Read Between the Limes

Liquid Sunshine

2012-02-06T22:26:00.000-08:00

This weekend while most people were getting ready to head to their Super Bowl parties, my daughter and I added three new citrus trees to the front yard garden. Our neighbor recently ripped out a fruitless mulberry tree that was heavily growing into our property. Removing the tree freed up a huge open space, but we were still left with the nasty roots that were left behind with the tree. Planting the new citrus trees required the assistance of a pick axe, a sharp shovel, a sassy five year old girl, and my trusty Labrador retriever(she just kept watch). After a few hours we were finally able to get our new trees in; a Yuzu (aka Japanese Citron), an Indio Mandarinquat, and a Sanguinelli Blood Orange. These three trees join our existing 10 citrus trees, and add to my obsession of citrus trees. After a couple hours of ripping out roots in mid-60's weather, and dressed in shorts.... my daughter had a fabulous idea. Lets make some orange juice!

So, we headed into the backyard where all of our mature citrus trees are. We grabbed a colander to fill up with fruit, and then another, and then another... There is no shortage of fruit on these trees, and we are blessed to be able to grow sunshine in our very own garden.

I can't help but to get a little teary eyed when my daughter helps me in the garden. I have tried very hard to make sure that "yard work" is never a chore for her, but instead a labor of love. She loves being outdoors and often begs to go outside and work in the garden. She's probably the only person I know that likes pulling weeds. As long as she's pulling weeds with me, she is happy. As much as I would love to think she is a mini-me, she is so much more awesome than I am.

This day we picked over a hundred oranges, and juiced them all in our handy Jack Lalanne juicer. One by one those oranges went in, and a beautiful orange liquid comes out. The finished product is the best orange juice you could ever ask for. We downed three glasses each.

After three glasses, our bellies were full and we were left with tons of orange juice still waiting in a bowl. Sooooo, for starters I copied the Skippy drink that I had at Grange last week- except I improvised the orangecello for my homemade limoncello, added fresh orange juice, and topped it with a half of a bottle of Blue Moon Belgian wheat ale. The result was YUMMY. The rest of the orange juice we put in large jars, and brought to our neighbors (who were all having Super Bowl parties). The printable labels I found on Pinterest (my favorite addiction besides citrus), which you can find here and here.

Hope you are finding a little bit of sunshine in your life- whether it's a fresh orange, or a smile on your child's face.

Citrus Week at Grange!

2012-02-01T21:32:00.000-08:00

Last weekend the employee's from Grange Restuarant & Bar and Citizen Hotel volunteered with Harvest Sacramento to pick citrus fruit that was just going to go to waste. Harvest Sacramento is a group of volunteers that collects unwanted fruits and vegetables from orchards, backyards and front yards of local residents. Lets face it, citrus grows very well here in Sacramento. There are some streets downtown that are literally lined with the color orange from falling fruit that has been smashed to a pulp from cars. A single orange tree can tower over a standard sized home within ten years. That single tree can produce more than 250 pounds of fruit. The average household can't eat that much fruit, and that's where Harvest Sacramento comes in. They pick the unwanted fruit that would have otherwise gone to waste, and they donate it to local food banks.

All this week Grange is holding a special fundraiser for Harvest Sacramento using some of the fruit that staff picked last week. If you stop by the bar make sure to ask for their special Harvest Sacramento menu- $4 from every drink on this menu will be donated back to Harvest Sacramento.

This evening I went with some of my favorite Sacramento peeps to sample the yummy recipes that Grange had prepared. My personal favorite was the Skippy (pictured above), made with orangecello, fresh orange juice, and pilsner.

Thank you to the staff at Grange for putting together a fun and unique fundraiser for Harvest Sacramento!

Best and Worst of the Northern California Home & Landscape Expo

2012-01-28T20:16:00.000-08:00

This weekend is the Northern California Home & Landscape Expo at Cal Expo. If you have an interest in going, the show is still going on tomorrow from 10am-6pm. I normally don't like going to these types of events because I am allergic to salespeople, but my friend Kat gave me free tickets (and even dropped them off after midnight last night on my doorstep!) so of course I was going to go! I brought my mom along with me because she's wanting to do some bathroom and kitchen remodeling this year. I can swoon over the garden decor', and she could swoon over faucets.... it was a win-win for both of us. Here are some pictures of my favorite and least favorite things, starting with the display pictured above from Verde Creations, Inc. I'm actually disappointed that I didn't get more pictures of their display because I really loved it. I was too busy checking out the patio space above and dreaming of ways that I could rip out more lawn in order to implement it. I checked out their website once I got home and I have to admit, they have some beautiful, colorful creations- and I can't wait to see more from them.

The garden pictured above I adored. I couldn't tell you who it was by because the people working this garden didn't really approach me in any way. As much as I say I hate salespeople, I do like to have someone approach me if I walk into a display. Ask me about my projects. Heck, ask me what I think of your display.... anything is better than silence. One company that was great with communicating was FiveStar Landscaping. I met landscape architect Karen Blanor at their display today and she was a great communicator- and asked a lot about the projects I wanted to do in my garden. Another great company I connected with today was G&D Landscape Construction. Greg Phelps spent a lot of time chatting with me about my garden projects. At these types of events you often get designers that come in with these grand displays and they are a little overwhelming, and they kind of scream "I'm expensive!" and it scares me away. I am more interested in the displays that scream "I'm practical! There's no project too big or too small!". G&D also gave me the business card of someone who might be better at giving me what I was looking for (Howard Ma of HM Design), and any company that is willing to say "I might not be able to do what you want, but I know someone who can" earns major points in my eyes.

Taking a break from garden stuff and moving to home decor', Mad Imports had a very popular display, and I can't wait to visit their store. Think of it as Restoration Hardware type decor, at half the price. The pieces were fun and unique, and I can't wait to see what they have in their warehouse. The hook set pictured above was only $27, and one half this size was around $14. You can't beat those prices! For directions, hours, etc, you can call them at (916) 599-0600.

Lets visit some things that I didn't like. The doorway fountain thing pictured above looks cool, right? I can picture it in a restaurant, but where the heck would you put this in your house? And if you're the type of person that would put this in your home, that's just spending money where you don't need to. It's over the top. It's way too much.

The same goes for this spout of water. What a waste! The best part of a water feature is the sound, which this had none. I would agree that my 5 year old would probably love to have this in our backyard, but the practical person in me was thinking it's a waste of water, it's probably really expensive, and it's probably a huge pain in the you-know-what to keep it clean.

The practical person in me would rather have this in my backyard. This is dreamy.... This I would use. I would use it every week! A dual purpose fireplace that could also make yummy pizzas? Um, YES PLEASE! This was done by Gloria Landscaping, and if I could pick one item I wanted out of the entire expo, this was it.

My favorite display award would have to go the Green Acres. I loved the colors, how they had so many products, and edible plants in one display without making it look over the top. It was beautiful. I am already a huge fan of their nurseries (most of my citrus trees are from here too), but I was happy to be greeted by a friendly staff member that works at their Roseville location. She reminded me that their Folsom location was opening soon and that it was going to be amazing!

The grand opening for the Folsom location is February 15th, but they have major sales for it going through mid-March. The best time to go according to their handout would be March 1-4. March 1st has classes on combining edibles and ornamentals. March 2nd is doorbuster specials, March 3rd they have gift bags for the first 300 guests plus free food from 12-2pm, and March 4th they'll have doorbuster sales and lots of free educational workshops.

What was I saying about non-practical items being a no-no in the garden? Yeah, that went out the door once I saw these. The company is called Vin de Flame, and these are their super cool propane fire pits. Made out of old wine barrels, and each on wheels, these are perfect for your evening parties. The practical side of me says "but I'd only use them a couple times a year", well, thank goodness you can also just rent them for events (no need to store or maintain them yourself! Awesome!).

My last favorite thing at the show was the display from Executive Care Landscape Mgmt. Arthur Navarette, President, was absolutely adorable running around with his camera and snapping pictures. You could tell he was having fun, and you could tell he was passionate about what he does. The above photo is a picture of his drought tolerant display. He even admitted it was over planted, but he wanted to show homeowners how you can have lush color and use less water, and this was a great example. You can see by his website that he likes to remove lawn and make the space more usable, and more beautiful.

And last on my list was another one of those ridiculous designs, where you wonder where the heck would this be useful. They tried by showing that it was a perfect family backyard, and even included a little sand pit off to the side for the younger kids. The practical mom side of me immediately thought to myself that this was an accident waiting to happen for someone with small children (ladders to fall off of, lots of sharp edges, etc). Fast forward 15 years for me and I'm thinking I'd be too old to climb that ladder, and storing all of those cushions through the winter is just a hassle. To summarize, this design is for people in their early 20's. The ones that can't afford it.

It's great to go to these types of events and dream big about what I could do if I had tons of money, but I'd much rather see how I can improve the appearance of my garden at a reasonable price. Why can't they just cater to the average home owner?

Seed Starting With Kiddo

2012-01-22T08:30:00.000-08:00

I'm happy to say that my daughter enjoys starting seeds as much as I do. Her littler fingers save me from expensive seed separating tools.

Of course, part of her excitement is because I buy seeds that she wants to grow. Last year she said her favorite plant in the garden was 'Benary's Giant Orange Zinnia' from Annie's Annuals. The plant produced several large bright orange blooms and my daughter couldn't contain herself around it- she kept yanking them off the plant every opportunity she had. This year we have twelve packages of zinnia seeds that will surely keep her occupied this summer.

Starting seeds with children are one of the best ways to teach them about life. We all start as a seed or an egg, and we all require someone or something to take care of us as we take root.

Zinnia's weren't the only only flowers we planted today; the Zebrina pictured above and some Tithonia seeds also made their way into the seed starting mix.

She added some luke warm water to each of the cells to get them on their way....

Then we added a top, and stuck them under the lights. Now, it's a waiting game......

The $29.99 IKEA Seed Starting Rack

2012-01-21T16:49:00.000-08:00

Continuing on in my quest to organize the HECK out of my office, today I'm turning my attention to my seed starting station. Well, prior to today I didn't actually have a seed starting station because the desk that I normally start my seeds on every year has been re-purposed as a .........wait for it..........desk. My husband built me a fabulous garden shed in our backyard for me to move my seed starting mess outside of our family home, but one valuable piece was left out of his plan.....electricity. So, the seeds continue to be started indoors until that project is complete.

Since I have big hopes that electricity will be added to the shed soon, I didn't want to spend a lot of money on a fancy seed starting rack. So, I went to my trusty IKEA store, where I can always count on finding exactly what I need at a reasonable price. I ended up buying their basic GORM shelving unit for $29.99. This rack comes with 4 shelves, but I bought a couple of extra shelves just in case for $5 a piece. While I was at it, I went ahead and bought a couple of the GORM clip-on baskets for $4 a piece. I figured once I no longer needed this shelf for seeds I needed to be able to use it for something else, so buying the accessories now made sense. Lucky for me I ended up using them.

After assembling the shelf (fairly simply, took about 30 minutes), I dug into my photo hanging supplies and grabbed a few hooks for the lights. They easily screwed into the top of the shelves for hanging the chains for the lights. As for the lights? I have one expensive Home Depot grow light ($50), and a couple of cheap Wal-Mart grow lights that cost me about $10 a piece. Look around, your lights don't have to have to be expensive.

The extra shelves and baskets came in handy for all of the odd and end plant stuff that I had. The bottom shelf is now dedicated to mason jars which I use for giving flowers to people, or starting cuttings. By the way, these were all spaghetti sauce jars originally, but they are too cute to just toss in the recycle bin. The GORM baskets that I bought are used for holding plant stakes (for once the tomato plants get too tall), twine, plant labels, and Moo Poo Tea.

I used the SAMLA containers from IKEA for organizing my seeds and and got an extra container to hold my seed starting mix (much prettier than looking at a bag).

So, technically this entire set up didn't cost me just $29.99, but you can see how using some of the items you already have and improvising can save you money when starting your seeds this year. By the way, it's time to start seeds..........wait for it.............. now.

Winter? Ha! We Laugh in the Face of Winter!

2012-01-16T19:54:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow we meet with my daughter's kindergarten teacher to discuss how disruptive she is in class. We'll go over how she acts bored, likes to talk a lot, and is somewhat defiant in a classroom setting. Today, I feel guilt. She is me. She is who I was as a child and she is who I am as an adult. And I like her, just the way she is.

And then I look at my dog, who is only 8 years old but looks so much older....until you throw the ball. Then she acts like she is two, and she looks happy. She is me.

And there's me. This weekend I officially entered my mid-thirties, and I caught a cold. I spent two days napping on the couch catching up on episodes of True Blood (don't judge). And all of the fun I had planned for myself kind of disappeared. But, I was still able to throw a ball for the happy dog, and I was still able to drag a couple of straw bales from our fall decor out to the front yard with the intention of using them to keep some of my plants warm for the hard freeze coming tonight. I got as far as dragging the bales to front yard garden, then I stopped.

My daughter may not be able to sit still in class, but put her in a garden and she GROWS. Here she's cracking open dried pods from our purple hyacinth vines and collecting their seeds. These have become her favorite to collect.

And she told me to sit down. She said, "I've got this! I'll take care of the hay!" and she ran around with chunks at a time, throwing it in the air, in my hair....everywhere. And for once, I didn't care.

And, the mess she made is everywhere. But I love her for her passion, her love of the outdoors, and how connected she is with nature. Tomorrow as we meet with her teacher, I will be defiant. I won't listen. I won't sit still, and I will be bored. Regardless of what anyone says, I've done something right. She is me. And WE are perfectly fine.

DIY Behind-the-Door Wrapping Paper/Ribbon Storage

2012-01-08T11:02:00.000-08:00

Today I won the battle with my large collection of wrapping paper and ribbon. My New Year's resolution for 2012 was to organize our office, specifically all of the wrapping paper and craft items I have. I turned to Pinterest for ideas, and came across this idea that uses behind the door for storage. As easy as her design was, it didn't hold enough wrapping paper for me, so I drew my own design. It just took a few hours to make, and can easily be made if you have a hand saw or circular saw. First I took inventory of all of my wrapping paper and ribbons to figure out how many dowels I would need to store all of my stuff. I had 21 rolls of paper (yeah, you can call me a wrapping paper hoarder), and enough ribbon to fill a couple of dowels. I had decided to make two of these since I had the space in our office, but these instructions are just for one, using 14 dowels.

