philosophy 101

Speaking of tying up dahlias.............I walk a couple dogs everyday for my residents in the retirement home where I work. We have various plants that flop on the sidewalk occasionally (the residents have a very eclectic garden). A big flowering head of Fillipendula was sprawling out, my options for taking care of it at the time where limited with two dogs on leashes, so what shall I do? It won't just stay tucked behind the other stems, aha a poopy pouch (aka poop picking up bag). It is now firmly standing tall with the help of a poopy pouch (un-used of course) and it's even green. So even if you have no pantyhose remember other things can be brought into service too!

Brilliant solution thistledown!

I have to dress "nice" for work & I have had a shoe fetish since I was quite young. I have very high arches, so flats are out - they really hurt my feet. I am at home in heels, and always thought this would be a great stylish way to aerate the lawn - LOL! I like shoes that are truly "on" the feet - firmly attached so to speak, so i am a BootGirl. Love them - but not when it gets over 80°.
Skirts- another historic necessity for me. Prferably cut on the bias for fabulous drape. Sorry - i used to be a tailor in years past...
today we are serving barefeet, cut-off jeans & a bathing suit top - too hot for many clothes, and I have no AC at home.

Oh gosh, every time I read this thread I try to pull together some deep thoughts fitting of Philosophy 101, and I never quite get them put in writing before the topic has completely changed....so tonight I will plunge into the conversation anyway and try to connect in some way to both the thoughtful and the trivial.

I have always had a strong relationship with trees. When I was a child there was a huge cottonwood outside my bedroom window that was home to many squirrels and that sent poofy white 'Summer snow' swirling into the alley where it was located. This was magical to me even though the adults found it a pain collected in the windshield wipers of their cars. My mother had rescued this tree from destruction when the houses were built in the vacant lot where it was rooted. Men with chainsaws had come early in the morning planning to cut it down to make way for paved parking. She ran out in her bathrobe and convinced them somehow that they could indeed fit enough parking spaces in while leaving a 4 foot wide strip to accommodate the tree. That tree survived another 35 years after those houses with their adjacent parking were built. It was my visual refuge from the concrete jungle of the city all through my childhood. My family are unabashedly tree huggers, and we have the pictures to prove it I found when putting together a 45th wedding anniversary album for them. There are other important trees in my life, but that was the first one.

Garden lessons for me...initiating life, no, facilitating life, and letting go....lots....because anything can happen and plants grow the way they wish not the way I plan most of the time. Sharing with those I love and those I do not, including the deer and the slugs. Pride, and complete loss of pride and vanity. putting things into perspective about what is important when I grow things well and when I end up inadvertently killing them. Hmmm...also both indulging and confronting my addictions and obsessive compulsive behaviors (these involve plants and books). Enjoying the small things, like the carrot thinnings to put in the salad and little crocus bulbs pushing out of the ground before Winter is over.Appreciating rain in a whole new way.

Regarding shoes, I had one brief lapse into shoe lust when I was about 6 years old and a neighbor girl got new patent leather red shoes for the first day of school. I believe I put up a royal fit in the store trying to get my mom to buy me shoes like that but she would not relent and I got the regular brown buckle type. Since then, I do not recall caring much about shoes except to effectively cover my feet. I own 3 pairs: muck shoes for the garden most of the year, sensible low heeled tie shoes for work days, and a pair of sandals which I hardly wear except when it gets so hot. I bought them when going to a wedding in NYC last summer. When I was in my 20s and got around by bicycle, I discovered that the perfect rainy season shoe gear was a pair of sneakers stuffed into some of those clear plastic shoe covers that old ladies put on in the rain. They kept my feet dry and did not interfere with pedaling.

Pantyhose and dahlias?? So much more interesting than wearing them, to be sure! I use velcro to tie mine up. i have a large selection of different lengths of bamboo and other sticks. Dahlias, lilies, other tall, skinny things, all get tied up or propped up by sticks.

Holly, 3 pair of shoes? I believe I can only aspire to that level of practicality. I have 3 pair of shoes by the back door alone. Who know how many pair I have in all? I admit, though, that I have way fewer than I used to, and part of my need for different pair has to do with foot pain. when they start hurting, I put on a different pair.

