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Winter blues

So its been quite awhile since I've made any posts on the forum ... and just about that long since I've made any progress with my patio/container gardening. Much of what I put in during the spring has long since died or been squashed into oblivion. My roses succumbed to disease. I never could figure out what I did wrong with the beautiful fushia but it met a most untimely death as well. All the mint is gone ... okay that one was entirely my fault as I kept forgetting it was in an overhead pot and it withered away from lack of watering. No worries though, dried mint still smells wonderful! The snails got to the flowers before I was able to eradicate them little pests. Some of the "Pledge" garden has survived, despite the stray kittens who moved onto the patio for a couple months and made an absolute wreck of anything and everything on the patio. The radishes got smooshed down by the Momma Cat. The wandering jew is surviving despite all odds, hopefully it has enough oomph to make it one more winter. And of course ... the stupid mini cactus garden my husband planted is thriving. My one saving grace is the Hot Lips Salvia that is going nuts despite all attempts by cat or human to damage it.

So now going into this winter and of course the spring that follows I face new challenges trying to garden at all. I just had knee surgery and bending, standing, walking ... pretty much anything important to moving around gardening is going to be a challenge. I see a lot of self watering containers and wheeled planter bases in my future. My adirondack chairs definitely must go in favor of something I can actually get in and out of. Maybe a cute bistro set? Who knows what the spring will bring ... that's half the fun of making a new garden each year!

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Comment by michelle l arnold on December 24, 2009 at 4:01pm: I use no pecticides. It is my understnding that many plants will send out alarm pheremones when under stress, which attracts the bad bugs? The only major pest I have is the 4 lined plant bug and japenese beatles. I am a composter and use organic fertilizers only after getting my soil tested every year, it is worth every dime, most tests are around 10 per sample, I allow 3 tests every year for my different areas. My neighbor and friend does nto test her soil; she always is amazed at how much healthier my plants are.

Comment by michelle l arnold on December 21, 2009 at 11:52am: Sounds like it has been a tough year. I joke that I need to Xera Scape (desert gardening). I almost always look at the water needs of all plants before I put them in. The past two summers here in my county we had droughts, and I have a well, and so many gardens I was afraid to water anymore. Now, drought tolerant plants and shrubs are my friend. Close plantings and larger shrubs added to my beds help to eliminate the need for weeding, and I now have bark mulch delivered in truck loads, put on the side in a pile, and use it thickly to help weeding. I had shoulder surgery in July this year, and June last year and knee surgery in 87, in addition to osteoarthritis in both knees which I receive shots twice a year for. So, I understand. I try not to let things get me down, just focus on new plans to make it all easier. It can be done and as my surgeon says, there is a study that gardeners live much longer than non gardeners, depspite exercise or diet programs. :) At this rate, I think I will live to be 200 years old. Remember, "motion is lotion" to the joints, no matter how much it hurts, we just gotta keep movin'!

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