Gardening

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Blooming Thursday: Seeds for the Holidays

 

 

cosmos going to seed

Cosmos going to seed

The idea came to me in late July. I started collecting Cosmo seeds to give as gifts for the holidays. This prolific annual grew in abundance throughout the summer.  It was such a pleasure watching the plant bloom and bloom.  I want to share that with others.

Cosmos are easy to grow and spectacular to behold.They grow in planters or directly in the ground, and thrive with little fuss. It’s a cheerful gift for the middle of winter: the promise of spring blooms.

I’ve been mulling over design ideas, and finally hit on the perfect one.  I created a five-panel accordion card using Creative Memories software. Starting with a basic design, I added photos to the front panels, leaving a placeholder on the last panel for the packet of seeds. I included planting instructions and additional photos on the reverse side of the panels.

Cosmos Seed Cards - Front Panel

Cosmos Seed Card – Front Panel

Cosmos Seed Cards - Back Panel

Cosmos Seed Card – Back Panel

I bought a packet of 50, 3.5 inch square glassine envelopes for the seeds.  The back panel is 4 inches square. They are the perfect.size.

I can’t wait to order the sample card to be sure all the details came together. In the meantime I’m making envelopes for the cards using last year’s garden calendar.  I’m having so much fun.

Are you giving gifts from the garden this year?

Resources:

My Beloved Cosmos:

 

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Birdhouse Gourd: Numbered Days?

The watched pot never boils, and the watched gourd never grows.  Or so it seems…

birdhouse gourds on trellis

Christmas lights in September?

Now that I’ve filled one of the planting beds with an assortment of winter vegetables, I’ve turned my attention to the runaway birdhouse vines (Lagenaria siceraria).  I have just two, 4 x 4 planting beds, so space is at a premium. The vines are occupying one of them.

birdhouse gourd buds

Still growing…

I read the fine print inside the seed packet today, and learned that some gardeners let the gourds harden on the vine all winter. I just assumed the plant would die off and we would harvest them much like the pumpkins. So…it’s decision time. Do I leave well enough alone and sacrifice the extra winter planting space? Will I face my disappointment gracefully if the vines die off a month from now, too late to use the beds till spring? Do I need to get a grip?

birdhouse gourd drying flower

Shriveled flower and otherworldly baby gourd

Mini hard-shelled gourds are forming along the vine, but before today, none of them seemed viable. I finally spotted one, twice the size of the others. I got excited all over again.

bridhouse garden large

How slow can you grow?

birdhouse gourd tendrils

Nature’s twine: super-strong vine tendrils

Should they stay or should they go? What do you think?

Resources:

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Winter Garden: Above and Below

winter seed packetsI’m branching out this year.  Now that we have raised planting beds and a gravel and stone walkway, winter gardening holds more appeal.  Year one I planted fava beans as a cover crop, digging the plants back into the soil to add nitrogen.  Year two I planted broccoli.  I bought seeds, but waited too long to plant them, so I planted six starter plants instead.  Two survived and produced a few yummy florets, but it bolted early and that was that.

I’m hoping the old saw “three’s a charm” is true, and that year three will be a roaring success.  Here’s what I’m planting.

Above-ground vegetables include:

Lettuce Leaf Red Velvet

Botanical Interests ® Lactuca sativa.  The seed packet promises “wine-red leaves that are sweet and tender and will make any salad memorable.”  Red-leaf lettuce is delicious and brightens up a salad.  It will be such fun to grow my own.

Early Green Broccoli

The Seeds of Change® tag line is “goodness from the ground up.”  I love that! We all enjoy broccoli, which is to say, three of us really like it and one of us reluctantly agrees it’s not half bad. Let’s hope we have a better year.

Below-ground vegetables include:

Radish Crimson Giant

My eyesight has officially failed me. I thought I was buying beets. These “crimson beauties” were my sister’s favorite growing up. Now my oldest son is a big fan.  Here’s hoping garden beets taste just as sweet as the ones that come in a can!  Here’s hoping, too that I can still find a pack in the garden center.  Apparently we’re also growing radishes!  Now that is embarrassing.

Chives Common

I prefer the Latin name Allium schoenoprasum.  I’m not sure I can pronounce it but it sounds far less demeaning than the moniker “common.”  The Botanical Interests seed packet says “heirloom, with beautiful edible flowers and delicate onion flavored foliage.”  It also says “very easy to grow.”  Count me in!

