USING FLOWERS AMONG FOOD CROPS

There is a certain satisfaction in seeing crisp, clean rows of tomatoes or tightly packed lines of lettuce. But in my gardening experience, I have found that my plants are happier and healthier when they are given a bit more freedom—not unlike people.

In nature, plants don’t tend to segregate themselves into exclusive groupings, but rather they grow together, mixing and mingling. In doing so, they achieve a symbiosis; they benefit from and protect one another.

Polyculture is an agricultural practice that seeks to mimic this natural diversity by growing a variety of plants together so they can help one another grow. Planting flowers in and among vegetable crops is a wonderful way to naturally promote garden health and, as an added benefit, enhance the beauty of your garden spaces. I personally love gardens that take on a wild, lost-cottage appearance—but flowers don’t have to look messy and haphazard. Considering size and height, complementary colors, and spacing will help to give your garden an elegant, graceful appearance.

However, the main reason to plant flowers alongside your veggies is that they can attract—and repel—insects. As gardeners, there are bugs we like, and bugs we would rather be without. Pollinators such as butterflies, moths, and, of course, bees, are critical to the survival of vegetable gardens. Then, there are the bad bugs: aphids, beetles, leafminers, squash bugs… the list goes on and on. Planting flowers can deter pests by their scent, make it more difficult for pests to travel and spread through your garden, and even attract other insects that eat those pests. >>

Pollinators, Please!

So much of the food we eat relies on pollinators to grow and produce fruit. Planting the right flowers can draw them in and give your garden the boost it needs to be productive.

Bees, well known for their productive pollination in gardens, can’t see the color red. They are especially attracted to blue and violet flowers that smell sweet and provide easy access to nectar. But bees are not the only pollinators we want in our garden! Butterflies and hummingbirds are excellent pollinators too, and they have different mouth-shapes and color preferences. Hummingbirds, for example, love red, cone-shaped flowers and can access nectar that is stored deeper within the bloom. So when in doubt, plant a variety!

Cosmos: Full disclosure, I listed these first because they are my favorite. I love how leggy and wild cosmos grow, especially when planted among sunflowers (which are also great for bees). But these beauties are professional pollinator magnets, with many varieties and colors to choose from. Bees love the purple and pink varieties, while the white sensation variety is especially good for attracting lacewings, who in larvae form have quite an appetite for aphids. Tip: They look stunning among anything that vines or climbs up a trellis.

Purple Coneflower (Echinacea): Bees love this stuff. Their purple, cone-shaped blossoms are the perfect color and shape for our busy, buzzing garden friends. As an added bonus, echinacea is well-known for its immune-boosting, cold-fighting qualities when used in tea.

Zinnias: An excellent choice for the vegetable garden, zinnias attract lots of beneficial insects. In particular, butterflies love them. They are bright and colorful, and provide late-season nectar for pollinators. They also invite beneficial insects, especially Monarch butterflies, to lay eggs in their foliage. They attract hummingbirds, hover flies and wasps, all of which eat up destructive pests. Plant them around your tomatoes to deter worms. If you need more convincing, they make gorgeous cut flowers. You can’t lose with a thick zinnia patch in your garden.

Columbine: Columbine is another personal favorite and has a very interesting history of adaptation to benefit the pollinators that drink their nectar. Biologists have found that the unique nectar spurs, or long tubes that lead to the flowers’ nectar, grow in length based on the tongues of their preferred pollinators. These are a favorite snack of hummingbirds.

Lavender: This divine smelling, purple beauty is a favorite of bees and gardeners alike. You probably already have some in your garden. Consider placing it nearer to your veggies. Choose long-blooming varieties—be sure to leave some uncut—and bees will come from miles around to enjoy the bounty of pollen and nectar that they provide.

Pest Prevention

There are all sorts of things we don’t want in our gardens. Flowers can be used to disguise food crops, confuse and trap harmful pests, and even attract insects that love to feast on all the bugs we don’t like. Better yet, strategically placed flowers are so much better for the garden than chemical pesticides, which can damage soil and stunt growth over time.

Calendula (Pot Marigolds): Who doesn’t love these flowers? Simple, compact, colorful, and late-blooming, pot marigolds are so cheerful and deter all sorts of unwanted insects, such as squash bugs, mosquitos, and lice. Considered a great “trap crop,” calendula attracts pests like aphids and whiteflies and produces a sticky substance that traps these garden pests before they reach your crops. Note: Calendula, an edible, herbal flower, is different from the common marigold, which is toxic when ingested.

Chrysanthemums: Did you know that some brands of bug repellent and pesticides use a chemical extracted from mums (pyrethrin) to deter pests? Not only do these flowers repel pests such as beetles and harlequin bugs, which destroy gardens, they also keep away lice, ticks, bed bugs, roaches, and other universally disliked crawling critters. I like to plant them among squash and potatoes.

Queen Anne’s Lace: A tall, elegant choice for the garden, Queen Anne’s Lace attracts lacewings, ladybugs, hoverflies, and a number of other pest-gobbling insects to the vegetable patch. They are also known to give tomato plants a little boost when planted close by! Like many on this list, they will keep coming back year after year and can spread prolifically.

Yarrow: Yarrow is becoming the permaculturists secret weapon. It attracts beneficial insects such as bees and lacewings, provides excellent nesting grounds for these helpful critters, and has a scent that repels garden pests. In fact, it would make an excellent addition to your cucumber patch. To top it all off, yarrow is a beloved medicinal herb, used to control bleeding, pain, and inflammation. It’s also known to fortify garden soil and activate compost. This is a powerhouse of a plant you should always make room for.

Nasturtium: These attractive edibles are another powerful multi-use companion, and they come with a cornucopia of benefits.
The flowers and leaves are edible (and quite tasty) and provide an extensive list of medicinal benefits. They also emit a powerful odor that masks the scent of crops that are often vulnerable to a pest attack. Plant them everywhere, but especially near your brassicas.

Consider experimenting with interplantings of beneficial flowers this spring. You’ll have a great time trying different height and color combinations. When you find yourself spending less time fighting off pest infestations and more time enjoying the beauty and bounty of your garden, you’ll become an instant polyculturalist for life.

General Tips:

Avoid chemical fertilizers and pesticides.
These products can be helpful to the gardener, but often their consequences outweigh their benefits. Pollinators don’t like them, and they can strip soil of its organic qualities. Use natural, cultural solutions when possible, and if chemicals are a must, check to make sure they aren’t harmful to beneficial insects.

Plant in small groups. A single flower is better than no flower at all, but planting in clumps is a good way to attract pollinators. It shortens the distance that they have to travel for food and encourages them to stick around. As pest repellents, groups of flowers perform better.

Shoot for year-round blooms. If you provide a constant food source for beneficial insects, they will return to your yard all year long—and likely make their homes close by. Try to keep something in bloom throughout the year.

Provide other resources. Bees, butterflies, and all of those garden-friendly bugs need more than food to survive. Consider providing housing (bee hotels are really cool, and make for a fun project) and shallow water to encourage long-term residence in your garden.

Photo by Paul Wheaton, richsoil.com

For me, winter is a struggle. I can’t grow much more than lettuce, and I crave the dirt and the smell of tomato vines. It’s during the cold season that I do all of my planning. My husband gets anxious when he sees the graph paper strewn about our dining table—he knows that I’m designing my latest garden expansion idea, and he’s going to be out there digging in just a few months.

In an effort to minimize the hard work of garden tilling, he began building me raised beds several seasons ago.

I thought I would hate them, but I love them. Fewer weeds, no tilling—there are tons of benefits. So now, I’m always on the hunt for the next thing in raised bed gardening and permaculture—which brought me to hugelkultur.

First off, the word is ridiculous. Of German origin, it’s pronounced, “hoogle-culture,” and it means “hill culture.” It’s actually a practice that has been around for thousands of years—by various, probably less silly-sounding, names.

