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Letter From Paris: Anatomy of a Crisis — Retirement Reform in France

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Nicole Prévost Logan

A crushing defeat for the French president, many angry people and a country convulsing into chaos. Let’s rewind the video back to early 2023. 

There was a feeling of déjà vu when observing the political and social turmoil going on in France. Once more the “Street” is in an uproar and the deputies in the Assemblée Nationale are fighting like cats and dogs. This time the cause was an attempt  by French President Emmanuel Macron to carry out retirement reform. The prospect of the legal age to retire being raised  from 62 to 64 provoked a storm. It was the cornerstone of Macron’s plan, but also the most controversial.

For an observer from abroad, this situation is almost incomprehensible. Why would the French refuse to retire at 64 when other countries are adapting to demographic changes such as a longer life expectancy and the aging of the population?  

Other French presidents, like Nicolas Sarkozy or Jacques Chirac, have also tried to reform the system but without success. Retirement reform occupied a central place in Macron’s electoral campaign at the outset of his first mandate in 2017. He had a vision of a system of répartitions (contributions), which would be largely complemented by capitalization. It means each individual receives a pension that comes from the capital accumulated in that person’s account.

Macron explained that the repartition system is not tenable financially.  Since this system is based on the principle of an active population paying for retirees,  it works well when the ratio of active population versus retirees is right. The aging of the population puts too much of a burden on the active population. In the 1960s, there were four actively-employed persons for one retiree. In the 1970s, the ratio was three to one. Today that ratio has fallen to 1.7 active persons per retiree. The system is doomed to run eventually into a wall, Macron believes.  

French President Emmanuel Macron.

The state has to make up for the difference since there is an imbalance between the amount of contributions and the pensions to be paid out. The retirement system in France is cumbersome and costly. It represents 14 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which is the second highest in the European Union behind Italy. As a comparison the cost of the retirement in the US is only 7 percent of GDP.

For the French the idea of working two more years is unacceptable. Retirement reform has become an existential confrontation between the government and 65 percent of the population. It also seems ill-timed with the interruption of oil supplies from Russia causing an energy crisis, roaring inflation and an unprecedented drought. 

Retirement reform is, in fact, unattainable because the proposed changes are going much further than just retirement — they are also touching on many other issues such as labor laws, inequality between men and women, insufficient purchasing power for many people unable to make ends meet. 

It also reflects the new way people relate to work after the COVID pandemic. The reform is considered by the left-wing trade unions as unjust.  And on top of all that, add an utter dislike for Macron who has only a 36 percent approval rating at present. 

What are the main points of the reform? 

Eliminate the régimes spéciaux or  “niches” of long-established privileges of certain groups of people

There are 15 régimes spéciaux.  Among them, employees of utility companies like EDF (Electricity) and GDF (natural gas), Paris Opéra and Comédie Française employees,  RATP (Paris subway and bus system ) national police, clerks in notaries offices, members of the Assemblée Nationale and of the Senate, SNCF (railroad) workers, etc. The régimes spéciaux notch a 30 billion Euros deficit each year

Long careers creating a confusing situation

The  government made a number of concessions about the cases of someone who started work at age 19, or of an apprentice, who may have started at a very early age such as 14. It would have been much simpler and saved the government lots of headaches, not to quote a retirement age like 64 but rather set the requirement of 172 quarters (or trimesters), corresponding to 43 years, to qualify for a full pension. This was probably the worst error. They should not have set an age for retirement but just increased the number of years of contributions from 42 to 43. 

Minimum pension and “protection” of stay-at-home mothers

As a rule women make 1/3 less money and consequently, retirement income, compared with men. So an effort was made to add eight quarters of maternity leave and child-rearing leave to the calculation of quarters. The minimum pension will be 1,200 Euros with an additional 100 Euros. It is still pitifully low. With that amount, how can a retiree live? Many have to resort to eating in Restaurants du Coeur, the French version of soup kitchens.  

Raising the low ratio of seniors’ employment

In France, only 56 percent of 55 to 64 years-old or “seniors” are employed, versus 76 percent In Sweden for example. In Denmark, the retirement age is indexed to life expectancy. The number of seniors has doubled in the past 10 years. In that country, one retires when one wants. Danes find that part of their identity is linked to their work. 

The reform is supposed to take place gradually and will not be completed until 2035. There is a grandfather clause for people still employed.  

President Macron put Prime Minister Elizabeth Borne in charge of retirement reform. First she led three months of talks with the Trade Unions, followed by two weeks of debates in the Assemblée Nationale. Day after day the TV showed Borne on the floor of the legislative body, confronting rowdy members of the NUPES (alliance of left wing LFI or La France Insoumise, headed by Jean Luc Mélanchon, the Communist party, the Socialist party, the Europe Ecology party (the Greens or EELV) plus  a couple of smaller partners.)

One of the most vocal and disruptive NUPES deputy is François Ruffin, a school mate of Macron in Amiens. Marine Le Pen, now comfortably sitting at the head of 89 deputies in the National Assembly, is staying above the fray, watching the gesticulations of the deputies. Many commented that it was an appalling spectacle.

The NUPES advanced about 15,000 amendments out of a total of 20,000. It appeared that their objective was, in fact, the obstruction of the whole legislative process, in order to force the government to act by the 49-3 Executive Order. What happened was that, after two weeks, only two of the of the 20 articles of the proposed law had been debated. Article 7 — the most important since it concerned raising the legal retirement age from 62 to 64 — was not even addressed . 

The next stage was intended to be a debate at the Senate. Since the beginning of the Fifth Republic, the 348 member-strong Senate is dominated by right wing parties . They are the Renaissance (the new name of LREM — La Republique en Marche ), Les Republicains, and the Union Centriste . It was no surprise that the debates were calmer and even continued during weekends.  

To make sure that the work was completed by the deadline, another article inscribed in the Constitution — 44-3 — helped speed up the debates of the proposed retirement reform. 

While the parliamentary proceedings were going on, the popular anger grew. Seven days of vigorous protest brought out more than one million demonstrators in small and large towns daily. In the crowd, one could see a few young people. Hard to believe that 14-year olds would already be worrying about their retirement benefits set to materialize 50 years down the road.

