Hyperfocus: Garden Planning

Was I expecting to dive headfirst into planning an epic porch garden this week? No. Thank’s a lot Chelsea Garden Show 2025 on Britbox. 

I love planning gardens, far more than I actually enjoy gardening. This is largely due to my irrational ickiness about worms. That said, container gardening solves this problem and container gardening is perfect for a deck garden. I happen to have an enormous deck that gets full sun and burns my feet most of the year, but I think with some work it could be a restful and beautiful space.

After watching a few episodes of the Chelsea Garden Show trying to catch glimpses of houseplants, I suddenly found myself inspired to start listing outdoor plants I wouldn’t mind caring for this summer. 

Valerian

Foxglove

Geranium

Poppies

Cornflower

Lupine

Hesperice

Camasses Geum

Salvia

Hosta

Sweet pea

Milkweed

And more….. Do I need to do some research on zone hardiness, water and light preferences, and such? Yes. Also, so many plants are toxic!

I also decided we need a trellis or small pavilion for shade (as my porch gets full sun most of the day), some sort of water features, and a lot of irrigation tubing to make watering easier. 

About this time I glanced over and saw my books on gardening for fiber artists. Six chapters later I had added Weld, madder, indigo, annatto, Dalias, cosmos, and Hopi sunflowers to my list. A chapter after that I had scratched off madder and indigo when I dived deeper into the processing procedures. Somethings are worth the Etsy shipping charges. 

Historical Note: Eliza Lucas, later Pinckney, developed indigo as a cash crop (There was a lot of slave labor involved). She was a very interesting colonial person with whom I was not familiar but may look into a bit in the future.

A quick reddit dive on the more ethical natural seed companies led me down a new rabbit hole. Let’s just say I should have an interesting mailbox for the next few weeks. I did buy seeds from two companies, er…three companies, and will start some of those in our greenhouse in the next couple months. I hope to have some nice starts ready when the frost wanders away. 

At some point this week I realized I might want to add a few herbs and fruits into the mix; certainly a black currant and some tobacco plants (husband is from Kentucky and loves the scent) and a new element of my vision was born. I tend to like the idea of herbs and medicinals that are easy to use right off the plant; drying and processing roots feels like a time suck to which I hesitate to commit.

The great thing about seeds is that they are inexpensive, but they are also an investment in hope. We take something small and it turns into something beautiful. What better way to start the new year than planning for growth and beauty? Also strawberries. 

Seed Companies: 

Strictly Medicinal LLC

Territorial Seed Company

Seedsavers.org

Alliance of Native Seedkeepers