March 3, 2015 by Born To Organize

Blogging 101: What’s in a Name?

Today’s assignment is assertive and succinct: Take Control of Your Title and Tagline

The title Gardening Nirvana and the tag line pics and prose sit undisturbed at the top of my blog. They’ve been holding hands since May, 2011. I briefly altered my tag line last October in honor of Halloween but the following month I put everything back, nice and tidy. Nearly four years and over 800 posts later, it fits like a well-worn garden glove.

So, what’s in a name? If I were selling something, I might have put more thought into a catchy title. Instead, I joined two words from the dictionary and called it a day. I planned to write about my experiences gardening and the joy that comes from putting your hands in the earth, hence:

gardening [ˈgɑːdənɪŋ]
noun: the planning and cultivation of a garden

nir·va·na (nîr-vän, nr-)
noun: An ideal condition of rest, harmony, stability, or joy.

When the winter months rolled around that first year, I had a bit of a freak out: what would I write about during the more dormant months?

I needn’t have worried. Once I hit my stride and developed a blogging community, the subject of my posts didn’t matter. It was more about sharing my experiences in and out of the garden. Local hikes, a trip to Victoria, and our Little Free Library all made it into the blog. I’ve shared personal essays, linked up with other bloggers and even shared one or two do-it-yourself projects.

And with that, I think I’ve written my new tag line: sharing my journey in and out of the garden.

As for a new title, I still don’t know. My tag cloud makes one thing crystal clear: the word Gardening still stands out from the crowd.

You can learn more about Blogging University or Blogging 101 at The Daily Post
Catching up on this week’s posts: Blogging 101: Rekindling the Passion

March 2, 2015 by Born To Organize

Blogging 101: Rekindling The Passion

Ruts are never a good thing: not in the garden, not in your life and certainly not in the blogging world. If I’m bored, I shudder to think how my readers might feel. It’s time to rekindle my passion for blogging.

With that in mind, I’ve signed up for Blogging University, March 2015, also known as Blogging 101. You can read more about it here. It looks like fun and its free from the folks at WordPress.

Our first assignment is to introduce ourselves. Since I’ve been blogging for a few years, I feel like an open book…or blog. If you’re new here, or perhaps stopping by from the “Class of March, 2015”, welcome!

So…what am I doing here in the land of blogging?

I came for the writing and stayed for the friends. Who knew? I’ve always enjoyed some form of creative writing. I started a blog as a way to express myself, and hoped that others would find and read it. I kept personal journals for years, but the appeal of blogging is the chance to share your thoughts and ideas with others.

I’m passionate about gardening and organizing, and probably inherited both loves from my father, a British horticulturist and hobbyist. He died when I was young, but passed on his love of gardening and his sense of order.

By day I’m a professional organizer. It’s a great profession for someone like me who enjoys helping others while bringing order out of chaos. I get to use my design background and space planning skills as well. Most of my clients have cats, dogs or both which brings me to my next love: animals.

I live in Silicon Valley with my husband of 20 years, our two teenage sons, and three adorable felines. They’re spoiled, one and all, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

My love of gardening takes many forms. I grow potted plants indoors and on the deck. Outdoors I tend a perennial garden, with an ever-changing array of annuals, bulbs and herbs. A few years ago I fell in love with fairy gardens and added that to my repertoire as well. It’s a wonderful way to express your inner child.

On the subject of children, my now 15 year-old inspired my love of growing pumpkins. One happy accident lead to our first pumpkin crop: my little one spilled squirrel seed mix on the walkway, and our love of growing pumpkins grew from there. We’ve grown them ever since. I’m taking this year off after back-to-back squash bug infestations. Truth be told, I’ll miss them.

I’m looking for ways to keep my blog fresh and interesting and have even toyed with the idea of a new name and a whole new look. Let’s see what the month brings.

Special thanks to Michelle, Maureen, Alex, and the WordPress team for leading the way.

February 4, 2015 by Born To Organize

Waking up to Paperwhites

Paperwhites in the morning. Better than an alarm clock

A few of the paperwhite bulbs I planted indoors are in bloom, and they are fragrant beyond belief. It was the first thing I noticed when I opened my eyes this morning. Just one of the bulbs in our bedroom has flowered so far, but the intoxicating scent fills the room. I can see a few buds on the other plants, so I’m in for a sensory treat later in the week.

paperwhite showing roots 2-4-2015 4-09-10 PM

Closeup view of Narcissus Paperwhite roots

Note: I carried the vase outside for better light

Out in the kitchen, the scent greeted me again. If I were a bird or a bee, the message would be clear: I’m irresistible! That’s why my Latin name is Narcissus.

paperwhite in pink chick 2-4-2015 4-05-55 PM

Paperwhite and chick

The single bloom in my little pink planter makes me giggle. It seems improbable that the long, lean stem could remain upright, but so far, so good.

