April Flowers

I haven't posted about anything other than food in a long time, so I thought I would share some photos I have taken of the flowers in my garden recently.

Coral Bells

Freesias

Red salvia

Gingersnap Rose

Hens and Chicks

Meyer Lemon

Geranium

leaf

Finally, a garden magazine has joined the ranks of the free online magazines with the launch of Leaf Magazine.

The premier issue of Leaf is full of garden inspiration and inspiration drawn from the outdoors. This issue includes articles on a little known, but prolific American landscape designer, Ellen Biddle Shipman; the wonderfully creative garden of landscape designer, Dustin Gimbel; and master basket artist, Kari Lonning, who weaves the Norwegian landscape into her baskets. 

Beautiful, right? 

The Bee-a-thon and The Great Bee Count

Learn more about The Bee Count and how you can become part of the Citizen Science Project at the free online Bee-a-thon event scheduled for Saturday, July 16, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. PST. Join bee experts, beekeepers, and environmental experts as they give us the latest buzz on what's happening with the bees. You can log onto the event at www.yourgardenshow.com and you can also follow the Bee-a-thon on Twitter (#iseebees) and Facebook.

The Bee-a-thon kicks off the Great Bee Count, a Citizen Science campaign hosted on YourGardenShow.com in partnership with the Great Sunflower Project. They are counting bees across North America and helping shape bee conservation efforts.

Why should you care about the bees? Because the pollinators are responsible for every three bites of food and are facing challenges from colony collapse disorder and other threats. Tune in to the Bee-a-thon and get inspired to count some bees!

Herb Garden Markers

I potted up the herbs that I bought last week and made some herb markers. When we were at the flea market a few years ago, I came across a small letterpress set that I thought would be perfect to use for making plant markers. 

What I like about using the letterpress letters is that it is a more permanent way of labeling and you can easily fit in a long name like 'rosemary' or parsley on the marker. (click on the image to see a larger version)

All you need to make the markers is a letterpress or other labeling device, a hammer, a board to act as a cushion, and markers. I use copper ones, but you can also use zinc. I found some of the markers at Target a few years ago, but I also bought some through Gardener's Supply Company. I love the patina of the copper when it ages.

I also made some a few years ago using a nail and a template from Martha Stewart. These were also easy to make, although my fingers were a little sore after making a few of them and you would have to make really small letters in order to make longer names. I think they just get prettier over time and the great thing is I can reuse them.

Even if you can't find a letterpress set, or don't feel like taking the time to make the ones with the nail and template, it is nice to label your herbs so that you can easily identify them. Besides the ones you make will look much more attractive than those plastic ones that come with your herbs!

Here Comes the Sun

After all the rain we got last week, the sun is out and the skies are a gorgeous blue with beautiful white, puffy clouds. I have been itching to get outside and do some work in the garden and since I have a few days off of work that is just what I am planning to do.

I stopped by Whole Foods on the way home from work. I just love it when they put out their organic herbs and vegetables. I bought some flat leaf parsley, thyme, rosemary, and chives so I can have fresh herbs again. We had so many days of freezing temperatures that I lost most of the herbs I was growing and I felt double the pain every time I had to buy them at the grocery store for French Fridays with Dorie. It gets a little costly to keep buying them fresh at the store, so until the ones I am growing from seed are ready I thought I would buy a few of these in the meantime. There's just nothing like fresh herbs to cook with, is there?

February Blooms

This month's Garden Bloggers Blooms Day finds my garden in transition. I don't really have anything new in bloom since last month's post. Lots of promises of blooms - the daffodils and tulips are pushing through the ground and with the sun we have been getting lately, they should be blooming soon. My ranunculus are starting to show their ruffly leaves as well.

I do have one shrub in bloom right now and that is my dwarf golden Arborvitae. The lavender edges of the blooms against the golden green cypress are so pretty.

Please visit May Dreams Gardens to see what is blooming in other bloggers' gardens.

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day

Welcome to Garden Bloggers Bloom Day where gardeners from all over the world share what is blooming in their garden on the 15th of each month. 

We had a freeze a couple of weeks ago here in Northern California, so my plants and shrubs are looking a little distressed right now. My Abutilon suffered a bit and the blooms are drooping.

This is the newest addition to my garden - 'Yuletide' Camellia. I saw this one at OSH Orchard Supply after seeing some in bloom near my office downtown and couldn't leave the store without it. I love the deep crimson color in contrast to the bright yellow stamens. This camellia blooms from October through December and is striking in the winter landscape.

Lo and behold, just when I bought the Yuletide because I thought it would keep me in blooms until the other camellias begin blooming, I saw this lovely camellia in bloom in a downtown garden yesterday! These beauties usually don't bloom until late January - early February. After the freeze we had I am so surprised that they are blooming this early. 

