Tag: #mindfulness

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Paperwhite Flowers

Growing and Caring for Paperwhites

Paperwhite flowers are super easy to grow and add a nice pop of color to the room during cold weather months. People often ask me how to care for paperwhites so I’ve outlined my process below in a few simple steps.

Five Steps for Growing and Caring for Paperwhites

  1. Paperwhites belong to the narcissus family, same as daffodils, and are commonly grown inside during the winter months. There are a number of varieties, so have fun selecting your favorites. Bulb size matters, so go for the biggest bulbs you can get your hands on for stronger stems and more flowers.
  2. Consider using an organic potting soil for your plants. Potting soil is different from garden dirt, its lighter (often containing fertilizer) to help plants develop strong root systems. Some people use stones or marble instead of soil, which is fine too.
  3. You can use any container (preferably with drainage holes to prevent water build up). The container size needed depends on the numbers of bulbs you are planting. These flowers look nice planted in clusters. For a strong showing, consider combining paperwhites with amaryllis in the planter.
  4. Plant the bulbs on top of the soil and press them slightly into the dirt. The bulbs should be near fully exposed.
  5. Place your planter in a location with full or filtered sunlight and water every 2-3 days. (These plants do not like wet feet, so avoid overwatering. (Turn the ceiling fan on if you need to dry them.) More sun is better, but if that’s not an option for you, I’ve tested different locations in my home and have found they do well almost anywhere (regardless of the amount of sunlight). Some plants can get leggy with insufficient sunlight. If so, consider staking them.

Post Harvest Care

Cut the stems once all flowers are spent and store the bulbs and container in a cool dry place. You can store the bulbs in a paper bag in a basement or garage. My bulbs often have babies, which I leave attached to the mother bulb. It may take a couple years, but the babies will flower eventually.

If you found this article was helpful, please consider tagging #le_pommier_org on IG or #LePommierLLC on FB in your posts.

Happy Growing!

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Growing Amaryllis

A guide for the care and feed of amaryllis plants

Getting Started

Amaryllis are the perfect flower for growing indoors during the cold weather months. People often ask me how to care for these bulbs so they produce flowers year-after-year. I’ve outlined my process below in five simple steps.I hope you find them helpful.

Five Steps for Successfully Growing Amaryllis

To grow Amaryllis you only need three tools: a garden pot or vase, the growing medium, and one or more amaryllis bulb(s).

  1. Choosing the right bulb is of utmost importance. Amaryllis come in all kinds of varieties producing various stem lengths and flower colors. So go crazy and pick out a good one. After selecting the variety, bulb size is equally important because the bulb size generally determines how many stems and flowers the bulb will produce. (Bulb size is a measurement of the bulb’s circumference taken at the widest part.)

Longfield Gardens published the below metrics for how many stems and flowers each size bulb is likely to produce:

26/28 cm – 1 stem (occasionally 2) with 3 to 4 flowers

28/30 cm – 1-2 stems with 3-4 flowers per stem

30/32 cm – 2 stems with 4-5 flowers per stem

32/34 cm – 2 stems (occasionally 3) with 4-5 flowers per stem

34/36 cm – 3 stems with 4-5 flowers per stem

See https://www.longfield-gardens.com/blog/?p=amaryllis-bulb-size-what-the-measurements-mean-and-why-they-matter#:~:text=Amaryllis%20bulbs%20are%20sized%20by,%2C%20measuring%2034%2F36%20cm.

2. Growing medium is probably less important for amaryllis. Amaryllis are known to thrive in circumstances of neglect, e.g., in wax housings or glass vases filled with rocks. My preference is to set the bulb on top of organic potting soil. Remember, the bulb should be fully exposed with only 1-2 inches of the base covered by soil or other potting medium. You can cover the soil with moss if you would like to add more interest to the pot.

3. Regarding the container, you can use a glass vase or a 4-6″ garden pot. You don’t need a lot of room unless you are planning to put multiple plants in a single container. (If so, adjust the pot size accordingly.) You may want to stake longer amaryllis stems with, e.g., bamboo, etc. (18-24″ inches tall) and secure with Velcro tape.

4. Amaryllis do not like wet feet, so water only as needed. The soil should feel damp to the touch but not wet. My rule of thumb is to water every 2-3 days with a small amount. If you think you over watered the plant, turn the ceiling fan on to help dry the top soil. Your amaryllis should begin to flower within 2-3 weeks of bringing the plant indoors, with larger bulbs blooming for up to two months.

