Roses in a container

If you would like to create a small rose garden you don’t have to think in terms of anything formal.  

A rose garden can be very simple and you only need a few good roses to provide you with a lovely display provided that you observe a few rose friendly rules.

If your garden is particularly small, you can even grow roses successfully in containers.

Roses also grow quite happily together with other flowers so don’t worry if you don’t have space for a formal rose garden.

In fact, a garden with roses under-planted with annuals such as lobelia or alyssum will look particularly lovely.

Take a look at the container of roses above and see how a few seasonal perennials are planted around the base.  They serve not only to improve the display but also to keep the roots of the rose cool.

Here are 7 tips to bear in mind when you start to plan your small rose garden

• Whether your garden is large or small, all roses need a marked change of seasons from winter to summer.  So make sure that your climate is suitable for roses before you invest in both time and money. Fortunately roses are fairly adaptable so check with your local rose nursery for advice before you  buy and if your climate is not over friendly to roses, he may be able to suggest a few hardy varieties that would do well in your area.

• Your roses will need a minimum of at least six hours of sunlight a day if you want them to produce masses of roses. If you plant them in pots you can move them so that they catch the most sun. Some rose varieties can tolerate a certain amount of semi-shade but generally roses do not flower well unless they receive the required amount of sunlight.

• If you don’t like to use poisons in your garden there are some effective organic sprays for roses such as a concoction of garlic and soap water. Garlic planted among your rose bushes also acts as a natural deterrent against insects.

• If you garden is very dry remember to mulch your roses with pine needles or other suitable mulching material. This helps to conserve moisture around the roots.

• Allow your rose bushes to grow into sturdy bushes before cutting long stems.  Resist the temptation to cut roses for the house with long stems until the bushes are strong enough.

• Deadhead roses regularly – that is remove the dead blooms so that all nutrients and vigor go into the rose bushes rather than into the making of seed heads.

• A healthy rose bush is a bush with many leaves. Remember that leaves provide the food for the plant so make sure that you encourage as much leaf growth as possible by fertilizing and watering frequently.

 And the most important of all the tips – just talk to your roses!  I do

Craft and Create - The Creative Route to Personal Development

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we were all born with that spark of creativity we all admire so much?

Well guess what! We have all been given that creative capacity – for free. Each and every one of us has some form of creativity within us. It’s really just a matter of degree.

Unfortunately most of us don’t know it.

What a waste! 

With some people a particular creative talent is so strong that it shows up very early in life.  Others go through life never ever realizing that they had creative potential and through lack of use it eventually disappears altogether.

Who knows what wondrous paths of excitement and stimulation we could have trodden – if only we had known and worked with our natural creativity.

The actual fact is that there are many different types and degrees of creativity. But it is up to us to discover which of these we have.

It’s quite easy to check for creativity with handwriting – which is one way to do it. There are other ways too, of  course.  But the bottom line is that we need to become more aware of our creativity so that it doesn’t go to waste.

Craft and Create - The Creative Route to Personal Development

Superman

Here is a lovely story about a young boy in India who creates miniature cartoon characters with aluminium foil. I found the article at Daily News and Analysis and was immediately fascinated. 

It shows how the creative instinct can find inspiration in the most unusual things.

Below is an excerpt from the article – I am sure that you will be just as fascinated as I was to read it. It’s an example of innovation that is sure to inspire your own creativity.

Creativity with Tin Foil

“So what do you think a standard VI student does with the aluminium foil that his mother uses to wrap food in his lunch box?

Many would say he would throw it in the dustbin without giving it a second thought.

But not 11-year-old Punmeet Tiwari who not only collects the aluminium foils that his mother uses to pack his food but also makes miniatures out of them.

Punmeet has made more than 500 miniatures of cartoon characters such as Spiderman and Superman, stone-age man, sportspersons, a cricket field and many other toys with the used foils.

3D Models

“My elder bother Harsh is good at drawing. He would encourage me to make 3D models of the characters he would draw. I took it as a challenge to use foils to make the models.

