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Gardeners and their Gardens

After spending some time in the middle of that starkly beautiful wilderness though, I not only started to appreciate what I was looking at, but realized that the landscape of the desert has much to teach the rest of us in this time of rapidly changing climate. While parts of our country are being drenched by non-stop onslaughts of rain, almost half of the continental United States (46.5%) is suffering from years of on-going drought conditions. Many aquifers across the country are nearly depleted and will need years of consistent surface moisture to be replenished. According to the U.S. government’s Drought Monitor, 93 million people and 78 million acres of our crops are experiencing the effects of water shortages. Taking cues from the desert landscape, we can learn to manage our water consumption and still have stunning landscapes.

Daffodils may herald the coming of spring, but lilacs assure us that spring is here! The iconic lilac, once thought of as a throwback to grandma’s garden, is once again finding the place of honor it deserves in today’s gardens. 

If I were a soil scientist (and that does take a huge stretch of your imagination), I would be presenting you with a list showing the taxonomy of 12 different soils, all having totally unfamiliar and unpronounceable names. Each soil group would be determined by one or two major characteristics. The descriptions of the 12 would point out everything from their common characteristics and minute differences to their percentage in the world’s total land surface. It’s interesting information but a little overwhelming to retain for common gardening knowledge.

My garden is bursting with color right now. Hundreds of daffodils in shades of yellow are all in bloom, filling the beds and weaving through the grass like bright ribbons. It makes me happy to just sit and look at them, and after all of the stresses of last year, every sliver of joy is a gift to be treasured and a solid faith in the future.

The experts at Pantone must have recognized the importance and universality of those feelings. For only the second time in its 21 year history, two different colors share the stage as Pantone’s Color of the Year. Reflecting on the global upheavals of 2020, the panel of forecasters paired the joyful, upbeat yellow Illuminating with the strong, dependable Ultimate Grey.  According to the Pantone Color Institute’s Executive Director Liatrice Eiseman, “...this is a color combination that gives us resilience and hope.  We need to feel encouraged and uplifted; this is essential to the human spirit.”

If the term RAIN GARDEN brings an image of a weedy bog teeming with scores of mosquitoes and other unpleasant flying insects to your mind, then it’s time to update and edit that picture! 

To bring both vitality and tranquility to a garden, motion has to be an intentional element of the design.

If you stop and think about it, movement is inherent in nature. Every motion, no matter how big or how small, adds its thread to the tapestry that is our environment. 

Early spring is a great time to turn a hum-drum landscape into the masterpiece of your dreams. Often, adding a few well-chosen and well-placed shrubs to the existing plant palette can make all the difference in the world.