Gardening

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Portraits in the Garden: Anne Daiva Photography

Smooches for Lindy

My friend Heather often mentioned her kindred-spirit, Anne and what a talented photographer she was.  We finally met a couple of years ago at Heather’s baby shower.  Little did I know I would one day be on the receiving end of Anne’s talents.

In need of some professional head shots, I scheduled a photo shoot with Annie, who captured these photos in my garden.  She specializes in infant and early childhood photography, but was happy to offer her services to capture my…less than youthful image.  I’m so grateful.

Anne’s presence behind the camera is one of calm reassurance.  She gives wonderful cues and works hard putting you at ease.  Her mission as a photographer is as follows:

“My fulfillment of capturing people in portraits goes far beyond the love and emotion we all share. It has evolved into a journey of observing and capturing connection with each other as well as connection to this wondrous planet. While photography has always been my biggest passion and brought me endless joy, my mission has become clear. My most favorite quote is Gandhi’s “Be the change you wish to see in the world,” and I am finally doing just that. My awakening to what I can do has been sudden and substantial. Since late 2011 I have made major changes in my home life and business practices, for the times we live in call for it. I pledge to do my part for our kids generations and all future generations by living a healthy life and make conscious choices that are best for our planet.” Anne Daiva

…read more about Anne Daiva Photography here

It takes awhile to let go of your inhibitions in front of a camera.  You are literally the center of attention for over an hour.  Her style of quiet reassurance helped me relax and it got easier as time went on.

So…I have a favor to ask.  Will you take a look at the three photos, below and let me know  which photo you think best reflects Gardening Nirvana?  I’ll use the most popular photo on my site.  Please leave your vote in the comments section below.  Thank you!

(a) Alys and the Fern

(b) Alys in front of the Maple

(c) Alys looking up

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Ornamental Grass: Feathery Wisps, Garden Gifts

A few years ago, a landscape designer mentioned the benefits of using ornamental grasses in garden design.  I wasn’t sold on the idea.  A few years before, I read an article on invasive grasses in our state, nearly impossible to destroy and prolific to the point of taking over native plants.  Would my garden also be overrun by the invasive grassy beast?

One of our neighbors had a beautiful ornamental grass in her garden, but it eventually overtook an entire corner of her backyard.  It required heavy pruning which in turn created a homely plant.  Well.

As you may have guessed, I eventually reconsidered!  We now have several varieties of ornamental grass, each uniquely graceful and one of my favorite garden elements.  The shortest of the grasses is a stand-out for its lemony-green striped leaves, soft and no more than six inches tall. Known as  ‘Aureola’ Japanese Forest Grass,  the plant grows low to the ground but spreads about two feet wide.  It turns brown when dormant, but bounces back to its beautiful self in the spring!

‘Aureola’ Japanese Forest Grass

Along our property line, we have a swaying wall of New Zealand Flax.  Full at the base, the plant gives way  to tall, feathery grasses that change color with the seasons.  Last fall and winter they were golden-yellow.  The Flax now boasts several deep shades of purple with a bit of gray.

New Zealand Flax

We have a single specimen known as Giant Feather Grass bumping up against the steps.  The grass arches over the top half of the ramp and catches the afternoon sun.  It reminds me of an over-sized dandelion with its tall stalk and ball-like grassy top.

Giant Feather Grass

I’m always trying to capture their beauty with my camera, but the movement and wistfulness make for a lot of blurry pictures.

If your climate supports growing ornamental grasses, I urge you to consider one native to your area.  The constant movement and the play of light are stunning.

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Staking Tomatoes

Not “steak and tomatoes” but tomato stakes, those wonderful supports you place around your cute little tomato plants.  It takes planning and a healthy dose of optimism to set them up early.  While you’re waiting around for the perfect day to do that chore, your tiny plants morph into shrubs.

I have a few choice words for the lazy gardener who puts off this task.

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Okay, now that I’m done telling myself off, I’m happy to report that I did manage to wrangle a couple of folding plant stakes around the prolific tomatoes.  I’m glad that’s done!

Staked Tomatoes

While I was at it, I tied a couple of old wooden trellises together into an A-frame for the pumpkin vines.  Hopefully, [insert optimism here] the elevated fruit deters the midnight foragers.  Time will tell.

