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Organic Gardening holds the key to longevity and health, believes Harvard naturalist and Pulitzer Prize winner Edward O. Wilson He believes that we are part of nature and would prefer to look at flowers and grass rather than concrete or steel.

As part of the natural world, we are connected to and restored by it.These restorative benefits of nature, some experts now believe, can lower blood pressure, boost immune function, and reduce stress

One reason nature may be so successful coping with stress is that it puts the mind in a state similar to meditation, according to Clare Cooper Marcus, MA, MCP, professor emerita from the University of California at Berkeley.

There are other benefits to being in nature as well, including exercise, exposure to vitamin D from sunshine.

Digging, planting, weeding, and other repetitive tasks that require strength or stretching are excellent forms of exercise, especially for people who find more vigorous exercise a challenge, such as those who are older, have disabilities, or suffer from chronic pain.

Some research suggests that the physical activity associated with small gardens can help lower the risk of developing dementia.

Two separate studies that followed people in their 60s and 70s for up to 16 years found, respectively, that those who gardened regularly had a 36% and 47% lower risk of dementia than non-gardeners, even when a range of other health factors were taken into account.

The food you grow yourself is the freshest food you can eat. And because home gardens are filled with fruits ,vegetables and herbs, it’s also among the healthiest food you can eat.

Not surprisingly, several studies have shown that gardeners eat more fruits and vegetables than their peers. Not to mention that homegrown produce simply tastes better.

The effortless attention of gardening may even help improve depression symptoms.

In a study conducted in Norway, people who had been diagnosed with depression, persistent low mood, or “bipolar II disorder” spent six hours a week growing flowers and vegetables.

After three months, half of the participants had experienced a measurable improvement in their depression symptoms. What’s more, their mood continued to be better three months after the gardening program ended.

A recent study in the Netherlands suggests that organic gardening can fight stress even better than other relaxing leisure activities.

After completing a stressful task, two groups of people were instructed to either read indoors or garden for 30 minutes. Afterward, the group that gardened reported being in a better mood than the reading group, and they also had lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol.

During your time in the garden, the demands and stresses of your everyday life seem to fade away. You can totally immerse yourself in your home gardening, plants and your gardening chores.

Our organic gardening secret to attract birds is to grow black- eyed Susans. We love to have birds come to our garden, for their beautiful songs as well as for their insatiable appetite for bad bugs.

So we encourage them every way we can- and one of those ways is planting perennials with lots of seeds that birds like to eat.

We have found that one of the best of the bunch is black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia hirta), a spectacular summer bloomer with glorious golden yellow flowers.

Black-Eyed Susans attract birds for their seeds. In addition standing stems of the Black-Eyed Susan will help shield birds from predators in the winter garden.

The seeds of these delightful daisies are a favorite food of goldfinches and purple finches, as well as cardinals, sparrows, and nuthatches, to name a few. Common Redpolls and other seed lovers will work at the seed heads until all the seeds are gone.

Butterflies, bees, flies, and other insects visit flowers for nectar. When they drink nectar, they accidentally move pollen from one plant to another. This allows the plant to grow fruits and seeds, which are lightweight and travel by wind.

Several butterflies frequent this plant, but the Pearl Crescent is one species that takes advantage of the high center perch and is attracted to the yellow color.

Black eyed Susans are pollinated by bees, wasps, beetles, flies, and many other insects, but have developed a strategic method for keeping away unwanted pests such as ants. The bristly hairs on the stems make it uncomfortable, if not impossible, for ants to pass.

The trick to growing black eyed susan plants is to give them full sun in decent soil. Rudbeckia are easy to establish, naturalize well and require little maintenance other than deadheading.

Flowering begins about mid-June and continues until plants are killed by frost, but removing flowers as they fade throughout the summer will enhance blooming.

Black-Eyed Susans are also quite drought tolerant, and as such makes a welcome and useful addition to the garden in very hot, dry areas.

They self seed freely, and the roots of perennial specimens can be divided in the fall for more plants. They can be started easily by seed in the fall, in flats 6 weeks before the last frost, or early in the spring for bloom the next year.

Black-eyed Susans are biennial, which means they live for two years. In the first year, the plant grows a rosette, which is a group of leaves growing from the center, low to the ground. In the second year, the plant sends up flower stalks. At the end of the second year, the plant dies.

The bright colorful pansies are such happy flowers, I love them.  Every time I see pansies, I can see their little smiling faces within the flowers, and they make me smile.

Pansies are well known as flowers with a “face” and it might make you smile if you look at it: it has two “eyes, a mouth and a tiny nose in the middle”.

Pansies appeared in the early 1800s when William Thompson, an English gardener, bred several species of violas and created in 1839 the “face” type pansies that we know today

Pansies are also known by the name of violas. They have a huge variety of colors (hundreds of varieties) and thrive in cool, spring time conditions. They grow well in containers, rock gardens and around the borders.

Pansies feel best in cool, rich soil in partial shade, but they can tolerate full sun if the summer is not very hot. If they are shaded in the heat of the late afternoon the flowering season of the pansies will be extended.

If you buy young pansies from the nursery don’t buy plants in full bloom. They will adapt harder and are already “spent”.

