October 9, 2012 by Born To Organize

Spring Bulbs: My Flowery Future Awaits

Photo Credit: White Flower Farm

I lovingly perused the Fall Netherlands Bulb Company catalog, then cast it aside. The pages, filled with promise and spring blooms, made my heart ache. Wouldn’t it be glorious having a spring garden filled with exotic blooms? Nothing shouts spring, like a garden filled with crocus, daffodils and tulips. I wrote about my bulb-planting failures in August: Spring Bulbs: To Plant or not to Plant, and received the following encouragement:

Bob J. wrote:

Bulbs are so forgiving, even upside down you will get SOME to twist around and come up. I don’t even bother to refrigerate, and most of mine come up anyway. Maybe you are planting too deep, but you would have to drop them in a well for all of them to fail. My feeling is that something has dug yours up. Probably you are going to have to protect them from critters. I stick with Costco and Ace hardware cheapies and plant a few new ones each year.

So, I’m giving them a second try. Following Bob’s advice, I stopped at our local hardware store, and picked up a few bags. Since early frost is uncommon here, I’m popping the tulip bulbs in the fridge for good measure. Bob’s climate is a bit cooler than ours, and he occasionally sees snow.

Tulip Bulb Assortment
Van Zyverden

Then Boomdeeada wrote:

I’ve had mixed success with fall bulbs. My favorite was a tulip called Angelique. Shorter, blush pink, frilly. It worked well in my spring garden (Our house was Burgundy in color). I also planted a mass of yellow & pink, late bloomers on the lake front, they’d bloom along with the mauve lilac. But I was always adding more every fall. I don’t know why they fail, but sometimes there wasn’t anything to dig up. Like you, I do love the scent of Hyacinth, but even though you link indicates Zone 2, they never came back the next year. Don’t give up!

So…guess what made it into my cart? 15 Tulip Angélique. I’m so excited!

Recommended planting months for our zone are October through December. The tulips have a few weeks to chill before heading outdoors. I also bought Tulip Attila and Tulip Passionale as well as Snowdrop Galanthus nivalis. Next up: where to plant my assorted bulbs and how to keep them under wraps till spring. Suggestions welcome!

Resources:

Dig, Drop, Done: Ready to learn, ready to plant.
Keukenhauf flower bulb weekend, October 18 – 21. Spectacular!
Canada hardiness zones
American Horticultural Society

Halloween Countdown

Rock, paper, scissors Pumpkin

October 8, 2012 by Born To Organize

Hiking the Quicksilver Trail

Hiking Buddies

We officially launched our back-to-school hiking season today along one of the beautiful Quicksilver trails. It was a perfect fall day! I hike with my friend Karen, and her sweet dog, Dylan during the school year. With four children between us, we rarely find time for these hikes in the summer. It’s good to be back.

Dylan was so happy to see me, that he climbed in my lap and prepared to stay there…all 58 pounds of him. Dogs have an innate ability to make you feel loved. I adore him! He was also happy to be back on the trail with his senses working in overdrive.

Almaden Quicksilver

Almaden Quicksilver boasts a vast web of trails throughout Almaden Valley, a suburb in Silicon Valley. Once home to Quicksilver Mines, it’s now a 4,152-acre county park “encompassing several historic remains, including abandoned towns, cemeteries, old equipment, and mine entrances.”

Almaden Quicksilver Hiking Trail

We’ve had no measurable rain for months, so the trails are a dry, brown hue. Though I love the verdant green winter and spring days, there is something magical about this time of year. Evergreen shrubs and trees cast shadows on the well-worn trails. Patches of dried bramble shelter rabbits, lizards and birds. The soft rustling adds to the experience.

Flowers going to seed or popcorn on the vine

Just as I bemoaned the fact that we’d not seen deer for a while, we spotted some near the head of the trail. Their legs blend in with the dried grass. I took my eyes off of them to adjust my camera, and they seemed to momentarily disappear. My heart sings a little when I get a close glimpse of them. Wildlife continues to flourish in the heart of Silicon Valley.

A pair of deer at trail head

Always on the alert for predators

Halloween Countdown

Man of La Mancha Pumpkin
Don Quixote and Sancho Panza

October 7, 2012 by Born To Organize

Savoring the Flavoring of Pumpkin

Pumpkin Ice Cream Pie
photo credit: Deborah DeLong

I love growing things that we can also eat, but I’m not much of a cook. I *can* cook. It just doesn’t hold my interest. Luckily for me I married a man who knows his way around the kitchen.