Essentially, hugelkultur is one of many methods of building raised, self-composting garden beds from layered, organic material. This one results in mound-shaped beds built from piling wood, mulch, and compost, and then covering the pile with soil, where plants will grow.

The great thing about hugelkultur is that it is self-watering, self-tilling, and self-fertilizing. Though building a hugel bed takes some effort, you’ll love how easy it is to maintain. The ingredients for a perfect hugel bed are probably already in your yard, and winter is the perfect time to take on a hugelkultur project, because the beds benefit from having a bit of time to get established before your spring veggie plantings.

Steps to building your own
Step One: Dig a trench. It doesn’t have to be very deep, but it should be about the size of the bed you want to create. Then, you will fill the trench with dead logs. Ideally, the logs will be in various states of decomposition. As these logs decompose, they will provide long-term, vital nutrients to the soil. Use hardwoods, because they break down more slowly, and you’ll want to stay away from wood varieties that contain toxins or will adversely affect the pH levels in the soil, such as black walnut and locust. Some ideal options are apple, maple, oak, and poplar, all of which can be found in abundance in our region.

Step Two: On top of the logs, you’ll pile smaller woody materials, such as branches and brush. This is likely where you will get the hill or mound shape of the bed itself. I wanted to build a fairly tall mound (three feet in height) but didn’t want large gaps or air pockets in the structure, inviting future collapse, so I layered with mulch between branch pilings. Pro-tip: The mulch I used is just chippings from a local tree business, and usually, they deliver at no cost. Again, just make sure that the wood type is appropriate for gardening purposes. Dead leaves and grass clippings are also terrific options and break down quickly, giving your garden a boost.

The size of the bed is entirely up to you. The important thing is that the organic materials below your growing medium are layered in such a way as to encourage long-term nutrient enrichment and sustained growth. Keep in mind also that if your bed is particularly tall, you’ll have one side receiving less sunlight, and you’ll want to consider that aspect when planting.

Step Three: After you’ve piled on your branches and the bed is still a manageable size (you’ll need to be able to reach the top), it’s time for the top mulch layer. Again, leaves and grass clippings are terrific, and I decided to reuse some of the turf I pulled up to dig the trench (grass-side down). This adds a little support and stability.

Step Four: After the top layer of mulch, you’ll need a compost layer. You won’t need a whole lot of compost, just enough to give your bed a jump start, so that the first year plantings will have nutrients while the woody materials slowly decompose.

Step Five: The final layer of your hugelkultur bed will be top soil. Start by reusing all the dirt you dug out of the trench, then add more if needed. Obviously, you want a good depth for planting, so take that into consideration as you cover the mound. In order to retain the structure of the bed, you’ll want to have something growing and setting down roots quickly. If building in winter, it’s a good idea to plant a cover crop such as rye or winter wheat, which will prevent erosion and help to keep the soil aerated.

The Benefits
There are many other techniques to try for raised bed gardening, but I like hugelkultur for a few reasons—one is that these beds can be massive, and my eyes are always bigger than my appetite when it comes to gardening. One of the most interesting qualities of hugelkultur, in my opinion, is that the structure of the bed actually results in a unique microclimate that keeps plants warm, because the process of decomposition generates heat. It also stays hydrated, as the decaying material retains moisture. These factors really encourage plant growth and can even extend the growing season. The mound shape offers more planting surface without requiring more precious garden real estate.

In the spring, you’ll have a healthy and unique garden bed ready for your veggies!

You can really plant anything in a hugelkultur bed.

Squash, melons and leafy veggies do especially well.

I’m a big fan of polyculture, or planting a variety of species in the same bed. Just be aware of companion plants that help each other grow! Your new hugelkultur bed, when properly constructed and planted, should last for years, and is sure to intrigue your garden-loving friends.

By Ashleigh Meyer

We all secretly want our present to be the receiver’s favorite—something they weren’t expecting and something that also gets used again and again and again.

If you are shopping for a loved one with a green thumb this holiday season, I have you covered. Below are nine of my favorite lawn and garden items that I hope will bring someone you love joy all year long!

Corona RazorTOOTH Folding Pruning Saw—This tool is always in my tool bag. It is big enough to get jobs done that loppers can’t. They are especially helpful when pruning roses and other ornamental shrubs that need shaping.
Find at Ace Overstreet Hardware, locations in Lynchburg and Forest: www.acehardware.com.

Womanswork All Leather Gauntlet Gloves—Winter chores call for tough gloves. These are particularly designed to wear when cleaning up “thorny” things like roses. They protect you all the way up to your elbows.
Find at womanswork.com.

LL Bean Everyday Lightweight Tote—This lightweight tote holds everything I need except loppers. You can pack your thermos, water bottle, gloves, tools, zip ties… everything. It opens wide so it’s easy to find what you are looking for—and it washes like a champ! This tote is also durable too. I’ve used it every day for a solid year with no rips or tears. There is even a monograming option for the ultimate personalized gift.
Find at LL Bean, www.llbean.com.

Joyce Chen 51-0621 Unlimited Scissor—I keep this in my kitchen drawer. It’s perfect for cleaning up vegetables from the garden or for meal prep. They are also helpful for trimming flowers while arranging them at your sink. If you only have one scissor in your kitchen drawer, this should be it.
(Oh, and it will do a number on chicken and fish as well!) Find on Amazon.

Gardener’s Workshop Trapezoidal Hoe—I’ve had this same hoe for about six years now. This tool lets you stand up to tackle a wide variety of weeding jobs. It can be used on the angle for tight work around plants and shrubs. Or, use the whole blade for larger weeds or wide-open spaces.
Find at www.thegardenersworkshop.com.

John Scheepers Amaryllis Bulbs—When the winter hangs on, we starve for the bright colors of our spring and summer gardens. Unusual amaryllis are sure to brighten up every corner of your home. No harder than paper whites to grow and much more stunning, there are lots of varieties to choose from. John Scheepers has a beautiful collection.
Find at www.johnscheepers.com.

Wheeler Munroe Leather Company Tool Belt—Made in North Carolina, these tool belts are a dream. Mine is always on my side so I can have my clippers, phone or paper with me. I have the Floral Belt model. I’ve had it at least five years and it still looks great. I’m waiting on something to break so I can get the model with more pockets. (Maybe they’ll see this magazine story and mail me one.
I have a Christmas wish list too!)
Find at www.wheelermunroe.com.

Gardener’s Workshop Soil Blocking Kit—After you’ve gardened for a while, you get bored with having access to only a few plant options. You crave more variety! This gift opens up the world of seed starting in a way that has changed our world at Irvington Spring Farm. We used to spend so much more on plugs. (Plant plugs that were shipped in these tiny cell trays by the box full.) Not anymore thanks to this cool method we saw on Lisa Zeigler’s site. These soil blocks are the most successful and forgiving system possible. You can have all the flowers and/or vegetables you can dream of because you start them yourself and aren’t dependent on what our nurseries alone can provide.
Find at www.thegardenersworkshop.com.

Element Sprinkler Hose—This hose did a great job keeping my gardens watered. I put a three-way hose valve onto my spigot and hooked up three at a time to cover a wide bed. It’s lightweight and doesn’t tangle up as easily as some other hoses do. Find at Home Depot.

Unlock the Potential of This Environmentally Friendly Backyard Concept

First made popular in Africa, keyhole gardens are now being used all around the world. Once you hear about how they work and the benefits, you’ll quickly see why.

Keyhole gardens are circular, raised gardens with a path in the middle that allows access to the entire space. Within a six-foot radius, you have your compost pile, your vegetable garden and your water source. A strategic layering system establishes a nutrient-rich base for your garden. The compost basket sits in the middle of the garden, providing nutrients to the plants.

Aside from convenience, keyhole gardens are the most environmentally responsible garden you can use in hot, dry, climates. Additionally, they have the added bonus of delivering a lot of food with very little work because of their compact size.

