Quite Contrary

Mary, Mary, how does your garden grow?

Writing is a passion but I love my flowers, too.  I am obsessed with what I call ‘completing the circle.’  I grow several different types of perennials and add more each year, much to the dismay of my poor husband, who’s told me we’ve run out of room.  Guess what he’ll be doing this spring?  (If I can get him off that bike long enough!)   I harvest the seeds from annuals for the following year; morning glories, zinnias and alyssum are very easy.  As for perennials, I’ve got foxglove, hollyhock, Russian sage, lavender, coneflowers, hibiscus, clematis, hydrangea, lobelia; the list goes on and on.  Can I help it if most of what I plant flourishes and every seedling is going crazy?  Living in Ohio presents a real challenge and my sister, who enjoys Virginia’s balmy climate loves to torment me with pictures of her hibiscus, trumpet vines, and other flowers which I told her to get and which far surpass mine!!  But how can you have a non-hardy hibiscus blooming in March if you live in Ohio?! 

This past fall, I collected perennial and annual seeds, to store and replant in the spring.  Others will self-seed and then they really take over!  Over the summer, I harvested pansies, Russian sage, lavender, and hydrangea and pressed them to be used later in picture frames, cards, or other decorative items.  (Bookmarks would be very fitting, wouldn’t they?)  My husband built me a flower press but I also use the old faithful phone books.  I pride myself with the fact that I can take a seed, harvest the flower to be used for a picture frame, etc, then harvest the seed for friends or next year’s planting in my own garden.  Thus, ‘completing the circle.’ This spring, I’m going to start the amaryllis seeds I harvested from the spent blooms last winter as well as the clematis seeds I picked off the vines.

I’m pretty crazy about herbs, too.  Of course, I love food; just visit the Mange’ section of this site to see how I use my herbs; oregano, basil, rosemary, sage, dill, chives, loveage, and tarragon.   

Sometimes, I read about how to propagate and sometimes, I just try my own methods.  If you’d like to share your ideas, attempts, and successes, I’d love to hear from you.