Garden Delights

Solar Fountains

2012-02-11T09:38:00.000-08:00

My garden has many water features, because I find the trickling of water extremely calming. Fountains and bird baths also attract birds who stop by for a quick thirst quenching and frolicking, which is always fun to watch. But not every spot in the garden allows for the set up of a power powered fountain, this is why I fell in love with the solar fountains.

Available via Amazon
Fountains and bird baths can be set up anywhere as long as the solar panel gets plenty of light to charge itself to power the pump. As soon as the sun is put water flows in a continues stream adding a nice visual and audible effect. Once the sun goes down activity stops as well, although my fountain has these two tiny lights that come on at light.

Available via Amazon

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Valentine Tulips

2012-02-08T20:41:00.000-08:00

These Valentine ideas for displaying Tulips were spotted on Martha Stewart . For a big color punch filling a vase with red Jelly Beans is a fun idea. If something softer is more your style how about these candies hearts in pastel colors to go with pink and yellow tulips?!

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Two Week Plant Sitter

2012-01-19T07:20:00.000-08:00

Every time we plan a vacation I start fretting about how me plants are going to survive without watering.I tried several wick methods, mostly the DIY type and always noticed how water would initially escape leaving the water container less than the optimal full. Well the Drip-It supposedly was designed after five years of research to take a simple concept and make the most out of it. The two types of Drip-It systems release water drop by drop instead of in one initial rush, so the water lasts longer. Sweet! Now has anyone tried one yet? I would love to hear how well it works.

Specs

Releases water one drop at a time for up to 2 weeks

Drip-It Frog waters pots up to 14"

Drip-It Pro waters pots 15" and up

I spotted these via the Gardener's Supply Company.
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Unusual Looking Plants

2012-01-14T07:33:00.000-08:00

During an outing I spotted this very unusual looking plant. Each stem held up a very large starburst looking flower head.

As a grouping it looked like fire works had gone off in this flower bed. Do you know the name of this plant?

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Freesia

2012-01-10T20:22:00.000-08:00

Photo by Enzie Shahmiri

Freesias come in many colors and have a lovely fragrance, making for great cut flowers. I love them because they keep multiplying every year in my yard and when they are blooming I have an abundant supply of pretty long lasting cut flowers for my vases. The flowers can get large and stems can be at least 14 inches long. My freesias are well established in the garden and I need to stake them.

Source: dailymail.co.uk via Enzie on Pinterest

January - February Freesias will start to flower.Start to mix in plant food when you water.

Late Summer or Early Fall - Plant the bulbs (they are actually called corms)in early fall and make sure that they are protected against the cold. This is a native of South Africa and the bulbs do not tolerate extreme cold. These flowers like to be close to each other, so plant 5 to 6 together. Freesias also like a little bit of sand mixed into the soil to improve drainage. Mixing some bone meal into the soil also is beneficial for great blooming.

Growing Freesias from Seeds - Freesias seeds are very small, with hard shells. Soak them overnight before planting and let them germinate in the dark. Germination takes at least three weeks. Mix the seeds with sand and sprinkle them on the surface of a pot. Cover with black plastic, keep warm at about 70F and check after two weeks. Re-pot or move to garden when roots are about 1.5 inches long. Corms need damp soil to sprout and should be fertilized regularly once they begin to grow.

Plant Doctor

For cut flowers use a clean vase. Old, dried up bacteria can reawaken in new water and choke the stems of the plant so it can't take up water. When you buy freesias from a florist buy those with only one bud open - they will last much longer. Cut flowers will last even longer if they are kept in a cool place at night and moved into the sun during the day.

- Aphids may be a problem. Spray once with insecticide and check now and then for re infestation.

- Fusarium is a fungus disease. Treat with a fungicide. I like to cut away anything that does not look 100%. This will assure that each plant gets enough air circulation, reducing the growth of fungus.

-Virus Infection may occur on Freesias. If there are thin black lines up the side of the leaves or stems, and the plant appears droopy, the virus is present and the plant must be removed and destroyed. There is no cure and it can infect other plants.

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Carnations

2012-01-09T08:38:00.000-08:00

Photo by Enzie Shahmiri

According to the Flower Experts

Carnations grow readily from cuttings made from the suckers that form around the base of the stem, the side shoots of the flowering stem, or the main shoots before they show flower-buds.
The cuttings from the base make the best plants in most cases.
These cuttings may be taken from a plant at any time through fall or winter, rooted in sand and potted up.
They may be put in pots until the planting out time in spring, which is usually in April or in any time when the ground is ready to be handled.
The soil should be deep, friable and sandy loam.

