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Garden, Home & Party

~ My love of gardening, making home comfortable and entertaining friends and family.

Garden, Home & Party

Category Archives: Gardens

Wild for Birds

09 Wednesday Nov 2016

Posted by Karen B. in Gardens, House and Home

≈ 28 Comments

Tags

#mybird week

Historically birds have always had a place in homes.  They add beauty and charm whether in the form of a pet bird, framed prints from the Audubon collection, bronze or porcelain figurines, birds depicted in fabrics and wallpaper, or neighborhood birds enjoying a meal at a bird feeder in your backyard.

Garden, Home and Party: Audubon Park

I was recently contacted by Audubon Park with a kind offer to provide me with a bird feeder and special seed to attract most varieties of birds in our neighborhood.  An instruction book and journal was included.  {Thank you, Audubon Park} You may remember our foray into feeding birds from my posts HERE and HERE.

Garden, Home and Party: Bird feeder

I can share with you that it has been a relaxing and enjoyable experience and we have marveled at the visits by some of the most colorful birds, most we had no idea were in our neighborhood.  Should you wish to embark on this peaceful pass time, and with winter fast approaching it’s a great time to feed birds, Audubon Park not only provides these Tips for feeding birds but their site has information on where to buy their premium food and more:

  1. Know your local birds. [We happen to have a Field Guide to California birds].
  2. Feed them their favorite food
  3. Make them feel at home with trees, shrubs, flowers and a bird house
  4. Give them bath and drinking water
  5. Keep them safe: Make sure your seed, suet or nectar is made-in-the-USA and place feeders away from windows and predators

Because I can’t pass up an opportunity to showcase a pretty room, here are some additional ways birds find their way into our hearts and homes.

A chandelier ready for autumn, complete with a pair of faux American Crow perched on attached moss-laden branches…

Garden, Home and Party: Audubon Park

{via}

Love this wallpaper with birds in flight…

Garden, Home and Party: Audubon Park

{via}

Hotel Van Zandt, Austin, Texas displays birds made from old LP vinyl records…

Garden, Home and Party: Audubon Park

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a favorite room by the talented Holly Mathis, dressed for Christmas, features some wonderful Audubon prints…

Garden, Home and Party: Audubon Park

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Love the needlework peacocks in this bedroom…

Garden, Home and Party: Audubon Park

How sweet is this flamingo wallpaper for a baby girl’s room?…

Garden, Home and Party: Audubon Park

{via}

Classic beauty in green and white…

Garden, Home and Party: Audubon Park

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I hope you’ve enjoyed this visit to the world of our feathered friends.  I’ve definitely had fun bird watching from our kitchen window.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Patio Garden Changes

30 Wednesday Mar 2016

Posted by Karen B. in Gardening, Gardens, House and Home

≈ 28 Comments

If you read my posts and/or live in Southern California, you’re aware that we are still struggling with a drought.  Last summer we maintained the yard as best we could, minimizing our watering schedule, mulching the planting beds and removing plants as they died of thirst.  As a garden enthusiast I was in denial.  I did some research into plants that were drought resistant, but never pulled the trigger on actually planting or buying those plants.  I was in a garden funk.  Now, determined to make some improvements, I’ve started on the planting bed adjacent to the patio.

BEFORE:

Garden, Home and Party: patio garden change

Note: While I love a good before and after, I’m not always willing to show the before. This is taking some courage on my part to let you see how horrible this flower bed became. (This picture was taken in January of this year) 😦

The Japanese boxwoods were transplants (3 years ago) to begin with.  It was a surprise to me that they all survived, but they never truly thrived.  Then my gardener decided he needed to hedge them more frequently than he should have.  This is the result.  It’s my experience that once a portion of the boxwood dies back, even with trimming and cleaning up the boxwood they rarely flourish again.  So, a clean sweep was made of the flower bed, except for the Iceberg roses, which have become a mainstay since they seem to be happy no matter what.  And I kept my Eden climber, for pretty much the same reason.

I decided to remove the Cecile Brunner rose since it had become so large and very high maintenance.  I wanted to plant some sun loving plants below so I removed it. More on that later.

Garden, Home and Party: Patio Garden, finally

Without the boxwood we needed some bender board.  Mr. B. did a great job of installing the redwood bender board I chose (as opposed to the synthetic product).  I know there’s more longevity with the synthetic, but I like the look of the wood, so we’ll see how long it lasts.

Garden, Home and Party: patio garden change

The ‘to do’ list for this area was:

  1. Remove the Cecile Brunner rose – done
  2. Remove the Japanese boxwood around the patio – done
  3. Amend the soil with an organic compost planting mix – done
  4. Plant a border plant such as Polygala ‘Petite Butterfly’ (this plant is drought resistant and blooms nearly year round here in Southern California.

AFTER:

I confess, while several of my sweet readers asked when I was going to show this planting renovation, I was waiting for the delphiniums to bloom and the Polygala to fill in a bit.

