Help Me Plant My Recovery Garden
Nature Girl
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: By The Lake
Posts: 60,328
Help Me Plant My Recovery Garden
Hi gang
Last year, when I was planting my garden, a wonderful thing happened. I shared here how gardening is so good for my recovery, helping me to get exercise and end up with something beautiful to look at all summer, and before I knew it, we were busy naming all the different flowers and plants after my firends here - thus making it officially "My Recovery Garden".
Today and tomorrow, I am planting again. I have a funny Toronto size (small) back yard with garden running along the fences on both sides and in planters and hanging pots, as well as a front garden that runs in front of my porch and really makes my old house look wonderful.
This year, I am going to list what I have (so far) and let you each claim that which best suits you. My Morning Glory (actually clamatis which looks just like Morning Glory) will remain my "Morning Glory Morning Glory" since they have a special place in my garden, and in my heart, and rise to the occasion each year, growing up my fence and watching over the rest of my garden.
Here are the rest - just let me know what you would like named after you, and why.
Lilac - A sweet-scented light purple bush, that blooms and fills my yard with the fragrance of angels.
Violets - lovely and humble, but filling important spaces and offering a beautiful backdrop to the other flowers.
Begonias - Bright, brilliant and durable, in yellow and pink, hanging from baskets overlooking my front porch and welcoming friends as they approach.
Forget-Me-Nots - Blue and sweet, spreading enough each year that I give some away to my neighbours, so much so that all our back yards now share their beauty.
Day Lilies - Strong and Orange - brightening up the more shaded areas of my garden and symbolizing quiet strength to me.
Pansies - Pretty velvet flowers, purple and yellow ones, hanging is netted bags along my fence offering happy encouragement to those it looks over.
Astrantia - Dark red velvet flowers, spreading quietly around my roses. Beautiful alone, and enhances all that surround it.
Yellow Castles (I forget their botanical name) - standing regal and strong, as a contrast and yet a nice blend with it's royal subjects below. Somehow these remind me of Smoke, but I will let her decide LOL.
Impatience - need I say more, okay I will . Needing very little attention yet flourish and brighten my shadowy areas and spread into beautiful overflowing baskets well placed by my fence. Delicate looking, but durable and strong.
Roses - My English Roses are now available in bright pink, blush white, and pure white. Fragrant, sweet, georgous and strong - but watch out for the thorns.
Lily-Of-The-Valley - another fragrant and delicate beauty, gently spreading where others dare not go.
And my Angel Bird Bath - A special place of honour where birds come to refresh and fertilize the flowers below
.
I may add more, but first have to see how these all fit together. I love a nice mix, and share with my neighbours if my garden overfloweth.LOL.
Okay - the "garden' is open.....pick your flowers now, while the selection is open.
Last year, when I was planting my garden, a wonderful thing happened. I shared here how gardening is so good for my recovery, helping me to get exercise and end up with something beautiful to look at all summer, and before I knew it, we were busy naming all the different flowers and plants after my firends here - thus making it officially "My Recovery Garden".
Today and tomorrow, I am planting again. I have a funny Toronto size (small) back yard with garden running along the fences on both sides and in planters and hanging pots, as well as a front garden that runs in front of my porch and really makes my old house look wonderful.
This year, I am going to list what I have (so far) and let you each claim that which best suits you. My Morning Glory (actually clamatis which looks just like Morning Glory) will remain my "Morning Glory Morning Glory" since they have a special place in my garden, and in my heart, and rise to the occasion each year, growing up my fence and watching over the rest of my garden.
Here are the rest - just let me know what you would like named after you, and why.
Lilac - A sweet-scented light purple bush, that blooms and fills my yard with the fragrance of angels.
Violets - lovely and humble, but filling important spaces and offering a beautiful backdrop to the other flowers.
Begonias - Bright, brilliant and durable, in yellow and pink, hanging from baskets overlooking my front porch and welcoming friends as they approach.
Forget-Me-Nots - Blue and sweet, spreading enough each year that I give some away to my neighbours, so much so that all our back yards now share their beauty.
Day Lilies - Strong and Orange - brightening up the more shaded areas of my garden and symbolizing quiet strength to me.
Pansies - Pretty velvet flowers, purple and yellow ones, hanging is netted bags along my fence offering happy encouragement to those it looks over.
Astrantia - Dark red velvet flowers, spreading quietly around my roses. Beautiful alone, and enhances all that surround it.
Yellow Castles (I forget their botanical name) - standing regal and strong, as a contrast and yet a nice blend with it's royal subjects below. Somehow these remind me of Smoke, but I will let her decide LOL.