But marching in the street is not sufficient to get results.

Other tools were used by the unions to exert power such as strikes of public transport (the worse one for the public was on Christmas Eve); targeted power outages (Gerard Larcher, president of the Senate, had his own electricity cut off) for four hours in early March; blockage of refineries; and closing the methane terminals where liquefied natural gas arrives in France. 

The shut-down of the waste incinerators serving the Paris region, and the strike of garbage collectors turned the capital into a disgusting  (and smelly) mess of more than 10,000 tonnes of garbage littering sidewalks and streets. Anne Hidalgo, the Socialist mayor, refused to interfere and help with the waste removal.

Some other countries look at France with envy for being able to fight for the preservation of what they deem essential to their quality of life and to which they are incredibly attached. 

The retirement reform proposal is far from perfect but the French government can hardly afford the luxury of doing nothing. To express an opinion on this most important issue of Macron’s mandate, one should first place it in its societal context.  

The government has been trying to help the population: dozens of small checks have been given to the most vulnerable groups of the population. Students can eat a decent meal for only one euro. Financial assistance is provided for people, who have to use their car to go to work, or can ‘t afford to keep warm in the winter. The cost of electricity is capped so that the boulangers  can continue baking their famous baguettes . These dozens of small checks have added to 43 billion Euros to the national debt. The inflation has been kept in check at 6.5 percent, which is the lowest in Europe. These measures deserve acknowledgement .

One might say that inflation has nothing to do with retirement reform, but it does. The popular anti-Macron surge is greatly due to the fact other economic problems are bundled up with the general resentment caused by retirement reform.

Macron’s government has been criticized for lacking a pedagogical sense in promoting the reform. It is widely accepted that the proposal is utterly confusing. Even a professor at Sciences Po and a researcher at CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) made that comment about several  of the provisions of the reform. 

The French find the president aloof and distant. 

On Jan. 18, at a time when the reform was the absolute top priority in everybody’s mind, the president decided to take 11 key ministers on an official visit to Spain. Anti-retirement public opinion turned sour. 

In mid March, the president attended environmental conferences in four countries of central Africa. It provoked the same outrage among the population.

Trade unions wanted to meet with the president. This was refused by the Elysées palace. Macron had delegated his authority to the Prime Minister in this matter. This is typical of France — the French keep criticizing Macron but they will not talk to anybody but him

On March 15 , the Senate passed the reform project. The text then went to a commission paritaire of seven deputies and seven senators for approval. 

On the eve of the final and crucial vote scheduled to take place in the Assemblée Nationale on March 16, Prime Minister Borne sounded very confident that the reform would pass with a majority vote. The suspense was still intense though. 

But on March 17, there was a coup de théatre — the government did not have a majority. Several deputies and a handful of “frondeurs” from the Right and the Center voted against the reform. In a deafening noise, Borne had to announce that the government reluctantly had to use Article 49-3.

The reaction was immediate: riots, violence, and destruction of shops, bus stops and more were contained with difficulty by the police. Multiple arrests were made. The Place de la Concorde and the Champs Elysées are now cordoned off by the police..  

This is just the beginning. The future looks bleak. The expected votes of confidence may not succeed, but the task of the Macron’s government going forward seems enormous.

Editor’s Note: This is the opinion of Nicole Prévost Logan.

Nicole Prévost Logan

About the author: Nicole Prévost Logan divides her time between Essex and Paris, spending summers in the former and winters in the latter. She writes an occasional column for us from her Paris home where her topics will include politics, economy, social unrest — mostly in France — but also in other European countries. She also covers a variety of art exhibits and the performing arts in Europe. Logan is the author of ‘Forever on the Road: A Franco-American Family’s Thirty Years in the Foreign Service,’ an autobiography of her life as the wife of an overseas diplomat, who lived in 10 foreign countries on three continents. Her experiences during her foreign service life included being in Lebanon when civil war erupted, excavating a medieval city in Moscow and spending a week under house arrest in Guinea.

Reading Uncertainly? On the Subject of Luck by Patrick O’Brian

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Editor’s Note: We are thrilled that our longtime book reviewer Felix Kloman, who ceased writing for us after he moved away from Lyme, has sent in a guest review for us that we are delighted to publish today.

Patrick O’Brian 1914-2000

In 2016, I humbly suggested reading of the 21 early 18th century seafaring novels of Patrick O’Brian, beginning with his first, Master and Commander. I admit to being mesmerized by them, having read all of them now six times over the past 30 years. So, in 2023, as I start my seventh, I’ll try again!

To stimulate interest, here are three excerpts on the subject of luck, a quality that affects each and every one of us.

From “The Ionian Mission, W. W. Norton, New York 1992

“It was not chance, commonplace good fortune, far from it, but a different concept altogether, one of an almost religious nature, like the favor of some god or even in extreme cases like possession; and if it came in too hearty it might prove fatal—too fiery an embrace entirely. In any event it had to be treated with great respect, rarely named, referred to by allusion or alias, never explained. There was no clear necessary connection with moral worth nor with beauty bit its possessors were generally well-liked and tolerably good-looking: and it was often seen to go with a particular kind of happiness..”

 From The Reverse of the Medal, Wm. Collins, London, 1986

“It was a question of the man’s luck, a quality or rather an influence that sometimes set all one way, for good or bad, and sometimes shifted like a tide, but a tide whose ebb and flow obeyed laws that no ordinary men could see. . . . There were varying creeds and some important difference of detailed belief, but broadly speaking luck and unluck were held to have little or nothing to do with virtue or vice, amiability or its reverse. Luck was not a matter of desserts. It was a free gift, like beauty in a very young woman, independent of the person it adorned; though just as beauty could be spoilt by frizzed hair and the like so ill-luck could certainly be provoked by given forms of conduct such as wanton pride, boasting of success, or an impious disregard for custom.”

From The Letter of Marque, Wm. Collins, London 1985

“It seems to me that you have to treat destiny or fortune or whatever is the right word with respect. A man must not bounce or presume, but he must not despair neither, for that is ill-bred . . . .”

Do these words entice interest? I hope so!

