Green, green garden || Collecting color

I spent one morning last week in my weed garden shooting photos of the water droplets from the sprinklers. Don't ask why we are watering weeds.  The colors make me happy.

Collecting Color is a bi-monthly post, hosted by Cyn at RiverDog Prints.  Share what you’re working on:  photographing, DIY-ing, reading or making. Anything goes, as long as it’s colorful, creative and you share a link below.

Sunshine on my shoulders - OM [one moment] meet up

Several sunflowers suddenly appeared in our overgrown garden.  What a bright and cheery surprise.  I seized the moment and took a dozen photos.  Joy!

You can see other shots I took in my Flickr set titled Around new home and garden (I'll be keeping a photo journal of all that we're doing).



How was your week?

Raised bed gardens both beautiful and practical

I missed gardening this year since we moved in early July.  I'm eager to plan and build my garden next year in our new home.  Our backyard is a blank canvas (this is an understatement that I'll post about in the future).  Just in researching this post, I've been inspired and bombarded with ideas on how to make our rather unattractive backyard into a wonderful garden.  A unique feature we've inherited, as you may see in the picture, is that the back of our new house is subterranean.  Anything we plant in this area must be fairly low as you look out onto ground level from inside the house - an interesting challenge.  (Click on the photo and it will take you to Flickr where I have a few notes attached to it.)

One thing I've always wanted was a raised bed garden.  I think they are beautifully compact and organized.  They make maintenance easy and allow for limitless creativity.   You can design them in various shapes and configurations.  They can be for flowers, herbs, garden vegetables, succulents, etc.  You can make them small and portable for city gardens or large with ungulating pathways through which to wander.  Whether perfectly groomed or simply practical (like using old tires, gathered pots,  or a kiddie pool), raised beds can make a garden special.

My brother-in-law (Mr. Bump Smitten), in Park City, UT, made these galvanized steel raised beds.  I love the look of the steel.  The beds are slightly taller due to the standard size of the steel making the beds that much easier to access.  Nice job, J!

Here is a gallery of raised beds I gathered.  If you want more inspiration, simply search raised bed gardens on Flickr for an abundance of inspiration and how to.

Beautiful raised gardens, a gallery on Flickr.

Tell me about your garden!

Inspiration and purchases for new outdoor courtyard

I haven't found/unpacked my camera battery recharger so I've not been able to take great photos of the house, yet.  I know some of you are eager to see and I'm working on it.  Until then, I have to rely on my trusty iPhone camera (which isn't too bad) and show you snippets of what's going on in our new mid century modern home.

Besides unpacking, cleaning, and organizing endlessly, we've been able to purchase a few pieces of new furniture.  I've particularly focused on our outdoor courtyard since we tend to spend a lot of time in it.  Reno's weather is amenable to outdoor living and I've always dreamed of having an outdoor dining/living area.  Our "courtyard" is nestled between our bedrooms and main living (kitchen/family) area with the main hallway running along the back.

While there is much to do in the future, such as revamping the inner garden and flower beds, for now I'm happy to make easy/affordable changes.  A visit to my local Home Goods store kicked off my purchases with this yellow side table.

From there, we purchased the following:

 1.  Sun shade (on sale), Overstock.com
2.  Solar powered water fountain pump, Amazon.com
3.  Bardolino rectangular dining table (on sale), dwr.com
4.  Surf charcoal dining chair (on sale), crateanbarrel.com
5.  Soji solar lanterns, allsop.com

I may be most excited about the solar powered water fountain pump.  It was the easiest and least expensive way to make a small, stagnant pond interesting.  Since Reno has an abundance of sun, solar power was a no brainer.  The lanterns are great, too.  I love looking out the windows at night to see them glowing.

We haven't received the table yet but once we do, and when I recharge my camera battery, I'll take a photo of the area in completion.

 

 Summer is my favorite time of year for fresh decorating.  Did you make any summer time purchases for your garden, deck, or patio this summer?

Photographing my garden one last time

I was sitting on my deck this weekend and realized this is the last chance I'll be able to take photos of my flowers in bloom.  Each of these flowers, bushes, plants were placed in the ground by my hands.  They've bloomed for several years now but this year they were bigger and brighter than ever. 