Impatience - need I say more, okay I will
. Needing very little attention yet flourish and brighten my shadowy areas and spread into beautiful overflowing baskets well placed by my fence. Delicate looking, but durable and strong.Roses - My English Roses are now available in bright pink, blush white, and pure white. Fragrant, sweet, georgous and strong - but watch out for the thorns.
Lily-Of-The-Valley - another fragrant and delicate beauty, gently spreading where others dare not go.
And my Angel Bird Bath - A special place of honour where birds come to refresh and fertilize the flowers below
.I may add more, but first have to see how these all fit together. I love a nice mix, and share with my neighbours if my garden overfloweth.LOL.
Okay - the "garden' is open.....pick your flowers now, while the selection is open.
Paused
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Climbing outa da Black Hole
Posts: 146
I Love gardening Ann! Both flowers & vegetables! It is my place of peace. It calms me, and I can lose all my obsessive thinking!
I'm picking the lilacs! I love the smell and will pick them and fill my house with them, even put them next to the bed. The scent just puts me right to sleep! I wish they bloomed all summer! My grandmother always had lilacs, and showed me how to cut them and put them next to an open window, so the breeze would carry the smell thru the house. I always felt so safe and secure when I was with the grandparents, who were more parents than my own parents.
Next....
I'm picking the lilacs! I love the smell and will pick them and fill my house with them, even put them next to the bed. The scent just puts me right to sleep! I wish they bloomed all summer! My grandmother always had lilacs, and showed me how to cut them and put them next to an open window, so the breeze would carry the smell thru the house. I always felt so safe and secure when I was with the grandparents, who were more parents than my own parents.
Next....
Member
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: That's what I'd like to know.
Posts: 2,416
Hi Ann!
Anything as long as it's yellow. It's not my favorite color, just my favorite color on flowers.
I did enjoy being Begonias last year. Yellow Castles, eh? You just want me to get all enthralled with my royal self and put on the crown so I get crown-hair. I know your game.
Anything as long as it's yellow. It's not my favorite color, just my favorite color on flowers.
I did enjoy being Begonias last year. Yellow Castles, eh? You just want me to get all enthralled with my royal self and put on the crown so I get crown-hair. I know your game.
I used to work here ;)
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: I live in Trevose, PA & collect Barbies :)
Posts: 2,024
Hmmmm
The first thing that caught my eye was day lilies and the quiet part, not sure about the strength part although its getting better.
And before I even read that they reminded you of Smoke when I read Yellow Castles, I thought of her too!! She is definitely royalty in my book
Many hugs.
Love,
Debbie
The first thing that caught my eye was day lilies and the quiet part, not sure about the strength part although its getting better.
And before I even read that they reminded you of Smoke when I read Yellow Castles, I thought of her too!! She is definitely royalty in my book
Many hugs.
Love,
Debbie
Nature Girl
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: By The Lake
Posts: 60,328
Gyspy
The Lilacs are now officially the "Gypsygirlmom Lilacs", and I will try that trick about putting them in the window. I love the smell too - lilacs and lily-of-the-valley are my favourite smells.
I will be out part of today and tonight, but will be checking and namesaking all weekend.
Don't be shy
The Lilacs are now officially the "Gypsygirlmom Lilacs", and I will try that trick about putting them in the window. I love the smell too - lilacs and lily-of-the-valley are my favourite smells.
I will be out part of today and tonight, but will be checking and namesaking all weekend.
Don't be shy
Nature Girl
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: By The Lake
Posts: 60,328
Wow - you guys sneak on faster than I can read.
Okay - the votes are in that Smoke is Queen of the Castle - and the yellow castles are her kingdom. Castle hair will look no worse than my halo head, so we can just start a new trend. When they all get their tiaras, we'll be a matched set.
And Barbiedeb - you are now "Day Lily Deb. " You are much stronger than you take credit for and stand proudly overlooking the rest.
Okay - the votes are in that Smoke is Queen of the Castle - and the yellow castles are her kingdom. Castle hair will look no worse than my halo head, so we can just start a new trend.
When they all get their tiaras, we'll be a matched set.And Barbiedeb - you are now "Day Lily Deb. " You are much stronger than you take credit for and stand proudly overlooking the rest.
Member
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: not sure
Posts: 452
Anns,
I remember this well from last year. I want to be an English rose.
If I need to select a color, the bright pink will be great. Please post a photo of your garden when in full bloom. We would love to see it. Happy gardening! Washbe
I remember this well from last year. I want to be an English rose.
