again. Another catalog I think every serious gardener should have — they have a collection of seeds you won’t find anywhere else and the catalog itself is a serious education in gardening — is J.L. Hudson, Seedsman. When I started ordering from him almost 30 years ago they only had a paper catalog and I will order one of those, but they now have a wonderful website. It isn’t colorful and flashy, it’s for the serious gardener.
A challenge for me will be to learn how to plant small, meaning that in the past I have ordered bulbs in bulk, 500 daffodils at a time say, and now, with a limited budget and limited space, planting in pots on my deck, I will have to plant a few handfuls of bulbs. My garden here before the fire was very large and spread out. Also most of my beloved regularly planted flowers were tall cottage garden flowers, sunflowers of all types, old fashioned single hollyhocks, tons of cosmos, tall zinnias, all of these things I planted so much of, such lush gardens they were, that not to have the room for such things will mean making new choices, flowers that may have been lost in large planted areas I will now find precious and fall in love with in a new way. I am giving much thought to this.
I would love to hear from those of you who garden in pots in small areas. And what are your favorite garden resources, catalogs, websites, etc? I’d love to hear from you about that. Today I was thinking again about one of my all-time favorite garden books, and how I’d love to do something like this. The book was by one of my favorite garden writers, Elizabeth Lawrence. The book, Gardening For Love: The Market Bulletins. The Market Bulletins were an amazing resource for home gardeners where women shared seeds and cuttings, wrote letters, and became friends through a shared love of gardening. The bulletins were put out by the state departments of agriculture for farmers and many farm women sold seeds and plants through the bulletins to make a little pocket money. The writer Eudora Welty put Elizabeth Lawrence’s name on The Mississippi Market Bulletin list and a whole new world opened for Elizabeth. This is one of the most charming books I have ever read.
I used to have a very large library of garden books. Some of them survived the fire. I am going to begin reading them again, just for the love of them. Not how-to books but books that are real stories. One of my favorite garden books ever because it’s just so much fun is a book that I bought several copies of when it came out because I was so in love with it I kept giving it away to people who just HAD to have it. It is Passalong Plants by Steve Bender and Felder Rushing. It is an absolute hoot and is about the southern tradition of passing plants along, sharing cuttings and so on so that many plants still around today survived when they might not have otherwise and most of these plants are not plants you can find in most garden centers. You have to search for them. I had a great many of these plants in my garden. I’m not sure what I will be able to find now or plant in pots but I will read this book again and dream.
It is amazing what an act of kindness will do, and my friend’s gift to me to enable me to start this new little garden has awakened so much in me I am kind of in awe because I had thought my gardening self was lost forever. But I think real gardeners never lose the desire to grow beautiful things. This just may be a whole new return to life the likes of which I cannot yet even imagine.
For now I walk about onto my deck and look at my lovely pelargoniums and the delightful dancing ranunculus and I feel such joy, I am so deeply grateful. It is spring, and there will be a garden afterall, and if there is new life here, what else is possible? I think there is so much more than I ever dreamed could be. What a grand adventure it feels like before me, one pot, a handful of seeds, and a few bulbs at a time. I have begun.
The Experiment ~A 365 Day Search For Truth, Beauty &
Happiness: Day 1 ~ Introduction To The Project
“Do or do not. There is no try.”
Yoda
Maitri, I have tears of joy for you and your new found excitement! The flowers are beautiful and I am so happy you are starting again even if it is small. What a lovely gift and what a lovely soul to give you this gift and get you started again. I don’t know much about flowers except for a few of the obvious ones and I’ve never been a gardner. But I am hoping to plant a few vegetables this year. We live on rented land but I did get permission to have a small garden. I am thinking of how I can get one where I don’t have to bend over and garden. So I will have to see. I would like a basil plant, some tomatoes and maybe some lettuce. And I would love to plant some garlic but now isn’t the time.
I am looking forward to reading more about your plants, flowers and how happy they are making you. Big Hugs with Love,
Jean
Thank you so much dear Jean, it was such a lovely gift I cannot tell you how touched and grateful I am. And I am SO happy that you will have a garden. You know container gardening is so good for those of us who are older and bending is not so easy. It’s what I’m doing here on the deck and you can grow vegetables and herbs in pots. You’ll find lots of resources for this online, and on Pinterest!
