Lacey – Page 12

Double the Delphiniums

June 19, 2012 by Lacey 1 Comment

Gorgeous spires of blossoms in pinks, purples, blues, and whites emerge in early summer bringing butterflies and hummingbirds with them. To encourage a repeat performance it’s essential to remove spent blossoms. Here’s how to to bring back your blossoms.

Remember to wear gloves when handling delphiniums since they contain alkaloids that can cause skin irritation. We absolutely love Atlas nitrile gloves. They are super slim, and perfect for light pruning. Plus they come in a bunch of fun colors!

Once blooms have faded, grab you Felco pruners and trim stalks about 3″ from the ground. Remove any damaged or yellowing leaves as well. To kick start a second round of color, apply a water soluble fertilizer weekly. Enjoy double the delphiniums!

Flowers for Beth

June 14, 2012 by Lacey 5 Comments

I have a wonderful friend named Beth, and we have a yearly tradition. Every year in late May or early June {depending on our varying Utah weather} we head to the garden center to design her pots. We meander down the rows of plants and flowers admiring blossoms, and picking out color palettes while chatting. Beth is great to chat with. She is one of those women, so easy to talk to because she really does care about the new recipe you tried or plans for your upcoming Disneyland trip. The combination of flowers and Beth makes for a wonderful morning of shopping. But our tradition will be absent this year since I’m in Spain. In leu of a visit to the garden center I’ve decided to write this post and dedicate it to Beth. Its our virtual shopping trip. All that’s missing is the great conversation, the smell of dewy,freshly watered blossoms, and the almost tangible humidity of the greenhouse. Well actually, not the humidity. I’m about 15 minutes from the Mediterranean Sea and learning to live with frizzy hair and slightly soggy potato chips. It’s okay though, the Bougainvillea and palm trees are worth it : ) But I digress… Beth has five pots that we design. She has two north facing on either side of her front door, two south facing for the back patio, and another south facing pot that is usually placed on the patio table as a centerpiece. So let’s take a look at the pots and Beth, don’t forget the red geraniums for the beds in front of the porch.

Let’s start with the shade pots on the porch. North facing doorways are the perfect canvas for continuous summer blooms. Without overwhelming southern or western sun, plants never experience that parched,dry look.

For southern facing pots, especially those on patios or decks {where they tend to get even hotter}, proper plant selection is crucial for blossoms that persist through August.

When using containers as centerpieces on tables make sure to check the tags and keep the mature height of the plants in mind. Avoid aggressive trailing plants like potato vine.

He told me he loves dandelions

May 21, 2012 by Lacey 2 Comments

I was driving with my husband the other day. We had pulled up to a stop light, and i was peering around at the nearby yards and gardens as i usually do, looking for new favorite plants, admiring shrubbery, and re-designing in my mind. I do this a lot and he often joins me in my garden admiring.

I was just about to direct his attention to a magnificent arbor, covered in deep purple wisteria when he said to me, “You know Lacey, I really like dandelions.” Now, to a landscape designer this confession is blasphemy. A gazed at him in shock, and asked how on earth this could be true. After all, this was the horrible little weed that plagued beautiful green lawns and beds filled with more worthy blossoms. He answered, telling me that they were flowers, pretty yellow flowers. Marcus explained that he had just never considered them a weed. I tried to shake these comments off, and convince myself that I could still be a landscape designer, even if my husband was a weed lover. Just as long as no one else found out.

But I couldn’t forget what he said, and as I walked past the dandelions I noticed the vibrant blossoms and deep green foliage. But it wasn’t until a train ride in the German countryside between Augsburg and Fussen that I too realized the beauty of dandelions. Rolling hills of yellow as far as the eye could see flew past us as we sped along the tracks. The color was so massed individual flowers weren’t distinguishable, and initially I didn’t think they were dandelions at all. When the train stopped in Fussen, I left the tiny station and wandered over to an old lodge pole fence to find the source of the gorgeous yellow color. Dandelions. I had to smile as I remembered the conversation that Marcus and I had a few days before leaving for Europe. I guess dandelions are flowers, and not just weeds, after all.

Kate’s Quotable

May 19, 2012 by Lacey Leave a Comment

summer quotes, marigold, allmyfriendsareflowers.com

There’s a mandavilla in my bathroom

May 11, 2012 by Lacey Leave a Comment

Three years ago I indulged in a frivolous plant.It was in a harmless little one gallon container at the local garden center and as I walked by it nearly sprouted legs and hopped in my already practical plant laden cart. This plant loves a more, shall we say, reasonable climate than the one in which I live. But…it was staring up at me with deep green foliage and a couple of promising fushia blossoms along with a measly little $8.99 price tag and I did the only thing a self-respecting-die-hard gardener would do. I waited until my husbands back was turned and I slipped it in to my cart between two rational and hardy hostas! I planted him (not my husband) in a lovely little pot on the patio next to my pergola and I spent a happy summer training tendrils of vine up and around my patio haven, while all the time it was winding its way into my heart. It was summer love affair that fall was determined to end. As things cooled off I had a decision to make, should I harbor this new love inside over the winter?