If I need to select a color, the bright pink will be great. Please post a photo of your garden when in full bloom. We would love to see it. Happy gardening! Washbe
Nature Girl
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: By The Lake
Posts: 60,328
Washbe
You can be my pink "Washbe English Rose" - it's one of my prettiest and blooms all summer well into fall. My neighbours love it when I give them a bouquet of my roses and this one seems to hold its bloom longer than most. Like you, Washbe, it doesn't give up easlily.
And Barbiedeb - your avatar looks just like your namesake flower!!! Now I really will think of you when my lilies bloom.
You can be my pink "Washbe English Rose" - it's one of my prettiest and blooms all summer well into fall. My neighbours love it when I give them a bouquet of my roses and this one seems to hold its bloom longer than most. Like you, Washbe, it doesn't give up easlily.
And Barbiedeb - your avatar looks just like your namesake flower!!! Now I really will think of you when my lilies bloom.
Serenity Dancer
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: USA
Posts: 20
I love gardening and miss being able to do it. I used to hae a hug flower garden and a strawberry garden where all summer I could have fresh strawberries every morning for breakfast...sigh....i sure do miss that!!
Though Lilacs are my favorite flower, the Forget Me Nots brought back very tender memories.
When I was younger (12) I was in the hospital with a rare bone disease in my ankle. At first hey were not sure if I would live, then they thought I would be ok but that they would have to ampuate my right leg. Then my 17 doctors decided to try a new antibiotic on me and it worked ( praise the Lord) and I was one of the first people cured without sugery or amputation!!!!
I spent 6 months in the hospital and the nurses there became like family to me. One student nurse would even come on her time off to visit me. One day she brougt two little planters and some seeds and we planeted them full of Forget Me Nots. We watched them as they grew and each of us took one home when I left the hospital. I had an autograph book and she wrote some pretty things and signed it with "Your Forever Forget Me Not Friend"!!!
I'll never forget that stay in the hospital and how scared I was and NEVER EVER forget how this young student nurse made me feel so safe and cared for. I doubt she knew it at the time but to me she was an inspiration of the kind of heart I wanted to have when I got older.
So ever since then "Forget Me Nots" have been special and remind me that people may only be in our lives a short time but can still touch us forever!!
Moostang Rita
Though Lilacs are my favorite flower, the Forget Me Nots brought back very tender memories.
When I was younger (12) I was in the hospital with a rare bone disease in my ankle. At first hey were not sure if I would live, then they thought I would be ok but that they would have to ampuate my right leg. Then my 17 doctors decided to try a new antibiotic on me and it worked ( praise the Lord) and I was one of the first people cured without sugery or amputation!!!!
I spent 6 months in the hospital and the nurses there became like family to me. One student nurse would even come on her time off to visit me. One day she brougt two little planters and some seeds and we planeted them full of Forget Me Nots. We watched them as they grew and each of us took one home when I left the hospital. I had an autograph book and she wrote some pretty things and signed it with "Your Forever Forget Me Not Friend"!!!
I'll never forget that stay in the hospital and how scared I was and NEVER EVER forget how this young student nurse made me feel so safe and cared for. I doubt she knew it at the time but to me she was an inspiration of the kind of heart I wanted to have when I got older.
So ever since then "Forget Me Nots" have been special and remind me that people may only be in our lives a short time but can still touch us forever!!
Moostang Rita
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Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Jackson, Ms
Posts: 15
Wonderful
Ann, I get up at 6am every morning to water and look over my rose garden. For some reason I love flowers and roses more than most. This year I have 21 different roses growing. I love the look and smell of roses. My husband is a wonderful man but not one to buy me roses. So my daughter would often come home with a dozen roses for me. My grandmother always grew roses. I loved her garden. So if you can, name one of your roses for my Rebecca. She is a rose in my heart although lately her drug problem has put a thorn in my heart.
Mara
Mara
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Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Okeechobee, FL
Posts: 10
I love this idea!! I started a recovery garden this year, it keeps me so occupied and I love watching it flourish and bloom. Although I will admit I thought of it as a therapy garden, I now will call it a recovery garden. Thank you!
And if these aren't named, can you call them Dragonfly's? When I started my garden, I also changed my name on most boards I go to. I chose Dragonfly because, Dragonfly Medicine teaches us to pierce our self~created illusions. So I am piercing my illusions and growing and healing.
Hugs!
Astrantia - Dark red velvet flowers, spreading quietly around my roses. Beautiful alone, and enhances all that surround it.
Hugs!