Let me know what you’re doing, we can share our gardening here. Spring has sprung! 😀
Yippee! This brings me joy knowing ur gardening again! Baby steps! I think our hobbies are always in a fluid state. sort of like a stove full of pots, we’re always having to turn something up or stir and turn it down, even cover and let it rest. Ur gardening heart is always there. And I LOVE ronunculus!!! Sweet flower dreams my friend! 😘👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻💖💖💖🤗🤗🤗
Thank you Noni honey, it feels good indeed. And baby steps for sure. You know I still have some seeds here. I’m going to check tomorrow to see what will go well in pots. And yes, ranunculus is just delightful!
are these plants not geraniums? they look like it. i have many geraniums in pots. they just keep on keeping on, gorgeous. i have bright fire engine red ones, and hot pink ones.
i have MANY container pots, most have flowers, but i also have herbs in pots and tomato plants in pots (as well as in my garden beds). i love container gardening. the pots, all different, are like an aisle leading people around my landscape — from the driveway along the sidewalk to the front door, along the back courtyard leading to the back door and the screened porch, etc etc… one pot at a time, multiplied! i love nasturtiums and put them everywhere, in pots with other flowers, on the edge of my mint bed, and i plant rows of zinnias every year at the edge of my veggie garden.
flowers are some of my best friends!!!
i’m so happy you have made the first steps, and look forward to see how everything grows and blooms…!
xo
ka
Hi Sweetie, yes, they are commonly called geraniums by most people including me since I was young but they are actually Pelargoniums, in the same family but not really “geraniums” you can see this here from The Royal Horticultural Society.
https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=338
Still most people call them geraniums and whatever you call them I LOVE them! Before the fire I had long planters on my front porch filled with scented geraniums and I adored them. I would like to get some again. And yes I think the fun of planting in pots — and I always have along with gardening in the ground, I had pots everywhere of every shape and size — is the whimsy of all the different types of pots all mixed together, and YES! Nasturtiums! I have had a love affair with nasturtiums since I started gardening. They are so easy to grow and so cheerful.
Today I have all the windows open and there is a delicious breeze and all the birdsong that you miss when the windows are closed, well, it is simply glorious. And it is such a thrill to walk out onto the deck and see the flowers. I needed this so much. I have no idea why it took me so long but I am just filled with joy today. Flowers are friends indeed…
Big love to you sweet Ka. Happy Gardening!
M. xoxox
You all make me want to start planting flowers and veggies and things – but tonight it snowed again. So I just dream of spring and gardening and digging up plants I want to take to a passalong event Mid-April.
I love the idea of the Bulletins!
And just reading about your gardening plans for the deck makes me smile. Please share photos, dear Maitri! Not long ago you decided to install the bird and squirrel feeders again, now the first plants. It will be very beautiful!
Love
Silke
Oh Silke, snow! It is to be 73 degrees here today, it is beyond gorgeous, I have all the windows open and delicious fresh air streaming in, and I look out the window to the flowers on the deck beyond all the bird feeders and the constant stream of birds coming back and forth and the little squirrels. And here I sit with my morning coffee. This, this is bliss!
And oh, I wish you could get a copy of Lawrence’s Market Bulletins book. It is one of the most charming books I have ever read. I hope I can find mine here, I’m not sure if it survived the fire. If not I will get a used copy because I’ve just got to read it again. And yes of course I will share photos. Making a garden is one part of the fun, the other is sharing it! Gardens were made for sharing.
It’s so good to see you here honey, I missed you for a bit. I hope you are well. Give Ben a big kiss on the nose for me! 🙂
Hugs,
Maitri
Had some struggle with Daylight Savings Time which started on March 25th here. I used to start my day by reading and commenting on your latest blog post but found myself unable to even think at 5.30 am. Still feels like 4.30.
Well, I will adjust. Someday. Probably in October, when the clocks turn back to normal…
Love and Blessings from a tired
Silke
Ah Silke, Daylight Savings Time was hard for me this year too. It seems to get harder as the years go along. In Fall when we “gain” an hour it isn’t so jarring, at least for me. I hope you adjust soon and get some rest! And I look forward to hearing from you about your garden when the time comes. All of a sudden I want to plant EVERYTHING again, which of course I can’t, but it is glorious to be waking up to the garden again. It is like starting to wake up again after a long dark winter, and it is time…
Love and Blessings to you too dear friend…
Maitri
I’m so happy for you Maitri. A garden, big or small, is a wonderful blessing. Here’s to many happy moments as you watch your garden come alive!!
Hello Dear Moira, and yes, oh YES!!! It is a blessing indeed! And these 3 pots of flowers on the deck have already brought such joy I can’t even describe it. Things are waking up inside of me and lookout, there’s no telling what might happen here!!!
And it is such a gorgeous day here, all the windows are open, delicious fresh air is streaming in, the many windchimes on the deck are tinkling and it just makes me so happy. It is as if Dragonfly Cottage is coming back to life.