If you want to give it a try, here are a few basics to get you started.

Building

The site of your garden should be in a sunny location on your property, preferably easily accessed from your kitchen. Next, decide what you want to use to construct the structure. You don’t want to use materials that will decompose quickly. Brick, stone, cedar or locust saplings would all work. You can have an elaborate or simple design—be creative.

Your keyhole garden may need to become taller as your compost basket fills so be sure you keep that in mind and don’t design it too short. Start by making it about two feet high, with the option to make it taller as you need to.

Next, design your compost basket. It should be about two-feet in diameter and a foot taller than your existing exterior wall. A chicken wire basket is sufficient because it’s not solid—the nutrients in the basket need to be able to be released into the garden. Place your composting basket just inside the keyhole.

Layering

Now begin layering the ingredients to fill the garden inside the structure:

• The bottom layer should have branches, rocks, or broken clay pots about three inches deep to provide some drainage.

• Then comes your carbon layer, also known as “browns.” Browns are things that used to be alive but are now “dead.” Add a layer of cardboard (TV boxes are great to work with), then straw and/or leaves. This brown layer needs to be three times deeper than the next layer. So if your garden is three feet high make this layer two and a half feet high.

• Next you have your nitrogen layer or “greens.” This can be grass clippings, coffee grounds you’ve collected from your favorite coffee shop, food scraps… anything fresh. (Don’t use all grass clippings here as they may mat and not break down properly.)

• Finally add your soil, about 6 inches deep. Try to fill the soil so that it slopes down toward the edge of the garden. This will help with drainage.

Planting

Keyhole gardens are best for greens, radishes, broccoli, beans, etc. It’s not the garden for tall or deep-rooted crops like potatoes. Grow at least four different things in the garden to help use the soil’s nutrients wisely. You could run right out and make the structure out of chicken wire and plant greens in it for fall. Try spinach, kale, turnip greens and chard.

To prolong the growing season, make a “top” out of a floating row cover fabric or a poly/plastic sheet for greenhouse structures and have fresh greens on your table from your garden at Thanksgiving.

Composting
You’re probably wondering, “What did I make that basket thing for?” We’re back to greens and browns. Begin filling the compost basket in the center of your keyhole. It is just like a compost pile. Add layers of browns and greens and as the magic of decomposition sets in, the nutrients and moisture released will feed and water your vegetables.

It’s still a good idea to add water once a week if it doesn’t rain. But, you don’t need to drag a hose out there! Did you boil water for potatoes? Dump that in. Cooking corn for dinner? Dump that water into the basket. Use the “gray water” from around your home and save resources. Filtering through the compost cleans it out so it’s safe to use. The compost you are adding along with the gray water will keep the soil fed and the garden productive for several seasons.

How to Create a Pollinator-Friendly Growing Space

Did you know that one in every three bites of food we eat is courtesy of insect pollination? Think of it this way—one of the three meals you ate today, you can thank a pollinator for. Counter that fact with a not-so-good statistic—U.S. honeybee populations are declining at a rate of 44 percent or more.

But, this issue goes way beyond honeybees. Honeybees are an imported species. There are 3,500 species of native bees that actually do more foraging per day than the honeybee. There are also moths, wasps, butterflies, bats, beetles, flies and some birds that are all out there working hard to pollinate.

Helping our pollinators thrive is simple: When they are provided with a safe habitat, they will return. Thankfully, the City of Lynchburg is abuzz with good news to help our pollinator populations. A few recent headlines include:
• Randolph College is the 9th college in the nation and the first in the state of Virginia to be certified as a part of the Bee Campus USA program.
• The City of Lynchburg became the 87th city in the U.S. to be recognized as part of the Bee City USA movement sponsored by the Xerces Society.
• And lastly, Blue Ridge Conservation, a joint effort of both the Hillside and Lynchburg garden clubs, has planted two pollinator gardens in the city along with LEAF (Lynchburg Expressway Enhancement Fund). The goal of all these groups is to help declining pollinator populations by doing what we can to slow or stop habitat loss, increase plant food sources in order to provide better nutrition, and reduce pesticide exposure.

So—how can you make a difference and contribute to this movement?

Here are a few ways to make sure your garden is pollinator-friendly.

Limit Chemicals:
Before using a chemical, really weigh whether you must use it at all. Some people have adopted a “don’t spray until dusk” policy with pesticides, claiming that bees don’t feed at dusk. Herbicides are responsible for much of the decline in food sources for pollinators that are so critical to our food production.

Provide Food:
Invite pollinators to inhabit your yard by creating a habitat where they can find a diverse population of flowering native or naturalized plants (see sidebar) as well as egg laying or nesting sites. When choosing what to plant in an area, do some research on what that plant does. Look for plants that provide both nectar (food) and that are host plants (a place where the young can grow and feed). If you include as few as five different kinds of each of these in your green space, you have done a lot to provide a place for foraging pollinators to rest.

Create Nesting Sites:
Once pollinators have a food source, they will need places to nest and overwinter.

Be slow to clean up your garden in the fall. Instead of feeling like you must mow and pull every dead flower or vegetable, let it stand. These dead stems make excellent sites for pollinators to lay eggs. Keep some leaves on your property for hibernation spots. Make a pile of sticks somewhere for shelter.

Let dead trees stand unless they endanger you or your property. If you designate a third of your available landmass to be left in this “natural” state, you have created a pollinator-friendly overwintering environment that can increase the odds of their survival. This may have the added benefit of reducing the pest populations in our gardens as many of the pollinators also feed on other insects.

Build a Habitat Structure:
If you want to commit to helping pollinators in a more serious way, you can build a variety of habitat structures. One of the more elaborate designs is the Pollinator Palace.

In July, students from the Regional Governor’s School summer camp attended a tour of the Pest House at Old City Cemetery. While there, they also constructed a Pollinator Palace.

Here is how to get started:
Location
Place your palace away from well-used paths around your home. About a 10-foot radius is all that is needed to keep the inhabitants undisturbed while they settle in. The Pollinator Palace at Old City Cemetery is located between two winterberry and serviceberry trees, both of which are food sources in the environment.

Your structure should be in the direct sun in the morning and can be in partial shade in the afternoon. A nearby occasionally wet muddy spot is ideal but not required. Think of a spot where you might have a shallow puddle after a rainstorm for a few hours.

Construction
We wanted our site to stay tidy—because Old City Cemetery is a public garden—so we began with a layer of cardboard to suppress weeds. We then covered any openings with wire mesh, to prevent groundhogs from setting up house. (Pollinators are welcome, but not groundhogs!)

Then you begin the process of layering pallets and placing prospective “home sites” on each. Be sure you place the materials about three inches in from the edge of the palette so they do not get too hot in the sun and to also prevent rain from flooding out your “guests.”

Provide different materials (brick, pipe, etc.) with various size holes for diverse pollinators to enter. Unlike honeybees, other pollinators are mostly solitary dwellers. The adult will enter one of these provided holes and store pollen or bugs, such as caterpillars, and lay its eggs in the opening.

Then, when the young hatch, their first meal is close by. They then chew or eat their way out of their nest and move on to complete their life cycle and pollinate their preferred crop for the new season.

Add a roof to protect the structure. We nailed on these bulb crates and planted lantana and thyme for food and cooling.

(Plus, it’s just cute!)

Additional pots and plants surround the palace to entice our guests to stick around a while. The pots were filled with pinecones, flowers, or a small amount of soil for pollinators that burrow.

Maintenance
This structure should be usable for 4-5 years depending on how fast the pallets decompose. Once you are sure the pollinators have left their nests, it is a good idea to clean the different elements to prevent mites from taking up residence. Remove what nesting sites you can from the structure. Clean with a 1:3 bleach to water solution by submerging the brick or pipe. Replace the bamboo, grass and twigs yearly to keep your palace pest free.

