Debbie Taylor

Plants are a thing of joy in my life. It would be unfathomable to live without them. I guess you could say it is “in my blood.”

The beauty and well being it brings to me makes me feel the need to pass that joy on to others. What’s better than sharing a beautiful blooming plant?

I’ve always done a lot of seasonal trimming on my plants, even more so now that I’m retired. I wander my garden and deadhead those plants that might be misshaped, finished blooming or leggy. I always try to take enough stem and nodes to get a rooted cutting from it. I root most things that I prune. Most of the time I’m successful, but sometimes it just wasn’t meant to be.

As I’m starting on all these plants, I look around my garden and wonder to myself where in the world will I put this new plant. Well the truth is, my garden is full, so I give most of these plants away. I give plants to family, complete strangers via the Nextdoor app, and with gardeners who have shared with me in the past. I’ve met some really nice gardeners this way. I’ve been known to just put plants at the end of my driveway with a note attached naming the plant and how to care for it. They don’t remain there long.

I’m not choosy about which plants I work to propagate. I research the plant online and give it a whirl. I propagate plants from both my full shade garden as well as my full sun garden. I do start early in summer if possible to make sure the new plants are nicely rooted for planting later on in summer or fall. I want my plants to be healthy for their new homes.

I also have many giveaways when I thin my garden. There are times that the area that I planted five to 10 years ago just doesn’t work for me anymore. That’s when I dig up small sections of my garden and find a new home for those plants. It would make me sad to just throw them away or compost them without trying to find them a home first. It’s nice to know I might have encouraged someone to garden who otherwise might not have tried it.

Some of my easy favorites are hydrangeas, oak leaf hydrangea, most salvias, rex begonias, lilac, toad lilies and the list just goes on. I do reuse pots that folks leave by my back gate. Many people return the pots as an act of kindness to help me keep the cost of giving plants away minimal. Gardeners are such kind souls.

I want everyone to enjoy the beauty of plants and the great service they provide to our environment, pollinators and ourselves. I’ve been reading scientific data about the benefits of gardening. It’s a stress reliever, strength builder, and good for your heart. Gardening is just an all around good thing. So, if you see a plant at the end of a driveway with a “free” sign or via Nextdoor, that plant was meant for you to enjoy. Take it. I hope my shared plants bring you as much joy as they bring me.