Keeping A Garden Journal

Through the years, I have kept many kinds of journals. Perhaps it's because I love to write and I also want something left behind for my "some day grandkids "to read. {: One kind of journal I keep is because it really helps for the upcoming season. It is a garden journal. You can find these in book stores or on line at times, however, I like to "create" my own. Sometimes I use large spiral binders with folders inside.....

Sometimes I use pretty bound journals. I hand paint on the outside and inside. I make it ....me.....my garden..Inside, I write when I plant something....by seed or plant. I write every week or so on how that particular plant is doing, or if it dies. How well it did, when it sprouted, bloomed, and produced. This way I can go back and look over last years triumphs and failures and do things better.
I have a dear friend who sends me articles out of newspapers and magazines covering different things on gardening and on the folks who grow things a particular way. I keep these along with other informative articles I come across in a spiral filled with folders.

I also keep small garden catalogs and tags off of bushes and trees I purchase.

I find a lot of information on the Internet that I copy off and also save.

In these journals, I save leaves and flower petals. I write about when I picked them and where they grew. This is an enormous morning glory leaf out of the morning glories I grew a few years back.

I also make out my garden plans. Drawing where I want different flowers or vegetables to be planted that year. This really helps me to get my grounds ready.

I like to be creative and have something whimsical to also be seen. I either draw a little something or I paste clippings from greeting cards or magazines on the pages. I also attach my empty seed packets on the pages as well.

I found that placing packaging tape completely over a pressed flower, making sure to get all of the air out...preserves the color fairly well. I write what kind of flower is on the page, what color it is, if it has fragrance and how long it stays in bloom. This gives me an idea next year of where I want certain colors in my garden to be.

I also place a lot of photos of the grounds in the journal. I usually pick a new journal each year. If I have a lot of space left over, I will use the journal for the next year, leaving a page blank in-between to show a new planting season has started. I looked over the journals of the years I just started out gardening... and I am amazed at how much I have learned through the years. Do you keep journals as well? Do you keep notes about what you plant and how it turned out? I would love to hear!