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Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: CA
Posts: 4
My garden is my peaceful place that I meditate. For a flower I would choose a morning glory.....hardy.....they come back each year and each morning like the sunrise.......symbol of a new day.
An alternate for me would be impatients......I am always having to remind myself that God is not going to give me a calender no matter how much I beg.
An alternate for me would be impatients......I am always having to remind myself that God is not going to give me a calender no matter how much I beg.
Nature Girl
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: By The Lake
Posts: 60,328
Whew - this garden is getting better and better all the time
Rita - You have definitely earned the "Rita Forget-me-Nots", and your story makes them even more special. They will bloom soon and, like you, appear delicate but have an inner strength that brings them back every year.
Mara - My blush white Englosh Rose is now my "Mara Rose" because they remind me of my grandmother's garden too. They are a creamy almost pale pink, and my mother carried them as her bouquet when she got married. They will help us both be reminded of the wonderful people in our past, and stand as a tribute to all mothers of addicts.
Margo - You will be the "Margo Pansies", delicate yet majestic in their velvet bloom. Like you, they bring colour and light to the garden, demanding little and giving so much. And for special reasons that only you and I know right now, I am also dedicating my Angel Bird Bath to you, just so you know that a special Angel is always watching over you and will keep you safe and comfort you with feathered wings.
Scooby Doo - You now are my "Dragonfly Asrtantia" - carpeting my garden with dark red velvet and offering a spicy fragrance that attracts butterflies, hummingbirds and, hopefully, dragonflies.
Angelshoulder - The "Angelshoulder Impatience" are now yours, and as one angel to another, I can assure you that "Patience" is a virtue God has made me earn - the hard way. These colourful beauties are rugged survivors, like us, withstanding all kinds of weather, storms, harsh sun and cool shade, spreading their beauty in even the darkest corners.
That still leaves a few unclaimed, and I also have added a toad house and sundial (that doesn't seem to work too well LOL), so they will be named too. Claim now to beat the rush...
Rita - You have definitely earned the "Rita Forget-me-Nots", and your story makes them even more special. They will bloom soon and, like you, appear delicate but have an inner strength that brings them back every year.
Mara - My blush white Englosh Rose is now my "Mara Rose" because they remind me of my grandmother's garden too. They are a creamy almost pale pink, and my mother carried them as her bouquet when she got married. They will help us both be reminded of the wonderful people in our past, and stand as a tribute to all mothers of addicts.
Margo - You will be the "Margo Pansies", delicate yet majestic in their velvet bloom. Like you, they bring colour and light to the garden, demanding little and giving so much. And for special reasons that only you and I know right now, I am also dedicating my Angel Bird Bath to you, just so you know that a special Angel is always watching over you and will keep you safe and comfort you with feathered wings.
Scooby Doo - You now are my "Dragonfly Asrtantia" - carpeting my garden with dark red velvet and offering a spicy fragrance that attracts butterflies, hummingbirds and, hopefully, dragonflies.
Angelshoulder - The "Angelshoulder Impatience" are now yours, and as one angel to another, I can assure you that "Patience" is a virtue God has made me earn - the hard way. These colourful beauties are rugged survivors, like us, withstanding all kinds of weather, storms, harsh sun and cool shade, spreading their beauty in even the darkest corners.
That still leaves a few unclaimed, and I also have added a toad house and sundial (that doesn't seem to work too well LOL), so they will be named too. Claim now to beat the rush...
Member
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: That's what I'd like to know.
Posts: 2,416
You could still name the house... like, saaaay... Ann's Toad Emporium for Toads Lacking Decorium. Top of my list for today would be spedteach's husband. (see alanon page) Toad for a day!
This could spawn a number of toadally awful puns.
I toad him not to do that.
He hasn't toad the line.
I guess I toad him.
All toad, it's been a rough week.
He wrecked the car and we had to have it toad.
I have tip-toad around him for the last time.
He hasn't toad my bells for ages.
This could spawn a number of toadally awful puns.
I toad him not to do that.
He hasn't toad the line.
I guess I toad him.
All toad, it's been a rough week.
He wrecked the car and we had to have it toad.
I have tip-toad around him for the last time.
He hasn't toad my bells for ages.
Nature Girl
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: By The Lake
Posts: 60,328
Journeygal
My "Journeygal violets' are all yours. They are in full bloom and really pretty right now, and they last all summer. Yup, durable, supportive and beautiful - just like you.
My "Journeygal violets' are all yours. They are in full bloom and really pretty right now, and they last all summer. Yup, durable, supportive and beautiful - just like you.
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