During the holidays, I get to fuss over the table settings while he stays busy in the kitchen. I love arranging flowers, making place cards, lighting candles, and seeing that our guests feel at home.

Our Canadian friends celebrate their Thanksgiving holiday this Monday, October 8th. In the US, we celebrate the third Thursday of November, so still plenty of planning weeks ahead.

Sweet pumpkin pie is a traditional favorite, but not everyone likes the texture. I’ve found a few interesting alternatives to try this year. I’ll be running them by the resident chef to see what he thinks. I wanted to share them with you, too. Do you have a favorite pumpkin recipe of your own? Please let us know in the comments, below.

Pumpkin Desserts

Honey Pumpkin Ice Cream Pie

Deborah, at Romancing the Bee shared a recipe for this sweet sensation last week. She says it’s quick and easy, and judging by the ingredients, it will go down as smooth as honey.

Vegan Pumpkin Muffins

I can almost smell the allspice just looking at the photo. These seasonal goodies would be a hit at the office potluck or tucked into a tin as a hostess gift.

Pumpkin Carrot Swirl Bars

You can never have too much orange. These tasty treats combine pumpkins and carrots for a vitamin-rich dessert. This is a great make-ahead recipe and a fun treat to pack in a school lunch.

Halloween Countdown

Masked Pumpkin

Happy Thanksgiving Day to my Canadian family and friends.

October 6, 2012 by Born To Organize

Pumpkins: Just the Facts, Ma’am

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Pumpkins are so entrenched in our North American culture this time of year, that it’s easy to forget they’re not equally popular the world over. They’re native to Central America and Mexico, but they’ve been grown in North America for five thousand years.

Bob’s Pumpkin Farm, Half Moon Bay

Pilgrims learned to cultivate, grow and store pumpkins from the Native Americans. Without them, they would have starved in those early 1600s winters. Pumpkin pie is traditionally served at the Thanksgiving meal. It’s easy to forget what a significant role it played in the early Pilgrim’s lives.

Thanksgiving flower arrangement

We have a number of pumpkin festivals and pumpkin “patches” in our community. We attended many of them when our boys were young, and were sorry when a few closed to make room for development.

The immensely popular Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Festival, dubbed the World Pumpkin Capital celebrates 42 years in 2012. The festival highlight for those of us serious about pumpkins, is the great pumpkin weigh-off. Last year’s winning pumpkin tipped the scales at a mind-boggling 1,704 pounds. Unfortunately, the festival has grown so popular that it can take upwards of an hour to get to the center of town. We joined friends for an off weekend last year, so we could drive through Half Moon Bay and along the beautiful coast, while avoiding the traffic nightmare.

Lifting Weights at Bob’s Pumpkin Farm

I dream of growing our own “Atlantic Giant,” out back, but lack the stamina and will power of the serious growers. It’s fun to read about the efforts the hard-core growers employ, and to see the amazing results. It was quite the thrill growing a 62 pound beauty this year.

I can’t wait to see what the seeds and flesh are like inside. My husband lovingly carves our pumpkins year after year. We dry and store seeds for the following season and the cycle begins anew.

2011 Pumpkin Crop

Pumpkin Facts

Pumpkins are a member of the gourd family, which includes cucumbers, honeydew melons, cantaloupe, watermelons and zucchini.
The largest pumpkin pie ever baked was in 2005 and weighed 2,020 pounds.
In 1584, after French explorer Jacques Cartier explored the St. Lawrence region of North America, he reported finding “gros melons.” The name was translated into English as “pompions,” which has since evolved into the modern “pumpkin.”
Pumpkins are low in calories, fat, and sodium and high in fiber. They are good sources of Vitamin A, Vitamin B, potassium, protein, and iron.
The heaviest pumpkin weighed 1,810 lb 8 oz and was presented by Chris Stevens at the Stillwater Harvest Fest in Stillwater, Minnesota, in October 2010.
Pumpkin seeds should be planted between the last week of May and the middle of June. They take between 90 and 120 days to grow and are picked in October when they are bright orange in color. Their seeds can be saved to grow new pumpkins the next year.

