Ladies and gentlemen, the time we’ve all been waiting for has finally arrived: Gardening season is back and here to stay[1]!
If you’re anything like me, you’ve been patiently waiting
dying for the weather to warm up and the nights to stay above 50 degrees
so you can safely get your plant on. I
adore the burgeoning greens buds and vivid floral blooms that begin to emerge
this time of year, and I’ve been chomping at the bit for the opportunity to add
some color and vivacity to our small, but mighty outdoor space.
For weeks I’ve been dreaming of the best gardening approach, practically salivating with excitement while plotting the endless possibilities of what could be. Should I create a “secret garden,” teeming with several varieties of fragrant flowers and ultimately creating an environment that would make even Frances Hodgson Burnett weep with pure delight? Should I go urban farmer and focus on cultivating various types of fruits and vegetables, yearning in earnest for a prolific summer harvest? Should I give in to my tropical fantasies and pursue lush palms, verdant monsteras, and luxurious birds of paradise to create a vibrant tropical oasis right outside my door? Or, should I take a more hybrid, mutually agreed upon route and chase a healthy combination of all three?
These are the ponderings that keep me up at night in our corona-ridden world.
In all seriousness, I did spend an inordinate amount of time thinking through how to best beautify our space. Why did I do this, you ask? Well, for starters, I love plants and will whole-heartedly pursue any additional space that will allow me to bring more green babies into the world. Second, as I mentioned in last week’s post, “Atomic Tangerine: Adventures in Quarantini Wonderland,” these days when entertainment options are at a premium, I’m really just looking for as many excuses to online shop as I possibly can find. And lastly, because there are still very few places we can both safely and legally spend time these days, I feel particularly compelled to beautify the small slice of the world I have power over—my tiny sphere of influence—and do what I can to make it as pleasant, inviting, and delightfully livable as possible. There’s little we can truly control in life, particularly these days, and when we do find something we can influence and infuse with personality, then it’s an automatic win. If you can take something and make it so wholeheartedly and unapologetically yours, then I say go after it and chase it with fervent gusto! After all, what do you have to lose?
My excursion began, as all good excursions do, with a trip to Target. And, living in the world we live in, this involved a healthy potpourri of both virtual and in-store visits[2]. Loving the opportunity to get outside and soak up as much sun as we possibly can, Cam and I were already equipped with a pair of blue Adirondack chairs, a spunky, decidedly modern black metal geometric side table, and a couple of black plastic planting pots from last summer’s experimentation with homegrown tomatoes and jalapeños. This was a solid foundation, and I made it my quarantine mission to explore as many additional fun, character-providing options as possible. Therefore, in no time at all[3] I was the proud owner of a striking array of stone and terracotta pots, all in a variety of shapes, colors, and sizes that would provide the perfect punch of personality and vegetation to our summer space[4]. After a few rounds of deck “staging” that spanned the course of thirty minutes,[5] I arrived at my working design and was ready to progress to stage two of the gardening process: The plant shopping.
With this precise planning already in motion, clearly a visit to Tonkadale was the next logical step, and we promptly hopped online and secured our in-person shopping reservation for Saturday afternoon. Gardening centers have been deemed “essential business” here in Minnesota and have been largely open to the public since the stay at home order was issued, but Tonkadale is particularly smart about its strategy for welcoming “live” shoppers onto its greenhouse premise. Specifically, in order to shop at Tonkadale, one must secure an online reservation and pay a small fee that will go towards your same-day in-store purchase. Additionally, Tonkadale requires all visitors to wear masks (something that is not currently mandated in Minnesota) and shop six feet apart while perusing the greenhouse. While no method is truly perfect, I appreciate Tonkadale’s added levels of caution and security to bring both safety and convenience to plant lovers during this strange time. Tonkadale proudly brands its advertising by anchoring everything back to its motto, “for the love of plants,” but clearly it shares a similar deep-reaching love for the safety and holistic well-being of people, too.