Next step is figuring out your shape. Standard wrapping paper rolls are 24 inches, but I had a few that were 30 inches, so I wanted mine to be wider than 30 inches. If I had chose to stick with the 24 inch size, it would not peek from behind the door like you see above. My door is 6 1/2 feet tall, but I opted to keep it at 6 feet tall just so that everything was easily within arms reach. I went to Home Depot and bought two 2x2x8 boards, and had them cut them to be 6 feet tall. Home Depot will cut them for free, so it saves me the work! I picked up 14 dowels that were their 7/16 x 48" size (labeled green or "jade"). I chose this size because any smaller and the dowels would sag with heavy rolls of paper on them. Any larger and some of the rolls of ribbon I have wouldn't fit on them. Plus, this size fits perfectly with the standard 1" hook size, thus keeping the costs way down. Attach your newly cut 2x2 boards behind the door. I used #10 x 3-1/2" wood screws (3 on each side: 6 total). I pre-drilled holes in the wood and the wall to make it easier.

Here are the hooks you want. You'll need to figure out how many dowels you're going to use to determine how many to get. Since I was making two of these it made more sense to buy a box of 50 to start with. These are nice because when you screw them in, you don't need to pre-drill. I measured mine to be 5 inches apart, but you can probably put them a little closer in order to get more dowels in. Screw all of the hooks in to both boards.

Next up is cutting the dowels. I admit I didn't measure here. I just placed one of the dowels in the hooks on the wall and marked where I wanted to cut it, where it was overlapping the hooks by about a half an inch. I then marked the rest of my dowels at the same location, took them outside, and cut them all with a circular saw. This can be done with a hand saw as well, but go with a circular saw for a cleaner, faster cut.

Last step is to load up the rack with your rolls of wrapping paper and ribbon. I paper clip one side of each roll to keep them neat on the rack.

Ta-da! All done! This was done for a little over $30. Here's the cost breakdown with items being purchased at Home Depot:

7/16 x 48" dowels: $1.47 each (I used 14 here)
2x2 8 foot boards: $1.48 each (used 2)
#10 x 3-1/2" wood screws $0.98 for pkg of 2 (need 3 pkgs)
Box of 50 hooks: $4.21

Petaluma Seed Bank

2011-12-31T11:54:00.000-08:00

Ever since Baker Creek opened up the Seed Bank in Petaluma a few years ago, I have made the drive there to pick out my seeds for my spring/summer garden. This year I made the trip with my friend Amy from The Lamm Farm. With handfuls of wish lists from our family and friends, we made the two hour drive to Petaluma. The building alone is worth the trip- the historic Sonoma County National Bank building, located at 199 N. Petaluma Blvd. Built in 1926, it has a beautiful 30 foot tall metal ceiling, and a lot of it's original ornate fixtures.

Floor to ceiling windows bring in a lot of natural light, as customers browse literally thousands of non-GMO seeds that Baker Creek offers.

The store is well organized. One section has flowers, one section has herbs, and the fruits and vegetables are alphabetically sorted A-Z. There is also a section bulk seed purchases, in case you have the room for 5000 squash plants....

The owners, Jere and Emilee Gettle, just released their first book called The Heirloom Life Gardener. It contains all of the beautiful full color photos that you'd find in their amazing catalog, and information about saving seeds, their trips around the world to gather seeds, and how to grow most of the seeds you can find at the Seed Bank, organically. This WAS on my wish list, but five minutes ago it showed up on my doorstep as an early birthday present from my friend Dan. Yay! Of course after I finish reading it, I'll probably be making another trip BACK to the Seed Bank!

There's not just seeds and books at the Seed Bank, they have a nice assortment of gifts and seed starting supplies as well. I'm pretty sure this is the only place around that carries a Romanesco Broccoli candle! How cute is that?! Right now they also have discounted items from the National Heirloom Exposition that took place in September in Santa Rosa. I didn't go, and I regret it. Next year, if it is still in Santa Rosa, I'll be there!

I kind of wish I had visited here BEFORE Christmas as they had so many cute gift ideas for all of my gardening friends. I picked up some plant markers while I was there. And I really wanted to grab some of those wooden seedling boxes that they had too- hopefully they are still there on my next trip!

A successful trip as usual! My daughter had simply requested "Lots of different flowers" and I think I covered that with Zebrina Hollyhocks, and various petunias, zinnias, poppies and bachelors buttons. I'm going to take a stab at growing black beans for my first time so I picked up their "Cherokee Trail of Tears". I am also banking...err hoping.... that since our last two summers were COOL(according to my standards), that this will be a summer of HEAT, and I loaded up on various melons. If my wish comes true, this summer we'll be enjoying melons like "Collective Farm Woman", "Oran's", and "Green Machine". Before Amy left my place I also grabbed a couple of her Melon "Charentais" seeds (which have been on my wish list for a couple of years), and some of her "Blue Podded Garden Peas", too. Noticeably absent: tomatoes. I know, crazy right? I had left my tomato and pepper wish list at home, and didn't just want to wing it. I'll be placing an order it January probably (after I finish reading The Heirloom Life Gardener, of course).

For more information about the Seed Bank in Petaluma, or Baker Creek seeds, you can visit their website here, and be sure to sign up for their catalog! You can also listen to a podcast from Farmer Fred from Get Growing that took place mid-December, where he interviewed Jere Gettle about his new book The Heirloom Life Gardener, and about the National Heirloom Exposition.

Frosty

2011-12-24T10:00:00.001-08:00

I woke up early this morning to run a bunch of errands before our annual Christmas Eve party, only to find my neighbors yards blanketed in white. No, it's wasn't snow, just a hard freeze! I just spent the last 20 minutes refilling the bird baths and feeders, and checking on the status of my plants. Of course I snapped a few pictures along the way....

Stay warm this holiday season- and may you and your family have a very, merry Christmas.

A Little Bit of Sunshine....

2011-12-18T20:35:00.000-08:00

My favorite crop from our garden is finally ready!

When everything else in the garden is brown and dormant, my citrus trees light up, competing with my Christmas tree.

Out of the ten citrus trees we have, my two Meyer lemon trees are my absolute favorite. Each tree brings us hundred of lemons every year; plenty to use for making limoncello, lemon bars, or just a hot cup of tea. They are also wonderful gifts for friends, and I'm happy to share a little big of sunshine with everyone.

Think of planting one of these in your garden this year, and your winter will never be dark and dreary!

Brrrrrrrr..... Baby it's Cold Outside!

2011-12-07T12:14:00.001-08:00

We've had a couple of frosty nights here in Sacramento. After the first night of frost the garden faired pretty well, but back to back (to back, etc) nights and my garden has turned to mush. Early this week we had lots of wind to knock the rest of the leaves off the trees (like the Utah Sweet Pomegranate above left, and the bright yellow leaves from our gingko tree to the right), hopefully those leaves offered enough heat and cover for some of my more tender perennials. Only time will tell.

Pictured above is the so-called "front yard" garden at about 9am this morning. This side of the yard doesn't start getting sun until around 10am, so the frost tends to linger for a while. The fence and citrus trees above are covered in C-9 Christmas lights and set on a dusk to dawn timer to provide some heat (and holiday cheer).

As for things that turned to mush, we have some of the lovelies pictured above. From left to right, Dahlia imperialis, Verbascum (I can't remember which one, and it's too cold to go outside and read the tag), and Iochroma cyanea 'Burgundy Wine'. Just last week all three of these were green and perky. All three should survive, although I'm thinking the iochroma is going to need a little extra protection than I was thinking it would.

The "I'm not afraid of a little frost- I'm too busy looking awesome" award goes to Athansia pinnata, pictured above. This is one of my favorite plants as it looks good year round. As you can tell by the photo above, its blooms laugh in the face of frost.

The pictures above are of my Echium 'Mr. Happy'. The photo on the left was taken on Sunday. The photo on the right was taken this morning. My other Echiums handled the frost pretty well, but this plant in particular just looks droopy and sad now. I'm praying it recovers as it was growing to be one of the largest Echium "towers" I've grown yet. Fingers crossed!

Guess what time of year it is? Yep- it's citrus season! I managed to get all of the trees wrapped in Christmas lights this past weekend and just in time! Clearly I wasn't thinking how much energy it would take to keep 12 tree's warm. Lets just hope that my pummelo tree isn't robbed again....

The biggest disappointment I had was of my Salvia wagneriana. I have two of them, one is a couple of years old and is huge, and one is only about 6 months old and still in a small size. I have never seen it bloom in my garden! Every year it gets close- then BAM! The frost comes and turns the plant to mush. The plant returns every year without problems, but still I'd like to enjoy to the blooms at least once!

There were still some blooms in the garden as of this past weekend, but I'm pretty sure most of them are gone after today. The only blooms that seem unaffected by the frost were the hollyhocks (above). I guess I should be thankful I have anything blooming this time of year, but it still makes me sad to see less colors. Speaking of color.....

.....in case I get too busy to post again before Christmas- Merry Christmas from Us!

Fall 2011 update

2011-11-20T18:28:00.001-08:00

It's a beautiful fall day in Sacramento! We've been lucky enough to have little rain and winds so far so a lot of the leaves are still on the tree's. The result: one of the best displays of fall color that I've seen in our neighborhood since we moved here!

The dried artichokes have become a soggy mess after a slight drizzle this afternoon.

The artichoke plants that I cut to the ground just a month ago? Yep, they are already huge again. This is partially because I was supposed to split them up and haven't gotten around to it. The other reason? Well, this is just what they do. They are thistles, after all.

Tis' the season for 'shrooms. We've removed about 30-something trees since we moved in to this house, and the roots are slowly deteriorating. That deterioration causes mushrooms, which are a sign of the pre-existing tree decomposing.

Fall can be MESSY. If not for leaves, then for cones. Just ask my front walkway.

And some plants keep blooming, despite the cold weather, like the hollyhock pictured above.

And the straw flowers are still going too, yet the blooms are much smaller than they were in the beginning of summer. Keep them in mind as a long blooming plant for your garden. You can dry the blooms and bring them indoors in flower arrangements if you want to extend their fun even further.

Enjoy the many colors that nature has to offer.

Set Them Free....

2011-11-08T20:18:00.000-08:00

Over this past week we have experienced new life in our household, and we've experienced death. Yesterday we buried my grandpa- my Vovo- just a little over a year after we said goodbye to his beautiful bride, my Vava. As my cousin Danny said during the eulogy, we were truly blessed with the most amazing grandparents that we could have ever asked for. As much as I am sad to be without them, I find joy in knowing that they are back together again.

For my daughter's birthday she got a butterfly habitat from my husband's aunt. We sent away for our 5 caterpillars, and enjoyed watching them grow into beautiful butterflies over the past couple of weeks. It seemed only fitting to release them on the day we released my grandpa from this chapter of his life.

As our newly hatched butterflies skipped along our fingertips, I realized how fragile life can be.

And the butterflies were a great way to explain to my daughter that saying goodbye can be beautiful. It doesn't have to be sad.

As she said to her little friends "Go- be free!," my heart was warmed, my eyes finally dried....

And how exciting for the butterflies- feeling the wind beneath their wings for the first time.

Just a couple of weeks ago they came to our house like this....

Within a couple of days, they transitioned from pupa to chrysalis...

And about a week later, they spread their wings for the first time.

Enjoy life. Appreciate the details. Grow something. Love someone. Be loved. Oh- and hug your grandparents :)

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-30T19:50:00.000-07:00

Lazy Saturday, Beautiful Saturday

2011-10-22T18:22:00.001-07:00

Fall is Here!

2011-10-19T11:44:00.001-07:00

I spent a little time in the garden this morning, just taking in the sights and scents of fall. The leaves are just starting to turn golden, the pineapple sages are full of bright red blooms, and poppy seedlings are appearing everywhere thanks to those few rain storms we've had. Grab a chair, a nice cup of tea, and listen to the sound of the leaves dropping from the trees.0

Adding More Apples to the Garden!

2011-10-15T20:59:00.000-07:00

This week has been an exciting and expensive week for my family. First I ordered the new iPhone 4S, then my husband (who was perhaps a tad jealous) went and bought himself an iPad 2. As much as we've been PC people our entire lives (practically anti-Apple), we're now wondering how we lived our lives without them!

Kiddo and I took our two new purchases for a spin in the garden today- and I have to say, they are both my new favorite garden tools! I went to Talini's today to attend their Fall Party, and came home with a few plants. I used the iPad to bring up the web and search for the perfect location for my new garden guests.

My daughter also took a crack at being a future garden blogger, walking around snapping photos with the iPad while I took photos of her with my new iPhone.

I was amazed at the quality of pictures from both devices, and having fast Internet out in the garden is really convenient! I'm still testing out a few "garden apps", but as soon as I'm done, I'll be sure to post reviews here.

I do, however, feel sorry for my daughter. She didn't get a new "techie" toy this week, and has instead started pretending her books are laptops, and telling her hair brush to "Call daddy" (yep, she's caught on how to use Siri too!).

So, I'm no longer going to feel sorry for you guys for having to put up with my pics from my phone. Because they are pretty awesome :)

Talini's Nursery- 1st Annual Fall Celebration Day!

2011-10-13T22:06:00.000-07:00

This Saturday I'll be attending Talini's first fall party- and I can't wait to attend! There will be several speakers there covering all of the major topics that aspiring urban homesteaders want to hear about! Here are the details:

Talini's Fall Party

Saturday, October 15 · 11:00am - 6:00pm

5601 Folsom Blvd., Sacramento, CA 95819

11:30: Kate and Michelle from Worm Fancy will be talking about using worms to assist with composting. Check out their website !

12:30: Greg and Brian from Two Flew the Coop will be there to talk about keeping chickens in your backyard. These are the same guys that build the beautiful chicken coops that Talini's carries, and they'll even have some of their chickens there for you to meet!

2:00 Brian Fishback, owner of BD Ranch and Apiary, will be speaking on backyard beekeeping. Brian is a past president of the Sacramento Bee Keepers Association, and will be available to answer any questions you might have on the benefits of having bees on your property (on my list of things to do!).

Hope to see you there!

The Lamm Farm: Fields of Lavender

2011-10-11T08:00:00.000-07:00

Imagine if this was the view you woke up up to every morning.
A few months ago I got up early, made myself coffee, and drove myself 45 minutes over to the Lamm Farm. I admit I've never had anyone say "Hey- we could use help planting nearly a thousand lavender plants," but it wasn't until I got there that I got a better idea of what I was getting myself into.

(okay, so maybe a large reason why I went was to see their bee hive.)But when I arrived.... I was speechless. What a beautiful farm! As the volunteers arrived, we were all commenting on where we'd like to hang our hammock. We had master plans of fine dinners at tables nestled in the future lavender fields, and finding the perfect location to build our yoga platform.

Oh! But we were here to work! The Lamm Farm asked for help, and help they got! This is where social media came in to play! Not only did they get me, but they got help from @tikikristi, @scribbykitty, @the_jenny, and many more! Yes, they all have real names, and once we got past the "wow- you look nothing like your avatar" conversation (kidding!), we grabbed our shovels and started digging.

