Memory Aids

Whether it is from heat exhaustion, dementia, or having too much on our plates, we can all be forgetful. So many times, I have had a plant pop up in my yard that I don’t remember planting, is it the garden gnomes or did I forget placing it there. I have an oak in my yard that I know I planted but I didn’t keep the label and now I don’t know which species it is until it gets a few years older. One time I panted two plants on top of each other because I forgot I had already filled in that area earlier. I give plants to friends and then they call me a month later and with questions and I can’t remember what I gave them. It is an ongoing battle but I have come up with a few memory aids to help me out.

Weed bouquet

That’s right, pick one of each weed and make it into a bouquet on your kitchen table. Use this to familiarize yourself with the weed and recognize it from every angle. For long term weed ID, instead of making a bouquet, make a scrapbook by pressing the weeds dry and saving them in a scrapbook. This method also works for desirable plants but I’m less willing to behead them especially when it is my only bloom.

Flower photo album

Find an old photo album and fill it with photos of the garden plants. They can be photos you take or cut up a plant catalog. Label each one with its name and location in the garden. This method makes me feel like the plants and I are one big family on an adventure together. I like to put the plants baby pictures next to their adult pictures just like they were my kids.

Garden journal

Keeping a detailed garden journal or calendar is a great way to remember what happened when. It can be fun and educational to look back over the years and see which activities or mistakes seem to repeat at the same time each year. Learning from last years mistakes by marking them down in the next years journal can warn you to remember at the right time in the future. Don’t be too hard on yourself if you forget to keep up with your journal for a while, just pick up where you are. Any notes are better than none at all.

Garden amnesia is common. There are even plant labels that say “I don’t remember planting this”. It is a possibility that the gnomes or maybe a migrating bird pooped that seed there. We just have to embrace what we get and find a way to continue.