Cold Climate Gardening

Thanks to Don of Hands in the Dirt, I learned of The Garden State. Yes, gardening is a state of mind, but it’s also what New Jersey likes to call itself, and what Suzette quite aptly decided to name her blog. A serious gardener who doesn’t take herself too seriously, she manages to work ” my non-artificial fingernail. It’s not glamorous, but it is still very, very attractive in an understated way” and a plea for the legal preservation of full-service gas stations into less than a dozen (so far, but hopefully not for long) posts. Just wacky enough to keep you off balance without degenerating into over-the-topness, and she knows (and loves) her plants. I bet …

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“Only I, who live in the tropic of fancy, could be under the apocalypse of snow and ice that is Iowa and not admit that winter really exists.” –Tender Dirt

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My previous post on this subject elicited several comments from family and friends to the effect, “What is so bad about cortisone shots?” This site discusses some of the possible drawbacks to cortisone shots, as well as their benefits. I found this balanced view reassuring. I also realized I had overcome my fear and dislike of needles on many other occasions in my adult life, and I could again if I kept the goal (being able to garden again) firmly in mind. I also saw that a lot of my anxiety stemmed from seeing that none of the recommended “cures” for de Quervain’s is a sure thing. But when it comes to healing and the human body, there …

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I was going to give you an update on my wrist problem, but decided a trip to someplace warmer would be more therapeutic for all of us. Armchair traveling par excellence. I just discovered, thanks to Jane Perrone of Horticultural, a number of non-English-speaking garden blogs from sunnier climes. Un jardin habité is a garden blog written in French about a Portuguese garden, where “plants grow 365 days a year and there are 365 days a year of pure pleasure.” There are a few posts translated into English, but I found it very enjoyable to find the familiar in a foreign language–everything from Syndiquez ce site (it’s a Typepad blog and has the same fonts and everything) to …

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