Carnation Plant Care

Carnations need some hours of full sun each day and should be kept moist.
Avoid over-watering as this may tend to turn the foliage yellow.
Spent flowers should be removed promptly to promote continued blooming.
The quality of the bloom depends on the soil and irrigation aspects for growing carnations.
Those who grow carnations should know the importance of pinching, stopping and disbudding.
At the time of plucking carnations, leave three to four nodes at the base and remove the stem.
The plant foliage should not be exposed to the direct heat of a stove or the sun.

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Rebutia Blooming Cactus

2011-12-18T10:00:00.000-08:00

Rebutia is a cactus that blooms - a show stopper for sure!
This cactus is a native to Argentina and Bolivia and grows in high altitudes. A easy to grow cactus, it remains small and blooms mainly in the spring following a winter rest period.
Flower color comes in red, orange and yellow.
Care tips via Easy Cactus
The plants should be kept almost completely dry during the winter months, only water them to prevent the roots from completely drying out, once a month should be fine. From March onwards the plant will begin to grow and watering should be increased gradually until late May when the plant should be in full growth.
During hot weather you may need to water the plants once a day so long as the plant is actively growing.
From late September watering should be reduced to force the plant to go in to a state of semi dormancy, by November you should be back in to the winter watering regime.

Photo credit: Prados Delrey~Painting Commissions are Happily Accepted ~ Layaway Plans are Available! ★Thank you for Visiting!★ Join Me on Facebook ~ Return to Portfolio ~ Return to Blog Share on Tumblr

DIY Garden Stepping Stones

2011-12-07T09:29:00.001-08:00

This will be a great project for a sunny day. Charlotte’s English translation blog, Hemmariket originally featured this idea. Rather than trampling all over young plants, these simple to make stepping stones allow you to navigate through flower beds with ease. I especially like the idea that these are very cost effective and pretty.

Charlotte worked on this project with photographer, Anna Evenius. She does beautiful photography which you can see on her blog, Foto: Anna Evenius.

Credits:

Photos: Courtesy of Anna Evenius Article: Courtesy of Charlotte Bladh.

Source: sunsetgurldesign.typepad.com via Enzie on Pinterest

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Repurposing

2011-11-23T08:40:00.000-08:00

Photo: ZierApfel

Do you decorate in your garden? When things get a bit banged up, rather than tossing the objects, I try to give them a 2nd purpose in the yard. Chips, dings, missing parts and peeled paint somehow become art of a graceful aging process and when paired with delicate flowers outright lovely. Here are some images to demonstrate what I mean.

Photo:Zierapfel

Photo: Luna

It's all about re-purposing in a tasteful manner. Just make sure not to put too many things out. Thant can quickly make the yard looked cluttered. The key is to be selective. If you have several favs, you just hate to ditch, then rotate things around. You won't believe how often friends thought things were new, when in essence all I did was to change the location of the item and the grouping.

About Orchids

2011-11-09T08:01:00.000-08:00

Did you know Orchids are differentiated not only by their flowers but also from the leaves and roots. Orchids can even grow on trees and come in a variety of sizes.

According to Bella: " The largest orchid is generally agreed to be Grammatophyllum speciosum. It can weigh up to 2,000 pounds or 900 kilograms and is reputed to produce up to 10,000 flowers on a mature plant in nature. The pseudobulbs reach 10 feet or 3 meters in height with leaves along the full length. The species is found in Malaysia, the Solomon Islands, Sumatra, the Philippines, Papua and New Guinea."

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Fall Decorating with Vegetables

2011-11-08T09:25:00.000-08:00

I subscribe to a German magazine Living and Gardening and saw these in their October issue and just fell in love with the idea and color schemes.

Combining stone ware, especially if it looks a bit weathered, with fresh produce are a great way to decorate for a fall party. This garlic set up is so lovely ~ don't you think?

I plant red cabbage in the fall, but this leafy kale, has great texture. I am so inspired by all this, that I just want to run out and buy fresh produce!

I love to hear and see how you decorate in and around your garden. If you like you can share your photos by emailing them to artenzie@cox.net and I will post them here!