Thank you for being here to share this with me Moira. I hope you have a beautiful day where you are…
Dear Maitri, I can’t tell you how happy this makes me! What beautiful plants you’ve chosen to start your garden, you’ll bring in the butterflies, and the bees, your deck will be humming with colour and joy. Maybe some dragonflies will visit you again. Pure magic! Much love to you and the pugs. xxx
Oh yes dear Jenny, it is just so perfect. I was up early this morning getting little Delilah pug out to the potty and as I stepped onto the deck and saw the flowers it felt like that moment in The Wizard of Oz when the whole world went from black and white to full blown technicolor! The flowers are back! Oh, I missed them more than I even knew. And now on I go, each day planting something, a few seeds, cuttings, little plants. I can’t wait to see what will happen. And yes, the bees and the butterflies and the dragonflies! Perfection! I can’t wait! 😀
Oh, that’s so wonderful Maitri. You clearly have a wealth of gardening information and stories to draw from, given your description and references. I’m so delighted for you that this world of nature, color and creativity has opened up for you again. 🙂
Oh Dear Joan, I am so happy. As I just wrote to Jenny above when I walked out onto the deck early this morning to take little Delilah pug outside and saw the flowers I was just overcome with joy. I am a gardener to my core and I have missed it more than I let myself realize. Just walking around the garden center yesterday and drinking in all the colors, all the possibilities, it filled me with such joy. This is the beginning, there is so much more to come, little by little. I was born to make gardens. This lovely gift is bringing me back to life. I can’t wait to see what will happen next!
Big love and a sweet hug to you Joan, and Happy Easter honey. Enjoy that baby!
Those lovely flowers make me happy to see them! I love geraniums, too, and those ranunculus flowers are striking. Containers are such a fun thing to have! Enjoy.
Oh Lisa, thank you so much honey…
I hosed the deck off as best I could. It still looks dirty but it’s a little better. Rachel was here a couple of nights ago and she said that they are going to rent a powerwasher to do their house and she will bring it over and do my deck. That will help a lot. But I tell you what, seeing these flowers here has awakened the sleeping gardener in me. I look out across the vast expanse of yard that is overtaken with weeds and somewhere inside of me my own “Secret Garden” beckons. I don’t know if anything will happen this year, but perhaps I can reclaim it one square foot at a time. Maybe I will even have a go at the raised beds again this year. Baby steps for sure. But I now realize that I can’t be without a garden, I’m sure much of my depression and sense of displacement and loss came from not being able to garden. These plants have brought me back to life. This gift is more precious to me than I will ever be able to say.
Did you ever read Lawrence’s book about the Market Bulletins? If you haven’t you would love it. It is just one of the most charming garden books I have ever read and I’ve read a LOT of them!
What are you doing in your garden now? I’d love to know… 🙂
Hi, Maitri-
The power washer will be just the ticket, I think, to get your deck looking better! I have read the Market Bulletins, but not for awhile. Her books are delightful.
And how wonderful to have a perfect spring day to contemplate flowers ahead! I’m doing basically tidying in my raised bed garden, with adding a few herbs here and there, as we’ll be away in April on a HomeExchange in Italy. But, we’ll be gardening a bit there, too, as we told our exchange partners that we’d be glad to tidy up the garden a bit prior to their arrival (they spend summers there).
There’s a good chance that we’ll be gardening up in Canada (Quebec) this summer, too, as we hope to be there in June and July. Lots of fun things to contemplate — adding tall native perennials to attract pollinators, converting grass to meadow, etc. We hadn’t been planning on shaping another garden, but are looking forward to it. It’s currently fairly ornamental, so we’ll be shifting it to a wildlife-friendly garden!
Lisa, yes, I think the powerwasher will work wonders. And yes, I have read most if not all of Lawrence’s garden books and I love them dearly.
And oh gracious! Gardening in Italy and Canada. You two DO get around. And to not just travel but to garden there. I can’t imagine! What an adventure! I can’t wait to see your pictures.
I just wrote to Katya in an email that, having just cleaned out the raised beds which I will be writing about here today, I couldn’t help but look around and think, “Perhaps a square foot at a time I can reclaim this garden, if it takes me the rest of my life…” But where am I going? I’ll be right here. This lovely gift has started a ball rolling, I don’t believe there’s any stopping me now even though the progress, this time, making a garden here, will be years in the making. But what a lovely way to spend a life. I may not travel the world as you do, but this is my own little paradise as my dear friend Claudine calls her place. Maybe I never really lost my Dragonfly Cottage after all… 🙂
I feel confident that you will create another garden on the site that you have. It won’t be reclaiming the garden that you had (which would have changed and evolved anyway), but surrounding yourself with plants that you love (and know how to grow) is always a good thing.
Just slowly prepping beds, smothering or solaring the weeds, perhaps, in patches (is that Florida betony, possibly — I couldn’t tell from the video you sent), will gradually help.
I’m hoping for some rain tonight. It’s been dry!
Lisa, yes, reclaiming the garden bit by bit will be the task now. To start with the pot garden on the deck and the raised beds will be my first concern and maybe that will be all I can do this year but it is so early, who can say? I have an older gentleman that cleaned everything up for me, a mess of pine straw and leaves. He’s very thorough and very nice. He will be cutting my grass twice a month and tidying up. I was thinking of asking him what he would charge to help clear out a couple of areas, along the fenceline and in my green gated garden so I could plant some flower seeds in there this year but with what I will be paying monthly now to have my grass cut twice a month I really don’t have extra in the budget to pay much to get this done. I will have to see.
But anyway onward and upward! I have begun… 🙂