https://www.azplantlady.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/10waysyourChristmastreecanbenefitnature-1.jpg1600938arizonaplantlady@gmail.comhttp://www.azplantlady.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/favicon.pngarizonaplantlady@gmail.com2014-12-30 19:09:002022-10-30 07:19:0610 Ways Your Old Christmas Tree Can Benefit Nature
Each region has their own way of celebrating Christmas. Of course Christmas lights seem just about universal and they are one of my favorite parts of decorating for Christmas.
Some of you may feel that it is not Christmas without snow, but growing up in Southern California near the coast – the only white Christmas that I have seen is watching Christmas movies on television.
Californians have their own way of celebrating Christmas, including a parade of boats decorated with lights and decorations. One of my fondest memories is sitting on the breakwater and watching the boats parade along the coast.
Well, now that I have lived in Arizona for quite a while, I have become quite familiar with the unique way that desert dwellers decorate for Christmas.
The Christmas tree for our town is not actually a real tree…..
p class=”has-text-align-center” style=”font-size:14px;”> Arizona Style Christmas Celebration
It is actually made up of tumbleweed.
Hard to believe, isn’t it?
But, it is just beautiful, especially when it is all lit up at night.
Some residents love their cactus and it plays a starring role in how they decorate the outside of their homes.
Agave also play a part in holiday decorations….
I’ve even seen some agave with round, glass Christmas tree ornaments stuck on their pointy tips.
Did you know that Ocotillo can also stand-in as a Christmas tree?
I hope you have enjoyed these glimpses into Christmas….Arizona Style.
Even though we may not enjoy a white Christmas in our beautiful desert, I like to think of the fact that the first Christmas occurred in a desert not that much different then ours…
Whenever I am not writing, you’ll often find me out in the field helping others learn how to grow and maintain their landscapes.
Usually most landscape consultations are fairly routine. However, I sometimes see something truly unique.
Earlier this week, I saw something that is probably the most unexpected thing that I’ve ever encountered.
Here is how it unfolded…
I met with a very nice couple who had a new landscape installed a year ago. While they were very happy with the design, they wanted to learn how to care for their plants and needed help with some problems with dead plant(s) and some failing to thrive.
Other than a dead Valentine bush, some iron chlorosis, over fertilizing and a few plants growing in the wrong exposure – it was all fairly routine until I saw an unusual shrub off in the distance.
I must confess that I had no idea what the shrub was from this distance. Now every once in a while, I am faced with a plant that I am not familiar with, but I was hopeful that as we got nearer, I would be able to figure it out.
As we got closer to the shrub, I still didn’t know what it was. I’m starting to feel a bit uncomfortable because I have no idea what this shrub is.
It did have dark, dusty green foliage that started to turn red with cooler winter temperatures.
The homeowner had carefully staked it upright and it had an attractive vase shape growth habit.
At this point, the homeowner complained about a mesquite tree volunteer that was coming up at the base.
I took a closer look and discovered that the so called ‘mesquite tree’ was actually a Baja fairy duster – that was a MAJOR clue about the identity of this unusual shrub.
At this point, I looked closer at the leaves of the shrub, which did look rather familiar – just not on a shrub…
Does it look familiar to you?
At this point, I knew what it was, but I couldn’t get my head around what this unusual shrub actually was.
Can you tell what it is yet?
The base was quite large and I could see the Baja Fairy Duster, to the left, trying to grow.
I told the homeowners that what they thought was a mesquite tree volunteer (basically a weed), was in fact the plant that was supposed to grow there.
So what was the ‘unusual shrub’ then?
Belive it or not, the shrub that the homeowners had carefully staked and fertilized over the past year was actually a WEED!
So what kind of weed was it?
That large shrub that was 4+ ft. high and 2 ft. wide was really a spotted spurge weed!
Can you believe it?
Spotted spurge is the bane of many gardeners and is a low-growing weed that spreads. I hate this little weed. I’ve spent hours battling this weed during my time as a horticulturist for golf courses and now in my own garden.
