On Your Mark, Get Set …

Posted on February 4, 2014 by shobha

Its February and we’ve just crossed the halfway mark through winter. Hurray! It has been a particularly brutal season and although it still feels like we’re in Antartica, spring will be here in some weeks. And when it does, we’re going to be ready. Right?

Okay, lets get organized. Gather your garden journal, laptop/tablet, paper and pen, garden photos from last year, seed and plant catalogs, the telephone and your drink of choice. Get cracking! Review, revise, make lists, draw plans, place orders, chart out schedules. Have a vision and act accordingly. Time spent planning and preparing is never a waste.

As I’d mentioned a couple of weeks ago, I’m planting a shadblow tree this spring. I will order it from my local nursery now so they can get it for me as early as possible. Likewise, all the plants I intend to get into the garden this year. I have the pressure of getting my garden ready for its Open Day (May 10)!Seeds will be started soon – vegetables and annuals. In addition to the usual seed flats started in the greenhouse, I’m going to try out the method suggested here: http://www.gardendesign.com/seed-sowing-snow
Go on, experiment along with me. Lets see what we learn.

Sorting through photos and notes, I’ll consider what worked and what did not. Successes and failures are great teachers. I’ll revise plans and see what improvements and additions are required. Each task will be prioritized and scheduled. This includes repairs and rearrangements. Tools will be sharpened, cleaned or replaced as necessary. Supplies such as stakes, ties, Epsom salts, dormant oil, fish and seaweed emulsion etc., will be restocked. The big calender will be filled with all the chores – daily, weekly, monthly etc., Vacation weeks will be factored in. As precise as all of this sounds, I always keep it flexible as weather and life have a way of messing up plans. After all, this exercise in preparation is meant to make gardening pleasurable. Lets keep it that way.

To help with tracking what needs to be done when, do refer to the Things To Do page on this website. Depending on your location and type of property and specific garden design, you can add or alter as per your needs. Whilst we go about gardening in relative solitude, there is a deep comfort in knowing one is part of a like-minded tribe of caretakers of this beautiful, generous Earth.

A friend sent me this link and I think it has great potential. Do check it out:
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/01/16/technology/personaltech/review-parrot-flower-power-plant-sensor.html
I’d love to get feedback from those who try this.

With so much to do, February will seem shorter than it is! Soon after that, the snowdrops will be awakening. Will you be ready?

Some good news: My photo of a milkweed seed pod opening to release seeds made it into the BBC ‘Your Pictures’! Check out link below. I’m very kicked! < http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/news/in-pictures-25942841 >

Garden journals and notebooks

Ready to be transplanted!

Root cuttings of hydrangea, myrtles and scented geraniums

Making raised beds

Popular gourd in India but exotic here!

Patty-pans for the gourmet

Democracy Rules – Except In The Garden

Posted on May 14, 2013 by shobha

I am all for democracy. I support peaceful efforts to achieve it in other parts of the world. I take my right to vote very seriously. That we each have equal rights and are to be treated as such has my wholehearted endorsement. I believe every living creature deserves respect and kindness. Heck, I could be the poster child for democracy. Except in my garden.

It has occurred to me that in the confines of my little garden, democracy does not exist. Autocracy rules. I assume complete authority. It is rather scary how closely my behavior in the garden resembles descriptions of Mussolini , Quaddafi and others. Please tell me I’m not alone in this personality transformation!

Consider these factors and maybe, just maybe, you will recognize yourself:
I happily discriminate amongst the plants. Selecting only certain ones and dismissing others as weak or unimpressive. I’m even known to cruelly put down specific plants.
Plants that do not perform as expected are ruthlessly eliminated.
My vision is the only vision. If a plant attempts to change the design by creeping into forbidden places then off with its head! Barricades are placed to deter just such dissension or defection.
When anybody admires the garden, I take all the credit with no consideration to the contributions of my hardworking botanical subjects.
I aim for absolute control and expect total obedience. Dissenters are not treated well. At all.

