Plotting & Plan(t)ing

keep going...

Hello,

The news these days fills me with fear and fury, but it’s hard to look away. It’s even harder to imagine a future — the one the littles will grow into — lacking care and compassion, decency and justice. If it weren’t winter, I’d immerse myself in my garden beds and borders to ground myself in the escalating chaotic each day brings. I’d soothe my fractious mind by watching for the robins to descend on the Hollywood juniper and strip it of ripe berries like they did last year.

Whiling away time in my garden room last weekend I started eight seed packets of sweet peas. Do I need eight varieties of sweet peas? Absolutely not. But these seedlings signal my faith in the future. They are a form of garden currency and personally, I love to share the wealth.

Outside in the garden, the witch hazel is flowering, hellebores are budded, and the first snowdrops are blooming. It’s time to think about sowing fava beans, my favorite (delicious) cold-hardy crop. Sometimes, late in the month, we typically get a relatively balmy week that’s perfect for pruning fruit trees and roses. Sometimes it snows. It pays to pay attention. I’m so glad you’re here.

xo Lorene

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Creativebug

Garden historian Mac Griswold wrote: “Gardening is the slowest of the performing arts.” However, in my experience things move pretty quickly once the growing season gets underway. Likewise, the cadence of my garden record keeping changes throughout the year. Winter is for plotting and planning. During the rush of growing season, I resort to capturing the garden with photos on my phone and stashing plant tags and seed packets, records I can return to year after year.

In my Garden Journaling class on Creativebug, I’ll teach you how to make the most of every season by keeping a journal with space for exploring garden dreams as well as a place to stash pertinent plant tags and seed packets. I’ll show you an easy way to diagram planting ideas and think through seasonal changes. Sound interesting? Click the button below to access the class and get a 60-day free trial on Creativebug.

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Northwest Flower & Garden Festival

This year’s garden spectacular is right around the corner and, if you’re planning on attending, I’d love to hear from you and maybe we can connect among the gardens crafted by designers and gently forced into early bloom in deep midwinter. On Wednesday, 2/19 I’ll be giving a talk entitled “Cultivate the Rainbow” that explores how color behaves in the garden and how we can place plants to capture light, illuminate shady corners and draw attention throughout a landscape. Follow this link to get $3 off a regular adult ticket. Discount valid through midnight 2/18/25

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Let’s Color

When life gets salty I paint shells. Not only do shells provide me with a challenge to capture their subtle colors, but they’re also very familiar and comforting.

Enjoying the snowflake-like blooms on my last bunch of paperwhite narcissus & crossing my fingers and toes for an actual snowfall. I will never get over the excitement of my evergreen place under a blanket of snow. Everyone, please do your part — sleep with a spoon under your pillow and your PJs on backwards.

Imbolc —> light, energy, renewal. In other words: the witch hazel is blooming.

Rocks have meaning for me. These three stones live on the windowsill in my office. They have for years — I paint them again and again. I found the trio on the beach on the same day. I cherish them for the way they nest, how they seem to shelter each other. Together. I think about how they represent a span of geological time that’s far beyond my understanding. It doesn’t fix anything that’s wrong in the world today, but it’s a good reminder that nature is enduring and generative, persistent and solid —even when everything seems like it’s crumbling.

Find a rock my friends and hang on dearly. And look for ways to nest together with one another.

Winter pansies reporting for duty. Task—make someone smile. You are not alone.