Margaret Arnold • February 15, 2025
A Sustainable Practice Full of Memories

I have written about my mother’s everyday routines – quiet, small practices, some taught and some untaught. My father, a physician, had grand, energetic routines centered around gardening, travel and 35mm photography. I particularly remember his gardening this time of year as he waited for spring to arrive.


His gardening was prolific, with multiple flower and vegetable gardens at his different properties. For decades, until his early 90s, he planned more gardens, more bulbs to plant, more supplies to get and more ornamental and water features to place. A master gardener, his unceasing drive to create colorful views and conduct gardening tours for friends and family (and a reason to have a party) was unmatched. He made plans this time of year inspired by travels and by attending the spring Bachman’s Flower Show.


While his gardening wasn’t simple, a greenhouse he added at our family home was remarkably sustainable – saving and protecting plants year after year instead of replacing them. In a picture recently used for my younger sister’s milestone birthday, the greenhouse setting (see pictures below) perfectly captures those memories: fall crisp nights digging up plants, the humid greenhouse air with geranium scent, and the anxiety of freeze alarms during our parents’ travels.


... a greenhouse ... was remarkably sustainable ...

When the family home sold, he converted a screen porch and bay windows at his hobby farm house into “greenhouse” space, still wintering dozens of plants. My mother patiently deadheaded and cleaned fallen leaves year-round.


As he aged, watching his passion outlast his physical abilities became difficult. His children and grandchildren helped bring in plants and dig bulbs in the fall, and plant them again in the spring. In return, we received garden tours and fresh flower arrangements and remember his passion with stories (and some grumbling) and treasure the photographs of his lifelong passion.


When my own geraniums survived nearly to Thanksgiving this year, I planted them for wintering over in a heated shed. Though not as grand or beautiful as my father’s greenhouse, the plants with their unmistakable scent are thriving in the sun, being protected and saved, and waiting to return outside.


  • Sustainable gardening can include overwintering a few plants.
  • A family tradition can be adapted for your own scale and interest.
  • Visit a spring flower show for inspiration.

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Past Blogs

Downsizing Without Losing Memories

By Margaret Arnold • August 23, 2025
With the State Fair and the new school year here, memories flood back — once captured on a paper calendar pinned to the bulletin board, then in spiral-bound weekly calendar (still my favorite, pencil only!), and later on desktop electronic calendar. When we decided to downsize while preserving memories, I organized nearly 35 years of family dates into a single Google Sheet called "Family Important and Fun Dates from Margaret’s Calendars." This simple digital chronicle of our family’s journey, from our children's milestones to the activities and adventures my husband and I now enjoy as empty nesters. tODAY, THERE IS JUST ONE GOOGLE SHEET ...

Saying Goodbye to Boxes, Keeping the Memories

By Margaret Arnold • July 26, 2025
Thirteen years, seven rental properties, and countless storage boxes later, my oldest daughter finally has a home of her own. Through college, medical school, and residency, we continued to store belongings that didn't fit or belong in the cramped spaces of her temporary living situations. Passing along her belongings felt like closing one chapter and opening another—most of all, it represented the end of her grueling training years and the beginning of truly settling down in a lovely home and neighborhood. Her move got me reflecting on my own relationship with storage and my journey toward "Silverish Simplicity." In our former family home, we had one large storage area and two guest bedroom closets filled with plastic totes and banker boxes (see picture below). I even stored empty totes—a sure indication I was planning to accumulate more rather than less. With our move nearly four years ago and the natural process of downsizing while launching our children into their first homes, the number of boxes and totes has dramatically decreased. More importantly, I have no reason to purchase new totes, and I celebrate each time I empty a box or bin and it moves on to family members who need them. ... THE NUMBER OF BOXES AND TOTES HAS DRAMATICALLY DECREASED ...
Flower container pot with a bag of tools

Next Needed Thing: Grandpa's Summer Visits

By Margaret Arnold • June 28, 2025
My spring and summer to-do lists fondly remind me of my father. When my husband and I started caring for our long-time family home and 30 acres, spring's excitement came with overwhelming feelings. Early there with four young children ages six months to five years, I found myself in tears facing all that needed to be done, including a large pasture that needed mowing. My dad — a master gardener and hobby farmer — saw my tears and what was needed and stepped in. This began a 15-year summer routine to help with pasture mowing. Our family fondly remembers those early summer mornings when Grandpa arrived in his little tan truck, sometimes before 7 a.m. We'd chat over coffee at my kitchen table (youngest daughter remembering him sitting in "my chair"), then off he'd go to mow his adopted pasture. He loved to mow and, like everything our energetic father did, approached it as if he were running out of time. Oldest son recalls: "I'd bring him lemonade, and he'd drink most of it quickly. Then, without stopping, he'd throw the almost empty cup back at me and keep mowing." Oldest daughter added: "He was so focused that when we delivered lemonade, I was scared he might run me over." ... SPRING'S EXCITEMENT CAME WITH AN OVERWHELMING FEELING ...