If Wonder Woman was a Flower

If Wonder Woman was a flower, I think she would be a rocket snapdragon. Gorgeous, tall and tough as nails.

My statuesque annuals (zone 6 here) continue to win the battle for survival against an early winter. The first snow came a couple weeks ago and light frost visits many a night. Yet, the super hero of the garden persists, even thrives. My sedum have already turned brown, the maples have shed their leaves, but the multi-colored Wonder Women of the flower bed continue to create new blooms. Undaunted, they remain poised and beautiful in the face of impending winter danger along with their neighbor the rose "Lady Emma Hamilton." Three cheers for tough broads!

I tried to think of a clever way to include references to Wonder Woman's invisible aircraft and those great bullet-shielding bracelets...but I have nothing.

What's the Matter with Plants These Days?

Do you really know what your plants are doing when you are not at home? This is how my brother Matt and my husband caught my daffodils one day this spring when mommy wasn't home.

Man, smoking really does ruin your looks, doesn't it?

Picutures created and arranged by Matthew Berry and photographed by my husband.

A Perfect Pair

Sun shines beautifully through Japanese Blood grass. The illuminated red magically highlights the contrasting blue of annual Salvia. The opposing shapes also strengthen the marriage of these two plants; one sharp-tongued and firey, the other soft, fluffy and soothingly rounded. Opposites do attract.

Many of my plant pairings are accidents. This is one such case. The perrenial originally planted where the annual salvia now grows died. I was hurrying to get my patio garden "up to snuff" for my mother's 75th birthday since it was front and center in the party space. The blue and red decorations must have influenced my plant choice, although I was unaware of it. I chose blue annual salvia to fill the gaping hole. When I got home and planted it next to the blood grass, I knew I had another perfect pair. Never in my life have I been so coordinated with garden plants matching party decorations. Who knew!

Note: Japanese Blood Grass is considered invasive. I have a small clump that I don't allow to expand. If you own this plant, pull any thin green off-shoots.

A Little Western Flair

I used to live out West. One of my favorite things to gaze at while walking the streets of San Francisco was the beautiful bouganvillea. This warm weather climber graced the walls of many dwellings. The bold fuschias, purples and reds of the flowers fixed any blues my brain cooked up.

I haven't lived in California for years, and I miss this bright-hued baby. So I brought a little of the left coast to my house in CT. While I can't have it climb my walls all year, I can train it up a potted trellis and bring it inside for the winter months. The blooms stay dormant for most of the plant's indoor confinement. But, when warm weather returns to CT, my bougainvillea bursts with blooms and reminds me of my nightly strolls in the city of victorian painted ladies. Is it possible to feel a little home sick when you're at home?

For the Love of Leaves

Garden writers and designers have claimed for years that you can design a beautiful garden considering only the foliage of a plant and ignore the blooms. Shade plants work particularly well as foliage features.

I haven't had a shady area to plant in years. My last house had all sun all the time. Now I have just a small patch of shade by my kitchen door. I decided to plant a garden in this small space that didn't need deadheading so it would always be welcoming and never seem shabby.

I combined the lime green of Hosta 'Sum and Substance', and the blues of Hosta 'Blue Angel' for large leaves at the back. The small leaves of Huecherra 'Lime Rickey' (Coral Bell) fill in the front nicely and echo the light green in the back. Also in front is an unknown maroon and green Coral Bell that I grabbed from my mom's garden that ties in the Euphorbia at center. The top drama queen is the annual I added this year called Persian Shield. The irridescent purple and green leaves contrast perfectly with the Hosta Sum and Substance (see top picture.) This purple pleasure likes to stay fairly moist (I have it near, but not under, the gutter spout) and can join your house plants inside for the winter.

I will have to split these plants every couple years to contain them in the space. But that is not a negative for me. It means I can share them with my friends and family if they like this combination.

It's A Family Affair

Vegetable gardens are fashionable again. Seed sales soared this year. Communal gardens have come back. An abundance of articles on vegetable gardening is available this year. You can read about every aspect of this re-emergent trend from Oprah's beginner advice "From Seeds to Edible Greens: 4 Easy Vegetable Garden Rules" http://www.oprah.com/article/omagazine/200906-omag-vegetable-garden/2 to the Wall Street Journal's grocery bill financial analysis "How much green can growing a vegetable garden save you?" http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123983924976823051.html.