From there what took place was amazing. First off, we learned that garden bloggers are SLOW planters (ahem, that would be me and Kristi). If you need to plant lavender in record time, DO NOT ask a garden blogger. We sit there and chat with the plants....and we catch frogs and lizards, and we get all excited every time we get a worm in our shovel..... or maybe that's just me?

We also learned that when you need help, turn to your locals. The Lamm Farm utilized Twitter, Facebook and their blog to get enough volunteers to help them start their dream of a lavender farm.

We took a break for a BBQ lunch. It was a chance to bond with new friends, learn more about the Lamm Farm, and chance to relax and enjoy the scenery.

Later we would learn that this landscape fabric was not an ideal choice for weed control here....

And I would also learn that the row closest to a large oak tree was not the best row to adopt.....

But what I would learn is how attached I've become to this farm, and to this family.... and these plants!

I went back here this past weekend to spend a day helping them weed, and again enjoyed the peaceful sounds of country living.

I was excited to see how well these plants have grown over the past few months, and it was an awesome feeling knowing that I had been a part of the original crew that put them in ground back in May 2011.

Have you planted something beautiful lately?

Davis Ranch Harvest Festival

2011-10-10T19:46:00.000-07:00

So, our pumpkin got smashed, but I refused to let some snotty teens/young adults ruin our Halloween traditions. The only logical thing to do was to go get another.

The same day that we found our pumpkin smashed in the street, kiddo and I ventured off to Davis Ranch in Sloughhouse, CA, to find ourselves a replacement.

Let's just say we had no problems finding one. Actually, I should say we had a problem sticking to JUST one!

I took her here when she was just about a year old for her first pumpkin, and we hadn't been back since. I regret that now, as they have an awesome selection of pumpkins at AWESOME prices. My husband had taken her to Apple Hill the day before and sat horrible traffic and battled lines of people just to get an apple donut. Davis Ranch was the opposite: well organized parking thanks to their several parking attendants, and lots of check-out stands for you to make your purchases.

We lucked out and showed up during their Harvest Festival, but even though they were busier than normal, it was never out of control. And since there weren't a gazillion people there, my Fall photos with kiddo turned out great without me having to crop random people out of my pictures (I hate doing that).

She and I had a BLAST. We got feathers put in our hair by one of the vendors, then spent the next couple of hours loading up our cart with almonds, pistachios, avocados, corn, green beans, gourds, winter squash for soups, and of course.....pumpkins.

And for the same price of the one pumpkin we lost, we added SO many more pumpkins to our front entry way. Thank you Davis Ranch for a great day! Next year, we're coming here first!

Dear Teens....

2011-10-09T15:53:00.000-07:00

This morning we woke up, got dressed, and headed out to meet our family for breakfast. Everything was going great until I started pulling out of the driveway and saw a sheriff's car parked near our house. The officer was outside of his car looking at what you see pictured above. I'm sure you're thinking "Wow, must be a SLOW day if the police are investigating a pumpkin smashing." No, this is just part of the damage that occurred in our neighborhood last night. The neighborhood was hit up by what looks like a bunch of drunk teens. Red plastic cups full of beer were littered all over our street, lawn jobs galore,a bunch of stop signs and street signs were all knocked down, my neighbor's retaining wall was in pieces in the street, and this pumpkin was smashed in front of our house, with a sign stuck in it advertising our annual tree planting day. Normally I would have gone about my business, but then my daughter started screaming. That was HER pumpkin. It was the pumpkin that we bought as a fundraiser for her school. It was the only pumpkin I had planned on buying because it cost me a small fortune (although they also took my fake Styrofoam pumpkins and ripped them to shreds too)! She was screaming, tears gushing down her cheeks, and the police officer was just looking at me stunned, kinda like "How do we turn that off?!"

A bit over dramatic? Yes. But she gets that from me!

I asked the officer if they knew who did it and he replied, "Yeah, we have an idea." I told him to add me to the report. Sure, it was just a $35 pumpkin, but if I was the parent of those kids I would want to know the extent of the damages that my own child caused. I would make them go door to door and apologize and pay for the damages they caused. My daughter, age 5, spent the rest of the day bombarding me with questions about why someone would steal our pumpkins and smash them in the street. I really have no explanation for her. Teens are destructive. Teens are rude. Teens are disrespectful. What's a good response?! According to her, the policeman is going to go hunt them down and throw them in jail. I kinda wish that were true.

So, to my neighborhood's ruthless teens, realize that you are almost adults and as adults "sorry" doesn't cut it. Your parents have worked hard to provide a nice home for you, in a nice area, and your little acts of defiance to the rest of your neighborhood is crappy. We buy your stupid candy bars, your magazines, and your PUMPKINS to help fund your education and your field trips, and you repay us by vandalizing our neighborhood. Please stop. In the meantime, there is a 5 year old here waiting for your apology.

Fall is Here?

2011-09-25T20:14:00.000-07:00

It's hard to imagine that two days ago we had 100 degree weather. Today we had lovely overcast clouds, even a slight sprinkle. It was the perfect day to go outside and capture the beginning of Fall.
I spent the cool morning cutting back a lot of the browning that occurs from summer, but took the time to notice a lot of our fall bloomers.

We also spent a large part of today checking out our friends in the garden, our beneficial insects.

Today's chores included pulling a bunch of our tomatoes. Argh.... I hate this part. Especially this year as it has been a horrible year for tomatoes! I was really hoping they'd rally, but it never happened. Too bad, so sad... lets hope the winter garden makes up for it.

It really is hard to imagine it's Fall when there is so much color still remaining in the garden. Normally we have several days of 100+ weather, and my plants appear to be fighting for survival. This year most of them are still lush and green.

Day lilies starting to bloom now, when we're almost in October? Um...okay.
The plants seem to be just as confused as I am.

But my handy sidekick and I ventured outside today anyway, despite the forecast of rain. Her new magnifying glass that she got for her birthday from her friend Emma is a delightful addition to the front yard garden.

We spent the morning cutting back spent blooms, and checking out the various bugs along the way.

The purple hyacinth bean seems to be going through a second flush. We got seeds for this vine a few years ago from Kristi. In some locations we have new blooms (as you can see above), and in other locations new pods. We're also finding dried pods, which when opened up have these beautiful black and white seeds.

This morning our goal was to find a praying mantis. We ended up finding about ten of them in just a few minutes. They are so friendly, and seem just as interested in us as we are of them.

This evening we went outside again, so that we could show my husband just how many of them there were. I guess when we said "There's like a gazillion", he wanted to see for himself. Our neighbor, Millie, checked them out with us as she dropped off a copy of the article that was in the Sacramento Bee of last weekend's Arden Park Garden Tour. It is always a pleasure to chat with Millie; she has always been so appreciative of what we're doing in our front yard. She says it gives her husband something fun to look at through the window of their home.

Outside activities today included taking a sunflower shower and golfing with pebbles. I'm pretty sure no one else I know did these things.

We finished up the weekend with some extreme hopscotch. The kind of hopscotch that people should not attempt unless they are experts. Since we have our own, permanent hopscotch....we consider ourselves experts.

This weekend has been a false Fall for those of us in Sacramento. The temperature is supposed to rise again this week into the mid-90's. I hope you enjoyed the Fall teaser we had, but all Sacramento residents should be used to the fact that Mother Nature likes to tease us :)

After Alice

2011-09-24T18:54:00.001-07:00

So, I worked my A$$ off for my daughter's birthday party a few weeks ago.....as I do every year. Every year my husband tells me that the smallest little details I put into the party go unnoticed (the same thing he told me about the Arden Park Garden Tour). I guess I am more detail-oriented, whereas most of my visitors look at the "big picture". That being said, the day after a birthday bash at our place is incredibly entertaining to me. I prefer to go out into the garden early- around 7am- and check out the damage. After seeing the accident scene in our bird bath (above), I went back into the house and grabbed my camera.
The day before was fun, and cheerful.... with kids and adults dressed in grandiose hats or as characters from Alice in Wonderland.
The day after....I find several moustaches stuck to various pieces of backyard furniture. Some I don't find for several days after the party, and I assume they are a piece of rodent.
And the Four of Diamonds....I was pretty disappointed in his behavior. But he got his punishment when the sprinklers came on in the morning....

......as did the Ace of Spades, who remained slouched and soggy in a lawn chair.
But what worried me the most was the pile of seeds that I put out for the kids to plant in little pots. Most of the pots remained, un-planted. But the seed packets? All were empty. Where the seeds went...I had no clue! And this was a week before a garden tour coming through.
At least the bean seeds were easy to find. I found most of them in the mulch, tucked in like they were eggs in a bird nest.

And some were found in the actual pots....although a little more than I would have put in a single pot.

And some of the six packs of annuals that I put out made their way into the middle of our pathways.....

I'm assuming there are seeds there. There's a shovel, and some soil that appears to have been moved around.... I guess we'll find out soon what landed here.

The ladybugs we released? We found them hiding in clusters in the lawn furniture. I'm sure a 5 year old's birthday was the LAST place they wanted to end up.

Part of me was sad to see the party over, much like the praying mantis that was enjoying the bright colored paper lanterns. But now, now we start planning NEXT years party.

Miss the Arden Park Garden Tour?

2011-09-19T19:50:00.001-07:00

Whew. It's over. As much as I love going on garden tours, I'm realizing that GOING on a tour is a lot easier than BEING a part of the tour. I'm also learning that no matter what, I will always over extend myself. Perhaps working full time, having my daughter start kindergarten, throwing her the Alice in Wonderland bash a couple weeks ago, AND trying to get ready for a garden tour....well, it was a bit much.
The past few days had my mind spinning. I started questioning myself as a gardener as I saw these other beautifully designed and mature gardens that were on the tour with me. The pre-tour made me stress out, but obviously with just a few days before the actual tour, there was little I could do. I have a habitat garden. I have a children's garden. I have an edible garden. Most of the time I am extremely proud of this, but I don't take criticism well and I wasn't sure what kind of comments I'd hear from my visitors.

So, I changed things up a bit... and did this tour my own way. I enlisted the assistance of friends; friends who share a passion for the way I'm doing things on my third of an acre. I had Charlotte and Kristi, pictured above with me, answering questions on how to grow things organically, as they handed out Peaceful Valley Farm Supply catalogs and free houseplants that we got from Costa Farms . Also included on this table were the spring and summer catalogs for Annie's Annuals, which it was SOOOOO much easier to hand folks a catalog instead of labeling all of my plants! haha!

I also had a whole table dedicated to my favorite businesses and causes. Corona Tools sent some nice canvas bags for folks to fill up with their planting and pruning guides, their recent tool catalog, and if they were one of the first 50 visitors they got a really nice ergonomic trowel from them! Also included in my favorite vendor table was Trailmix.net (my favorite store for helping parents get their kids outdoors!), Talini's Nursery (who have an amazing selection of garden decor, edibles, natives, and Annie's Annuals plants!), Dripworks (irrigation supplies), DRAMM (fun colored hoses and sprinklers), Schreiner's Iris Gardens (my favorite source for iris bulbs!), Stark Brothers (supplier of fruit trees to help people integrate edibles into their gardens), Urban Renewal Landscaping (my gardener, and the only landscaper in the Sacramento area that I know of for the organic gardener!), H. Potter, Authentic Haven Natural Brew tea, and River City Food Bank.

Moving along to my helpers, my friend Amy came out to represent The Lamm Farm!

Amy was super popular on the tour! People were very interested in hearing about her family's lavender farm, and to learn about their recent addition of honey bees. Amy brought several books as resources, and photos of their hives. I loved seeing so many people interested in honey bees (perhaps my neighbors wouldn't mind if I get some? haha)

Speaking of honey bees, since I consider our garden an education garden- I decided to lightly "push" some of my personal beliefs on my visitors. On this table we had ladybugs, where visitors could see with their own eyes how quickly these little beauties can devour a branch full of aphids and white flies. If I convinced one person this day to stop using pesticides and go the organic route, it was worth the time and effort I put into getting my garden ready for the tour. Next to the ladybugs I included a stack of Farmer Fred's "Plants That Attract Beneficial Insects", so that people will stop complaining about how the ladybugs that they buy leave within an hour (um...it's because you don't have anything they like!). The ladybugs were also fun for our younger visitors, which enjoyed it when we let some out occasionally....

Back to our beneficial insects, and more specifically BEES, I included educational signs next to our bee boxes. I also made sure I pointed out the countless holes in our fence that were nests for our native bees and mason bees. The visitors were AMAZED. None of them had seen such a site- and I'm pretty sure they were all going to go home and look for the holes in their own fences. Here I've been thinking my life goal was to educate children, but educating adults on our native bees was so much fun! Pretty sure the other houses on the tour didn't do this, but I am a little more interested in bugs than the average person (I never got around to labeling our worms bins for the tour, and sure enough no one asked about them!).

Have we talked enough about beneficial insects? No? Good! Because we had praying mantis galore for the tour! There were so many visible I was starting to think they maybe called each other to organize this little garden party of their own. Or maybe they just wanted to get into the Sacramento Bee? (ahem, too bad, my daughter got in instead!).

I think I counted three or four of them on my verbena bonariensis which I'm not surprised about because it's covered in bees and butterflies right now.

Speaking of the verbena bonariensis, this was the most popular plant on the tour. Soooo many people asked “what the heck is this?!”, and thankfully I was able to direct them on where to purchase one. I bought mine originally from Annie’s Annuals, but I saw a bunch of them at Talini’s Nursery a few days before the tour. Did I mention it has been blooming for over 6 months now?

The second most popular plant were our artichokes. I had tons of questions about them, like “why did you take them out?” (I didn’t, we just cut them back), “are they not edible, because you left them out there to bloom?” (they’re edible, we just had so many, plus I like the blooms), and “why did that one over there die?” (it didn’t, just the flower stalks died back, but if you look at the base, there are new leaves sprouting). The best comments I received were the five our so folks in our neighborhood that said “You inspired us to grow artichokes….” or even better were the ones that said “…in our front yard!”. For those of you who took the time to come and tell me that, thank you! It means more to me than you’ll know!

Continuing on with the popular plants, my zinnia plants also gathered crowds. The Zinnia elegans ‘Zowie’ pictured above is a fun and funky plant purchase from Annie’s Annuals. If you only knew how hard it was to keep my daughter and her friends from picking all of them before the garden tour!

Another stunning plant that put on an awesome display for the garden tour was Leonotis leonurus, otherwise known as “Wild Dagga” or “Lion’s Tail”. I know for sure that Talini’s Nursery has them in stock right now because….well….I just bought mine like two days before the garden tour (haha! Yes, I will admit to several plant purchases the week of the tour!). This stunner will be blooming into winter for us.

