Hello,
Here come the anemones! I only began growing these beautiful cut flowers a few years ago but I can’t get enough of them. Anne Long of The Dahlia House calls anemones and ranunculus “luxury blooms for busy people.” I wrote about these blooms and Anne, a flower farmer in the Skagit Valley, for a Seattle Times GROW story. (Hopefully, the story isn’t paywalled, I never know~) Another story that hasn’t yet run is about a flower farm right here in West Seattle created as a side hustle for a busy mom who works full time at a day job. Flowers are powerful stuff and help make just about anything even better although they may not bring back my Instagram account — I’m still working on it. It’s true I may be whistling in the dark or spitting into the wind (sorry – gross) but I’m not quite ready to give up. Trust me, this lovely community will be the first to know when (if?) @gardenercook is restored. In researching all the many ways to resolve this sort of problem, I Googled myself. Like clasping a hot iron, this is something I never ever do. While I didn’t find a handy customer service line for Meta (ludicrous, I know, what was I thinking?!) I did come across a 3-minute video interview filmed at Lakewold Gardens about a year or so ago. In the interview I talk about gardens, writing about gardens, and color – no surprises there.
I’m not going to quote myself, it’s hard enough to watch myself (!!!) but the gist of what I was saying about my daily practice is: forgive yourself on days that are disappointing and keep going. It’s the process not the finished piece. I’m grateful to that version of me then for encouraging me today. As a garden writer, I often speak of garden making as a series of beginnings. Failure and loss aren’t endings, they’re just a chance to grow and start over. I’m not trying to gloss over this unfortunate turn of events, I feel it keenly. I’m sad and enraged at the people who decided to disrupt my life. Today would have marked 6 years since April 3, 2018, when I first picked up a brush and began capturing colors in the garden. I’m not the same person I was back then, I’d like to think that I’m better at paying attention with my entire heart and more compassionate towards others and their losses. So — this is me beginning again. I’m so glad you’re here.
xo Lorene
Free!
I’ve just received news that my Color In and Out of the Garden class on Creativebug is free to watch throughout the months of April, May, and June. Here’s a list of all the free classes you can explore during the same time period. For those of you who may not know what I’m talking about, Creativebug is an online learning platform where you can stream a multitude of classes on art & design, sewing, crafts and garden making. My Garden Journaling class recently launched on the first day of Spring this year.
Recent Writing: A Daffodil Distraction, on Garden Rant
Recent reading: The Fragrant Flower Garden: Growing, Arranging & Preserving Natural Scents, by Stefani Bittner and Alethea Harampolis. [Affiliate Bookshop link]
Keep going
The unplugged and undated version.
A peppery tangle of radish micro greens to wake me out of a distressing week. Surprisingly delicious. I usually plant radishes to little effect although I love the seed pods that form after the root flowers. This year I’m going to crop micro greens on my potting bench — same flavor, much quicker.
Like a pale spring sky just finding its footing after a cold winter. Muscari ‘Valerie Finnis’ in the garden. I never tire of this delicate beauty.
It’s (the other) most wonderful time of the year when I can move all the plants I’ve been sheltering indoors, back out into their rightful place in the garden. Tidying up my collection of scented geraniums, I can’t help but take cuttings to root and share.
Narcissus ‘Pipit’ is a golden sun with a full moon in its throat — wonderfully fragrant as well.
Narcissus ‘Geranium’ offers a fragrant bouquet on every stem. Not to be confused with those plants in my collection of scented geraniums. Nor is this beauty related to the rapidly expanding lime green mounds of foliage on Geranium ‘Rozanne’ in several places in the back garden. They must have been running low on plant names. What a joy and a comfort to walk away from internet issues and go pick flowers in the garden.
This may be Tulip ‘Apricot Beauty’ but really it’s what it feels like on the inside of my head after chasing hackers through my personal accounts. There on the right, the fresh blooms are showing me how to open up and bloom.
Pasque flower (Pusitilla vulgaris) bloomed right on time for Easter Sunday with blooms the color of church vestments and a fuzzy coat like a bunny.
Hi Lorraine-thanks for your lovely newsletter. Maybe create a new Instagram account???
Good that I subscribed to your Substack newsletter(!), because now I know why I don't see your
Instagram account. And good to know about your CreativeBug class. I will never match my mom's artistic abilities but watercolor is a godsend as I deal with her cognitive decline. Mary