The growth of our own garden, beyond tomatoes and basil, began when my sister-in-law had the idea of planting a family vegetable garden 2 years ago. She got the idea from reading the book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver http://www.animalvegetablemiracle.com/. Since we have four family households in our small connecticut town, it was easy to pick a plot and all dive-in. Each family member, from age 8 to 74, does their part. We grow plenty of crops for all of us as well as some friends. In fact, we ended up begging people to take our Zucchini donations last year. One can only eat so much Zucchini.

We all have different skills and work preferences. Not surprisingly, the younger kids like to dig, water and pick (and eventually throw) rocks. One brother runs the rototiller and mulches. The other brother builds wooden structures such as gates and tomato trellises. My husband built the fence that keeps out the wild life (particularly our "bull-in-a-china-shop" dogs.) Most of the ladies like to weed and pick. I like it all.

At first, the benefits of a shared garden may seem obvious: cheap, fresh food. However, after just one season, other positive effects showed themselves clearly. Vegetable gardening is multi-generational project. These seem few and far between lately. One almost 80 year-old man we know and his 9 year-old granddaughter look forward to growing big beefsteak tomatoes and frying peppers together each year. Another positive point is that the “mother nature-driven” schedule of gardening provides unplanned family time in an over-planned world. And finally, the benefit most befitting of this web site, is outdoor exercise. Digging, hoeing and weeding build strong muscles. Expending more calories harvesting the Swiss chard for dinner than is actually in the greens keeps weight down.

Even if you don’t have an abundance of family in the area, you can still create the same feel. Try a communal garden with friends. You’ll grow more than just green beans.

Fork a Fabulous Figure

CT’s wet spring this year was gloomy. My husband believes someone made a deal to swap climates with England. Hopefully we’ll see tomatoes before Halloween.

The excess rain, however maddening, had its benefits. I didn’t have to water, my investment in a new perennial bed yielded a 100% return … and I didn’t have to water.

A benefit I didn’t anticipate was building more muscle from the muck. The soggy soil in my vege plot was too wet to ‘till. Dry days didn’t arrive by planting time. Grumbling, I left the rototiller in the garage and fetched a pitch fork. My brother and I turned each row by hand for the cold weather crops. Our garden feeds four households so it was no small task. I’ll admit I was irritated. However, it really jump-started my “body by the yard” workout after a long winter. Turning over a garden by hand works a multitude of muscles. My resident expert Jane Petrin (see her credentials in the post “Wheelbarrow Schmeelbarrow” under June) says pitch forking works all the main muscle groups.

Numerous arm, shoulder, neck, leg and butt muscles participate making this one garden activity equal to a long iron-pumping routine at a gym. Just standing and turning the soil strengthens muscles important for good posture including Rhomboids, Trapezius and Latissimus Dorsi (back muscles.)

Driving the fork into the ground with your foot works your Glutes (my favorite), Quads, Hamstrings and the calve muscles Gastroc and Soleus. Push the fork alternating your left and right leg. Otherwise you’ll create lop-sided butt cheeks. Finding perfect fitting jeans is already hard enough for most of us even with a relatively balanced butt.

The act of squatting, lunging and twisting when you flip the dirt over works additional butt muscles and adds abdominal action. Using a wide stance and straight back strengthens and stretches the IT band and ankle muscles. This will protect your legs from injuries in all activities.

Since I'm in my 40s I was sore after all this forking. But boy was I stronger. Amazing how such an old fashioned activity can work as many muscles as a circuit on expensive, modern weight machines. As always, fork at your own risk.

Perennial Annuals

Until recently, I was more interested in perennials than annuals. I loved the idea that perennials came back year after year. I was sad to say goodbye to the pretty annuals each fall.

However, my mum showed me the best of both worlds. Despite living in CT, I keep many of my annuals going year after year. I now copy my mum and add winter cheer indoors through numerous pots of annuals. Each year I bring them inside and place them in a sunny window from fall frost to spring thaw.

While there is still time to buy annuals, consider purchasing some that will work well as house plants this the winter. Not all annuals make good roommates. Here are some I found that work well.

Coleus – Colorful leaves of any coleus cheer up any household with winter blahs. See photo below.
Mandevia – ah! Mandevia. My friend Dina introduced me to them a few years ago and I am hooked. Particularly to the ubiquitous ‘Alice du Pont’ variety. Things don’t have to be rare to be beautiful. They cost at least $20 each for a good sized one, so saving the $80 feels good.
Fushia – this year, mine bloomed on Christmas day for me. What a present!
Geranium – Sun shines through the rounded, ruffled leaves to shape up an indoor garden. See top photo.