Moving on to the garden décor, you can’t have a children’s garden without silly stuff. Most of the adults overlooked the random toys in the garden, but the kids on the tour ALWAYS found them. The little model windmill above was built by my husband many years ago, and King Kong has been hanging from this windmill since before I even met my husband. There’s usually a little Einstein figure hanging from it too, but I took him off before the tour because I wanted to be sure no one took him!

You might recognize these little aliens from the Toy Story movies (“The clawwwwwwwww!”). My daughter has 24 of these guys, and I think they’re all out in the front yard. As I tried to gather them all a few minutes before the tour started, Kristi stopped me, and convinced me to leave them out. Pretty sure none of the other homes on the garden tour had aliens.

Didn’t I say you’d recognize some of the décor from my Talini’s blog post? Yeah, I spent a lot of time there last week!

This cluster of plants is my attempt to have something actually grow under our large redwood tree. The containers in our backyard need to be plastic, since our 75 pound Labrador Retriever will stop at nothing to chase squirrels and cats along the fence and often knocks over my containers in the process. Using plastic containers at least avoids my containers breaking. Wish I could say the same for my plants!

Another fun item from Talini’s Nursery was this adorable giraffe sculpture. I borrowed her for the tour, and it almost brought me to tears to bring her back to the nursery after the tour. She’s gorgeous, and seemed to love all of the compliments she got from the tour visitors.

The night before the tour I hand painted a few wooden signs to hang on some of my plants. I used these signs to highlight the plants that I wanted people to notice, like the hops pictured above, or the pineapple guava plants that “just” look like shrubs right now but can put on a wonderful display of blooms and edible fruit.

I also swapped out our regular bird bath to put mine and my daughter’s recent (and uncompleted) art piece out. This leaf was our first try at making a leaf out of concrete. It was a bit ambitious for our first try as this was made with a giant gunnera leaf I got from my friend Rob in the Bay Area. My daughter and I are having creative differences on the color it should be, so it has already been repainted a handful of times. I think we’re getting close though! When it’s done I’ll put another post up on how we made it.

The hops arbor still contained the “Bread and Butter-flies” from my daughter’s Alice in Wonderland party.

Here’s how I fixed one of my “trouble” spots. A huge dip in the lawn where there once was a tree would have been a huge hazard for guests if I left it as is. With no time to fill in the hole and put new lawn in, I grabbed a couple of our galvanized tubs, and filled them with marigolds and spinach instead. This is my new definition for “pot hole”.

I was really happy to see a few of our visitors actually play Bocce Ball while they were here. Clearly we have fun here in our garden, it gets used to its fullest! I think my favorite moment of the day was seeing a few of our visitors playing hopscotch! I considered the day a success the moment I saw a few kids CRYING because the parents wanted to go to the next house. Hopefully those parents got a few clever and inexpensive ideas to get their family outdoors more!

As I take the mirror off the fence to put back in my dining room, I laugh at all of the little things that I did in my garden to get ready for the tour that most of the visitors overlooked (like this mirror! Haha!). I laugh at myself for getting myself in knots, I apologize profusely to my husband who I snapped at way too many times, and to my friends that told me I was crazy for being part of a garden tour: you were right.

Most of the time the hammock is a boat, with my daughter as the Captain….searching for land ahead. But today, after the last couple of weeks that we’ve had, this will just be a nice cozy spot for a nap! I may not have the magazine perfect garden, but I do have the garden that is perfect for me and my family.

Garden Inspiration: Get Fun & Funky with Talini's Nursery!

2011-09-13T20:51:00.000-07:00

Talini's Nursery is a wonderland for fans of color and whimsy. Every item in the nursery seems to have a story, from their Mexican pottery (totally drool worthy, I want it all)....
....to Casper, their Horticultural Fetis Catus, and perhaps Talini's version of a Wal-Mart greeter. Again, I am not normally a huge fan of cats, but anything furry and rubbing up my leg in a garden setting seems to be getting my admiration lately, and Casper stole several moments.....and about twenty snaps from my camera.....because he is THAT adorable (those human folks pay big money for eyes that blue, don't they kitteh, kitteh?)

Continuing on...despite the kitty following me around, I spy....something awesome, and hip, and on my wish list! Yes, that would be an Urban Farmgirl vertical succulent box! Gardening up is the new "in" thing, and these boxes are super easy to get started! Simply take some cuttings from some of your existing succulents, shove them into the box horizontally, and wait until they grab hold- then hang! Even those of you with the brownest of thumbs can make these work. No excuses!
How cute is this? Mexican pottery bunny+ Urban Farmgirls pot+ a turquoise Fermob bistro set?! Um...pretty much = BEAUTIFUL! Ahem...you MAY just see this on the upcoming Arden Park Garden Tour.... That's right! Not only do they have an amazing selection of plants and garden decor', but they are also helping me pimp out my garden for my upcoming garden tour!

Seriously, they have something for everyone! From aquatic plants to natives, and don't forget those edibles....

....and an expansive selection of roses and fruit tree's.... .....and their collection of shade-loving plants pretty much leaves my jaw to the floor....

.....but their new succulents section kept me begging for more!

Perhaps this is my newest addiction? Because somehow as I was checking out this chair.... a brugmansia sitting behind it ended up in my cart and I took it home with me.... What? Me? Taking home a somewhat picky plant? Yeah, I do that.... a lot. But...the staff at Talini's were nice enough to give me several tips on keeping it happy in our weird climate. For instance, when I'm draping my citrus and avocado trees in Christmas lights to protect them from frost- I need to remember my new 'Charles Grimaldi' Brugmansia likes to be dashing in lights too (or perhaps draped in frost cloth, which they carry there too).... Plant Survival Hint: If you are unsure about how to take care of a particular plant, make sure you ask the staff at the nursery. Don't trust this knowledge to the staff at the big box stores.

Moving along.... *gasp* there's my other addiction: Annies Annuals & Perennials! Yep, Talini's carries my favorite selection of 4" pots from my favorite nursery in the Bay Area! You can save yourself a trip to Richmond, CA (although I highly recommend you make a stop there sometime because the nursery is totally awesome), and just buy your Annie's plants here!

photo credit: Talini's Nursery/Angela Pratt

I know, I know- there's so much awesome stuff here, and it's hard to fit it all into one blog post! But, I can't close out this post without showing you the new chicken coops they're carrying! Sacramento City has FINALLY passed an ordinance that allows people to keep up to three chickens in their backyard. Now the only thing standing between me and getting some chickens would be that husband-figure sitting on the couch next to me now. You know, the one that I said would be my absolute DREAMY KEN DOLL if it weren't for the fact that he hasn't given me the thumbs up on chickens? Yes, that guy. But maybe if he saw these fabulous new coops at Talini's he'd change his mind?!

Photo credit: Talini's Nursery/Angela Pratt

Designed and built by Greg and Brian of TWO FLEW THE COOP, Talini's is lucky enough to have the "Karma Coop" (on the left) and "Coop of the Rising Sun" (on the right). Talk about beautiful garden art!

Talini's Nursery is located at 5601 Folsom Boulevard, Sacramento CA 95819. For more information call (916) 451-8150, hours M-Su 8-6. Check them out on Facebook to keep up to date on new items and sales in the nursery!

Sneak Peak: Arden Park Garden Tour

2011-09-06T20:49:00.000-07:00

Tonight I got to go on a sneak peak of the homes that will be in the Arden Park Garden Tour on September 17th. First of all, can I say that I can not wait until I retire and have the time and money to implement what these people have? Seriously, I liked my garden....UNTIL I visited the rest of the garden's on the tour. Now I am secretly plotting to become their new BFF's, just so I can hang out in THEIR gardens.....
The tour includes 6 homes in the Arden Park neighborhood. I was happy to see so many of them integrating edibles into their yards. Unlike me though, the edibles are all in the backyard. But most of them also don't have a corner lot like I do where a lot of my yard is in the front yard. Some of the people on the tour referred to me as "artichoke girl". Yes, that's me, I'm the one that has artichokes growing in my front yard (and I'm proud of it).

This tour made me realize how different we can all be as gardeners. Some love lawns for playing croquet, some are like me and can't wait to get rid of more lawn. Some are plant collectors- whether it be orchids, or fruit tree's. It was clear that I am the only 1) Certified wildlife habitat, 2) the only children's garden, and 3) the only person with bermuda grass. Yay! I'm not in competition with anyone else! haha!

My favorite garden on the tour is Mary's. She has the magazine perfect garden that we all want. Okay, I want her garden. I may have joked once or twenty times that I'd just like to retire in HER garden. It was that awesome.

This gate? Yeah, that's the entrance to her vegetable garden. How awesome is that?

On the other side of that gate is this: a dreamy vegetable garden full of several raised beds.

If it weren't for the fact that Mary was soooo nice, I would find something to complain about out of pure jealousy. But she was just as awesome as her garden was.

Plus, I love her cat. And I'm not a cat person.

And I loved her fence. Her fence! Man, up until now a fence was just a fence to me- but this is gorgeous. As much as I could have stayed all evening here, we needed to push forward to my place (which, by the way, I'm feeling rather "blech" about tonight after seeing these places). Now I am regretting yanking a majority of my summer vegetable garden to make way for fall (I think last week I said "I'm not gonna let a garden tour get me behind on my fall chores!" Yeah, wish I hadn't done that)

Our last garden on the tour is just around the corner from me. It is SUPER cute, full of edibles, and they appear to be the only garden in the Sacramento area that had a really awesome year with their vegetable garden. While the rest of us are cursing at our tomatoes, and yanking out our summer squash: their garden is still flourishing. (again, here I go with the jealousy)

Not only that, but if you turn around you see this. Don't you just want to dive in? It was kind of a hot evening.... and there was a big floating mattress nearby.....I was so tempted!

After the tour we went Elayne's home; she's a member of the garden club and was on the tour last year. She's lucky enough to be on a full acre, and although she's not on the tour this year we got to go hang out for some homegrown appetizers and some wine. We talked plants, politics, and about ripping out some of the lawn in our neighborhood parks to build community gardens. These were my kind of ladies :)

If you'd like more information on the Arden Park Garden Tour, please check out my previous post here. Tickets are $10 in advance and $15 at the door. The tour is September 17th from 10am-3pm. If you're a reader of mine and go on the tour, please come by and say hi to me. More important, feed my ego and tell me you love my garden (even if you don't). I may have some giveaways for you if you do :)

Alice in Wonderland Garden Party

2011-09-05T11:04:00.001-07:00

Few things bring me as much joy as throwing a garden party for kids.
Thankfully my daughter shares in that joy, and has asked me two years in a row to throw her an Alice in Wonderland party for her birthday. She's smart, she knows that if it's an Alice theme, I'll go way over board. (she's right, by the way)

There are endless ideas when it comes to decorating for an Alice party. Unfortunetly, a lot of the items you have to make yourself- like the Tulgey Woods signs above that my sister-in-law and I made last year out of foam board.
The Cards are the easiest to make, just using paints and some construction paper on white posterboard. A reminder for posterboard projects though: make sure you turn off your sprinklers if you'd like to keep them for another year (lesson learned the hard way- but we got two years out of these guys so I'm not complaining!). Lanterns are the next easiest decoration, but they can cost a fortune. I've bought 5 or 6 nice ones over the last few years, but the rest I've found at Dollar Tree or end of summer sales at party supply stores (usually with the tropical or fiesta themed party decorations). If you're ever in San Francisco in the Chinatown district, you can get some really nice ones there for a decent price as well. The Cheshire Cat up in our redwood tree is another one of my hand painting jobs on foam board. I would never attempt this much detail on foam board again- cutting it out was a PAIN.

Caterpillar was also made out of foam board. He hung out in our large camillia tree surrounded by more lanterns. The Bread and Butter Flies decorated the hops arbor this year. They are from my absolute favorite part of the movie, when Alice meets the flowers.

Almost as important as the decorations are the activities. When it comes to throwing a kid party, you need to have lots of options in this department because they like variety, and never seem to spend a lot of time in any one area. Activities for this party included bocce ball, the new colorful hopscotch, chalk, bubbles, butterfly nets and magnifying glasses.

Water play is also very popular with kids, and they had a lot of fun playing with this activity table. The bird bath temporarily became Barbie's pool for the day, and we had a few half filled watering cans placed through out the garden for the kids who wanted to try their luck with plant care.

There was also a potting station, including a bag of potting soil, a few packages of seeds, a six pack of petunias and cartoon character themed plant stakes. The kids were given the freedom to plant the seeds or plants in the containers and take them home, or plant them anywhere in the garden they wished. Next spring should be interesting for us as there were over two thousand seeds for them, and every single seed was used!

Another fun project for them to do is a ladybug release. We had three packages of ladybugs this year for them to release in the garden (4500 ladybugs total). We've done this the last few years and the kids all seem to enjoy it. In the spring I have my daughter release a bag to help with the aphids, but in the summer they help more with the whiteflies (which we have tons of right now).

The best part of the release for me is seeing some of the kids that were scared of them just a couple years ago, will now allow the ladybugs to crawl up their arms and land in their hair.

Put it all together, and this is a recipe for FUN.

Dissecting the Birthday Goody Bag

2011-09-01T21:16:00.000-07:00

So....my favorite person in the world is turning 5 this weekend. Yes, while the rest of you may have a different understanding of what Labor Day means, it will forever remind me of that one Labor Day weekend I had 5 years ago, where three days of labor (followed by a c-section) produced the biggest challenge of my life..... my daughter. Tomorrow we celebrate her special day with her new kindergarten class. My husband and I get to be the lucky parent volunteers for the day, and since there are no homemade goodies allowed (thanks to CA law), we're bringing goody bags instead for each of the kids to have.To me, every piece of this bag is well thought out. To the average person, they'd think "that's nice." Let me explain.... for starters, the green bag is a reminder to everyone to "Think Green". The Cars baggie of fruit snacks is for my husband- he's a huge fan of Lightning McQueen, to the point where "Ka-Chow" is part of our vocabulary (he also ate quite a few of these while stuffing the goody bags for me...haha). It's also the item for "instant gratification" for the kids. The box SAYS that are fat free, only 80 calories, and contain 100% of their Daily Value of Vitamin C (so the parents can't hate me too much, it's better than a cupcake).

Next part of the bag: seeds. It was important to me that we do something to help the environment, and also highlight some of my daughter's interests. She is the BEST seed planter in the world, and as you can tell by our garden, she plants them everywhere. I have to publicly thank Botanical Interests in having 45 packages of seeds to me in record time. To explain: I ordered from one company, paid for extra shipping, emailed to make sure I could get them in time....and no one responded to me. I contacted the company, got a "we didn't respond to you because we couldn't guarantee they'd be there in time", and I'd be without the seeds I wanted for kiddo's class. I cancelled my order. Then I contacted Botanical Interests, they called me right back, I placed my order and I paid for overnight shipping (SO glad they have that as an option!), and my seeds arrived....overnight! Problem solved! Thank you BI for excellent customer service!