I’m off to get my nails dirty.  If you live in the Northern Hemisphere, are you planting a winter garden?  Garden tips appreciated.

Resources:

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My Beautiful Garden Bench

garden bench with pumpkins

Our growing collection of pumpkins
(Note the tiny ones at the top. They didn’t turn orange in time, but will make excellent “eye balls” for one of the Jack ‘O Lanterns on Halloween.)

I attended the SummerWinds Nursery fire sale last week, and brought home a beautiful, forged-iron bench.  Made in Mexico, it features scroll work along the back and a heart-shaped seat.  I’m organized at heart, so it was impossible to resist.

My son was with me at the time, and looked askance at the cold, hard bench. I assured him that I had something else in mind, and it didn’t include seating. Under typical circumstances, I would admire the bench, dream of all the things I could do with it, then move on. It seemed extravagant to buy such a pretty bench as a plant stand.

We walked around the nursery parking lot, looked at what little remained at the fire sale, then worked our way back to the bench. The one-of-a-kind lovely was still there, with a fire sale price of 30% off. Further, 10% of the proceeds would benefit the San Jose Firefighters Burn Foundation. We paid for our purchases and into the car it went.

Coincidentally, we harvested our great pumpkins that same evening,  I brought home the perfect seat for our pumpkins. Once harvested and weighed on the Wii Fit, I relocated my beloved coleus to the back porch, creating a place of honor for our great pumpkins.  You can view the pumpkins seated on the bench from the street. It will be the perfect place for the Jack O’ Lanterns once carved.

Today we harvested the last five pumpkins, making room for the winter garden. My seeds are calling me. Time to get busy!

Go to the SummerWinds Almaden Nursery Facebook Page for updates on sales and plans to rebuild.

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Autumunal Equinox: Love for all Seasons

Wedding day

Fall leaves, summer flowers, happy bride and groom

Summer officially turned to fall today (September 22nd). The autumnal equinox marks the time of year when day and night are of equal length. It’s also a personal milestone. I married the love of my life on the first day of autumn 17 years ago. Autumn landed on September 23rd that year, but no matter.  Symbolically, the days feel like one and the same.

We both share a love of the outdoors, so exchanging vows on the grounds of the elegant Wente Brothers Winery was perfect. When I walked down the “aisle,” it was actually a grassy courtyard.  We held hands and declared our love beneath a flower-laden arch. I still have a small pressed flower from my tossed bouquet.

After one night in San Francisco we honeymooned along the Mendocino coast. We hiked local beaches, rode the Skunk Train amid redwoods and toured a botanical garden hugging the coast.

Nature is a great equalizer. Seasons change, life ebbs and flows. The majesty of the earth brings a uniting force to bear.  As the autumnal equinox ushers in shorter days and longer nights, I’m grateful for the love in my life; grateful for my love in all seasons.

Mendocino Coast

Home along the Mendocino Coast

wild hens Mendocino

Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens

Mendocino

Mr. Wonderful in Magnificent Mendocino

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Bamboo at the Wild Palms Hotel

 

wild palms hotel mural

Wild Palms Hotel

I’ve escaped across town with my sister for a stay at the Wild Palms Hotel. We’re attending an annual scrap-booking retreat, a cool 48 hours dedicated to the pursuit of our craft. The Wild Palms Hotel is a small inn in the middle of the suburbs.  The facade is nondescript, but the inner courtyard and pool are surrounded by towering bamboo. I’m sure there are “wild palms” somewhere around here, but it’s the bamboo that dominates.

Bamboo is an amazing plant, capable of growing at rates of 100 cm (39 in) in 24 hours. It’s considered the fastest growing plant on earth. This tall, graceful grass can be made into paper, clothing, furniture and building material.  Bamboo leaves and shoots nourish the giant pandas of China and the bamboo lemurs of Madagascar.

When we remodeled our home seven years ago, we replaced the carpet with bamboo.  The floors are as solid as the hardest wood, but unlike oak or maple, bamboo grows like a weed.  Conversely, one of the softest dresses I own is also bamboo.