Just make sure housepets don't snack on any of them.

A Sassy Perfect Pair

When the sun shines, there is nothing subtle about this accidental pairing. I moved the blue/purple Delphinium Summer Nights to the front of my new bed after realizing the tag was wrong. This plant would not grow to 5 feet but only 12 inches tall. The only seat left on the bus was next to my bright fuchsia spreading Petunias. But look! How Festive! Many gardeners prefer soft and subtle shades together. But as I age, I found that I enjoy some sass.

Wheelbarrow Schmeelbarrow

I own a wheelbarrow. I own a cart attachment to the lawn tractor. I use them. But, when I feel vigorous I just use a trug and build some bulk. Many trips to the weed discard or rock piles carrying a full bucket builds strong arm, leg, butt and back muscles. Walking to the piles provides aerobic activity. I call it "trugging."
















Most of us know to lift with your legs and keep your back straight. However, Jane Petrin, NASM Certified Personal Trainer and Corrective Exercise Specialist, has advice to work specific muscles when trugging. (Jane is my massage therapist. I use the money I save on a gym to get massages.)

"Grab the trug, bend at the knee and squat down with feet straight ahead. Just this action works the gluteus medius & minimus, quadriceps, TFL (tensor fascia latae), psoas major, and adductors." (Translation: butt & legs muscles.)

"Lift the trug with your legs by pushing off with your heels. Keep your shoulders back and square. Pull your arms at a 45° angle (see picture.) Just this motion works the gluteous maximus, erector spinae, transversospinalis, latissimus dorsi, quadratus lumborum, abdominals, rhomboids and trapiezius muscles." (Translation: butt, back, legs and stomach muscles.)

"You can swing the bucket from side to side as you walk, touching your forward-moving leg to really work off your gut. Never carry too much weight, always protect your back and stop if it doesn’t feel good."Always perform any “trugging” at your own risk. Jane provides personal training, corrective exercise and massage here in CT.

A Perfect Pair

I revealed in an April post Clipping for Cleavage that my chest is not well endowed. I can still attain a perfect pair, however, with plants. I will periodically post some of my favorite plant combinations under the title "A Perfect Pair."

I recently planted these two beauties in a new bed I am working on. I love the fuzzy gray leaves of Big Lambs Ears (Stachys byzantina Helen Von Stein) in front of the ethereal glow of Spirea Golden Sunrise™. This particular Lambs Ear doesn't bloom at all and the flowers of this newer Spirea are fine. But this foliage combination displays a three-season, full sun feast for the eyes that a gardener of any level can maintain.

New Organic Deer and Rabbit Repellent

This is the most effective form of control I have found to keep deer and rabbits from eating my tulips - and it's completely organic! Apparently guard dogs protect more than just the house and family. Just before I snapped this photo I called out "say bunny" to get them to smile. Just the thought of a rabbit produced drool instead.

Photo Sesson Out Takes
Dog on Left "You know, I think she'll give us bacon if we sit still here."
Dog on Right "Ugghh - your breath is awful - and get your tongue out of my ear!"

Off with Their Heads!

Drawing by John Tenniel from the book Alice in Wonderland
My first name is Alice. My name was made famous by Lewis Carroll’s book “Alice in Wonderland.” I’ve heard all the jokes. My middle name is Elizabeth. Since it is a multi-generation, ancestral name, I like to pretend it is the result of imperial lines in my family tree. These facts justify my delusion of royalty while I am alone in the garden. Combining Queen Elizabeth’s fiery personality and the Queen of Hearts famous edict “Off with her head!” I create my own little version of history. It’s my garden and I can pretend if I want to. The best game I play is while dead-heading spent blooms. As I sentence flowers to a headless demise, I yell (silently), “Off with her head!” This is an example of gardening as therapy. I displace aggression on flowers since they are socially acceptable victims. Trust me, try it.

In CT, it is time to behead Daffodils that have seen better days. Wrap your fingers underneath the faded flower and cradle its bulbous head in your hand. Place the axe (your thumb) on the top of the neck. (Many gardeners keep a long thumbnail specifically for this task.) Chop down violently or push slowly, depending on your sadistic tendencies. Only one whack is the merciful technique. Make sure to remove the entire head, not just the pretty blonde hair (petals.) This correct practice will ensure that all the energy from the sun will go down to the soul (the bulb) and create better and more blooms next time around.

