August 27, 2012 by Born To Organize

Back to School in the Fairy Garden

Our local paper ran an article on fairy gardens recently with a few ideas I hadn’t thought of. One suggestion was to plant a fairy garden in a pot up high for easy maintenance. The other was to place it in a high-traffic area so others could enjoy it.

Today I did just that. In honor of back-to-school month I planted a back-to-school themed fairy garden and placed it out front near the steps. The bees found it immediately, then my son when he got home from school. Can those ethereal garden fairies be far behind?

I used an old bird bath stand as a base, then added a fern-lined wire basket. The fern-lined hanging basket came with three chains attached to a hook. I pried the hook loose, then wrapped the chains under the bird feeder to secure it in place.

Lovely purple Ageratum line the back of the classroom, with Baby Tears serving as a walkway. The classroom chairs are part of a stacking game. I raided the LEGO® Brick bin for desks and playground equipment. If you squint your eyes and employ your imagination, you might just see an apple on the teacher’s desk.

Fairy gardens were once the purview of small children, but they’ve enjoyed a resurgence among adults. Blogs, books and websites abound with ideas and inspiration. In the end, I think it’s fun to use your own imagination and if possible, items you have on hand.

This is a great project for the young and the young at heart. Let me know how your garden turns out. Be sure to report back…with pictures of course. ♥

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From Tonkadale Greenhouse:

For centuries, the world has been fascinated with the idea that “fairies and elves” live among us and have the power to spread magic and mischief throughout our homes and gardens.

While the existence of fairies is up to your own imagination, adding fairies to your garden is a way to participate in this centuries old tradition. It never hurts to please the fairies and sprites in order to gain their favor.

From the Mercury News Fairy Garden: Creating a bit of Whimsy in your Garden
It’s tempting to buy all this cute little furniture, but so far I’ve restrained myself.

August 26, 2012 by Born To Organize

Changing Seasons: The Pumpkin Knows

Vegetable Garden April 25, 2012

According to the sun, summer doesn’t end for another four weeks. It draws to a close, today, however for the 12 year-old in the house. He reluctantly returns to school tomorrow.

Autumnal Equinox arrives September 22nd at 10:49 am EDT. The changing of the seasons in our sunny state are easy to miss. My son will wear shorts to school for several more months, and the rain doesn’t arrive till late October.

The Pumpkin Knows

Back in April, a small pumpkin seed knew it was time to grow. Genetic information, stored in that tiny seed pronounced that the soil and sun were a go. The seed pushed a pair of tender leaves up through the earth while setting down roots below. True leaves followed, right on schedule and within weeks the small plant was a vine. Tendrils curled out, looking for support, knowing the vine would grow and grow. Magnificent yellow flowers appeared, first male than female. They had a short window of time to attract a bee before curling up for the night. The first few pumpkins formed on the vine, but shriveled and died within days. Eventually the vines set larger fruit, first green, then yellow and now orange.

As the fruit matures, the once tiny plant sends the last of its energy directly to the pumpkins. It’s time for the plant to wither and die with the genetic understanding of a job well done. Trickle-down economics doesn’t work in the real world, but boy does it work in the garden. One small seed produces numerous edible flowers, then goes on to produce several jaw-dropping gourd-like squash. Each pumpkin holds hundreds of seeds, enough to eat and plant the following season. Pumpkins produce sweet flesh for cooking and baking. Sturdy, colorful pumpkin shells line windows and porches on Halloween, carved to perfection.

Vegetable Garden, August 25, 2012

The season is changing
The pumpkin knows
tiny seeds become heavy gourds,
vines turn brown
their cycle complete;
Jack O’Lanterns grin
at Trick-or-Treater’s feet.

-A. Milner

August 25, 2012 by Born To Organize

Gifts from the Garden: Late Season Surprises

I love receiving gifts from the garden, little treasures and discoveries I didn’t expect. Here is what she offered up this week.

Turning Orange After All

This acorn-shaped pumpkin was doing well, when a scar on the skin opened into a small wound. With the fruit exposed to air, I assumed that was the end of it. How disappointing.

To my delight, it continued to turn orange.You can see right through to the inside of the pumpkin, so I’m surprised at this development. It’s a gift!

Raspberry Redux

We devoured raspberries for several weeks this summer, eating them straight off the vine. Eventually they stopped blooming and I cut back the vine. This week, they are at it again. Fresh berries in August. Yum, yum, yum. Thank you berry vine for your generous gift. How sweet of you!

It’s a Whopper!

One of our pumpkin vines produced three large gourds in late July. They’ve put on weight daily, though the pumpkins to follow mostly shriveled and died on the vine. In what seemed like an overnight sensation, we now have a fourth still-yellow but equally large pumpkin on the vine. I hope it stays warm enough for the fruit to turn orange. Occasionally the size of the gift is important.

