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It's become clear to me through posts and PMs that there are some gardeners here just waiting for the chance to discuss gardening!

So, I was thinking... how do you use gardening, or how does it affect you if you need a break, need some respite, need to relax, need inspiration....how do you use it as a therapy tool in caregiving?

What are your activities: Do you go out and pull weeds, read a magazine, design new beds? Look through garden catalogues? Go to garden stores?
And what interests have you added to your gardening? Visit estate or garden displays? Do you go to garden shows?

Does anyone design and plant Knot Gardens? Raised bed planters? Assistive gardens? Pollinator gardens (and have you thought of ways to help the bees and butterflies?)

Are your gardens primarily for pleasure or food, or a mix of both? Do you grow plants for medicinal purposes? Which ones, how do you harvest and process them? Any suggestions?

Do you grow plants that can be used in crafts, such as grapevines for wreaths and lavender for lavender wands? Do you make herbal products such as creams, lotions, chapstick?

What else can you share about gardening and the means in which it nurtures your soul?

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I’m in the South and we’re having weather whiplash. Warm spring days, cold snaps, dry spells, large rainfalls, just all over the place. My soil has been amended a lot but is by nature rocky, so moisture doesn’t last long, the heavy rains don’t benefit much. The winter blooms are having their last hurrah and the spring ones are trying to get going. I also have bird feeders. Hubby low temp bakes the seed before I use it so it won’t germinate when it gets dropped. Also add cayenne pepper oil to make it unattractive to squirrels and raccoons. Hope the birds appreciate the effort! I’m not sure I’ve ever successfully grown a sunflower. They’re so pretty, not sure why I can’t make them work. Hope you get one!
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I hope your mystery plant is a sunflower and not something dull like sorghum Send!
I have a picture in my mind of all the perfect new planters and trees and large compost bins I want in my yard, I just can't summon up the energy to get any of that done.
I'd also like a new carport and a permanent roof over my deck. And maybe a remodelled kitchen (but that isn't gardening)🤔
Dreams, all just dreams.
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Sounds better if you listen to music "the police" Try it.

Every step you take,
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Cwillie,
FB reels, the algorithms are feeding me gardening reels.
I think I just like to buy the plants, in hopes of a dream garden.

However, the two rose bushes I bought had to be returned.
They couldn't be planted in time, and dH had broken tooth issues,
taking up extra time, so I did return them.

Always thinking of ideas as I scroll through landscaping and gardening techniques.
If only I could move around as fast as the videos on speed and fix my front yard in 20 minutes.

I fed the wild birds a few times by throwing out seed. Something grew, 3-4 plants of something unknown. Looks like a big weed, tall now about 24 inches. That was so fast! Wonder, what is it, maybe a sunflower...
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A cold spring has had me shuffling plants outdoors during the day and indoors again over night and it's getting old. (Mind you I didn't like the kind of weather we've had over the last decade or so either where we went from snow to summer overnight). I'm still not sure whether I'll make an effort to garden this year, I've got lots of plans in mind though.
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Where did you come across that little ditty Send? While I empathize with the lyrics I can't stand the music lol
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I chose the garden over people
Because people annoy me
And I am mean.

If I'm feeling blue
I don't need to see friends
I just need to see green.

Oh, you think I'm talking money
No, I spent all that on plants.

If you invite me to a public event
I'll tell you I can't.
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What is the name of your little grey tree frog?
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I was pruning some of the winter damaged stems from my boxwood and there was my little grey tree frog from last year (or maybe it's cousin lol). Wow, I'm so happy!
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Oh how nice, there are so many juncos this spring!
Hm, I wonder what they could be eating 🤔
(google, google google)
Oh of course, I should have known. They're eating all my grass seed 🙄
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The garlic I planted in October are growing great, should be a good year for them. Added 25 onion starts (sets) last weekend, hope they don't mind their little snow hats today. Snap peas in the greenhouse that should be ready to flower right when it gets warm enough to prop the door open during the days so the bees can come in.
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Husband took phone outside and took pictures and a video of around the house and driveway, garden plants in large pots.
This will make planning easier.
I enjoyed watching that over 5 times already!

The neighbor is encroaching and planting invasive plants. Boundaries will be going up.

The one small crocus we had in years past did not come up, but the paper white Narcissus have spread around. There is a few gophers.