5. After the flowers are spent, remember to cut the stems down to the bulb to make room for more stems to grow, taking care not to cut the leaves. After all flowers are spent, you should have a plant with long chunky green leaves.

Post Harvest Care

Consider the bulb as a power station for your flowers. Taking care to feed the bulb’s energy needs throughout the year with plenty of sun exposure, the bulb size will increase incrementally and produce even more flowers and thicker /stronger stems for years to come. You can keep your plant going throughout the year by setting the pot in a sunny window indoors and outside in the summer. I generally let my amaryllis go through to October and then cut the leaves down flat against the bulb (removing all plant matter). You can store the bulb in a cool dry place, e.g., in a paper bag, until you are ready to start again. I usually start mine in early December. You don’t need to water the bulbs while they are dormant (in storage).

Happy Growing!

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Growing Sweet Pea

If your hands are feeling idle and you find yourself longing to get your fingers back into the dirt, sweet pea should be at the top of your list for spring planting. Sweet pea are tall elegant vining flowers long used in Victorian and cottage gardens for their fragrant and colorful blooms. Long stems also make sweet pea ideal for cutting gardens. While not the easiest flowers to grow, you can successfully grow sweet pea by following these five simple steps.

Five Steps for Growing Sweet Pea: Soak, Sew, Cut Back, Plant, Feed

Sweet pea prefer cooler weather and may be planted outside after the last frost date. Many gardeners prefer to get a head start by planting seeds in trays inside, which can be done six to seven weeks before the last frost date. You can check the last frost date for your area on the Farmers Almanac website at https://www.almanac.com/gardening/frostdates by entering your zip code in the search bar. Then, follow these five simple steps.

1. Soak Seeds

Sweet pea have round hard seeds that look like peppercorns. Before planting, first soak seeds in room temperature water for 24 hours. Some gardeners also nick the surface of the seed with a knife to encourage them to grow.

2. Sew Seeds

Sew seeds in a sunny area one inch deep and six inches apart. If planting in trays, place the seed tray under a sunny window or a grow light. Plants generally need eight to ten hours of sunlight daily to grow. Sweet pea seeds germinate within one to two weeks of planting. During this time, the soil should be kept damp but not wet. Overwatering can cause root rot or plants to dampen off (turn yellow and die).

3. Cut Back

Once seedlings emerge and sprouts reach six inches tall, pinch or cut off the top one inch. Cutting seedlings back is a necessary step to encourage thicker stronger stems and will cause plants to branch out (for fuller/bushier plants).

4. Plant Seedlings

If started inside, plant seedlings outside after the last frost date. Remember to harden plants off before planting them outside. (Bring trays outside during the day and inside at night for one week to allow plants to adjust.) Sweet pea should be planted in a sunny location with a minimum of eight to ten hours of sunlight per day, spaced six inches apart. Because most sweet pea varieties reach six to eight feet tall when fully grown, plants will require support (with a bamboo stake, tee-pee, obelisk, or trellis). If using stakes, consider attaching garden netting to the stakes to support a wider area of plants. If using pots, plant seedlings along the perimeter of the pot and insert an obelisk or other support structure in the center. Secure plants with string to the support structure.

Because plants grow as much as one foot each week, check them weekly and tie up new growth as stems grow taller.

5. Feed Flowers

Sweet pea are generally considered hungry plants and will require monthly feedings of high potash fertilizer. (Tomato feed generally works well.)

Flowers should emerge 90-120 days after vining. To encourage new growth, cut flowers regularly. Sweet pea typically bloom from June through October, depending on where you live and when plants were started. Flowers will last up to four days in a vase with water.

Save seed pods in the fall for planting the following year. Sweet pea are not edible plants but the seed pods do look like the edible variety namesake.

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Imagining the Growing Space

photo of woman sitting by the table while writing

“The world is but a canvas to our imagination,” Henry David Thoreau.

We’ve talked a bit about space and content, but now let’s focus on the suspenders of our garden plan. The art of gardening starts with an intention to create a space with clearly defined attributes and/or benefits. Whether the goal is to provide sustenance and/or joie de vivre, it all starts with a plan and a commitment to show up every day. Frankly, gardens do not merely happen but for the intention. They take a lot of work, at minimum, a daily time commitment to build and/or maintain the space, financial resources, and passion to carry you through the days when you are feeling frustrated by the absence or inconsistency of the current results achieved.

