The #Butterfly Garden as #Therapy and Relaxation by Karen Rose Smith

Anyone who knows me understands my love of gardens.  Each year the growing season brings beauty and wholesome produce into my life.  Years ago after back surgery, I began writing to escape pain.  Since then I've found many ways to manage it besides writing.  Life is all about managing, isn't it?  From work...to time with family and friends...to Twitter, Facebook, e-mail and daily life crises.  Relaxation is the key for me.

One of my favorite relaxation pastimes is growing, then appreciating our butterfly garden around our patio.  If you've ever watched butterflies cavort in the sunshine, you know the beauty of the sight.  The season began with dark pink cone flowers attracting butterflies.  Next the purple butterfly bush developed full blooms that drew these wondrous creatures.  Now zinnias are becoming bushier.  There are pink, purple and yellow pompom zinnias as well as regular blooms in all shades of pink, yellow and orange.  The fuchsia phlox are also a big hit with these fragile, beautiful creatures.

In my romance KIT AND KISSES, KIT not only is a cat mom, but she also likes to garden and has planted a butterfly garden.  Little does she know that her garden and the butterflies can create a bond between her and the hero's special needs sister. It might even lead her to happily-ever-after.

Here are a few photos I shot.  Photography has also become a hobby because I want to capture the beauty and memories for as long as possible...the butterflies, the flowers, the summer.

At night when the butterflies are resting,
the patio is lit by my solar butterfly.

Miss Paddington enjoys the butterflies
from the living room window.

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In my romance KIT AND KISSES, my heroine has a butterfly garden that forms a bond between her and the hero's special needs sister!

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USA TODAY Bestselling Author Karen Rose Smith is an only child who delved into books at an early age. She learned about kindred spirits from Anne of Green Gables, solved mysteries with Nancy Drew and wished she could have been the rider on The Black Stallion. Yet even though she escaped often into story worlds, she had many aunts, uncles and cousins around her on weekends. Her sense of family and relationships began there. Maybe that's why families are a strong theme in her novels, whether mysteries or romances. Her 89th novel will be released in 2016.

Readers often ask her about her pastimes. She has herb, flowers and vegetable gardens that help her relax. In the winter, she cooks rather than gardens. And year round she spends most of her time with her husband, as well as her four rescued cats who are her constant companions. They chase rainbows from sun catchers, reminding her life isn't all about work, awards and bestseller lists. Everyone needs that rainbow to chase.

Karen looks forward to interacting with readers. They can find her at the links below. 

Karen's Newsletter IN TOUCH

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Karen Rose Smith's romance website 

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©2015 Karen Rose Smith

#Flowers In Honor Of #Mom by Karen Rose Smith

Mother's Day is a bittersweet holiday for anyone who has lost his or her mother.  Remembrance is so important.  Avoiding loss just brings more of it.  At times, embracing it is the best therapy.  One way I remember my mom and embrace her again, is to plant her favorite flowers in our gardens.  These forget-me-nots which are truly appropriate bloom every year around Mother's Day. They spread their little blue blossoms far and wide and can be transplanted to different locations.  My mom loved them.

When I was a child in elementary school, I often took flowers to my teacher.  (My mom was an elementary school teacher and I know how she appreciated them.)  In May, my mom and I would go to our backyard early before school started and cut a bouquet to take along.  We have a traditional lilac.  But we also planted these reblooming lilacs.  They're gorgeous in spring but will bloom again a few times over the summer.  Remembrance throughout the season.

At my childhood home, we had a small bank near a fence.  Fuchsia and white creeping phlox adorned that bank.  Even though we had a particularly harsh winter in Pennsylvania this year, the creeping phlox are more beautiful than I've ever seen them.

You know how you get that "welcome home" feeling when you see your front yard?  In the spring, fuchsia azaleas bloomed under our dining room and living room windows at my childhood home.  Although azaleas are sometimes have a difficult time wintering, the ones there lasted from the time we moved in until the year I had to sell the house.  We've had trouble growing them where we live now, but we bought two little bushes last year that somehow made it through this winter. They're blooming.

At Easter and Mother's Day, we often gave my mom hyacinths which were one of her favorite flowers.  She loved the scent.  One year as she was growing older and couldn't plant them, she returned one to us to plant in our garden.  Twenty years later, it's still growing.  Hyacinths are one of the first flower signs that a new blooming season is upon us.  This garden which also has her favorite summer flowers--like daisies, roses and zinnias--is my way of feeling closer to her.

May your mother's hand touch yours in some way this Mother's Day.

©2014 Karen Rose Smith

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#Heirloom #Tomatoes and #Garden Therapy by Karen Rose Smith

For the past few years I've planted heirloom tomato seeds to fill our garden, as well as our friends and family's gardens, with lush plants that produce terrifically tasty tomatoes.  Each year, I use one or two of my favorite varieties and also add new ones.  Since tomatoes are one of my main staples for soups and sauces, I like to have my freezer stocked full.  Most years I can freeze enough to take us through the winter.

Last summer we had a particularly weak growing season.  So I bought tomatoes from a local vegetable stand to see us through. But this year I'm hoping for a bumper crop again.  My varieties this year consist of three favorites--Marianna's Peace--a huge beefsteak, Anna Russian--a heart-shaped wonderfully tangy tomato, and Big Italian Plum.  In addition I'll plant these seeds too--Brandywine--Suddath's, Missouri Pink Love Apple, Amana Orange, Beauty and Lilian's Yellow Heirloom.