Unexpected Sunflower

I planted Evening Sun and Mammoth Russian Botanical Interests® sunflowers, so imagine my surprise when a third variety appeared this week. I love the shiny yellow flowers and their perfect little centers. Who doesn’t love a gift out of the blue?

What’s up in your garden this week?

August 24, 2012 by Born To Organize

Shade Sail: A Patio Favorite

I discovered shade sails in a catalog over a decade ago. It was love at first sight. Shade sails are a durable, practical and stylish way to shade your patio or deck.

Umbrella Heave-ho

Our first patio table came with the typical center hole for an umbrella. We dutifully purchased a canvas umbrella attached to a pole and called it shade. Ho-hum.

This system of shade is inefficient as well. The umbrella canvas is unstable, generally fading, fraying or deteriorating within a few years. If you want to move your table, you have to drag the heavy base along with it, then re-orient the umbrella. You can’t use a traditional tablecloth because you have a big pole in the middle and for those of us that like to entertain, a pole in the middle of your table does not a centerpiece make!

Shade Sails Soar

I’m a Canadian living in California with a British Aisles complexion. In other words, I take my shade seriously. The shade sails rock!

Shade Sail Triangle

Shade Sail Close-up

We purchased a 16 foot triangular sail in dark green for our garden patio. It’s the perfect size for the space. My sailor husband rigged turnbuckles and sailing rope to two corners of the house, creating anchors for the sail. He improvised the third anchor using a steel pole attached to the back fence. We hoist the sails when the weather turns warm, and leave them up through October.

Shade sails are made from reinforced knitted polyethylene fabric. They don’t rot, mildew, shrink, fade, fray or tear and they are resistant to UV-degradation. We’ve had ours for seven years now and it still looks new.

From a design perspective, they are a lot of fun. We attached patio lights along the edges and hung the sail high enough that it creates the feeling of an outdoor room. All this for $150 bucks!

Shade Sail Rectangle

Shade Sail Rectangle Close-up

When we installed a deck in our front yard a few summers ago, we added a rectangular sail shade in light green. We leave it up through Halloween so we can put our “scary” inflatable spider on top, then take it down for the winter.

In addition to shading the patio and deck, the shade sails keep our house cooler. Is it any wonder it was love at first sight?

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Check out some of the creative installations at Google Images.
Available here in a variety of colors and sizes ranging from 9 to 18 feet (2.7 to 5.5 meters).
Shade Sail Outlet offers bargain prices, but a more limited selection of size and color.

August 23, 2012 by Born To Organize

Blooming Thursday: Borrowed Landscaping

The concept of borrowed landscaping incorporates the view beyond your garden. It takes advantage of nearby elements like trees, architectural structures, and other natural views, so that your garden seems to extend beyond its borders.

Active borrowed landscaping requires planning. The idea behind it is to blend trees and plants grown on your property into a cohesive flow, so that the landscaping out of your control becomes one with your garden.

Passive borrowed landscaping simply takes advantage of what is already there. You accept the challenges, and works within those parameters. We are grateful for our borrowed trees every time we head out to the yard.

We live on a small lot in the suburbs with narrow lot lines and small yards. They built homes with fences surrounding the back yards to afford privacy. I have friends on the east coast with two acres of land, and others out of country with farms. We measure our puny lot size in feet. With 1/8 of an acre, you want to make everything count.

Here is what we borrow every day:

Monterey Pine

This majestic tree grows at the back corner of our lot. It towers over neighborhood homes. The pine provides shade we wouldn’t otherwise have and drops an occasional pine cone. It makes a suitable race track for energetic squirrels who go round and round, the tree.

Muskogee Crape Myrtle

Our neighbors Crape Myrtle is tall enough to branch out over our shared fence. It’s covered in tiny lavender blossoms this time of year, giving a softness to an otherwise rigid fence. Myrtle isn’t far from our dining patio, so our guests get to enjoy her lovely show.

Cactus

This prickly plant belongs to a prickly neighbor, so it seems appropriate to include it on the list. It’s currently flowering behind the lattice. In this case “good fences do make good neighbors” with a thorny plant thrown in for good measure.

Crepe Myrtle-Southern Belle

I discovered alternate spellings for this lovely tree. Our shared Crepe Myrtle sits on the property line in front of our homes. It has lovely white flowers all summer long, then further entertains with its shedding bark. The kitty from a few doors down love using it as a scratching post. This tree gets lots of “love” and attention.

Do you have a favorite borrowed landscape outside your window or door? Let me know in the comments below.

August 22, 2012 by Born To Organize

Flower Buds: The Shape of Things to Come

Photo Credit: University of Kansas

Is there anything more hopeful than a flower bud? Each one holds the promise of tomorrow, a sneak preview of things to come.