Garden, Home and Party: patio flower bed, finally

The Iceberg are just about to pop into bloom, the Polygala ‘Petite Butterfly’ are filling in, the heliotrope seem happy and the delphinium need to be staked, always a precaution since they are often top heavy, especially if we get any rain.

Garden, Home and Party: Patio garden, finally

The only drought resistant plant is the Polygala, but the delphiniums are going to live only through summer, so I’ll most probably replace them with lavender.  The heliotrope may outgrow this space, but I hope not.

Here’s the final plant list:

Polygala ‘Petite butterfly’ – border plant; drought resistant; will grow to 2′ wide and 2′ high at maturity; it’s an evergreen in our zone 10 and blooms most of the summer:

Garden, Home and Party: patio garden, finally

Delphinium: 1-2′; come in a variety of colors, most in purple, lavender and blue shades. Toxic to humans if consumed.

Garden, Home and Party: patio garden, finally

Heliotrope; 1-2′; the flower is scented.  The plant is just this side of the delphinium in the picture.

The extra space around the plants are to give them plenty of room to grow, I’ll take pictures this summer and share the progress.

Garden, Home and Party: patio garden, finally

One last garden note, I cut the Cecile Brunner down and it took most of a morning. Cutting is easy but cutting up the canes for the recycle bin, not so much.  So we left the stump, which is sizeable as the rose has been planted for years.  Now I have 4 pretty strong canes coming out of the stump, my thought is to leave them, see if they’ll bloom and hope that, since the canes are small (like a new bare root rose) that it will be manageable for a year or two.  Any experience with this situation? (See it on the far right of the image below?)

Garden, Home and Party: garden patio, finally

Now I think we’re ready for spring/summer outdoor relaxation.  Since I’ve prepared for warmer weather, we’ll probably get some remnants of El Niño, which eluded us this winter. 🙂

Garden, Home and Party: patio garden, finally

Garden, Home and Party: patio garden, finally

Garden, Home and Party: patio garden, finally

Garden, Home and Party: patio garden, finally

Any plans for your garden?  ♥ Karen

 

Happy Spring ~ Happy Easter

23 Wednesday Mar 2016

Posted by Karen B. in Easter, Flowers, Gardens, Seasons, Spring

≈ 25 Comments

I’m always excited for spring.  I hope you stopped by earlier this month and checked out the vast array of ideas for the season via Project Design Now – Spring Mantles.  There are some great ideas for decorating—and not just the mantle from the team of design enthusiasts that participated!

This beauty was one of my favorites…Ciao Newport Beach created the fresh, spring look

Garden, Home and Party: Easter

{via}

Spring brings some new bird friends to the area…I’ve spotted a blue bird on my walks, not as vibrant as this fellow, but still very pretty and we’ve had up to 6 Robin Red Breasts visit our birdbath at the same time!

Garden, Home and Party: Spring Summer

 

{via}

For me spring always means spending more time in the garden.  Warm days, cool nights.  Sparkling sunshine (have you ever noticed how the light changes with the season.  Spring has it’s own special, sparkly light).

The patio bed needed a major renovation.  I’ve completed this space and will share a post about it, and other little changes in the garden, later.

Garden, Home and Party: Happy Spring

Garden, Home and Party: Spring Easter

{via}

It’s a dream of mine to be able to walk through my garden and come up with a bouquet as wonderful as this!  I am growing sweet peas, I hope they provide me with bundles of blooms.

Easter eggs whether chocolate or real are a staple for Easter.  There have been some really pretty ideas for dying eggs.

Garden, Home and Party: Easter

Garden Home and Party: Easter

{via}

Garden, Home and Party: Easter

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Garden, Home and Party: Easter

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So if you haven’t dyed your eggs yet, visit HERE to receive step-by-step guidance on these beauties (above) and HERE for a general overview of how to dye Easter eggs.

Spring also brings with it the chance prepare a few more meals on the BBQ and to generally lighten up on the mouth watering calorie laden casseroles.  True confession, I still enjoy the occasional casserole even during the summer.

Garden, Home and Party: Easter-Spring

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These lovely to look at tea sandwiches made me want to plan a spring tea party for a few friends!

Garden, Home and Party: Easter/Spring

This meal above is pretty typical of our traditional Easter dinner.

If you saw this recent post, you know I love to set a table.  These charming Spring/Easter tables give me some ideas for the upcoming season.

Garden, Home and Party: Spring/Summer

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Garden, Home and Party: Easter/Spring

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How cute are these little bunny plates?

Garden, Home and Party; Spring/Summer

One last note, if you haven’t already filled an Easter basket with a few goodies for yourself, I’d like to mention the newest book by Kristen Woodson Harvey, Lies and Other Acts of Love which will be released April 5th.  If you pre-order from the Design Chic blog site, you’ll automatically be entered to win a $1,000 gift card to Shop Design Chic their online store.

I’m excited to reviewing this wonderful book on April 5th right here.