Editor’s Note: This is the opinion of Felix Kloman.

Felix Kloman

About the Author: Felix Kloman is a sailor, rower, husband, father, grandfather, retired management consultant and, above all, a curious reader and writer. He’s explored how we as human beings and organizations respond to ever-present uncertainty in two books, ‘Mumpsimus Revisited’ (2005) and ‘The Fantods of Risk’ (2008). A 20-year former resident of Lyme, Conn., he now lives in Peabody, Mass. He writes book reviews, mostly of non-fiction, a subject which explores our minds, our behavior, our politics and our history, but he does throw in a novel here and there. For more than 50 years, he’s put together the 17 syllables that comprise haiku, the traditional Japanese poetry, and served faithfully as the self-appointed “poet laureate” of Ashlawn Farm Coffee. His late wife, Ann, was also a writer, but of mystery novels, all of which begin in a village in midcoast Maine, strangely reminiscent of the town she and her husband visited every summer.

A View From My Porch: Still Talking About the Generations*

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*With apologies to Messrs. Daltrey, Townshend, Entwistle, and Moon. (Who?)

Tom Gotowka continues his exploration of the generations in this essay. Photo by Giacomo Lucarini on Unsplash.

In my last “View” I explored reports that suggested that Americans’ attitudes about the workplace had changed “remarkably” and reviewed some of the factors that affected work expectations for both the baby boomer and millennial generations. 

In drafting that essay, I became curious about who is responsible for developing those names, and wondered whether it was some government agency. In this essay, I continue my inquiry and abundant commentary on generations, focusing on the 20th century period that preceded the Boomers. 

Generational theorists William Strauss and Neil Howe defined America’s generations in their 1991 book “Generations: The History of America’s Future”; and posited 18 generations that occupied the United States beginning with the founding of the first English colony — i.e., the short-lived Roanoke colony. They considered America’s history as a sequence of generational cohorts that began in 1584; they then examined how differences among generations could shape attitudes, behaviors, and the course of history. Most of their proposed names still hold.

“The Capitol Steps”:

Of special note; in 1981, and prior to his career as a generational scholar, William Strauss, a baby boomer, organized a group of Senate staffers to perform satirical songs at the annual Christmas party of his employer, Senator Charles Percy (R-IL); and then went on to co-found the satirical troupe, “The Capitol Steps”, who performed parodies of contemporaneous administrations, political events, and scandals — on a very bipartisan basis. 

The ”Steps” continued performing well into the 21st century under their trademark, “We put the ‘mock’ in democracy”. They released 40 albums, performed live in concert, and before a few, but not all presidents, and also on SNL as well as both PBS and NPR, the latter in their annual “Politics Takes a Holiday” specials. 

The group is named for an alleged scandal involving a congressman that occurred behind a pillar on the steps of the Capitol Building. However, my editor in this publication doesn’t do salacious; and unwilling to risk her red sharpie, I include none of that event’s tawdry details in this essay. By way of context, their song and album titles include “One Bush, Two Bush, Old Bush, New Bush”, “Between Iraq and a Hard Place”, and “Orange Is the New Barack.”

The “Lost Generation”:

Gertrude Stein, an American expatriate living in France, is usually credited with creating the name, “The Lost Generation”, for those born near the turn of the 20h century and coming of age during World War I (WWI). “Lost” refers to the “disoriented and directionless” spirit that affected many of the War’s survivors in the aftermath of the War’s horrific bloodshed. 

The countries engaged in that, “War to end all wars” mobilized more than 70 million people; — about 8.5 million who were killed, 21 million who were wounded, and an estimated 2 million, who died from disease. 

Unfortunately, the generation was also very vulnerable in the 1918 flu pandemic, which was first identified in American military personnel in the spring of 1918; and then spread globally. It became, at the time, one of history’s deadliest pandemics, with an estimated 50 million deaths, worldwide.

American women entered the military in uniform for the first time in WWI, many serving as nurses and ambulance drivers on the front line. On the homefront, they filled jobs that had been vacated by fighting men, or created as part of the war effort. By 1918, munitions factories collectively became the largest employer of women in the United States. 

Wartime service enabled women to claim full citizenship, and in the War’s aftermath, they gained greater political freedom. Significantly, the 19th amendment, which guaranteed American women the right to vote, was passed by Congress on June 4, 1919, and ratified on August 18, 1920. 

“Lost” also become synonymous with the large group of American expat writers living in France after the War; which included Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Sinclair Lewis, and poets E.E. Cummings and Ezra Pound. 

Notably, Ms. Stein wrote “You are all a lost generation” as the epigram in Hemingway’s “The Sun Also Rises”, which was published in 1926.

The Curse of the Bambino:

Boston Red Sox fans have a special link to this generation. On Dec. 26, 1919, Red Sox owner and theatrical producer, Harry Frazee made the regrettable decision to sell baseball superstar, Babe Ruth, (aka the “Bambino”), to the New York Yankees.

Adding insult to injury, Frazee used the proceeds to finance the production of a Broadway musical, usually said to be “No, No, Nanette”. According to baseball folklore, the sale precipitated an 86-year-championship drought that finally ended in 2004 when the Red Sox beat the Cardinals. 

The Silent Generation:

This generation includes those born just before the Great Depression and through the end of World War II (WWII). They are the progeny of “The Lost Generation” and the parents of the baby boomers. Many were children during WWII, and came of age during the 1950s and 60s. They are sometimes referred to as “Radio Babies”; and, of course, radio was an important source of news and entertainment. They relied on FDR’s evening broadcasts, the “fireside chats”, for information on the recovery from the Great Depression and news of WWII. 

In addition, American broadcast journalist and war correspondent, Edward R. Murrow, set the standard for frontline journalism during the War with a series of live radio broadcasts for CBS News from the London rooftops during the nightly “Blitz” of Britain’s capital city by Hitler’s Luftwaffe.

The “Silents” bore witness to the House Committee on Un-American Activities’ intrusive investigation of “alleged disloyalty and subversive activities” by private citizens, public employees, and organizations alleged to have “fascist or communist ties”, which included the Hollywood movie industry. Created in 1938, the Committee had a significant role in the decision to relocate and incarcerate more than 100,000 Japanese Americans in internment camps during WWII.