I will definitely be planting more of these indoors in the future. It’s been a splendid treat.

How about you? Do you ever grow bulbs indoors?

January 29, 2015 by Born To Organize

Blooming Thursday: A Quick Walk Through the Garden

I’m finally feeling like myself again after a week and a half of vertigo. It was nice to walk through the garden on this unseasonably warm day.

I met a brave squirrel while crouched taking photos.

Nonchalant squirrel

He spotted Mouse-the-cat and wandered off, but he really wasn’t in any hurry.

It’s all about me, right?

After refilling the hummingbird feeder, I enjoyed this little darling in flight.

Ana’s Hummingbird lands on the feeder

Hummingbirds need to eat every thirty minutes

The garden show stopper this time of year is the Hardenbergia Violaceae. Who doesn’t like a gorgeous vine that flowers in winter?

hardenbergia long view 1-29-2015 9-43-54 AM

Hardenbergia growing along the fence

Flower closeup

No need to raise your hand.

I found this lovely description along with a bit of history from San Marcos Growers in Santa Barbara, California:

Hardenbergia Violaceae ‘Happy Wanderer’ (Purple Vine Lilac) requires little water once established. The species is widespread through much of Australia and can be found in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania where it grows from along the coast to up in the mountains. It was first described (as Glycine Violaceae) by the Dutch botanist George Voorhelm Schneevoogt in Icones Plantarum Rariorum in 1793 from cultivated plants that were thought to be from seeds collected in the Sydney area in the first few years of that settlement. Glycine is the genus of the related soy bean (Glycine max) and this plant was later combined with Hardenbergia, a name Bentham used in 1837 when describing Hardenbergia ovata. The name for the genus honors Franziska Countess von Hardenberg, sister of the Baron Karl von Hugel, a 19th century Austrian patron of botany who collected plants while on an expedition to Australia in 1833. The specific epithet is in reference to the typical color of the flower. Other common names include Purple Coral Pea, Happy Wanderer, Native Lilac. Because the long, carrot-like root was reportedly used as a substitute for sarsaparilla by Australian aboriginal bushmen, it also has the common names Australian Sarsaparilla and False Sarsaparilla. The Australian aboriginal name for it is Waraburra.

Don’t you love learning new things?

I hope you enjoy your weekend, rain or shine, snow or thaw. I’ll see you next week.

Hardenbergia leaf and bud

November 20, 2014 by Born To Organize

The Unexpected

One of the best things about gardening is the unexpected. Like the weed growing through the crack of an urban sidewalk, nature lets us know that she’s got things under control. So while I till the soil with great expectations, and smile when things I plant grow, I also delight at what I didn’t see coming.

Here are a few:

Orange Cosmos

Orange Cosmos burst on the scene

I’ve grown pink and white cosmos, from seed and from starters. One summer a volunteer crop grew as tall as me , producing flowers all summer long. That same year I gave away seeds at Christmas. They’re such an easy-breezy flower to grow. Imagine my surprise though to discover this mystery plant was orange. Isn’t it stunning? This plant is a meter tall and started blooming this week.

Late afternoon bloom

Tomato, Tomato

Out of step: Tomato plant grows from the patio steps

After clearing away the last of the Anemones, I found a tomato plant growing out of the bottom of the patio steps. It was probably staying warm from the plant cover and didn’t know it was fall. I can’t bare to pull it out, so I’ll leave it for now and see what the plant has in store. It makes me smile

Passionate Pink

Tomorrow’s Zinnia

This self-sown Zinnia took the place of the Bachelor Buttons in my triangle garden. It offers a pretty pop of pink as the rest of the annuals go to sleep, an unexpected color on this gray day.

Another Pumpkin?

The little pumpkin that tried

Look at this little pumpkin trying to grow. It even flowered.

Nature’s Ribbon

Have you ever curled ribbon with the edge of your scissors? If you scrape the wrong edge, you end up straightening the ribbon instead. That’s why I’m particularly impressed with this self-curled edge of a fern. This plant makes it look easy.

Garden ribbon

Wishing you a weekend of the beautifully unexpected*

*Rats and broken appliances do not apply

October 9, 2014 by Born To Organize

Mystery Plant Shows its True Colors

The ‘mystery plant that ate the vegetable box‘ continues to grow. Our temperatures remain warm, night and day, so the plant is spreading happily over the edges of the box, and pumping out fruit like nobodies business. I can’t get over it.