 

What are you doing this season.  Special plans for Easter Sunday?  I wish you a happy spring and all the “new beginnings” it can bring, and a very happy Easter.  ♥ Karen

 

 

 

{Garden} Inspiration for the garden – Chelsea Flower Show

18 Friday Jul 2014

Posted by Karen B. in Flowers, Gardening, Gardens, Outdoor living

≈ 70 Comments

Tags

Chelsea Garden Show, Garden Tours in England

RERUN ALERT:  I shared this post at the end of April but I couldn’t resist re-posting so that I could join Anita over at her beautiful blog site Castles Crowns and Cottages, where she’s inviting all of us to share our favorite destination.  England captured my heart years ago and I will share a bit about the Chelsea Flower Show.  I’ve never been but it’s a dream!  Because this post coincided with an eye to spring in the garden I am sharing additional inspiration for creating a pretty garden.  I hope you enjoy and will stop by for a visit sometime. ♥

Garden, Home and Party:  Castles & Crowns linky party

Here we find ourselves on the last day of the month of April (where’s the time going?).  There’s been weeks of activity in the garden if you are an enthusiast and if you happen to live in a climate like my neck of the woods, Southern California.  Gardening is pretty much a year-round hobby here.

Garden, Home and Party: Garden inspiration

Still, there’s always interest for me to see what others are doing to their own yards and as usual, I gain the inspiration I’m seeking to create a new corner or change out a fledgling flower bed, from fellow blogging friends and international gardens posted on the internet.

Garden, Home and Party: Garden inspiration

{Charlotte Moss}

Garden Home and Party: Garden inspiration

Garden, Home and Party: Garden inspiration

{Restoring our 1890 Victorian, Victoria Elizabeth Barnes}

Above, I’ve added Helebores to my wish list when they’re available.  Below, don’t you love this clever use of grass and concrete squares.  Not to mention, it would be so great to have an outdoor fireplace.

Garden, Home and Party: Garden inspiration

{5th and State}

Tone on Tone just published a great post on his blue garden, published in Southern Living magazine.  I’ve made a list of blue flowers for my own garden.

Garden, Home and Party: Garden inspiration

{Tone on Tone – Loi’s beautiful blue garden}

Garden, Home and Party: Garden show

This year my friend, Carla, happens to be going to the Chelsea Flower Show (May 20 – 24th). With the show’s 100 year anniversary behind them (2013), I’d guess this year may be an impressive show of innovative and unique gardens.  Maybe it’s that way every year, but I like to think there’s always a wave of extra talent after a big anniversary of something as wonderful as the Chelsea Flower Show.

The first year (1913) Chelsea Flower Show was introduced there were 244 exhibitors, last year there were over 500.  The show attracts over 150,000 visitors each year.  It’s on my bucket list.  I know I’d love it

Garden, Home and Party: Garden inspiration

{via}

Garden, Home and Party: Garden inspiration

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…and for those of you who would like to have their very own folly…here is a company that will build it for you.  They entered the Chelsea Garden Show with this little gem.

Garden, Home and Party: Garden inspiration{via}

Since we’re speaking of gardens in England, this past fall the Los Angeles Times travel section featured a list of gardens you can visit more than once per year in England.  The Stone House Garden in Cheltenham, Goucestershire was appealing to me for the home as much as the grounds.  Started by a garden hobbyist, Katie Lukas, she developed her garden on the 2 1/2 acres surrounding her Cotswold home.

Garden, Home and Party: Garden inspiration

{photo by Nan Sterman}

No surprise, Cambridge University Botanic Garden, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire offers a learning experience in addition to the wonderful gardens presented.  There’s a garden where plants are grouped by the era in which they were introduced to the British Isles.  I selected this image since I was surprised the garden features our own California Poppy!

Garden, Home and Party: Garden inspiration

{photo by Nan Sterman}

What would a garden tour be without a garden by a castle?  Broughton Castle, Banbury, Oxfordshire is a 700-year old castle.  There are sheep on the grounds (wouldn’t it be great to look out your window to green rolling hills, dotted with sheep?  {Maybe I’ve seen one too many period piece movies and PBS presentations?} Climbing roses, “lushly planted garden borders” and more, this one is on my list. To read more and to get ideas for your garden visit HERE.

Garden, Home and Party: Garden inspiration

Garden, Home and Party: Garden inspiration

My own garden can always use a little tweaking.  I hope to work on the area under the bottle brush tree (the red blossoming tree in this picture).  The roots are so prohibitive to digging and such.  I am currently doing some homework on finding plants that need next to nothing but will grow and thrive in spite of adverse conditions.  Any suggestions?

Have you started planning / planting  your garden?  Any new projects on the table?