Pumpkin Trellis

Happy Friday!

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Blooming Thursday: Kinder + Garden

According to Merriam-Webster, bloom can mean “to produce or yield flowers.”  It also means “to mature into achievement of one’s potential.”

Last night my soon-to-be 12 year-old asked if I liked HTML.  I said that I did.  He wanted to create this beautiful lettering for my blog using one of his favorite sites.  He was also careful to point out that it wasn’t completely original, giving credit where credit was due.  I love it!

• • • • • Gardening Nirvana • • • • •

His integrity, thoughtfulness, creativity and wonderful imagination bring me such joy.  It occurred to me today as I was photographing the blooms in my garden, that my children are blooming as well, blossoming really into two terrific young men.

That’s a lot of blooming on Thursday!

Oh yeah…the garden blooms:

I can’t get enough of the view: Blue Hydrangea

Close-up

I think the cosmos grew another foot!

Happy pollinator wearing a purple party hat

Pumpkin flower hiding in the cosmos

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Squirrel Abating Screen-saver Update

In my last-ditch effort to keep the squirrels from decimating my sunflower crop again I came up with the idea of using sliding window screens and a bit of twine to create tents over the planting boxes.  Guess what?  It worked!!!

I completely replanted two boxes, but had a few surviving plants in the third.  I tossed in a few extra seeds, in order to hedge my bets.  In just three weeks, the seeds sprouted and most have set true leaves.  The earlier plants are now as tall as the screens.  Originally I thought I would completely remove the screen-savers once established.  Now that the plants are up, I decided to leave them in place.  I loosened the twine and lifted the leaves to the outside and they continue to thrive.  I’m so happy.

The leaves have the same holes as they did last year, though I never saw the culprit and assumed snails.  The damage, while not pretty, didn’t seem to hinder the plant’s growth.  A friend stopped by this week and said she had seen birds pecking away at the leaves of her sunflower plants, so that could be it.  I’ll keep you posted.

Here’s the screensaver on May 13th:

Screen saver: May 13, 2012

The screen saver today, June 6th:

Screensaver: June 6, 2012

Hee-hee…you can’t get me!

You can find my screensaver tutorial here:

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Front Garden Remodel Turns Two

Two years ago this month, we “remodeled” our front yard.  For years we talked about adding a front deck or patio.  We live on a neighbor-friendly block with kids galore so we were often out front socializing.  We chatted with friends standing in the driveway or sitting on chairs in the garage.  We eventually added a bench and then a swing, but what we longed for was a full-sized patio or deck.

Around the same time, it was becoming more and more difficult for my sister to access our home.  Our entry way consisted of two concrete steps, original to the 50-year-old house, and her MS made it difficult for her to come and go.

We hired the talented team of Bergez and Associates and Natural Bridges Landscaping, to create our suburban paradise.  We’ve found so much joy with our outdoor room!  My sister can come and go unassisted, a boon to her independence.  We also realized that the ramp will allow us to age in place since the house is now easily accessible.

It’s amazing to look back at the newly installed garden.  The plants established beautifully.

Here’s a look:

Garden and Deck, June 2012

Garden and Deck, June 2010

Near the Magnolia: 2010/2012

Kitty Corner, With Special Thanks to Candace

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June Rain for the 15 Year-Old

Though rain is uncommon in the Bay Area by early June, it is raining today.  It also rained 15 years ago when I welcomed my spirited, complex, sweet baby boy .  He loves the rain as much as I do, so what a joy to see it forecast.  This morning  I joked that I “ordered rain” for his birthday.  It started raining thirty minutes ago, just in time for his first school break.  Kismet!  Happy birthday, C!

Enjoying the Rain

Rain-Induced Natural High

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Gardens of San Jose Tour

What a day!  I toured three private gardens in the historic Rose Garden Neighborhood with a long-time friend along for the journey.  We picked up our tour map in the San Jose Municipal Rose Garden, run entirely by volunteers.  From there we walked the route to each home.

The first garden, and the most unusual was a Xeriscape, a New Mexico arroyo-styled theme garden.  There was so much to take in.  The center of the garden houses a yoga room, surrounded by native plantings, dry river beds, a vertical vegetable garden and walkways.  The home owner keeps bees on the property in a hive resembling a tall bird house.  The hive sits behind trellised berry vines, and receives a regular visitor: a neighborhood blue jay.  The bees “clean house” each day, tossing out the dead bees and the jay stops by in the morning to eat them.