It’s a Pumpkin After All

I thought it was a late season pumpkin, but could not fathom why it was growing in a box without water. I’m still perplexed. Someone suggested that it might be a round zucchini instead. The fruit grew quickly to the size of a small cantaloupe or a very large apple, but remained dark green and hard. Whenever I looked under the prickly leaves I saw new growth. Whatever it is, I love the plant’s tenacity.

Dark, Green and Healthy

Today I took another look and saw orange. Squeeeee!!!

I think I’ll have a couple of small pumpkins out back after all. No signs of squash bugs either. This month keeps getting better and better.

Shades of Orange

No-Candy Countdown:

Throughout October, I’m keeping track of the candy I **don’t** eat. Who thought that not eating something could be this fun? Today I rewarded myself with smiling face stamps on my countdown calendar. It’s the little things, isn’t it?

Candy-Free Halloween Countdown

Under-the-sea Costume Update:

No time today. Hopefully this weekend.

Pumpkins on Parade:

The lovely Cathy, who blogs at Words and Herbs suggested the following:

Love the pumpkin outfit again today! Those sunglasses reminded me of Elvis… wonder if that might be a possible one? ;-)

This pumpkin’s for you, Cathy. I’ve added a video clip of one of my personal Elvis favorites, In The Ghetto to go with it.

Pumpkin Elvis

Please keep sharing your ideas for pumpkin dress up. I’ll be catching up on comments and your posts over the next few days, but I’ll be back here at Gardening Nirvana on Monday. Time permitting, I’ll be further along on my costume by next week. I hope to see you then.

October 8, 2014 by Born To Organize

Spiders and Lizards and Rats, Oh My!

My version of Halloween is pretend-scary. I trot out the plastic spiders and the rubber rats, then I fill in liberally with pumpkins.

Yesterday, life was having none of that.

Bungee Spiders

It finally cooled down by ten degrees spurring us into decorating action. My son set up his inflatables while I rearranged the deck furniture. I took my baskets of succulents from the hooks, gave them a quick tap, then set them in the kitchen sink for a cool drink. I put them out back this time of year to make room for decorating.

Giant cat inflatable and the great white hunter

I saw a quick movement emerging from the stems and a spider *jumped* out of the plant. Spiders climb and swing in my experience, but this one jumped. It went from the plant into the sink, then half way out of the sink it jumped again. Yikes. I quickly gathered my wits and grabbed my spider catcher, keeping an eye on the jumper at all times. With the spider safely ensconced, I walked quickly to the back of the garden and released it on the rock wall. The bungee spider jumped one more time, turned in my direction and looked right at me with… blue eyes!!! That really creeped me out.

Addendum: I’ve since learned that my bungee spider is none other than Phidippus audax. Based on the orange legs, my little visitor is a juvenile. His eyes aren’t blue, but his chelicerae are. Feel free to use that word in a sentence over the next few days. According to Wiki:

Phidippus audax is a common jumping spider of North America. It is commonly referred to as the daring jumping spider, or bold jumping spider. The average size of adults ranges from roughly 13–20 millimetres (0.51–0.79 in) in length. They are typically black with a pattern of spots and striped on their abdomen and legs. Often these spots are orange-tinted in juveniles, turning white as the spider matures. The spider belongs to the genus Phidippus, a group of jumping spiders easily identified both by their relatively large size and their iridescent chelicerae. In the case of P. audax, these chelicerae are a bright, metallic green or blue.

Lizards are us

Mighty Mouse, our friendly neighborhood cat, brings us lizards. It’s happened so often in the past few months, that my boys simply call out ‘lizard!’ and I’m spurred into action. Protocol is as follows:

Confine the cat in a bedroom while someone else keeps an eye on the lizard.
Assess the size of the lizard, and find an appropriate plastic container, preferably with a view.
Grab a piece of cardboard and tiptoe behind the frightened and temporarily paralyzed little critter.
Pounce! I can’t stress this step enough. Otherwise the lizard goes skittering all over the place and my only option is to gradually coax a terrified and sometimes hissing lizard towards an open door.
Relocate the lizard in the back of the garden and hope he finds his way to safety.

Tiny lizard catching sun on the rock wall

Rat a Shoe-y

7:30 each morning is a flurry. Boys grabbing backpacks and lunches, putting on shoes and heading out the door for the carpool. It was the same this morning, but for one exception. My son put on his first shoe without a problem. When he stepped into his second shoe he could feel something at the end. He picked it up, looked inside and found himself gazing at a live rat. Startled of course, he screamed and tossed the shoe into the air and off scurried the rat.