{Garden, Home and Party} Celebrating Spring with Roger’s Gardens

09 Wednesday Apr 2014

Posted by Karen B. in Flowers, Gardening, Gardens

≈ 24 Comments

Tags

Rogers Gardens

Roger’s Gardens in Newport Beach, California is a favorite stop any time of the year.  To say it’s a unique and special nursery might be an understatement.  I was recently invited to their Spring Celebration (along with hundreds of others) and their interpretation of the best of SPRING did not disappoint.  I visit the nursery regularly [HERE and HERE] for the inspiration and creativity it supplies.  Roger’s is like the Disneyland of nurseries.

Garden, Home and Party: Celebrating Spring with Rogers

During my visit I used my iPhone to capture some of the beauty of the flower arrangements and the grounds…no one does spring better, well except Mother Nature!  There are also some photographs saved from Roger’s Gardens site. *This is not a paid write up.  Pictures really don’t do this nursery the justice it deserves.  A visit is a delight for the senses.

The room below is part of Roger’s gift gallery.  For this special event all of the flowers you see are real.  It was stunning to enter this building and take in masses of hydrangea, tulips, ranunculus, and roses, to name but a few of the many fabulous spring blooms on hand.

Garden, Home and Party: Celebrate Spring w Rogers

This blue and white planter caught my eye, filled with white hellebore, I would have loved to take it home with me.  Unfortunately, it was out of my budget.

Garden, Home and Party: Celebrating Spring with Rogers

There were nests and cut branches everywhere, including on top of each of the display cabinets in the gallery.

Garden, Home and Party: Celebrating Spring w Roger's Gardens

Garden, Home and Party: Celebrating Spring w Roger's Gardens

Garden, Home and Party: Celebrating Spring w Roger's Gardens

Garden, Home and Party: Celebrating Spring w Roger's Gardens

Everywhere you looked, including this orb, sported live flowers.  Even the chain holding the orb to the ceiling was wrapped in ivy.

Garden, Home and Party: Celebrating Spring w Roger's Gardens

Garden, Home and Party: Celebrating Spring w Roger's Gardens

There were inviting tablescapes loaded with inspiring ideas for your next spring luncheon.  Wouldn’t it be fun to be able to gather a bouquet like this using flowers from your yard?

Garden, Home and Party: Celebrating Spring w Roger's Gardens

Garden, Home and Party: Celebrating Spring w Roger's Gardens

The fragrance of pink jasmine and other blossoming plants gave your senses the expected scents of an ideal spring day.

Garden, Home and Party: Celebrating Spring w Rogers Gardens

We then moved to the floral studio.  This part of the nursery presents (and sells) floral arrangements of all kinds.  I confess, I’ve purchased a few of these beauties, sometimes as gifts and a couple of times as a gift to ME! 🙂

Garden, Home and Party: Celebrating Spring w Roger's Gardens

Garden, Home and Party: Celebrating Spring w Roger's Gardens

Isn’t this charming?  Roger’s finds decorative items that often look antique, even though they’re not. These cute bunnies were metal and quite heavy.

White hydrangea, ranunculas, lisianthus, roses, white stock, and dusty miller are but a few of the flowers filling this footed vase.

Garden, Home and Party: Celebrating Spring w Roger's Gardens

This arrangement caught my eye, that’s right, that is lettuce growing in the basket filled with seed for growing carrots and beautiful spring flowers.  What a great hostess gift this would be.

Garden, Home and Party: Celebrating Spring w Roger's Gardens

The sweet peas were so fragrant, they were selling them in bunches…I wanted the entire crate.

Garden, Home and Party: Celebrating Spring w Roger's Gardens

The grounds are displayed with antique props (often for sale) and many pre-planted planters are for sale.  I’m sure you can see why visits to Roger’s are as much for a shot of inspiration, as they are for actual purchases.

Garden, Home and Party: Celebrating Spring w Roger's Gardens

Garden, Home and Party: Celebrating Spring w Roger's Gardens

Garden, Home and Party: Celebrating Spring w Roger's Gardens

I hope you enjoyed the tour!  If you are ever in the area, email me, I’ll be happy to take a tour of this fabulous nursery with you.

♥ Karen

 

{Garden} It’s official…rose’s first spring bloom wins!

02 Wednesday Apr 2014

Posted by Karen B. in Flowers, Gardening, Gardens

≈ 24 Comments

Tags

roses

Most of us are in agreement that there’s nothing quite as showy as the first blooms of spring, right?  The roses in particular seem to stand out in my little garden.  Spring, whenever she decides to arrive, never ceases to astonish me.

How quickly it can look like this one winter day…

Garden, Home and Party: Spring Roses

and seemingly overnight, the garden announces Spring’s arrival…{full disclosure: the two pictures of our formal garden are from my files, but you get the idea}

Garden, Home and Party: Spring Roses

The wooden fence shares space with a ‘Sally Holmes’ climbing rose; the quadrant to the right (rear) of the sun dial has a ‘Guy de Maupassant ®’, a Romantica rose bred by Alain Meilland (France, 1995); in front of that is another Romantica,  Eden Rose®.  I have an Eden climber as well and they both perform well in my garden and seem relatively pest free.  {I know pests vary from region to region but we had a huge problem with a particular caterpillar that caused pin holes in each leaf.}

Garden, Home and Party: Spring Roses

‘Sally Holmes’

Garden, Home and Party: Spring Roses

‘Guy de Maupassant’

Left of the sundial in back is a new Romantica by the name of ‘bolero’, a white multi-petaled  beauty that was only planted last spring.  I like to give newly planted roses 3 seasons before they get their first report card.  In front is St. Patrick, a hybrid tea rose that has been in since I first planted the garden many years ago.

