• Leaf Your Troubles Behind Cover
    Books,  Plants & Happiness

    Leaf Your Troubles Behind is Now Available for Sale!

    Hi everyone,

    Just a quick post to let you know Leaf Your Troubles Behind: How to Destress and Grow Happiness Through Plants is now available for sale. You can buy it at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and your local bookstore. Thank you so much for your support! This book started as a fun pandemic project that actually turned into a book. It’s aimed at helping you grow a happier in life. Also, read on for the three winners of the Leaf Your Troubles giveaway.

    I’m happy to share the winners of the giveaway are Alyssa, Jennifer, and Donna! Alyssa, Jennifer, and Donna, please read your latest newsletter email for details on how to get your paperback copy.

    And if you didn’t win, don’t worry. I’m giving away a few more copies on Goodreads! But the offer ends in 7 days so click here for details.

    Leaf Your Troubles Workbook, The Leaf Your Troubles Workbook is Ready and Free!, Karen Hugg, https://karenhugg.com/2022/07/12/leaf-your-troubles-workbook/(opens in a new tab), #leafyourtroubles #workbook #greenleisure #journal #happiness #mentalhealth #stressrelief #nature
    Companion Workbook

    Finally, don’t forget that I’ve created a companion workbook, which you can download by clicking here. Until next time, have a great day and don’t forget to relax with a plant!

    Karen Hugg, sig, http://www.karenhugg.com #author #books #fiction #Paris #journal
  • Leaf Your Troubles Workbook, The Leaf Your Troubles Workbook is Ready and Free!, Karen Hugg, https://karenhugg.com/2022/07/12/leaf-your-troubles-workbook/(opens in a new tab), #leafyourtroubles #workbook #greenleisure #journal #happiness #mentalhealth #stressrelief #nature
    Books,  Plants & Happiness

    The Leaf Your Troubles Workbook is Ready and Free!

    Hey all,

    Just a quick post to let you know I’ve made and put online the Leaf Your Troubles workbook! This is a 25-page companion booklet of worksheets that dovetail with the exercises in my book, Leaf Your Troubles Behind: How to Destress and Grow Happiness Through Plants.

    What’s In There

    It’s a pretty simple format. I included Escape to Nature journal pages focusing on the Time Log exercises and Green Personality exploration. It also features a sample Stress Bramble you can add to along with daily Green Leisure worksheets.

    I round out the last section with lists of recommended plants, maybe the funnest part! I’m sharing my favorite easy shrubs for most U.S. gardens, easy-to-grow houseplants that are safe for dogs and cats, and plants that propagate simply through cutting or dividing. Plus, good plants for a rain garden!

    Speaking of rain gardens, I also include extra activities on getting more greenery in your life, both indoors and out. And so I added basic instructions on installing a community rain garden. Also, a quickie recipe for mint ice cubes that go with the cocktail recipe at the back of the Leaf Your Troubles book.

    How Do I Get It?

    What I like most of about this format is because it’s a PDF you’ll download on your own computer, you can print multiple pages of whatever page you like. If you want to do more than one Stress Bramble, you can just print two or three copies. If you like the journal worksheets, you can print as many as you like. And you can even print and share the recommended plant lists if you want to as well.

    To get your free workbook, click here. Thanks for the support. And don’t forget to rest your attention on something green today!

    Karen Hugg, sig, http://www.karenhugg.com #author #books #fiction #Paris #journal

    To buy Leaf Your Troubles Behind, click here for Amazon,

    or here for Barnes and Noble,

    here for Kobo,

    or find it at your local bookstore.

  • Spiraea and Alstroemeria, Green Scene of the Day: Relaxing Summer Blooms, Karen Hugg, https://karenhugg.com/2022/07/06/summer-blooms/(opens in a new tab), #summerblooms #plants #greenscene #greenleisure #spiraea #alstroemeria #flowers #summer #butterflies
    Plants & Happiness

    Green Scene of the Day: Relaxing Summer Blooms

    For today’s green scene of the day, I’ve chosen an image from my garden. My Crispa spiraea (Spiraea x bumalda ‘Crispa’) is an unusual spiraea because it grows these crinkly, toothy leaves, which is very unlike a spiraea. But what it shares with other spiraeas are those gorgeous summer blooms. Butterflies love their flat umbels. I also find this shrub sooo alluring.

    Plants Popping Through Each Other

    The spiraea all by itself is pretty darn cool but my peach Peruvian lilies (Alstroemeria) are pretty heavenly too. They often poke through the spiraea as they reach for sunshine (and because I often forget to stake them, haha). Isn’t that peach and yellow pattern with the tiny stripes so neat? This variety, whose specific name I don’t know, is absolutely my favorite alstroemeria. I bought it eons ago when I lived at a different house. But I brought a couple clumps of tubers to the house I live in now and they’ve flourished.

    A Color Combo to Please the Eyes

    So I thought it would be a nice bit of relaxation for you to have access to this image. I love how the deep pink puffs of the spiraea play off the smooth coral color of the alstroemeria. If you’re on a lunch break sometime, you might take three minutes out just to sit quietly and enjoy them both. Take a few deep breaths and allow your eyes to roam through this lovely little moment of nature. Hopefully, you’ll feel a bit more relaxed afterward. Cheers.


  • Leaf Your Troubles Books, How a Box of Books on my Doorstep Delighted Me, Karen Hugg, https://karenhugg.com/2022/06/29/box-of-leaf-your-troubles #plants #books #leafyourtroubles #nonfiction #mentalhealth #happiness #stressrelief #destressing #relaxation
    Books,  Plants & Happiness

    How a Box of Books on my Doorstep Delighted Me

    Hi all,

    Just a quick note to share that the first box of Leaf Your Troubles Behind landed on my doorstep last week. What a delight! The book looks just as wonderful as I’d hoped with a beautiful layout and illustrations by Kara Fellows. And most importantly, it’s packed with stories, research, and activities about how plants can boost our mental health. I can’t wait to share it with you!

    To celebrate, I’m giving away copies as early as this weekend. I’ll give newsletter subscribers the first chance with the most free copies so if you haven’t subscribed to my digest, subscribe now. Then in later July, I’ll give away a couple more copies via Goodreads. If you follow me there, you should see the giveaway offer when it happens.

    I’m so excited to share with you what I’ve learned about how plants can boost our happiness. For real. They do it in so many ways and the latest research is amazing. Also what’s great is plants aren’t commercial or political or even civilized. They’re just outside doing their thing, inviting us to rediscover our earliest home and relax within their realm. They’re key to lowering anxiety, depression, angst, worry, and all else. And the best news? You don’t have to garden to gain all the benefits!

    I’ve created a simple system to help people dial into happiness via the natural world. And I’ll be blogging about that system in coming weeks. I’ll also put up the additional worksheets and resources that act as a companion to the book on this website in coming days. There’s so much exciting stuff, I can barely keep track!

    Anyway, I hope you have a great weekend. It’s summer and hopefully not too hot where you are. Don’t forget to get outside and get some nature therapy!

    Karen Hugg, sig, http://www.karenhugg.com #author #books #fiction #Paris #journal