How do you keep track of things in your garden? I’m always searching for new and better ways –

With the exception of the odd Instagram post, I’m pretty much a failure at documenting mine. I romanticize early botanists and how they gathered scientific observations into tea-stained art projects. I’m pretty sure their pressed flowers, little charts and graphs, and hand-drawn sketches are the original inspiration for stay-at-home-mom scrapbooking pyramid schemes.

I’d like to be better. I know some level of record-keeping would be useful and might actually make me a better gardener.  So, in casting about for a system that I will realistically maintain, I asked myself, what kind of blogger would I be if I didn’t develop a healthy over-reliance on flat-lay photography?  I mean, I’ve hardly used the medium at all, and what better way to jump on the bandwagon than to create an arrangement of what is currently growing and catching my eye?

So, a meditation is born.  I’ve marked my calendar for the first of every month to take a walk and gather things that demand my attention.  I’ll bring them inside and smartly arrange them on a chic piece of marble that I keep around for just this sort of thing. (seriously, I do have this heavy AF random piece of marble that I inherited from the previous homeowner over 20 years ago and have done nothing with it)

Once I have the picture, I’ll label it on my phone with some fun little apps.

Maybe this paperless version of documentation will work for me.  Good habits are as hard to create as bad habits are to break so I know I have to keep it simple if I stand any chance of being successful in this little endeavor.

My Best October Plants:

Some common plants that thrive in October include pansies, ornamental kale, and chrysanthemums. But these cool-weather plants are typical and despite the fact they add a pop of color to gardens and flower beds during the fall season – I am generally bored with them. These are less predictable Fall favorites for an October bloom.

• Hydrangeas – specifically the woody varieties.
• Agastache
• Dahlias
• Wild and Native Asters
• Salix Integra Hakuro-Nishiki
• Coleus varieties
• Rocking Fuschia Saliva (probably my favorite experimental plant this year!)
• Black Eyed Susans
• Dogwood Trees
• Seven sons Tree (heptacodium Miconoides)
• Sedum Autumn Joy
• Dusty Miller
• Pennisetum Red Head

Make sure to plant them in well-draining soil and provide adequate sunlight for optimal growth.

Do you document anything about your garden-making efforts?  If so, what works?  What is important to note? how do you keep track of it?

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