A guide to creating a garden

If you are short on space or time, the intense planting that occurs in a “pocket garden” yields very big rewards. Pocket gardens are not a new concept. Those of us who are addicted to plants have created them in our spaces for years by layering plant upon plant—whether vegetables or ornamentals—in the soil and on our porches or balconies.

Pocket gardens have recently resurfaced as trendy stars in the world of gardening—we even have a brand new “pocket park” in Downtown Lynchburg. (Learn more about that project on page 21.) The basic idea is to take the barren, empty spaces around your yard and turn them into intensely planted areas. Put your creativity to work and look for underutilized surfaces around your home, apartment, condo, business, your child’s school and “go green”—even up the walls! In fact, especially up the walls. Dream big with endless possibilities.

Before you get too deep into the details of what and how to plant, you need to decide
what purpose you want your garden to serve.

It can be designed to help you achieve any of the following things:

Create a barrier to block out ugly views or traffic

A retaining wall, a raised bed or just an elongated bed can provide the structure for the barrier. Fill it with screening trees like arborvitae and other plants to reduce noise pollution and block the views of the city streets.

Create a place for reflection, conversation, reading or al fresco dining

By placing a pocket garden in the more intimate areas of your yard or enclosing a small area for a special purpose, you can “carve” a cozy space out of your larger landscape.

Remember a few years back when “garden rooms” were all the rage? This is a similar, but simpler idea. A seldom-used patio seems much more important when you’ve given attention to making it a special retreat. Build a wall, layer plants, enclose the space with planted beds, cover it with a pergola and then plant on top of that for a green ceiling.

Imagine sitting by a fire pit in the fall or the bubbling of a fountain in the background during the summer—it doesn’t get much lovelier. >>

Create a welcoming arrival area for family and guests

Placed either along your front walk or parking area, you can create a sweep of lush vegetation that invites visitors and family. As they travel through it, they will enjoy the green space.

Create a purpose for wasted, dull space.

A lot of homes and apartments have wasted space between the parking pad and the door.

You may have a partly enclosed area by your garage or one wall of your house that is creating a dead zone. If it’s a sunny area, you could trellis a rose or two up the wall and underplant it with perennials such as catmint (nepeta), German thyme, or a low-growing carex variety. While you are planting, you can leave space to add bulbs like bearded iris, daffodils, or crocosmia. In addition, you could also choose to add a few flowering annuals that you can have blooming to brighten the space all summer.

Basically, you want to create a lush space that feels like a little oasis in what was once a dull and uninteresting area that you just passed through on your way to the front door.

Create a focal point in your landscaping

Do you have a yard with no real interesting features? Lay or plant a path that leads to your pocket garden and make that your focal point in the distance to draw people into the yard. Once you know what it is you want to achieve with your
design, it’s time to roll up your sleeves and get busy. Here are a few considerations and precautions as you plan and plant your personal oasis:

Planning Considerations

• Any kind of plant, succulent, shrub, vine or tree has the
potential to be used as long as its growing requirements can be satisfied in the spot you are designing. You are only limited by your imagination.

• The point is to create an intensely planted space with multiple levels of vegetation in order to keep you engaged in the garden. This should not be an area where you have a lot of mulch between plants. If you are on a budget and can’t do it all at once—
no worries. Just keep your end game in mind and every season, add a detail that fits into your plan.

• The amount of color is up to you. You can choose either a calming or a stimulating palette of plants as long as it suits your style.
Also, be sure that you choose a plan that you can maintain.
For example, if you don’t have three hours on a weekend to water and deadhead annual flowers, then you may want to limit how many different blooming pots you use and incorporate more houseplant or shrub plants.

• You can add interest with different elements such as a few colorful seasonal pots or an architectural detail like a wrought iron remnant in either a functional or decorative capacity. Also, consider hanging a mirror on the wall to make the area appear larger.

• If the space is large enough, add in cozy seating (a café table for two) or a water feature to enhance the overall experience.

Planting Precautions

• If you want to use a tree in your pocket garden, consider smaller options like a ginkgo, crepe myrtle or Japanese maple.

• If you plant shrubs, use varieties that won’t sucker and/or spread (for example—forsythia, lilacs or Virginia sweetspire will spread) as they may crowd out your other desired features.

• Connected to the above, when selecting your plants make sure you allow room for them to reach their mature height and width without crowding out your walkways, paths or other areas that you want to remain clear and passable.

Structures for Privacy

• Bamboo fence rolls from a landscape store create instant walls and privacy. It may look flimsy but it is quite durable with proper maintenance.

• Grouping traditional trellises in a way that pleases you can provide additional places for hanging plants, candles or string lights.

• Deck railing used vertically instead of horizontally is also a fantastic “wall” material.

• Using recycled wooden pallets is economical and versatile. Pallets are very sturdy and the possibility for what you can hang on them is endless. Anything from grow bags to tin cans with holes for planting will work. (Find more ideas on Pinterest.)

Not only do pocket gardens encourage creativity, they can be maintained more easily. By arranging plants in this intensive way, there is less need for mulching and weeding. If your plants are not in pots, you will conserve water because the plants will shade the soil and keep the soil temperatures lower.

So, what are you waiting for? Go take a walk around your home. Look for that “boring” area and plan where you will create your own personal oasis to be enjoyed for years to come.

Limited (or Nonexistent) Yard?

Consider Creating A Green Wall

If you are out and about or pay attention on social media, you probably already know that green walls are everywhere these days—from shopping malls to restaurants to businesses.

One idea for those in apartments—hang a large piece of wide window-paned chicken wire and make a living wall out of succulents “stuffed” into the wire and filled with slightly damp moss. They’ll make it in our growing zone with just a few light waterings for an entire summer. (If it’s 3×3 you can attach the wire with a nail or a hook at the top and two on each side so the wind won’t blow it around.

If it’s larger then you may need to staple the chicken wire to a wood frame.)

Another idea is to attach screw-in-eye bolts to the ceiling every eight inches,
add string or wire and build a vertical wall across the front of your balcony.

Add potted plants below the hanging string that will entwine and climb the string
and you’ve created a green screen that will produce some shade as well.

Kaye Moomaw

By Kaye Moomaw
Photos by LaShonda Delivuk

In this age of screens and 24-hour-a-day availability, we all need ways to unhook from electronics. Going outside and participating in the natural world improves both your physical and mental health. The same is true for children.

Bedford Hills Elementary School in Lynchburg has been using their school garden since 2008 to help young students explore nature while learning at the same time. “The garden functions as an outdoor classroom for the school and we have great, creative teachers who use it in all different ways,” says Kris Lloyd, who founded the Roots and Shoots Garden when her children were students at the school.

As a member of the Hill City Master Gardeners, Hillside Garden Club and Blue Ridge Conservation Coalition, Lloyd is committed to enriching our local gardening community—starting with our youngest members. “The garden makes them so curious—even if we are simply weeding they look at the roots, worms and insects. They ask the best questions!” she says.

Now that temperatures are warmer and days are longer, you can turn your home garden into a classroom for your children or grandchildren. You don’t need any strict curriculum—just go outside and simply see what’s happening around you. Below are a few ideas to get you started:

Plant some flowers, herbs or vegetables together. Your garden doesn’t have to be big; one cherry tomato plant that a child tends to all by himself has huge rewards. Watching the vines grow, flower and then seeing baby fruit ripen to red is the beginning of a love of growing things. Even a child who has never liked tomatoes will usually try one, and most often exclaim it is the “best tomato ever” when they have grown it. Squash is satisfying for kids to grow.

It has big flowers, big leaves and makes a satisfying “pop” when you pick it! Watermelon and pumpkins will probably come to mind if you really get excited about growing as a family. They are a bit more complicated—however, your student may enjoy measuring the vine as it crawls across the yard.

