Serenity in the Garden

Now More than Ever - Lets Get Kids Gardening -  When did we abandon the simple pleasures of growing carrots in milk cartons, planting hollyhocks along old fences or having fragrant lilacs at the corner of a house?  Let's reclaim this as part of our ordinary life... Hollyhocks We all have such memories - even city kids like me... It might be the 'weed' that smelled like licorice (anise hyssop),  or the buttercups that you put under your chin,  or the honeysuckle that you could suck a teeny drop of 'honey' from,  Honeysuckle the sweet smell of roses as you walked past a certain house,  or the bright yellow daffodils in early spring that sprang up overnight it seemed. daffodils by Jan Johnsen I would like us to revive 'garden memories' - to bring flowers, plants and gardens back into our lives. This kind of knowledge has been cast aside in favor of math and physics but I say children can learn thos...

You can buy seeds for Ms Mars sunflowers from here .  I love s unflowers. And the variety known as Ms. Mars ( Helianthus annuus  'Ms Mars')  has crazy merlot-colored petals that radiate out to form an eye-popping flower. The ray petals slowly turn from a purple to a pretty pink.  It is a dwarf variety, growing only 20"-30" high, with a strongly branching habit.  Ms Mars Sunflower - branching and dwarf variety . Click here for more.  Full sun. Easy to Grow.  Dark Purple buds.  Great for kids' gardens and anywhere. Plus, Ms Mars makes a stunning cut flower.  You can use petals and seeds in salads and cakes. And not only are the flowers permeated with a dark reddish purple hue but the leaves and stems are also tinged with this inky color.    Add this sun loving, happy flower to any garden - guaranteed to make you smile. 

Fire Marshall Bee Balm General Beebalm  ( Monarda)   is a favorite perennial flower with a striking display of richly-colored flowers through the summer months.   The variety, Monarda 'Fire Marshall',  is a hummingbird magnet and has excellent tolerance to mildew.   A hybrid between U.S. natives  Monarda  'Marshall's Delight' &  M.  'Jacob Cline', it is more compact than 'Jacob Cline'. Its bright red, over-sized flowers add a vibrant pop to the landscape throughout the summer.  'Fire Mar shall' Bee Balm grows 24 to 36 inches tall, with bright red, shaggy  flowers.  The flowers are a favorite of butterflies and hummingbirds, growing above the foliage in the mid to late summer.  Good clump forming habit.  The leaves have a nice fragrance and are  significantly more resistant to powdery mildew than most older varieties.     Deer and rabbits largely...

“In Hindi, seed is  bija  or ‘containment of life." Vandana Shiva Ah, so true.... One of the most alarming films I have seen in a long time is Seed the Untold Story.   Please get your library to get it! It is not to be missed! So where should we buy our little 'containments of life' these days? Here are a few seed companies that are worthy of a look: Renee’s Garden Check out their Basil collection of seeds and their "Rainbow Kitchen Garden",  5 packets of colorful vegetable varieties that are easy to grow and great for anyone starting a garden from seed. Includes: Farmer's Market Lettuce Mix : rainbow of colors and textures Garden Candy Cherry Tomatoes : red, orange, yellow and sweet as sugar Tasty Duo Scallions : red and green skinned, savory and crisp Tricolor Bush Beans : purple, yellow and green pods Tricolor Zucchini:  gold, light and dark green, with buttery flavor Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds  - This group ...

 I reprint this post every year with new suggestions...time to plan  3 secrets to a successful  CHILD'S VEGETABLE GARDEN: They should not be too demanding,  They should offer fairly quick results  The must not  require too much maintenance. But how to achieve this in a garden in the short few months before school is over in June?  Go to  kidsgardening.org  and also check out the wonderful post on Yardday (click on name) then, prepare, prepare, prepare. 1 .  First, your veggie garden site has to have full sun for over 6 hours a day. This is a must! And morning sun is preferable over 6 hours of late in the day sun. 2.  It must be relatively level and have soil  deep enough  to sustain plant roots and facilitate adequate drainage (about 16 inches deep at least). No 6" to bedrock or placed atop asphalt. The soil has to be  prepared beforehand - not by the kids, but by adults....

 I am reprinting this post from last April...it is so timely!  3 secrets to a successful  CHILD'S VEGETABLE GARDEN: They should not be too demanding,  They should offer fairly quick results  The must not  require too much maintenance. But how to achieve this in a garden in the short few months before school is over in June?  Go to  kidsgardening.org  and also go to the wonderful post on Yardday  (click on name here) then, prepare, prepare, prepare. 1 .  First, your veggie garden site has to have full sun for over 6 hours a day. This is a must! And morning sun is preferable over 6 hours of late in the day sun. 2. It must be relatively level and have soil  deep enough  to sustain plant roots and facilitate adequate drainage (about 16 inches deep at least). No 6" to bedrock or placed atop asphalt. The soil has to be  prepared beforehand - not by the kids, but by adults....

Shakespeare wrote, “… a rose, by any other name , would smell as sweet,” which means that a name does not change the experience.    I concur! But I was introduced as a New York City child to flowers through their names – no color photos, sweet smelling blossoms or informative text – just typed names on a page and I fell instantly in love with the descriptive floral monikers. Love in a Mist - great name Up until the age of nine, I lived in a small apartment in the borough of Queens in New York City. It was in Fresh Meadows, a complex called by   Lewis Mumford  “perhaps the most positive and exhilarating example of community planning in the country.”  But it was a neighborhood of squat, three story brick buildings and small duplexes, each with a paved playground behind it and some areas of grass that never grew because us kids always played on it…. Fresh Meadows, Queens - home sweet home Every winter, my school, PS 26, in an attempt to rais...