What do gardeners do when there is no gardening to do?

Now that the flower color is leaving my garden, I try to add some artsy color that is permanent to the garden. I notice garden knomes etc. in some garden pictures. Does anyone paint garden art during the down time to add punches of color or do you purchase some art for added color for the coming garden? Share some photos of added garden art to give me some ideas for next spring. I'll post some art work my daughters did last week that I put next to foundational bushes in my garden.

Any special composting begining? What kind of comments do you get on your garden during down time? I try to refine my design with the knowledge that I cannot create a completely camoflauged enviroment for snakes. Difficult task to try to encorporate safety and beauty at the same time, so I am mentally garden challenged all year.

 

I can usually garden all year if I want to. Sometimes in January or February it is too nasty to get out if it is raining. I browse seed and plant catalogs and read up on new plants on the internet. I also work on crafts and garden junk.

 

I'm in Seattle, Washington, and we have yet to have our first frost. Tomato, squash, cucumbers etc. are over for the season, but some of the flowers and most of the basil are still going. And the kale! It may go forever.

I'm trying a winter crop of radishes and greens, but they are growing verrry slowly. I've put in some winter violas and planted some garlic and crocus bulbs. I'm still fretting about what I'm supposed to do with all the perennials.

Mostly, I'm composting and building up the worm bins. I have become downright manic about composting and worms. I go to sleep thinking about how to expand my worm bins and where I can get more compostables. I want every fallen leaf I see. If I don't have a bag with me, I stuff them in my pockets. I want to greet spring with rich soil all ready for it.

I think the composting and wormbinning is going to keep me happily busy until it's time to start plants indoors.

 

Since I'm all gardening all the time from April to November, I find that I welcome the change December thru March. I take the time to clean out the house, re-decorate, get more involved with the school, spend extra time with family, and work on the family tree. Most of those things get "neglected" when I'm working and doing outdoor things around the house during summer. My indoor plants get a lot of attention too! But I'm always thinking of next years gardens...

 

I try to find the botanical names of plants I do not know in the internet. The popular name of many things is useless since in Spain and Latin America very different plants, trees have identical names.

 

That is quite interesting there GardeninVanGogh.

THough it does not happen often there are sometimes the odd occasion where confusion can set in if a post only mentions the common name for a particular plant of tree. SOmetimes the poster assumes that everyone knows what he or she is talking about, but if the poster makes use of a Russian name for instance, how will I ever know what plant it is if they do not also mention the scientific name. And you risk ridicule when you ask what plant it is.

(This is of course a purely hypothetical situation.) Fortunately on the Stew we have very thoughtful members who are not guilty of ridiculing other members. instead they are more than helpful.

 

One example; Aleli mentioned in a well known tropical song, is no other than Frangipani or Plumeria, but if you try to find information with Aleli another common name, in the internet and no one is there to help, you are trapped. Particularly if one needs to know a disease or the best way to propagate certain plant, the botanical name is sure to help.
I am glad that some may find this system helpful.

 

We make and sell garden art in our "free time." In winter I have time to make a few pieces for myself. :-D In between that I dream of Spring.

 

I read blogs but more of my time gets spent perusing garden catalogs and writing up wish lists worth several thousand dollars.

It's a good thing I can't afford to spend that kind of money because it'd take me a whole year to plant it all if I did buy all the cool plants I see.

 

Sure. If you think of buying, instead of finding a way to exchange, seeds/cuttings,seeds the cost could be expensive but there are alternatives. It depends on what you want to plant, the weather/heat zone/and what you have to offer for exchange.
At any rate, I believe that a serious horticulture fan,
will not think of profits at a time of having a rare, unique specimen.

 

Besides what was mentioned before, I write a blog of critical horticulture that no one reads. In addition,
I give away some of my hundred species in pots, because they are not drought/heat resistant or no longer look agreeable to the whole in general. One last thing, is to collect wild broad leaf plants considered weeds for their aesthetic qualities and self seeding properties.
In brief, I enjoy collecting plants that most people can not buy, find, propagate. This is one of the things I like about gardening and horticulture.

 

Reading blogs during the lean times is now my new means of passing the time. I have been thinking about doing some garden interviews to find out some new gardening tips. But looking at garden pictures stirs me more and keep me salivating until spring.

 

Something else I do is to read "Landscape Management",
"Turf" and "PRO" magazines in the Green Industry.
One thing I have noticed is that nowadays it seems that everyone must have a water feature, a BBQ, and a fire place in their built day to night garden.
This type of gardening, practiced professionally to make a buck, is the opposite to gardening for pleasure,in terms of goals. Everything is done in a fast way,too many plants for the space, hormones to slow growth or to increase it, fast, fast and good luck.

 

Now that the growing season is over for me here in the Midwest it is time to do some "indoor gardening" propagating Amaryllids and more blogging about plants, uploading pics that I didn't get around to editing in the spring and summer.

Well that's the plan anyway.