I think it's too hot for me to wa philosophical tonight. It's time for a cold shower.

ditto - time for a cold shower, move the hose, reposition all the fans & try to sleep somewhere in this hot & humid house.

MHF - I am always deeply touched by your messages. Thank you.

Katye, sleep outdoors, get the dogs and go for a camp out in the back garden. You are so in touch with your land and plants, I can't imagine you missing this 'rational(ized) opportunity for a sleep out. Outl you go. AND, by the way, I really admire you for not having air conditioning, it is environmentally unsustainable.

MHF - this is Philosophy 101 - not a graduate course! And since it is too hot to think, a photo of the fabric of my favorite summer skirt.

That is lovely fabric. It looks like a batik.

Phew. I don't have to write a paper every time.

Thank you Laurie. I feel the same about the thoughts you share, and all the other people here. This forum is a respite in an often crazy world, kind of like a garden of people.

My dad does not just hug trees, he kisses them. See picture below. This is the ginkgo tree when it was planted in my yard.

This message was edited Jul 30, 2009 1:19 PM

The kids being initiated in the art of hugging large cottonwood trees. It takes more than one to reach around.

Ohhhh, MHF! What a sweetie! If my dad could figure out which ones were girl trees he probably try and have......hmmm, maybe that thought is best left unfinished. My dad is a very odd, 84 yr. old widower who has found his narcissistic self. How nicely put is that.

Laurie LOL - your dad sounds like my mom and she's not a barrel of laughs lately. My dad is the sweetest guy ever, except maybe for MHF's tree kissing dad.

Love the photo of the kids hugging the big tree.

Great pic's of the kids and your Dad, ones you will cherish for your lifetime I am sure.!

A tree kissing dad! I love it! We should all kiss our trees. There are too few of them. And many too few tree kissing fathers!

I do like that fabric, Portland. Yes, it does look like Batik. Yet another art form I would like to play with some day.

Whoops! I forgot to move my water. Bad girl! Must go do so.

I love Batik fabrics. The colors are mellow but true at the same time.

This morning when I was watering (I love to water) I was thinking about how my mind is the most peaceful when working in the garden. Not sitting or sipping or relaxing, but weeding, trimming, watering, etc. So that is the function of my garden. Its upkeep requires physical effort, and that apparently is what keeps my brain from anxious activity and overload. Azorina said earlier in this thread the function of her garden is to "prevent insanity" and I salute that thought.

This message was edited Jul 31, 2009 3:21 PM

Judi, you stated it well. I believe it is due to the focus being placed on what one is nurturing.
I will admit to being frantic about trying to keep things hydrated properly, but recognized that the established plants would recover from the heat induced stress. Some things are out of our control.
My motto: "do the best you can with what you've got..."

I usually enjoy watering, but the sheer volume of it necessary lately to keep my new blueberries and fruit trees alive makes for a much more time consuming process this summer. Yep, I admit to frantic watering here.

That Ginkgo tree could be a girl tree or a boy tree, and I won't know for another 5 to 10 years at which time it may start producing stinky fruits. Not sure what to hope for as they are edible, and who knows what I might need to eat after peak oil has come and gone.

Wish me luck, I'm off to do the Relay for Life walk-a-thon tonight. Will be home again tomorrow morning. Very glad it has cooled down. I was not looking forward to walking the high school track in the blazing heat.

Good luck MHF! Good thing you will be walking at night. Have fun!

GGGGGGGOOOOOOODDDDDD Walking MHF! You'll love it!

The walk was a good time. I got to know my team members much better as we shared life stories to pass the time. There were several teenage teams, including a number of kids I'd had in first grade. It was like an all night party, with music and camp-out. Luminarias with the names of people who either have died of cancer or are survivors or currently fighting it lined the track all the way around. We hosted a group of children from a local summer camp for children with cancer for dinner and the survivors' lap. It was very moving. The level of physical ability was just my speed. Since having a back injury a while ago, I can't sustain a long continuous walk too well, so it was nice to be in a relay where I could walk for an hour or so at a time, then pass off to other members of the team and lie down for a little stretching and a rest in the tent. Still, only 2 hours of actual sleep. I have been sleeping on and off for 2 days to make up for it, but what better is there to do on a hot afternoon? Not nearly so hard as your all night marathon, Laurie, but challenge enough for me at the moment.