Beehive

As an organizer, I was intrigued by the efficient use of space throughout the property.  Baskets, crates, wire shelves and hooks lined the entire back side of the garage.  The narrow space served as storage, with a beautiful Jade and Fuchsia intermingled with the tools.

The mid-day sun wasn’t optimum for good photos.  That said, the collage below captures the flavor of this incredible garden.

Xeriscape Garden

Next on the tour was a spacious 1923 home with a California Woodland garden.  The first thing you see is an 80-year-old Redwood tree with an equally magnificent Spruce dominating the side garden.  The paths open up to a wide expanse of lawn, with “woodland plants such as ferns, lichens wildflowers and grasses” nearby.

A few highlights below:

Woodland Garden

The House of 53 Roses was the final home on the tour.  While I appreciate roses, they don’t grab my attention the way other flowers do.  The show-stopper for me was the charming cat in residence, a mellow fellow named Curtis.  He let me scratch his chin as he rested in the cool grass and seemed indifferent to me and my camera.  Look at that face!

53 Roses and 1 Charming Cat

We capped our day with garden salads and the comfortable conversation of old friends on the outdoor patio at Aqui in Willow Glen.  Garden nirvana indeed.

Old Friends

Proceeds from today’s tour benefit San Jose Parks Foundation, a membership-based, non-profit organization that:

  • Empowers neighborhood and community groups;
  • Helps to recruit, train and retain park and trail volunteers;
  • Works in partnership with the City and others to maximize access and use of San Jose’s parks for families and youth; and
  • Advocates for our parks and trails on behalf of the community.
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‘Big Max’ Pumpkin Vine: Busy Bees, Budding Fruit

Our ‘Big Max‘ pumpkin vine is enjoying the recent heat.  The smaller varieties are leafing out and looking healthy too, but ‘ol Max steals the show.  Max re-seeded from last summer, so had a bit of a head start.  I’m definitely planting directly into the beds next year.   I don’t think the indoor starter plants paid off in the end.  So many of them wilted and died within 24 hours of transplanting.

Will you look at this happy pumpkin vine?!

The Happy Gardener and her Platter-Sized Pumpkin Leaves

Female Flower Setting Fruit

A Squirrel Stopped by for Lunch

Male Flower: Pollinating Bee

Female Flower: Pollinated

Curly Tendrils

It’s a Wrap: The Power of the Vine

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Why Gardening Makes You Happy

Healing Earth

Playing in the dirt always makes me happy.  I’ve taken pleasure from gardening my entire life.  What I never knew, and apparently we are just finding out, is that the mere act of putting your hands in the soil can be as powerful as an antidepressant!

One of my Facebook connections recently shared this article,  entitled Why Gardening Makes You Happy and Cures Depression.  Author Robyn Francis is an international permaculture designer, educator, writer and pioneer based at Djanbung Gardens, Nimbin Northern NSW. She is principal of Permaculture College Australia.

She writes:

Getting down and dirty is the best ‘upper’ – Serotonin

Getting your hands dirty in the garden can increase your serotonin levels – contact with soil and a specific soil bacteria, Mycobacterium vaccae, triggers the release of serotonin in our brain according to research. Serotonin is a happy chemical, a natural anti-depressant and strengthens the immune system. Lack of serotonin in the brain causes depression.

Ironically, in the face of our hyper-hygienic, germicidal, protective clothing, obsessive health-and-safety society, there’s been a lot of interesting research emerging in recent years regarding how good dirt is for us, and dirt-deficiency in childhood is implicated in contributing to quite a spectrum of illnesses including allergies, asthma and mental disorders.

At least now I have a new insight into why I compulsively garden without gloves and have always loved the feeling of getting my bare hands into the dirt and compost heap.

Conversely, she points out that soil contaminated with Roundup or Glyphosate-based herbicides depletes serotonin and dopamine levels in mammals.  Yet another reason to grow and eat organically.

I’ve read her article three times and I’m still fascinated.  You can read the full article and the supporting research on the Permaculture Australia website.