Garden, Home and Party: Spring Roses

St. Patrick

One of the most beautiful romantic roses ever created is the Meilland rose; Pierre De Ronsard also known as Eden rose. It belongs to a class of roses known as Romanticas. Fully double roses with a romantic old fashioned look. It is the French Rose company’s response to the popularity of the English Austin Roses. Modern roses with an old fashioned look. Many of the Romanticas are Hybrid Teas to the core, but not Eden Rose, that is more like climber —Niels Plougmann, Roses in Gardens blog

Garden, Home and Party: Spring Roses

‘Eden Rose’

Eden Climber™ is one of my favorites, I cannot believe how well it, and the shrub version in the formal garden, performs.  Eden was a little shy this past weekend while I was taking pictures.  She’s not in full bloom yet, but I wanted  you to see the color of Eden (above).

Because my yard has very few sunny locations, ideal for rose growing, I’ve filled in sun/shade areas with Iceberg roses.  Here in California there are a few rose snobs that consider the Iceberg too common for the serious gardener…to this I say, “nonsense”.  It’s a foolproof shrub rose that gives consistent snowy-white blooms from March through October (sometimes even longer) and it demands nothing other than fertilizer and water. For new readers, I live in Southern California, Zone 9, we barely have seasons.  It’s a mixed blessing.  I long for chilly mornings with the burst of fall colors in October and wish for  a smattering of snow in the winter.  That’s the “downside” of living in a mild climate—another post for another time.

Garden, Home and Party: Spring Roses

Iceberg rose

Garden, Home and Party: Spring Roses

A couple of years ago I helped design our youngest son and his sweet wife’s front yard.  We placed an espaliered apple tree on the front of their house.  It has performed so well, but being a cheapskate on my own yard, I thought I’d give espaliering a try with this humble ‘rosa banks’.  It’s done very well, but there will be NO apples.  🙂 I may have to break down and buy an apple in the near future.

This picture (below) doesn’t do the apple tree justice, but it really has performed well and even had some apple blossoms early this year.

Garden, Home and Party: Spring roses

White Lady Banks, rosa banks

White Lady Banks, rosa banks

A close-up of Lady Banks…

Garden, Home and Party: Spring RosesThe final two roses I’d like to share are the reliable Cecile Brunner, probably one of the oldest roses in my yard.  We have cut him to within 6 feet off the ground for painters to paint the patio posts, and each time he returns with new canes and more blooms than the year before.

 

Garden Home and Party: Spring Roses

Cecil Brunner –don’t mind the hose that I failed to roll up before taking the picture and notice the leaves on the picture below, that is the pest that used to be on nearly every leaf of most of my roses!

Garden, Home and Party: Spring Roses~ and ~

the Burgandy Iceberg, which like it’s white cousin, blooms from early March until late October.

Garden, Home and Party: Spring Roses

Burgandy Iceberg Rose

Do you have roses in your garden?  Do you have a favorite variety, I’d love to hear from you.

Garden, Home and Party: Spring Roses

{Garden} Arbor Day, for the love of trees

12 Wednesday Mar 2014

Posted by Karen B. in Gardens, House and Home

≈ 16 Comments

Tags

Arbor Day, trees

Garden, Home and Party: Arbor Day

 {I realize I’ve been on a bit of a flora and fauna kick of late…I get this way when spring is upon us, I’m antsy for Spring’s arrival, how about you?.}  

It’s Arbor Day {week} in California, March 7-12.  Does it seem odd to anyone besides me that Arbor Day {week} is held on different days, depending on the state you reside in?

Bottom line, I’m a huge fan of trees, always have been.  I grew up living on a 4 lane street lined with Maple trees.  It would have been ideal had it been a 2 lane road but I do recall loving the trees and the seasonal change to the landscape they brought.

When my landscape partner and I started our Blooming Borders business some years ago, we found ourselves waging battle (always subtle and subdued) with our clients to keep the trees they had.  More than once we lost the fight and we were sad to supervise the removal of old Sycamore or Alder trees—taken out to allow more light into the yard or to avoid the “messy leaf cleanup” in autumn. Many in our community keep their trees trimmed to roof height to comply with the community Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions (CC&Rs). This rule usually stems from view issues of one kind or another.