I'm looking forward to learning about what flowers grow best in Nevada.  But, I'll miss my year round blossoms in my Rhode Island garden.

All In A Row - by Crafted by Lindy - Fab Finds from Etsy

Top to Bottom, Left to Right

1. Red Brown Leather Cuff 18 rows - Kafuseleather

2. Dutch CANAL HUIS row of 5 - ochre, terra cotta, white - ARTISANIEeurope

3. brushstokes - screenprinted fabric in sunburst yellow - summersville

4. Reusable Snack Bags Set of 3, 1 Large, 2 Small Size Plain Eco Friendly - bleuroo

Top to Bottom, Left to Right

5. row of cans print 8x12 inch - abbytrysagain

6. Garden Markers - Set of 4 - simplyprettyprints

7. Photograph - Pears In A Row - Food Fine Art Print - AmeliaKayPhotography

8. Fairytale Living - mirrored glass bunting - PamelaAngus

[Lindy lives in Alberta, Canada, with her husband, son and new baby girl. Besides blogging, she enjoys running her stationery business and creating new designs for her Etsy shop. You can read her own blog here]

Harvesting lavender and making sachets - DIY a la mode

Lavender harvest, originally uploaded by alamodestuff.

I harvested my first batch of lavender this year.  Lavender is a perennial that actually benefits from being cut in addition to being pruned after blooming.  As an accidental gardener, I began harvesting lavender because I have a row of them that likes to overtake a walkway.  I have to cut the plants back often and absolutely hated disposing of the fragrant blossoms.  Thus, my sachets were born.

[Did I ever mention that I don't have a green thumb.  This said, my ability to keep these plants year after year means that they are super easy to grow and manage.]

I do not claim to know what I'm doing, but for the past several years my harvesting technique has worked.  The first thing I do just after the flowers bloom, is cut the stems.  I tie them in bundles and then hang them to dry. 

[This year, I didn't even tie them.  I simply left them to dry in a pile as pictured above.]

After about a week or so, they will easily shake off the stem.  You can put them in a pillow case or paper bag and gently shake them off their stems.  I simply pull them off into a bowl because I love the smell on my hands.



[I do not spray anything other than water on my plants:  no fertilizers, chemicals, plant food, etc.]

I make sachets from my bounty, like this one I made last year.  Even after a year, with a gentle squeeze, the sachet's fragrance is renewed and has lasted this long.

Lavender has a very soothing quality.  It is said that if you sleep with a sachet under your pillow, you will have a more restful sleep.  Of course, throwing them in a drawer, closet, or simply hanging one nearby adds a wonderful aroma.



Did you know that you can also use them in your dryer?  Trader Joe's sells reusable packs for your laundry.  You can easily make your own with lightweight muslin or cheesecloth squares. 

What else can you do with dried lavender?

- sleep masks
- travel pillows
- throw and vacuum to add scent to your room/vacuum
- leave in a bowl as potpourri

I will be making several sachets.  Do you want one?  I'll send one to the first three individuals who respond in the comments below.

Outdoor living a la mode - inexpensive ways to add interest to your garden

Last week, in my OM post, I talked about a little outdoor vignette on my front porch.  I get excited each spring when it's time to pull out my garden decorations and furniture. Every year, I switch things around and begin anew looking forward to many lazy evenings in the yard. Here are some ideas I try to incorporate each year:

I look for bargains at second hand stores and in my garden centers. The chairs above are Pottery Barn chairs that originally cost $499 each. I found these at a yard sale for $100 each...a steal!! My table is made from a pot I bought for $20 and a glass top I found somewhere (don't remember where, but I'm sure it was free). I stuffed paper in the pot, filled the top half with white sand and river rocks. 

 

I do not have a green thumb.  I've found hearty perennials that require little care from me.  I fill a few posts with annuals to add color to my deck and patio.  The orange day lilies came from my mother -in-law's yard.  She thinned hers out and gave them to me. They've grown so much that I need to thin them out and plant some in the front yard. 