Any of the above sound familiar? I was shocked when I realized this about myself. Pushy, bossy, aggressive are traits I have confessed to. But autocratic? Would never have thought myself capable of it. Yet, where is my shame or guilt? I worry that this says something about what each of us is capable of when the right ( okay, wrong) circumstances come along. It bears some close examination.

But then, how else can one create a garden? The very idea of a garden opposes the wild behavior of plants. We attempt to tame nature.In a way, it mimics what humans do to ourselves. We attempt to be civilized instead of giving in to baser tendencies. And it is hard to do without being minded. We’ve even put in place policing agencies. The fact is, without the watchful eyes of others in society many would disregard what is good for the whole and simply do as they please for themselves. Mayhem and murder would ensue. I suppose then, it comes down to how we govern ourselves. Democracy, communism, dictatorship, military rule, monarchy – the world is still working it all out.

So, back to the garden. Looking at the big picture, I no longer feel alarmed about my authoritative influence. I think I’m really a benevolent parent. Strict, demanding the best, willing to express tough love but at the same time guiding the plants to realize their highest potential.

Yes, that’s more like it. I can live with that. It is all in the perspective one chooses to employ. So, what rule exists in your garden – parental, anarchy, democracy, oligarchy or dictatorship?
Take a look at some examples that dare to defy me:

Creeping Jenny and mazus compete to take over the path.

Squatters

New Dawn roses running riot

The fig (in pot) that refuses to stand straight

The wisteria that resists taming

Forget-me-nots that self-seed with no restraint.

Don’t forget that my garden is open this May 25! Check ‘Happenings’ page for details.
(c) 2013 Shobha Vanchiswar

March Musings

Posted on March 5, 2013 by shobha

Goodbye winter weary February, hello March! Coming alive with all the trappings of hope and optimism is the theme of the month. Look around. The evidence is everywhere. Bulbs determinedly pushing their way through the frozen earth, the willow trees turning an ocher yellow soon to be replaced by sap green, forsythia bushes studded with fattening buds of burnt sienna. I go on treasure hunts of my own – Spot the Snowdrops and Unhide the Hellebores.

This past Friday, in celebration of it being the first of March, I went on a reconnaissance of my garden. In the midst of patches of grass left exposed by the last snow melt, I spied the earliest of the snowdrops! A sight that never ceases to thrill. I rushed to check the hellebores. Sure enough, sweetly nestled beneath the protective mantle of last year’s leaves were buds galore. Firm assurance that spring was well on its way.

In the greenhouse, the primroses brought inside in pots last fall, have begun putting forth flowers in colors that could only have been chosen by a child. Deep red, fuchsia pink, egg yolk yellow sit happily on rosettes of cushiony, kelly green leaves. They’ll be moved into the house to provide instant cheer.

Heralding the hyacinths still breaking through the ground, are the ones being forced indoors. I have placed the forcing vases and pots where not only I, but others will be sure to notice the daily magical transformations. Idealistically I imagine that such gems will improve our moods and outlooks. They do.

The annual orchid show of the New York Botanical Garden started this past weekend. Like a pilgrim, I went with fervor and faith in my heart. At this time of year, I’d go to just about any floral exhibit. Never mind that the flower shows are not entirely realistic. The sight of a gazillion flowers in bloom is the perfect ticket to banish all traces of the winter doldrums. The more gaudy the splashes of color the better. I am now brimming with renewed energy and desire to serve my garden. As soon as it gets bearable to work outside, I’ll be pruning the roses.

The gardens at the NYBG are always a couple or so weeks ahead of my garden. Surveying the swathes of blooming snowdrops and eranthis, the fully open hellebores and even a few daring crocus, I had a very satisfying preview of the pleasures to come. Is there anything more sublime?

Even the light has changed. The soft, pale amber of winter has turned a distinct shade brighter. After we move the hour hand forward on the tenth, we’ll be waking to sun burnished mornings. I cannot wait. I too have awoken from my hibernation.