February 7, 2014 by Born To Organize

Fairy Garden Valentine

Cake and flowers await

“Brick Wall” ribbon

Tiny fountain made from small colored pebbles and candle holders

Darling Deer from Boomdee

While pulling weeds in the garden, I bent my ear to the earth. I heard the faintest whisper. Garden fairy voices carry with the wind. You have to listen intently to hear what they are saying.

“We love Valentine’s Day,” they breathed.

You don’t have to tell me twice. I got to work on the fairy garden with little time to spare. The day of whimsy is in one week. February 14th is also a full snow moon so I’m expecting magical happenings in the world of imagination.

I’ve dedicated one of my kitchen drawers to fairy garden building materials. To the uneducated eye, it looks like a drawer full of junk. Look again and you’ll see tiny fencing material, tables and chairs, a small fountain and a dance floor. Magical trees, hearts and flowers live in that drawer, too. When time and inspiration strike, I forage through plastic lids, discarded wrappers and pieces of ribbon and then I get to work.

I challenge myself to use materials on hand, pulling together a bit of this and that. I’m never sure how things will turn out, but always have a great time with the process.

Fairy’s eye view

Fairy Garden Frivolity

I’ve dedicated a page on my blog to fairy gardens. You can see seasonal versions by clicking here.

Valentine’s Day Giveaway

There is still time to enter the Valentine’s Day Giveway. Simply follow this link and leave a comment there including the word ENTER. Deadline is midnight Sunday, February 9th.

Valentine’s Day Giveaway

February 6, 2014 by Born To Organize

There Goes the Lawn

Jessica at ‘Growing Up in the Garden’ did a beautiful job conveying much of what I feel about maintaining a lawn in semi-arid California. Enjoy!

Growing Up in the Garden

I have always secretly, or not so secretly, wanted to do away with the lawn in our backyard. This is not to say I have not enjoyed it over the years. It has served as a good picnic location, a runway for leaping over sprinklers, and as a soft place to land while practicing cartwheels. But, alas, it is so hard to justify in Southern California’s semi-arid climate. Now, with the a severe drought looming, it seems almost absurd.

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February 4, 2014 by Born To Organize

Rain Glorious Rain

I woke up to a bracing shower Saturday morning, when Lindy knocked over my water-glass. She’s normally nimble-footed, but that particular trip across my nightstand lead to an invigorating soak. The water doused my pillow, the bed sheets and of course me.

Sunday morning I woke up to the real deal: rain dropping softly on our parched state. It didn’t last long, but was wonderful nonetheless. Everything above and below looks refreshed. The sky seems brighter, the garden greener and the nearby hills are visible once again. February is off to a great start.

View from the deck

Rain is in the forecast over the next two days. Gathering clouds outside my window are a welcome view.

Cloudy skies, happy birds

The Little Free Library weathered its first storm. Books are coming and going, but staying nice and dry behind closed doors.

Little Free Library

What’s the weather up to in your neck of the woods?

My favorite weather is bird-chirping weather. ~Terri Guillemets

January 29, 2014 by Born To Organize

Drizzle, Fizzle

Our ‘chance of rain’ was a tiny drizzle in the middle of the night. San Jose saw 0.01″ in the past 24 hours. No puddle splashing for me today.

On the bright side, the garden looks refreshed. The fog, mist and drizzle freshened up the foliage so that’s something.

Here’s what I saw on my morning rounds.

I mentioned a random bulb growing out of the bottom of the vegetable bed last week. The lovely Narcissus made her debut yesterday.

Narcissus

I need to prune this four-in-one fruit tree but I’ve been putting it off. It’s grown tall so I need a ladder. Two years ago I fell off the ladder trying to cover the tree with netting, and I’ve been nervous about it ever since.

Raindrops on tree buds

I see little blueberry buds. Sweet!

Blueberry buds

Succulents need very little water. I haven’t watered these plants in months.