Our son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter recently moved into a home in Austin that enjoys a tree-house feel thanks to the many trees on their lot…

Garden, Home and Party: Arbor Day 2014

{via}

Garden, Home and Party: Arbor Day 2014~Austin, Texas~

*Note: these pictures were taken in the heat of summer just after the kids bought the home.  The seller had decided to skip watering the yard while the house was listed…really?!  Fortunately, the yard is so much prettier now that the kids have done some yard clean-up, and Austin has had some beneficial rain this past winter.

Garden, Home and Party: Arbor Day 2014

…the Hotel Saint Cecilia in Austin value the historic trees on the grounds of this lovely hotel located in Austin’s South Congress District…

Garden, Home and Party: Arbor Day 2014

Garden, Home and Party: Arbor Day 2014

I have kept all of the trees on our postage sized lot and they provide shade in the summer and a pleasant back drop for our suburban tract house…

Garden, Home and Party: Arbor Day 2014

Garden, Home and Party: Arbor Day 2014

My favorite communities have an abundance of trees.  Palos Verdes, California, parts of Marin County, California, Bainbridge Island, Washington and my own community here in Irvine, all seem more inviting and lovely for their abundance of mature trees.

There is a park across the street from our home and the mature trees there break up the monotony of house after cookie-cutter house, not to mention the birthday parties, soccer practices, and sand lot playground they shade.

Garden, Home and Party: Arbor Day 2014

About a mile down the road is a community park that offers a stream and plenty of trees.  There’s even a Nature Center offering programs on the local flora and fauna.

Garden, Home and Party: Arbor Day 2014

Garden, Home and Party: Arbor Day 2014

Aside from the aesthetic, trees benefit a community by cleansing the air, even pollutants are partially controlled by trees.  In one study of an urban park, tree cover was found to remove 48 lbs of particulates, 9 lbs of nitrogen dioxide, 6 lbs of sulfur dioxide and 1/2 lb. carbon monoxide.

Mostly, I just love the beauty trees provide around a house.  To make my point on this Arbor Day {week}, here are a few lovely examples…

Garden, Home and Party: Arbor Day 2014

{via}

Garden, Home and Party: Arbor Day 2014Garden, Home and Party: Arbor Day 2014{via}

Garden, Home and Party: for the love of trees

Garden, Home and Party: Arbor Day

Garden, Home and Party: Arbor Day 2014Garden, Home and Party: Arbor Day 2014

Garden, Home and Party: Arbor Day 2014

Garden, Home and Party: Arbor Day

Garden, Home and Party: Arbor Day 2014Garden, Home and Party: Arbor Day

Garden, Home and Party: Arbor Day 2014

Garden, Home and Party: Arbor DayIn California our official tree is the Redwood…

Garden, Home and Party: Arbor Day 2014

Happy Arbor Day, or week.  I hope you’ll take a moment to enjoy the trees in your neck of the woods.

Garden, Home and Party: Arbor Day 2014

{Garden} Recipe for growing moss in the garden, and a winner

29 Wednesday Jan 2014

Posted by Karen B. in Gardens, Misc

≈ 21 Comments

Tags

growing moss

The winner of the Carolyn Westbrook book is:

Sheila of Our Bungalow’s 2nd Century:

Happy birthday, Karen! My favorite mirrors are also those whose silvering is losing its luster! When I was a little kid, we didn’t have a lot, and my parents started making use of cast-off family antiques (which now fill my house). I remember them not wanting a mirror because the silver was going bad, but even as a child I thought it had such character. To this day I love old, beat-up mirrors!

Congratulations, Sheila. Send me your shipping information via email and I’ll send the book.

Garden, Home and Party: Mirrors and a giveway

I love to work in the garden and living in Southern California I can do this without concern for weather most of the year.  This is something that has great benefit and at the same time leaves me longing for the occasional snow storm or an abundance of rain found in so many other places.

Garden, Home and Party: Moss in the garden

{1}

One of the many things I admire in a garden is the moss-laden stone where weather encourages this growth.  England comes to mind, but I’ve seen beautiful moss growing on stone benches and planters in Washington state and other regions of the world.  Where I live I have to work at it if I want something to have the patina that comes with moss and rust and such.

On my visit to the Bloedel, Bainbridge Island, Washington last fall I found plenty of beautiful moss, including a moss garden they created.

Garden, Home and Party: Moss in the garden

{2}

…and then there’s this…England {sigh}

Garden, Home and Party: Moss in the garden

{3}

Garden, Home and Party: Moss in the garden

{4}

Garden, Home and Party: Moss in the garden

{5 ~ Bruges, Belgium}

Recently one of my favorite sites, Design Chic, featured “Marvelous Moss” in the garden, and in the same week I stumbled upon a recipe, in fact 2 recipes, for growing moss on stone or terra cotta (I have searched in vain for the source, but here are the recipes I had copied and pasted for future reference).

Garden, Home and Party: Moss in the garden

{6}

The moss on this bench is the goal, I love it, especially the rich green in contrast with the white hydrangea.

Garden, Home and Party: Moss in the garden

{7}

Garden, Home and Party: Moss in the garden

{8}

I’d guess that moss grows in abundance in the shade of these willow trees.

