Resilience

I am watching the snowdrops as they bravely lift their heads through the remnants of snow, and I am reminded about resilience. According to the internet it is “the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness”. It’s one reason I chose the snowdrop for my logo. To me it represents beauty in the face of harsh circumstances.  Resilience is such an important attribute and yet one that seems lacking today. We live in a society where expectations are high, and success must be immediate. We don’t seem to know how to get up when we have been knocked down. We no longer hear the expression “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.”

My garden is a great example of resilience. Look carefully at plants that have been browsed by deer that appear dead until a tender green shoot appears. See the container plants that never made it into the ground last fall and overwintered in a pile of leaves. Despite freezing temperatures they are coming back. The prized echinacea that I had to have (but that was over budget) is dead. But it has seeded in and its children continue. The evergreen that had its central leader damaged by snow has made a new one. Even the beautiful ‘Audrey’ ficus (pictured here) speaks of resilience. A client had these (very expensive) plants but didn’t want them. By the time I got to them they looked dead but I didn’t want to give up so I brought them in to the house and tended them. Eventually all the leaves fell off; people wondered why I would have dead plants taking up so much room in the house. I couldn’t give up – they were valuable. And look what happened. ‘Audrey’ was resilient and over time came back better than ever.

Thomas Edison made 1000 attempts to invent a light bulb. Walt Disney was fired by a newspaper because the editor said he “lacked imagination.” Robin Williams was voted “Least Likely to Succeed” in high school. At a modeling agency Marilyn Monroe was told she had better learn secretarial work or get married. 

Whether in gardening or in life, resilience is a vital attribute. As Vince Lombardi said, “It’s not whether you get knocked down, it’s whether you get back up.”

READ MORE ABOUT OTHERS WHO DID NOT GIVE UP

 

Northwest Flower and Garden Show

Rooted in Landscape

I really miss garden shows – especially my hometown Boston Spring Flower and Garden Show. It’s one reason I was especially excited to be invited to speak at the Northwest Flower and Garden Show last month. It is the second largest show in the country and beloved by all who attend. 

The Show did not disappoint and I now understand why so many attendees rave about it. I was very impressed by the displays – especially the smaller “front porch” vignettes as they showcased some great container gardens. One of the displays by Rooted in Landscape focused on biophilic design in the workspace. You may have remembered biophilic design from another of my newsletters. I think Smitha’s display was very well received as so many of us are working from home since COVID. Who wouldn’t want to be surrounded by greenery and living walls?

I spoke on container gardening, as well as using more foliage in container designs. Both talks seemed well-received, and the best part was talking to attendees afterwards. Spending time with other plant nerds talking plants never gets old. I also participated in Container Wars and, I’m not going to lie, I was a bit nervous. After all, as Michael Jackson put it “I’m a lover, not a fighter.” But it was all in good fun as my opponent and I battled for the coveted blue ribbon. I won but might have had an unfair advantage as my challenger was an authority on roses, not a container gardener. I toyed with the idea of wearing my winning ribbon on the plane home in hopes that its FIRST PLACE message would get me out of coach (maybe someone would think I was coming from the Olympics). In the end I decided to settle in to my lilliputian-sized seat, accept the fact that I would lose feeling in my feet and legs and solace myself with the delicious teeny bag of goldfish.

Crazy for Coleus.

Fishnet Stockings, Dipt in Wine, Keystone Kopper, Marooned. Sounds like a night out gone bad, right? Actually these are all names of Coleus – a plant that is fast becoming one of the most popular with gardeners. Many of you already know it is one of my all-time favorite annuals to use. This is not your grandmother’s Coleus; this is one of the most versatile plants on the market. There are upright varieties, sprawling varieties, mounding varieties. Even sun-loving varieties. 

Many of you also know that I am a huge fan of all-foliage containers and Coleus is one of the major players in those designs. It’s beautiful and plays nicely with so many other great foliage plants. Coleus is a relatively easy-going plant but there are a few tips to guarantee growing success, whether you are using it in containers or your gardens.