These attacks on America’s political freedoms extended beyond the House investigation to Senator Joseph McCarthy’s false and unfounded accusations of subversion and treason in the media, the U.S. State Department, the U.S. Army, and the Screen Actors Guild.  Americans became cautious and did not speak freely about their opinions and beliefs. Unable to produce any credible evidence, McCarthy was finally condemned by the Senate on Dec. 2, 1954.

“Time Magazine” described the generation’s young as withdrawn, and cautious in a 1951article. “The most startling fact about the younger generation is its silence. With some rare exceptions, youth is nowhere near the rostrum.” The article used the term “Silent Generation” to refer to those individuals … and the label remains.

Perhaps inevitably, the generation also witnessed the emergence of the “beat movement”, which originated with a group of anti-conformist Greenwich Village authors and artists of the mid-1940s and early-1950s, who challenged the cultural and social norms of the period. They first met in 1944 at Columbia University.

The core group in the formative years of the movement include authors Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and William Burroughs. By 1960, they ended up together in San Francisco, where they were associated with the San Francisco Renaissance. The movement also influenced many of the cultural icons of the 1960s, including Bob Dylan, the Beatles, Jerry Garcia and the Doors.

The Greatest Generation:

Strauss and Howe identified the generation that fought in WWII as the “G.I. Generation”. However, “G.I.” was replaced when Tom Brokaw’s cultural history of the Great Depression and WWII, “The Greatest Generation”, was published in 1998. 

In 1984, Brokaw went to Normandy, to work on a documentary on the 40th anniversary of D-Day. He commented on his inspiration to write “The Greatest Generation”: “there on the beaches of Normandy I began to reflect on the wonders of these ordinary people whose lives were laced with the markings of greatness.”

Brokaw profiled Americans, who came of age during the Great Depression and went on to either fight in the War or contribute to the war effort on the home front. 

He wrote that “these men and women fought not for fame or recognition, but because it was the “right thing to do”; and applauded them “for their ability to adapt and thrive in crisis and for leaving the world better than they found it”.

Sources:

  • Strauss, William and Howe, Neil. “Generations: The History of America’s Future, 1584 to 2069”. William Morrow & Company, 1991.
  • Townshend, Pete. “My Generation”. Brunswick Records, 1965.
  • Vyse, Graham. “The Fall of the Capitol Steps“. The Washington Post Magazine, 02/16/2022.
  • Brokaw, Tom. “The Greatest Generation”. Random House, 1998.
  • Hemingway, Ernest. “The Sun Also Rises”. Scribners, 1926.
  • Wells, H.G.” The War That Will End War” F. & C. Palmer, 1914.
  • Belser, Jessica A. and Tumpey, Terrence M. “The 1918 flu, 100 years later”. Science Jan 18, 2018 Vol35, No. 6373
  • Alexander, Roy; editor. “People: The Younger Generation.” Time, November 5, 1951 | Vol. LVIII No. 19
  • Sperber, Ann M. “Murrow: His Life and Times”. Freundlich Books 1986.

Author’s Comments: I can relate to the “named” generations more so than I can to the various alphabet cohorts. For example, those that were born last or this year are in Gen “Alpha”, which really isn’t too bad, although it sounds a little science fiction-ish. Right before the Alphas are the “zoomies” of Gen Z.

I recognize that I cut the beat movement a little short in in my discussion of “The Silent Generation,” although it had great influence in the United States. 

I read Jack Kerouac as a high school student; probably because he was described as the icon of the movement.  He published more than a dozen novels and several poetry volumes, and became an underground celebrity after his second published novel, “On the Road”, in 1957.

In closing, I want to challenge the members of either of the two book clubs  that Christina participates in to read one of his novels at an upcoming meeting. For the record, I don’t endorse Allen Ginsberg’s “Howl”.

Editor’s Note: This is the opinion of Thomas D. Gotowka.

Tom Gotowka

About the author: Tom Gotowka is a resident of Old Lyme, whose entire adult career has been in healthcare. He will sit on the Navy side at the Army/Navy football game. He always sit on the crimson side at any Harvard/Yale contest. He enjoys reading historic speeches and considers himself a scholar of the period from FDR through JFK. A child of AM Radio, he probably knows the lyrics of every rock and roll or folk song published since 1960. He hopes these experiences give readers a sense of what he believes “qualify” him to write this column.

Gardening Tips for February from ‘The English Lady’: When ‘There is Everything to Hope for and Nothing to Regret’

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Paper-white narcissi have a beautiful and uplifting fragrance. Photo by Jonathan Diemel on Unsplash.
Maureen Haseley-Jones

This winter, as in other winters, when I need a blossom boost, I have enjoyed the fragrance of paper-white narcissus that I planted in tall glass vases. I surrounded the bulbs with seashells from White Sands Beach here in Old Lyme and kept them in a dark cool area keeping them moist as the roots developed.  When the bulb foliage reached about six inches, I introduced the bulbs to indirect light.

The fragrance of this plant is so refreshing and each morning when entering my lounge, I inhaled it and felt immediately uplifted and ready for my day. I keep extra bulbs in a brown paper bag in the vegetable keeper in the refrigerator. These bulbs, I plant when the first blooms have gone by. With this method, I have a succession of bloom and fragrance in my home into spring. 

In his annual appearance this year, the Groundhog let us know that we have six more weeks of winter. On that note, it’s a recognition for all gardeners that there is much to decide on and plan for this season in our gardens. The warm breath of Spring will be here before you know it and we will be filled with the anticipation that lives within all gardeners to get outdoors and plunge our hands into the soil. 

For all of us gardeners, there is so much to look forward to and, to reiterate my modus operandi, I continue to stress the importance for you to garden organically. In this country and around the world, the results of pollution and chemicals are just some of the factors that are causing climate change. 

We are in a crisis, with invaders that have already battered down the gates and invaded our gardens. These invaders are destroying Mother Nature and your health in the form of poisonous pesticides and herbicides. The main producers of these poisons are Monsanto, Bayer and other biological monsters, who have been decimating our planet, our soil, human health and doing all those monstrous crimes purely for selfish profit.

