{"id":3234,"date":"2020-11-17T06:21:24","date_gmt":"2020-11-17T14:21:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/?p=3234"},"modified":"2020-11-17T06:21:24","modified_gmt":"2020-11-17T14:21:24","slug":"mood-enhancers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/mood-enhancers\/","title":{"rendered":"Mood Enhancers"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Purple<\/a>The stores went into holiday mode right after Halloween, but I am not ready to put up the wreaths, adorn the house with poinsettias, or hang greens from the mantelpiece.\u00a0 I don\u2019t like to rush the December holiday season, because if I do, it will be Valentine\u2019s Day on January 1.\u00a0 I do, however, need mood enhancement as the daylight diminishes and COVID-19 persists.\u00a0 Working with plants is good for mood any time, but never more than now.<\/p>\n

After I brought in the vacationing houseplants, the back porch was still cluttered with pots containing the remains of the summer annuals.\u00a0 Some were dead, but every pot held at least one stalwart pansy, elephant ear, geranium or Swedish ivy.\u00a0 I took up my trowel and started the process of consolidation.\u00a0 There is something revitalizing about making something new and beautiful out of remnants\u2014 like putting together a botanical quilt.\u00a0 I removed dead plants, pruned back over-vigorous specimens, clipped off spent flowerheads and generally tidied up all the surviving plants.\u00a0 Just as most of us looked much better after salons reopened and we indulged in professional haircuts, the plants seemed lighter and brighter after being clipped, trimmed and spruced up.<\/p>\n

All that shifting of soil, repositioning of plants and rearranging of containers may not have made me look better, but I certainly felt refreshed.\u00a0 When everything was repotted, I gathered up the various plant stands and low tables, grouping them in clusters to showcase the newly repotted plants.\u00a0 The effect was pleasing and straggling survivors were transformed into vigorous potted arrangements.\u00a0 They won\u2019t last forever, especially if hard frosts return in the next week or two, but they may be enough to carry my spirits until I deck the halls<\/p>\n

.All of that worked wonders, but I needed more.\u00a0 Indoor color was lacking and I am spending a lot of time indoors these says.\u00a0 My little primulina is blooming happily, but the plant is African violet size, so the impact is minimal.\u00a0 Something had to be done.<\/p>\n

A trip to the local nursery\/garden center was extremely necessary.\u00a0 I took up my mask and made tracks to the nearest plant retailer.\u00a0 I swept into the garden center and considered the masses of kalanchoe, orchids, African violets and Christmas cacti.\u00a0 There was no sign yet of Christmas poinsettias, though holiday lights and other accoutrements were much in evidence.\u00a0 I basked in the high humidity and felt comforted by the abundance of life, color and greenery.\u00a0 After about twenty minutes of serious consideration, and with very little thought about the state of my finances, I emerged with a large florists\u2019 cyclamen, a giant amaryllis bulb, and six lovely cut roses.\u00a0 I think I showed great restraint in not buying more.<\/p>\n

The cyclamen is a cheerful pink and white specimen with lots of buds and glorious silver and green patterned leaves.\u00a0 It now resides in my foyer so that I see it many times every day.\u00a0 It should remain in flower for a couple of weeks at least.\u00a0 I will make every attempt to keep it alive once the petals drop.<\/p>\n

The roses are in a copper pitcher in the kitchen.\u00a0 Cut roses do not last forever, but I will all the well-worn florist\u2019s tricks that I know to give them the longest possible vase life.<\/p>\n

I will pot up the amaryllis in the hopes that it will bloom by December\u2019s end.\u00a0 Amaryllis can grow up to an inch a day when they get going and that in itself is hopeful, even before the blossoms appear.\u00a0 I have many other amaryllis left over from previous years, but they will bloom on their own schedule, and I need some guaranteed holiday cheer.<\/p>\n

At times like this I wish that I had a greenhouse, conservatory or some other indoor space with lots of light and a bumper crop of magnificent plants.\u00a0 I could easily live in such an environment, or at least spend a large part of every day in it.\u00a0 However, I am not fated to have either of those spaces any time soon, so I have to do the best I can with the available resources.\u00a0 The days are growing shorter and the weather may be more gray than bright.\u00a0 I am not ruling out additional trips to the garden center before Thanksgiving.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The stores went into holiday mode right after Halloween, but I am not ready to put up the wreaths, adorn the house with poinsettias, or hang greens from the mantelpiece.\u00a0 I don\u2019t like to rush the December holiday season, because if I do, it will be Valentine\u2019s Day on January 1.\u00a0 I do, however, need … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,2,3,5],"tags":[2406,1566,2405,792,2404,743,2407],"class_list":["post-3234","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fall","category-general-interest","category-spring","category-summer","category-winter","tag-amarylllis","tag-cut-flowers","tag-florists","tag-garden-clean-up","tag-gardeners-self-care","tag-hippeastrum","tag-late-fall-chores"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3234","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3234"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3234\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3236,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3234\/revisions\/3236"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}