Practice math skills by having your child count how many tomatoes, green beans or zinnias they pick. An older child can keep a running total and practice addition skills. They can estimate what they think their total yield off one plant will be. Then, see if their prediction was correct. All of these abstract math and science skills in books come to life when your young gardener is at work.

Use field guides, binoculars or a hand lens to encourage observation of plants and animal life.

Teach your children at a young age that not all bugs are “bad.” A few good tools can show you what eggs, pupae, caterpillar and moth of the same insect look like over the course of the garden season. These observations they make deepen a child’s understanding of the natural world and teach them about different life cycles. In the Roots and Shoots Garden, a former father of some students donated bird boxes. Today, the purple martins and bluebirds are enjoyed and observed by everyone. “Students have also loved tracking the bluebird trail boxes with the bluebirds and tree swallows. That activity leads to great discussion of habitat and what it is about our schoolyard habitat that birds like so much,” says Lloyd.

Encourage your child to keep a nature journal with a picture of a bird nest and/or bird. Record how many eggs are in the nest.

Look up and see how many days the mother bird has to take care of the babies until they are fledglings. Watch for the day they fly away. Did they all make it? There are great STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) skills at work here as well as spelling and composition.

Find ways to tell the history of your crops. You can check out some Native American history books from the library and teach your children about the three sisters—beans, corn and squash. Or, plant a garden that includes some of your family favorites and make recipes from your grandmother. I have some Norwegian heritage, and my grandmother was a mid-westerner. I could plant rhubarb and make her jelly and sweet rolls as a way to showcase my family heritage. If you are Irish you could talk about the Great Potato famine. The possibilities are endless to connect your garden, nature and the stories we share.

Use plants or produce for some “hands-on” activities. Make a special “living” fort out of sunflowers lashed together at the top. Or, construct a green bean teepee: using tomato sticks or dowels, plant runner beans so they will climb up the sticks entwining them until covered. They can rule over their own green kingdom that they help take care of. A personal garden spot made for a child invites relaxation and discovery.

Research how to plant according to the lunar cycles.

This is a great project for a junior high student. You can plant the various crops at just the right time for good seed germination and harvesting. This information is available in the Farmers’ Almanac. Now, you’re discussing astronomy and probably looking at constellations together.

With any of the above activities, try to let the child lead the conversation when something has made them curious. Ask questions that further the development of their use of the scientific method by letting them propose the answer. Then work together to research if they are correct. You will also have to work with younger children on how to “be gentle” when exploring nature, especially with a bird’s nest.

You don’t have to give your child a quiz at the end of the day, when your time in the garden is over. Know that by introducing your child to the world of gardening, you are making an impact on their life that will carry on into adulthood.

“If you grow lettuce and peas and radishes to make a salad as a second grader, or help feed the worms in the worm bin, or watch the caterpillar go through its life cycle in your classroom, you will be more engaged with the natural world as an adult,” says Lloyd.

“I think there is lots of joy in that for many adults.”

Herbal Expertise
A guide to growing your favorite flavorful plants

Herbs have been part of our kitchens and medicine chests since medieval times, when herbal wisdom was abundant in every community and home. Today the appreciation for herbs is rising again.

Herbs are wonderful additions to a landscape—rubbing your hand across rosemary or lavender as you walk by gives a momentary lift to your spirits. Adding herbs to a meal stimulates your digestive system and your appetite preparing you to eat. Herbs also provide a nutritional boost with the vitamins they contain.

Best of all—growing them requires very little effort.

Choosing the Right Spot

The first order of business is deciding where to plant your herbs. They need about five hours of sunlight a day to be their best. If they don’t get enough sun, they get long stalks and few leaves. This makes for an unattractive, unproductive plant.

Also, don’t plant your herbs in a windy environment. Planting near a brick or stone wall can provide both protection and a warm environment for your kitchen herbs. A spot between your driveway and sidewalk could be used for a wonderful raised kitchen garden. Alternatively, you could lay stone paths through the area and let herbs grow over them.

Helping Your Herbs Thrive

The next step to having a successful herb garden is making sure you’re using the right soil. If you don’t know what type of soil you have, you can do a simple test in a mason jar with a twist-on lid. Fill the jar halfway with soil then add water until the jar is full. Shake the jar well. If the water is distributed through the soil or leaves about a third of the water undistributed, it is acceptable. (You can see photos of the Mason Jar Soil Test online.) If needed, you can amend your soil with compost and/or sand to improve the texture.

Basil, chervil, coriander, dill, lovage and sage prefer rich, balanced soils. Sandier soils are preferred by lavender, thyme, tarragon and rosemary. Cultivation information can be found on seed packages, plant tags or from the nurserymen where you are purchasing. It is assumed that most herbs thrive in hot sun with well-draining soil. But some, like lemon balm, parsley and chamomile, need conditions to be a little bit cooler so they don’t wilt in the afternoon sun. The more you know about your plants’ growing conditions and habits, the more successful you’ll be.

Some herbs, such as mint and oregano, spread and get messy over time. You can contain them by planting these herbs in a grid pattern with pavers. Separating them like this also gives you a way to walk through for harvesting.

Herbs like to dry out between watering—none of them want to have wet feet constantly. To be sure it’s time to water again you can stick your index finger in the soil about an inch deep. If it’s dry, water. If it’s damp, wait.

Growing in Pots

One idea for those with limited space is to grow herbs in pots. This will allow you to give your herbs exactly what they need.

When choosing a pot, it is best if it drains into a saucer and is at least 6 inches in diameter. If you want to grow parsley or basil, your pot should be around 20 inches deep because they have long taproots. If your pots don’t have drainage holes, add a layer of stones or clay shards at least two inches deep in the bottom of the pot before planting. If you are buying your herbs from a nursery, make sure you buy, or have on hand, a pot that is twice as big as the pot you purchased them in. Re-pot your herbs quickly in the appropriate soil and give their roots plenty of room. It is better to have your pot too large rather than too small.

You can always combine herbs that require the same conditions in larger pots to simplify. Window boxes are also great choices for growing herbs. Watch for dry soil—potted plants need more water than those planted in the ground.

Herbs in the Off Season

Thyme, rosemary and lavender plants all do fairly well for me overwintering outside. If it’s mild, I sometimes will find mint and oregano still growing near the warm stone wall in my raised bed. What a treat to have fresh mint in hot tea on a cold day!

Other herbs such as parsley and basil will hang on by a thread until spring after I move them inside for the winter. Herbs should be ignored when brought in—give them only the minimum amount of water. For the best chance of survival, move these herbs out to your covered porch when temperatures are mild.

To overwinter your larger pots of herbs, pull them up close to your house and cover with mulch or wrap.

Harvesting and Storing Your Herbs

You can enjoy your herbs even after the growing season by planning ahead. Begin storing your herbs at their peak. And don’t rush. If done incorrectly, your herbs will quickly spoil. Here are a few harvesting tips:

• Their flavor is best when harvested on a dry day after the dew has evaporated and before the sun is hot. Also, keep your herbs from producing flowers, which ruins the taste, by pinching them back.

• Most herbs can be dried by hanging small bunches in a dry room out of the sun. Once they are brittle, you can run your fingers down the stem and store the leaves in a jar with a tight lid.

• Basil, dill and fennel can be frozen on the stalk when they are picked young, small and in perfect shape. Wash them and let them dry. Lay them on a towel on a cookie sheet, flash freeze and store in a freezer container. Fresh dill can be stored in a fridge for two weeks or more in a little water.

• Flowers like borage and calendula can be clipped off the plant leaving no stem and dried on a cookie cooling rack until they feel like tissue paper to the touch. These are also best stored in jars.

Place your herb jars out of direct sunlight to prolong freshness. Your herbs will store well for a year.

All of my favorite herbs are easily started from seeds so don’t be afraid of trying different herbs that can take you on a culinary journey! When you have grown your herbs yourself, you know they are fresh, pesticide-free and have optimal flavor.

