This Spring, in particular, has been quite chaotic. The disorder could be attributed to the sudden onslaught of fantastic weather. Pair that with the constant wave of fresh plants arriving. Or the impending preparations for summer activities. Even the challenges of an energetic one-and-a-half-year-old could be stimulating pressure. All the pieces put together have left me, simply put, frazzled.
While there is a comforting sense of normalcy to the mayhem that means Spring is here, I have found it necessary to ensure that I continue to find chores that bring me a sense of inner peace. Thankfully, I have a good go-to.
There are very few things that I find more therapeutic than pruning geraniums. Standing with my morning coffee, I pinch and pluck, no tools necessary. Sometimes, I stop for a moment mid-afternoon for some clipping and trimming. Then again, later, standing and enjoying the evening shade, moving and mixing the different colors of geraniums. It is one of those activities that truly has instant gratification, a hard find in my gardening experience.
Out of my family, I tend to be the harshest. I pluck and pull until my heart’s content, often leaving the geranium devoid of all blooms. One of the best qualities of many geraniums is that they are very hard to mess up. No matter how much I pinch and deadhead, there will always be other blooms, another leaf. It is simple, repetitive, and peaceful.
Morning, noon, and night, the blooms continue to open and produce. Now the question is, why do I spend so much time picking off the blooms? Does it hurt to leave the blossoms on the plant? The easy answer is no, but let me tell you an insider secret. Oftentimes, picking the blooms before they deteriorate can redirect energy to produce even more blooms. So not only do you get a renewed sense of freshness, but you can look forward to more cleaning. Imagine, constant therapy!
The secret lies in the three main functions of plants. Almost all plants need to grow roots (helping collect nutrients is important!) Then, plants focus on their “shoots,” most frequently leaves. Finally, plants will end their season with a bloom, a fruit, and a showy finale, where we simply get to enjoy the end of the cycle. By plucking off the blooms, I am sending a signal back to the plant that it is not time to be done and that there is still some more growing to do.
So why do I pluck off the blooms? It’s simple: I want the plant to focus on producing more. More leaves, more blooms, more peace, more time, more, more, more. It is a lot to be asking of one small plant. The geranium, though, I know, can handle the pressure.
It can be easy to get frustrated watching your plants, just waiting for them to do something. Maybe they are not growing as fast as you’d like, or tending to the various needs has just become too much of a burden. Before you give up and doom yourself to a garden devoid of personality, I want you to attempt to adjust your expectations and thinking.
We have limited resources, just like plants. A small task like pinching off blooms takes your time and energy and can leave you drained. Gardening takes patience. My dishes are piled up in the sink, but the geraniums are stunning. Why? Because I am allocating my energy to my roots rather than the blooms.
The simple task of cleaning geraniums gives me the mental break and space to refocus on other, more daunting chores, like making dinner and doing the laundry… again. Some of the blooms in my life (like a nice afternoon nap) have been removed. But I know, like my own personal geranium, that I can handle the pruning, and come to the end of the season, I will just have that many more blooms to enjoy.
So, whether you are tending to your garden or focusing on pruning your lifestyle, take a moment to pause and help nurture the places that may need a little extra growing. Find that gardening task or chore that brings you peace and a moment of reflection. Will plucking geraniums solve all of the problems in my life? No, but it might help, just a little.
