April 17, 2012 by Born To Organize

Spider Catcher: Witness Relocation Program for Arachnids

Humane Bug Catcher
Available from PETA

Spiders used to freak me out. Seriously, I considered sleeping on the couch if I knew a spider lurked above my bed. I once read that people ingest about six spiders during an average lifetime. Well.

Over time, I’ve faced those fears. Though I’m not fond of the over-sized wolf spiders or the dark-legged lurker, I can deal. Interestingly, unless they are really large, I don’t mind them so much in the garden. They eat non-beneficial insects and, I recently learned, provide silk for hummingbird nests.

In my early renting days, one of my roommates set up a primitive version of a spider catcher: a plastic cup and a nice strong piece of cardboard. He knew I couldn’t kill a spider so an at-the-ready bug catcher was the next best think. Cup and cardboard in hand, unwanted arachnids were unceremoniously evicted into nearby landscaping.

About a decade ago, I found a super-cool spider catcher at a local wildlife bird center. It has a long handle (distance is good!) and a clever little chamber to safely cup over the intruder. Once confined, you gently slide the bottom closed and the spider remains captive as you head for the shrubs in the far, far, far corner of the garden.

Humane Bug Catcher available from PETA’s catalog.

April 16, 2012 by Born To Organize

Chocolate is the New Black

Not all is what it seems,
Not all seams are sewn,
A dress made of chocolate,
With flowers, adorned.
Like most high-end fashion,
Too pricey for me,
With ruffles more like truffles
the hat a delicacy.

Chocolate is the New Black

I love fashion, flowers and chocolate so was quite delighted with this concoction.

On display at Jean-Philippe Chocolates and Pastries at the Bellagio Hotel and Resort in Las Vegas, NV.

April 15, 2012 by Born To Organize

Bellagio Botanical Gardens: Flowering Whimsy

Charming Display Markers: Children's Clogs

It’s Las Vegas after all, a larger than life playground for adults. I expected over the top everything on my first visit to sin city, but was pleasantly surprised to find delicate blooms, charming displays, and happy children working their way through the Bellagio Conservatory and Botanical Gardens.

The Conservatory transforms five times a year, once for each season and a special display to commemorate Chinese New Year. The 2012 Spring Garden display is on view through May. Potent hyacinth were in bed with tulips, while mums lined the walkways. Larger than life wooden clogs housed flowers, with their miniature counterpart used as display markers to describe the scenes. I loved the bicycles, propped up against the landscape and the stunning floral reproduction of a Monet.

Bicycles at the Ready

The over-sized and somewhat silly swans seemed out of scale to the rest of the garden, but the artificial flowers and bees were fun. Whimsical hanging parasols had me mentally redecorating my bedroom at home. The overused catch phrase, “what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas,” needn’t apply to a beautiful set of floral parasols hanging from my bedroom ceiling at home. A gardener can dream, can’t she?

'Flapjack' Tulips

Chrysanthemum Ying and Yang

If only they were real

For My Room at Home?

Reminds me of me: I'm always the tall one in the bunch

I guess they meant "literally"

√ You can see some of the past Bellagio displays here.

√ For a time-lapse photo slide show of the garden installation click here.

April 14, 2012 by Born To Organize

Gardens: Las Vegas Style

My husband invited me to join him this weekend for a business trip to Vegas. During the time he worked, I explored some of the gardens, limited though they are on the Vegas strip. I had a great time snapping pictures at the Garden Conservatory at the Hotel Bellagio. I can’t speak to the practicality of spring blooms in the middle of a desert climate. They must import a lot of water to pull that off. The flowers were beautiful and well-tended. I will post more tomorrow.

Here are a few to wet your whistle.

The Real…

Chrysanthemums

Unreal…

Flower Umbrellas

Surreal…

A Floral Masterpiece

April 13, 2012 by Born To Organize

Such Promise in a Packet of Seeds

Organic Sunflower Seeds from Botanical Interests

Just imagine: for $1.99 (plus tax) you can hold a handful of summer potential in a slim packet of seeds. I’ve been dropping seeds into the earth since I was five, forever optimistic that what I planted would grow. And grow they did! Given the right amount of water and sun that slip of a seed knows to break through the earth, set roots below and then do what it does best: grow up and out as it morphs into leaves, branches, flowers and fruit. When the cycle is complete, that clever plant turns to seed so the process can begin anew.

Nothing epitomizes this cheerful process like sunflowers. Helianthus annuus are easy to grow and spectacular in size. A regular show-stopper along the garden path, they follow the sun throughout the day, then reset at night. Glorious flowers and abundant seeds attract wildlife as they reach skyward.

Once these cold spring days are behind us, I’ll tear open that packet and gently tuck each seed beneath the soil. All that promise in a packet of seeds.

Here’s what we’ll plant this year (descriptions from the seed packets):

Sunflower ‘Mammoth Russian‘ from Botanical Interests®

“Heirloom Towering in the garden, the tall plants produce a single, magnificent flower reaching 1 foot across. Ripe seeds attract birds and wildlife. Annual full sun, blooms summer to fall 6′ – 10′ fall”

Sunflower ‘Evening Sun‘ from Botanical Interests®

“Heirloom Fiery shades of vivid gold, autumn orange, warm mahogany and blazing bronze! A dazzling cut flower and enticing treat for birds. Annual full sun. Blooms summer to fall, 6′ – 8′ tall”

One of last year’s sunflowers: From Seed to Tower in an Hour

The default direction of the sunflower head is to point east towards sunrise: Helianthus: Flowers of the sun

April 12, 2012 by Born To Organize

Blooming Thursday: Enjoying the Rain

We’re enjoying a wet spring break, with rain falling most days. I woke to a heavy squall around five this morning and never got back to sleep. The sound of rain at that hour is soothing and invigorating, unless of course you’re a cat. Falling rain is simply annoying. Our kitties cast a backward glance as I open the door, as if to say “make it stop!”