My Favorite Performers
Check out a few of the herbs
I love to use in my kitchen.

• Lovage is a striking, perennial herb that tastes like celery. It can grow up to 6 feet tall!

• Rosemary is beautiful and hardy here when planted in a warm spot. It’s a very aromatic herb and it makes a great addition to poultry. It’s a food source for bees when flowering.
You can start new plants easily from cuttings or layering branches.

• Basils can add endless flavors to foods and vinegars because there are so many varieties to grow.

• Dill is beautiful, easy and like most herbs also draws beneficial insects. Keep the blooms “pinched back” to get the most production.

• Parsley adds a nice touch to salads. It will keep in a vase of water by your sink as you use it.

Caring for Cut Flowers
Before bringing those lovely blooms inside, learn the “dos and don’ts” of taking care of your bouquet

Surrounding ourselves with flowers can improve our physical and mental health. Flowers stimulate our dopamine, serotonin, and oxytocin levels—the happy chemicals in our brain. They also remind us to slow down and enjoy them before they are gone. Because as we all know, cut flowers don’t last forever. While that’s part of their charm, there are a few things you should do (and not do) to make them last as long as possible.

Do give your flowers a “spa treatment” before arranging. This is commonly called “conditioning.” I use a Chrysalis floral conditioner during this step. Fill a bucket about a third of the way up with water, making sure every stem reaches the water. Put the bucket with flowers in a cool, dark room for about three hours and allow them to rest. This will lengthen vase life by maybe four days. Follow the directions on your flower food exactly.

Don’t use a dirty container. You should never reuse a vase without washing it first. A good rule is to add a few drops of bleach mixed in water to your vases after each use and let them soak before you wash and then put them away. If your glass vase gets “cloudy” over time you can clean it with vinegar, a dishwasher rinse aid, or a toilet bowl cleaner.

Do pay attention to the water temperature. The water in your vase should be tepid—something you would like to have your feet in! And a caution here to those using a water softener: the added salts in your water will sometimes kill the flowers. If your flowers always die quickly, this may be why.

Don’t obsess over floral “foods.” Using these for cut flowers is fine but not necessary. There are all kinds of tricks people use—a penny in the vase, a shot of gin or vodka, an aspirin, or floral food packs. The best food for your plants is simply keeping the water clean.

Do remove all the leaves that will be below the water line in your vase. Not only do they look ugly, they rot, smell and make your vase water look disgusting.

Don’t use dull clippers when cutting your stems. Stems that look “stringy” when cut show it’s time to sharpen your clippers. After this step do not get distracted by your kids, the phone or your dog. Move them into your prepared water quickly so the stems don’t close.

Do have some fun arranging your flowers. There is no right or wrong—place your flowers in the vase in a way that pleases you!

Don’t spray or mist your arranged flowers. This can cause fungal issues.

Do be prepared to troubleshoot problems. If you notice a flower either not opening or wilting, remove it from your vase. Re-cut the stem and place it in hot water from your tap. Leave it in the hot water until the water temperature has cooled. Also, place flowers out of the direct sun and/or away from heat ducts.

Don’t forget to do some maintenance. Every two to three days, re-cut your stems and change the water so your flowers stay hydrated.

Pro Tips on Some of Lynchburg’s Favorite Blooms:

• Hellebores are the first to bloom and we are anxious for flowers. Resist the urge to cut them too soon. Wait until a seed pod is formed in the center of the flower before you cut it.

• Harvest your peonies when they are soft like a marshmallow and not after they’ve blown open.

• Hydrangeas should feel like paper when you cut them. Strip all the leaves off the stem. Condition them up to their necks in water with a flower food. Cover their heads with damp paper towels and leave them to sit in your basement for a couple hours. Use care when arranging them as they drink water out of a vase much faster than you think.

• If those lilies or roses you bought just won’t open, trim the stems by about an inch and stick them in HOT water. Force the issue!

• Soft necked flowers, like a zinnia, that just won’t stand tall can be made to behave by sticking a toothpick deeply through the center of the flower into the stem. Stick it far enough in that the “trick” is invisible to others.

The image flashed before my eyes for only a split second. But once seen, it cannot be unseen. Despite years of trying, I cannot shake my horror at realizing I’d foolishly delivered a lovely little chickadee on a silver platter for my cat’s supper. It happened like this: My friend Joyce Coleman is a brilliant bird photographer. Awed by her masterful bird photos, I sought her advice on tricks of the trade. She shared that she placed her bird feeders outside the window by her office desk and kept her camera ready for when a flicker came into her peripheral vision. The birds, emboldened by her benign presence behind glass, didn’t flutter away when she took up her camera to snap shots.

Duly impressed and in haste to follow suit, I didn’t account for my desk being on the front of the house, the “high side” of our property (house placement that Hill City folks understand). Since these windows were our closest to the ground, a six-foot pole to hold the bird feeder put it at the right height for photos. And also perfectly situated for Shadow, our athletic young farm cat, to take advantage of another failure in my planning. The feeder pole was nestled in mature boxwoods, which gave Shadow excellent cover for easy hunting at the feeder.

As a farm-toughened old gal who’s witnessed firsthand how the food chain works, I’m not naïve about predator-prey relationships and don’t swoon when nature takes its course.

But when I saw Shadow’s fully extended claws clinging on each side of the feeder and his fangs sink into that unsuspecting little bird, my heart stopped. I knew this wasn’t just nature at work; the poor bird didn’t have a chance. I’d set him up for the kill. Joyce kindly comforted me with the reminder that this is what cats are wired to do, but still…

Placement of Feeders
So, lesson #1 about creating a wild bird sanctuary is to attract them with sensibly placed feeders. Needless to say, I immediately moved that front yard feeder to a more cat-proof location and placed it on a longer pole. I found an excellent pole system with extenders at Wild Birds Unlimited (wbu.com), and I moved the feeders around the yard several times before deciding on just the right spot.

Through trial and error, I ruled out under the large old oak tree with branches that hung over the deck and terrace. While feeders at the edge of the terrace provided fine viewing from both outdoor and indoor vantage points, the oak branches that hung high over the terrace to provide lovely summer shade also served as an appealing perch/staging area for birds queued up for the feeders. The problem? Bird droppings on our seating/eating area.

After other attempts with various shortfalls, I finally found the ideal home for our feeders to launch a successful wild bird sanctuary that co-existed peacefully and safely with our four cats—the one gymnast and three others considerably less aggressive and agile. The location was the back yard near sunroom windows for pleasurable viewing. This required considerable pole extension/bracing, which made the feeders safe from predators—cats and others—but it put them out of reach from the ground for the required twice-daily replenishment during the winter “busy season.”

Placing the poles and feeders close to windows was the answer.

With his long reach, Tim got the job of opening the windows, removing empty feeders from their poles, and carrying them about eight feet to the deck for refilling. And Shadow got the job of watching the now-safe birds through the sunroom windows.
We called it his “kitty TV.”

Squirrels were never a problem for our bird feeders because squirrels didn’t venture from the plentiful woods surrounding the cow pastures that encircled our farm house and yard. If you want a bird sanctuary but battle squirrels snatching the bird seed, squirrel-proof locations and feeders (such as those that close access to contents when the weight of squirrels lands on the base) are necessary.

Bears are another matter altogether, and conventional wisdom is to remove your bird feeders if bears are an issue in your neighborhood.

Shelter
As with all creatures, birds need shelter for resting and nesting, as well as for safe access to food. I attribute our success in creating a wild bird sanctuary largely to the great feeding location we finally established after my front-yard fiasco. Our eventual—and permanent—location of feeders was within a few feet of a mature native viburnum bush that provided an ideal perch for birds to queue up for access to the feeders. Cardinals, finches, red-winged blackbirds, tufted titmouses (or is it titmice?), juncos, blue jays, house wrens, sparrows, chickadees, towhees, red-headed woodpeckers, and many more all flocked to the upper thicket of viburnum twigs to wait their turn.