So how did the homeowners mistake this weed for a shrub? Well, I suspect that the nursery container, with their actual shrub, had spurge already growing in it (not uncommon).
The new shrub was quite small when first planted and the spurge, like most weeds, grew quickly – much more quickly than the shrub itself.
The poor little Baja fairy duster had little chance of growing afterward since weeds are famous for being vigorous growers and out compete other plants for water and nutrients.
So what did the homeowners think, you may wonder?
Well, they were shocked, but then got a good laugh out of it. The wife was having a lot of fun teasing her husband about his ‘unusual shrub’.
Have you ever seen an unusual plant that turned out to be a weed? This one is definitely one for the books in my career.
**If you have problems with spurge, you can treat them with homemade weed killer that uses natural ingredients – vinegar and soap – that’s it.
https://www.azplantlady.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/NoelleJohnsonLandscapeConsultation-1.jpg7891200arizonaplantlady@gmail.comhttp://www.azplantlady.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/favicon.pngarizonaplantlady@gmail.com2014-12-11 19:18:002022-10-31 00:07:39A Most Unusual Shrub With a Shocking Secret…
One of the benefits of growing vegetables in zone 9 is that we are able to grow vegetables all year long.
However, despite our relatively mild winters, warm-season vegetables such as peppers and tomatoes can’t handle temperatures when they dip below freezing. So just before freezing temperatures hit, I run out to the garden and pick off all our tomatoes and peppers before pulling out the plants.
Of course, there is nothing wrong with doing this – I’ve done it for years.
I allow my green tomatoes to ripen indoors – click here to see how.
I then dice my green peppers, place them in a freezer bag and keep them in the freezer where I can use them whenever I make my kid’s favorite Mexican rice for dinner.
A few years ago, I decided to try to overwinter my tomato and pepper plants instead of pulling them out.
This is what my tomatoes looked like with no frost protection. That was no surprise.
But the next year, I decided to protect my tomatoes & peppers by covering them with old sheets when temperatures dipped below 32 degrees.
I even went one step further and hung an outdoor light underneath the sheets.
To my surprise, both my tomato and pepper plants came through the winter just fine, with a small amount of frost damage, and I had an early start to the growing season.
It was a lot of work though – having to cover them and uncover them whenever temperatures dipped below freezing.
Also, that winter was a relatively mild one and temperatures never strayed below the upper 20’s. However, we do occasionally experience temperatures that dip in to the low 20’s and in that case, protection or not, the peppers and tomatoes would most likely die whether or not they were protected.
So, do I still try to overwinter my tomato and pepper ?
The answer is “yes”and “no”.
I do throw sheets over my peppers, but not my tomatoes. The reason is that tomatoes are slightly more sensitive to the cold.
If we were to experience temperatures in the low 20’s, my 2-year old pepper plants would most likely not survive. But, that is what it is like to grow vegetables – you try your best, but sometimes it’s not enough.
**Have you ever successfully overwintered a warm-season vegetable?**
https://www.azplantlady.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/greentomatoesandpeppers-1.jpg9001200arizonaplantlady@gmail.comhttp://www.azplantlady.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/favicon.pngarizonaplantlady@gmail.com2014-12-08 13:30:002021-01-05 12:50:18To Overwinter Peppers & Tomatoes Or Not – That Is The Question…
Most of us are familiar with teak wood and its beauty. Often, you can find it in a garden setting being in the form of benches, which weather the sun and rain with no problem.
Teak wood is extremely durable and unlike many types of wood, can handle water with no problem.
A couple of weeks ago, I was asked by Teak Closeouts if I would try out some of their teak bowls, which would be suitable as planters.
I am always on the lookout for unique and unusual items for the garden that can be both functional and beautiful, so of course, I said said yes!
One of the reasons I was excited to try out the teak bowl planters was that over the summer is that I saw a rustic wooden planter on a visit to the Green Bay Botanical Gardens.
I loved it’s rustic look and how the annual flowers fit into the interior of this piece of tree trunk.
So, when the FedEx deliveryman dropped of a large box, I couldn’t wait to open it.
Inside were several pieces, but it was the two teak bowls that got my attention right away.
