Each team member brings a diverse set of experiences and knowledge to their role here at the Nursery, and we love to learn from their unique perspective on plants. That's why we enjoy sitting down with our resident plant experts for "Interview the Gardener" segments like this one. Today, we're excited to share our conversation with Ranann Blatter, who not only manages our online sales — among her many other duties here at the Farm — but just so happens to be family, too!
As the youngest of the Blatter siblings, it’s safe to say you’ve been around plants — and the Nursery — your whole life! How would you describe your relationship to plants, nature, and gardening, and how has that evolved over time?
Yes, I have been fortunate to be surrounded by plants and engaged in nature my whole life! Interacting with nature has always been a joy for me, from learning about plants at the Farm and attending a nature-based summer camp as a child and counselor, to getting my undergraduate degree in Therapeutic Horticulture and now basing my therapy practice outside in nature. I’ve always found spending time in nature to be grounding. Nature supports me in showing up authentically. I find learning about plants to be endlessly interesting and important. Our connection to nature impacts our own wellness and will ultimately determine the health of our planet.
So, as you referenced, apart from your role at Cornell Farm, you are also a registered horticultural therapist and professional counselor associate with your own practice. Can you tell me a little bit more about what horticultural therapy entails?
Horticultural therapy is a practice that uses gardening or nature to facilitate a therapeutic mental or physical goal. In my current counseling practice, I incorporate nature as a setting for nervous system regulation, to cultivate feelings of safety and connection. We are able to attune to all our senses, bringing our nervous systems back to a calm state where we can start to work through trauma stored in the body.
How would you describe the relationship between mental health and gardening? Why do you think gardening is important in today’s world?
To survive and thrive in a culture of burnout, we need to find ways to slow down, live in the present moment, and experience awe. Gardening provides this and so much more. It also provides just the right amount of movement that our bodies crave. I hold a broad definition of gardening because I know that many of us, including myself, don’t have access to outdoor space, and are gardening indoors with houseplants. Any engagement in nature is valuable. I believe on many levels our overall lack of engagement with nature contributes to many of the mental health issues that we are inundated with today: Too much screen time, not enough green time.
So, as an apartment gardener, what do you grow to get in your "green time?" Are any of your plant choices rooted in your therapeutic practice?
I love plants that engage my senses! I love a fragrant blooming evergreen shrub like Star Jasmine, Frost Proof Gardenias, and Winter Daphne. Textures are always interesting to me, so I have a Myers Foxtail Fern that I keep indoors in the winter and on my deck as soon as it warms up. I love Ginkgo trees, so I have a dwarf Mariken Ginkgo in a pot on my deck. I also have a lot of houseplants that liven up my home. My favorites are my Monstera deliciosa for its growth and my Asparagus Fern for its delicate layers of soft foliage. In terms of planning my future HT garden, I will continue to incorporate four seasons of interest so that I can enjoy fleeting moments of awe and beauty all year long.
Apart from gardening with plants that engage the senses, do you have any ideas for how people might incorporate horticultural therapy into their lives?
Get your hands in the soil, feel your feet on the ground, listen to the birds, grow your own food and taste how amazing it is, go on a neighborhood walk and admire the trees, visit one of the many amazing parks in Portland, buy a plant and nurture it, look through garden magazines and dream up your future garden! If a traditional meditation practice doesn’t work for you, spend some time observing nature with all your senses. We can all receive the benefits that nature offers us everyday!
What do you personally find most rewarding about working with people and plants?
I find growth rewarding, both in myself, my clients, and my plants! We’re all just trying to grow. It’s special to repot plants that have grown with me through my own life changes. I get excited when I see new leaves unfurling on my houseplants. Learning how to attune to my plants enough to catch signs of distress is similar to how I learn to attune to myself enough to make my own necessary shifts. Nature is resilient, and so are we.
When working with others, I appreciate how nature offers an abundance of creativity. Not only does spending time in nature allow us to enter into a more creative mental space, but we are all unique in what we are drawn to in nature. On a trail with a client, it may be the sound of water rushing over rocks or a woolly caterpillar crossing the path. At the Farm, guests may be drawn to the colorful annuals at the patio or the hardy plants in the native section. How powerful it is to create a garden made up of all of your favorite plants, some that evoke memories, some that provide shade, some that give a sense of wonder. What a gift it is to be able to have a sense of control over something in our lives. We get to create our own nourishing environments!
What a beautiful way to look at things! Before we part, do you have any advice you'd like to pass along to anyone that might be reading this interview?
Gardening and working on our mental health have many of the same lessons. The sooner we can weed out negative or unhelpful thoughts, the less likely they will overrun us. Thriving, both humans and plants, takes supportive conditions, a certain amount of sunlight, rest, water, and nutrients. We are not all made to take the same path: A ground cover wouldn’t compare itself to a vine. A seasoned gardener knows that next year, there’s still work to do, but over time we learn tricks, and we find the right tools to make it just a little bit easier in the future.