If the flowers could talk, they would tell a different tale. I’ll attempt to interpret with photos, below.

Raspberry Flower about to Fruit

Through the Grapevine

A New Garden Addition

Pink Azalea Closeup

Refreshed

Candy-cane Azalea Smothered in Blooms

April 11, 2012 by Born To Organize

Starter Pumpkins: Countertop Seeds

Seed Starter

For the past several years, we’ve purchased a variety of pumpkin seeds for my son’s Christmas stocking. We start the seeds indoors in April or May to give them a fighting chance against birds and squirrels. We have them in the ground by June, ready to harvest in August or September.

This year we started our seeds in a Burpee Self-Watering Seed Starting System®. The kit comes with 72 cells, a planting medium, a moisture-mat and a greenhouse-styled dome. Everything you need for success except water! Our new crop includes Lumina (white), Baby Pam (pie), Magic Lantern (20 lb orange), Munchkin (miniature, orange) and Howden Biggie (40-60 lb. orange).

In the past the seeds were usually jumbled together, so we never knew what was what till they started to produce. We were more methodical this year now that my son is older and more interested in the varieties. I photo-copied the seed packets on heavy card stock and taped them to chopsticks. When we transplant outdoors, the plant labels will be ready to go.

Every year we hope for one large pumpkin, but we’re never willing to sacrifice the other fruit to nurture just one plant. Once again, I imagine we’ll simply let nature takes its course (except for the squirrels of course). The chicken wire barrier keeps the nibblers at bay till the young plants begin to grow.

Pumpkin Seeds: The Start of Something Big

April 10, 2012 by Born To Organize

The Plants are In!

Resident (Self-described) Hole Digger
My Husband, Mike

We’re sore and tired but content with the satisfaction that comes from an honest day’s work. It’s been a few years since we’ve planted for the better part of a day but we did it. Mike prefers sailing to gardening, but at the start of our marriage, he designated himself the resident hole-digger. Am I ever lucky!

The plants near the house went in quickly. The soil is free of roots and was easy to work. The challenge was the planting area under the neighboring pine. I cut away several surface roots before digging was under way, but the roots are invasive, in some cases two inches in diameter. We ended up tag-teaming the larger holes, digging a little, cutting the roots and then digging some more.

Getting Started

We made a quick run to the local Home Depot for redwood mulch, but underestimated by about 10%. Otherwise, the planting and mulching are done.

I can’t wait to get started on the vegetable beds!

Plant Placement

Putting Down Roots

Planting Area Adjacent to the Steps

Planting under the Living Room Window
Don't the plants look cozy under all that mulch?

Abutilons Along the Fence Line

View from the Corner of the House

Paradise Found

Plant Legend

Corner Near Steps:

Heuchera micrantha ‘Palace Purple’ Coral Bells
Liriope muscari “Variegata” Lilyturf
Phormium hybrid ‘Maori Sunrise’ New Zealand Flax
Hemerocallis hybrid ‘Evergreen Yellow’ Daylily

Under Window:

Azalea kurume hybrid “Hino crimson” Azalea
Campanula poscharskyana Serbian Bell flower
Heuchera micrantha ‘Palace Purple’ Coral Bells
Liriope muscari “Variegata” Lilyturf

Fence Line:

Abutilon hybridum ‘Flowering Maple’
Campanula poscharskyana Serbian Bell flower

Back Corner:

Campanula poscharskyana Serbian Bell flower
Hakonechloa macra ‘Aureola’ Japanese Frost Grass
Hemerocallis hybrid ‘Evergreen Yellow’ Daylily
Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Nikko Blue’ Garden Hydrangea

April 9, 2012 by Born To Organize

The Bad News…

Broken Ladder, Wounded Pride

I fell off a ladder trying to net the fruit tree. The good news: I landed in a soft growth of ferns. The bad news: my son saw me fall and he’s a bit worried. The good news: no real injuries other than my wounded pride, a bruise on my shin and a tender tailbone. More bad news: I broke the ladder. The good news: this paragraph has drawn to a close.

We bought bird netting for the fruit tree and I was attempting to drape it from the top. The leg of the ladder sank into a soft patch of dirt, fell sidewise into the fence and deposited me backwards. It’s hard not to feel like the village idiot. It’s not the first time I’ve been up on a ladder. I should have made sure that fourth leg was stable.

So, the netting is now unceremoniously stuffed around the tree. Next time…I’m glad I get to say next time.

Ladder Safety according to the OSHA Quick Card complied by the United States Department of Labor.

Kitty Decided to Net Himself

Practicing His "I'm Innocent" Look

April 8, 2012 by Born To Organize

Ready to Plant: Our Trip to Almaden Valley Nursery

Doug Reviews Our Order

The planting begins! The stars aligned this weekend and we had the time and the weather to begin filling in all the planting spaces created earlier this year when we re-did the hard-scaping in our back yard.

We placed our order with Almaden Valley Nursery, a locally owned nursery and gift shop in San Jose. Our friend Doug is a nurseryman there. He pulled the order earlier in the week, then loaded it into the van with my husband’s help. Turns out we needed to make a couple of trips, but by late Saturday afternoon, all the plants were home and lined up on the back steps.

After this morning’s Easter egg hunt and a pancake breakfast, we got to work. Details tomorrow, along with photos of our progress.