MHF, like you, I found it so touching to do the marathon for Breast Cancer - and that took any difficulty out of the effort. Well done, well done to all who took part. I love the idea of the luminaria - even the name sounds warm and gentle. Photos please.

Laurie and MHF (thank goodness the H is in there) I think you are both amazing to contribute the way you do with the walks. I have a ski injury and can't walk more than an hour without pain but MHF you have inspired me. Bless you both.

Yesterday I was planting a Chinese Fringe Flower shrub and a few grasses and was thinking about how much I have learned from all of you at DG. To learn from fellow gardeners is certainly inspiring and I am wondering who inspired each of you to love gardening. Your mother, father, sister, brother? A friend? A class? Your regular job? We know how playing in dirt adds so much to our lives (and has the opposite effect on our wallets) but why did you become a gardener?

My gardening gene came from my Mom. She always had lovely flowers growing around our yard. I dearly wish she was still around to see that I finally got really into it. (When she was still alive, I always lived in apartments or rentals where I was very limited in what I could do)

I grow calla lilies (the old-fashioned big white ones) in memory of her. She especially loved those.

My mom always had a huge veggie garden. And she always had a row of dahlias in it. She also canned it all and made jelly and such. She loved to work in her yard in Port Orchard and had many beautiful things. She fed the wildlife and loved cats and dogs. Not a bad thing to imitate.
My MIL also loved her garden and I learned a lot listening to her.
Miss them both.

As a child, i loved being outside - good thing, because my mom would not let us hang out inside! "Fresh air & exercise"! was a common refrain at my house.

Soil - it smelled good, especially under the trees, and flowers taller than I: fascinating. A flower forest!
An elderly neighbour lady invited me over one day. I passed by her house daily on the way to school & friends' homes - she had the biggest dahlias, roses that you could smell from a distance, an herb & veggie garden & she must have watched me dawdling in front of her place. She was instrumental, as my mom planted flowers but DID NOT FUSS (her words). I ate a chive blossom, nasturtiums, violets, lavendar & lots of tasty treats at this lady's garden, and indulged my olfactory glands - I smelled crushed foliage & flowers, and learned that pollen stains, and daylilies bleed colour. Charming & cozy & vibrant & OUTSIDE!

Years later, while touring the English countryside, I took a walk & found myself in front of a handsome garden - the owner was out front & we conversed. When an older knowledgeable adult looks you in the eye & tells you something you know in your heart to be true, you listen.
She spoke to me so very serious - looking intently into my eyes: "you were meant to work the soil - never forget, it all started in the Garden" as if this was my sole purpose in life, words that were released from my heart. This is why i garden. Plus I'm selfish & enjoy it!

My dad and grandpa (his father) were my first role models. Both were always growing something, inside and out, even though they lived in a big city and didn't have huge amounts of space. Grandpa had a few of those silly pink flamingos in his garden, so I always think fondly of him when I see them somewhere even though they are not my style. He had veggies and flowers mixed in his small postage stamp yard, and he was a good cook. We would go to a local beach where there was a large wild grape vine to collect leaves to make dolma (stuffed grape leaves), one of his specialties. My family went on a road trip to visit my parents shortly after they had moved to a different house, and I knew which was their place immediately while driving up the street without looking at the address because of the tomato plants in the front and herbs by the curb instead of the ordinary grass strip.

Unfortunately I didn't take my camera along to the Relay for Life event. If I get pictures from someone else, I'll post. Judi, you are wise to know your limits for physical exertion, not to stress your injury. I admit I over did it somewhat.

I also applaud those who are generous enough with their time to donate it to the search for a cure for any of the horrible diseases... Kudos to you!

There are so many factors that led me to be a gardener, it is really difficult for me to come up with a summary. Like Katye, I have always been an "outdoors" person. We have always lived in an area with woods, and in my estimation, inside was boring when you had so much adventure waiting for you outside. Added to that, my Mother is an avid gardener and nature lover, so I learned all about enjoying the beauty of the garden, wildflowers, and nature's creatures at a young age. In school, I took a horticulture class that taught me the concept of plant propigation and floral design, and by then I was hooked. I helped in the flower and vegie gardens growing up, and the first thing I spent money on when I got my first house was a truck load of rocks and a load of dirt to make raised beds in the boring back yard. There is nowhere I am happier than in my garden.

