Genius of the weary creates garden magic

Last fall Brooke spent some time at a writers’ conference in Anchorage rubbing elbows with her favorite mystery writers and hammering away at the next great American garden mystery. Meanwhile, back in the Valley, Hally was happily making her famous spicy applesauce.

And I? I found myself knocked off my feet with a bone infection.

The pain was absolute, and I was prescribed some serious medication to subdue it. Within hours I had gone all woozy, lacking comprehension, nauseous, drooling and staring at the wall. Blessedly, I slept a lot. But alas! My dreams were full of weird animals with mixed body parts: dogs with alligator heads and cats with bat wings!

So what is one to do while drooling and dreaming of donkeys with monkey heads? For some reason, I thought I could design.

Until then, I’d never actually seen a garden design that mimicked a Picasso. My first impression was revulsion (not because I dislike Picasso, I don’t. I just never thought he could bridge the gap to the garden), but on the way to the garbage can to put the thing to rest, I took a second glance and saw it in new light. I liked it!

Enter the phenomenal world of the cranium. While most of us don’t have much opportunity to try our creativity while drooling at the wall, many in our busy world suffer from another form of creative genius: sleep deprivation.

Scientists tell us that our efficiency goes down and our accidents increase when we are over-tired, but something else occurs that they don’t tell you about. Subconscious creativity is opened up to levels unobtainable while properly rested. Surely — I do not jest! Miraculous things can happen when brains are scrabbled from lack of sleep.

So don’t despair when you are weary! Embrace the moment and see where you end up. I can tell you where Brooke ends up — creating weird, life-size, man-eating plants for wacky stage productions.

Hally’s sleep deprivation has turned her into an incredible yarn artist. She crochets till her fingers cry, then crochets some more, making cool wooly things in fabulous colors.

I pick up a pencil, filling notebook pages with gardens, recipes, more gardens and more recipes. These sleepy endeavors rarely see the light of day in their entirety, but elements often appear in my waking-hour activities. On the occasion this happens, it brings me pleasure and eventually, in a long-term sort of way, lets me sleep.

As the holidays approach and life becomes more hectic, most of us find ourselves without sufficient rest. I think we should look at this as a time of special creativity. If you’re one of those incredibly lucky (or disciplined) people who always get their sleep, you probably have no idea what I’m talking about, so feel free to try this.

Stay up extra late one night until you’re really starting to hurt, that exhausted, brain-aching tiredness that makes you want to cry. Then let your brain muse on something you love to create before finally hitting the bed. You’ll really think this is crazy until weeks later when you’re making your traditional holiday wreath and suddenly find yourself wanting to tromp through the snow to fetch some wild rose canes to combine with your usual, and now strangely boring, willows.

Where did that come from? That’s right! When you were experimenting in lack of sleep, your brain planted a seed that is now tugging at your creative spirit! And think of what this technique can do for your garden creativity?

Don’t waste any time. Stay up, get tired, rush about the garden taking cuttings of everything you’re not supposed to and plant them anyway.

The results may make you smile.

If you’re afraid of this bizarre technique, try just doing the opposite of what your inner control is telling you to do. In fact, you have a fabulous opportunity to stretch your comfort zone this coming Saturday at the Fall Gardening Event of The Year: the Seed Exchange with Valley and Big Lake Garden Clubs at The Red Beet in Palmer.

And the Dirt Divas will be there with all of their weary glory!

Seeds from gardens all over the Valley will be there for the trading! It starts at 11 a.m. over lunch, so come ready to allow your subconscious to pick out seeds you’re not fond of and eat garden food that may be unfamiliar to you. I can’t think of a better remedy to fight off the pending winter blues.

Sally Koppenberg is a garden and food designer. She is the owner of Stonehill Gardens and The Red Beet, nursery and catering companies, specializing in Alaska Grown foods, trees, shrubs, perennials and native plants. Contact her at stonehill@gci.net.