Tag Archives: holidays

Garden Calendar Lives Another Day

Have you hung up your 2013 wall calendar? Do you love a new calendar as much as I do?

My sister gave me The Old Farmer’s Almanac Gardening Calendar this year. It’s always been one of my favorites. The pages are beautifully illustrated with helpful notations and interesting quotes. Here’s one:

Benjamin Franklin introduced kohlrabi to colonial America.The vegetable’s German name originated from the Italian words cavolo rapa, meaning “cabbage turnip.”

You learn something new every day!

It’s fun turning over a new page to a new month and a fresh beginning. Conversely, I removed my 2012 gardening calendar with great anticipation. In the past few years I’ve been re-purposing the beautifully designed pages into envelopes and stickers, tags and the odd bookmark.

This year I’ve challenged myself to use all of last year’s garden calendar in new and different ways. Here’s what I’ve been up to:

Gift Card Holder

This design simply evolved based on the pattern of the flower. The gift card holder folds into thirds and is held in place by a sleeve. When the sleeve is in place, the butterfly keeps the top flap from opening.

Gift Card Holder (cutaway with sleeve)

Gift Card Holder (closed)

Desk Top Organizer

I’ve always loved little boxes, and this one is no exception. It arrived with some unexpected treasures from a dear friend. Rather than pack it away with the Christmas gear, I covered the box with four different calendar pages. I used the stiffer cardstock from the front of the calendar to make a pair of dividers. Now I can easily get my hands on what I need.

Christmas gift box from a dear friend

Desk Top Organizer

Dividers

Box Lining

Napkin Rings

Once folded in half and glued together, the pages are quite sturdy. I cut them into strips, formed a ring, and stitched them together with a scrap or raffia. Now I’m all set for Thanksgiving.

Napkin Rings (8 for next fall)

Envelopes, gift tags and stickers

Assorted gift tags and stickers

Envelope

Wine Tag

Postcards from the Edge

I used the only bit of white from the calendar to create a writing space. The reverse side of the postcard has a quote.

Two-sided postcard (back side has quotation)

Bunting

For the Fairy Garden…of course.

Drawer Liners and a Poster

Drawer Liners (My husband swears we need all these remotes)

Poster (back of guest bath door)

Check this out:

Katherine at Pillows a-la-Mode likes to re-fashion or re-purpose clothing in a similar fashion. She held a contest a few months back. The lucky winner mailed her a beautiful embroidered jacket (that not longer fit), and Katherine turned it into a tote bag, a tissue holder, a pillow and more. You can check out the contest winner and lots of other fun ideas at Pillows a-la-Mode.

Decorating the Tree: Garden-Themed Favorites

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Growing up, my sister and I loved decorating the tree. We arranged and rearranged the ornaments over and over again. It was a game for us, and one Mom didn’t seem to mind.

In my single years, I didn’t have the space or I wasn’t interested in the fuss. One of my favorite memories from my first year of marriage was reviving that tradition. Together we bought a small tree and a few ornaments, then posed for a dozen pictures in front of the decorated tree.

Adding Traditions

When our boys came along, we added to that tradition: they each choose one ornament a year. I document them in a journal; what they choose and why. It’s interesting to mark the passage of time each year, as we unwrap all our little treasures.

Our assortment of baubles is an eclectic one. Hanging from the branches you’ll find a Star Trek Phaser, Batman, Tweety Bird and an articulated metal seahorse. My hope is to pass on their collection of ornaments when they start life as adults away from home.

Garden Meets Tree

In the meantime, we’ve amassed our own collection through gifts, travel and events. Here are my garden-themed favorites:

Watering Can Ornaments, a gift from my sister-in-law

Birch and Maple autumn leaves dipped in gold, a gift from Mom

Teacup with flowers from a dear friend (tea and flowers in one)!

The newest addition: A miniature button Christmas Tree (from a talented, kindred soul)

Do you celebrate Christmas? If so, what do you hang on your tree?

Blooming Thursday: Hidden Cyclamen

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Many years ago, my friend, Leslie, gave me a gorgeous cyclamen for Valentine’s Day. I was between relationships and probably feeling sorry for myself. It was a sweet gesture and a stunning specimen of a plant.

Brilliant Fuchsia

The cyclamen sat on my coffee table for many weeks, producing bloom after bloom. Then, with little warning, the leaves began to drop. I’m not one to give up easily on plants, so I tried the usual things: more water, then less water, different light. Nothing. Eventually I was out of ideas. I upended the contents of the pot into the small strip of dirt near my apartment door. Imagine my surprise a year later when the cyclamen “came back to life.” Turns out cyclamens are tubers, also known as corms. The plant had simply gone dormant.

