Winter Nest

One recent afternoon on a walk around the cemetery, Jenn and I discovered this abandoned nest in a hedgerow. In addition to mama and papa birds leaving for the winter (I wonder where they went?), so had the leaves, leaving the nest exposed at just below eye level. It’s view of a nest not often seen and it was surprising and lovely in the setting sun.

Enclosed Cliffside Patio- before & after

Here’s some fun before & afters to look at. I won’t bore you with words- as they say, ” A picture’s worth…”

#1)

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#3)

Before, During and After pics

For the past year I’ve been working on a really wonderful project. It’s a beautiful spot right on a cliff above the ocean. The weather is pretty extreme, so plant selection has been tricky, to say the least! I’m doing a fairly good job at taking lots of pictures, which is not always my strong point. Here’s just a little taste…

Before:

Just after planting(with some rare sun!):

 

6 months After:

More on this project in the future!

Getcher Earthworms Here!

Yes, I know one can buy ladybugs, lacewings, earthworms and the like from hundreds of different catalogues and websites, but seeing a tub of them in the store got me to thinking.

I was standing in line at my local Ace Hardware store, looking at the display near the register of ladybugs and earthworms, and thought, “Have we come to this? Our soil is so dead that we have to buy worms and put them in the ground?? Right after that, I thought that  even if your soil wasn’t void of all life, if you were starting a compost pile that tub of worms just might come in handy…

After listening to my ranty ramblings, my husband had a little fun with me and I found this in my compost bin!

But seriously, when we use pesticides to kill garden pests, the good guys go away too! When I dig in my garden, in which I don’t ever use pesticides, I’m constantly trying to not decapitate (which end is the head??) all the worms that turn up. I’m always reminded of that movie, Seven Years in Tibet, where they relocate each and every worm discovered during a construction project. I’m afraid I’m not that patient or diligent and once in a while I think I get one. (and no, it’s not true that each piece can continue to live- if you chop a worm in half, it dies)

So, if your soil could use some life, go ahead and purchase a tub or two of worms at our friendly, local hardware store, but make sure you don’t use anything in your garden that could kill them- and if you’re lucky enough to have lots of worms in residence, yay for you…. just watch that shovel!

A Rare Commercial Commision

Most of my work is for private homes, though a small percentage of my clients are small businesses. I rarely do large large commercial designs, but a couple of years ago I designed the plantings for a large apartment complex in Silicon Valley. The property manager already had his construction crew and he wanted me to draw up a design and planting plan for all the non-paved areas. I also was hired as creative consultant to supervise the installation of it all. It was a new level of landscape design for me. I almost turned the job down because, “I don’t do that.” But there’s one thing I’ve learned over the years- if I feel like something is over my head or out of my league, and my first impulse is to say no… I don’t. I think on it and get others’ opinions. I’m glad I pushed myself out of my comfort zone and said yes to this one.

This is a bridge separating the two parking lots. I had them terrace the slopes on both sides and build the arbor above. I chose Wisteria and Lonicera (Honeysuckle) to climb on the arbor and planted the terraces with a variety of shrubs- including Loropetalum, Lantana, Cistus, Rosemary and Salvia. All work horses of the plant world- chosen for there good behavior!

A long shot:

…a little closer:

…and a close up of the other side:

 

Don’t Ever Hire Terminex to do your Gardening!

This is what happens when the termite tent doesn’t get tucked behind your planter boxes. (I even pulled them 6 inches away from the building, like they said) They’re not kidding about that stuff being toxic! This pic was taken one day after the tent was taken down:

So sad…

Building a Dry Stack Stone Wall

Here’s proof that I don’t make others do all the labor! I actually really love building small walls, paths, patios, etc. myself. This was a fun project for an intimate courtyard right off a master bedroom. I had fun tucking tiny Sedums into the nooks. One side of the fence surrounding this garden is glass, allowing for a breathtaking view of the ocean.

Once the plants grow in, I think this will look quite nice!

Annual Garden Party- 2010

Every late May/early June I have a garden party to share with my friends and family the abundance of blooms in my garden. It’s so floriferous at that time of year that if would be just plain selfish of me not to share! I recently came across some pictures from last year’s bash- where we served the best mint juleps ever!- and thought I would belatedly share with y’all.

Here’s the delightful Josie, sniffing the Italian parsley:

Judy and Leslie enjoy a chat amongst the heady blooms of Rosas ‘Buff Beauty’, ‘Lilian Austin’ and ‘Tamora’:

Taking a break from the crowd,

Emily and John find a seat with Rosa ‘Buff Beauty’

in the midst of clouds of Nicotiana mutabilis and Penstemon ‘Garnet’ (among others!).

If they sit still enough, a hummingbird is bound to come by!

Peeking out from the bed of roses is Rosa ‘Fantin Latour’,

bordered by peppermint scented geranium (Pelargonium tomentosa), already-bloomed Bearded Iris and Nepeta fasanii ‘Six Hills Giant’.

They look like they’re enjoying the aromatherapy…

It was a perfect day

to wear a hat,

talk with friends,

sip a mint julep,

smell the flowers

and relax in the garden!

Back in the Garden

I’ve had an unusually busy fall and winter with work this past year and haven’t been blogging at all! I’ve realized that I can only focus on so many things at once, so when I get really busy with one thing, all except the essentials(raising two teenagers, the holidays, new marriage- you know) drop off.

Well, things have slowed down and here I am.

This is what I’ve been up to in the garden:

I’m about a month late, but almost everything in my back garden is cut back and cleaned up. Whew!

Here’s what my beautiful Rosa ‘Fair Bianca’ looked like last summer:

(& will again in a few months!)

Parsley Gone to Seed -for the beneficials!

I let my Italian parsley plant go to seed because I wanted to attract beneficial insects to my other veggie plants. You probably hear the term ‘beneficial insects’ a lot. I know I do, but what the heck are beneficial insects?? Well, the two benefits that “good” bugs can bring to the garden are either eating other bugs that are considered pests or being pollinators. So predators and pollinators are what we want in our bug population. These types of insects are attracted to certain types of flowers and some of their very favorites are the flowers of herbs and greens from your food garden that have gone to seed. So it’s not always a bad thing to let your cilantro or lettuce bolt, as long as you know that it’s no longer tasty as food for you (bitter!), but now is serving another purpose- contributing to the health of your garden!