No Place Like Home -- Karen Wight

Whew. Have we made it through 2001 yet?

One of my favorite therapeutic activities is to dig in the garden. I

think we can all use a little “garden therapy” time at the beginning of a

fresh new year, and this year it seems more appropriate than ever.

Cleaning, pruning and planting gives my garden a fresh face and gives

me a fresh outlook for the upcoming seasons. It gets me through the

doldrums of winter and gives me hope for a healthy start in my spring

garden.

January is all about roses and sweet peas. Let’s start with the roses,

because lopping off straggly arms, dead heads and rose hips is good fun.

Really. It feels great to get rid of the overgrowth; it’s like

cleaning the house after Christmas. And knowing that your amputations,

a.k.a. “anger management,” will result in an eruption of beauty in just a

matter of weeks makes all your effort worthwhile.

If you have a place for a new rose bush, the bare root varieties are

filling the nurseries right now. The choices are breathtaking. I always

go for fragrance and colors that will look good on the kitchen table, but

basically, you can’t go wrong with a rose.

Plant your rose in full sun. Arrange the rose roots over a mound of

dirt, then fill in the remaining spaces. Roses like to be watered near

the ground. If you have a “bubbler” irrigation system, your roses will

love you forever.

And when you’re done with the roses, it’s time for the sweet peas.

Sweet peas are one of Mother Nature’s best creations. The more you

cut, the more they bloom. They are beautiful and fragrant. A bunch of

sweet peas arranged in an old jelly jar, given in a random act of

kindness, is one of the best things you can do for a friend, for a

neighbor and for yourself.

If you are growing your sweet peas against a fence or wall, provide

netting for the tendrils to grab. This will give you a dramatic wall of

green leaves, reaching tendrils and beautiful flowers.

If you choose a location in the middle of your garden, you will need a

free standing structure. There are many ways to provide support, one of

my favorites in a bamboo teepee. I use three bamboo poles, approximately

4 feet tall, and secure the top together with raffia or jute. I dig three

holes in a triangular pattern and plant the bamboo ends in the dirt. At

this point I wrap the poles with nylon netting so the young plants will

find a spot to grab. Metal wire frames such as obelisks, cones or

triangles are other ways to give your plants the support they need.

If you are planting your sweet peas from seeds, soak your seeds in

water for 24 hours before putting them in the ground. This will help with

seed germination. Sow seeds in 1 inch deep holes, one to two inches apart

at the base of your support structure. Water thoroughly and fertilize.

If you plant your sweet peas from a nursery pony pack, you’ve bought

yourself a little extra time, but you’re not completely off the hook. You

still need to prepare the support and ground.

Once your sweet peas start flowering, cut a bouquet every day. Sweet

peas are prolific. The more you cut, the more flowers your plants will

produce.

As you cut your flowers, arrange them in a bouquet style arrangement,

tallest in the center and shorter toward the outside. Think of a

traditional bridal bouquet and place the flowers accordingly. Before you

place them in a vase or jar, cut the ends of the stems straight across

then place them in your container.

And speaking of containers, sweet peas look good in any small vase. If

you have small vases with narrow necks, this is the time to pull them off

the shelf and fill as many as you can find. The only problem with sweet

peas is that you might run out of things to put then in or places to put

them. A few sweet peas brighten a room and add a wonderful fragrance that

lasts for days.

The clean, sweet fragrance is one of the best parts of spring.It’s one

of Mother Nature’s loveliest miracles. And we can all use a miracle.

Happy New Year.

* KAREN WIGHT is a Newport Beach resident. Her column runs Sundays.