Unfortunately only part of the lizard protocol works when you’re trying to capture a rat: cats confined to the bedroom. The rest is by the seat of your pants.

Unable to stay for further investigation, I left the rat patrol to my husband and quickly fled with the boys.

There are two up-sides to this story. My son is fine. No bites or scratches to his tender toes. Further, I had a proud-mama moment when, once recovered, he worried that he hurt the rat. Mike rearranged the furniture in the most interesting fashion, and in the end, the tiny rat fled through the back door.

The last text from Mike:

The cats did a once over of the living room and declared it boring, which I take as rat-free. I left it in disarray. Sorry. Just push everything back.

Rat-free living room

Phew!

No-Candy Countdown:

Throughout October, I’m keeping track of the candy I **don’t** eat. They say it takes thirty days to make or break a habit, but I must say that eight days in I’m feeling great. Yesterday I discovered Fat-Bottom-Fifties Get Fierce, via Pauline. M and E are doing their own 30 day challenge and are encouraging others to join in. You can follow along at Getting Fierce Goal-fest! There’s nothing like putting your commitment up on the internet, is there?

Under-the-sea Costume Update:

Since I don’t have the luxury of a crafting room, our living room doubles as my sewing space. This morning I set up my sewing machine, the ironing board, my ‘selfie’ and all my supplies so I’m ready to drape and sew.

Pumpkins on Parade:

Special thanks to Pauline for The Contented Crafter for the fourth suggestion this month. Pauline says:

I very much like your Baker Pumpkin – good on Boomdee for making that pick! – and I would like to suggest a gardening pumpkin in honour of the hard work and the hours you put in to your actual garden and your blog garden :-)

Garden Pumpkin

Garden Pumpkin Key: Hydrangea hair nestled in my new Flower Arranger. An elaborate collar, also made from hydrangeas, with an Alyssum necklace. Eyebrows crafted from Acer leaves and the lips pouting away between Acer seed pods. The nose leaf comes from one of the Abutilon. Bluebell eyes, punctuated with black flower seeds. Fluttering lashes come from a fern. That cute little spade: a treasure from my recent trip to Victoria. It’s actually a key chain. I’m incorporating it into my costume as well. The gardener looks pensive, but she really does have fun playing in the dirt.
You can read more about pumpkin-dress up month at, NEWS FLASH! Halloween Takes Over Gardening Blog.

If you have any suggestions for ‘pumpkin costume of the day’ please let me know. I’ll see what I can do.

September 25, 2014 by Born To Organize

It Rained!

Yes, folks, right here in San Jose, California, in the midst of a protracted drought, it rained. In September.

Real rain too, not that “did I just feel a drop?” kind of rain, but puddle-forming, windshield-wiping, garden-refreshing rain. I lingered in bed this morning with the doors flung open and took in the mesmerizing sounds and smells. Then I got dressed and went outside.

Rain, glorious rain!

Good thing, too, since the sun was out by 10 but I enjoyed the refreshing drops while they lasted.

Acer leaves

Cloudy skies and Salvia reflected on the deck

This is a tremendous gift to the firefighters battling the King Fire in Northern California. We are not in harm’s way, but others are. Many of the state’s late-summer fires are the result of lightning. Sadly this one was arson. Fortunately they’ve made an arrest, but the fire has raged out of control for two weeks.

The good news today is that the fire is 43% contained, but the damage is unbelievable. 95,000 acres burned and a dozen homes lost. Their are over 8,000 fire personnel from across the country battling the flames.

Today I celebrate rain in my little corner of the world, as well as the potential relief for crews on the fire lines and displaced residents in our parched state.

Let it rain, let it rain!

Here’s the latest from the Weather Channel:

Western drought status as of Sept. 16, 2014. Darker shading indicates progressively worse drought status. (NOAA/USDA/NDMC)

Yes, runoff triggered by soaking rain from this September storm in far northwest California will raise a tad.

However, the key to drought relief in California is not rain, but snow.

Critical to water supply in this part of the country is the buildup of winter snow pack in the mountains, whose melt water in the spring replenishes reservoirs.

Snow melt provides up to 75 percent of the West’s freshwater supply. The Sierra and, to a lesser degree, Colorado River snow melt, is crucial for California.

In short, California and the West needs a persistently wet winter, with a combination of significant rain and mountain snow to replenish groundwater and reservoir levels.

September 5, 2014 by Born To Organize

Tomato Swan Song

This weeks tomato harvest

The heirloom tomato plants pumped out fruit all summer long. We ate them raw and in salads, sliced between sandwiches and Mike made the surplus into salsa. Oh yum.