Dozens of birds of all varieties somehow worked out the order of the queue and rarely squabbled over their place in line. Well, occasionally a bossy blue jay or red-winged blackbird would flex his muscle and shoo smaller birds away, but it was a remarkably orderly procession of birds all day long, especially in extreme cold or snow. The viburnum filled with birds lined up for a feeding frenzy was a sure predictor of wintry weather! And is there anything more gorgeous than a vibrant male cardinal (or a flock of them) on a snowy day?

Years of bird watching confirmed that this native viburnum offered respite and release from fear of predators that were too heavy to ascend to the bird queue on the twiggy level. And being able to hide in a thicket of twigs kept bully birds from zooming in and intimidating smaller, less confrontational birds.

Our old-fashioned volunteer native red cedars along the backyard fence line, a sure sign of old farmland, provided a perfect nesting/breeding place for many of our wild birds. Other wild birds preferred our yard oaks, magnolias, and other trees, while bluebirds enjoyed nesting, laying eggs, and nurturing their young until they fledged in human-crafted bluebird boxes. Our bluebird boxes on six-foot poles were also challenged by our Shadow’s jumping skills, but we foiled his attempts at levitation to raid the nests with numerous tricks that mostly involved creating an unreceptive landing platform.

Food and Water
Your bird food and feeders will, of course, reflect your preferences for which birds you attract. We maintained five feeders: Two were general feeders primarily loaded with store-bought sunflower seeds (with black oil sunflower seeds most valuable in winter) or a general high-quality birdseed mixture (carefully staying away from less nutritious feeds with high “filler” content). We also added suet in blocks affixed to the ends of one of the feeders to fuel the birds during hard winter.

To truly invite birds into your yard, fill your gardens with native plants that offer birds their flower nectar, berries, and seeds, as well as host insects, for feeding them as designed in nature. Grow your own native sunflowers, asters, purple cornflowers, liatris, hyssops, and many more. One of my all-time favorites is winterberries, since we could enjoy our share for holiday decorating and leave the rest to the birds who’ll swoop in for a feast when the berries are past their toxic stage and perfectly ripe.

Our two finch feeders offered Niger seed that was well-appreciated by our finches when nothing in our garden was of greater appeal. If natural seeds are available, such as native rudbeckia (black-eyed Susans), finches will flock to them first and abandon the feeders for weeks, returning only after the garden supply is exhausted. After all, natural/local/native seeds were what they survived on before we “birders” started providing store-bought supplements. Native seeds continue to remain their preference, so it’s important to leave them when tidying up and putting the garden to bed for winter.

My fifth feeder was for hummingbirds. After buying a commercially prepared red sugar solution in my early birding years, I learned that the solution didn’t have to be red to attract them.

So we switched to creating our own sugar water, which worked just fine and, as we learned later, is safer. Again, as with finches and Niger seed, hummingbirds will enjoy your offering of sugar water, but they prefer nature’s own nectar when they can get it—and it’s better suited to meeting their nutritional needs.

Hummingbirds especially like garden plants with trumpet shaped flowers, such as penstemon, trumpet vine, beebalm, cardinal flower, red columbine, trumpet honeysuckle, and more. Most hummingbirds migrate south during our winters, but we can enjoy them during their times with us and be prepared to offer them a garden feast supplemented by sugar water while they grace us with their presence.

We all know water is essential to life for birds as well as humans, so if you want to sustain your bird habitat, a consistent source of fresh water is necessary. At our farm/bird sanctuary, we had a pond not too far from our yard and kept a pedestal birdbath filled with water in the backyard. Plus we had water bowls for our outdoor cats and dogs that were safely shared with birds whenever our feline and canine pets were napping, enjoying a sojourn indoors, or otherwise not lurking about in a threatening manner. Birds are very clever and quick at taking advantage of these opportunities for both garden foraging and water.

Everything in Its Season
I’m amazed at how easy it is to attract birds and create a thriving wild bird habitat if you just take the time to observe their behavior and create a habitat that consistently meets their needs. My years at the farm taught me how to slow down and detach from everyday cares to find peace, joy, exhilaration, and wisdom in nature and the fascinating world of birds.

One important lesson learned from our gardens and creating a bird sanctuary is that everything has its season, and every season inevitably gives way to the next. We know this in our heads from childhood, but it doesn’t truly sink into our hearts and souls until we’ve lived it ourselves. My 22-year season for intensive gardening and building a bird habitat closed in 2016 when Tim and I moved from our beloved farm into a condo in Lynchburg.

And now my four-year-plus season for writing garden stories and sharing photos with Lynchburg Living is closing with this 25th and final story. How fitting that I’m writing it on a beautiful snowy day since snow days were always my time at the farm to watch serenely the majestic parade of birds at our feeders and marvel at the spirited red cardinals against the hushed whiteness.

It has been a privilege and a pleasure to share my love of gardens, flowers, birds, conservation, nature, and of building community through gardening. I’m deeply grateful to Lynchburg Living for honoring me by publishing my garden stories in each of the past 25 issues. And I thank you, fellow garden-loving readers, for your encouragement and support, advice and photos. I hope you’ve taken away tidbits of knowledge and wisdom, a deeper understanding of our shared place in the natural world, and inspiration.

My next season will be devoting more time to caring for my beloved Tim and, when time permits, picking up my paint brushes—another love of my life from a previous season over 30 years ago.

WORDS & PHOTOS BY SUSAN TIMMONS

I take the gamble. Sometimes I win; sometimes I lose. But I never call it a real loss if the gamble is to plant amaryllis and paperwhite narcissus bulbs as potted houseplants and expect forced peak bloom precisely in time for a holiday party, Christmas Day, or a January Sunday display at church. This is the word of experience from years of trial and error with my Chancel Guild partner and friend, Nancy Brockman.

The good news is that these bulbs will inevitably give you the gorgeous display you seek. The not-so-good news is that they sometimes bloom earlier than expected per commercial instructions or take their merry ole time and decide to show off two weeks or more later. If you seek a surer calendar bet, you can buy these beauties locally at the last minute already (or almost) in full, glorious bloom for your special occasion. Plus, a good news bonus is that if you buy quality stock and give them proper care, the blooms will continue to bring joy for many weeks.

It’s fun to place a group of paperwhite bulbs in a pot of stones and water and watch nature progress from shoots to buds to full blooms. Their pungent aroma isn’t for everyone, but paperwhites, as well as amaryllis blooms, are indeed glorious! They don’t as obviously shout “Holiday Houseplant” as the more popular and always showy poinsettias with colorful bracts (not blooms, but modified leaves) that are seasonally for sale in grocery, big box, and other stores. Savvy marketers know poinsettias will bring in the bucks.

I’m not disparaging poinsettias, mind you. This species, indigenous to our neighboring Mexico, was named after Joel Roberts Poinsett, the first United States minister to Mexico, who introduced the plant to the U.S. in 1825. It has since become the bread-and-butter of colorful, reliable holiday houseplants.

I can’t recall a Christmas when I didn’t enjoy poinsettias enlivening my living room and other spots in my house that beg for holiday cheer. I’m still partial to poinsettias with old-fashioned red or white bracts but occasionally switch to pink, variegated, or other newer hybrids just for the sake of variety. And I do place the plastic store pots inside slightly larger drip-proof decorative pots (saved year-to-year just for this purpose) since I’m not partial to the look of their ubiquitous foil wrappers that sometimes spring a leak that could result in water damage to tables, rugs, and floors.

And I also like—and once had—an old-time holiday blooming houseplant favorite, Christmas cactus (which can also toy with the calendar and decide to bloom at Thanksgiving, Christmas, or Easter). With so many varieties of beautiful colorful hothouse plants (blooming and foliage) readily available year-round these days, any variety in colors to complement your holiday décor and preferences is a great choice for festive holidays and, with proper care, can give weeks, months, or even years of houseplant pleasure beyond the holidays.