Sorry to barge in here but I saw that Rarejem had posted something so had to check out the thread - She is a friend and the daughter of my friend that I have had for 40 years PNWMountain Girl. I do not know if I got my interest from anyone specific
If I were to believe in reincarnation, and sometimes I do, I had to have been someone who worked with the soil. I did spend my first 10 years of life on a farm but wasn't involved with the day to day life of farming. I do know that I love to get down on the ground and run the soil between my fingers - Now if I were to give credit to anyone - it would be my dear friend PNWMtnGirl
We met when our children were babies - she was interested in birdwatching and we both lived on acreage that was great for birds, I also had a lot of land and a wonderful place for a vegetable garden so we planted a huge one together and she was starting to plant flowers around their home -- when she needed to divide her flowers I was the lucky one- She peaked my interest in those areas and I will be forever grateful for that direction in my life.

Growing up on a farm, I was more interested in my pony than doing anything else. I would HAVE to work in the garden and didn't really enjoy it. I soooo wish I had paid more attention. I did however like the great food - fresh, canned, or frozen. After marriage, and having 4 kids in 6 years, there wasn't much time for gardening. However, when my folks moved in with us in '98 I started a garden, cuz my mom loved fresh flowers. Dad died a few months after the move. He was sicker than we realized. anyway, each year we added a garden. Now, it is hard to keep up especially since I've been concentrating mostly on containers on the deck so mom can enjoy them. Who would have thought that she would still be here after 15 months on hospice. I do enjoy gardening now, because it is my choice and not a chore to be done. Next year the plan is to plant more veggies. So my answer would be both of my parents.

I love reading about why people became gardeners. I have to say that in my own case, I'm a good example of genetic knowlege being passed down from ancestors. Having grown up in the military, we never had a garden. Well, that's not completely true. My father tried to have a vegetable garden once when I was in college. Unfortunately, he didn't know the difference between a gourd and a squash, so that didn't go too well. My mother wanted to garden a bit, but the most she ever grew was colocasia and tomatoes. They never lived in a home of their own until I had graduated from college. We never stayed anywhere long enough to grow things.
My father's people, on the other hand, were farmers and my father grew up on a farm in Texas. His mother grew all of their food as well as flowers. I met these people a handful of times growing up, but I credit this genetic line with causing my gardening enthusiasm and abilities. There have been many times during my gardening 'life' when I have just 'known' about how things work and didn't stop to wonder just how I knew. Whether it is other lifetimes working the soil or whether it's genetic memory I don't know, but I think the English woman who spoke to Kayte told it true. Some people are just born to grow things and won't be satisfied unless they do.
I probably would have enjoyed majoring in horticulture but back then I found it very hard to memorize lists of latin names. That's one reason why I like to learn them now. Just to prove I can.

I have to credit DH.

No gardeners in our family. dirt is strictly for washing off, and outdoors is what surrounds indoors. It is why indoors was invented.

I have a sculpture background, worked as an artist for years until I hit the proverbial block. I can honestly tell you it is not at all what most people think - it is actually like a partial amnesia. At least it was for me. I retained all the skills, but not a single 'art idea'. I changed media, changed studio locations, and eventually changed careers. And then one day I started thinking about growing a few plants, and a few more. And then getting a house with a garden, and then a house with a few acres. And along each move, dear dear husband (okay, I'm in tears) funded, supported, prompted, and paid, never blinked when ever I start a project, continues to fund, all in the quietest, most respectful way. No matter what. He is very hands off, but very engaged. He is just there. I can honestly say, I am who I am, doing what I do, and as content as I am because he is here. And I thank him. My gardening is my sculpture.

That's a beautiful story Laurie. Thanks for sharing.

