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 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?

Cosmo and Hummingbird
Beauty Times Two

Who needs to hang Christmas lights?

September 29, 2012 by Born To Organize

Garden Sunshine: September Winding Down

A special thank you to all my gentle readers for your comments and advice. The birdhouse gourd vine will stay through the winter. I”ll keep you posted on how things go. Late this week I noticed one of the gourds had doubled in size. Woo-hoo! What would a gardening gal do without this community?

Speaking of community, many thanks to gardensunshine for including me in her list of Beautiful Bloggers. I appreciate your kind words I’ve been following her five-part series as she transforms her “shed” from drab to fab. Honestly, it’s more rustic house if you ask me and I’m positively envious of all that space. The shed even has a bit of history:

It is believed to be one of the oldest buildings in our county. From what we can tell it was used as a house or bunker for the men working in the clay pit making clay bricks around 1890 and earlier. It is a really neat crooked building and as we found out when we power washed it full of water, it leans heavily to the left.

Garden Sunshine’s Historic Garden Shed (before)

Pop on over to read her five-part series, and to see the beautiful transformation in words and pictures. It was lovingly restored.

Back at gardening nirvana, we’re in for an early fall heat wave, with temps floating in the low nineties. I’m glad I got the winter garden in when I did. It’s a happy garden too, if that’s possible. The worm bin is a bustling place, thriving on kitchen scraps and leaves.The composter is “cooking” away, making organic mulch for next summer’s garden. I covered the seeds with wire and mesh, to ensure tiny critters give them a chance to grow. Lindy thought it was a new litter box, so I had to put that to rest as well.

October is almost here. I’m so excited.

September 27, 2012 by Born To Organize

Blooming Thursday: Seeds for the Holidays

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 Card – Front 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:

Creative Memories StoryBook Creator 4.0 digital software
Paper Source 3.5 x 3.5 Glassine envelopes (for seeds)

My Beloved Cosmos:

September 24, 2012 by Born To Organize

My Beautiful Garden Bench

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.

September 20, 2012 by Born To Organize

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.

Flower or fish? I love those multicolored scales.

Bachelor’s Button handsome profile

There’s the promise for next year.

September 19, 2012 by Born To Organize

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.

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

He’s a cheeky little fella

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

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

Bottoms up!

Are you smiling yet?

September 15, 2012 by Born To Organize

Tumbling Composter: Some Assembly Required

As I excitedly ordered my tumbling composter, I failed to read the inevitable fine print. You know…some assembly required. I kept a watchful eye for the UPS driver, ready to pounce on that box. My kitchen scraps were taking on an odoriferous scent and still the composter didn’t come.

I eventually dumped the scraps in a bucket in the garage, and covered them with potting soil. It’s funny but two weeks ago I would have tossed those scraps or ground them up in the garbage disposal. Now the scraps had a real purpose. My garden was counting on me.

UPS At Last

The day my husband, and resident handyman left for a business trip, the box arrived. I came home that afternoon to a damaged box on the porch, with one of the parts sticking out of the side. Oh-oh. I was afraid to open it. The good news: no harm done. The bad news: so many parts. I was facing eight panels, two end pieces, six leg pieces and a bag with 56 washers and screws. I unpacked all the pieces, then left the room.

Lindy didn’t think she could help, either.

My son, in his sweet and gentle way, asked me if I would be moving it as it was blocking his path to the living room. Okay. I can do this. I fumbled around with my husbands various tools, found what I hoped would work and got down to the business of building a composter. It went together beautifully, and was over half done when I called it a day. I finished assembling it with my son’s help on Thursday. At last the fun could begin.

Some assembly required

Ta-da!

I had a bucket of “brown” from the pumpkin patch ready to go and a decent sized bucket of “green” to go with it. Into the bin they went. I closed the door, gave it a spin, and smiled. Who knew rotted apples and dead leaves could bring about such happiness?

Do you compost too?

The Compost Recipe

I’ve seen several variations on the mix, but here are the suggestions from tumblingcomposters.com:

The composting process works best by mixing moist greens (nitrogen rich) with dry browns (carbon rich) in a ratio of approximately 2 parts greens to 1 part browns.

Greens are:

kitchen scraps
grass clippings
garden and house plants

Browns are:

leaves
straw or hay
saw dust
twigs

Do not compost:

meats/fats/bones
dairy products
trash/plastic
wood ashes
invasive plants or weeds

Serves several plants.

September 14, 2012 by Born To Organize

Squirrels: They’re back!

In early June I planted a row of sunflower seeds along the front deck. Within a week they were gone, consumed by our neighborhood squirrels. I planted a second batch, this time indoors, but the transplants were leggy. Refusing to give up, I came up with a barrier, heretofore known as the screen saver, and planted one last time. They took! Within 90 days we had a beautiful row of six-foot sunflowers.

Last year the flowers went completely to seed on the plant. I saved a handful of seeds, then placed the flower heads along the garden wall for the squirrels. It was fun watching them nibble away. I love watching those cute little “hands” busy at work. They polished off the sunflower seeds in a matter of days.

This year the squirrels took matters into their own hands. Not known for their manners, they simply bent (or broke) the stems till they reached the deck and helped themselves.

I’m always amazed at their ingenuity. Wild bird centers are full of gadgets to deter squirrels from bird feeders, but those clever squirrels figure it out. When it involves nuts or seeds, squirrels are up for the challenge.

I finally caught two of them in the flower-bending act this week. Did I shoo them away? Of course not! I grabbed the camera instead.