Reblooming

Most blooming houseplants from nurseries, big box and grocery stores, as well as other sources, come with instructions for care that vary according to the plant. I’ve found that many, such as inexpensive poinsettias, are delightful in their extended showy season, but typically aren’t worth the trouble to save and attempt to achieve their original beauty in subsequent seasons. There are exceptions, of course, and I once saw a magnificent old indoor poinsettia plant in the window of a dry-cleaning shop in our climate zone that could hold its own with those grown along roadsides in Mexico.

The lovely amaryllis (native to the Western Cape region of South Africa) is the one holiday blooming houseplant that friends most frequently inquire about reblooming techniques. When I lived on the farm, I simply planted spent holiday potted amaryllis bulbs directly in the ground in an outside garden with a very protected south-facing microclimate, and they rebloomed naturally in springtime of the following year and thereafter.

However, to keep your bulbs as houseplants, cut the bloom stalks within an inch of the bulbs after the flowers have faded, place in sunlight, and continue to water and fertilize so the leaves continue to grow and new leaves form. In springtime, after the last frost, place potted bulbs outdoors in a protected place, acclimating them gradually to direct sun, and move them back indoors in the fall before first frost. If moving them outdoors isn’t an option, give them lots of sunlight and good drainage indoors.

Interestingly, these are essentially the same reblooming techniques I used for my potted orchid collection, which topped 70 at one point. (Warning: orchids can become addictive, as I wrote in the January/February 2016 issue of Lynchburg Living.) Moving orchids outside to my screened back porch during summer and bringing them back inside just before fall’s first frost gave them a wide daily temperature range that set bloom spikes. Then, they’d begin blooming in January (but usually not in time for Christmas), with blooms lasting for months or longer as an antidote to winter doldrums once holiday décor has been packed away. FYI—Don’t try planting orchids outside in your garden. They’ll be goners with the first frost.

If you choose not to attempt reblooming, leftover poinsettias and other lingering and increasingly leggy holiday bloomers can be clustered with other houseplants in a window or sunroom grouping that allows enjoyment of lingering blooms but camouflages gangly stems.

In addition to orchids, a whole host of other blooming houseplants can serve as great mood enhancers during gray winter months, and there are options to fit every color scheme and space opportunity or constraint. Just remember that they need light to bloom, so windows or good grow lights are necessary if you want long term blooming pleasure. They may also have humidity needs that create requirements a bit tougher to meet in our homes unless you’re willing to mist regularly, run a humidifier, or place particularly needy plants near the kitchen sink or shower.

Why Bring Plants Indoors?

Indoor flowering plants are traced back thousands of years. History records flowerpots and other evidence of houseplants back to the Minoans on the island of Crete, Egyptians, and Indians. Romans even devised heated precursors to modern greenhouses to grow plants out of season or with different climate needs for indoor pleasures. Thus, humans became hooked on plants that required indoor care to thrive.

The Victorian 19th century solidified the passion for humans to enjoy plants from all parts of the world, made possible by glass houses, most splendidly exemplified by those at Kew Gardens in London. Thanks to these innovations, worldwide plant exchange offered the enticement of gorgeous exotic plants to those who had never known such gifts of nature existed. And, of course, being who and what we are, over time humans wanted these enticing plants in their own homes.

Houseplants became both status symbols and vehicles to satisfy our need for nature, gardening, and aesthetic beauty when we do not have available outdoor land, the climate to support plants we wish to grow, or the time, energy, or other resources for gardening. A collection of African violets (what lover of these sweeties can have just one?) or a single short-term cyclamen on a coffee table when company comes can bring joy in the form of beauty, ambiance, and serenity to our homes and lives.

They’re also great design and decorator tools for creating focal points in a room, filling gaps in décor, and sectioning or screening spaces. Plants are typically mobile and versatile in that you can move them away from window light for days or even weeks without harm for a special party or other purpose. Tip: Unless you have strong muscled help to do the heavy lifting, wheeled bases for large and/or heavy plants are necessary for those you wish to move around.

Plants in our indoor environments contribute to good health through the exchange of carbon dioxide exhaled from humans and oxygen emitted from plants as a waste product of photosynthesis, enhancing the oxygen availability for us humans. Studies have shown that plants in our indoor spaces also have a positive effect on our psychological well-being.

Flowers Aren’t the Whole Story

While flashy flowering plants grab our eye, foliage houseplants can give them a run for their money. They can climb, cascade, sport many leaf shapes and textures in endless shades of green and other sunlight-enhanced colors; and they can be combined in interesting groupings. Many houseplant aficionados start off with simple, tough, fairly foolproof houseplants like ficus tree, philodendron, peace lily, schefflera, spider or snake plant, and others that, within reason, tolerate a great deal of neglect or over-solicitude. Our success with these “work horse houseplants” emboldens us to try something a bit more challenging or requiring more nuanced care.

Many decades ago, my success with both a ficus tree and schefflera astounded me! I followed advice about medium light and not overwatering, and they steadily grew strong and healthy—and outgrew my home before I learned pruning techniques to keep them in check. So, I gifted them to my spacious, high-ceilinged office, where they continued to thrive.

I’ve certainly had my houseplant failures, such as a Norfolk Island pine that seemed to pine away despite my best efforts. Yet long-term successes that still amaze me include a huge decades-old jade plant and a ming aurelia that’s been under my care for more than 40 years. It’s now at least 7 feet tall with gnarly and twisted woody stems holding clumps of lacy leaves that give it the demeaner of an ancient bonsai. And it actually is a bonsai of sorts since it’s totally root bound, having never been re-potted in all this time. It’s a classic example of benign neglect working better than excessive attention, especially over-watering; and it looks way cool and artsy—like something out of a Chinese painting. (Hope I didn’t just jinx it!)

Care and Nurture

Now that I’ve confessed that I don’t always follow the rules, I’ll share a bit about the “rules” on potting houseplants. First, the pot must fit the size of the plant and its root ball with space to grow and support the plant. And it must drain unless you have such close communion with your plant that you’re able to monitor the moisture and let it dry out sufficiently between watering so roots don’t rot. My rule of thumb is to let houseplants dry out until they start to look slightly stressed before watering again. Knowing that magic time is a matter of observation and practice. To make room for normal growth patterns, the plants should be repotted when needed. Again, knowing when is learned by trial and error.

The potting medium should be suited to the plant. Many do well in commercial potting soil, while others, such as succulents need a sandier or more porous medium to facilitate drainage. And orchid roots need bark nuggets or another medium that offers air spaces to avoid over-saturation and root rot, which will bring on sure death of the plant.

Many foliage houseplants, such as philodendron and peace lily, will tolerate low light if window space is not available. Just remember if you use artificial light that they do need alternating times of light and darkness, as they would find in nature.

With knowledge and sensitivity to your houseplants, you too can be a “Plant Whisperer” and develop an innate sense of whether to water more or less. Move them closer to or farther from light. Repot or not.

One of the joys of houseplants is propagating and sharing them. Most of my houseplants have come as gifts from family and friends through division, slips, or other means of propagation. I’ve bought very few. Slips from one prolific lipstick plant are now vibrant houseplants for an entire group of my friends. My friend Robert Roberts told me a touching story about his grown daughter recently giving him a spider plant that she propagated from his long-deceased mother’s original plant. Most of my friends have stories of plants handed down from generation to generation.

I gave my son Reid a few orchids and cuttings from succulents that hadn’t rebloomed for me in the past couple of years. And they are now blooming for him in his house on the Chesapeake Bay! I’m always thrilled at seeing photos of his happy plants, and as my houseplant success diminishes, his grows. It makes my heart sing. You too can grow foliage plants that become interesting members of your family with lifespans that could even exceed your own.