Garden, Home and Party: Moss in the garden

{9}

I love this fountain in part because it looks antique and for it’s pond-like basin, so soothing to listen to water dripping gently into water.

Garden, Home and Party: Moss in the garden

{10}

I’ve seen man-made water features such as this, isn’t it pretty?

Garden, Home and Party: Moss in the garden

{11}

Garden, Home and Party: Moss in the garden

{12}

Garden, Home and Party: Moss in the garden

{13}

I would love a stone wall, maybe one with a better gate, in the back yard.

Garden, Home and Party: Moss in the garden

{14}

I confess, my sundial is starting to look a bit aged, like this one, but it’s in too much sun to truly grow the emerald stuff.

Garden, Home and Party: Moss in the garden

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Garden, Home and Party: Moss in the garden

{16}

Garden, Home and Party: Moss in the garden

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Garden, Home and Party: Recipe for growing moss

Garden, Home and Party: Moss in the garden

{Newton Winery, St. Helena, California}

{As an avid fan of blog-reading and general online fanatic  enthusiast, I’m forever wondering how I survived without all of this information at my fingertips before.}  First of all, did you know you can buy actual live moss spores?  I was very surprised.  {What doesn’t Amazon sell}

If you decide to try the recipe, the first one suggests you can use moss from the garden as a starter, or obtain moss spores.

Garden, Home and Party: Moss in the garden

Adding Moss Works Best On
Terra Cotta Stone or Concrete Containers ~ Stone or Concrete Sculptures

There are 2 ways to go about doing this. Both ways work really well, so choose one that best suits your tastes.

Moss requires an acidic environment to grow, which can be developed by painting a pot with buttermilk or yogurt, that’s why both recipes below have one or the other.
Recipe 1:

  1. Collect mosses either from around your yard or a friends or neighbors (you can also buy moss spores at a garden store)
  2. Finely chop the moss up (or sprinkle in the moss spores into the mix below if you purchased them)
  3. Allow the moss bits to dry up for a couple of days (if you collected them yourself)

Then mix together in a large bucket or bowl:

  • 1 cup flour
  • 2 cups buttermilk
  • 2 packages active dry yeast
  • 2 tablespoons corn syrup
  • 1-1 1/2 cups dried, crumbled moss

Once the above is mixed together, put the bucket in full sun for three days.

When the mixture is good and smelly, brush it generously with a paintbrush on the outsides of your clay pots. Then wrap the pots in plastic wrap and put them in partial sun.

In two weeks the pots will start to grow mold, and by eight weeks the pots will be nice and furry with moss, and looking very antique and old.
Recipe 2:

  • Blend pieces of dried moss or purchased moss spores into
  • 2 cups yogurt or buttermilk
  • Paint onto your pot with a paintbrush
  • Put your pot into a plastic bag to create a humid environment for the moss to develop
  • Set the pot and bag in a cool, shady spot until the moss begins to form, which will be about 10 days
  • Make sure to plant the container so you will be watering it regularly, which will keep the moss alive and growing.

I know moss growth isn’t for everyone, in fact we had a door to door salesman stop by one day selling some “special” cleaning product.  Before I could stop him, to demonstrate his wonder product he sprayed a part of the brick at our entry and was so proud that it instantly removed the bit of moss that had grown there!

So would you actually apply one of these recipes to a planter in your garden? I think I may try it…I’ll let you know if it works.

{1} tumblr Connoisseur, Oxford :: {2} Garden, Home and Party :: {2 England, 3 England, Yorkshire Dales, 4 Bruges, Belgium} source unknown :: {5} Design Chic via Cheryl Rowe :: {6} Design Chic via la maison gray garden :: {7} Design Chic via Mother Earth Living :: {9} Irene Suchocki Photography :: {10} Haus Design,sadly Barbara has stopped her blog posts :: {11, 12} Pinterest :: {13} Providence Ltd. Design :: {14, 15} source unknown :: {16} tumblr, Connoisseur :: {17} Wasping through the Countryside :: {18} Pinterest

{Garden} Topiary and beyond

14 Wednesday Aug 2013

Posted by Karen B. in Gardening, Gardens, House and Home

≈ 24 Comments

Tags

topiary

Garden, Home and Party, topiary

The definition of the word topiary, as described by Wikipedia, encompasses a good deal more than the topiary I typically think of when someone says the word.  I picture various shapes of spheres, wreathes and cones our local nursery grows when the word is mentioned.  They are often made from English ivy or other readily available green plants, including rosemary.  When our Trader Joe’s sells rosemary topiary I usually buy one because they are fragrant and pretty and last for months. When a topiary grows too large for the kitchen window, I place it somewhere outdoors.

Garden, Home and Party, topiaryGarden, Home and Party, topiary

Garden, Home and Party, topiary

Loi, over at Tone on Tone, has been growing myrtle topiary for his home for over 10 years.  Visit HERE if you want to be inspired to grow a few of these beauties for your own home.