U.S. Census Bureau and the Guinness Book of World Records

Resources:

Half Moon Bay Art and Pumpkin Festival
All About Pumpkins (History)
Pumpkin Facts
The Charles Schultz Classic, It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, premiered 45 years ago.
Our own pumpkins over the years

Halloween Countdown

Pumpkins and Flowers

October 5, 2012 by Born To Organize

Freaky Friday: The Garden’s Dark Underbelly

It’s not all Sweet Alyssum and roses. Every garden has a dark side. I’m sure it’s no accident that the spooky celebrations of Halloween coincide with the decay of fall.

Use your imagination and come with me as we travel the more sinister side of the garden.

“Bat Wings”…or decaying leaf?

Spider in the gravel…look closely.

Rats Gone Bad

Hallowed orange or hollow orange? You decide.

Tree Rat or Field Mouse? Helping himself to an orange.

Not What They Seem

The Choking Vine? Snaking and staking the trellis.

Urban Decay

Shrunken Head?

I’m a Stink bug. Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Cavernous Lair

Something Wicked This Way Comes: Black Widow Haven

Halloween Countdown

It’s The Great Pumpkin, Lindy-Lu!

October 4, 2012 by Born To Organize

Blooming Thursday: Last Call

Anemones

The party is over. We’ve had a good run. The last of the anemones are finally winding down, with just a few new blooms here and there.

A few remaining blooms

We’ve enjoyed eight weeks of snow-white blossoms meandering along the back fence. The anemones appeared at our dinner table, at my book club and in several gardeningnirvana posts.They helped soften the departure of the summer cosmos.They’ve continued to bloom into early fall, waiting for autumn color to set in before making a quiet retreat. In a few more weeks the plants will blend in with the other greenery, and if it gets cold enough, they’ll go dormant. See you next summer!

What do you mean, the party is over?

Spent and dying blooms

Watercolor Edges

Birdhouse Gourd

Birdhouse Gorgeous 10/5/12

I’ve decided to rename the gourd below, “birdhouse gorgeous.” I’m stunned at the rapid acceleration in the past ten days. Count me grateful, too, that it’s growing off to the side of the trellis or I would have hit my head on it by now.

Birdhouse Gorgeous 9/6/12

Halloween Countdown

Warm and toasty pumpkins
Handmade scarf by Mary Ann Askins

October 3, 2012 by Born To Organize

Who Was That Masked Gardener?

Thank you all for the fab birthday greetings! I’m still basking in birthday glow! October is such a great month to get older. ;-)

Check out the birthday card I received from my family. I’m wearing it! It’s really a Halloween card, but knowing how much I love the season they usually buy me a Halloween card instead.

Papyrus Card and Mask

The inspiration for my costume this year is a birthday/Halloween card. Designer Bella Pilar has a line of whimsical cards, featuring fabulous and funky dresses The spotted cat was a natural for me. It’s one of my all time favorite line of cards. Who says you can’t dress up like a greeting card?

Bella Pilar Illustrations
Inspiration for this year’s Halloween Costume

Fairy Garden Additions

Additions to the Fairy Garden

Fairy Garden After Dark

The fairies have been busy cheering up the “haunted” fairy garden. They added a banner and a few pumpkins. Things are looking a lot more festive. They’re off collecting apples for an apple-bob. They might be going for a hay ride through a cemetery later, too. I plan to add a few lights to welcome them back. Things are far less spooky with the lights on.

Halloween Countdown

Mardi Gras Pumpkin

Resources

Papyrus makes unique and artistic greeting cards with beautiful envelopes to match.
Mardi Gras in New Orleans, LA.
Bella Pillar™ design and illustration.

October 2, 2012 by Born To Organize

Tea: It’s Not Just for Drinking

Our British father was a tea-drinker, so as young girls we wanted to follow suit. My first few cups were mostly milk and sugar, but I grew to love the brew and look forward to a cup daily. When I traveled to Hawaii years ago, my friend Paige teased that I was the only one she knew that wanted to drink hot tea in the tropics. It grows on you!

Growing Tea

The tea-plant is an evergreen tree which grows in tropical or sub-tropical regions. A high level of humidity, lots of sunshine and plenty of rain make the ideal planting conditions. It grows easily at altitude (Darjeeling teas are grown in the Himalayan mountains). Tea plants are cultivated in tea-gardens which often give their names to certain growths of tea.

In the wild, the tea plant can reach 10 – 15 meters tall, but to make it easier to harvest its leaves, it is pruned to a height of about 1.10 meters from the ground. It has a lifespan of around forty years.

The tea leaves are plucked three times a year and each harvest period imparts a distinctive flavour to the tea. In the Himalayas, the first harvest takes place from mid-March to mid-April and produces teas with a mild, vegetal taste (this is the “First Flush”) and rare and aromatic qualities.

