Lessons from the Garden: Wins, Surprises and Growth

Early November presents a brief pause between the gardening and holiday calendars. I see this as an excellent time to take some space to reflect on your garden. Taking time to evaluate and record details about your garden helps to refine and grow your gardening knowledge and skills.

Here are some things to consider as you document your gardening experience this season:

• Record your wins. – This year, my Baptisia plants - specifically Decadence^® Deluxe 'Pink Truffles' and Decadence^® Deluxe 'Pink Lemonade' - celebrated their third anniversaries in my perennial garden. They burst forth with robust, enthusiastic growth and flowers in the spring. Their vibrant blooms and hardy nature made them true stars in my prairie landscape.

• Write about your surprises. – One of my biggest surprises came from the Margarita sweet potato vines in my hanging basket. They grew with incredible vigour and reached an impressive 1.7 m (5 ½ ft) long like never before! It was an unexpected delight to see them thrive and transform my porch with their lush greenery.

• Take note of the fails. – Of course, not every endeavour went as planned. My water catchment pond idea proved to be a humbling and expensive challenge. It resulted in abandoning the pond project altogether and placing pipes from the rain downspout to feed directly into my water tanks instead. Gardening wouldn't be nearly as rewarding without a few fails to keep us grounded and motivated to improve.

• Jot down the things you would repeat. – After this year's stunning success with Supertunia^® petunias, I know they'll always be a permanent fixture in my garden.

Documenting your gardening experiences can be just as creative as the act of gardening itself. Choose the method that feels most natural and enjoyable for you. Even if the word “journal” makes you want to freeze up, there are plenty of ways to capture your journey.

Whether you prefer jotting down long-form notes on paper, keeping electronic records, creating charts, marking notes on a calendar or organizing photos in a digital library, there is no right or wrong way to keep track.

As you record your wins and wrecks, take time to consider the factors that contributed to each outcome.Was it things like the weather, soil conditions, watering practices or the choice of plants that led to your successes or failures? By identifying these factors, you can begin to plan new winning strategies for next year.

Growth happens both in the garden and within us as gardeners. Every season, we learn something new, we adapt and we grow.

Remember, gardening is about community as much as it is about plants. Reach out to fellow gardeners, explore informative websites like provenwinners.com, and don't hesitate to ask for advice or share your own insights. Gardeners love to help each other thrive. Together, we can all grow stronger, healthier and happier gardens.