The first bowl, was a piece of art. Its sides were very smooth, which showed off the beauty of the teak wood.
You may notice the hole at the bottom, which is essential for a planter.
The next teak bowl that I unwrapped was a bit more rustic in nature, much like the tree trunk planter I had seen over the summer.
I always like pieces of wood that allows you to see the grain, which you could see on different parts of the bowl.
This bowl also had holes for drainage and I couldn’t wait to plant them both.
To keep the potting mix from falling out the holes, I put a coffee filter over them, which is a cheap and effective way to keep the dirt in and allow the water to drain.
I planted my favorite cool season annuals – violas.
I added a variety of colors in this large teak bowl and a touch of white alyssum for fragrance.
For my rustic teak bowl, I decided to add ‘Johnny Jump-Ups’, which were the first flowers I planted as a child. I have always loved their sunny faces.
As you might expect, the amount of soil is rather shallow, but it is enough to grow cool-season annuals. However, there wouldn’t be enough soil to grow warm season flowers through the summer – the soil would get too hot.
You could however, plant small succulents in them and keep them in light shade – maybe located on a patio?
Although I used this teak bowl as a planter, however it is so beautiful, you could certainly use it to grace a patio or large dining room table.
I often have clients, like those above, who want decorative, yet functional items for their patio. Either of these teak bowls would work beautifully in this type of setting.
When exposed to the sun, teak will fade to a light gray color, which will provide great color contrast for plants.
As you can imagine, no two bowls are the same – each one retains the unique character from the part of the teak wood it was carved from, which lends to the uniqueness of these bowls.
In addition to the bowls, I also received a lovely teak vase – wouldn’t that look beautiful filled with flowers or perhaps a dried arrangement?
Teak Closeouts has a large variety of teak items including outdoor furniture and garden art at closeout prices. I encourage you to visit their online store where you will find great gift ideas for the gardener in your life or for yourself!
*I was provided these items from Teak Closeouts free of charge to review, but my opinions are my own 🙂
https://www.azplantlady.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/AnnualFlowersplantedinoldlog-1.jpg6791024arizonaplantlady@gmail.comhttp://www.azplantlady.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/favicon.pngarizonaplantlady@gmail.com2014-12-04 13:30:002021-01-05 12:54:40Teak Bowls Make Unique and Beautiful Planters
Have you ever looked back at your calendar and wondered at how you ever got everything done while still remaining somewhat sane?
I have…
Oh, I knew ahead of time that it would take a small miracle to get through the 30 days, starting with Halloween.
At this point, I’d like to apologize for the lack of blog posts, but in my defense, I was lucky to be able to remember to feed my kids (just kidding).
Seldom, have I looked forward to December as a time where I will be less busy, but in comparison to what I’ve done the past month, it should be a breeze.
It all started with our annual Halloween celebration, which is held at our house.
I spent the day making ghosts (half a Twinkie dipped in white chocolate), black spiders (mini chocolate donuts with chocolate dipped pretzel legs) and candy corn rice krispy treats.
The entire family came over for dinner and trick-or-treating, including my granddaughter, Lily, who dressed up as Sleeping Beauty.
Two days later, we had an even larger group of people gather at our house for Lily’s birthday party – she turned 3!
Lily is seriously into princesses, so there was a lot of pink in the room.
I made her a princess cake, which went along with her favorite cake pops.
In the week that followed, I continued my work with a local golf course, where they are removing 30 acres of turf in favor of landscape areas filled with drought tolerant plants.
The areas of turf being removed are largely out of play in this parkland style golf course. Not all 30 acres are being removed all at once – instead, the grass is being taken out in smaller sections.
While a lot of my time was being spent at the golf course, I spent two days selling handmade items at a large holiday boutique.
Now, I’ve never sold anything at a boutique, but this past summer my mother, who is extremely talented, asked my sister and I to do it with her. I knew that it would be tough, since November is one of my busiest months since I spend most of my time outdoors consulting on landscapes. But, I really wanted to do it, so I used some of my down time this summer to make some things.