Taking pictures in my garden every day or two has opened my eyes to their wonder. Through the camera lens I’ve discovered things I didn’t realize were there. Some of the flowering buds are tightly wound, as if waiting for the right moment to spring. Others are miniature versions of themselves, gradually enlarging till they reach full size. A few remain green and camouflaged, appearing like a leaf till they decide to show their colors.

Shapely Buds

Buds vary in shape too. In my garden I’ve seen buds as round as marbles. Others look like arrowheads. A stem may form with one single bud, or send out multiples branching in small groups before flowering. Pumpkins have distinctive male and female buds that set in a defined order. The male flowers are first on the scene. Female buds follow and it’s up to the bees to pollinate them so they can set fruit. The process, known as anthesis, takes place when the flower is fully expanded and functional. The flower then folds in on itself and either drops off or starts forming a pumpkin. It’s such a fun plant to grow.

Since I can’t say “this bud’s for you” without risking copyright infringement, I’ll instead say “can you tell whose buds are who?”

Who’s who or what’s what?

Match the lettered photos with the numbered description below. Did you match all five? You can check your answers at A Taste of Fall: Flower Season Winding Down.

Bud “A”

Allium Stellatum
Anemone
Four O’clock
Hydrangea
Snapdragon

Bud “B”

Bud “C”

Bud “D”

Bud “E”

August 21, 2012 by Born To Organize

Sunflowers: Better Luck Next Year?

Budding Sunflower

I tried something a little different with my sunflowers this year. I sowed the seeds in narrow planters and lined the front of the deck. If all went according to plan, the seeds would produce tall, healthy specimens. The towering wall of sunflowers would face the kitchen but could also be enjoyed by passersby. I was jazzed!

My son helped me plant the first crop, which promptly disappeared. Squirrels made off with the seeds. A few went undetected, but once sprouted they ate those as well. I managed to preserve three plants. Moving on to plan B, I purchased more seeds, and started them indoors. I also planted a few in the side yard hoping the critters wouldn’t notice the new location. Last summer the flowers grew as tall as the house there. Alas, those too disappeared. Poof.

Indoors, the seeds sprouted quickly. I needed a plan to keep them safe. The morning of Mother’s Day, my husband helped me assemble what I now refer to as “screen savers,” a system I created with left over screening and sliding window screens from the hardware store. They worked!

I originally planned to remove the screens from the established plants, but the stalks remained on the thin side. The soil dried out quickly, even after I added a thick layer of mulch. Eventually the stalks cleared the top of the screens and started their accent. The birds arrived, pecking away at the leaves, creating patterns as they chipped away. Every few days, the plant added leaves and the birds came back for more.

This week, ninety days later and right on schedule, the sunflowers are in bloom. The original three are the hardiest of the plants and the first to bloom. They are taller and stronger than the others. The transplants are fairly weak, with bent stalks and smaller stems. But they too have buds.

What have I learned for next year?

The planters need to be at least twice the current depth
Sow directly into the soil, add lots of mulch, and screen
Plant a lot more seeds, then thin when necessary
Don’t give up hope!

Sunflowers Line the Deck

August 20, 2012 by Born To Organize

Spring Bulbs: To Plant or not to Plant?

That is the question. The answer: it’s complicated. I’m perusing the Fall Netherland Bulb Company catalog this morning. It arrived about a month ago, far too early to take it seriously. Now that fall approaches, I’m giving it a second glance. Years ago I planted several bulb varieties from Costco. Either I made the beginners mistake of planting them all upside down, or they didn’t like our soil. Not a single one came up! Perhaps a squirrel dug them up behind my back, but I never saw evidence of that.

I know many bulbs need frost first, then a proper thaw to get them going. Was it foolish to assume that bulbs sold in our town would actually grow in our temperate climate?

One year a friend gave me a pot of paper white Narcissus. Once the plant was spent indoors, I transplanted the bulbs outside. Do you know what happened? Nothing.

As I gaze lovingly at the ‘Tulip Fat Tuesday Blend,’ I can picture the purple and yellow blooms scattered all over my yard. Further on, they’ve dedicated a page to ‘Darwin Hybrids’, including Tulip Beauty of Spring. The petals remind me of a fresh peach.

The most intoxicating of all bulbs are the Hyacinth. Their scent makes me giddy. I received my first Hyacinth as a Christmas present from Mom. I grew it indoors in a glass jar. I still remember the beginning of the transformation and that incredible smell when it bloomed. Planting something with evocative memories isn’t always a good thing. Tied up with the memory of that flowering bulb are things I would like to leave in the past.

So, to plant or not to plant? The icon on the cover says “Bulbs: dig, drop,done.™” They don’t know the half of it.