Laurie, you make me cry too. Cherish every moment you have with your DH being there for you. My DDH was also like that. No matter what I wanted, I got it, from new beds to new trellises to new arbors. He was the major "creator" for the big parts (particularly if it involved a big machine) and I was the finisher.
I know that my love for "playing in the dirt" must have come from my grandfather. He worked on WPA projects in the depression but still had his gardens and ponds when there was not much else. I remember his overwintering his pond goldfish in the cellar in Minnesota. His garden rocks were spectacular as accents back then, when there was no such thing as "garden ornaments" and I sure wish I could have kept some of them. I still do have a start of one of his iris, after a lot of years. In his early 50's he became crippled with arthritis and his wife, my grandmother, continued with their veggies and supported them with a truck farm and a roadside stand. As I grew up, I spent my summers helping out with weeding and picking the veggies. I remember long. long rows of tomato and cucumber plants to take care of. You would think I would have acquired an aversion to same, but, no, it got in my blood.
Now, I love being in the gardens, either vegetable or flower and find it my relaxation time. I call it my "play" time. I get many comments from non-gardener visitors......".Boy, that's a lot of work", but I call it a lot of "play".
I love the fact that I can share this love with my daughter, Rarejem, and one of my very best and longest friends, Cabindweller. There are several other dear gardening friends that I share with, some on DG, (and I plan to recruit more) some who I know you are seeing on other threads. What a joy to walk together with those of like minds and cherish what we have created with our own hands and efforts!
Also, it is so wonderful to share this part of our world with others that are dear to us. I can always remember who gave me a specific plant and treasure that connection with that person. I am happy to find that it is true when I visit others gardens and see some of my contributions there and they also remember that those plants came from me.

j

I love hearing people's stories! Each one is unique and beautiful, especially concerning the people in our lives who love and support us.

I am crying, too. That is why I love DG. Yesterday, I had the opportunity to meet another DGer - greenhousegal - on my way to Ocean City, NJ to pick up DH. He had ridden his bike there on Tuesday - about 65 miles. Anyway, I had seen pics of her veggie garden on the Mid-Atlantic forum and she lives on my route, soooo she was thrilled to give me a tour and some pointers. We plan on planting more veggies next year, so I wanted a bird's eye view of hers. She kindly gave me tomatoes from 3 different varieties, so I can save seeds. One was a large plum tomatoe that she had gotten seeds from Potagere, another DGer who lives in France. It always amazes me that we are a global community.

How interesting these stories are. And one thing stands out. All your stories revolve around a person. No one said "well my family didn't garden and was not interested in plants but one day I became curious and started to garden" with the exception of Laurie who it seems was inspired by her artistic talents and sculpturing (correct me if need be Laurie) and then was lovingly supported by her DH. By the way, your post made me weep Laurie.
When you are out in the garden do you think about those people who inspired you? Do your gardens radiate this love of the special person? Does that person know how important they are or were to your gardening life?

When I was growing up my life was similar to Pix's - military family that moved constantly - so we never had a garden but now my parents have a lovely garden in the mountains near Lake Tahoe. I do remember living for 2 years in Tacoma and discovering for the first time that I loved the forests. In college of course the only thing we were interested in growing was a certain plant (it was the 60s) and that turned out to be too complicated. When I started having a family I was too busy raising 7 kids and working. While doing research in Sweden I came across an incredible garden designed by Rudolf Steiner that surrounded a filtration system to clean what we now call grey water, and that made me think about how we might be able to do things differently. Then I started spending time in Portland and watching the gardens change as the seasons changed and became obsessed and knew I had to live in the PNW and find a little house with a garden. So I credit the spirit of the people of the PNW with inspiring me to garden.

Pix it seems you have become a master of those Latin names. I believe that almost everyone can learn anything - you just have to find out HOW to learn it.

Good stories from all of you about the garden draw. I never had anyone in my family who gardened but I always enjoyed the setting of a garden and love to dig in the dirt. So I guess when I quit being a large animal vet I needed to still stand in manure with my bare feet. Hence gardening. It is my get away from it all and be creative that gets me.

Sofer good to see you here. Where have you been hiding?

Judi, Not only do I think of my Mom every time I am in the garden, but every time I walk by a plant that has been given to me by a gardening friend, I think of them as well.

It is strange...I think that my garden is the only place in my life I see both as a place of solace where I can spend peaceful time by myself with my own soul and Mother Nature, and also see it as a place of community where it brings me great joy to spend time there with others and share the joy that it brings.

OK, I have pretty much been MIA in the forums lately and am not going to even think about trying to catch up right now....BUT

I am butting in everywhere right now to post the link to our final roundup plans so that there isn't a chance of anyone that wants to join us missing it!

Hope to see as many people as possible there! Should be a great time!

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1024024/