Xerigraphica air plant in a terrarium
The items we sold were made using sustainable, recycled and/or repurposed items.
Air plants in terrariums were a big hit.
We also had hanging terrariums filled with air plants. I made bird houses from gourds, many of which we grew in our gardens.
My sister made Christmas ornaments using seed pods from a variety of trees, including these little snowmen made from the seedpods from the Texas Mountain Laurel (Sophora secundiflora) tree.
We sold out of a lot of items and I must admit that I had so much fun. We’re already planning for next year.
Back in the garden, I was asked to consult on a landscape where a Brazilian Pepper tree (Schinus terebinthifolius) had suddenly died
If you look closely, you’ll notice that the leaves are still on the tree. Also, two of the Texas sage shrubs, underneath the window, were also starting to die.
The homeowners were understandably concerned. It didn’t take long to diagnose a case of Cotton (Texas) root rot. The classic signs are plants suddenly dying toward the end of summer and retaining their leaves.
Some plants are more susceptible to root rot and Brazilian peppers top the list. The solution to this problem is to remove the affected plants and replace them with plants that are resistant to root rot. Trees that are resistant include desert willow, mesquite and palo verde.
Some of you may remember that we welcomed a new yellow labrador puppy into our family in September.
Polly is growing fast and although she gets into trouble now and then, she is doing great!
Last weekend, was a day that I had long been waiting for…
My second-oldest daughter, Rachele, is expecting her first child – a boy.
She came home from her Navy base to celebrate her birthday and baby shower, which were on the same day. Rachele had been looking forward to this day when her family and friends would celebrate with her.
But, the day didn’t go quite as planned…
That morning, I was busy getting the house and food ready for 50+ people when she walked out of her room with tears in her eyes to tell me that she had been up all night being sick to her stomach.
We didn’t have time to cancel, and she was determined to make it through the shower.
It was obvious to all that she didn’t feel well, but she did get through the shower without having to leave. However, as soon as everyone left, she got sick to her stomach again.
Needless to say, the rest of the day was spent in bed with a large bowl ;-(
Thankfully, it was only a 24-hour bug and she was up and feeling much better the next day.
Now, you’d think that that was the end of my busy month – but, no…
We were hosting a large family reunion for Thanksgiving just days later!
My mother spearheaded the family reunion and asked my sisters and I to help her with it.
I was tasked with making centerpieces using old family photos AND more importantly, making food for 54 people.
Our family started out in California and hasn’t spread very far – we all live in either Arizona, California or Washington.
We gathered together, on the eve before Thanksgiving, for dinner. My mother didn’t have enough room for 54 people inside her house, so she rented tables and we ate inside the garage.
As I mentioned earlier, I made a lot of food for our reunion, which lasted 3 days. I traded the busyness of work for working in the kitchen. I contributed two batches of meatball soup, 4 loaves of artisan bread, 2 batches of toffee bars, 6 loaves of pumpkin bread, 2 carrot cakes and an icebox birthday cake to our reunion.
For our Thanksgiving meal, we searched high and low for a place where we could purchase a hot, Thanksgiving meal. It wasn’t that easy – grocery stores will provide you with a meal, but you have to pick it up the night before and heat it up on Thanksgiving day. Same with some restaurants. But, we did find that Cracker Barrel does provide ‘to-go’ Thanksgiving dinners – it was really delicious!
*************************
And so, that is a brief synopsis of the past 30 days. I am happy that I survived with my sanity intact – mostly 😉
I hope you enjoyed a very happy Thanksgiving!
I have lots to share with you in the upcoming monthy on a variety of gardening subjects including some really cool garden accessories.
https://www.azplantlady.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/IMG_0892-1.jpg7681024arizonaplantlady@gmail.comhttp://www.azplantlady.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/favicon.pngarizonaplantlady@gmail.com2014-12-01 13:30:002022-10-31 00:50:12Twinkies, a Princess, Turf, Seedpods, Root Rot, a Puppy, a Shower & Thanksgiving
*This blog post contains affiliate link for a product that helps get rid of caterpillars. If you click through and make a purchase, I may receive a commission (at no additional cost to you). Thanks for your support in this way.*
Fall is a busy time for me in the garden. However, you will usually find me in other people’s gardens helping them achieve their goal of a beautiful, low-maintenance garden. I did manage to get my cool-season vegetable gardens planted. I planted my favorites, which include carrots, cauliflower, garlic, a variety of leaf lettuces and radishes.