Back to the seeds, my daughter had picked out poppy seeds in multiple colors to give her friends. I wasn't going to complain because I personally LOVE California poppies and wish that I would see them in Spring all over my neighborhood (besides my own garden). Well, now maybe we will! California poppies are GREAT for little kids because they are the easiest seed to plant (to the point where some people might call them invasive, you can just sprinkle them in the yard in January here in CA). But, they are our state flower, and our native insects adore them, and I adore them too as they are one of the first plants in our garden to bloom and feed our friendly bees.

Next we have the temporary tattoo's. I mentioned the fruit snacks as "instant gratification" for the kids. Well, the temporary tattoo's are for the lasting effect. My daughter LOVES tattoo's (probably because of mommy's real ones), and we were able to find a bunch that she loved.

The last item, the "diamond ring", was a nod to some of her BFF's since she was a baby. My daughter has been in a Montessori school since she was 8 weeks old. Some of her friends from that school she's had practically since birth. These are not average kids, they are all some of the best accessorizing, loving "rock stars" I've ever known. My daughter has been through a lot with them (like talking, walking, fighting over Prince Charming). Even though my daughter isn't in school with them anymore, I hope as a parent I can help her retain those friendships even as she begins to develop new ones in kindergarten. Someday, we'll get "the band" back together, but until then, we'll shine on!

Until then, wish us luck as my husband and I tackle our first "volunteer parenting" experience tomorrow- and wish the world's youngest wanna-be master gardener a happy 5th birthday :)

Arden Park Garden Tour

2011-08-30T18:43:00.001-07:00

My neighborhood is having their 2nd annual garden tour on September 17th, and lucky me, I've been asked to participate. As much as I might be stressing about how "unconventional" my garden is, I'm also very excited to share some of my passions with complete strangers, and be able to highlight some of my favorite businesses in the process. The first thing I'm going to tell visitors: protect wildlife and protect the environment. I got my my garden certified as a wildlife habit through the National Wildlife Habitat a few years ago, and I'm very excited to help homeowners do the same with their own gardens. Step one in completing my certification was coming to a mutual understanding with the squirrels! If you live in Sac, you know exactly what I'm talking about!
The second thing I'm excited about sharing is how this is a KID friendly garden. My daughter taught me how to "let go" when it comes to a garden design (the word design is a loose term here- I have no design!). She's picked out half of the plants you'll see in our garden, and I heavily encourage her to consider this space her own. Our garden is also the best CLASSROOM I can offer her. If you have a youngster in your house and want help in getting them outside to enjoy it, please let me know! I'd be happy to share with you what has worked with my daughter, and please feel free to bring your kids to my garden (we are a kid-friendly garden, I won't freak out if they want to pick flowers or eat our tomatoes).

The 3rd thing I will be emphasizing will be LAWN REMOVAL. Yeah, unless you have a soccer team (small shout out to the Team Tigers, my daughters soccer team! Grrrr!), why do we have so much lawn?! To my dear neighbors, we're getting METERS. The cost of water will be going up for us and we have these expansive lawns that we NEVER use. Why not remove the lawn, switch to drip lines, and put in pretty flowers? How about some edibles? Even better: NATIVES! I'd be happy to share some of my favorite resources for doing this!

Interested in the tour? Here's the details!

Arden Park Garden Tour

Saturday, September 17th, 2011, 10:00am-3:00pm

Map and passport is handed out at 1213 Eastern Ave. Tickets are $10 in advance, $15 at the door. For information/tickets contact last3lives@aol.com or call (916) 487-5445

If you're unable to make the tour, please visit some of my favorite businesses listed below (they will all have handouts, catalogs, etc available at my place on the tour). Not only do I stand behind the products these companies sell, but their websites and/or staff are some of the best around and have a wealth of information that will assist any/all homeowners!

Corona Tools offers heavy-duty, durable tools at a reasonable price! For over 80 years they've been in tool making business, building tools that will last you a lifetime. I've had my hedge shears from them for over 10 years, but my favorite tool is their orange snips, which just so happens to be the first tool they ever made. With 10 citrus trees, these snips come in HANDY when I need to pick a lot of fruit all at once! They are also great on my apple trees! Corona Tools was nice enough to send trowels for me to give away to my first 50 visitors on the garden tour- PLUS they are sending a huge basket of tools to be part of our big giveaway! A big thank you to Corona for their generosity- go tell them how much you love their tools on their Facebook page here!

TrailMix.Net is my absolute favorite store! Located in Old Sacramento, they have everything you need to help get your kid (and you!) outdoors! The lovely folks at Trailmix.net have donated a copy of Sharon Lovejoy's book, "Roots, Shoots, Buckets & Boots" for our giveaway! I adore Sharon's books, but this one is my favorite for any parent wanting help with gardening with their children. In addition to Trailmix.net's recent newsletter, we'll have copies of their famous Old Sacramento Scavenger Hunt for you to do with your children or grandchildren. Check out their website, and "like" them on Facebook!

Authentic Haven Brand's Natural Brew Tea- Moo Poo Tea for your plants! Annie Haven has sent some for us to include in our giveaway- so you might want to get to my place early! For more information on this natural soil conditioner, visit their website or call 949-248-1249. And go "like"them on Facebook!

Costa Farms is one of the premier indoor and bedding plant companies in the US. A few years ago they launched O2forYou, a program to help clean the air in your homes and businesses by offering plants that can improve the air quality in your space that can be tainted by carpets, plastics, and paint. They also just launched GrowingStyle, a premier content destination for indoor plant enthusiast's (also available for your iPhone, iPad, and Android)! They are also on Facebook! And, did I mention I have like 200 plants to give away from them? That's right! We have a bunch of O2forYou plants to give away!

Talini's Nursery: 5601 Folsom Boulevard, Sacramento CA 95819. Phone: (916) 451-8150, hours M-Su 8-6. Check them out on Facebook to keep up to date on new items and sales in the nursery! Talini's will be supplying some MaxSea fertilizer packets, plus they will be helping me pimp out my garden with their fabulous selection of garden decor and plants (did I mention they carry Annie's Annuals too?) . Oh- and soon they will be carrying chicken coops!!!!!

Annies Annuals & Perennials: 740 Market Ave, Richmond CA. Phone: Nursery, (510) 215-5301, Orders, (888) 266-4370. One of my favorite nurseries, they are a quick jump off the freeway if you are stuck in Bay Area traffic, not to mention the staff there is super fab- and their selection of plants is mind-blowing! If you have a weakness for plant crack, I have a nice supply of their summer catalog for you plant fanatics to drool over, and I will have a nice stack of coupons for you to go buy plants for your fall garden (after all, Fall is the best time to plant here in Sacramento!). I swear I have tried to grow every single plant they carry, so if you want advice on what will work well here in Sacramento, please come and ask me! And did I mention they are also participating in my garden tour giveaway? Yep! They are! We'll have a few items from them in the giveaway to help you in becoming a fellow Flower Floozie!

Peaceful Valley Farm Supply, 125 Clydesdale Court, Grass Valley CA 95945, toll free (888) 784-1722. They have the most extensive supply of organic products for your garden! As much as I love their website and catalogs, I prefer a nice autumn drive to Grass Valley to see the fall colors, and get to visit the nursery and store in person. The staff there are SUPER helpful, and I highly recommend you check out their fruit tree selection. If you come on the garden tour, make sure you ask me about the multi-fruit tree's my husband bought me from there! Visit the vendor table to grab a copy of their catalog (and psssst, there may be some seeds in it for you seedy folks!)

Dripworks, 190 Sanhedrin Circle, Willits CA 95490. If you are interested in converting your sprinklers to drip to utilize the cost/water savings, please check out their website! Not only do they have really cool videos for you DIY'ers, the folks from Dripworks are just SUPER COOL. They visited my garden a couple weeks ago and I fell in love with them, it's SO much fun to meet the "faces" behind the business and I can honestly tell you that Dripworks has your best interest in mind! Go "like" them on Facebook here, and don't forget to sign up for their email list (because you MAY see a couple familiar faces in their videos, like me.....and our favorite local farmer, Farmer Fred!)

H. Potter, Distinctive Home and Garden Accents, (509) 921-1640, if you are on the garden tour, please check out the garden torches in my backyard! They are from H. Potter! If you can convince my husband to let me buy like one of everything from their website, I would greatly appreciate it (you might think I'm joking, but I'm not!). They also have some pretty awesome guest authors affiliated with their site to help you decorate your garden- like Daffodil Planter! She's awesome, I love her, you will too :)

Schreiner's Iris Gardens, 3625 Quinaby Road N.E., Salem, OR 97303, Phone: (800) 525-2367. Not exactly local, but they have an awesome selection of irises (my husband's favorite flower), and they are from Oregon (oh hey- so is my husband!). Two things in life are true, 1.) people from Oregon are cool, and 2.) Irises are some of the easiest flowers to grow, it also helps that they are down right pretty! You won't be able to see the 18 varieties I have from them blooming on the garden tour, but you CAN grab a copy of their catalog and check out the spring time bloom action that your garden may be missing!

Urban Renewal Landscaping will be participating in our giveaway by offering TWO of our lucky visitors a free irrigation consultation! I met the owner, Jason, when I got my certification as a Green Gardener, and I'm happy to say that as of a few months ago I have URL helping me with my garden!

Who else might be here? Um.... how about a couple of my favorite local bloggers! If you're interested in bee's, you might want to search for Amy from The Lamm Farm (and if you're coming from out of town, book a room at The Citizen Hotel where she works)! Also, my favorite Davis resident, Kristi, from Not So Crafty might be here too (make sure you tell her congrats on her recent wedding!)

Interested in hearing about other NorCal garden events? Check out Dirt du Jour! They dish the dirt on all garden related events in NorCal, and scour all of the blogs and websites so you don't have to! Sign up for their email list to get email updates on upcoming tours in your area!

Schreiner's Iris Gardens

2011-08-17T17:52:00.000-07:00

I love when I find a plant or bulb resource that just blows my mind. Schreiner's Iris Gardens in Oregon is my new infatuation, and as you can tell by their packaging- they have plant lovers in mind! After we returned from a trip to Yosemite a couple weeks ago I was heavily thinking of my grandma, who we lost to Lou Gehrig's disease this past fall. This time last year my heart was hurting and I went through fall (my favorite time of the year, usually) in a deep funk. What got me out of it was my early spring bulbs: daffodils and irises brought brightness and color to an otherwise dark period. Irises lined the street of my grandparents property in Elk Grove, and those same irises have been dug up and shared many times with several family members and friends over the years.
Although I have received plenty of iris rhizomes from my grandma and my mom, I wanted to create new heirlooms for our family by introducing some new colors. Most of the irises in my family are lavendar, but there are hundreds of other options out there! Right now happens to be the optimal time for planting new iris rhizomes, so I happily placed my order the Schreiner's. They arrived today; each of the 18 bulbs in my order were cozy and snuggly in a nice amount of packaging- not shoved in a mesh bag like you would get from some mail order sites.

And if you look closely, they were each beautifully labeled! Each label included their name, what kind of iris they are, how tall they are- AND it includes a photo of the flower.

So you wanna know what I bought? Well, I won't go into details on each specific one (I got 18 of them! We'd be here all night! You can check out their website for that info). But for starters, I ordered Bumblebee Deelite (pictured above, right) to show my appreciation and love of bee's. I also ordered a couple of black irises, like "Yosemite Nights"(because we LOVE Yosemite), and I ordered "Hello Darkness" (shown above left, black) because it immediately made me sing Simon and Garfunkel's "The Sound of Silence".

Hello darkness, my old friend,

I've come to talk to you again,

Because a vision softly creeping,

Left its seeds while I was sleeping,

And the vision that was planted in my brain

Still remains

Within the sound of silence.

I ordered Gnus Flash (above, left) because of my fellow local blogger at Garry's Garden Gnus, and Grateful Red on the right is just simply beautiful and I am a sucker for anything that comes in red. I can't wait to get them all in ground, and patiently await spring when they have their moment to shine!

You can check out Schreiners on Facebook, sign up for their newsletter here, and if you'd like to get some in ground now like I am, visit their online catalog and place an order (psst- they are also having a summer sale here)!

Harvesting Artichoke Seeds

2011-08-16T19:47:00.000-07:00

Tonight we collected artichoke seeds.
The beautiful blooms that provided us with food in the spring, and became a bee's playground in the early summer are now beautiful dried flower heads.

With something so beautiful I'm ashamed to admit how I harvested the seeds. I literally took the dried flowers and bashed them against the sidewalk. Don't judge me! These suckers aren't exactly friendly! They are pokey! I bashed, and kiddo used her magical little fingers to pick up the seeds as we went. A single flower produced at least a thousand seeds. Half went into my pile, half went into hers (payment, for her efforts). I have no idea where she put them all, but I'm sure I'll find out someday. In the meantime the flower head kept sending off pieces of "snow" (well, according to my daughter). So then what did we do?

Well, SHE danced. It was like blowing dandelions in the wind without the fear of future weeds as we plucked each and every seed before it had a chance to sail across the yard. Some of the simplest things can be so magical to a kid, and I LOVED that she enjoyed it so much.

At the end we were left with a pile of seeds (and another pile worth randomly place in the yard thanks to her). We also ended up with the worlds fanciest hat that just so happens to have the look and feel of fur without the glare from PETA.Anyone need any?

Hopscotch Stepping Stones- and a DRAMM Giveaway!

2011-08-13T11:49:00.000-07:00

This week kiddo and I came up with this fabulous idea of making stepping stones for our garden since she is constantly getting slivers on her feet from the bark that is covering the pathways in our vegetable garden. What we ended up with: the classic game of hopscotch!
The concrete pavers were $1.19 each at our local Home Depot, and the outdoor paints were about $1.50 a piece. We were able to complete this project using one bottle of each in red, blue, green, orange, yellow and black- and we used two bottles of white. Painting the squares took us two evenings, and the installation took me about 30 minutes since I just had to move bark around to get them in. We only painted the very top of the pavers in case we want to flip them over and use them for something else later on.

What we ended up with was a strong punch of color in the garden for about $25, and kiddo feels more like this garden space is hers too. We spent some time this morning not only playing hopscotch, but working on math problems too (and these are much more fun than using boring paper!). With her 5th birthday coming up in a couple of weeks and her new adventures in kindergarten, we wanted to celebrate this new chapter in her life with a colorful giveaway! The fabulous folks over at Dramm Corporation know that kids love color, and their watering cans, rubber hoses and sprinklers show it!