And I am thrilled to see that my Christmas cactus is blooming - at least I think it is a Christmas cactus because it often blooms at Easter as well - this one bloom is just gorgeous.

Please visit the other bloggers to see what is in bloom in their December gardens over at May Dreams Garden.

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day

One day while reading some of the many gardening blogs I have bookmarked, I discovered Carol's blog, May Dreams Gardens, and I am sorry, but I can't even remember what blog led me to her blog - it was just one of those internet connections.  

Anyway, Carol posts what is blooming in her garden the 15th of each month and invites her readers to join her. The idea is that someone, somewhere would have something in bloom in their garden the 15th of each month, even during the winter. Loving gardens and gardening as much as I do, I thought this a wonderful idea. I usually do share what is blooming in my garden (even though I haven't done that in awhile), so I am so excited to participate in Garden Bloggers Bloom Day.

Even though the weather has been mild and the roses should still be in bloom, they aren't at the moment. At least the Gallardia and the Red Salvia are still showing their finery.

Red Salvia - the hummingbirds are happy this is still in bloom

Artful Seed Packets

It's not too early to dream of next year's garden and to begin thinking about what you would like to plant. And while you are dreaming and thinking, why not browse (and buy) a seed library that has beautiful art packets at the same time?

Last year I bought some of Hudson Valley Seed Library's Art Packs and seeds for the very first time and I am smitten. I am thrilled to see that their Art Packs are out for 2011 and are available through their Holiday Gift Catalogue.

The artists for 2011 were picked from a pool of over 70 submissions and come from all over the Hudson Valley and New York City. The mediums they used were collage, encaustics, oil, watercolor, digital, paper cutting, and ink. Each artist's rendering celebrates the joy and beauty of heirloom gardening. You can read about the artists in the holiday gift catalogue.

Also, while you're over there, visit the Hudson Valley Seed Library blog to read a fun post on how Victoria Gardens photographed their art packs.

June Blooms

It's been awhile since I've shared what's in bloom in my garden. I'm not sure how long these will last with the hot weather we have had these past few days.

And I leave you with this wonderful passage describing the main character from a book I read recently, The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery: "Madame Michel has the elegance of the hedgehog: on the outside, she's covered in quills, a real fortress, but my gut feeling is that on the inside, she has the same simple refinement of the hedgehog: a deceptively, indolent little creature, fiercely solitary - and terribly elegant."

Every garden should have a hedgehog - even a stone one.

2010 Garden Blog Awards

Vote for your favorite Garden Blog over at Mouse & Trowel. Voting is open until Monday, May 17th. Some of my favorites are finalists: A Way to Garden, Garden Rant, Diggin' Food, and Gardening Gone Wild. Go Vote!

Topsy Turvy

A friend of mine from work bought me this yesterday on her lunch break. She had bought some over the weekend and had planted some tomatoes in hers and wanted me to try it as well so we could compare notes.

I have to admit - I'm curious. I have seen these and have seen tomatoes growing from them, so I'm interested in seeing if I get some results. I'll keep you posted.

Have you tried growing tomatoes in this or something similar?

Garden Planner

It's a good thing that I only go to Anthropologie when I need to buy a birthday gift because otherwise I would be in big trouble. Everything in the store is beautiful, a bit pricey, but beautiful. 

They had these wonderful planners and at $7.95 I thought it was a good buy.

It is a pad of 60 sheets and you can make your "to do" list, your "to buy" list and sketch out your flower bed design all on one page. There is also a place where you can list the common and scientific name of the plants that you want to buy. It easily slips into your purse or folds up to put in your wallet for your trip to the nursery. It's a fun and functional way to plan your garden.

They also had a Menu Planner, and Travel Planner.

Edible Landscaping

I attended a workshop on Saturday called "Your Sustainable Backyard: Edible Landscaping" and it was held at the UC Davis campus. The keynote speaker was Rosalind Creasy, a forerunner in Edible Landscaping, who has been doing edible gardening and writing about it for over 30 years. 

She has written seventeen books including such gardening books as Edible Heirloom Garden, Edible French Garden, Edible Asian Garden, Edible Mexican Garden and Edible Flower Garden. She has also written cookbooks, Cooking From Your Garden and Recipes from the Garden. Her latest book, Edible Landscaping, will be coming out in November, and it is an update of her 1982 book, The Complete Guide to Edible Landscaping.

She gave a great presentation and talked about how to integrate edible flowers, herbs, trees and shrubs within a traditional ornamental and decorative garden. Basically, by using garden design principles you substitute edible plants such as lettuce, berries, fruit trees in place of non-productive plant material. This doesn't mean that you have to sacrifice your beautiful rose bushes and your entire cutting garden. No, not at all. You plant your herbs and veggies right alongside your rose and cutting flowers and you can do it in such a way that is visually pleasing to you. She shared with us what she has learned over the years that you can have a working, productive edible garden without sacrificing beauty and garden aesthetics. She also encouraged us to grow vegetables and herbs that we can't get at the market. 