This post may portray me as a violent person. In reality, I am a peace-loving, flower child who would never hurt anyone or exclude any group because of their beliefs, lifestyle or petal color.

Clipping for Cleavage

My front is not well-adorned. It never will be without resorting to surgery or wearing a hot, sweaty, padded bra. I have yet to answer a seedy ad in the back pages of a magazine offering enhancement.

Despite a lack of rack, you can fake a cleavage line with chest muscles. Building muscle may not create more actual boob, but it beefs up the line down the center giving the “illusion of boob.” Instead of running to the gym to squeeze a weight machine with my elbows, I clip bushes. I clip shrubs too. The forward chopping motion works the chest muscles. Pruning a hedge develops décolletage and shapes the hedge at the same time. When I pick up my long shears each spring, I wink at my husband and tell him I’m going clipping for cleavage.

In general, wait to try pectoral pruning until after a shrub has flowered. Don’t choose to chop most Hydrangeas or they won’t flower well next year. Look up your bush in a book before you clip to make sure to do it right.

Photo by my mum Susan

Get A Free Greenhouse

Starting seeds indoors during February makes spring arrive more quickly for me. The smell of fresh potting soil tricks my senses into believing that gardening season has begun. Checking daily for the tiny green sprouts to emerge helps pass the time and gives me something to look forward to.









I have found a way to feel a little “greener” by using a recycled container as a mini greenhouse. Last year, I read the inside label of my plastic egg carton while waiting for an omelet to cook. A cute picture and a quick snip-it described how to use the egg carton to grow seeds. I tried it immediately and it worked like a charm. The individual egg capsules have a rounded top and bottom that provide the perfect level of moisture retention. Since then, I buy eggs in the plastic packs and save them in my basement. I should have enough recycled greenhouses to start all my seeds in this year, both annual and vegetable.

To make a recycled greenhouse, fill the base of each plastic egg carton with seed starter mix. Water the soil thoroughly. Press a seed into the dirt of each cup. Close the lid, place in a sunny window and watch your garden grow. Water once or twice a week before the soil gets dry. Seedlings are like any other kind of baby; they need constant hydration to flourish. Water gently however. A harsh pour displaces seeds and new roots. I find that heavily misting the open roof of the greenhouse helps keep tender seedlings in place. After the roof is closed, the water slowly beads off, soaking deep into the soil like drip irrigation.

The seedlings will eventually reach the roof of the greenhouse. Keep the roof open once the tallest near the top. Then water traditionally, straight into the soil. Move each plant into its own pot when they seem sturdy and have several true leaves. “True leaves” grow after the first two seedling leaves and often look different. A soup spoon works perfectly to lift each plant from its pod. After using the egg cartons, wash them out and either use them again or place them in the plastic recycling.

Take at least a week to “harden off” young plants once the weather warms. Place the plants outdoors in the shade for a little longer everyday, starting with 20 minutes at midday. End the week by placing the plants in the morning sun, in addition to the shade, for the last few days. A good rule of thumb is to wait until Memorial Day to plant outside permanently, to be sure all frost has passed. Give it a whirl. Save money on seed starting kits and bring spring to your house a little earlier.

Don’t Just Take My Word for It

Gardening makes you healthier, happier and live longer. Many reputable institutions have published studies proving just that. Recently, famous cardiologist and frequent Oprah guest, Dr. OZ published some of this evidence on his RealAge website (RealAge.com). In the article The Hobby that Leads to a Longer Life Dr OZ says “Know which hobby has probably added years to the longest-lived people in the world? It’s gardening. Okinawins – whose men typically live to age 78 and women to age 86 – have a long tradition of working the soil…Older Okinawins are active gardeners and walkers.”

National Geographic writer Dan Buettner studied the areas of the world where people live the longest. In his book The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer from the People Who’ve Lived the Longest, one of the common factors he found was gardening. “It’s a source of daily physical activity that exercises the body with a wide range of motion and helps reduce stress” he wrote.

According to Charles Downey who wrote the RealAge.com article Gardening for the Health of It, "an hour of gardening can burn as many calories as a 3-1/2 mile walk.” I think that an hour of gardening is actually better since you can cross off 2 things from the "To Do" list at the same time. For example, you can exercise and get the leaves racked or clip the shrubs in your yard. Many claim to hate exercise for just for exercise sake. Many like the idea of ‘functional’ exercise – exercising while getting something done.