The winner of this giveaway will get one of their ColorStorm Premium Rubber hoses in the color that they choose. These 50 ft long hoses resist kinking, coil easily, and come with a lifetime guarantee. But lets face it, the kids will be more interested in their brilliant colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue and berry!
But that's not all! They are also offering the winner one of their Sunrise Rain Wands, also in the color you choose! These light-weight wands have a nice gentle shower so you don't have to worry about your kids harming your tender plants when they help you water your garden! Check out their website for other items that can make watering easier and more fun in your garden (we love our berry colored ColorStorm Turret sprinkler!)

To enter this giveaway leave me a comment here on this entry telling me your favorite way to add color to your garden. Bonus entries for clicking "Like" on Dramm's Facebook page (and leave me a comment here telling me you did so), and posting about this giveaway on Twitter! To tweet this giveaway post "I just entered to win a Dramm ColorStorm hose and Sunrise Rain Wand from @betweenthelimes at http://tinyurl.com/42kptuv #DRAMMgiveaway" Entries will be accepted up until August 21st! Come back here on August 22nd to see if you won!

*****We have a WINNER!***** Congratulations "SueJenn"! Email me your address and the color of hose and wand that you want! For everyone else: thank you for your entry! Please look for DRAMM products at your local garden store, or they are also available online at Amazon.

Plus- visit back here next week as we are having ANOTHER giveaway (since this one was SO much fun!)

Review: Fine Gardening's 'Plant Combinations'

2011-08-01T18:43:00.000-07:00

Recently I was lucky enough to get my hands on a review copy of Fine Gardening's 'Plant Combinations: 82 proven plans for any situation.' One of the things I love most about Fine Gardening magazine is their full color photos, and this one is no exception! This magazine caught my eye because it highlights a bunch of my favorite plants- such as sedum, rudbeckia, and lamb's ear. As a gardener I have no problem planting these plants and having them live. My problem: I lack any ability of garden design.
You see, I have all ten of the plants highlighted in 'Plant Combinations' and my garden looks NOTHING like the gardens in the pictures! What you see above is one section of my flower bed where I literally cram as many plants as possible in a limited space. The only "planning" that took place here was deciding when to remove the lawn.

But the photo above from Fine Gardening is beautiful. It's designed, and appears to be almost effortless. Here in California, this design will continue to look good year round. The barberry in the background will turn a lovely rust color in the fall, while the yellow euonymus remains unfazed during our winter months.

This fall I'll be digging a bunch of my plants up and shuffling them around with the recommendations from 'Plant Combinations'. When you think about it, it's kind of like hiring a garden designer for a fraction of the cost! Now THAT's what I'd call "WINNING!"

Huntington Library: Children's Garden

2011-07-28T20:17:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago we visited The Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens located in San Marino, CA. I'm pretty sure I took enough pictures here for AT LEAST five blog posts, but I'll start with the Helen and Peter Bing Children's Garden.
First let me say that this place is amazing regardless of your age. So amazing, in fact, that I think I'm the only person in my entire family that noticed the little fairy gardens they had hidden within the garden.

How cute is this structure? I took pictures of every detail, imagining how I could recreate something like this in my own garden. It was so beautiful, yet seemed so simple in design.

Since it was a hot day, most of the kids(including my own husband) spent their time in the Vortex and Water Bells area, splashing water everywhere.

The entry way to the children's garden is adorable! The bright turquoise paint screams fun, and lets you know that there's something magical behind that gate!

And when I say fun- I'm referring to this cute volcano structure in the topiary garden that "erupts" every few minutes in a fine water mist.

And there's also this fabulous magnetic sand pool that confuses the heck out of the kids!

Peek-a-boo!

And my favorite area of the children's garden is Fog Grotto, where you can sneak up on your family members to scare them (like pictured above)....

.....or channel your inner rock star....

Add this to your must-see list if you've got kids aged 2-7, but I must admit I had just as much fun as them (if not more).

2nd Annual Sacramento Tomatofest July 30th

2011-07-27T18:24:00.001-07:00

This has been a HORRIBLE year for tomatoes for the Sacramento area- but it's time to come together and celebrate our favorite fruit! They don't call us SacraTomato for nothing! July 30th is the 2nd Annual Sacramento Tomatofest at Town & Country Village (located at Marconi and Fulton Avenue). From 9am-4pm they'll be hosting a chefs challenge, a Tomato Trot for kids, and awesome performances by the Sacramento Theatre Company.

Also on the menu: Bloody Marys! I'm pretty sure they aren't as good as mine, served up with homegrown\homemade spicy Dilly beans and pickled okra, but then again I've never had a bloody mary that I didn't like :)

And...if you're one of the few people who have had an awesome tomato year....there's a contest! With HUGE prizes!!!! $500 prize money for the winner's who can produce the largest, smallest or the ugliest tomato! If you'd like to register your prize tomato in one of these categories, you can head to The Terrace's website here to download the entry form (By the way, if you haven't been to The Terrace yet, they are my new favorite place for breakfast).

For those of you who don't like tomatoes, Town & Country is also having a huge sidewalk sale from Friday, July 29- Sunday, July 31. Go buy me something pretty, I'm not picky :)

For more info, you can call (916) 933-4056 or go to www.shoptownandcountry.com

Have a great weekend!

Pretty, Pretty Sunflowers

2011-07-24T12:44:00.001-07:00

A couple weeks ago I complained when we came home from vacation to find that sunflowers had taken over our front yard. You see, a few months ago I handed my daughter four packages of sunflower seeds to hold on to for a few minutes while I put a plant in ground. Five minutes later I hear her say "I need more seeds!" More seeds? I asked where the sunflower seeds went. Her reply was "Over here, over there, and over here, and some over there, and I think there's one right here."
I admit, I really didn't think they'd grow. None of them have drip lines running directly to them. Some of them are growing right in the middle of our heavily mulched walkways. Something interesting that I just learned (thanks to the Internet) is that sunflowers remove toxins like arsenic, lead and uranium from the soil. Over 10,000 sunflowers seeds were recently planted near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in order to try and remove cesium from the soil. This same process was used to clean up waste at Chernobyl, and the plants were buried afterward with other nuclear waste.

Planted with love by my four year old, they grew with very little care. They continued to be neglected by her, until they bloomed of course. This one is called "Royal Flush" and is a new offering from Renee's Garden.

Once they started blooming, the bugs took an interest in them too, like this praying mantis above who is hoping to grab a snack on the next unsuspecting pollinator that lands.

Speaking of pollinators, the bee's are in pollen heaven right now.

Every bee we see is full of pollen. The fine little hairs on her legs collect this pollen for their hive. Somewhere within a 2 mile radius of our home is a happy hive.

Normally I grow sunflowers that grow just one sunflower per plant. This year we grew a few different kinds of multi-branching sunflowers, like this Arikara sunflower who's seeds I purchased from Cherry Gal.

I think the multi-branching ones might be my new favorite.

The largest sunflowers we have this year are the Mammoth Grey's from Baker Creek .

The seeds from this flower are HUGE, and I hope we get them before the birds and squirrels do!

This sunflower wins the award for being the tallest, it must be at least 10 feet tall.

This one must have been the yummiest, as it was quickly devoured by the birds.

It's just a matter of time before the birds get this one too. Or will a squirrel swipe it first?

Some sunflowers may not be grown for their beautiful flowers, but rather for their beautiful seeds. Varieties like the one above were used by Hopi Indians to make dye. To make the dye you boil the seeds in water, and add fabric or yarn to the colored water.

Or, you can just enjoy the beauty of the seeds!

And if you manage to get one that has a double head- it looks a lot like a fly, according to my daughter. Bzzzzzzzzzz!

Sometimes the sunflowers grow a little funky, like this one above.

Which then makes me do this to the pics, just for fun :)

Hope you enjoyed our sunflower tour!

Garden Inspiration: Legoland

2011-07-21T15:00:00.000-07:00

Finding yourself a bit uninspired by gardening magazines these days? Looking for year-round color but don't want to limit yourself to just flowers? Got crates full of Lego's that have been passed down through generations? Then maybe building your own Legoland is what you need! Why limit your garden shed to conventional building materials when you can build your very own Lego shed?!
Yesterday's Wordless Wednesday post was our take on the new Star Wars Miniland located inside the Legoland in Carlsbad, CA. We went here a few weeks ago for our first time and I could see a scary look in my husband's eyes that made me fear for my garden's safety. Sorry, as much as I love Chewbacca and the Wookies, there will be no Battle of Kashyyyk in my garden!

Left your heart in San Francisco? Well maybe you can build this San Francisco Miniland in your own backyard. All the beauty without the traffic! Although considering how much it would cost to build this (Lego's aren't cheap), maybe you'd be better off just buying a place in San Francisco.

Perhaps you're looking for a koi pond or new bird bath that doesn't take itself too seriously?

These love birds seem to enjoy it!

Perhaps you're more into the look of a dry garden? This low water cactus garden is a great idea for those of you who like to think back to that one crazy night you had in Vegas.

Like the look of edible plants in the yard but hate eating vegetables? You're in luck! Build these monstrous radishes in your garden and you'll never have to feel guilty if they go to waste! I hear they are also pest resistant!

Hope you enjoyed our little tour of Legoland. My daughter had a great time on the rides and we left with bags full of Legos for her and my husband. Who knows, their creations may just find a permanent spot in our garden some day.

Wordless Wednesday: Lego Fun in the Garden

2011-07-20T19:41:00.000-07:00

(can you tell we went to Legoland?)

Story Trail and Tot Land at Crocker Art Museum

2011-07-19T18:27:00.000-07:00

Today the kiddo and I were lucky enough to attend the launch of two new programs for kids at the Crocker Art Museum. Story Trail is a journey through the art museum using a book called Birdy's Museum Adventure as your guide. Tot Land is more hands-on and designed for kids 5 and under.
We started our day off with Story Trail, following the storybook that parents can check out at the front desk called Birdy's Museum Adventure. This book is a fun story about two new friends, Birdy and Rainbow Kid. It was kind of like a scavenger hunt to find clues to help Rainbow Kid locate Birdy's friends. Our storybook lead us all throughout the museum, searching for various birds that could be in paintings or sculptures. The art pieces they chose for the book are a great introduction for kids to art. Kids are naturally attracted to pictures of animals, but this is also a great opportunity to help your child find more meaning in these paintings. Depending on the age of your child you can ask them questions about what colors or shapes they see, and for the older kids ask them how the people in the painting are feeling, or better yet how the painting makes your child feel.

Pieces we came across today included Sacramento River, painted in the 1980's by local artist Gregory Kondos, and Vision of Saint Francis painted in 1911 by Arthur Mathews.

After we finished helping Birdy find his friends, we entered a magical place called Tot Land, full of books, music, toys and art supplies that encourage creative thinking and imagination.

One of the coolest parts of Tot Land is "The Living Art Wall" that uses an interactive touch screen to help kids try and recreate some of the masterpieces they just saw in the museum, or their own special creation. I must admit it's rather amazing to see how quickly kids pick up on technology, and these kids were plastered to the screen in awe at how they could create something so beautiful with just their finger tips (Perhaps they can help me with my blog redesign?). This interactive screen would not have been possible without local company BKWLD. On behalf of this excited group of kids, I thank you.

Kiddo and I were happy to enjoy today with the number one aunt and sister-in-law today- Auntie Nani! Auntie Nani is very passionate about our local arts community, whether it's the Sacramento Ballet, Sacramento Music Circus, or the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission, and these events are so much more fun when she's around! The Arts are a huge part of the education that kids should be receiving, yet they are the first to be cut when budget issues arrive. Please check out the various programs these organizations have for kids, and get involved in your local arts community!

After checking out the extensive kids library and "The Living Art Wall", Alex made her way over to the arts and crafts table to channel her inner Monet.....

The bulk of her time was spent here- creating masterpiece after masterpiece, meeting new friends, showing off her "sharing" skills, and enjoying the endless supply of art supplies that could appeal to the wildest of imaginations. This was such great fun, but I had to return to work *insert sad face here*. We will definitely be coming back to check out more of Rainbow Kids adventures!

Story Trail and Tot Land are included with entry into the Crocker Art Museum and are open during regular museum hours. For more information you can visit crockerartmuseum.org or call (916) 808-7000. Future events include "Pay What You Wish Sunday", every third Sunday of the month sponsored by Bank of America, and Little Buckaroos Day on Labor Day, sponsored by Target. Also check out their Studio Art Classes (ages depending on the art project). Thank you Crocker Art Museum for continuously inspiring kids of all ages (myself included). And, a special thank you to the First 5 Sacramento Commission for your support of this new program.

Santa Barbara Botanic Garden

2011-07-18T18:49:00.000-07:00

So I mentioned a couple posts ago that we went Santa Barbara.... And I mentioned that the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden is responsible for me ending up at the beautiful Alice Keck Memorial Garden. What I didn't share with you is my pics of the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden itself. Voila!

While my husband was off golfing with his family, I took my daughter here to check out the damage at SBBG from the Jesusita fire of 2009 that burned over 8700 acres in the Santa Barbara area.

But I won't show pics of the areas affected by the fire... It's time to move on. After all, the plants have.

This place is beautiful. Again I will tell you my pictures don't do it justice....

The meadows remained unharmed from the fire.

And their dudleya garden was intact too. Say hi to Dudleya caespitosa, aka Sand lettuce :)

And Clarkia was to die for there. I bought seeds from their gift shop for C.unguiculata and C.bottae. I'm hoping I can just toss them in the garden and see what happens. I'm too lazy to start seeds the proper way these days.

What I love about my daughter: after visiting Lotusland the day before with a bunch of my husband's family(which is fabulous, elegant, well-designed), she was happy and content coming here with just me the following day. Better yet, she said "Next time we come here, can we bring the rest of the family?"

The fun part was seeing their rebirth. New plant growth is bright green and stands out against the rest. It reminded me of a trip I took to Hawaii with my husband and some friends (pre-kids, of course). We hiked to see the volcano (my husband had a need to see flowing lava). In the middle of a sea of blackened, hardened lava we would find these lime green ferns occasionally that were trying their darnedest to grow out of these small cracks in the earth. It was amazing how Mother Nature regenerates herself.

This was a great lesson for my daughter. As we walked along we talked about why people could harm such a place, and the plants and animals that were affected by a single careless person. She's four years old... I hear the "why" question a lot. But today the only answer I could come up with was "because sometimes people don't think."

As much as I had been wanting to see Lotusland for years, I LOVED the fact that my daughter seemed to enjoy the Santa Barbara Botanical Garden more. She preferred our native flowers and glorious meadows over rare plants and 500 year old statues.

