Here’s a great article that originally appeared in the El Campo Leader News by Leon Macha. Enjoy!
Have Some Gardening Fun
By Leon Macha, THE PRACTICAL SOUTHERN GARDENER
Last year when I wrote about Bottle Trees and garden decorations, I mentioned the name of Felder Rushing. Felder is the southern gardening guru from Mississippi who now leads the movement called ‘Slow Gardening’. A retired Horticulture Extension Agent, he believes that gardening must not be stressful and should be simple. Actually, he is OK with any kind of gardening you want to do.
His ‘Gardener’s Bill of Rights’ puts in words much of my own outlook on gardening. A gardener shall have the right to:
- • Garden at any hour, day or night.
- • Plant stuff in the front yard, away from the house foundation.
- • Have no grass at all, except maybe a little patch upon which to lie on your back and watch the sky.
- • Plant any color of flower next to any other color of flower, even if they clash.
- • Cultivate plants others consider weeds.
- • Own more potted plants than we can water.
- • Plant too many tomatoes every year.
- • A leaf pile.
- • As many wind chimes as we can afford — birdfeeders, too
- • Prune or not prune leggy plants – with no questions asked.
- • Mispronounce plant names (and use the ‘h’ in ‘herbs’).
- • Wear big floppy hats and loose clothing – no matter how ridiculous we look.
You will soon have the chance to listen to Felder speak about his relaxed gardening philosophy. The author of 18 books drives his Dad’s 1988 Ford pick-up with a full time garden growing in the bed. His current titles are ‘Slow Gardening’, ‘Garden Hearts’, and ‘Bottle Trees and Other Garden Glass’. His website is FelderRushing.net and it is more than a full afternoon of low cost entertainment.
He will be making an appearance at The Arbor Gate, just west of Tomball on FM 2920 on Saturday, May 11, at 10 a.m. Get your ‘gardening-nut’ friends together for a Road Trip. People in our town are always looking for a Road Trip excuse after Ricebird football season.
The Arbor Gate is one of the many garden centers in our region that are as much entertaining as educational. You can even see Randy Lemmon doing his live broadcast at the same location early that day. Various programs continue through the day.
A fun gardening day?……….friends traveling together to visit 3 or 4 garden centers, and a nice lunch out on the town. (You may need to pull a trailer to haul your garden treasures.)
Road Trip! Road Trip!
