National Garden Month

April is National Garden Month. This is the month when most of us get started planting summer annuals, vegetable gardens – watching our landscape come to life!

What plans do you have for April gardening? I will post something here every day this month from my garden–the good and the in progress.  Meanwhile this list from nationalgardenmonth.com should get you started!

• Plan to grow this year’s gifts (e.g. herbal teasor vinegars, dried flower arrangements, wreaths, homemade jam, pesto).
• Just sit in your garden and quietly observe the activities of wildlife and insects for half an hour.
• Take a class in botanical illustration.
• Learn about the seed-saving movement and save some seeds from your garden to share and replant. For a primer on seed saving, click here.
• Learn about houseplants that clean the air, and introduce them to your home or workplace. Click here for a brief article on the topic.
• Start a garden journal.
• Join a botanical garden and take some classes. Find one near you via the Web site of the American Association of Botanical Gardens and Arboreta.
• Learn about rooftop gardening and “greenroofing.” Click here for an introduction to greenroofing.
• Delve into a gardening style or technique you’ve always wanted to try, such as topiary, bonsai, or water gardening. Water gardening basics can be found byclicking here.
• Become an informed consumer by learning about invasive plants.
• Go on a sniffing tour of your neighborhood when bloom is at its peak, and try to match an aroma in the air to a specific flower.
• Press flowers and frame two-dimensional bouquets for gifts.
• Go on a bug safari; learn the names and habits of 5 invertebrates (e.g., insects, spiders, slugs, sowbugs, centipedes) that frequent your garden. Click here to identify these creatures.
• Set up various types of bird feeders stocked with different foods and a birdbath, and see who they attract. For bird feeder basics, click here.
• Join a Master Gardener’s program. Find one in your area by clicking here.
• Learn some basic botanical Latin.
• Learn how to take stunning photos of your plants and gardens. Click here for some guidance.
• Take an armchair garden tour: Spend a few hours in the bookstore poring over gardening books.

Hoping you will share.

see you. ML