Now the art is a part of my life,” says the standard VI student of The Bishop’s School. He adds, “I have also made various tops with the foils. My friends love to play with the flying top I have made.”

Creativity at School

Punmeet’s involvement with the aluminium foils begins during the lunch break every day when he collects the used foils from his friends’ tiffin boxes. Then is the time to think of a new character to be modeled. “When I come home from school, I start thinking of what to make.

I put on the television and pick up an image. While watching cartoons or any film or even a dance show, I just roughly sketch the image on paper and then take foil and mould it accordingly,” says Punmeet.

“On my birthday, Punmeet made masks and caps as return gifts. He had made motorbikes from the foils that we gave our friends and were liked by all,” says Harsh. He adds, “Sometimes Punmeet becomes restless when he cannot think of anything to replicate. On an average he creates one miniature every day. He can concentrate on his studies only when he has made a miniature for the day.”

Punmeet loves to share his creativity with others. “During the lunch break when my friends get time, they learn to make miniatures from me. This way we exchange our creativity,” he says. “On Teacher’s Day, I gifted my class teacher a music system made of foil,” adds the boy.”

I knew you would like this story!  I am only sorry that the article didn’t provide us with a picture of some of his aluminum foil cartoon characters.  Anyway, his enthusiasm and innovation already boundless at such a young age is an inspiration to all of us.

Craft and Create - The Creative Route to Personal Development

Here is a remarkable video of a 6 year old child genius playing the piano at Carnegie.

I’ve often wondered if Mozart really composed music at the age of 5. I always thought it was a bit of an exaggeration that people liked to believe. And no harm in that. We need our dreams.

But I realize that it really must have been true. It is indeed possible to find a child genius with extraordinary musical talent. Talent like this does in fact exist. And what is more, it exists today!

Take a look at this video and you too will be dumbstruck by this amazing little 6 year old boy, Yoav Levanon , who won the Pnina Saltzman competition.  Here he is playing the piano at Carnegie. It’s goose pimple worthy!

 Child Genius Plays the Piano

Craft and Create - The Creative Route to Personal Development

Here is a little pressed flower collage which is very easy to design when you have a few pressed flowers in stock.

There are many more pictures like this at my website, where you can find out for yourself how easy it is to press flowers.

It’s a very satisfying craft or hobby and I highly recommend it. Mainly because it keeps you out of doors and away from the computer.  And that’s a very valuable thing these days!

There are ways to make your pressed flowers and foliage look vibrantly alive.

You don’t need to put up with dull browns and greys either.  With a bit of know-how you can make your pressed flower pictures look as if they have just come from an artist’s palette.

And the colours will remain bright for years and years to come.

If this craft interests you, you will find some valuable tips and hints at how to press flowers

And by the way it is my very favourite hobby! If you would like some help to get started I will be happy to oblige! Just put your  questions into the comment section below and I’ll get back to you.

Craft and Create - The Creative Route to Personal Development

The biggest rose that I have ever seen is without doubt the lovely hybrid tea rose, Garden Queen.

This enormous rose has a wonderful fragrance, and is very eye-catching, not only because of its huge size and perfection of form but also because of its wonderful combination of colours that range from a deep pink to a rich deep violet.

Not only is this one of the biggest roses that I have ever seen – it also lasts a long time in the vase.  An added plus about Garden Queen is that the bush is sturdy, strong and vigorous and that it seems to be virtually disease free.

I only have to pick three of these huge blooms to fill a vase and they always make quite a talking point.

Another magnificent pink rose that I love is Flamingo. It’s a much lighter pink rose with its peachy centre and flamingo shade of pink on the open petals. But despite its very large size, this is a graceful rose. It’s a strong grower and the flowers last an incredibly long time in the vase.

Craft and Create - The Creative Route to Personal Development

Can you recall a particularly powerful book that you read recently or even some time ago? If it comes to mind quickly, it probably made an impact on you in one way or another.

Reading can be quite creative. If you can get hold of a book that has meaning for you it will in all probability add a new dimension to your life. Or at the very least, it will open a new window for you.