We have all been able to observe the result of the global warming in the colossal melting of the glaciers and how that has affected polar bear population, causing their demise in great numbers through starvation and disease. Here in the United States, we have seen the terrible floods and tornadoes and recently in California, the catastrophic flooding and mudslides. 

Bees have been killed in the millions when our EPA under the Trump administration allowed the spraying of over 14 million acres of land, with poisonous chemicals. Bees pollinate 70 percent of the world’s food and their demise is our demise. 

Last year was recorded as the hottest year on record. In this country, the drought in the west, that resulted in dry tinder conditions, caused devastating fires that brought death and destruction to many in California, Oregon and Colorado. Extreme weather patterns evident in the blizzards throughout this country and the deadly hurricanes are due to the rise of our oceans and the result of warming water. Climate has also had a tragic effect on  earthquakes as we see in Turkey and Northern Syria. 

Please do not listen to the naysayers who deny climate change, tell them to open their eyes to witness the results.  

As gardeners, it is our task to help counteract these negative changes by using only organic methods of gardening on your own plot of land; what we do is in our own small patch of earth all contributes to healing the planet.

Over the span of over 20 years on my radio show WRCH 100.5 FM and through my Garden Earth lectures, I have received a commitment from thousands of people to discard all poisonous herbicides and pesticides and to garden organically. The response had been tremendously positive in the production of healthy gardens grown in healthy soil. 

It begins by what you put into the soil for the growth of the plants,  accomplished by adding liberal doses of my favorite stuff – manure. Manure either from the farm or in bags from the garden center. The following insert is from a book I am writing on gardening and the humus component.

In 1937, Franklin D Roosevelt said that ‘the nation that destroys its soil destroys itself.’

America has not heeded that warning. Precious soils in this country and around the world are being destroyed by dangerous practices in industrialized agriculture and poisonous chemicals, which completely disrupt our ecosystem and poison all living things.

In your own garden, you can build and retain a rich growing environment by building the Humus component. We are all carbon-based creatures as is all life on earth. Not only humans but also our soil microbes need carbon to flourish. And to attract carbon from the atmosphere into your soil you need to build the humus component. 

How to Build the Humus Content

Do not till soil – tilling breaks up soil structure.  

Step #1
Add composted manure three times each season –beginning in spring when the soil has reached a temperature of 50 degrees.  If the soil has not reached that temperature, the soil organisms are not able to work with the bacteria in the manure to produce nutrients for the roots of the plants. Purchase a soil thermometer to check the soil’s temperature. 

This year, following deep frosts the soil temperature may reach 50 degrees by the end of April to early May.  Add the manure again in July to continue to nourish your growing plants and again in October to protect and nourish your plants through the winter. Manure is not a fertilizer; it builds soil structure and works with all the soil animals to keep a healthy disease-free growing environment.  

Step #2
Add wood chips in the form of brown fine bark mulch or wood chips that you produce from your garden of aged wood chips with a combo of leaves, twigs and branches. 

These two major steps build the humus component. If you do this in your garden – not only will you helping to heal the planet but also produce the healthiest of gardens. 

A question I am often asked is, ‘Can I put manure over mulch for example in my July garden’? The answer is ‘yes’ – the manure together with nature’s moisture and your own irrigation enables the manure to find its way easily into the soil and the roots of your plants.     

What Exactly Does Humus Do?

Humus is a critical ingredient in any garden.

Humus acts like a sponge and can hold 90 percent of its weight in water.

Because of its negative charge – plant nutrients stick to humus for nitrogen, calcium, phosphorus and other elements, which prevents these from washing away and acts as nature’s slow release fertilizer throughout the year.

Humus improves soil structure making it loose and friable, which helps a plant root in the soil with better access to nutrients, water and oxygen.

Humus also helps’ filter’ toxic chemicals from the soil, much like carbon-based water filtration systems that filter toxins from your water. 

We cannot control industrialized agricultural practices, however, in your own garden you can make a difference. Feed the soil and it will feed the plants. 

I have made statements about the humus component in tips, but I cannot over-stress its importance. 

Now on to the next topic, this week I spoke with my friend Ann, who lives in Cheshire, in England, which is next door to my home county of Shropshire. Ann is an avid gardener and she told me that her daffodils are well above the soil and last week she started seeds in the greenhouse.

Seed-Planting in Connecticut

February 20th to March 20th is the time for serious indoor seed planting here. Check which garden centers are stocking organic seeds or go online for the organic varieties – one company that I use is “Botanical Interests”.  Do not go overboard when buying packs of seeds as there are about 500 seeds in each packet.  If you do purchase too many – have a seed sharing party with gardening friends.  

Equipment to have on hand for seed planting– cheap envelopes, fresh sterilized potting soil mix, and sphagnum moss. Also seed trays, egg cartons and cardboard milk containers that are cut down also work well.  Make sure all containers are scrupulously clean. Sphagnum moss works well as a planting medium; the moss can prevent a soil born fungus that causes “damping off” which causes seeds to rot before germination. I have, together with many gardening friends used this method for years and have lost no seeds  to “damping off”. 

For tiny seeds, I use the moss as the planting mix and for larger seeds, I install a topsoil base and a layer of the moss on top of the soil. I mix fine seeds with sand before I sow; this method helps to loosen them up. Soak the seeds overnight before planting and just before planting spray them with warm water, never cold as cold water can delay germination. When they have germinated, water gently. 

The best method of watering seedlings is to water from the bottom. But, if you feel you must top water, just mist with a fine sprayer, otherwise you will drown the delicate seeds, washing them out of the planting mix. Use new sterilized soil when seeding and do not save any leftover soil, add leftover soil mix to houseplants or put it in the garden. Leftover soil from the previous year, can develop disease, which can ruin future seedling crops. If you are growing seedlings on a windowsill, place them on a south or west-facing sill; seedlings need light, not heat to thrive. 

Winter Care of Houseplants

My houseplants lift my spirits, especially in winter when the landscape is rather monochromatic. I talk to my plants enjoying the blooming variety and the different foliage varieties and thank them for cleaning the air in a stuffy home environment. 