I included broccoli in my list of vegetables this year, despite the fact that I have yet to grow a healthy head of broccoli (the broccoli in the photo above is from my mother’s garden).
Every year, I grow beautiful cauliflower while my broccoli decides to produce very few flowering stalks. At the end of the season when I look at my less than stellar broccoli harvest – I promise myself that I won’t try again.
But, after 6 months pass, I am always tempted to try again hoping that this year will be different.
With the exception of carrots and radishes, I planted all of my other vegetables from transplants. Normally, I almost always use seed, (with the exception of broccoli and cauliflower, which do better when grown from transplants) but I knew that I wouldn’t have time to come out and thin excess plants later.
This smaller vegetable garden is closer to my kitchen and so I put in vegetables that I would harvest more frequently throughout the season in this area. Leafy greens such as lettuce, Swiss chard, spinach and kale all went in here.
The larger garden is a bit further away and so it was planted with broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, garlic and radishes, which are harvested once.
My artichoke plant from next year died back to the ground in the summer, (which is normal by the way) and is now growing again.
In addition to my artichoke, my bell pepper plant is also a holdover from last year’s garden. Actually, it is 2 years old. Although pepper plants can die from freezing temperatures, I protect mine when the temps dip below freezing, so they are qutie large and produce a lot of peppers much to the delight of my husband and children who like to eat the bell peppers raw.
I also dice them and freeze them for using in my favorite Mexican rice recipe.
I’ve already had to spray my leafy greens with BT (Bacillus thuringiensis) to deal with the caterpillars that had started to eat holes in the leaves. It worked great, but I will need to reapply every once in a while. I use Safer Brand 5163 Caterpillar Killer II Concentrate, 16 oz.
Nasturtiums are coming up again from seed in the gardens. I just let them go to seed each year and they always come back. I use nasturtiums in my vegetable gardens because they repel bad bugs. Besides, they look pretty, don’t you think?
Nasturtiums aren’t the only flowers in my vegetable gardens – marigolds are also great at keeping damaging insects at bay. This year, I planted a marigold at the end of each row of vegetables.
I love how their orange flowers brighten up the garden in the middle of winter. Marigolds and nasturtiums are just a few of the flowers who actually help vegetables. For more information on other plants to include in your vegetable garden you can visit my previous post, “Even Vegetables Need Friends”.
I am having a problem in one of my vegetable gardens that began this past summer – spurge! I have come to truly hate this creeping weed and it has decided to move from the nearby landscape areas into my vegetable garden.
It got pretty bad last summer and we ripped it all out. To help combat it, we added 4 inches of compost/manure, which did help to smother some of the weeds. But, some are still coming up. So, I go out every week and spray them with my homemade weed killer, taking care not to spray my vegetables by accident.
You may see homemade weed killers that list salt as one of the ingredients. DON’T add salt to weed killers – especially if you live in the desert Southwest. Our soil and water already has a lot of salts in them and adding more is not good for your plants – in fact, too much salt can kill them.
Homemade weed killer made from vinegar and soap works just fine on most weeds, except for the really tough ones.
Have you planted a vegetable garden this year? What are you growing?
Do you like to decorate your home with natural objects?
I do.
Recently, I’ve been busy creating items using things found in nature.
For example, these may seem like regular pieces of wood from a tree – but what if I told you that they were actually old roots from a cresote bush?
You may not know what a creosote bush is, but if you live in the desert – you’ve seen them. They are the shrubs scattered throughout the desert.
The roots that I used for my project came from one of the creosote shrubs in the picture, above.
This creosote shrub was in an area that I was asked to design next to a golf course. While I kept most of the creosote, I had one removed to make room for new plants.
You can see the pile of creosote roots left over after the shrub was pulled out.