I was so inspired by her lecture and, while I'm not quite ready to rip out the front lawn, I can't wait to incorporate some of her ideas into my own garden. Check out Rosalind Creasy's Web site for more information and see some of her beautiful photos.

In the afternoon Kevin Marini, from the Placer/Nevada County Master Gardener Program gave a good, informative lecture on Soils 101. He stressed how important it is to have a soil analysis done and that this should be the first thing you do before planning any vegetable garden. When he asked how many people had done a soil analysis in their garden I was surprised at how few hands went up.

The final lecture of the workshop was by Michael Parrella, PhD., chair of the Department of Entomology at UC Davis. He talked about Veggie Garden Pests & Pest Management. I learned that UC Davis has an Integrated Pest Management Program and it is one of the most comprehensive programs in the country, if not the world. If you have a pest in your garden, check their site out to find out what the pest might be and what to do about it.

The workshop was just what I needed to motivate me to start my Spring garden. 

The 3,000 Mile Garden

One of my favorite places to buy used books is at the Goodwill. Their book prices are very affordable (read cheap) and they are a great source for out-of-print books. I am always finding wonderful vintage, and not so vintage, cookbooks, decorating books, and gardening books. Recently, I found a delightful gardening book, The 3,000 Mile Garden.

The book is a collection of letters exchanged between Leslie Land, an American food writer living in Maine, and Roger Phillips, an English writer/garden photographer, who has a garden in Eccleston Square which is in the heart of London. Leslie and Roger met at a mushroom foray in New Hampshire, hit it off, and started corresponding about gardening, recipes, and other thoughts on their lives. The letters are flirtatious, witty, humorous, and very entertaining and gives a vivid picture of gardening in America and England.

When I did a little research on them before doing this post, I discovered that Leslie has a Web site, that she wrote for numerous publications, including The New York Times and was Senior Editor for Yankee magazine. I also learned that she was once a chef at Chez Panisse restaurant in Berkeley. Roger is an expert rosarian and has encyclopedias on mushrooms, roses, and trees and shrubs available online. Also, the Queen of England just this month honored him for his work for his "service to London Garden Squares." 


I also found out that The 3,000 Mile Garden was made into a PBS series in 1995-1996. I would love to see it, but I couldn't find it available anywhere online.

You can find a used copy of The 3,000 Mile Garden book at barnesandnoble.com or amazon.com. 

November Blooms

Dry Stack Walls With a Twist

Ever since I first saw Martha Stewart demonstrating how to make dry stack walls in her magazine and on her shows I have been fascinated by them. I really love the look of these walls that I found on Sunset magazine's blog, Fresh Dirt.

These fabulous walls can be found at Cambria Nursery in Cambria, CA, one of my favorite coastal getaway towns. I love how they incorporated broken planters in the walls to hold beautiful succulents. You can be sure that I will be checking them out the next time we visit Cambria.

I'm a Peanut Farmer!

Okay, well that's a bit of an exaggeration and I am sure President Jimmy Carter would beg to differ with me, but look what I discovered when I was weeding one of my large pots where I grow my Bird of Paradise!

A Peanut Plant! With quite a few peanuts growing on it! Isn't it a wonder?! I never would have thought you could actually grow peanuts from a peanut in the shell - don't know why - guess I never thought about it before or tried it...

'Course, I can't take the credit for this phenomenon in my garden - it had to have been planted from a peanut buried by one of my backyard squirrel friends or the very industrious Blue Jay I have watched burying peanuts to feed his family at a later time.

Oh, and yes, I carefully replanted the peanut plant and watered it so hopefully it will continue to grow and will mature long enough for my little friends to harvest during the Fall or Winter.

The Great Sunflower Project

This month's issue of Sunset magazine got me thinking about The Great Sunflower Project again. There's an article about Gretchen LeBuhn, the Bay Area biologist, who started The Great Sunflower Project to raise awareness about the decline of honey bees.

She began the project last year by creating a Web site where people could sign-up and order sunflower seeds to plant. The project has grown to over 55,000 participants. It doesn't require any knowledge about bees in order to participate. Although they are out of seeds for 2009, there are sources listed where you can buy the Lemon Queen annual sunflower seeds and you can sign-up for 2010.

This is a wonderful project to get young children involved in so that they can begin to make the connection between pollinators and the food that they eat. I am still waiting for my Lemon Queen sunflowers to bloom, so hopefully I will have something to report in a few weeks.

These pictures were taken at a sunflower field in Winters, California this past weekend and I am happy to report that for every sunflower I saw there were at least 2 to 3 honey bees. And there were sunflowers as far as my eyes could see.