Again, my daughter had to teach me that the things that are most beautiful in life are the things that aren't designed by us, but by the greatest landscape designer of all time. She also reminded me that I don't have to have all the answers. I couldn't explain why this rock was in this tree. And I couldn't explain why people could carelessly cause a fire; whether it be by a lawn mower, a cigarette, or an unattended camp fire. But she would say, "that's okay mommy, it will grow back."

I am thankful for the many people in this world that dedicate their free time to preserving places like this. From the guy at the front desk that handed us our map, to the lovely lady in the nursery that helped us pick out a plant, and the super sweet lady in the gift shop that helped me pick out a book on California wildflowers....thank you. We had a wonderful time and can't wait to go back :)

Fun With Concrete

2011-07-17T20:00:00.000-07:00

No, we did not petrify Beyonce and toss her in the garden.
Instead, we did something a little more legal, and bought a concrete mold from Gardening With Kids. This particular mold is called the Garden Goddess, and you can buy the mold, with your first batch of concrete and dye for only $14.95.

Our first attempt at making the Garden Goddess ended up with the gal up top in the first picture. Yeah, she has a case of Michael Jackson nose- but I swear we didn't do it on purpose!

So, the kiddo and I tried again, and this time we got a somewhat decent nose. And she begged to paint it....

After I convinced her NOT to do a Rainbow Goddess, we settled on a somewhat "normal" Goddess, or as normal as you can get with red, pink and purple as your accent colors.

The end product looks oddly like Angelina Jolie. I have no idea where she will go in the garden.... but kiddo is pretty determined to have her placed before her bedtime.

Her final resting spot. I think she's kinda creepy.... I mean, if I walked along and saw a face popping up out of the soil I would kind be creeped out. Wouldn't you? But as usual, kiddo thinks she's BEAUTIFUL... so she stays.... *sigh*

Alice Keck Memorial Garden, Santa Barbara

2011-07-15T18:46:00.000-07:00

On a recent trip to Santa Barbara Botanic Garden I got this book called Alice's Garden, by Anne-Marie Castleberg. It's about the Alice Keck Memorial Garden in Santa Barbara, which I had yet to visit. With 30 minutes to spare before our dinner plans, I jetted over to this free public garden with my daughter to see just how special it was.
I admit before seeing this book I had never even heard of the Alice Keck Memorial Garden (or Alice Keck for that matter). I also admit that none of my family that live in Santa Barbara even realized it was there (but then again, none of them had been to Lotusland either). And...I will also admit that I visited the garden on a whim, after just flipping through the pages of the book for 30 seconds to look at the beautiful pictures from Ralph Clevenger. My pictures posted here do not do this place justice. I was tired from hiking around the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, was managing my 4 year old (almost 5 year old!) and trying to go meet family in a few minutes. The plus side: this beautiful place is a *free* public park- so if you go visit it based on my recommendation and are disappointed, oh well, it didn't cost you anything. BUT... if you go, and are blown away by one of the coolest free public parks in California.... please remember to thank me! I was blown away, and will probably visit it every time I go to Santa Barbara.

The author of Alice's Garden is married to Grant Castleberg, the landscape architect that designed this beautiful space back in the mid-70's (dude- Grant, spruce up your web page! Show us your pretty designs!). Alice Keck was a wealthy socialite that bequeathed over 50 million dollars to the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, Santa Barbara's Cottage Hospital, the Humane Society, and the Museum of Art.

In addition to her financial donations to the Santa Barbara community, she donated this piece of land, over 4 acres of prime Santa Barbara real estate which is now named in her honor. The location, at Arrelaga and Garden Street, had gone through many changes over the years. Once an experimental farm, a fancy hotel, and on the chopping block to become a high-rise building, this space is now reserved as a garden for her legacy.

As huge Alice in Wonderland fans, we found it entertaining to get lost in "Alice"; a healthy, mature, beautiful garden. Alex and I wandered along the pathways with no clue as to where we were heading.

This inspirational space is pesticide free. In 2004 Santa Barbara adopted IPM (Integrated Pest Management) for all of their public areas. This garden demonstrates how you can have a lush garden without the assistance of chemicals.

This Ceiba insignis tree was gnarly looking but beautiful. We came across it while following the sound of a violin....

The violinist had found a comfortable spot in a patch of nasturium, and didn't seem to mind her new audience.

Alex and I continued on to the pond, where she was very excited to find this turtle hanging out on a rock.

We sat there and watched the turtle for several minutes while it did absolutely NOTHING, yet we were enthralled.

Well, that was until I looked over to my left and saw that we were missing out on the action of a gazillion other turtles that were swimming around. How did I not see them earlier? There were tons! (we later learned this park is nicknamed Turtle Park by some of the locals!)

The Brugmansia hybrids were to die for...

After visiting Alice I finished reading the book within a day. I was in awe of the beautiful space that was created, and loved seeing how many people were out enjoying the space. I WISH Sacramento had something like this! If you can't get to Santa Barbara anytime soon, I highly recommend the book Alice's Garden. If you don't want to buy the book, you can enjoy some additional pictures at this article I stumbled upon by Santa Barbara landscape designer Billy Goodnick that he wrote a few months ago. Enjoy the summer!

Wordless Wednesday: Lotusland

2011-07-13T19:22:00.001-07:00

10 Days Gone

2011-07-11T13:36:00.001-07:00

10 days. That's all we were gone for. But geez....
After 10 days, I thought I'd at least be able to find my house! No.... a few days of 100+ degree weather and KA-BLOOM!

Polygonum orientale "Kiss Me Over The Garden Gate" has grown 2 feet taller in the short time we were on vacation.

Dicliptera suberecta "Uraguayan Firecracker Plant" wasn't even showing signs of blooming when we hit the road on July 1st. But now, it's covered in its coral colored blooms. (Sacramento residents can find this plant at Talini's nursery to purchase)

Origanum laevigatum "Pilgrim Oregano" was purchased from High Country Gardens last year. When we left on vacation it was just a small mound of foliage, but now it's covered in beautiful blooms of purple and rose.

In addition to the beautiful flowers I also spotted a bunch of weeds! Ack! Damn you Bermuda! You litter my pathways and suck the life out of my lawn.... When are you going to figure out that you're not welcome here?!

As quickly as I got frustrated with the weeds, I look to my left and see COLOR. Rudbeckia, echinacea, and kniphofias never seem to disappoint in the summertime.

I haven't been very good at keeping track of which coneflowers I have. Part of that is because they have reseeded themselves everywhere in the yard and I keep digging them up and replanting elsewhere. I love them though, and so will the birds in the fall once their seed heads have dried up!

Helichrysum bracteatum "Monster Fireball Red"
is a newer purchase for me, and I'm loving its color in the garden. Fireball is an accurate description, eh?

I almost had an anxiety attack yesterday when I got home and saw how overgrown everything was. I'm suppose to be part of the Arden Park Garden Club garden tour in September, and now I am regretting handing my four year old four packages of sunflower seeds. (How many sunflowers is too much?)

I also wish that before I went on vacation I checked all of my drip lines. If I had, maybe this Holodiscus discolor "Oceanspray" would have made it! The drip line was not properly staked and moved about a foot from the base of the plant. I have now cut the plant back to the base, and staked the drip line (and prayed that it will sprout again from the base).

10 days gone and all of my Nigella plants have dried seed pods. We got home just in time, before it heavily reseeded itself in place.

10 days and some of the Rudbeckia are already finished blooming.....

10 days and we came home to the first bloom from Lupinus regalis 'Morello Cherry'.

Coreopsis 'Heaven's Gate' is blooming for the first time in our garden. I planted them last year and I admit I was almost shocked when I came across them in the yard yesterday. It's amazing how sometimes a plant stays insignificant for a year to the point that you forget about it. But then one day.... it blooms like mad.

In 10 days, the artichokes that were blooming like crazy on June 30th are seeing their end on July 11th. These plants will be cut down to the ground in hopes that we may possible get another round of 'chokes in the fall.

10 days ago this Shasta Daisy plant was upright, just starting to bloom. It was in a partial sun area, which I believe contributed to its 5 foot tall height. Now I need to find a place to move it so that next year it can have better support (and maybe not grow so tall).

Solanum pyracanthum is enjoying the Sacramento heat. Also known as 'Porcupine Tomato', it is covered in purple blooms after only being in ground less than a month. Its true battle will be our winter, and I will probably be digging him up and moving him to a container before the frost hits.

10 days was all our nectarines needed to ripen as well. These are Independence Nectarines, part of a "fruit salad" tree that I got for my birthday a couple of years ago from my totally awesome husband. This tree was purchased at Peaceful Valley Farm Supply, located in Grass Valley, CA. If you are in the market for fruit trees and native plants, you must check them out! It's a gorgeous drive from Sacramento!

10 days, and all I can say is 'Zowie!" (as in Zinnia elegans 'Zowie' pictured above!) I might need at least 10 days to get the garden back in shape, but I have REALLY enjoyed my time off to go visit family and beautiful gardens all over Southern California. I'll be posting all of those pics soon!

Like a Kid in Lotusland

2011-07-08T17:54:00.001-07:00

I am lucky that my husband's family live in fabulous places like Santa Barbara. For years I've tried to visit Ganna Walska Lotusland, but due to poor planning on my part, I've never been able to go. This year Jason's aunt thought ahead and made reservations for the family months in advance. I was like a kid in a candy store.
I admit I was a bit jealous of my daughter and her cousin, Wade. To experience this beautiful place as a child must be awesome! I found myself blocking out the docent (who was awesome, by the way), and instead watching the kids as they experienced this place for the first time with me.

Without the kids, I would have missed this leaf. At first I thought they were commenting on the water droplets, but they were actually admiring the shadows being cast by nearby agapanthus, and how they looked like fireworks.

I would have also missed how notocactus leninghausii looks like a "bunch of fuzzy people staring at you."

Of course that was until we saw the Oreocereus celsianus. They are the fuzziest of all. Plus, they were obviously named after Oreo cookies, so they must be cool.

When they're my age, will they appreciate this moment they had when they were four and five years old?

And lets not forget the Theatre Garden, filled with adorable statues from the 1600's that Madame Ganna acquired during World War II.

African boxwood and fern pine make a great backdrop for playtime. Our docent, Gayle, was nice enough to allow us to take a long break at the theatre so that the kids could run around and burn off some energy.

And the statues encouraged silliness...... which we highly encourage in my family.

After our tour my husband decided that his favorite garden was the Japanese Garden. I was disappointed at how my pictures turned out here because it was such a bright sunny day and I had a glare in almost every single photo I took of it. It was also so big that it was hard to capture just how beautiful it was. At the end of our tour Jason and I took the kids for one more lap around the lake while the rest of the family went to the gift shop.

I'd say my favorite plant that I saw at Lotusland would be the climbing bamboo, chusquea coronalis. In a wide open space like it's in here, it takes on a weeping form that is graceful and beautiful. According to our docent, this plant bloomed back in 1994 and provided enough seed that you can now find climbing bamboo at several nurseries.

This was a great way to start our vacation.

Rainy Summer

2011-06-28T18:19:00.001-07:00

Today's forecast said rain, and since we are just a couple days from July....I didn't take Mark Finan seriously. Boy was I wrong. There's not much that keeps us from going outside to check on the garden. On a day that we should have had 90-100 degree weather, we had pouring rain. Umbrellas in hand, but wearing flip-flops because we're in denial, we still made the trek.
My poor garden. This year has been crazy. The weather has been unpredictable. I've spent most of my time fighting weeds and plant disease instead of enjoying the garden.

The plants that do like this rain? The ones that I just planted Sunday...like this Eryngium proteiflorum pictured above.
As we ventured around the garden looking for squash, we came across this poor little bee hanging out on my newly planted Erigeron glaucus 'Wayne Roderick'. I guess this poor bee wasn't expecting the rain either, and got stuck in the storm. There was still life left in him, so we picked the flower and brought the bee to a protected area.
He's now hanging out in a little pot of succulents near our front door where we can continue to check on him. Will he make it? Probably not. But I love seeing how much my daughter cares for this single bee. And if we do save him..... well, that's just awesome. At 4 years old my daughter recognizes the importance of bee's.... something that most adults take for granted.

She also knows the importance of snails. They feed the ducks :) hahaha.... We pluck them and throw them in the lawn where a couple ducks happen to be enjoying a mud puddle.

And tonight, we go back to summer dreaming. We hear triple digits are on their way again..... but we'll believe it when we see it :)

Meet Ted! The Titan Arum "Corpse Flower" at UC Davis

2011-06-23T20:24:00.000-07:00

Meet Ted! Ted is a Titan Arum (Amorphophallus titanum), otherwise known as the "corpse flower". He just started blooming today at the UC Davis Botanical Conservatory and we were lucky enough to see him before the smell of rotting flesh took over the greenhouse.
What do you think? Should this be our Christmas card photo? haha...

The Titan Arums are found on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia. This particular plant is from seed acquired by UC Davis in 1995.

Once blooming, the Titan Arum puts off this smell of rotting flesh to attract flies and beetles to help with pollination. We got to the greenhouse fairly early so the smell wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but I hear later tonight it will be extra stinky! It appeared to be "spraying" its stink every 3 minutes or so while we were there, but I imagine right about now it should be spraying pretty regularly.

The picture above may look like a tree, but it's considered to be a single leaf. This particular Titan Arum should be blooming next year. I believe this is "Tabitha the Titan"? Titan Arums can take about 15 years to bloom for the first time, but then will get into a bloom cycle of every 2-5 years. The inflorescence of Ted will die back to a corm (?) and one of the leaves pictured above will appear. Eventually the leaf will turn yellow and die back, and the plant will go dormant, until its next bloom cycle occurs. Each "flower" can produce a couple hundred seeds.

Pictured above snapping pictures is Ernesto! He was awesome! It is so fun to meet someone that is super excited about plants and clearly passionate about the work that he is doing at the conservatory. Seeing this place almost made me want to go back to school. Almost. Since that probably won't happen, I will probably sign up for one of their tours instead because this place was plant heaven!

It was fun to sit back and watch the different visitors that came. We got to meet a nice man that was actually from Indonesia, who said that when he lived there as a kid, the villagers didn't seem to value these plants.

Despite the stench, they are gorgeous. Some of the ladies were commenting on how they'd WEAR the bloom because it reminded them of a silk skirt. The petal part of this plant is actually called a spathe. And the inside- the crinkly fuzzy loaf of bread as my daughter called it- that is called a spadix. It looked as if it was covered in velvet. Below the spadix, in a section that we can't really see, are several hundred little male and female flowers.