I came up on these roots after placing the new plants and thought that they would be great for a future project. They were woody, twisted and had great character. I loaded them up in my truck and stored them in my side yard until I could find the right project in which to use them.
I decided to pair my old wooden roots with air plants.
My mother, who is extremely creative, introduced me to air plants and I immediately fell in love with their unique shapes.
Air plants are unique in another way in that they do not need soil. All they need to grow is air, water and a sunny window, which makes them perfect for using in home decorating projects since you don’t have to worry about soil.
You can read more about air plants and how to care for them, here.
So what do you get when you pair air plants with pieces of natural wood?
A very attractive centerpiece that looks great on the coffee table.
I was so excited about how nice it looked that I decided to try using smaller pieces of wood and different air plants.
Because each piece of wood was unique and had been twisted over time by nature, each pairing looked different.
I must admit that I had so much fun playing with different combinations.
So, what am I going to do with so many creosote wood / air plant combinations?
Earlier this year, my mother proposed going together with my sister and create items for the home that are made from natural elements for a large holiday boutique.
My sister and I both agreed and have been working on making different items focused on using natural and/or recycled elements, along with my mother.
Here are just a few of the items we will be selling:
Gourd Bird Houses
My mother and I have both grown gourds in our gardens and transformed them into bird houses and feeders.
Seed pod Christmas ornaments
Can you tell what type of tree/shrub this seed pod comes from?
If you guessed Texas mountain laurel (Sophora secundiflora), you’d be right.
My sister has made a variety of Christmas ornaments using seed pods. I love the idea of transforming natural items and using them to decorate your home for the holidays!
Terrariums with air plants
Do you like terrariums? I think of them as small worlds enclosed by glass. There will be quite a few terrariums with air plants, including hanging ones.
Lavender sachets made from antique seed bags.
During a trip to Winona, Minnesota – we bought quite a few old seed bags from antique stores. My mother, who is an excellent seamstress, made them into sachets, glass cases and aprons.
Reading glass cases made from antique seed bags.
‘Sparkly’ white Christmas seed pod ornaments
My sister has made a variety of Christmas ornaments using seed pods. I love the idea of transforming natural items and using them to decorate your home for the holidays!
Basil Salt
I love using basil salt on my favorite Italian dishes. The basil came straight from my garden 🙂
Mini air plants on antique wooden spools
Seed Bombs
Have you heard of seed bombs? I wrote about this fun garden trend last year. I first saw these at the Sustainability Festival last year.
*Can you tell that they are wrapped in ‘recycled’ packaging?
Air plants mounted on driftwood sitting on top of wooden plants ready for hanging.
My mother and I collected much of the driftwood during our trip to Lake Michigan this summer.
In addition to what I’ve shown you above, we will have aprons, totes made from seed bags, terrariums made from light bulbs and fairy garden houses made from wood and moss.
Our goal was to create items using natural and/or recycled items.
If you live in the greater Phoenix area, we would love to see you!
We will be selling our natural items at the Believe Boutique, which is a large holiday boutique with over 125 vendors. It is being held at Cornerstone Church in Chandler, Arizona on Friday, November 7th from 4:00 – 9:00 and again on Saturday, the 8th from 10:00 to 3:00.
**We’ll be located in the main lobby in the ‘Sustain’ booth. I’d love to meet you, if you have time to stop by!
https://www.azplantlady.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/IMG_0706-1.jpg512640arizonaplantlady@gmail.comhttp://www.azplantlady.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/favicon.pngarizonaplantlady@gmail.com2014-11-06 13:00:002021-01-06 06:59:06Natural, Recycled DIY Items for the Home & A Sale!
I do. I must admit that I am not a huge fan of cacti in my own garden – I have only two. But, I do have a number of agave, which are without a doubt, my favorite succulent.
What’s not to love about agave?
They are drought-tolerant, fuss-free and with over 200 species to choose from, the possibilities in the landscape are almost endless.
From species 18 inches in size to large size species over 6 feet tall and a variety of colors and leaf shapes to choose from, it’s a wonder that I don’t have more agave in my landscape.