Coleus Tips

  1. First, and most important is to plant Coleus in good soil. It should not be heavy and needs to drain well as Coleus resents having wet feet and will let you know by rotting and dying. 
  2. Coleus needs the right light and whether that is sun or shade really depends on the variety. Many of the deeper colored reds and oranges like a bit more sun. Those with the name ‘Florida’ or ‘Solar’ or ‘Red’ give you a hint as to their sun requirements.  I have found that ‘Fishnet Stockings’ prefers more shade and will get crispy in too much sun.
  3. Coleus does not like wet feet, but it also does not like to dry out – consistent moisture is key. I feed my Coleus every few weeks with an all-purpose fertilizer. This is especially important in containers as much of your minerals leach out of the container with watering.
  4. While you might be reading this and thinking to rush right out and buy Coleus, wait. Coleus does NOT like cold. This foliage all-star will perform best when soil has warmed and evening temperatures are consistently in the 60’s. Here in New England we have at least two more months to wait. In the meantime you can drool over some beautiful varieties here.
  5. Finally, you can pinch out any flowers to conserve energy and control plant growth. Or you can leave the flowers for the bees and other pollinators. ‘Sedona’ has a particularly beautiful purplish flower that looks very attractive against its terra cotta-colored foliage.

Coleus Gallery

On my mind.

Flower Shows. Symposiums. Garden Club meetings. I miss the wonderful interactions those venues provided with others who were as passionate about gardening as me.

While COVID threw a wrench in my in-person speaking engagements I was able to adapt and actually found that, as much as I missed seeing fellow gardeners, I liked the Zoom format. Especially on late winter nights – no need to drive on slippery roads, plus I get into my pjs sooners! But now, as things are slowly opening, I am very excited to start doing presentations and workshops (like the succulent pumpkins pictured at the top) in person. 

 I will be at the Berkshire Botanical Garden on November 20th presenting “Winter Wow: Beautiful Containers for the Colder Months”.  I am also beyond thrilled to have been asked to present at the Northwest Flower and Garden Show in Seattle in February. It is the largest garden show west of Philadelphia and the second largest show in the country. It has been on my bucket list for years and I am so excited to be able to cross it off. I will be giving two talks: the first about creating jaw-dropping container gardens and the second focused on designing beautiful containers using only foliage. I will also be participating in “Container Wars” looking to create some jaw-dropping containers while my competition does the same. It should be fun! 

Since I have some friends in the area, and will be celebrating a big birthday, it could be a Sleepless in Seattle kind of trip!

Change your bulb.

Everyone knows fall is a great time to plant bulbs. This year why not try something a little different? 

Garlic. 

This delicious bulb is easy to plant and the steps are simple. Start with a nice full head of garlic – best to use one from the Farmers Market rather than one from the supermarket which could have been treated. Break apart the cloves but leave the paper husks on. Plant the cloves about 2” deep and 4” apart in sunny well-drained soil. Cover with a layer of mulch and check back in spring. Cut off flowers in spring to guarantee the biggest bulb, fertilize if the leaves start yellowing. Harvest when the tops turn yellow and start to flop over. Use a spade to dig up the bulbs, brush them off and let them cure in a shady spot for two weeks. When the husk or wrapper is dry and papery and the bulb is hard the garlic is ready to store.

I was a speaker at the MNLA Winter Forum a few years ago and talked with fellow speaker Brie Arthur who was a huge fan of growing edibles in the garden. Garlic was a particular favorite. Not only was it pretty but Brie said it kept a lot of the browsing animals away. In fact, she routinely used edibles among her annuals and perennials. Sounds better than bird netting to me! Brie told me her favorite garlic was called ‘Music’. I have ordered it and am ready to plant.

 Next summer I should have all the fixings for pizza!