With the space charted out, the pots purchased, and our shopping reservation booked, there was only one thing left to decide: What the heck was I actually going to plant? After much research, deliberation, and soul searching[6], I decided I would move forward with a healthy mix of veggies, flowers, and a special addition of a thoughtfully designed greenery bowl[7]. Thus, with visions of plant sugarplums dancing in my head, we donned our masks, hit the road, and pulled in to the Tonkadale parking lot ready to dominate.
Let’s. Freaking. DO. THIS.
We started with the veggies, carefully selecting a healthy combination of jalapeño and cherry tomato seedlings. From there, we migrated to the terrarium plants and handpicked seven miniature plants including String of Pearl, English Ivy, Mini Begonia, and Sedum Tokyo Sun. Lastly, we zeroed in on the annuals, carefully sifting through endless varieties of colorful florals before landing on a vibrant mix of geraniums, petunias, and chocolate covered cherry coleuses. Color was top of mind during this trip, and I made a point of deliberately choosing various flowery hues, from electric orange to hot magenta to “unmellow yellow.” Color splashed everywhere, painting the greenhouse like an eclectic canvas, and the vibrancy filled my heart and lifted my spirits. Needless to say, I was in plant lady heaven, and as we speedily navigated through the aisles with a mindful sense of urgency, I couldn’t wait to return home so I could finally bring my outdoor oasis to life!
This is how Cam and I came to spend our rainy Saturday evening: Preparing outdoor planters while gardening indoors and listening to Adele on vinyl as the torrential rain continuously beat on the rooftop, threatening to keep us inside and drown us in hopeless despair. And yet, we didn’t’ let it; rather, we found a glimmering silver lining and moved forward with bringing our plant visions to life. Therefore, in a move that would surely have given my dad heart palpitations, I brought the outdoors in and turned our living room into a temporary indoor garden. Potting soil out, planters pulled in, dirt everywhere, and watering can at the ready, I had everything I needed to get to work and beautify our space.
For hours I planted, with music playing and a cocktail fit snugly in my dirt-covered hands, filling planters with soil, pinching plastic plots, freeing roots, and carefully arranging my newly acquired plant babies in their permanent summer containers. Words cannot capture the sheer joy I derived from this simple activity. Something about smelling the rich, earthy soil, plunging my hands into its thick, moist texture, and using it as a foundation for these beautiful, fragrant plants to spread their roots spoke to me on a plurality of levels and filled me with an immense feeling of hope and possibility that I haven’t felt for a while.
They say planting a seed is believing in tomorrow, and I think that’s one hundred percent true. However, I think it’s also safe to say that planting a seed is believing in today and investing in everything that comes with that—the good, the bad, the ugly, and, of course, the impossibly messy—and consciously choosing to make the best of what life throws at you in the here and now.
Color your garden, color your life.
In this way, planting a seed truly becomes a promise, not only to the larger world, but also to yourself: I am here. I am alive. And I will continue to grow, despite the odds.
Grow on, gardeners. Grow
on.
[1] At least for the next couple months, that is.
[2] Let’s be real, it mostly involved virtual visits. I just can’t help it.
[3] For what even is time, these days, really?
[4] I have to say, I’m particularly impressed with Target’s patio offerings this year. Funky terracotta? Several different strains of colorfully-flecked terrazzo? So on trend. So on point. Target, how do you do it? Needless to say, I experienced approximately 0% difficulty supporting the company business by purchasing these stylish outdoor snags. “Target run and done:” Win and win.
[5] Man, clearly I need to find some other things to fill my time…
[6] Ha! Okay, it wasn’t this dramatic. Actually, yes it was… Wait, no it wasn’t… Okay, I really need to get out more these days…
[7] I don’t know if this is a commonly used phrase in the plant world or not, but I’m going for it: “Greenery bowl” sounds good to me!
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