All images in this post courtesy of Wohnen & Garten

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Living Garden Statue

2011-11-03T13:29:00.000-07:00

Heather Yarrow, co-designer of the 4Head healing herb garden, waters this reclining mud sculpture centerpiece, designed by Sue and Peter Hill, at the Chelsea Flower Show. Chelsea organizers have sunk a borehole to provide a sustainable water source in this year's drought.
Photo courtesy of BBC
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Heavenly bamboo or Nandina domestica

2011-11-01T06:56:00.000-07:00

Heavenly bamboo or Nandina domestica, grows everywhere in my garden. It is a lovely shrub with colorful leaves. White clusters of flowers are followed by many bright red berries which are long-lasting and highly attractive. Mine seem to bloom mainly in the fall.

I read some place that heavenly bamboo (not related to bamboo) does not branch and therefore can't be just cut back. If one-third of the older canes are pruned to the ground each year it grows fuller and shorter. Aha, that might explain while mine are almost taller than I am!

Apparently the birds love the berries as well and as nature takes it's course help to spread the seeds all over the place. This must explains while this is such a popular plant in my garden-proper berry management seems to be in order!

Since I did not know how to prune this shrub Hermes was so nice to offer a detailed instruction. Just read the 1st comment and make sure to visit his wonderful blog Blogging Housepants

DIY Garden Projects

2011-10-21T09:48:00.000-07:00

Source: flickr.com via Enzie on Pinterest

Garden furniture can get pretty pricey and believe me when it comes to finding something that last forever and does not fade, break or chip over time is almost impossible.

I started with plastic and graduated to very fancy rod iron furniture for my back yard, which also cost me a good penny and although the latter lasted a bit longer the marble table tops are fading and the color is starting to chip on the legs. Arggr...

This is why I actually like the idea of the furniture posted above. It is simple does the job, can be added on with companion pieces and when it starts to look it's age can be revived with a can of paint!

Source: flickr.com via Enzie on Pinterest

I spend hours bend over in my garden weeding and planting and nothing gets more irritating when seeing critters nibble on your freshly planted veggies. I like the idea of raising things up and using old vine bottle wooden boxes sort of looks "chic" , don't you think?

Source: None via Enzie on Pinterest

And should you run out of space, why not plant vertically? I had to chuckle when I saw this one ~

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Blue Jarrahdale

2011-10-16T06:00:00.000-07:00

green_pumpkins, originally uploaded by kathyrose97229.

I am not sure if this beauty belongs to the Blue Jarrahdale variety and weather this is a pumpkin or a squash or both. I just love the way they look and how nicely they lend themselves to decorating.

Image from Martha Stewart Living 2008

Image from Martha Stewart Living 2008

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Black and White Pumpkins

2011-10-10T10:18:00.001-07:00

These cool looking black and white pumpkins were spotted in Country Living magazine. I like the idea of creating a decoupaged pumpkin with vintage prints. I am guessing if you make black and white photo copies it should be fairly easy to decoupage just about any design on pumpkins.
Do you like these designs? Have you decoupaged before?

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Photo of the Day

2011-09-30T14:01:00.000-07:00

©Enzie Shahmiri Portraits and Fine Art

I usually carry my camera with me, because you never know when you come across a great setting. This photo was taken while I decided on a whim to stop in LA Jolla for a walk at the beach. I just loved the way the rock was covered with the moss and ended up spending over an hour clicking away.

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Beautiful Garden Tiles

2011-09-29T11:44:00.000-07:00

©Enzie Shahmiri Portraits and Fine Art

This beautiful tiled mural is on a door in a side street in Laguna Beach. I am always amazed at the amount of art tucked away in this small ocean side community. Mounted to a back door of a business it faces a parking lot. I found it by chance while taking a shortcut through the lot.

©Enzie Shahmiri Portraits and Fine Art

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Seed Storage Solutions

2011-09-22T14:31:00.000-07:00

This image was originally shared by Athyrium on Stumble

This has been a crazy week for me. A couple days ago I found out someone had gained access to my Apple account and helped themselves to my store credit. Fortunately I found out in time and after spending hours changing passwords and emailing back and forth with Apple, I got my store credit back.

Since I have totally neglected my garden for three weeks, while busy with my Studio Makeover I noted another theft. A little mouse had helped itself to my garden seeds. Imagine how I jumped, when I pulled out my garden cart to search for some seeds to plant and was greeted by a very chubby mouse, who leaped right out while I was reaching in. So today I spend the day cleaning out my garden cart and putting seeds in new little jars that are critter proof.