Creative reading means discovering a powerful book with a special message that resonates with you. A message that can influence your thinking and point you to a new direction in your life.

Clearly this is not something that you will find every day.  A book like this is a rarity.

But if and when you do find it – it becomes an important landmark in your life. Not only because it’s a good read – but because it encourages you to think in a different way.

So where and how do you find such a book?  By reading of course and through recommendations. And sometimes from a lucky browsing session in a book shop.

Sometimes a single chapter from a book is enough to make it memorable for you. But then again there are books that start off with a lot of promise only to fizzle out towards the end.

Don’t let that stop you from seeing its merit. It’s possible that you got what you needed from the first part of the book and that’s OK.

Some books that I found powerful

Here are 5 books that resonated with me – remember I don’t necessarily mean the most enjoyable books I have read -  I mean powerful because they made some kind of impact on me.

The Odyssey by Homer – because of its magnificent and evocative prose.

Think and grow Rich by Napoleon Hill – because of its inspiration – and because it’s the mother of all motivational books

Women who run with the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes – a brilliant and thought-provoking understanding of the female psyche.  And I thought the writing was poetic and wonderful – I have a weakness for great writing.

On the Beach by Nevil Shute – a dreadful and ominous book published in 1957 predicting the end of human life as we know it as a result of nuclear radiation.  A little too close to the truth today to be comfortable.  Remember, I said powerful and not necessarily enjoyable and this one fits the description perfectly. Spine-chillingly horrible because of its prophetic insight!

The Magic Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton – Laugh if you like! I forgot the story long ago but I remember the happy magical feeling it gave me as a child.  And happy magical feelings can influence one’s life for the better. What more can I say?

You have to admit that I have given you a wildly mixed selection.  But then these books did influence my thinking in some way.

I challenge you to find a stranger and more disparate selection than I have given you!

In fact, I would like to invite you to add your particular “powerful book” to the comment section below.

So if you have read a book that affected you deeply please write about it and explain why it resonates with you. It would make a valuable contribution to our reading list.

Craft and Create - The Creative Route to Personal Development

Creativity is one of our highest forms of self-expression.

It is also the stamp of our individuality; the very mark of our existence.

Because the things we create are the embodiment of our thoughts and ideas.

No matter how big or how small, our own type of creativity is our personal contribution to the world around us.

We are all involved in the act of doing and it is the evidence that we leave behind us as a result of our “doing” that is the mark of our creativity.

Creativity in Nature

In nature, creativity is an ongoing phenomenon on an infinite scale of immensity. But it also takes place on an infinite scale of minuteness.

Creativity is at play whenever a spider spins a web or a coral insect builds a reef at the bottom of the sea. A bird’s nest, an oyster’s pearl, the silver trail left by a snail in the grass -  they all bear the stamp of creativity.

Creativity covers a gradation of phenomena that extends from the silken lid of a trapdoor spider or the honeycomb in a beehive – to great galaxies and nebulae in the outer reaches of the universe.

It is present when a caveman paints a rock or when a philosopher develops a new or inspired idea.

The Hallmarks of  Creativity

Great books, music, the pyramids, magnificent bridges and buildings – these are the hallmarks of our creativity. They are the evidence left by our lives saying; “we were here; we passed this way and this is what we left for you.”

It is the purpose of every culture to preserve all the manifestations of its creativity.  And the ability of a culture to preserve its own forms of creativity is an indication of its significance in history.

The Colosseum - a landmark of creativity

When our creations endure permanently in the form of concrete works of art or even if they are stamped into the minds of generations in the shape of lasting ideas, they become the landmarks of our cultures and our creativity.

The buildings of ancient Greece and Rome, The Bible of the Hebrews, the library in Alexandria, the ziggurats of ancient Babylonia, buildings and carvings of India, the works of art of the grand masters of Europe, great works of literature and music – all these are the tangible results of creativity, bequeathed to us, the inheritors of culture.

Whenever one of our creations lives on in the form of a painting, a piece of music or a poem it is our interpretation of the process of life.  It is a living testimony to our thoughts and ideas.