Hyacinth orientalis ‘Blue Jacket’, exactly as I remember mine.

August 19, 2012 by Born To Organize

A Taste of Fall: Flower Season Winding Down

The air feels like early fall today. It really cooled down in the past 24 hours. The crisp breeze foreshadows the season to come.

We’ve enjoyed a week of warm weather, lasting well into the evening, enjoying several meals on the patio. Today it’s 15 degrees cooler than predicted. As our days are shorten the pumpkin leaves are turning a tell-tale brown. Even my beloved cosmos are showing signs of decay. In California, warm weather continues well into October, but the growing season is definitely winding down.

It dawned on me today that the bounty of flowers we’ve enjoyed all summer will soon be a sweet memory. I decided to take pictures of each lusty bloom. Mother Nature is about to pull a blanket over the garden. Summer annuals will finish their cycle as they set seed and wither. Perennials go dormant. The Chinese Pistache treats us to an autumn show, with golden, red and amber leaves drifting to the ground below. The maple out back does a strip tease as well, but often in slow motion. Depending on the wind and the rain, our maple may hang on to the changing leaves for some time.

So to my lovely garden belles, arranged below in rainbow order, won’t you please take a bow?

Blooming Since July, Part of the 4th of July Trio

Carpet Roses at the bottom of the ramp

Garnet Penstemon rustling under the Magnolia

Dusty Pink Hydrangea, spectacular under the living room

Pink Vinca lives in a pot on the back steps

Sunflower: The first of the Season

Yellow Daylily fans out under the Magnolia tree

Yellow Four o’clock Flower re-seeded from last summer adds cheer to a shady side yard

Yellow Snapdragons, a hardy little annual

Male pumpkin flower, hopeful, even at this late date

Purple Bellflowers surround our patio

Dwarf Plumbago sits below the tall grass in a corner of the front yard

This bluish status was part of my red, white and blue display for July 4th.

English Lavender lines the bottom of the front deck and attracts lots of beneficial bees.

Sweet Alyssum completes the trio of red, white and blue 4th of July plants.

White Magnolia cradles a bee

Anemone run along the back rock wall. They’ve taken over that corner of the garden.

Wild Onion
A garden surprise this summer

Begonia always remind me of my mother

Are you curious what these blooms look like before they flower? Find out on Flower Buds: The Shape of Things to Come.
If you linked back for answers to the quiz: Who’s who or what’s what? the answers are:
a. 4 Hydrangea
b. 1 Allium Stellatum
c. 2 anemone
d. 3 Four o’clock
e. 5 Snapdragon

August 18, 2012 by Born To Organize

Sure-Close: A Gift From Howard

Sure-Close Food Scrap Collection Container

My friend and neighbor Howard stopped by last week carrying a small bucket in his hand. I was momentarily confused when he said he had something for me, and wondered what was inside. The “small bucket” turned out to be the coolest of inventions: a food scrap collection container, called a Sure-Close, to be used along with an outdoor composting bin!

I’ve been talking about composting for years, and took an amateurish stab at it once, but this charming gift was the impetus I needed to get going.

The Sure-Close food scrap collection container features:

A vented lid to allow moisture to evaporate and feet on the bottom allow for airflow.
A lid that stays open for easy filling, but stays closed if you accidentally drop it. They had me in mind when they added that feature.
A lid that completely removes for ease of cleaning. I don’t know about you, but if something is difficult to keep clean, I’ll simply avoid using it. I like this feature.
Several handles or grips. Many containers look nice but are difficult to use. The Sure-Close has three different grips, so it’s easy to lift, move and empty into your outdoor composting bin.

Why compost? From the Sure-Close website:

Most of the organic waste we produce comes from our kitchens as food scraps. A kitchen container that makes it easy for people to collect, store and transport their food scraps to the green bin goes a long way toward encouraging participation.

For Ottawa’s Green Bin program, the city wanted a kitchen container with ventilation in order to allow moisture to evaporate from organic waste. Without the moisture, contents are less likely to smell. Enter the Sure-Close kitchen container. Developed by two Ottawa-based companies, designers DW Product Development, and manufacturer Ottawa Mould Craft, this little beige beauty brings high-tech design and engineering to your counter top.

No more excuses. This will be gardeningnirvana’s year of the compost. I’m so excited.

Composting Recipes:

I jotted the following notes into a notebook two years ago so I would be ready to move from “accidental composter” to the real deal.

In half-inch thick layers:

Combine 3 parts “brown” organic material to one part “green”
3 parts brown includes dried leaves, small twigs, etc.
1 part green includes grass, cut flowers, coffee grounds, egg shells, tea bags and fruit or vegetable peels
Mix into a bin approximately 3′ x 3′ x 3′
Add a small amount of moisture as needed and turn once a week.

Serves several plants.