Season 15
Our first Monsieur Tillier bloom of the season
“There’s a moment just before the flowers open where it looks like the world is holding its breath.” - Michelle LaFriniere, Chilly Root Peony Farm
I’ve got flowers on the brain. Every morning I head out to look for new blossoms, buds, and color in the garden. The surprise of a new flower blooming every few days is a little gift to my soul in spring. After weeks of work starting seeds, transplanting, adding compost to the beds, making decisions on where everything will land, I’m finally just enjoying the flower show. A few blossoms and buds will appear in the early days of spring, and then one day in May and each day after through summer the garden will burst with color.
A few weeks ago, I noticed a black swallowtail spending quite a bit of time on our fennel plants. It appears that little mama was leaving behind a few eggs because this little guy appeared this past weekend. We were happy to see a hummingbird scouting out the potential flower nectar buffet in all the garden beds as well.
*If you see an asterisk next to a link, it links to a video with sound. Just a heads up in case you need to turn the volume down or pop on your headphones.
HOME
My niece’s birthday is coming up, and she loves the outdoors and animals in particular. I put together a backpack for her to explore the outdoors with all the essentials a budding naturalist might need. If you know of a nature lover or someone looking to spend more time exploring outside, here are a few ideas for putting together a gift that will inspire exploration.
backpack - REI Workload Mini for kids
water bottle - Hydroflask
butterfly, bird, wildflower, and tree guides
nature journal and pencil pouch with pencils, fine liner pens, colored pencils, travel watercolor set with watercolor journal
snacks
state or national park pass
When the weather starts to heat up, I start adding a whole lot more color to my wardrobe. I’m loving these bright green Cariuma sneakers for spring. All of the color options for their shoes just makes me happy. Color just puts a little joy in every step I take.
GARDEN
Photo credit: Chris Benzakein, Floret
In case you are dreaming of dahlias in your garden, Discovering Dahlias is Floret Farm’s latest addition to their cut-flower growing library. I’ve never grown dahlias before, and I hear dahlias are more challenging to grow here in Central Texas. I won’t let that stop me. I have some tubers on order that I plan to put in the ground soon. I’ll be sure to report back on whether I’ve had any success.
I was able to look back over my notes from a Bowood Farms class on growing dahlias by Christine and Patrick O’Brien with Flowers in Clay to share a few hints on growing dahlias.
You’ll want to plant your dahlia tubers when the ground temperature is around 60 degrees and be sure to pick out a sunny location where they will receive at least 8 hours of direct sun.
Bone meal is ideal to put in the hole where you plant your dahlia tubers.
Wait to water the tubers until they sprout through the soil and you begin to see foliage.
You’ll want to water them deeply for a total of 30 minutes twice a week.
Pinch dahlias back once they get to a foot tall and pinch out 3-4” from the growing center to increase stem count.
You may want to stake dahlias as they can be top heavy.
Pick your dahlias when they are almost fully open.
Tubers should be dug up in the fall and stored at 40-50 degrees to help them make it through winter.
Whether you are able to grow dahlias in your area or not, I highly recommend picking up a copy of Discovering Dahlias as it is a gorgeous look at the diversity of dahlias. The varied colors, textures, sizes, and forms are just breathtaking.
While I wait on my dahlias to arrive, I’m enjoying all of the gorgeous blooms happening right now in our garden. Bright bursts of egg-yolk-colored calendula flowers nestled in creeping thyme are adding a little sunshine to an otherwise quiet corner of the backyard. Calendulas are not only edible, but they also attract pollinators, and have many medicinal uses. Read more about calendula on Homestead and Chill’s website: All About Calendula.
Calendula or ‘pot marigold’ flowers
I’d love to share with you all the joy that is popping up in our garden through a quick visual tour of some of the flowers making their appearance this week.
What flowers are blooming in your area or your garden? Comment below this post.
“Flying Saucer’ morning glory from Lone Star Nursery
‘Rosy Cheeks’ butterfly gaura from Lonestar Nursery
‘Earliglow’ strawberries from Jessiesgirls Shop on Etsy ($)
Willow cloche protecting our strawberries from sneaky squirrels
Blackberry blossom in bloom
WELLNESS
Wow, this article hit home for me.
The brain science behind introverts and extroverts.
CREATIVITY
Bluebonnets and a vast array of wildflowers are in full bloom along the highways in Austin and the Texas Hill Country. Why not combine a nature walk with your kids or students and add a little creativity with these *wildflower bracelets?
Years ago when my son was small we attended a family-friendly event at Zilker Botanical Gardens here in Austin, Texas. We were given paint chips and asked to walk the grounds and find flowers and plants in nature whose colors matched the colors in the paint chips. As I remember they had a hole punched in the middle of the color on each paint chip so that kids could use it almost like a magnifying glass to match up the color.
In honor of April being poetry month, it would be fun to combine the game Paint Chip Poetry with a little backyard walk, a walk around the neighborhood, or a hiking color search. If you haven’t heard of Paint Chip Poetry, it’s a fun game where you use colorful paint chips and poetry prompts to create poems. Enjoy a little wordplay with a group of friends or family, and have a whole lot of fun just reading all of the paint color names. This idea would also make a great game for an educational setting as well!
*The Restless Creatives (UK) Podcast - Be sure to check out Natasja Sadi‘s conversation with The Restless Creatives about her incredible sugar flowers, Amsterdam’s love of flowers, and why “When you have a garden, you have the real gold.” (sage advice from Natasja Sadi)
This past weekend I created this nature journal for my niece by using a moleskin journal insert, a pressed maidenhair fern branch, and some mod podge. Now is a great time of year to collect fallen blossoms, petals, and leaves for pressing in a flower press ($) to use later for creative projects like greeting cards or bookmarks or pressing flowers into clay.
BOOKSHELF
Looking for a book for someone who loves the outdoors? Here are a few book suggestions for nature lovers. You’ll also find a few ideas on my Nurture Nature and Garden Therapy book lists on Bookshop.org. My Garden Therapy book list is featured on the front page of Bookshop.org this week! ($)
April is Poetry Month! Check out the ‘LIfe is Poetry’ section of my Bookshop.org shop. ($)
If you’re feeling like writing a little poetry of your own, visit The Writing Barn’s website to sign up for a nature poetry writing workshop.
Currently reading: The House of the Spirits ($)by Isabelle Allende
Currently listening to: Bird by Bird ($) by Anne Lamott and Reading People ($) by Anne Bogel (available on Libro.fm)
Up next: The Downstairs Girl ($) by Stacey Lee, Garvey’s Choice ($) by Nikki Grimes, Writers and Lovers ($) by Lily King, and The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together ($) by Heather McGhee
In case you are looking for book recommendations for kids (or yourself!), gift ideas for all ages or want to peek into my TBR List for 2021, head over to the 52 Seasons Book Shop on Bookshop.org. ($) Can’t decide on which book to give? Give a Bookshop.org gift card. ($)
COMMUNITY
Join the collective effort to make Reading Rainbow legend, LeVar Burton, the next Jeopardy host. Sign the petition here.
Rethink food insecurity.
To add a little joy to your day, watch this video from Lone Star Nursery, here in Central Texas. *Nursery Pirates Blow Up Organic Volcano
"Do your little bit of good where you are; it's those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world." - Desmond Tutu
Thank you for taking time out of your day to read 52 Seasons. I’d love to hear your feedback and ideas so that we can grow together.
Check out some of my favorite resources here.
If you’d like to receive the 52 Seasons blog post each week, be sure to subscribe to the blog. I’ll see you next week in your inbox!