Flowering succulent

Silver drops

Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass [as if], it’s about learning to dance in the rain. Vivian Greene

January 28, 2014 by Born To Organize

Cloudy with a Chance

chance of rain

I’m trying not to get my hopes up too high, but I’m a hopeful person by nature. The local paper says “Chance of Rain” over the next three days. It’s cooler today; breezy too with clouds coming and going. It feels like rain for the first time in weeks. I’m ready!

Here are the current stats for San Jose:

Rainfall month to date: 0.01″
Normal month to date: 2.63″
Season to date: 1:57″
Normal season to date: 7.64″

According to International Business Times:

California is facing a severe water crisis, and experts fear it could get worse. Climatologists report that the 2013-2014 rainfall season is well on its way to becoming California’s driest period in more than 400 years. The country’s most populous state is entering its third year of record-low rainfall, and now scientists are raising the alarm that “megadroughts,” which haven’t been seen in hundreds of years, could be just around the corner.

By all accounts, the weather is off kilter around the globe. We’re desperate for rain, while others have too much. The east coast has record lows, the Canadian prairies have an early and heavy winter and New Zealand is only now seeing true summer days.

Is this the new normal?

Meanwhile, please enjoy the talented Gene Kelly, singing and dancing in the rain in one of my favorite movie scenes of all times.

January 27, 2014 by Born To Organize

Tracking Hummingbirds

Hummingbird in winter

About three months ago, I decided to take part in a survey that tracks global hummingbird migration. The tricky part was recording the date two weeks after the last siting. The collected data helps researchers around the world better understand and protect hummingbirds. I’m all for that.

Guess what?

The hummers never left. In late fall we had an early and unusual frost lasting five days. The birds remained. Trees dropped leaves and still the birds remained. I worried that they were cold.

Then a few weeks ago I noticed our cat Lindy with her eyes glued to the sliding glass door. She had an eye-level show of a hummingbird splashing around in the frigid fountain outside. Stunned, I remained with her, eyes transfixed, until the little bather flew away. I missed the photo-op, but enjoyed the show. I had a good laugh at myself for worrying that they were too cold.

In late March, Mike and I plan to attend a workshop on Hummingbirds through the Los Gatos Birdwatcher. It’s a two-hour class, with a two-hour field trip the following weekend. I can’t wait. It will be fun to learn more about the birds specific to our area. I’m looking forward to the class and to sharing what I learn with you.

You can read about hummingbird migration at World of Hummingbirds.
The Los Gatos Birdwatcher is one of my favorite shops. They also offer workshops and services.

On a sadder note, I planned to link to the Phoebe Allen webcam in Southern California. Phoebe’s been nesting in a rose-bush several times a year since 2007. Last winter, several of us had our eyes glued to the nest as she went about the business of raising chicks. It was incredible. Phoebe laid a brood in late December, but disappeared on January 8th. A bird rehabilitater is raising the chicks till they fledge.

January 23, 2014 by Born To Organize

The Sensual Garden

Daphne

Our singular Daphne is in bloom this time of year producing a sensuous, heady musk. Daphne is my garden’s Sacred Feminine, the goddess of sensuality. Her blooms intoxicate, drawing me to my knees to inhale her rich scent.

There are a number of pheromone-rich plants in my garden, and lucky for me, they all flower at different times. After the Daphne fades, the Jasmine comes to life. You’ll find me in the side yard making up things to do for the weeks it remains in bloom. The lavender revives in late spring, attracting bees all summer long. It lines our front deck, and grows a few feet from our seating area.

According to Skin Biology, perfumes arose from plant oils with smells similar to animal pheromones. Plant oils with the strongest similarity to human sexual pheromones come from jasmine, ylang ylang and patchouli.

The sensual garden is a gentle lover. Leaves stir smoothly on an afternoon breeze as buds unfold languidly when ready. Bees swoop in, spreading garden goodness from plant to plant.

Without a quenching rain, my earthly companions must reach for ground water. So far they’re holding their own. The garden wouldn’t be the same without them.