Keep your houseplants away from draughts and direct heat. If you are able, have humidifiers and air purifiers in the rooms, which will benefit not only the plants but also your own health. Place pebble trays under the plants and keep the pebbles moist for additional humidity. 

Spray houseplants every few days with lukewarm water and once every couple of weeks, put the plants in a sink or bathtub and allow water to run freely over the plant to remove dust from the leaves and clean salt residue from the soil. The exception to the spray or soak rule is African violets as they do not do well with wet leaves. 

Houseplants can lift the spirits … especially in winter. Photo by Alena Ganzhela on Unsplash.

Aphids and white fly thrive indoors in winter and an organic sulphur solution called Safer works well to clean the soil of the insect eggs and from the foliage. Perhaps you are fortunate like me to have ladybugs in your home in winter; if so, allow these useful creatures to roam freely; the ladybug menu is aphids and white flies.  

The best time to repot houseplants is from April through June but if a plant has become root-bound with no visible soil, then you can repot them in February. Water the plant to loosen the roots from the soil, turn it sideways on a newspaper and gently slide it from the pot.  

Cut away any dead roots and repot in fresh potting soil in a clean pot that is only two inches larger than the original.  With the plant firmly in place and the soil one inch from the rim, water it gently and do not fertilize with an organic fertilizer until April.  Plants need this dormant period to recharge. 

A few suggestions for trouble-free foliage plants in the home are Rubber plants, Spider plants, Ivy, Philodendron, Monstera and Spaphyllum. If you have a sunny window Aloes, Succulents and Cacti do great and offer trouble free variety.   

Blooming plants sitting side by side with foliage plants, enjoying one another’s company, give one an impression of a miniature garden.

A few suggestions of bloomers are Cyclamen, African Violets, Kalanchoe, Primulas and Paper white narcissus. To prevent pets from chewing on the plants, add some cayenne pepper to the water when watering.  I enjoy using my herbal plants, which sit in a sunny window. My favorites are Rosemary, Basil and Parsley, which are great additions to any recipe.             

Power Tools

Gheck any power tools that require maintenance or repair. February or March is the time to get them into the repair shop, because as soon as the weather breaks the shops get busy and you may not get your lawn mower back until August.  

Check all tools and implements in the garage or shed. If you did not clean them off at the end of last season, plunge the shovels and spades into a bucket of sand; sand is an abrasive and will clean off any leftover soil and manure residue. Oil the wooden handles of tools with Linseed oil or some inexpensive vegetable oil; oil feeds the wood and keeps the handles splinter free. At the same time, check your hoses and fittings that may have sprung leaks since last year.

Make a shopping list of new tools that are needed – there are lots of sales in late winter for you to get a good deal. However, I suggest that you buy only quality tools and hoses; as the saying goes, “you get what you pay for.” Also check that there are sufficient twine, bamboo rods, and wire ties or nails, bags of manure and peat on hand. 

Making a Shopping List & Other Reminders

In March or early April when soil and manure are available purchase bags of composted manure from the garden center. On the other hand, if you have a farm close by sells aged manure, acquire a small truck to acquire a load.  If you decide on that method, ask the farmer for manure from the bottom of the pile – aged stuff.  Manure needs to be at least six months old before applied to your soil, as fresh manure will burn your plants.    

Check the paintwork on your wooden fences, arbors, decks and any other outdoor wooden structures. Then, purchase paint supplies so that on a dry day in March for painting, everything will be on hand.  

Don’t forget to put paintbrushes on your list – I have a feeling you forgot to clean your old brushes last season, which means they are ‘stiff as a poker’, also remember sandpaper, brush cleaner and if  possible, buy eco conscious paint.  If you are painting benches and garden seats on a dry day, put them under cover before sundown. 

White walls in the greenhouse reflect light so any areas that need retouching, use white paint. It’s so rewarding to see how much lighter and brighter the greenhouse is after a touch of paint and the glass is cleaned.  However meticulously clean and tidy your greenhouse, you may find that white fly, greenfly and scale insects have found their way inside the greenhouse for warmth and so it may be necessary to spray with an organic spray. I mix an organic spray of orange peels in white vinegar and allow it to sit for two weeks before spraying – this works well and is very economical.   

Walking around a garden that looks good and feels good in mid-winter is a real pick-me-up. Patterns emerge created by paths, walls and hedges. As you walk, enjoy the shapes of shrubs, the shadows of evergreens and the strong silhouettes of tree trunks and enjoy their shape and bark without foliage.  

Keep the bird feeders full. I love to watch the birds in their quick flights across the garden to alight on the feeders, and their sudden bursts of song when the sun peaks through. It is so much fun to watch the “pecking” order and see the blue jays, who can be bullies and red cardinals, who like the blue jays can be rather territorial.  Bringing up the rear, come the finches and house sparrows. And sometimes a bird appears arrives that I do not recognize and out comes my binoculars and Peterson bird book. 

Watching birds on a bird-feeder is always a winter joy. Photo by elvis bueno on Unsplash.

If you notice squirrels swarming the bird feeders, add some cayenne pepper to the birdseed; if that occurs, do not be concerned as the heat from the cayenne does not affect birds. Choose a spot away from the feeders to sprinkle cayenne-free birdseed on the ground so the squirrels can also enjoy a meal. 

Winter has its own distinctive fragrance, the fog, in the morning when the air is very heavy, thick and damp – a damp that is even more bone-chilling than rain. I can deal with that for a while and know in about six weeks I will be inhaling the healthy, nose-clearing fragrance of the soil, rich and brown, well-manured or covered with wood mulch, shredded leaves or salt hay. Winter fragrances are a potpourri, one moment sharp and cold like the north wind, and spring’s flavors are light and sweet.

If you find you have spent year after year throwing good money after bad, it may be time to get a professional design, if that is so, don’t hesitate; if you want work to begin in the spring, a design takes time to complete. You may want to contact my son Ian, whose company LandscapesbyIan.com shows his creations and Ian will work with you and your budget. 

