blooms + maintenance
Oh April!
You’re a bit of a ride.
I do truly enjoy these roller coaster days that are filled with so much birdsong and require so many different layers of clothing. I’ve got a lot in the works and a long to-do list, but I’m so happy to have homegrown flowers again: gorgeous, fancy double tulips that open up like peonies and have an amazingly long vase life, and so many frilly, scented daffodils that make their own sunshine when I bring them inside.
The ruffled specialty tulips are treated as annuals because they do not perennialize well – so I steel myself and pull the entire plant and bulb out, resulting in a gloriously long stem. If you’re wondering why fancy tulips cost so much, this is partly why… and they’re also delicious to voles, bunnies and deer, and have their own special fungal disease (Botrytis tulipa) which I have found in one of my planting areas. So this will sadly be the first and last time I plant tulips at this scale, at least for several years.
The fancy daffodils will perennialize, are not at all delicious, shed hail cheerfully, and lend such citrusy sunshine and crisp fragrance on rainy/sleety days. All these spring beauties will be in your bouquet subscriptions this week, with lots more available for this weekend’s holidays, so please get your orders in!
I hope to get a few more people signed up for the bouquet subscription (flower CSA) too. I’ve got a lovely pick-up spot for Thursday afternoons (4-6pm) in downtown Bellingham at Cafe Velo, as well as my front porch (any time), and Seattle people can still sign up for monthly bouquets with a more flexible drop-off schedule.
I also have some availability for new coaching & design clients this spring and summer.
(And psst, Mother’s Day is May 8th. I know a lot of mothers who love flowers, gardens and seeds, so you know where to find all of those things.)
As I get busier in the garden I’m trying to be mindful of the physical therapy I worked on all winter, so I don’t repeat last summer’s back injury. I am learning more about responsible gardening body mechanics and maintenance for the long haul because I will most definitely 1) keep getting older and 2) keep gardening. I hope to share what I’ve learned in a movement workshop for gardeners of all abilities later this season, co-hosted with a PT or other body work professional– stay tuned! I just listened to a wonderful episode of the Sustainable Flowers podcast with physiotherapist Angela Plaquin, about sustaining your body throughout a year of farming that checked a lot of boxes too.
I studied dance and movement for decades and have used my body fully at work and play, so I have always been tuned in to my body but not particularly gentle with it. I stopped doing garden maintenance and installing hardscapes a few years ago in order to save my back, but I clearly need to step up the level of care if I want to keep performing regular gardening tasks. Gardener or not, we are all in possession of a body that is inevitably changing each season, if not every day. I met a self-employed auto mechanic last month who referred to our “interface” changing as our active bodies age, a poetic perspective that I really appreciate! That subtle word choice allows me to be present and choose to be attentive and resourceful rather than resenting my body for changing, aging or not living up to an earlier standard of resilience and stamina.
Much of the advice I received this year amounted to increased awareness and gentle adjustment in weight, posture and tension. One personal revelation was that I should give up my thick work jeans for stretchy pants – so simple! By far the toughest element for me to acknowledge was that stress is responsible for a lot of tension and imbalance in my muscles, skeleton and even my gut. As a small business owner, mother and compassionate, earth-dwelling human living far from my family during a pandemic and rapid climate change, I absolutely experience stress/anxiety (of the non-clinical sort) and I have never really owned up to its influence on my body, general well-being, outlook and soul. I imagine many of you can relate.
The following suggestions apply to any active body — my focus just happens to be gardening because that’s how I create strain on my body. One can spend a lot of money on classes and treatments, and create a lot of counterproductive guilt for not following through on one’s best intentions for self care. I struggle to establish routines but I offer these easy tips based on my own small successes, with heartfelt encouragement! I would love to hear what works for you, or how you’ve adapted to physical setbacks.
Breathe - At the risk of sounding cliche, it only takes a minute to reset and feel yourself in the moment, on the ground, in this place. Let yourself feel the breath way down in your core, into your pelvic floor. You’ll probably feel your jaw, eye muscles and shoulders relax inadvertently. Free and readily accessible, wherever and whenever!
Drink water - Staying hydrated is one of the easiest ways to reduce joint and muscle pain and it has many other health benefits. Most of us are chronically dehydrated which exacerbates muscle and joint issues as our bodies pull water from our soft tissues like cartilage to accomplish basic functions. I drink a lot of herbal tea in the colder months although it’s always been a struggle to drink enough plain water. Also free and readily available.
Resting posture - Resist the “device slouch” and rock your weight ever so slightly back on your heels so you aren’t pushing your hips forward. Take a breath and let your collarbone “smile” open while your shoulders slide down (not back) and the back of your head reaches up. I routinely catch myself with unnecessary clenching while standing at the sink, talking or looking at my phone, and this is a quick ‘n’ easy reset.
Active posture - Tension in my neck and upper back releases when I straighten my spine and slide my shoulder blades down, whether I am standing, lifting, reaching, sitting or squatting. A straight back allows my neck to move freely and focus strength in my core so I am not bracing and cantilevering dangerous weights from my spine. My PT held a broomstick against my back and told me that my back ideally shouldn’t break that plane — which kind of exploded my mind. Not bend over?! But I try by trading in a crouch for a squat or lunge and raising my work surface. I also like to mix it up by simply switching hands for clipping, weeding, carrying and planting.
Foam roller - Of the many, many exercises assigned by my physical therapist a few have made it into my not-quite-daily exercises, and these two with a 6” firm foam roller are some favorites: 1) With the roller lengthwise along the spine and neck, the arms fall outward toward the floor to stretch the pectoral muscles as you slowly move your arms as if making a snow angel. 2) Roll it slowly under the upper spine with hands behind your head, pausing to breathe into tight areas along the way. You might hear/feel some pops!
Yoga ball - The simplest thing to counteract the painful curve from gardening is to just reverse it by draping yourself over the ball, face up, with arms outstretched to the sides. There’s much more strength training to be explored here as well, but this is very relaxing.
Body work - Sometimes you just need a reset and some healing hands on your body to feel better, or to jumpstart some self care. I highly recommend Rolfing or Structural Integration which address the fascia as well as muscles, and is an effective treatment for chronic pain of all sorts. It felt like magic to me!
Strategic strengthening - A physical therapist will be able to figure out what muscles are weak, which can steer you towards better balance and less fatigue-related pain and displaced tension from compensation. I was really surprised by my weaknesses, but hopefully addressing the weak links will pull the whole system together better.
Celebration/appreciation - Acknowledge that your unique body is a tool worth keeping sharp, oiled and protected and avoid comparison and social media-fueled self criticism. If your abilities shift, focus on what you can still do, and adapt to fit the new reality. Our bodies are amazing!
I’ve also tried qi gong, somatic movement therapy, and a tiny bit of functional training this past year, as well as nutritional changes. I found them all to be effective and empowering, and I liked drawing elements from many different practitioners and techniques that felt right to me. I have some excellent practitioners to recommend, if you would like!