Cyclamen corm with emerging heart-shaped leaves

Cyclamens remain one of my favorite winter plants. I planted three in colorful pots on the deck last winter so I could watch them bloom from my kitchen window. When spring rolled around, I transplanted them to larger pots and paired them with spring annuals.

As my potted darlings closed up shop in the late spring, I scooped them out of the soil and moved them to the lower garden. I found a small patch of dirt under some tall grass next to the Magnolia tree. They would be in good company and would stay cool all summer long.

It was a sweet surprise to see them back in bloom this week, refreshed from the recent rains and ready to flourish.

Shaded by the grass

What’s blooming in your garden?

Cyclamen Care. I especially like the beautiful drawing at the end of this link.

Halloween Countdown

Collector Pumpkin

Croptoberfest: Plenty of Laughs, No Beer

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The clever folks at Creative Memories came up with the signature event, Croptoberfest, hosted annually by CM consultants. We “crop” in October, a term used by scrapbook enthusiasts to describe the process of creating personal photo albums and scrapbooks.

Not to be confused with Oktoberfest, the 16-day festival celebrating beer in Munich, Croptoberfest brings hobbyists together to pursue their craft. Much like gardeners sharing collective wisdom, scrappers are a generous bunch. We fill a small conference room at a local hotel, where we share ideas as well as tools. Seeds of friendship are sown; nurtured relationships grow. The rhythm of a new season flows into the next.

Created with Creative Memories Storybook Creator Digital Software

Throughout October, I’ve featured a pumpkin a day on my blog as part of my Halloween countdown. Today’s signature pumpkin is brought to you by the creative spirit in the room. Thanks to everyone who willingly and graciously joined in the fun. The pumpkin will soon return back to the earth, but for now it illustrates our joy and camaraderie.

Special thanks to our hosts for the day: Inger Murdock, Karen Phillips, Pam Peters, and Mary Elizabeth Tait and for creating a relaxing and memorable event.

Halloween Countdown

Signature Pumpkin (Part I)

Signature Pumpkin (Part II)

Birdhouse Gourd: Free Fall Averted

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I took a field trip with my husband to the side yard on Monday. He hadn’t seen our birdhouse gourd in a week so I was happy to show it off. The added girth was indeed impressive, but he was also concerned that the weight would snap the vine. His concerns were well founded. We lost a pumpkin this summer in the same way. One day it was hanging from the trellis; the next day the weight snapped the vine and dropped the pumpkin to the ground.

birdhouse gourd with tape measure

birdhouse gourd perspective with orange tree

Above: A bit of perspective. The raspberries and oranges look tiny next to the gourd.
Left: measuring up.

As if on cue, when I checked on Birdhouse Gorgeous today it hung nearly six inches lower on the trellis. Further, the vine was putting weight on the phone wires under the eaves. I had to leave for a meeting, but couldn’t face returning home to a smashed gourd. I needed a way to support it without hindering its growth. Did they sell gourd hammocks, and if so, where would I find one on short notice?

My quick fix? A few pieces of garden twine and a color-coordinating mesh shopping bag. It took less than five minutes to rig and it solved both problems. The bag supports the weight of the gourd while at the same time allowing air to circulate. The twine lifts the vine up and away from the phone lines. I can’t write my blog without an internet connection! Crisis averted. The vine is now free to grow about its business.

Mesh grocery bag

It’s in the bag

Halloween Countdown

Vampire Pumpkin

I raided my son’s dress-up box for this week’s Halloween countdown. In the meantime, snails continue to “carve” the Snail Hotel.

Snail Hotel: Hole in One

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Belly up to the bar

A clever and voracious garden snail found a soft spot in one of our pumpkins. He/she went on a pumpkin bender a few nights ago, slurping an impressive, though disappointing hole in one…pumpkin that is.

Now that they’ve breached the shell , decay will quickly set in. Add to that our spiking temperatures (yet again in the eighties!) and we’ll have a sloppy, slushy, pumpkin mess before week’s end. Taking inspiration from my friend Sheila, I converted the lost pumpkin into a snail hotel. I love my Sharpie’s! I love my pumpkins too, but the damage is done. In addition to counting down to Halloween, I’ll now be counting the days till the Snail Hotel is officially condemned.

