Plant Moms, native gardeners, unite!

My ideal garden would draw birds and bees to native plants, keep me in constant supply of oregano and chives and include playful focal points to gaze upon from shady seating. But, I’ll take what I actually have… a flourish of container plants that make me happy. This week’s subject is all about plants, from single desk plants to tucked-in cottage gardens. Let’s play in the dirt:

Don’t hate Alocasia Polly if she ghosts during cutting seasons. She goes dormant. But after a season in a warm spot with reduced watering, she’s good to go in spring. Spider Plant is a good tipper with the secret talent of purifying the air. Golden Pathos is into personal growth. We’re reading from “Houseplant Hookups: All the Dirt You Need to Find the Perfect Match.” Funny and practical, Agatha Isabel (through Maily Degnan’s very mod and uplifting art) shares how to match your wants to a houseplant’s needs in date-ap style. So that’s I “get” that Fiddle-Leaf Fig’s three words to describe self is “big, beautiful and bossy.” In addition to cracking up and thinking of friends, you learn some of these guys are very easy to hang with.

“Happy Plants, Happy You”

– Meditation, decoration and friendship are a few ways Kamili Bell Hill uses plants. This is billed as a plant-care an self-care guide for the modern houseplant parent. Plants, you want this mom. The photos of this book show how your little crispy brown nub in a plastic container could shift into creative planting arrangements that can breathe life into a room. Learn how to care for your baby beauties, fill in spaces on bookshelves, gaze at them to focus your energy, propagate them to share with friends and just generally thrive. Water yourself and your plants, writes Hill. She’s learned her lesson on that… and on Boston ferns.

"What Makes a Garden"

- Among glorious images of plants, notions of color and sound play, the high art of age-old vegetable gardens and even a section on dung, is a picture of Dolly Parton. Curious? So is she. The topic is intellectual curiosity, as she and successful gardeners would have. Jinny Blom has approached this book in a unique way and I suggest you peruse this book and plant yourself your own, individual garden, as you wish.

 

You’ll never have that dream garden with cascading ivy, cheery blooms, secluded benches and perhaps even grazing sheep… until you plant the first thing. “The Cottage Garden” will give you photographic inspiration from around the world, thanks to Claus Dalby. Fancy the hen house in Germany or the story behind “chocolate box cottage?” Lose yourself in these pages, then get digging.

Darragh Doiron is a Port Arthur area foodie whose ideal garden would be mainly edible, entirely colorful and seasonally aromatic. Share ideas with her at darraghcastillo@icloud.com