But the evidence of our creativity is not always long- lasting.  Many of our creations are evanescent and as brief as the song of a bird that fades swiftly on the air.

Even so, they will remain a part of creativity and will continue to live on in the memory of the universe.

Craft and Create - The Creative Route to Personal Development

Over the years goal setting in our family has turned into a rather scary tradition. It takes place at the very first family dinner in the New Year when each person sitting around the table has to commit to at least one new goal for the coming year.

It can be somewhat daunting because if you haven’t set any goals you can be absolutely sure that the rest of the family are ready and waiting to pounce on you.

Funnily enough, there’s method in this rather bizarre tradition.  Because once you’ve announced your new year’s resolution you are saddled with a commitment that you are forced to take seriously.

Obviously any resolution can be made during any time of the year. But somehow it carries more weight at the beginning of the year; the time for new beginnings when we start with a clean new slate.

Top Ten New Year’s Resolutions

If you haven’t yet decided on a goal for the year, here is a list of the top ten New Year’s resolutions for 2011.  It may just help you.

It isn’t a definitive list – it’s simply the most popular list made up of resolutions that people seem to make year after year.

They are hardy perennials because they come up every year.  So here they are in no particular order.

1. Stop Smoking
2. Get  Fitter
3. Lose Weight
4. Enjoy Life More.
5. Quit Drinking
6. Get better organized
7. Learn Something New
8. Save more
9. Spend More Time With Family and friends
10. Find a Soul Mate

Many of us prefer to keep our resolutions to ourselves. It makes sense in a way because we don’t always follow through with them.

But the advantage of making your resolution public is that it forces you to take it more seriously.

I can vouch for that personally.

My own resolution

Years ago, when it was my turn to talk about my new year’s resolution at our family dinner, I announced that my goal would be to learn something new. (No 7 on the list above!)

That something new was going to be Graphology!

Well, at the time it was just a whim.  But it was the beginning of my long love affair with graphology.

It has been an awesome learning experience for me. And the learning never stops because the mysteries of human nature are never ending.

The moral of my story is: be careful about the goals you commit to because they have a habit of taking over.

If you have chosen your goal for the following year I invite you to make your commitment right here and now! It may just kick start a new beginning for you.


Craft and Create - The Creative Route to Personal Development

Make no mistake. Dragons do exist. We may not be living in forests any longer but there are real dragons lurking out there. Modern dragons of the virtual kind like Google and Facebook.

Right now many people are keenly anticipating the imminent unleashing of Facebook’s secret plans as it prepares to ingest our personal data with its insatiable appetite. Meanwhile, Google is hatching its own plans.

These are two of the most powerful uber-consumers of today and they are contentedly feeding on the tasty morsels of our personal details. Furthermore, we are voluntarily feeding them information faster than they can digest our offerings.

Of course they purport to be helping us – for our own good and convenience. But are they really helping us? They seem more and more intent on gobbling up everything in their paths – including our very privacy.

Ever read the book 1984 by George Orwell?

He was the originator of the phrase “big brother” who he cleverly predicted would soon be watching us from every street corner.

I think the book may be worth a re-visit just for the fun of it because though his predictions were regarded as outlandish at the time, he didn’t even skim the surface of what was to eventually transpire.

But he did get one thing right. Big brother is certainly watching us.

Personally, I don’t want to be part of anyone’s data feed. And I particularly don’t want to be owned by the virtual soul seekers of today.

I prize my independence and I just want to be able to do my own thing freely and at a normal pace. I want to be in control of my own space and I want to be captain of my own ship.

Unfortunately there is so much clamour out there that we can’t even think straight – let alone be creative. It’s so much easier to do as we’re told. And that’s exactly why right now, more than ever, it’s time to take a deep breath.

We need to slow down the pace. We need to think before we divulge too much of our information. In short, we need to think more carefully about what it is that we really want and in doing so at least try to achieve some semblance of normality.

And if that means upsetting a dragon or two so be it!

Craft and Create - The Creative Route to Personal Development