Cultivating positive thoughts during a pandemic
In these challenging days of COVID-19 restrictions and new stayat-home orders, I’m searching for the proverbial silver lining to the cloud over our heads.
We can cultivate positive thoughts by reading, planning and sharing ideas — here are a few suggestions:
Plan a vegetable garden: Winter is the ideal time to research and plan a vegetable garden. A vegetable patch is going to be extra work, so only consider growing vegetables you love. Should they be grown from seed or are they more successful when starter plants are used? Don’t have room for a full vegetable garden? Many vegetables work well in containers. Local seed growers like stokeseed.com, damseed.com, oscseeds.com. have informative websites to get you started.
Plan a cutting garden: Research some easy to grow annuals like zinnias, asters, sunflowers and rudbeckia that make pretty cut flowers. With just a few packets of seeds, you can have simple bouquets for your table all season long. Pick colours and flowers that make you happy.
Houseplants: Give your houseplants a little extra TLC this winter. Trim away diseased or damaged leaves, repot the plants if they seem overcrowded, give them a light feeding, offer a spritz of water (forced air furnaces make for very dry air). Consider setting up a table for plants near a window that catches the morning or afternoon light. Don’t have any houseplants? I noticed a fresh selection of tropical plants on offer at the local grocery store this week. African violets, succulents, orchids and all sorts of leafy tropicals are suited to indoor gardening.
Start some cuttings: Winter is the ideal time to take cuttings of houseplants and start new plants to share with friends once we get out of the house again. I have several African violets that are begging to be divided and potted up in separate containers—maybe a project for this week.
Old Books: Pull out some of the gardening books and/or magazines you have stashed away and read them again — books with colourful pictures of beautiful gardens provide a great arm-chair escape and may offer a little extra inspiration for your home garden. I’ve been re-reading some of my gardening books. An afternoon spent with a treasured book is like visiting an old friend.
New Books: Order a new book on a garden or environmental topic that interests you. When it comes in, pour yourself a favourite beverage, settle in a comfortable chair and enjoy the escape. I was introduced to photographer Mark Zelinski’s book, “Heart of Turtle Island, The Niagara Escarpment” in a recent newspaper article. I ordered the book online and then treated myself to several afternoon ‘escapes’ as I delved into stories about the people, history, flora and fauna of our own Niagara Escarpment.
Native tree: Consider adding a native tree (or shrub) to your property. Before ever heading out to a garden centre, do a little online research to find a tree/shrub that suits your location. Take into account the soil, light, moisture and how much space you have to offer.
Container gardening: Winter is the ideal time to plan interesting plant combinations for your planters. How can you achieve several seasons of interest? Spring bulbs, annuals, fragrant herbs, colourful vegetables and exotic tropicals are all viable options. Again, choose plants that are suited to your site (sun or shade; sheltered or wind swept) and always include the plants that make you happy. I grow pansies in containers every year because they remind me of my mother. Do you have a plant that stirs happy memories? Consider including them in your design. Plan to have pots of your favourite herbs close to the back door — for me, that means lots of basil.
Garden videos: With travel restrictions, we can’t just fly off to an exotic garden to escape the winter blues. Luckily, there are many interesting garden documentaries available online. You can follow presenters like Monty Don on virtual tours through incredible gardens around the world. TVO recently re-broadcast the story of Frank Cabot’s world-class garden in Charlebois, Que. called “Les Quatre Vents” over the Christmas holidays. I had a chance to visit this garden several years ago, it was a dream come true, and I felt as if I was back in the garden again while watching the video.
Garden journal: Upload the garden pictures from your mobile phone or camera into your computer and organize them into a garden journal. You can note the different plants you were growing last season, your successes and improvements that could be made. If you have saved all the tags (we all save them, but can we find them?), this would be a good time to upload the information into your file — the tags can be scanned, or snap a picture with your phone and upload the images.