Have a great month and I’ll see you in your garden in March.  If you have any gardening questions, feel free to email me at MaureenHaseleyJones@gmail.com

About the author: Maureen Haseley-Jones is a member of a family of renowned horticultural artisans, whose landscaping heritage dates back to the 17th century. She is one of the founders, together with her son Ian, of, The English Lady Landscape and Home Company. Maureen and Ian are landscape designers and garden experts, who believe that everyone deserves to live in an eco-conscious environment and enjoy the pleasure that it brings. Maureen learned her design skills from both her mother and grandmother, and honed her horticultural and construction skills while working in the family nursery and landscape business in the U.K. Her formal horticultural training was undertaken at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew in Surrey.

If you have any gardening questions, feel free to email Maureen at MaureenHaseleyJones@gmail.com.

Gardening Tips from ‘The English Lady’ for January, “The Month for Dreaming”

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Your yard in winter can be an anchor, connecting heart, body, mind and spirit to Mother Nature. 
Maureen Haseley-Jones is “The English Lady.”

I know it is only early January, but it is never to early to begin to plan for this season in your garden.  My motto has always been to plan, before action and production. Mother Nature is waiting for us with her gifts of renewal, growth and nourishment as we begin to plan for the coming season. She tells us that in this wonderful pastime called ‘gardening,’ we can escape from the trials and tribulations of our world. Each day we move gradually from the dark into the light to a longer, brighter day and welcome spring.

A few weeks ago, I retrieved my second batch of Narcissus from the brown paper bag in the refrigerator and planted them on pebbles, with just enough pebbles to anchor the bulbs in place or you may use potting soil. I use tall glass vases, making sure to keep the pebbles moist with just enough water to cover the bottom of each bulb.

I brought my Rosemary plant indoors in September, as Rosemary is not hardy outdoors in Zone six. I spray the plant twice weekly with warm water and run a cold-water humidifier and two germ guardian air cleaners with UV lights for personal health and the health of my plants.  

After planting the paper white Narcissus, I placed them in a dark, cool closet until the foliage is about four inches tall. Today I moved them from the dark closet to a cool room with indirect light and where the temperature remains at about 65 degrees. When the buds are almost ready to open, I will place them in a brighter area to be enjoyed, not only for their bloom but also the heady fragrance which permeates the house. The new bloom draws me out of the winter doldrums and their gentle fragrance lifts my spirits. 

Paper-white narcissi have a beautiful fragrance. Photo by Masaaki Komori on Unsplash.

I know that the severe changes, which are occurring with global warming combined with pollution in the air, water and the earth, are severely damaging our planet. Your personal contribution to saving our planet is to organically tend the soil with compost, manure and natural brown mulch, which builds the humus component in your soil. Your plants and vegetables will thrive, as will you. Throughout the year, allow your garden to anchor you, connecting heart, body, mind and spirit to Mother Nature’s life-giving bountiful gifts and spiritual energy.  

The cold, harsh winds of January and February extract moisture from trees and shrubs, especially the evergreens. Winter winds are more harmful to plants than cold temperatures, not only causing plant breakage but also soil erosion. For that reason, it is helpful to have a few bags of topsoil and mulch in the garage. With these items on hand, any roots can be covered when they become exposed by wind or frost heave. 

Roots exposed to the elements for any length of time can kill the plant, so when you notice exposed roots, quickly cover exposed areas with soil and mulch. When spring arrives, and the earth warms up, the plant can be resettled in place together with composted manure and natural brown mulch to provide protection and nutrition.

On a sunny day in January, take a walk round the garden and breathe in the freshening air, and as you walk, make some notes and decide what worked for you last year and what you will never try again. 

Later, when you are back indoors, relaxing in your armchair, browse through the catalogues that began arriving a few months ago. You have already begun making lists of plants that you are thinking of buying. However, a word of caution when gazing at the photos, which are meant to tempt you with their lovely but “doctored up” pictures of plants.

Don’t be fooled by these pictures, instead decide that this season in the garden will be for sensible and organized change. Do not allow your imagination to run amok and get caught up in the fantasy of the brightly colored, high-maintenance garden pictures you see in the catalogues. 

Suit your garden to your lifestyle and what will work within your timeframe and physical abilities. If you follow that construct, you will have the time to sit, relax and smell the roses, without being overwhelmed or disappointed.    

As you sit and plan for the coming season, it’s important to keep your budget in mind. It’s hard to believe as you look outside at the muted landscape, that in a few months, sunshine and gentle breezes will warm the soil and new growth will appear. 

When the soil is dry enough to tread on, winter debris may carefully be cleared away. Then with a clean palette, make a clean edge on the borders; this simple task makes such a difference to the look of a garden. Then in mid -April, add that lovely layer of manure and compost (the ratio being three parts manure to one part compost). With that prep completed, you are ready for the fun stuff — the placing and planting!  

For those of you who are vegetable gardeners and look forward to a bountiful year with fruits and vegetables; spring rain, extra irrigation and sunshine will produce delicious bounty. As spring moves along, so will the appearance of both good and bad insects, moles, voles and other critters, that can be dealt with naturally. My remedies for this problem I will give in an upcoming gardening letter.

Your memory of your garden from last season may be lost in the enthusiasm of a new season, therefore, I am asking you to be kind to yourself. If last year you became overwhelmed with too much gardening, and not enough time to relax and smell the roses, the following are some suggestions you might follow to avoid that problem:

For example, send some of your borders back to grass.

If you are tired of mowing all your grass areas, spread wild flower seeds in the grass and enjoy the pleasure of a prairie meadow.

Turn some of the high-maintenance perennial borders into mixed shrub borders. To accomplish this, take out some of the high-maintenance perennials and donate them to a worthy cause. 

In their place, plant small- and medium-size evergreen shrubs; some green, some blue and some of the lovely gold species of evergreens. With these shrubs displaying their all-season beauty, add small flowering deciduous trees and shrubs that begin flowering in April and successively through June. The Carlesii viburnum, also known as Korean Spice, is a favorite small shrub of mine, with its white buds that open to a pale pink with the most delightful fragrance.  

Add a Ben Franklin tree with its white cup-like blooms and gold center that flowers in August through September. 

Nestle three Blue Mist shrubs in the mixed border; this plant will delight with purple blooms and fragrant leaves into September. 