I love to garden. But, just like most people, I frequently fall to sweet and fatty temptations. To make the expert opinions above more real, I matched the calories burned from several garden tasks with the equal calories of some favorite guilty pleasure foods.

General gardening = 272 cal/hr = Starbucks® Whole Milk Latte

1 hr pushing power powered lawn mower = 374 cal/hr = Snickers® bar + glass of wine

Digging = 340 cal/hr = 2 slices thin crust cheese pizza

Trimming shrubs and trees = 306 cal/hr = 2 regular beers

Weeding = 306 cal/hr = McDonalds® regular cheeseburger

Planting seedlings = 306 cal/hr = 4 homemade choco-chip cookies

Raking the lawn = 272 cal/hr = 1 cup Kozi Shack® rice pudding (full fat!)

Walking while watering = 102 cal/hr = 1 can Coke® classic

All activity calorie and food calorie equivalents were found on the Calorie Count website (CalorieCount.about.com).

My favorite example is the lawn mowing. I figure that I could mow the lawn, have a glass of wine afterwards and still be ahead of the game because I didn’t eat the Snickers® bar.

Gardening burns calories aerobically, but it also builds muscle through weight-bearing activities. Most people have heard by now that weight lifting prevents heart disease and osteoporosis. According to the Gardening for the Health of It article mentioned earlier, a University of Arkansas researcher studied 3,300 women over fifty and found that only one other activity equaled the benefits of pumping iron in the gym – gardening!

Stay tuned to this blog for great gardening muscle moves like “Clipping for Cleavage” and the “Day Lily Deep Knee Bend.”

Get out of the gym and into the garden

I used to be one. Amongst the other gym rats I would sweat away indoors. First I aerobicized, then stepped, then kick boxed. I never made it to spinning. The name made me think I would end up puking all over my sneakers. I wasted countless dollars on days I skipped and eventually wasted more money never going at all. The closed, crowded space and smelly re-circulated air made me feel like I was on a really sweaty airplane - uck. I just wanted to get outside into the sunshine.

But I usually didn’t get outdoors. I went back to my grey cube at the office. I worked too much, stressed a lot and sweated the small stuff. Then I made a major life change. In 1999, my father’s heart problems drew me back to New England. My husband graciously found a way to move his job to Boston and we relocated our family from San Francisco to the Boston suburbs.

A life change
Soon after the move closer to my father, I developed some health problems of my own. I went to many medical professionals trying to find out what was making me feel so sick. I was falling asleep in my dinner every night. My brain was fuzzy. My hair was falling out. I lost all confidence in myself. I bounced from doctor to doctor searching for a reason. After a year of no success, my husband said strongly to a doctor that “this is not my wife, something is really wrong.” His advocacy worked and a new doctor quickly diagnosed hypothyroidism and anemia as my problems.

While I was feeling sick, I had to take time off from work. Meanwhile, my mum taught me the family tradition of perennial gardening. I found it took my mind off my problems. Gardening made me feel grounded and provided a form of spiritual meditation. I didn’t have terms for it at the time. I just knew it made me feel better. I had not joined a gym on the East Coast and found that I didn’t need to. Gardening and long walks suited me just fine. Now that my medical conditions are under control, I still find the mind and body benefits of gardening irreplaceable.

Get out of the gym and into garden and you will:
Get Fit – Body and Mind
Save Money
Make Great Gardens

Keep reading this blog for advice on gardening and keeping fit while you garden.

My Definition of Slender

Let me say early on here that when I talk about slender, I don’t mean Hollywood slender. I don’t mean Major City slender – NYC, LA or Paris. Slender in those places equates to "waif" in my view. Let’s face it – looking like a model or a 20-something starlet is just not realistic or appropriate for the rest of us. I watched the movie “the Devil Wears Prada” with my 2 daughters. They were confused by the line in the movie that labeled the tall actress fat at size 6. Of course it was meant as a joke in the movie. The only reason it is funny is because it is true. In the modeling world you must be tall and size 4 and under. Well, not here in suburban America.

My definition of slender has more to do with how you feel about yourself. When you pass by that cute dress at the mall, do you say to yourself “Oooooo! I’d look great in that!”? Do you go in and reach for the smaller sizes that correspond to your height? At 5’ 3”-ish, the sizes that I feel slender in are 6 and below. However my girlfriend from college is a gorgeous 6’ tall. Slender for her would be a size 10 or 12. But, numbers are just numbers. The important fact is that you think of yourself as slender.