You can check in any time you like…

Snail Hotel: Mollusks Welcome

Stay tuned!

Halloween Countdown

Pirate Pumpkin
Shiver me Pumpkin Ribs

Freaky Friday: The Garden’s Dark Underbelly

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It’s not all Sweet Alyssum and roses. Every garden has a dark side. I’m sure it’s no accident that the spooky celebrations of Halloween coincide with the decay of fall.

Use your imagination and come with me as we travel the more sinister side of the garden.

“Bat Wings”…or decaying leaf?

Spider in the gravel…look closely.

Rats Gone Bad

Hallowed orange or hollow orange? You decide.

Tree Rat or Field Mouse? Helping himself to an orange.

Not What They Seem

The Choking Vine? Snaking and staking the trellis.

Urban Decay

Shrunken Head?

I’m a Stink bug. Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Cavernous Lair

Something Wicked This Way Comes: Black Widow Haven

Halloween Countdown

It’s The Great Pumpkin, Lindy-Lu!

Blooming Thursday: Last Call

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Anemones

The party is over. We’ve had a good run. The last of the anemones are finally winding down, with just a few new blooms here and there.

A few remaining blooms

We’ve enjoyed eight weeks of snow-white blossoms meandering along the back fence. The anemones appeared at our dinner table, at my book club and in several gardeningnirvana posts.They helped soften the departure of the summer cosmos.They’ve continued to bloom into early fall, waiting for autumn color to set in before making a quiet retreat. In a few more weeks the plants will blend in with the other greenery, and if it gets cold enough, they’ll go dormant. See you next summer!

What do you mean, the party is over?

Spent and dying blooms

Watercolor Edges

Birdhouse Gourd

Birdhouse Gorgeous 10/5/12

I’ve decided to rename the gourd below, “birdhouse gorgeous.” I’m stunned at the rapid acceleration in the past ten days. Count me grateful, too, that it’s growing off to the side of the trellis or I would have hit my head on it by now.

Birdhouse Gorgeous 9/6/12

Halloween Countdown

Warm and toasty pumpkins
Handmade scarf by Mary Ann Askins

The Other Pumpkins

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Sure, I made a big fuss yesterday about our great pumpkins, but we love all of them. How could you not delight in the uniqueness of each one?

The larger pumpkins have peach-colored shells with a flame orange skin just below the surface. The rest of the pumpkins took on a more traditional color and grew to about half the weight.

Trio of Pumpkins

The pumpkin, below, is smooth and typically formed on one side, but something went wrong somewhere along the way. It already looks like it has two eyes and a mouth. No carving necessary.

We won’t need to carve this one. It’s already wearing a mask.

One of the earliest pumpkins started in an acorn shape. As it grew in size, the small scar opened up, leaving the insides exposed. Although it continued to turn orange, the rotting process started the minute it was off the vine. Then an amazing thing happened. I left it in the corner of the deck, figuring one of the night critters would simple eat it. Instead, the pumpkin warmed in the sun, creating enough moisture for the seeds to sprout. I tore it open, thinking I would compost the rotting skin, only to find a handful of seedlings.

Self-seeding Pumpkin

Rounding out the eclectic group of pumpkins, this little fella survived the expanding girth of one of the greats. When I pulled away the 50-pound pumpkin, this was growing just below.

My guess? The weight of the growing pumpkin slowly split the sides of this one, giving it time to scar over as it continued to grow. Unlike the cousin above, it’s completely healed over.

We have about five pumpkins yet to harvest, still yellow or green. We’ll see what nature has in store.

Harvesting Pumpkins: Three to Get Ready

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Slinky is ready for Halloween

What a joyous day! Fall is in the air and pumpkins are in my house. We harvested three orange lovelies this morning, then brought them indoors for safe keeping. Two have been ready for a while but I left them on the vine for up to the minute ripening. The third pumpkin was a surprise, in more ways than one.

We still have four extra-large pumpkins on the vine, hoping they’ll turn a bit darker. Currently they have a peach complexion. I lifted one of these large pumpkins away from the beds to give it more sun, and discovered a smaller pumpkin had been growing just below. It has multiple cracks in an interesting geometric pattern, but each of the cracks healed over. I can’t wait to take a picture and share it with you. We’ve never seen anything like it. I’m wondering if the extraordinary weight of the pumpkin above caused it to slowly crack, giving it time to heal as it split. My husband and resident carver is looking forward to hollowing it out. He thinks it will look like a star burst. We’ll restrain ourselves until Halloween.