The jars I found at an art supply store a while back. Similar ones are here

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Crystal River - A Kaleidoscope of Colors

2011-09-17T14:36:00.001-07:00

I was absolutely amazed at the color of this beautiful Guauabero river. The river is located in Macarena,Columbia and full of algea. The color transformation is a waste product of the algea and changes color depending on the season from yellow, blue, green, black and red. I found this post and many other stunning photos of this river on Open Freak and strongly suggest you take a look at the other photos. They are just breath taking!

Bonsai Resources

2011-09-15T06:36:00.000-07:00

Source: greenculturesg.com via Enzie on Pinterest

I attended a Bonsai class and had a lot of fun learning about these beautiful miniature trees and the art of creating Bonsai. Bonsai are basically small trees or shrubs that are planted in table top size containers and pruned into beautiful shapes. The idea is to be in a zen state while shaping your fledgling into the desired shape and to create a visually stunning miniature tree.

Photo by Miki

Last time I tried my hand at Bonsai it was not very Zen like for me, because the whole thing ended up dying on me and looked nothing like these lovely trees. Thus the class and tons of resources for future reference.

Bonsai Resources:

Web sites General Information: Bonsai Site and Bonsai Community of Bonsai Nut

Recommended Books:

The Bonsai Workshop (Herb Gustafson) * Practical Bonsai Projects: Create 23 Superb Trees Step-by-Step (Ken Norman) * The Bonsai Art of Kimura (volume I)

Source: youtube.com via Sheryl on Pinterest

Bonsai Nurseries in the Los Angeles Area:

* House of Bonsai 5214 Palo Verde Ave Lakewood, CA 90713 (562) 804-6888

* Chikugo-En (310) 323-4011 18110 S Western Ave Gardena, CA 90248

* Marumiya Bonsai Nursery 16819 So. Normandie Ave. Gardena, California 90247-5435

* Yamaguchi Bonsai Nursery 1905 Sawtelle Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90025 Neighborhood: West Los Angeles (310) 473-5444

* Kimura Bonsai Nursery 17230 Roscoe Blvd Northridge, CA

Other ways to experience Bonsai

Take a Bonsai class/workshop

Go to a Bonsai Convention

Join a Bonsai Club

Photo by Miki

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Back to the Start

2011-09-14T06:07:00.000-07:00

I have noticed more and more that people are fed up with the industrial life style that has been forced upon them. Farmers markets are filled to the brim with people looking for fresh produce and places like Sprouts and Whole Foods are packed with shoppers looking for organic or cage free products. There is just no comparison in taste between foods that are genetically altered versus those that are brought to the market the old fashion way. This video does a great job bringing this message to our collective attention. @Joaquin Baldwin and @Kimberly Chapman posted this video on Google Plus and I just had to share it.

Source: flickr.com via Enzie on Pinterest

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Growing Zucchini

2011-09-13T08:52:00.000-07:00

Photo: Zucchini Flowers by Jim-AR

Planting ~

Pollination of Crop ~

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Organic Solutions to Protect Roses

2011-09-01T06:30:00.000-07:00

Image source: Enzie Shahmiri

I have a lot of roses in my garden and try to stay vigilant about clipping off any leaves that show the slightest signs of disease. Sometimes I can catch the problem in time and at other times sadly black spot or mildew get the upper hand.

In search for a better solution I came across an interesting article on Fine Gardening about using Chamomile tea will help plants that suffer from fungus or mildew.The author suggested this:

"Place 16 chamomile tea bags (or 2 cups of dried chamomile flowers) in 2 quarts of water, and simmer for 20 minutes. Turn off the heat, and allow the tea bags to steep for several hours. Strain, if using dried flowers. Use the tea to irrigate tender seedlings (from the bottom) to prevent damping off, or use as a foliar spray to battle diseases on plants. "

You can also mix 2 teaspoons of baking soda and 1/2 teaspoon of liquid soap or Murphy's oil soap in 2 quarts of water and then spray the plant, which helps to protect the roses for months.

What are you using to combat these type of diseases?

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Natural Insect control for Cabbage Family

2011-08-31T07:00:00.000-07:00

Image Source: Patric Coin

2 tablespoons of Red-pepper/ chili powder when mixed with 6 drops of liquid soap in 1 gallon of water is a cure against cucumber beetles, spittle bugs, leafhoppers and cabbage loopers. Just let the mix sit overnight, mix it well before use and spray the top and bottom leaves of your plants on a weekly basis. Any member of the cabbage family (including broccoli, cauliflower, kale, and brussels sprouts) should stay safe from destructive insects.

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