January 21, 2014 by Born To Organize

Garden Pop-ups

Sure *I* was late planting this year’s bulbs, but nature is always on time. Bulbs from last season (and the season before!) are popping up all over the garden.

Life on deck

Sometimes I’ll forget that a bulb is resting at the bottom of a pot, and I’ll dump the dirt into a planter. This explains the random placement of one of the bulbs I see peeking out from the center of the vegetable beds. I love nature’s optimism.

Mystery bulbs in the Veggie garden

There are signs of tulips along the rock wall, but there are also signs of the squirrels eating the greens. I hope they lose interest soon, or that will be the end of them.

Tulips, ever optimistic

The hyacinths are up and looking pretty. It looks like the onion-scented Allium are coming back from last year, along with (I think) a single freesia.

Emerging hyacinth

Freesia?

Can you smell it?

New Life for your Old Calendar

Several of you commented that you save your wall calendars from year to year. Here are a few more ideas for turning your beautiful calendar pages into something new. For more info, visit Garden Calendar Lives Another Day.

Re-purposed Calendar: postcard, covered box, gift tags and stickers, envelopes, gift card holder, fairy garden bunting, drawer liner, box dividers, napkin rings

January 20, 2014 by Born To Organize

Old Calendar, New Life

Last year Susan Golden of the Sereno Group, sent us a beautiful calendar depicting local places of interest. Instead of photographs, the locations are watercolors by artist Lou Ann Styles. Susan sold us our home almost 18 years ago and we haven’t moved since.

Artful pages by Artist Lou Ann Styles

I like to re-purpose my wall calendars each year into something useful. They’re always beautiful works of art on lovely paper. It seems a shame to toss them into a recycling bin.
This year I turned my calendar pages into bookmarks for the Little Free Library. The natural settings and lovely detail worked well, even when cut into pieces and folded in half.

From calendar page to book marks

Bookmarks using the center of the page

Bookmarks using the two edges of the page

I saved one of the pages to make an envelope. I used the back cover of the calendar with Susan’s picture to make her a special bookmark. I hope she likes it.

It’s fun thinking of ways to use an old calendar. I’ve made them into envelopes, bookmarks, gift tags, gift card holders and postcards. Last year I recovered a small box using several pages. It sits on my desk on holds note cards and scratch paper.

Do you hang on to old calendars because they are too pretty to throw out?

Bookmark and envelope

Front side of Susan’s bookmark

January 13, 2014 by Born To Organize

Narcissus and Freesia

Bulb Packets

Hopefully I’m not too late. The cliché “nothing ventured, nothing gained” is at work in my garden.

Today I planted nearly 75 bulbs, 50 Yellow Trumpet Narcissus and 24 Single Mix Freesia. The preferred planting time is November through December. We’re mid-way through January so I’m a teeny bit behind schedule. No matter. They’re in the ground now, a nice six inches below soil level. All these years of gardening and I’m still amazed that you can bury a bulb that deep. Their internal programming tells them when to pop up and where. If you plant one upside down, they’ll simple make a u-turn and grow up towards the sun anyway.

The narcissus will put on a show early to mid spring. They’re planted broadcast style in the curb garden. All that new, rich soil made quick work of the planting. It was nice to see earth worms in the mix too, always a plus. As a bonus, I unearthed my afternoon snack: half a dozen carrots that I missed harvesting last week.

The Freesia are early summer bloomers. I planted them in a curved row in the small triangle garden I created last year. The mix includes white, yellow, red, pink and purple flowers.

Rain

San Jose received a ‘trace’ of rain last week. It was enough to clear the awful air we’ve had, but nothing more. We’ve had 27 spare the air days this season days thanks to fires, illegal wood burning and lack of rain. Our five-day forecast calls for sunny skies and high temps. By Thursday, temps will be up to 72 degrees F (22 degrees C). January is typically our coolest month with an average of 58 degrees. I enjoy beautiful days as much as the next person, but it feels so strange to have winter skies, spring temps and summer ‘rain’.