The boys and I made C these garden stepping stones for Father's Day in 2004.  You can find kits at the local craft store or make your own by using stepping stone molds and concrete mix (which is what I did).  I let the boys design their pavers with trinkets, marbles, and anything meaningful to them.  They used Legos, tiles, glass, beads, etc.  I had them put impressions of their feet, tiny then, into the pavers and sign their names.  These stepping stones have been out in the garden, leading up to my bird bath, since then.  They may be the most meaningful things to me in the whole garden. 

Additionally, the boys and I put up prayer flags every other year.  When the flags are worn to loose threads, we burn the old ones and replace them with new ones.  This signifies our prayers going out into the world.  Visit my previous post about them and see an easy peace flag project for kids here.

Little details in my garden make me happy.  I bought these two ceramic happy Buddhas from a local store for $8.00 each.  They've travelled all over the yard and bring a smile to my face each time I look at them.  The wooden wind spiral came from a local Asian antiquity store.  It was $10.00 and is mesmerizing to watch as it twirls in the wind.

The pay off to a nice garden is, of course, what Mother Nature brings to the picture.  This year, we've already found a nest with a robin's egg in our bamboo (yes, the same bamboo that gives me grief as seen in this post) and a nest of hungry robins.  These were little surprises that I didn't have to purchase, prune, or plan for and they were wonderful!

OM [one moment] meet up - week 6 - vignette

My week was pretty hectic and while I could write about many "moments," one small one jumped out at me. 

I began sprucing up my garden last weekend.  Around Mother's Day each year, I start my plantings and begin to bring out my summer gear (pots, furniture, etc).

I  love adding a bit of decorative interest to my front porch.  It seems to change every year, but I like to make this area welcoming.  It's probably for me more than anyone else, but it makes me happy.  

Since our front is mostly shaded during the day, I found this hosta and plopped it into the pot.  I plopped my beloved concrete ball in the smaller pot, added a lantern (which I light when I know we are having guests) and one of many shells we've collected over the years.  Voila!  A corner with purpose.

This little corner by our door made me sit down and enjoy the ivy climbing up a trellis that hides our electricity meters.  I added a bench (from our backyard) and now I've found that I sit out front and watch the kids play and the neighbors pass by.   The boys are congregating (a.k.a loitering) here, too, which I actually love.

I took lots of other garden pictures that I'll share next week.  Have a wonderul weekend!!

What was your 'one moment' this week? What took you out of your present moment and made you pause, smile, slow down?


Share in the blog comments here, on your own blog (and link back below) or on my Facebook fan page. If you are on Twitter, I've started a hash tag - #OMmeetup so that we can converse if we'd like. We'd love to hear your moment this week!

To learn more about this weekly post, OM [one moment] meetup, please see the original post here.

OM [one moment] meet up - week #5 - Battling bamboo in the garden

I hope you had a great week. Mine was on the long and exhausting side but I'm hanging in there. C just returned from an 8 day class and nat'l conference and will now be on chief call for 10 days straight (meaning he will get calls and can be called in to the hospital 24/7 for the next 10 days). If you see my mood change in the next week, don't be surprised!

My one moment this week actually came to me last Sunday as I was toiling in my garden. We have a 12' x 4' bamboo patch that screens a blue stone patio from our neighbors for privacy. When we put in the bamboo, we were told it was a "clumping" variety and could be easily controlled. Hmmmm...."easily controlled" is a relative term which now means pulling pavers up and cutting new growth every spring (a.k.a. lots of work).  The bamboo sprouts up all over the yard, under the pavers, into the house. I can only imagine what the overall root system looks like under the surface.

We were naive.  Someone once told us that only an enemy would suggest planting bamboo. We should have planted it in large pots like a good friend of mine did in Seattle.  It looks great in large pots and serves it's purpose well.

I love bamboo!  I love it's sustainable, fast growing quality.  I love it's overall appearance.  It gave us instant privacy.  Who knew there was so much bad that comes with the good.

My bamboo seems to be a bit of a metaphor in life - anything worth having comes with [lots] of maintenance.

What was your 'one moment' this week? Share in the blog comments here, on your own blog (and link back below) or on my Facebook fan page. If you are on Twitter, I've started a hash tag - #ommeetup. We'd love to hear your moment this week!

To learn more about this weekly post, OM [one moment] meetup, please see the original post here.