Robin Williams who, by far, is one of my favorite actors and comedians once said, “You’re only given a spark of madness, you mustn’t lose it.” I think the madness to which he refers is a passion for life. Think about what makes your heart sing and create a space where you can be your authentic self, separate from who you are professionally or when you are putting your best self forward. This is a space where you can experience time alone with your thoughts and just be. Maybe I’ve lost some of you with what could be characterized as drivel; but, I assure you that there is a separate and distinct side of ourselves, an inner child that is unbound by emotions like fear, bias, and judgement who is waiting to run free and experience the possible.

This week your assignment is to imagine your growing space. Think about its design and how its construct supports your vision.

Considerations

  • Think about the design of your planned growing space and how it will support your lifestyle (there are many artistic considerations like volume, shape, and consistency that need to be balanced with your needs);
  • Think about the various planting options available, e.g., in-ground vs. raised-bed and/or container gardens;
  • If you don’t have a big back yard or prefer the garden meet you where you are, consider super-raised bed options, including ones that come with wheels;
  • If the plants you’ve chosen grow to more than 12 inches tall, think about structural support, such as bamboo staking, obelisks, and trellising;
  • Consider sensitive produce that may be particularly vulnerable to the local pests. I’ve learned the hard-way that merely planting more will not satisfy the rabbits (because they are greedy); and
  • Think about other needs, e.g., if you have pets, you may want to plant herbs and vegetables away from their path.

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Le Fruitier

“For a valiant heart, nothing is impossible”. Jacques Coeur

I’m a huge fan of words that are not as oft used as in their former glory days. For instance, have you considered the list of words used to describe different sections of the backyard garden as if they were separate rooms, like orchard, grove, vineyard, patch, and nuttery (which is where you will find the nutty trees and not your crazy aunt, silly!). Of course, there are others, like cutting garden, kitchen garden, and herb garden. While there are many options to consider, today we focus on the fruitier, a.k.a., the orchard.

During the first and second world wars, most homes had backyard gardens where families and communities grew their own fresh fruits and vegetables to eat and/or trade with their neighbors to address food shortages. Sadly, this trend did not keep pace with the test of time, which is why today we import food made in third countries that cannot possibly compare in quality, vigor, and/or taste to self-produced fresh food products. While establishing an orchard may seem like a lofty idea in concept, admittedly it may also unnerve some when considering factors like space, proper care, maintenance, etc. Which is why today we opened with Jacques Coeur’s point-of-view and emphasis on the possibilities.

In fact, advances in high-density farming and planting rootstock have crushed the “space constraints” of growing fruit trees. Today, many fruit trees are grown on dwarf rootstock, which result in reduced tree height and enable them to be planted closer together. Further, academic studies have shown that high-density fruit tree production yields better output and uses less resources than other growing methods.

Today’s challenge, if you should choose to accept it, is to check out different fruit tree varieties and to think about how you might incorporate them into your garden plan (if you’ve been following along). I actually have three potted fruit trees that I bring inside during the winter months because they are not rated for my growing zone, but I am determined to have them in my collection (a Mexican key lime, lemon, and Italian fig).

Factors to Consider When Planting Fruit Trees:

  1. Choose fruit trees grown on dwarf rootstock (you can prune trees to manage their height to 6-8 feet so that you don’t need a ladder to pick fruit);
  2. Take note of whether your tree variety is self-pollinating or requires a cross-pollinator (typically a different variety that blooms / flowers at the same time);
  3. Note your trees super powers / potential uses (some trees have specific culinary properties which make them suitable for cooking, making cider, canning, etc.);
  4. Trees can be planted in rows along a fence or other flat vertical plane, i.e., espalier (checkout River Road Farms in Tennesee to get the juices flowing at http://www.espaliertrees.com);
  5. Trees should be spaced at least five feet within the row and a space equal to the maximum tree height between rows (this allows the sun to hit all sides of the trees);
  6. Water regularly (young trees need between 12 and 15 gallons of water per week (May through September);
  7. Use an organic fungicide to control mildew, rust, leaf spot disease, etc. (I use bonide on my trees); and
  8. Prune trees annually once they are dormant (doing so will spur more growth the following spring).