Good fences make good neighbors.
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I woke up to a dusting of snow this morning but the brave little snowdrops are undeterred. Some of the neighbour's early crocus might be toast though.
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CWillie, the bane of gardeners, the eternal things you mention. One day there won’t be anymore humans on this planet, but I believe the bugs will be alive and well. And my post about spring? We now have at least two more freezes within the next week. Spring is a tease
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I'm not looking forward to gardening this year, I've grown tired of fighting the losing battle against bugs, critters and weeds. Plus it's just March, and although we've had our first taste of spring I know there will be more snow.
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Thanks for resurrecting the thread Send. I went to a tulip festival this past weekend, huge fields of blooms in lots of lovely colors. You could pick the flowers along with the bulbs and pay for the ones you took. I brought home some pink, yellow, and white ones and promptly planted them in my yard as they weren’t quite ready to open. We’re having spring temps though a freeze isn’t out of the question. Spent a few hours this weekend cutting out some dead and frozen plants, looking forward to more blooms. Daffodils and snowdrops are already showing off
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Really?
No one has posted here since October?

New Spring plants, left to die in the wind...

Jasmine bush
Scotch Broom

The indoors Boston Fern has lived four days!
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Potted Mums are everywhere in grocery stores, so I snagged one medium pot on sale. Went back and they were gone.

It's yellow blossoms are full, looking good.

This plant is seasonal and I have not had any success bringing them back the next year. Not sure if they are supposed to come back.
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I know, right?🦗😱
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Crickets in-house, no way.
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The sea anemone was very cool. It was during my time in St Andrews where you could find sea anemones and other creatures in little pools by the shore. A friend and I took a small one home in a large beaker of sea water. It was easy enough to replenish the water anytime. I can't remember what it did eat, but one day we gave it a bit of bacon. It "swallowed" the bacon then turned purple and spat it out. It was very clear that the anemone didn't like it. Not surprising, come to think of it.
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Golden, you must have had a salt water aquarium? I think that's cool!
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Funny you should ask that Send. I was reading posts on reddit from people who had tree frogs show up in their sinks and showers and people told them not to worry, tree frogs are very undemanding pets. I guess all they need is average room temperature, a branch for climbing, a puddle for dipping and some crickets from the pet store. Uh, I think I'd rather not.
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I had a sea anemone for a pet once. It didn't like bacon!!!
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cwillie,
Can a frog be a house pet?
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My little frog is back, this time I got a picture of it. But now I'm a little worried because it was in a flower pot and I will soon have to bring all my plants indoors and what if it hitches a ride inside?
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Just "as if" it were a coincidence, a Blue Jay returned to do a fly by in my yard.
Bright and perky, (characteristic of the other bird), it flew behind my husband as he was filling the bowl with sun flower seeds. Have not seen it for just under a month.
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I just did my first pass of trimming back for fall, most things are still blooming but looking a bit bedraggled. So as I was removing spent blooms from a big limelight hydrangea, I found a bird nest, now empty. It was the answer to why, months ago, every time I was planting or weeding in the area, there was an obviously angry pair of birds nearby. They’d fly swooping near and make noise but the nest was well hidden in the leaves. I hope their babies all made it and are happily flying high
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The Blue Jay was upset one day, and went to the driveway of a neighbor, calling out, jumping on the fence. Later that day, we saw both parents perched atop the highest tree and pole, over-looking the neighborhood.
We never saw them again.
Nature can be harsh, and when humans interfere with nature, it is not only harsher, it could be criminal. There are laws in place to protect nesting birds. Of course I am fighting the sadness, but gaining acceptance instead of anger.

When I first moved here there was a black feral cat who attacked a bird at my front porch. A neighbor took it in a plastic bag and threw it in the dumpster. I rescued it, took it to the animal shelter, who said it was alive and would be okay. My neighbors hated me ever since, even though I never came against them or told them what happened, or that it was against the law to dump the bird into the dumpster, as told to me by Animal Control.

What is unique is how the orange cape honeysuckle blooms and thrives, no matter what we are doing to neglect it. And the Bouganvillia, never growing more than two feet, is again thriving with blooms.

So good of you to take into account the wishes of your Kitty Golden.

ITRR,
We had morning doves trying to nest on a tiny ledge on our front porch, twice.
A squirrel got the eggs, the birds moved to a better place, and I stopped feeding the squirrels and the birds back then. I was willing to feed the blue Jay parents, and they came by for food and water, but have since left.
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send - How are the blue jays? A Garden Rain Drum sounds interesting,

cw - Love frogs!!! I'm glad you saved that little one. Love hostas too.

Wondering what to do with my pots of grass for the kitty that have lasted all summer. I think I'll leave them be and replace them next spring. She is very attached to them and doesn't like me doing anything to them except water them.
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