Heirloom tomatoes have history and the seeds have been handed down through generations.  Although I've purchased from several sources, Tomato Fest  seeds always seem to do the best.  They are organically harvested.

Raising tomatoes isn't only practical and economical for us, but it's therapeutic for me.  I have arthritis and fibromyalgia, and winter is usually my worst pain season.  Starting seeds in March gives me a jump on spring as well as a therapy-type past time.  Standing, planting, reaching, lifting in all stages from the gentlest with seedlings to the quart pots by May enable me to transition from winter to spring to summer gradually with physical activity.  

I'd love to hear about your experience with heirloom tomatoes and planting them in your gardens!  Let's hope we have a produce friendly year.

©2014 Karen Rose Smith

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The Gift of a #Butterfly

Butterflies and Remembrance: 
It's July...which always brings a mixture of emotions for me.  My mom passed on eighteen years ago this month and the missing still grabs me this time of the summer.  My husband and I planted a garden in her memory with some of her favorite plants and flowers.  This week I spent time there--remembering, wishing, thanking.  Often I ask for little signs that reassure me she's watching over us.

In the summer, our gardens are usually filled with butterflies, mostly orange and black swallowtails.  But this year, even the butterfly garden with its butterfly bush, zinnias and cone flowers didn't seem to draw them in.  However, as I stood quietly in my mom's garden, just being present to the beauty and peace there, this delicate blue butterfly landed on the mulch right in front of me!  Not even on a flower but simply right there where I couldn't miss it. (By the way, my favorite color has always been blue.)

A sign from mom?

I like to think so.  Little gifts often mean the most. <3

©2013 Karen Rose Smith

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The #Roses In My #Garden

My middle name is Rose.  I was given that name because my godmother's name was Rose.  Maybe that's why I've always loved roses so much.  My mom's favorite was the Peace rose.  After I met my husband, I realized how much my mother-in-law loved roses.  Her rose gardens lined the perimeters of their house.  The night I was engaged, my fiance-to-be left me a yellow rose decorated by a diamond engagement ring.  As a romance writer, it just seemed natural to take the rose as one of my symbols and logos.

What I like most about roses are their beauty, their delicacy, their scent.  For the past few years, I've dried rose petals to make sachets for family and friends at Christmas.  It was a way to make roses last through the winter months.  Each year we add a new rose to our garden.  When I find one I like, my husband says--"And where are we going to put it?"  We always find a spot.

This time of year at first blooming, the roses are the most abundant and beautiful.  During the past week, instead of using a tape recorder to write, I took my legal pad to the patio and enjoyed the roses all around me, emanating their different scents.  So I thought I'd share them with you!  Here are some of the varieties gracing our gardens this year.

 

Love And Peace

 

Voluptuous

California Dreamin'

 

Barbra Streisand

 

Blue Girl

Chrysler Imperial bud

Music Box (baby bush)

McCartney Rose

Peace (climber)

©2013 Karen Rose Smith

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Gardening--More Than A Hobby

I like to garden for relaxation.  Urging plants to grow from seed and taking care of them throughout the process fills a basic need for me to get away from everything technological for just a little while each day.  Nurturing plants is a lot like nurturing kids and pets!

I'm planting more heirloom tomato seeds this week.  My geraniums and impatiens are growing stronger.  The petunias are popping out of the soil.  It's time for our major growing vegetable.  We usually plant around twenty-five tomato plants in our garden to produce fresh tomatoes as well as to freeze for winter.  But I grow about 100 plants so we can give plants to friends, family, neighbors.  I never know how many will thrive and once they start growing, I nurture them.

This year's geraniums and impatiens

2013 tomato seedlings

The first year I grew tomatoes, I started with a basic beefsteak variety and paste tomatoes.  I watch cooking shows and was intrigued by the chefs using "heirloom" tomatoes which were supposed to have a richer, more vibrant flavor.  In our area there wasn't a market where I could find heirloom tomatoes.

What are heirloom tomatoes?  To me the term means tomatoes with a history and possibly a story behind them.  They are open pollinated and are true tomatoes without genetic engineering.  When I decided to grow them, I understood that they might be more prone to disease and cracking.  But that hasn't been my experience.  To my surprise, almost all of them grew and the result was close to a hundred healthy plants last year.  Maybe this was the result of the varieties I chose.  Or maybe my crop was the result of where I bought my seeds.  I found an organic farm online (Tomato Fest) that is California-based. (http://www.tomatofest.com/)  This year I purchased seeds from another venue, too--Totally Tomato  ( http://www.totallytomato.com/ )

I'll give you an example of the history of an heirloom tomato.  My favorite variety is Marianna's Peace.  This tomato is an indeterminate that produces a 1 to 2 pound beautiful fruit.  (It's officially a pink tomato!)  It has a bountiful, not too acid taste, wonderful for eating and also good for sauce.  The seeds date back to the early 1900's when they were smuggled out of Czechoslovakia by a seventeen-year-old named Marianna.

Another favorite of mine is Anna Russian which has a heart-shaped red fruit.  The seeds came from a Russian immigrant.  Here's a photo of last year's fruit.

This year I'm trying some new varieties along with Marianna and Anna Russian.  A few are Ponderosa Pink, Ponderosa Gold, Big Italian Beefsteak, Bull's Heart and Watermelon Beefsteak.  As the garden progresses, I'll blog and post photos, comparing this year's crop to last year's.

Do you grow tomatoes?  What are your best varieties?  What does the process of gardening give you?


©2013 Karen Rose Smith

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