If you get the chance tomorrow, the "petal" will be much more open, and the smell will be dying down. This bloom process lasts about 48 hours, then you have to wait a few years for the process to occur again. Thank you to the UCD Botanical Conservatory, and all of the staff that is donating their time over the next two days so that the public can participate in this rare event. You can visit their site to get information on the visitation hours for Ted. Admission is free to visit Ted, but please consider donating to the conservatory! Or as Ernesto said "When you get rich, remember us when you die." The Titum Aruns also have their own Facebook page because they are THAT cool. You can find their FB page here.

Adding Plants to Your Garden? Consider Your Neighbors

2011-06-20T19:44:00.001-07:00

What's living in your backyard?

When we moved in to this house back in the summer of 2004, no one told us about the dangers that lurked in the backyard. Want to take a nap on the hammock? Forget about it. Unless you enjoy nightmares of Swamp Thing coming after you when you sleep.
When we bought this house we were too concerned about the plumbing issues to see that there was this horrific green monster that was tearing down our back fence. Well over a 180 feet of basket-weaved style fencing was being brought to its knees by this, a popular plant of the eighties, a way to keep things "green" with little upkeep. A popular housing option for rats, and the smell of cat pee that lingers with it, this green beast is not your friend.

What people don't understand is that not everyone likes ivy. I hate it. We're on a corner lot and I feel like I am constantly battling it from both sides. When we've chatted with our neighbors about the decline of our fences, we hear things like "But it's holding up our ivy." Holding up your ivy?! How about the safety of my dog and child and not having a secure, fenced yard. The yard that I paid for?
As we continue to install metal posts along our fence to hold it up, we get no support from the neighbors that installed the evil green beast on the other side. Who's responsibility should it be to maintain this? If you plant something that takes over your neighbors yard, I would expect that it is the responsibility of the "planter" to resolve the issue with the neighbor, no?
Thanks to our neighbors, the vegetable garden we once tended to in the backyard has been overtaken by ivy, and an overgrown fig tree. We gave up on the fight, and instead ripped out the grass in the front yard to start our vegetable garden, since our neighbors refused to tend to their own gardens, and keep the ivy from growing into our yard. Lucky them- now they get to look at my tomato cages!

What's your take on invasive plants from neighbors? I've heard horror stories about bamboo and ivy, and obviously I'm experiencing it myself. It's one thing if it's just green and pretty- but what if it's ripping down your fence, as shown above?

Soooooo, what's my point? How about considering your neighbor with everything you plant? Your favorite plant may not be theirs, and you need to consider that as you're picking plants out for your own garden. Anything that says "can be invasive" should probably be avoided, unless you have a full time garden staff that is willing to battle for you. And that battle will still come at a price. Do you want a nice relationship with your neighbor, or not?

Father's Day at Effie Yeaw Nature Center

2011-06-19T20:00:00.000-07:00

Happy Father's Day to all of the awesome dads out there! How did you spend your special day? In our house it's not about gifts, but instead about quality time with the family doing whatever it is that dad wants to do. My husband chose to do a little hiking at Effie Yeaw Nature Center in Carmichael, CA.
The Effie Yeaw Nature Center is ran under the American River Natural History Association, who took over the center in 2010. A family membership to the ARNHA is a modest $40 (and includes parking at Ancil Hoffman Park), and not only helps preserve the Parkway, but supports the education programs at Effie Yeaw as well. You can also find Effie Yeaw and ARNHA on Facebook.

Effie Yeaw is a great place to introduce young kids to hiking. Most of their trails are about 3/4 of a mile, and they have lots of benches along the trails to catch a break when needed.

Western Redbud, a member of the pea family, is starting to show off its lovely red seed pods. In the spring their purple flowers are eye-catching....errr, trail-stopping?

You can't see her very well in this picture (because I have a horrible camera, and I follow the rules and stay on the path!), but Effie Yeaw has a wide variety of wildlife that call these 77 acres home. Besides the deer resting in the photo above, you'll often find turkeys, coyotes, rabbits, hawks, snakes, and many, many more. You'll also find a wide variety of BUGS here! Not just bee's, but the valley elderberry long-horned beetle, and about 86 varieties of butterflies call this place home.

A great place to sit and watch the bugs is at this swale pond. We grabbed a bench in the shade, and enjoyed the butterflies fluttering around us.

Housing seasonal overflow from the American River, in 1999 this pond was lined with over 200 tons of clay to help keep the water through the summer months.

Can you tell we're enjoying ourselves?

Effie Yeaw has a butterfly garden, but also includes signs along the pathways that talk about many of the native plants you'll find along your trip, like some of the ones mentioned here.

This meadow is a sea of flowers in the spring, full of star thistle, winter vetch, mallow, wild oats and foxtail fescue.

Here Alex is checking out a Valley Oak that is near the end of its life. Valley Oaks are the largest oaks in North America, and you can only find them here in California. Yet another reason to visit us :)

Oh, and while you're visiting, stop by the Discovery center and shop (open 9am-5pm during the summer) and visit Sophia, a saw-whet owl, who came to the center after being injured in the grill of a truck. Sophia is just one of the animals you can see at the vistor center.

Blooming Artichokes: Bee Crack

2011-06-19T09:44:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago I had a lady ring our door bell, with a bag in hand, saying "You're letting a lot of artichokes go to waste, I'm here to pick them." When I told her the rest of the artichokes were for the bee's, she got a little rude and stormed off, as she told us we were being "wasteful".
To me, being wasteful would be picking the artichokes and then not eating them. Allowing them to bloom is not letting them go to waste, it's just simply beautiful.

The above artichokes haven't started blooming yet, but they are getting close. This particular variety is a beautiful shade of purple inside, which you only see if you allow them to age this long on the plant.

And then once they bloom, it's like a pool party for bee's. Jumping, diving... if I could see their faces I'm sure they're plastered with artichoke-lovin' grins. How many bee's can you see in the picture above?

Consider this my thank you to them for all the hard work they do all year.

So, I'm sorry dear neighbors if we seem wasteful, but I welcome you to stop and check out the artichoke blooms. And don't take it personally if they moon you.

Wordless Wednesday/Garden Blogger Bloom Day 6/15/11

2011-06-14T17:33:00.001-07:00

Garden Gifts

2011-06-13T19:07:00.000-07:00

Last year I wrote a blog post about sprucing up my grandparents garden. My grandma was suffering from ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) and spent most of her time indoors. I wanted to give her something pretty to look at through the window, but I also want to try and encourage her to go outside. Hummingbird and bird feeders made her backyard really popular with the local wildlife. I split up a lot of plants from my own yard to help keep the costs down, and Farmer Fred was also generous with plants from his own garden. I was able to fill in their entire backyard with a variety of plants all for under $50, with over half of that going towards an orange tree for my grandpa. One of the plants that I received from Farmer Fred was an alstroemeria. The chunk he gave me was rather large, and I was able to split it up into several plants and share with other family members (and I kept some for myself too).
This past weekend my mom brought over a bunch of bulbs. Most were bearded irises that had been split up from my grandma's garden many years ago, but some were bulbs that I had planted in my mom's garden several years ago when I didn't have a garden of my own. On her way to my house she had also dropped off some bearded irises for my great aunt and her cousin (I think everyone in my family now has bearded irises!). In return I went through my garden and split up a bunch of my plants for my mom. She took home various kinds of rudbeckia and echinacea, which have happily reseeded themselves all over my garden. She also took home coreopsis, liatris spicata, and I split up that alstroemeria that I got from Farmer Fred again.

After we were done splitting up plants, we went around my garden with my 4 year old and we made a large bouquet of flowers to bring to my grandma. In that large bouquet was a lot of alstroemeria. My grandma never got to see hers bloom.

We brought the bouquet to where she's buried at St. Mary's Cemetery.

2010 was a difficult year for my family as we had to say goodbye to several family members who passed away long before they should have.

I took some a few flowers out of my grandma's bouquet to share with my cousin Harold, who also passed away this fall and is buried nearby.

The rest of the day ended up being an emotional garden day for me. As I planted the bearded irises that I got from my mom, I was noticing all of the plants in my garden that I've received from family and friends over the years. I have some hen and chicks that I dug out of my grandma's yard a year ago that my grandpa said she had got gotten from my great uncle Leonard, who we lost to cancer last August. I also cut back foliage from my dutch irises and daffodils yesterday that were bulbs that I planted in my mom's garden 9 years ago to use in my wedding (the dutch iris was my husband's favorite flower, daffodils were mine). A few years ago my mom dug up most of those bulbs (which have continuously multiplied over the years so she gave me several hundred of them), and since I didn't have room for all of them myself I happily shared them with other family and friends. We also have a gingko tree that my father-in-law got us when we first moved into this house. When he passed away a couple of years ago, our neighbor across the street brought us a white azalea. That azalea is planted next to the hydrangea that our good friend Patricia gave us when we first moved into this house, back in the summer of 2004.

So, as you can imagine, I cried. I cried because somehow I had forgotten about how connected my garden is to all of our family and friends, and how thankful I am that so many people have contributed to the beauty that we wake up to every morning. The alstroemeria that I received from Farmer Fred just a year ago is now in four different gardens in my family, and I'm sure it will continue to be divided and planted every time a family member buys a new house (along with bearded irises, of course!). The flowers will continue to make their way to St. Mary's Cemetery where my grandma, great-grandparents, cousins, and great aunts and uncles are buried. Last night before I went to sleep I made sure to send Fred an email to thank him, and to let him now how heavily that plant has become rooted in my family in just a short period of time. I hope I get to make that impact on someone someday.

Do you have a plant in your garden that is extra special to you? How about one that has been passed down through generations? I'd love to hear your stories!

Garden Inspiration: Mickey Mouse

2011-06-06T08:25:00.000-07:00

Recently we were lucky enough to meet with one of the most inspirational gardeners of all time, Mickey Mouse.

I have to say, this is the first garden tour I've been on that I've been eager to get the home-owners autograph. Out of embarrassment, I made my daughter ask instead.

Happy to see no sign of Miracle Grow here, but I do question the contents of Petoonia's Pellets.

Hmmm... I must get Mickey's secret to growing his turnips that large.

And here's where the magic starts, his modest potting bench. I LOVE his watering can and wish I had it for my own garden!

And oh my goodness, how jealous am I that he has chickens too? I keep begging my husband for chickens, but he keeps saying no. Hmmm... maybe this is why Mickey and Minnie never married?

A busy lifestyle leaves Mickey Mouse no time for mowing his lawn. He's opted for a low maintenance dichondra .

Dichondra is a popular lawn alternative in Southern California. Here in Northern California, most of us consider it a weed.

Every good gardener must have a workbench for tackling all of those DIY projects, and at Disneyland I hear that Mickey is their go-to guy for just about everything. When you have neighbors like Donald Duck (who seems a little careless with his property in my opinion), it's important to keep a well organized workbench to keep track of anything you might loan out to friends, etc.

It's great to see that Mickey also cares about the environment. He seems pretty into being "green", whether he's recycling glass, cans, or gloves. Wait...gloves?!

Okay, okay, okay.... so we didn't have a private tour of Mickey's garden. We bought our ticket just like everyone else, so I don't have to do one of those *blogger disclaimers* at the end of this post. That being said, I was pleasantly surprised at how inspirational Disneyland was for me as a gardener- and I wish that someday I COULD get a private behind-the-scenes garden tour. There are edibles tucked here and there and most of the food is actually used there at Disneyland. The picture above is various sages, rosemary, dill and cilantro located near the Astro Orbitor in Tomorrowland.

Well, we'll let you know if we ever do get that tour. I snuck a few hints in with the Fairy Godmother, but I think she has her hands full with Cinderella.

Garden Fun With Kids: Worm Bins

2011-06-05T08:35:00.000-07:00

A couple of years ago we put together some worm bins in our back yard with my daughter and her cousins. I had followed the instructions on The Germinatrix's website, and bought two Rubbermaid bins for each worm "house", some window screen scraps, and a few containers of red wiggler worms from my local fishing store. The project was super easy for kids, and here we are a few years later still pulling tons of worm castings out of them and making worm tea.
Here in Sacramento we're able to keep our bins outside year round in a nice shady location. My daughter loves "feeding" them our fruit and vegetable scraps and grossing out her friends with her pet worms.

"It's the biggest brownie ever!" Sadly, no, that's just worm poop. Last weekend it was time to give them fresh new bedding and split up our single winter bin into two bins. During the winter time we don't produce enough food for them to support two bins, so I usually consolidate into one bin late Fall. For you backyard gardeners, worm composting is a much easier and faster way to produce compost than your standard compost bins.

At four years old (ahem, okay, she says "almost five"), she has a much bigger appreciation for earthworms than most adults I know do. You should see the heart ache she has when she finds a dried up one on the sidewalk. And yes, I have found several in the pockets of her laundry. But her little fingers are useful for separating them from the castings, and putting them into their fresh new digs. Although, she does sneak a few into the planter beds, especially the ones that look "pregnant" to her ("Run mommy worm! Go have your babies! Be free!").

This is what we use for bedding. Finally there is a positive use for junk mail! We shred most of the mail we receive (just not the glossy kind) to add to the bins. We also add napkins from dinner time, newspaper, egg cartons, grocery shopping bags, even pizza boxes. The bedding is added to the bins and sprayed with water to make a nice moist environment for them (but not too wet, or they will drown). In addition to bedding they get fed regularly with fruits and vegetable scraps. Banana peels are always popular for them, as are coffee grounds. Avoid onions, too much citrus, meats, and dairy.

Separating the worm castings is kind of like a treasure hunt. We come across a lot of stuff that simply won't break down since a worm bin lacks the heat that your standard compost bins has. Items like food labels (as shown above), staples, tape, and seeds won't break down. Pick these out if you can. Although, last year we had a fantastic cantaloupe plant grow in our garden that was started from worm castings that had cantaloupe seeds in it.

Another item that won't break down is egg shells. These also seem to attract Black Soldier Fly Larvae more, which is actually not a bad thing.

Black Soldier Fly Larvae (BSFL) is that disgusting looking grub thing pictured above. It used to creep me out when I'd find them in the bins, but now I've learned that they are also beneficial composters. They do put off heat, which helps keep the worms happy and warm during the winter time, but you'll want to keep the population down in the summer time so that you don't cook the worms. Lots of extra bedding during summer will also help the worms and BSFL live happily together in the bins. The larvae is great to use for fishing (instead of worms), and are a yummy snack for chickens if you have them on your property.

Above is a mature Black Soldier Fly. They are rather clumsy and creepy looking, but they are suppose to help control housefly populations, so they can't be all that bad.

The end result of the worm castings (aka vermicast)and worm tea that you will produce in your bins will lead to happy plants (and a happy kid). A tablespoon of worm castings can feed a plant for up to two months. I use worm castings every time I put a new plant in the ground to get it off to a healthy start. Since worm castings don't burn your plants (like manure can), it can be used all year long in the garden. Consider adding a bin to your garden this summer and start reaping the benefits!