Garden, Home and Party, topiary

 Topiary is the horticultural practice of training live perennial plants by clipping the foliage and twigs of trees, shrubs and subshrubs to develop and maintain clearly defined shapes,[1] perhaps geometric or fanciful; the term also refers to plants which have been shaped in this way. As an art form it is a type of living sculpture.

Garden, Home and Party, topiary

Garden, Home and Party, topiary

Garden, Home and Party, topiary

But the “practice of training live perennial plants by clipping the foliage and twigs of trees, shrubs and sub-shrubs to develop and maintain clearly defined shapes…” encompasses one of my favorite landscape  tools.  The boxwood hedge.

Garden, Home and Party, topiary

Garden, Home and Party, topiary

Carla’s secret garden (above) before her redo—look away, Carla.  

Garden, Home and Party, topiary

Yes, there are fanciful shapes that can bring whimsy and beauty into the garden, but the use of the boxwood when it’s trimmed to provide a bit of structure where structure is needed, is something I use in my own garden and clearly the master gardeners of the globe have historically used this to great effect.

Garden, Home and Party, topiary

Missouri Botanical Gardens

Garden, Home and Party, topiary

Garden, Home and Party, topiary

{Pinterest}

Do you have any topiary growing in your yard or a plant in your home?

{Garden} Made with love – link party at Victoria’s

14 Tuesday May 2013

Posted by Karen B. in Family, Flowers, Gardening, Gardens, House and Home, Renovating

≈ 22 Comments

Tags

Gardening

Victoria, over at Restoring our 1890 Victorian, really stumped with her Linky party theme, “Made with Love”.  This isn’t because I haven’t put love into nearly everything I do, especially where family and friends are concerned, it’s that I wasn’t sure I had photographs that I could use to document this project  “made with love”.

So at the risk of seeming to be in a landscape/garden rut, the most recent project that seemed viable to the topic, one that I knew I gave a lot of thought, energy and love to, was planning and planting the front yard of our youngest son, Kevin and his wife, Sarah.

I apologize for not taking “before” pictures of the jumble of ivy and juniper…the landscape was so grim it never occurred to me.  This is the yard prior to the final removal of the odd shaped bushes and a struggling ornamental plum (the tree in this picture).

Garden, Home and PartyGarden, Home and Party(above & below) the left side of the steps are a garden I planted late last  year, we mirrored the style for the larger portion of the front yard.  The Iceberg roses and Santa Barbara Daisies have doubled in size

Garden, Home and PartyThe newlyweds recently purchased an older home.  This older home had been owned by an elderly gentleman, whose wife had passed away some time before.  When he passed, his children put the house on the market.  The yard had been “maintained” by a mow, blow and go kind of guy.  Salvageable shrubs had been hedged into misshapen boxes and other odd shapes not natural to the plant world.  Many of the plants were overgrown beyond trimming to any effect.

Garden, Home and Party(above) The plants with the white flowers are the Iceberg roses…they will put on a couple of feet of height over the summer.  There will not be very much ground exposed once the grasses and other plants fill in.

Garden, Home and Party(above) the green on the front of the house is the espaliered apple…it should be very happy in its new home.

The majority of the  front yard is a slope that meets the sidewalk.  It was covered in runaway ivy and low growing juniper and because the slope was neglected the two varieties married and intermingled into a mess, complete with spider webs and weeds.

Garden, Home and Party(above) Sarah and her mom bought some slate stepping stones and we planted Thyme ground cover.  Once that fills in she can cut thyme for cooking and enjoy a lush, green lawn of an herb that has a small purple flower, when in bloom.

Just before the wedding in December, Sarah’s mom paid her gardener to rip out the entire mess.  I began planning for the new yard in February and with the help of Jose (my gardener extraordinaire) we installed the finished plant list in April.

Garden, Home and PartyGarden, Home and PartyPlanning took some time since Sarah and Kevin wanted a California/Santa Barbara look.  Translation:  Olive trees, grasses, lavender, white Iceberg shrub roses, Penstemon and other perennials.  The space at the front of the house was begging for something showy and structured.  We selected an espaliered apple.   We asked Jose to make sure the sprinklers were in good working order, since we didn’t want the hundreds of dollars in plant material to shrivel up in the upcoming warm weather.  That ended up involving hours of work!  He amended the soil and planted.

Garden, Home and PartyNext will be some work in the back yard, although we have worked on some areas already…Sarah recently re-planted the herb/vegetable garden we installed last year and the space under the trees has been an inviting respite from hot sun since they first moved in.

Garden, Home and PartyGarden, Home and PartyAny and all involvement has been made with love. ♥  Check out the linky party at Restoring our 1890 Victorian

I can guarantee, you will be entertained!

~and~ because this garden makes me happy I’m joining Ricki Jill at Art @ Home for her linky party ~and~ Fishtail Cottage for her Garden Party

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