On a fence or trellis, plant white autumn clematis.

Add a groundcover as an evergreen framework – my favorite is Myrtle with its glossy leaves and miniature blue flowers that bloom in April.    

I feel it is never too soon to introduce your children and grandchildren to the wonders of the garden and begin by introducing them to the garden fairies. Through the years I have asked children to draw a picture of the garden fairy and make a list of questions to ask the fairies, who live in the wild patch in the garden. We all have a wild patch in the garden; and at this point you are probably saying, “Maureen, my garden is one large ‘wild patch.’ 

Children become so excited and enthused about their lists and pictures of the fairies because what you are showing them is the transformation of science into magic. These days we seem to have forgotten about fairy tales, dreams and magic; it is way past time to bring those wonderful energies back into our lives and into the lives of our children.  

In spring and on into summer I would find my children or their friends impatiently checking the garden wanting to see their planting efforts come into bloom. In the vegetable garden they gathered to check what was ready to eat from the produce they had planted. I have found that this introduction to the garden has inspired these children when they become adults to enthusiastically plant and tend gardens of their own.

My son Ian is a great example of this as he has partnered with me through the years in the garden – and thus the old adage that ‘the student is better than the teacher’ has certainly proved to be correct. Ian is a designer par excellence and I invite you to check his website LandscapesbyIan.com and his Facebook page for lovely examples of his work. 

In my March gardening tips, I’ll offer you some suggestions of ornamental trees, shrubs and long-blooming perennials. With that list in hand, it is a good idea to obtain your plants from local garden centers that carry tried and true plants that will flourish in Zone six.  

On the other hand, if you feel that over the years, you have been throwing good money after bad and you are feeling desperate because you feel that your garden, no matter what you do, never looks right. If that is the case then get in touch with a landscape company like LandscapesbyIan.com, who will keep your budget in mind whether you want to do your own work, or wish for a design to install yourself.  

But if you are planning your garden for this coming season, there are important facts to keep in mind:  

What are the plants requirements for sun, shade, soil, and water? 

Will they survive in this zone, Zone 6?  

What are the growth patterns of the plants?  Do they grow fast or slow?  

You do not want a 50 ft. tree up against the house with tremendous roots that will play havoc with your house foundation.  Or do you want that lovely but very large, Catawbiense Rhododendron, all 10 ft. of it, climbing through your dining room window in five years? 

To find those facts, either check the plants in a book, on the Internet or read the labels attached to the plants in the nursery. 

Check every aspect of the plant before you buy.  The red or green Lace Leaf Japanese Maple looks lovely in spring but is it something you can enjoy, without its leaves in the winter?  Personally, I not only enjoy the foliage of plants and trees but also the shape and bark of trees without foliage in winter.  

For those of you just beginning to garden, I must be honest and dispense with the myth that gardening is always a relaxing hobby. At the end of that first day of digging, lugging soil, manure and fertilizer, and planting everything at the proper depth; you will feel rather exhausted.  

At that juncture, you remember that you still need to water the newly-installed plants as you drag your tired body to switch on the hose. Thank goodness, the mulching can wait until tomorrow or next weekend.   

Watering by the way can be meditative. Imagine that the hose is your umbilical cord so that as you nourish the earth and the plants, the earth can nourish you. 

By now the sun has gone down, and you trudge indoors muttering to yourself, “What the heck did I get myself into?”  To this comment I say, “You did not have to tackle all of the garden in one day.”  

In gardening, there is always tomorrow, or next week, and even though the label says to plant it by the end of May or June, believe me folks, a few weeks later does not matter, the garden will wait for you.  

You may be saying to yourself at this point “Maureen are you trying to put us off gardening”? No, but I would remiss, as someone who has gardening in my blood (as well as manure) for over 400 years to tell you, however reluctantly, not only the pleasures, but some of what can cause aches and pains.

The idea is not to bite off more than you can chew.  For first-time gardeners, don’t scatter your energies all over the garden, tackle and complete one area at a time. That area should be priority one until it is complete.  

A water feature need not be elaborate. Photo by Dan Hayman on Unsplash.

If you have a new home with no landscaping, some hardscape may be required. Hardscape is walls, walkways, patios, ponds, decks and so on. The sound and look of a water feature in the garden is delightful. A water feature need not be elaborate, a fountain is fine – the reflection of water is Mother Nature’s mirror. If you are not able to do this construction yourself, get in touch with a landscape contractor now, so that a plan can be done now, installed and ready by spring. (I say to connect now as Ian tells me that many landscape products are short on supply this year.)  

All of these endeavors mean you getting yourself in shape physically, so get off that couch, put away the catalogues and your plant lists, stretch, then wrap yourself up in warm gear and take that walk.   

As you walk, look at the trees in winter, the elegant shape of them, the lichen on the stonewalls, and the moss tucked in cracks and crevices. Clear your mind and allow nature’s spirit to surround you. As you walk, look at a few gardens in your neighborhood; gardens that you have admired when they were in bloom and see what they look like in winter.  

I remember one of my professors saying to me when I studied at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew in London, England, “In winter you can tell a really good landscape by its bones, without the flesh of flora and foliage.” In spring, get in touch with those neighbors whose gardens you admired and ask them some of the secrets of their garden. They will be happy to talk with you, not only of their successes but their failures – true gardeners are realists when they speak about their gardens and love to share.  

Well folks, I’ve given you plenty to think about right now so enjoy your daydreaming of the season to come and I’ll see you next month in your garden.

About the author: Maureen Haseley-Jones is a member of a family of renowned horticultural artisans, whose landscaping heritage dates back to the 17th century. She is one of the founders, together with her son Ian, of, The English Lady Landscape and Home Company. Maureen and Ian are landscape designers and garden experts, who believe that everyone deserves to live in an eco-conscious environment and enjoy the pleasure that it brings. Maureen learned her design skills from both her mother and grandmother, and honed her horticultural and construction skills while working in the family nursery and landscape business in the U.K. Her formal horticultural training was undertaken at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew in Surrey.

If you have any gardening questions, feel free to email Maureen at MaureenHaseleyJones@gmail.com.