The second or middle harvest takes place between mid-April and mid-May and produces teas with a more fruity and perfumed flavour.

The last period for tea-picking is between mid-May and mid-July, for the stronger and less delicate growths. Source: Kusmi Tea

Tea Dye

When I worked in the costume shop at San Jose State, we used tea as a light stain on white shirts. True white is blinding on stage when hit with hot lights. The tea took the edge off the brightness. I’m employing this same technique to age a few pieces for my sister’s Halloween costume. She’s dressing up as the animated character Corpse Bride from the Tim Burton movie. We’ve pulled together pieces from thrift shops and items on hand along with a floral head wreath and bouquet from my garden.

Costume Pieces in a Rinse of Tea

Mom-isms: Tea Fixes Everything

Growing up, our Mom’s solution for most things was the pragmatic, “Have an aspirin and a cup of tea and you’ll feel better.” That still makes me smile. Mom died in 2008 but today is our shared birthday. Mom hated a fuss, so in her honor a simple “happy birthday!” is what made her happy.

Mom’s Halloween Sketch

Halloween Countdown

Corpse Bride Bouquet and Headpiece

October 1, 2012 by Born To Organize

Haunting in the Fairy Garden

It was a dark and stormy night in the garden. Strong winds whistled through the stark, barren trees. Lightning split the blackened skies as thunder rumbled like an angry troll. Tiny fairies scaled the tall pumpkins, stumbling upon a petrified fallen log nestled at the base of the pumpkin’s stem. Out of nowhere, a tall ladder appeared reaching skyward.

…stumbling upon a fallen log.

A large, white cat mewed at the base of the decaying stump, reminding them that they must trudge on. They climbed the ladder slowly, chin to chest, to avoid the fierce and brutal wind. Reaching the top, the fairies emerged in a magical forest where homes were made from stickers and tiny cats were one-dimensional.

Halloween Fairy Garden

Frolicking cats

They stumbled along a grey stone pathway littered with fallen leaves leading to a house. Larger than life tombstones stood at an odd angle nearby. Were they imagining things or was that really a ghost? If you’re a fairy meandering through a forest on a dark and stormy night, it’s easy to let your imagination get away from you. It’s probably just a balloon stuck in a tree.

Going up?

Suddenly, someone yelled “surprise!!!” it’s almost Halloween!

Only wonderful things happen in fairy gardens, and this was no exception. Purple flowers bloomed in the nearby forest. Cool, green baby tears lined the forest floor. Resident cats, Petals and Blossum frolicked in the tall grass. A Pyjama Gardener cut flowers for the party table nearby. The fairies stayed to help decorate. We’ll see what they are up to tomorrow.

Halloween Countdown:

I’m so happy!

September 30, 2012 by Born To Organize

September Treats: A Little of This and That

Tiny purple blooms dot the Polka Dot plant

My garden’s been busy over the weekend. In just 24 hours, the Pink Polka Dot plant produced several flowers. I didn’t know the plant would actually bloom. All plants have a flower and a fruit, but many are subtle and therefore go unnoticed. Tiny purple flowers dot the plant. They’re quite small, no bigger than a centimeter, but they look vibrant against the mostly pink and green backdrop of the spotted leaves. What a fun discovery.

Three cheers for yellow!!!

Also growing in one of the pots is a fresh, yellow daisy or daisy-like flower. It’s another surprise from the packet of wildflowers planted in early spring. Every few weeks, a new flower appears. Today’s gorgeous bloom is as bright as a sunflower, but smaller in size. Yellow flowers are the garden cheerleaders: upbeat and sunny.

In that same pot, one or two fuchsia cosmos remain, a nice backdrop for the hummingbirds darting in and out at the feeder.

Bowling-pin Gourd

I smiled when I rounded the corner of the trellis and saw a rapidly growing birdhouse gourd still thriving on the vine. Most of the early fruit was small, but this latest gourd is growing at break-neck speed. In its present form, it reminds me of a bowling pin. Several smaller gourds grew up the trellis to the side of the house and they now hang below the eaves like a string of Christmas lights. Every time I see them I get a good giggle.

Tomorrow is October 1st with a projected temperature of 94 degrees Fahrenheit (34 degrees Celsius). Crazy weather! I’m starting my Halloween countdown in earnest tomorrow, featuring something seasonal daily. Stay tuned.

I love October! How about you?