Check out my newest listings at my store
Going Green- A Foliage Bridal Bouquet
The “go green” trend has influenced more than just the environmentally friendly. And while I’m all about recycling and all that jazz, I love what it has meant for floral work. Today I attended a floral design teacher workshop where we got tons of lab ideas for our students. We made these all foliage hand tied bridal bouquets, and while I think their sized more for bridesmaids the principle is the same: clean and green.
This bouquet features a twist, some Design Master Rose Gold floral spray. Adding a metallic accent adds some flair without overtaking the overall green effect.
Patience. . . .
Snow still wraps itself tightly around the perimeter of my yard forming a barrier that thwarts the hopeful bulbs patiently waiting their turn to peek through snowy boundaries and test the cool temperatures of Spring. The border hold me at bay like a child waiting for a turn at a pinata.
I hear that temperatures will soar by Saturday and I’ve mentioned to my children that Saturday will be a yard work day. I think the threat is just real enough that they may be hoping for one last snow storm –nothing too big -just something that will be a bit of a deterrent for a mom who is anxious get started in the yard.
The Resurrection Fern
I love houseplants in the winter. There’s something about greenery indoors in the middle of a bleak January that eases my cabin feaver. Many housplants {especially ferns} help purify and clean the indoor air. Clean air is hard to come by this week due to the Utah Valley inversion. When I look out my window at the hazy smog I feel some comfort in the fact that I have a few housplants working to rid my air of the toxins creeping in from outside. Yes, I love housplants in the winter, but my love for housplants is seasonal.
I can’t stand having houseplants in the summer. When the garden is producing delicious leafy things, when the perennials are in full blossom, and the patio containers have verbena trickling down their sides I have little tolerance for indoor plants. This might seem ungrateful, considering all they did for me over the winter, but its the turth. My plants indoors can feel neglected since I’m spending most my time outside deadheading and fertilizing. So I usually gather up all my housplants and move them to the shadier parts of my yard. The lucky survivors of a few cool september nights have the luxury of being invited back in for the winter {providing they bring no insects or pests with them}.
There is another solution for my seasonal need for indoor green. How about a plant you can kill near the end of March when the tulips begin to bloom and revive in October when you’ve trimmed your last perennial to the ground. Impossible you say? Let me introduce you to the resurrection fern.
This fern, native to the southeastern United States and Africa, is a remarkable little plant. Its name is derived from its ability to survive very long periods of drought. This fern is an epiphyte or an air plant, which means it gets nutrients and water from the air. You can set them in a dish of water and within minutes they’ll start to open their fronds and turn green. A constant supply of water will keep them happy and thriving. As their water supply dries out they begin to curl and turn brown once again.
I like to keep mine on my coffee table. There’s no conversation piece like a plant that cant be killed. During the summer months I store it carfully in a dry, dark place and bring it out agian in winter for some air-purifying greenery.
I found mine at a local specialty nursery, Cactus and Tropicals in Salt Lake City, but you can also order them online. You can also find them on Amazon sold in different sizes and varieties.
Early Blooming Spring Perennials
The holidays are finally over. I dont know what it is, but leading up to Christmas I can’t get enough snow. I think that chilly days are festive and that evergreens look majestic next to skeleton-like maples. But come the 26th the Christmas tree cant come down fast enough and I rush to my mailbox every afternoon to see if the Burpee catalog has arrived. My feelings about snow go from festive to tolerant, as I remind myself that the snow showers of January and February provide for luschious July gardens.
In anticipation for a spring that will come, I’ve compiled a few of my early spring favorites. These are the resiliant few that can withstand the sometimes frigid Utah spring nights. I’ve put them outdoors in early March and had great success {as well as much needed outdoor color}. A word of warning: although the plants themselves can withstand very cool tempuratures, night time frosts can damage the colorful blossoms. By covering blooms with a frost cloth, towel, or sheet, you can keep the frost from settling on the blooms.
All My Friends are Flowers
Favorite Hardy Early Blooming Perennials
1) Bellis or English Daisy {Bellis perennis}
picture found here
This daisy comes in solid or mixed colors and works well in containers or beds.
USDA Zones: 4-8
Height: 6-12”
Width: 6”
Sun: Full Sun
Bloom Time: early-mid spring, early-mid fall
2) Rockfoil {Saxifraga x arendsii}
picture found here
USDA Zones: 4-8
Height: 6-8”
Width: 6-9”
Sun: Full Sun
Bloom Time: early-mid spring
3) English Primrose {Primula vulgaris}
picture found here
USDA Zones: 3-9
Height: 6-8”
Width: 6-9”
Sun: Full Sun
Bloom Time: early-mid spring
Looking for more early spring color? Click on a picture below to check out other All My Friends favorites!
Gifts for the Gardener- Our Christmas Wish List!
Its that time of year when we put down our trowels in favor of ribbon and wrapping paper. As the old addage says, its better to give than to recieve, but all the same we’ve compiled a Gifts for the Gardener wish list full of things we love {and might just give to ourselves}. You can check out all of our favorite gifts, as well as find the links for the items below, here on our Pinterest Gifts for the Gardener board. Stay tuned and check the board often as we’ll be adding our favorites to it all december long.
Fall Fertilizing
I woke up this morning to a steady drizzle, the slushy kind that’s halfway between snow and rain. The mountains are covered in clouds and I’m sure that the rain down here in the valley has found success as snow up there. The weather combined with my case of the sniffles is a reminder that warm, sunny afternoons are behind us and we have a long, cold winter ahead.
Fall is the time to prep our gardens for an eventual spring. Planting tulips, pruning shrubs, and mulching perennials are a few important steps to ensure a successful spring. In addition to perking up planting beds, fall is a wonderful time to prepare your lawn for a quick green up in spring.
Heat, insects, and disease all take a toll on grass during the growing season. During the cool fall months, grass recovers from the stress of summer. After a late fall fertilization the grass is able to store carbohydrates. This stored energy in the stems and stolons helps promote shoot and root growth in the spring. Applying 1lb of Nitrogen for every 1000 square feet of lawn at the end of October or early November will increase this energy storage.
Quotable
Relax A Bit. . .
I love this time of year. The air becomes crisp and the sun sets a bit earlier allowing me the pleasure of lighting the tiki torches in the yard and turning on the little outdoor lights that seem to twinkle as the branches sway in the canyon breeze. One of my favorite sights is making the bend towards home and seeing the lights on the side of the house through the garden gate. It beckons me to the backyard and urges me to forget chores that need attention. Often I ignore its pleading and tend to the children’s homework and finishing up dinner dishes. But most evenings I try to find a moment or two to spend out back listening to the soft flowing water in the fountains. In years past my husband has told stories to the children as they stretched out on the trampoline looking at the stars. The backyard is our haven and has been the place of barbecue’s, football dinners, teenage parties, sandcastles and beach ball volleyball. It’s a place made and remade and has provided an arena to teach the children how to work. It’s a place filled with hard work and laughter and most recently a place where my 13 year old plays with his dog. (That throws a whole new twist on the expectations for the yard.)
It’s a great time of year. The hard work of grooming the yard is over, it’s the time to relax and enjoy your efforts. Sit out back and look at the stars, lay in the hammock, play with the children or tell them a story as you gaze at the stars. Enjoy the haven you have created.
Happy Birthday Kate. . .
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- Next Page »
