Like in most of North America, spring does not officially start on this hilltop until march 20 with the Vernal Equinox. However, with tempertures trending for over a week now into the mid-80s, it’s hard not to think of this as a spring season. Both my plants and my gardening instincts are starting to bud. Last week I planted nine new cacti/succulents mostly along the lower drive and roadway. I am noticing those areas more these days due to our regular walks with Buddy. There are spots that look to need some gaps filled and so I did that with a trip to Oasis for a selection of their best spiny succulents. This week, for some reason, I have been noticing our Cecil Garden. I did a major overhaul of the planting boxes last fall and have learned what the local rabbits are prepared to attack or leave be. They decimated my Jasmines on the lower level, so I already replaced those with New Guinea Impatiens. There seem to be holding up well and the rabbits have apparently found greener pastures elsewhere. Strangely enough, the jasmine that I removed I merely set aside rather than tossed, since they seemed to still have some life. Are on the ground to the side, the rabbits seem to have lost interest in them…go figure.
Today seemed like a good day to address the broader needs of the Cecil and Bonsai Gardens on the south corner of the house. That’s where I have my large basalt fountain, which I dutifully cleaned out the other day (it is now running briskly again). I also have half a dozen citrus trees, which I supplemented last week with a new Clementine Tangerine tree, which looks pretty scrawny at the moment. That is also where I have my largest selection of outdoor bonsai (the rest are mostly out on the patio). I currently have about 20 bonsai in the Cecil Garden ranging from stands of Redwood and Red Maple to smaller Junipers and exotic succulents. I have recently noticed that two of the bonsai have died for reasons that I rarely have the patience to diagnose. There are also three of the hanging flower pots which have gone thin and sparse over the last two months. That all castes me to head off to Green Thumb nursery this morning. I am cautious at Green Thumb because while they have decent quality stock they are rarely the cheapest alternative for anything. I can get succulents much cheaper at Oasis or Waterwise. I can get better trees at less cost at Javier. And I can even usually get as good flowering plants at the big box stores like Lowes or Home Depot. But what I know for sure is that I can get any of them at almost any time at Green Thumb on a one-stop basis and end up with reasonable quality with less fuss.
Today my mission was for three hanging flowering plants that would last me for at least three months and two replacements for my failed bonsai…so something small and artistic. The hanging flowering plants were easy and I suspect cost effective since they were very close to the price I have seen recently at Lowe’s. I also worry less about getting “pumped up” plants as sometimes happens at Lowe’s with their flowering plants. They seem to have flowers that have been sometimes been put on plant steroids that look great for a moment and fade quickly. That happens less at real nurseries where the staff know better than to turbocharge their plants. The choice of bonsai replacements was more challenging because the items I found the most unique and penetrating were priced much higher than I was prepared to go. Given that these represented 10% of my bonsai stock in what must be 5% of my gardens, I couldn’t see spending that much on something that could easily go unnoticed. I guess that tells me that what I prize in my gardens is their show value…at least on a sustainable basis. What I found was an interesting “Hairy” succulent of unknown phylum and a desert rose, which has a decidedly Dr. Seuss look about it with a bulbous base and a somewhat spindly leafing area. They were both reasonably priced and interesting, if not so unique.
I then went about planting them and while I was at it, decided to expand that area of the garden with some remedial plantings from all of my discards. So, I replanted the two Jasmines that were showing life and two of the three flowering hanging plants. Like the Poinsettias that I planted in the back of the Cecil Garden after the holidays, I am letting these things our for a spin in the wild to see how they do. So far the Poinsettias are doing great and we’ll see how these new four replants do on their own. I am always pleasantly surprised how well things grow out here on this hilltop. The general growing conditions are very favorable, to say the least.
I also pulled a bunch of blue candlestick succulents from around my palm trees the other day and rather than tossing them, I set them aside in the back of the Cecil Garden with the thought of letting them take root at the base of the big boulder just south of the house and against which my bonsai array is placed. I got our my knee pad and trowel and set them all in and then tattered the whole lot of new plantings just for good measure. I don’t intend to pay too much attention to these plants over time, but I will be curious to see which ones take and which ones fall by the wayside. I suspect they will mostly prosper as everything else out here tends to.
There’s actually some fascinating science behind why getting your hands dirty feels so good. The physical sensations matter. The tactile experience of soil – its coolness, texture, the way it crumbles or clumps – engages your sense of touch in a way that’s both grounding and meditative. It pulls you into the present moment, which naturally quiets the mental chatter that builds up from work stress or daily concerns. Mycobacterium vaccae is a real thing. There’s a soil bacterium that, when inhaled or touched, may trigger serotonin release in your brain – essentially a natural antidepressant. That must be nature’s way of encouraging us to be farmers. Research suggests it can reduce anxiety and improve cognitive function. You’re literally getting a mood boost from the dirt itself. It’s productive mindlessness. Digging, weeding, planting – these are repetitive tasks that occupy your hands and body but don’t require intense mental focus. They are another of those menial and simple tasks that work so well for us. This creates a flow state where your mind can wander constructively or simply rest, similar to meditation but easier to access for people like me who find formal meditation too “transcendental”. Gardening gives you immediate visual feedback. You can see the hole you dug, the bed you cleared, the seeds you planted. That sense of accomplishment is psychologically satisfying. Working with soil taps into something primal – humans have been doing this for 10,000+ years. There’s a biological comfort in returning to that basic relationship with earth and growth cycles. So once again, life distills down to the simple pleasures like digging in the dirt.