Mandavailla Love allmyfriendsphotography

The answer was a resounding yes, so in early October I took it to my bathroom which has a fair amount of natural winter light and the most humidity in the house. There it stayed for 6 long months and I have to say that by the time early May rolled around I was tiring of it’s presence. Outside it went and it sprang to life and began to wind it’s way around my heart again…so much so that once again when cooler weather came I took it back to the bathroom. We have been together three years now and I can tell that the relationship is tenuous this spring. The leaves are a little sad looking, but the winding tendrils of vine are renewing their effort to climb the pergola column, the least I can do is meet it half-way. Out comes the tropical fertilzers as I gently apply what therapy I can. It will may take a full season to revive it’s natural beauty but true love is worth it.

USDA Zones: 10-11
Exposure: full sun (at least 5 hours direct light)
Height: twining stems 10-15″ long
Bloom time: all summer
Soil media: prefers well drained soil
Water requirements: regular watering, more in extreme heat

For constant blooms, fertilize every week with a bloom enhancing fertilizer like Miracle-Gro’s Bloom Booster.

Great varieties:
Sun parasol- red
Alice du pont- pink
Stars and stripes- pink and white striped

English Garden Style

May 8, 2012 by Lacey Leave a Comment

I’ve just spent a few days in London. Amid the beauty of Westminster Abbey, Parliament, and Buckingham palace, I couldn’t help but admire the presence of English garden style. English gardens are renowned for their splendor. Deep shades of green and dashes of bright color. Sculpted boxwood and long expanses of velvet lawn. Most envision large English garden estates or majestic city parks, but the beauty of English gardens is alive and distinct in urban England. Container gardening is a wonderful way to adorn your garden with English style. First, begin by selecting a few plants in different shades of green. Consider plants of varying heights, including trailing or vine-like plants. Remember to mix different textures together to add interest. Pick one color or one blooming variety to add to your container. The green shades of foliage create a wonderful backdrop for bloomers. Remember to keep it simple. English landscapes are formal in appearance and limiting your plant selection to three or so plant varieties will better achieve this style.

Must haves for an English garden container: ivy and boxwood. Ivy can tolerate part sun, but if your location is too sunny (usually more than five hours of direct sunlight a day), consider an alternative like potato vine. Here’s a few other plant suggestions. Trailing Vines for Sun Potato vine-chartreuse, variegated, or dark purple TrailingVines for Shade/part-sun Wire vine-dark green English or California ivy-dark green or variegated with light green and white Silver falls Dicentra- grayish green Medium height Licorice plant- either chartreuse, gray, or variegated green Tall Plants for the Center Tru dwarf boxwood- medium green Italian cypress- blue green Lemon cypress-bright chartreuse green. Find your inner Brit!

Lacey is off on a European Garden Adventure

May 5, 2012 by Lacey Leave a Comment

Lacey is fulfilling a long awaited dream. She is off to Europe where she will finally live a long awaited adventure. There are many wonderful things that have drawn Lacey to Europe but the ones that should not be overlooked are in the tiniest details of her grand love for all things growing. We can look forward to photos of quaint window boxes, detailed planters and lovely gardens. It’s time to get inspired and there is no better way than taking a few tips from the gardeners of Europe.

A Word Or Two. . .

May 5, 2012 by Lacey Leave a Comment

Lilacs And Memories

May 1, 2012 by Lacey Leave a Comment

For the first five years of my life I grew up next door to my grandmother, and then she passed away. She was a happy faced woman who greeted me and my bare feet with a hug that seemed to envelope me into her very being. I don’t actually remember much about her except that she was always so kind to me.

There was a long row of lilac trees that lined the south side of her front yard, probably eight or so, and in the springtime the air would be so sweetly pungent with their cheery fragrance that you fairly needed a spoon to breath. This is where I fell in love with lilacs. I love the bright evenly hued leaves that are shaped like hearts and I love the lively colors of each individual blossom, but most of all I love their sweet smell.
I remember fondly bounding out the front door of my home and running barefoot up the path, through the ditch to her front porch. There she would great me with all the love her little body would hold. Drying her hands on her apron she would take me by the hand as I begged her to “whistle a leaf”, and we would walk to the long row of lilacs. She would pluck off a leaf, fold it in half and somehow make that heart shaped leaf come to life in a lovely little whistle. I miss her. I miss the fact that I never really got to know her and have her in my life and in the springtime I miss her most.

I have this little yellow scooter now. I want a Harley Davidson but it has taken me 28 years of marriage to convince my husband to let me have a small scooter so my hopes are not awfully high for a “hog”. But this morning I went to run a few errands around the neighborhood and the soft lilting fragrance of lilac was in the air. I immediately thought of her..my grandmother…I thought how much she would love my family and how hard it is to let go of people that you love. And then I found something interesting–the faster I went the more pungent the lilac fragrance became! I circled the block over and over drinking in the smell of my young childhood, thinking of a woman who raised the lady I call mother. Maybe it’s because mother’s day is just around the corner or maybe it’s the scent of vintaged lilacs, but I found myself steering that little yellow scooter with just one hand as I wiped away a tear or two caused by the loveliness of lilacs and the memories of a sweet grandmother and the lady I call Mother.
Grab a spoon, breath deep and plant a memory or two.

April 30, 2012 by Lacey Leave a Comment

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