Alas, tomatoes are a summer annual and they’ve come to an end. Here in the Northern Hemisphere, fall is just a couple of weeks away. It’s time for the tomato swan song.

The plant is still pumping out fruit, but the lower leaves are browning and the fruit isn’t nearly as sweet.

Ripening vignette

Tomato plant in decline

I collected a huge bowl earlier this week, washed them and popped them in the freezer. We’ll be able to enjoy them in another salsa or sauce. I harvested some green tomatoes as well, and put them in a paper bag. If green tomatoes have released a gas called ethylene then they’ll continue to turn red. Otherwise they’ll remain green. The bag simply traps the gas and allows nature to follow its course.

Here’s an excerpt from Garden Know How:

The main determiner in how fast a tomato turns red is the variety. It will determine how long it takes for a tomato to reach the mature green stage. Tomatoes cannot turn red, even forced by modern technology, unless it has reached the mature green stage.

Another factor is the outside temperature. Tomatoes will only produce lycopene and carotene, two substances that help a tomato turn red, between the temperatures of 50 and 85 F. (10-29 C.) If it is any cooler that 50 F./10 C., those tomatoes will stay a stubborn green. Any warmer than 85 F./29 C., and the process that produces lycopene and carotene comes to a screeching halt.

Tomatoes are triggered to turn red by a chemical called ethylene. Ethylene is odorless, tasteless and invisible to the naked eye. When the tomato reaches the proper green mature stage, it starts to produce ethylene. The ethylene then interacts with the tomato fruit to start the ripening process. Consistent winds can carry the ethylene gas away from the fruit and slow the ripening process.

If you find that your tomatoes fall off the vine, either knocked off or due to frost, before they turn red, you can place the unripe tomatoes in a paper bag. Provided that the green tomatoes have reached the mature green stage, the paper bag will trap the ethylene and will help to ripen the tomatoes.

This year’s crop planted themselves. I call them ‘volunteers’, seeds unintentionally planted thanks to the wind or a bird dropping seed. They’re often the healthiest plants in the garden. So while I’ve saved some seeds, I’m also lobbing the occasional tomato back into the veggie box, hoping they’ll plant themselves again next year. Sometimes, a gardener just needs to get out-of-the-way.

Tomato Plants: the long view Dear Reader, I wish you were here! This is a recent shot of my tomato plants. I’ve been harvesting tomatoes all summer long and putting them to good use. If you were here we could make a salad together while we caught up on our news. Until recently, that ugly pipe was hidden with cherry tomatoes. Just behind the tomato plants are the recently pruned raspberry vines. Let’s catch up soon. Cheers, Alys

August 22, 2014 by Born To Organize

Musings of a Gardener Returning to her Nest

The strangest thing happens when I first return home from a trip. It’s subtle. It doesn’t happen when I’m gone for just a day but if I’m gone a weekend or longer I notice.

If I lived with Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory he could probably sum it up in a sentence or two. In my unscientific mind it feels like my environment shifted. Does this happen to you?

It started at the airport. Mike pulled up to the curb, and the boys spilled out of the car. They didn’t look like the boys at the airport curb just a week before. They’d changed. I studied them closely when we were back in the car. How much could change in eight days? Yet it was there. Palpable. One week older, that much closer to manhood, tousled hair a fraction longer. Strange.

Back home the environment shifted too. The furniture hadn’t been moved, all the kitties were present and accounted for but time moved ahead by a week. I could feel and it smell it in the air.

In the garden, the changes were even more profound. Squash bugs took over the last pumpkin hanging. Pantyhose be damned! I’m glad I harvested the other three early. Tomatoes remain on the vine, but they’ve lost their rosy plumpness. Left unattended the basil flowered along with a few sweet peas, arriving late to the show.

A purple sweet pea…at last. Thanks for the seeds, Boomdee!

Pantyhose fail: Squash bugs, 1, Gardener, 0

Most of the sunflowers are bowing with weighty seeds. One newcomer bloomed in my absence. What a happy surprise. I planted a variety pack, but thought I’d seem them all. This one looks like a bright yellow pom-pom and stands over six feet tall.

Someone’s enjoying the sunflower seeds

My newest sunflower

Another subtle shift happened while I was away: a shift of mind. Rather then trying to break bad habits, I’m focusing on establishing better ones. I’m heading to bed earlier and reading more. I’m rethinking my blog, exploring new ideas and realizing that a vacation is not only time away but a break from doing the same thing.

The trip itself was a treat beyond measure. I got to spend time with my dearest friend, Boomdee, her delightful cousin, another blogger and a woman I’ve never met. We walked, talked, laughed, shopped and carried on like teenagers. It was good for my heart and my soul.