Choose pansies that are stocky, bushy and have plenty of buds. Avoid plants full of open blooms, because they will be stressed to near exhaustion from working so hard in a tiny pot.

Pansies do not like heat at all and will begin to decline as the days warm up. Regular watering will help them hang on a bit longer, but don’t expect your pansies to last all season.

I plant baskets and pots full of pansies every spring. The hardest part about the annual planting of pansies is selecting the color combinations that I want to put together. With so many colors to choose from, and only so much space, the decision is a hard one every year.

Suggested Varieties:

Bingo Series –  Large-flowered in 14 colors from pale blue to burgundy. Bingo blooms earlier than the popular Majestic Giants series. Winter/spring.

Joker Series – Very pronounced faces. They are bicolored in complementary colors. ‘Jolly Joker’, an orange and deep purple flower, was a 1990 AAS winner. Spring/summer.

Princess Series –  A compact growth habit and dainty flowers. Most are clear monochromatic tones from cream to deep purple, with yellow centers. Spring/summer.

Four Tips for Growing Pansies:

1. Plant pansies about 6 inches apart to allow for healthiest growth.

2. Keep the plants deadheaded. That means the dead, drooping blooms should be plucked from the stem to make room for the healthy parts of the plant to thrive.

3. Pansies can thrive in the ground or in planters. The key is to have fresh soil.

4. Mulch helps keep the moisture in the ground.

Pansies are well known for being self-seeders. You can collect seeds by cutting the entire plant after blooming stopped.

Strawberry Spinach is one of the best-kept secrets of the herb world for easy gardening. This native American plant was grown by German Monks over 400 years ago and rediscovered in a monastery in Europe.

It is native to most of North America throughout the United States and Canada, including northern areas.  And, It is considered to be endangered in Ohio. It is also found in parts of Europe and New Zealand.

The green leaves of strawberry spinach are edible with a ‘nutty’ flavor while the strawberry-like fruit grows on leafy stems above the rosette of leaves.

It’s always so nice when you can use almost the entire plant instead of just one part. Strawberry Spinach draws out this pleasure by setting new leaves all season long. Snip off just what you need at the moment, and harvest more later!

Edible flowers of strawberry spinach are quite small. They resemble raspberries more than strawberries.But,  there’s no mistaking that bright strawberry-red hue! The berries arise at the base of each stem, and a plant in full fruit is a glorious sight!

Flowers set small red fruits in late summer and fall that taste a bit like mulberries and are lovely fresh or canned. The fruits are juicy and tasty when mature.So,do not be too anxious to pick. Leave until they become dark crimson red, then pick. So sweet and delicious.

And, the fruits  also contain small, black, lens-shaped seeds that are 0.7-1.2 mm long.

Flowering in summer, strawberry spinach is easy to grow. It enjoys full sun and should be watered as needed. And, it is a very ornamental plant.

Strawberry Spinach is a tall plant with berries at every level of the plant; berries here, berries there, and berries everywhere. Each plant produces more berries that we imagined and, as an extra bonus, the plant is very pretty.

You’ll definitely want it  in the front and center of the herb garden!  And,it will easily grow in a container as well.

The triangular, toothed leaves  of strawberry spinach are thinner than spinach, very nutritious, and high in vitamins C and A. Tender shoots are used raw in salads or cooked like spinach.

One of the interesting plants we grow, or should I say, grows itself, strawberry spinach, is also called strawberry blite, beet berry, Indian paint, and a number of other names.

The time is now for irises!  Irises flowers are all over!  From black, and true blue, to vivid bicolors.  And the most beautiful shades of orchid, lavender, purple, and mauve are blooming too.

Like old friends, irises come back year after year. In The United States irises are known as “Flags.”  Why?  Tell why…

Irises are named after the Greek goddess, Iris.  Legend says she walked a pathway through the sky above.

The priest and prince of Crete held the iris as their prized possession over 4,000 years ago. Egyptians considered the iris a symbol of power and majesty.

Irises are one of those amazing plants that flower at a time just after most of the spring flowering plants are through flowering and before the summer flowering plants are in full bloom.

Of course, a garden does not need to feature irises. Irises simply steal the show and do not require top billing.

Irises, although their beauty rivals that of orchids, are probably the easiest plants to maintain since all you really have to do is plant, water, and look at them.

When you think of the two best-known types: bearded irises and Siberian irises, it’s easy to see why early summer is prime time for these beautiful bloomers.

Bearded irises come in a rainbow of colors and range in height from 8 inches to 3 feet tall, so you’re sure to find one that’s perfect for your garden.

If you live in a windy area, you are well advised to avoid the tall bearded varieties because they are quite susceptible to wind damage (and rain damage) unless you want to securely stake them.

I enjoy the mid and short bearded plants very much. Because I’m a lazy gardener, I put my taller bearded varieties in the back of the garden next to sturdy perennials that would support the flower stalks.

Most bearded irises bloom only in late spring or early summer. But if you grow re blooming varieties, such as “Immortality” or “Baby Blessed”, you can get a bonus burst of bloom in late summer or fall!

Although irises are not typically fragrant, you will find fragrance in some of them. The perfumes produced from some of these fragrant flowers vary from light and sweet to heavily scented, dusky and even a “chocolate” essence.

The best time to plant or transplant bearded irises is right after they have finished flowering or during the fall and winter.