It’s dark now, but come morning I’ll be able to glance out the window at the towering bamboo.  I’ll pretend a gentle panda is nibbling on the leaves, just around the corner out of view.

tall bamboo

Bamboo Towers above the Wild Palms Hotel

bamboo leaves

Bamboo Leaves Closeup

Bamboo

Bamboo

 

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Blooming Thursday: Bachelor’s Button

According to the Bachelor’s Button seed packet, this “care-free, drought tolerant annual, adds vertical interest and an array of colors to your garden.” Well.

Perhaps there was a single’s dance going on a few gardens over, because my Bachelor’s were largely a no-show. The ones that are in bloom were late to the party, blooming two days before Autumn officially arrives. Bachelor’s Button, also know as cornflower are drought tolerant and require “little pampering.”  So what gives?

Were they jealous of the cosmos getting all the attention this summer? Maybe they didn’t get enough sun. I offered them plenty to drink and lots of encouragement. There is always enough love to go around in my garden.

I’ll just chalk it up to “one of those things” and “you can’t win them all” and I’ll move on <sniff-sniff>.

Here are a couple of pics of the one or two that grew.

Bachelor's button bud

Flower or fish? I love those multicolored scales.

Bachelor's Button flower

Bachelor’s Button handsome profile

Bachelor's Button closeup

There’s the promise for next year.

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Smiling in the Garden

Smiling is good for you. It reduces tension, helps you relax and promotes overall good health. There is always something to smile about in the garden; sometimes I’m lucky enough to catch it with my camera.

I hope these photos put a smile on your face, too.

Kitty in the garden bed

Sure, the pumpkin is nice, but will you look at that cat I grew!?

squirrel closeup

He’s a cheeky little fella

hummingbird at feeder

Look, Ma!!! I can fly with one wing!

dog like flowers

I think there’s a pooch hiding in the tree. Dogwood???

bottoms up

Bottoms up!

Are you smiling yet?

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SummerWinds Nursery Fire Sale Raises Donations for SJFBF

SummerWinds Employees

A Happy and Helpful Crew

Summer Winds, a local nursery in the Almaden area of San Jose, burned to the ground a few weeks ago. Formerly the Woolworth Garden Center, the nursery has been in the same spot for 40 years. Since the fire, there has been such an outpouring of support from the community. We’re all very sad at the loss of this nursery, and look forward to its rebirth.

Last Friday they set up shop in front of the former store, a fire sale lasting through the weekend. Large pottery, trees and annuals located outside the garden center survived the flames and were on sale. In addition to selling what remained at a huge discount, 10% of the proceeds went to the San Jose Firefighters Burn Foundation. What an amazing community we have. From there press release:

SummerWinds hosted at our San Jose location a 3 day “Fire Sale” and donation drive for the San Jose Fire Department, Friday through Sunday, September 14 – 16, 2012. Ten percent of the net proceeds from the sale will be donated to the San Jose Firefighters Burn Foundation and the Los Bombers of Northern California Toy Program—resulting in more than $14,000 in donations.

“We truly have the best customers! Their loyalty to SummerWinds and our associates,
combined with their compassion to support the San Jose Fire Department was overwhelming during our Fire Sale,” stated Leo Goria, SummerWinds’ Vice President of Operations. San Jose’s Fire Department had a fire truck on site and fire fighters handed out fire hats to all the children. Customers were helping one another with their carts and purchases, and what could have been grid lock in the parking lot was handled with finesse by SummerWinds’ customers.

Captain Mary Gutierrez of San Jose’s Fire Department expressed her appreciation in
saying, “In a world where so many are struggling, the community of San Jose can feel joy
in that children at the burn center will have some things they need to survive life-changing
injuries. The community can feel pride in that hundreds of families will benefit by receiving toys and food this coming Christmas. San Jose Fire Department can not express the gratitude felt towards the SummerWinds Nursery management and staff that supported two very important fire department community programs that benefit so many children and families in San Jose”.

SummerWinds Nursery Fire Sale

SummerWinds Nursery Fire Sale

I wasn’t able to shop till late Saturday afternoon, so most of the plants were gone. I did, however, buy a charming garden bench, which will make its debut shortly in a future post.

Additional Resources:

SummerWinds San Jose Facebook Page

San Jose Firefighters Foundation

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The Other Pumpkins

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.

Three Pumpkins

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.

deformed pumpkin

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.

molding pumpkin sprouting seeds

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.

Split Pumpkin
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.