I’m pretty sure most who read this would identify gardening as either a passion or as one among several hobbies, and gardening may permeate one or more of those other interests as well. Here’s an obvious one: those who love travel likely always find and visit the public gardens at their destinations. I’ve added art, astronomy, and model railroading as gardening-related activities.
Painting
As a very amateur artist I’ve done paintings of various public gardens, but not yet of my own. One advantage that artists enjoy is that they can manipulate the scene to suit their whims. My painting of the New York Botanic Garden (at top) was based on a photo taken in early fall, but I chose to make it a summertime scene. If I were working on a painting of my garden, I’d do a lot of manipulating to improve its looks—no weeds or flowers past their peak!
The hardest part of painting outdoors has to be the constantly changing light conditions while painting a scene, so, like many, I do my paintings based on photographs that capture a fixed moment in time. Professional artist Joel Sheesley created a series of oil paintings both en plein air and in his studio depicting the Fox River watershed in Illinois. A few years ago, he gave a presentation on his work at the Wild Ones garden club and I asked him about the changing light situation. He said he made repeated trips back to the same location at the same time on different days, sometimes painting while in a canoe on the river. But he also did take photos of the scene to work on from his studio. Monet would have liked that.
Astronomy
Astronomy’s connection with gardening is more tenuous, but a telescope does has its feet firmly planted on terra firma, with a location under the open sky—the same kind of site appreciated by purple cone flowers, zinnias, and black-eyed Susans. One of the first things I did when laying out my cottage garden was to make a spot where a telescope could be set up so that the tripod legs could easily be positioned on three concrete blocks. But, as the years have passed, surrounding trees have grown up to the point that there’s not as much open sky as the telescope—and flowers—prefer. I’ve adapted by using plants that tolerate a bit of shade, but the telescope may have to find a new home base. I also have a couple of sundials as part of the garden hardscape, to make more Earth and sky connections.
Model railroading
Many botanic gardens include outdoor and/or indoor model railroads, which help keep the kids (and their dads) enthralled. Two nearby examples for me are the Chicago Botanic Garden and the Gabis Arboretum in Indiana. Typically, garden railroads use small plants that are kept trimmed to serve as the natural settings for the model trains that run along the layout.
When my twin grandsons were little, I set up the G-scale model train (garden railroad size) shown above in our basement for them to play with. The thought was to ultimately move it to the outdoors as a garden railway, though it quickly became evident that such a move would limit its utility during the winter and in bad weather. There’s also that high maintenance factor. Eventually I became smitten with the train myself and kept adding more equipment. After the kids grew up, it really became something for “Papa” and never did make it into the garden. However, the train layout is landscaped (faux, of course), and includes a miniature garden center I built and named for my older daughter (an avid gardener herself). Some nice aspects are that I don’t have to mow the grass or trim the bushes and trees … and the flowers are always blooming … and it’s always summer.
It would be interesting to know how you have welcomed gardening as part of other hobbies, especially at this time of year, a slack time for northern and midwestern gardeners. Maybe you’re not even aware of how gardening has influenced your other passions. But I bet it has.
Food preservation. The bulk of my garden is dedicated to growing plants that provide food, from annual veggies to seasonal fruits and berries to herbs. or support those plants by attracting beneficial insects. What we don’t eat fresh is preserved via freezer, canning, dehydrating, or fermenting. And some of that is actively done in the garden.
A timely post as what do gardeners from cold areas do over winter. Tons of reading especially of garden books and especially those with beautiful photos from tropical climates. Playing with houseplants, it’s their time to shine. Playing piano and lots of garden writing and teaching of classes. I admire your artistic talents. Your ‘amateur’ attempt at painting looks pretty darn good to me. Funny how things you start up for children end up becoming a hobby for the adults. All aboard!
Sorry to add dissent but….
I think it’s a shame that when you paint a garden you take a chocolate box approach and create an unrealistic picture. Why not stretch yourself to try and represent what you actually see, weeds and all? You’d be offering something special rather than banal. Telescopes? No, don’t see any garden connection at all. Nor for model railways. In fact that sounds just awful but I guess if you were making a tourist attraction. No, not even there. Why not create a game that children could enjoy that involves looking at the garden. An eye spy of colours or insects or just about anything. Leave the model railways to amusement parks.
Well, everybody is entitled to their opinion, and most opinions have some validity. However, I will point out that model railroading among adults is one of the largest hobbies in the world, and not normally found in amusement parks, but rather in basements, attics, and out in the garden. There is a magazine, Garden Railways, devoted to just this phase of the hobby. Those who set up garden railroads spend considerable effort selecting and growing plants that can be kept in scale with the railway equipment.
Gardening encompasses many specialty areas. While you might not choose to engage in garden railways or even fairy gardens, they have their place. They bring plants and people together in joyful ways. Live and let garden. Regarding Jack’s painting, beauty is in the eye of the beholder and this beholder likes it. It is no less than amazing how the beauty of a garden can inspire us to capture that feeling through artistic expression. Live and let garden, Charles.
OMG I love railways, outside and in! It’s the joy of a miniature world. And he has a garden center! To each his own, I suppose, but I never thought there would be naysayers to railways.
Love your painting & your garden. Gardening brings such joy in so many areas of our lives. I’ve found that gardening has made me much more interested in travel, photography, and history.
Quilting: an awful lot of print fabrics depict flowers. A lot of applique is arrangements of flower-shaped patches. When the bed quilt or wall hanging is finished, it can make a bright spot to gaze upon in a dreary winter.
Because my dad had a part-time job as a news photographer while I was growing up, photography was always part of my home life – actually too much so, which is why I went to the other extreme and avoided anything to do with cameras myself. I didn’t even own a camera until I became interested in plants, i.e., indoor orchid growing, in my early thirties. In 1983 one of my orchids won an AOS award, and a few months later I gave my dad my best photo of it, framed, for his birthday. I think he was just as proud of my photo as he was of my orchid. 😀 Even today, 99% of my picture-taking (and videography) is garden-related.
I am the same with my photography- mostly plants, very little of people or anything else! My chosen indoor craft of rug hooking is also influenced by gardenplants.
And I love small scale trains!
So many connections! I want to designed a garden in which every plant was connected to an object inside the art museum. And for me gardening lead me from being a student who got solid D’s in grammar and spelling into a hobby of writing.
Biking: I cycle around the city noticing what is in bloom and how the plants change season to season, year to year, what is doing well in the local environment.
A lovely post and interesting, I have never equated any hobby to be related to gardening but I enjoy gardening and reading anything to do with gardening.
Ceramics. When it’s too hot, cold or rainy to spend hours outside. I have mostly shade so not always abundant bloom, but 4 seasons of interesting plant material, so I make lots of small vases for just a few blooms, buds berries or foliage. Also use monoprints, stencils or carvings of blooms & leaves with interesting shapes, vein patterns, & colors to decorate pots. It all runs together.
I like painting the garden how you want it to be. Inspiration!
Fantastic post – illustrates why the gardening life is a gardening LIFE. Many faceted. For me – photography, cooking and entertaining. Having dinner outside and creating a garden inspired tablescape is right up there in my top five favorite summer activities. – MW
I would love to see more photos of your garden roadway.