Would you like to include agave in your landscape?
Learn more about this versatile agave and how to use it in your landscape in my latest article for Houzz.
Do you have agave growing in your garden? What species is your favorite?
https://www.azplantlady.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Queen-Butterfly-Agave_victoria_reginae-1.jpg800573arizonaplantlady@gmail.comhttp://www.azplantlady.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/favicon.pngarizonaplantlady@gmail.com2014-11-04 16:19:002022-11-02 00:11:03Beautiful Agave: How to Grow and Use It In Your Landscape
Did you enjoy your Halloween? While you may be spending your morning cleaning up small candy wrappers and trying to get your kids out of bed after they crashed after their sugar high – I’d like to ask you a question:
Before tossing it in the trash can (or compost pile) – how about getting a little more use out of it and creating a pumpkin bird feeder?
Last year, I took my heirloom pumpkin and transformed it into a bird feeder.
Needless to say, the birds were thrilled and my kids and I had fun seeing how many different birds visited our pumpkin feeder.
**You can make your own pumpkin feeder and I recently wrote a “how-to” post for Birds & Blooms Magazine. You can find my blog post, “Backyard Project: DIY Pumpkin Bird Feeder”.
So how about you? What do you do with your pumpkins after Halloween?
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept All”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
Cookie
Duration
Description
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional
11 months
The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy
11 months
The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
10 Ways Your Old Christmas Tree Can Benefit Nature
az plant lady family, UncategorizedDo you celebrate Christmas with a natural tree? If so, what do you do with it once the holidays are over?
If you are like many people, your beautifully decorated tree eventually ends up at the curb waiting for trash pickup.
But, what if you could find another purpose for your old Christmas trees – one that benefits nature?
I recently did some research on the different ways that Christmas trees can be used, with some surprising results.
You can read more in my latest article for Houzz.com:
10 Ways Your Christmas Tree Can Live On After the Holidays
Christmas…..Arizona Style
Arizona, az plant lady family, UncategorizedEach region has their own way of celebrating Christmas. Of course Christmas lights seem just about universal and they are one of my favorite parts of decorating for Christmas.
Some of you may feel that it is not Christmas without snow, but growing up in Southern California near the coast – the only white Christmas that I have seen is watching Christmas movies on television.
Californians have their own way of celebrating Christmas, including a parade of boats decorated with lights and decorations. One of my fondest memories is sitting on the breakwater and watching the boats parade along the coast.
Well, now that I have lived in Arizona for quite a while, I have become quite familiar with the unique way that desert dwellers decorate for Christmas.
The Christmas tree for our town is not actually a real tree…..
It is actually made up of tumbleweed.
Hard to believe, isn’t it?
But, it is just beautiful, especially when it is all lit up at night.
Some residents love their cactus and it plays a starring role in how they decorate the outside of their homes.
Agave also play a part in holiday decorations….
I’ve even seen some agave with round, glass Christmas tree ornaments stuck on their pointy tips.
Did you know that Ocotillo can also stand-in as a Christmas tree?
I hope you have enjoyed these glimpses into Christmas….Arizona Style.
Even though we may not enjoy a white Christmas in our beautiful desert, I like to think of the fact that the first Christmas occurred in a desert not that much different then ours…
*******************************
I WISH FOR YOU ALL
A
VERY
MERRY
CHRISTMAS
*****************************
Cookies and Sugar Cone Christmas Trees
A Most Unusual Shrub With a Shocking Secret…
Shrubs, UncategorizedWhenever I am not writing, you’ll often find me out in the field helping others learn how to grow and maintain their landscapes.
Usually most landscape consultations are fairly routine. However, I sometimes see something truly unique.
Earlier this week, I saw something that is probably the most unexpected thing that I’ve ever encountered.
Here is how it unfolded…
I met with a very nice couple who had a new landscape installed a year ago. While they were very happy with the design, they wanted to learn how to care for their plants and needed help with some problems with dead plant(s) and some failing to thrive.
Other than a dead Valentine bush, some iron chlorosis, over fertilizing and a few plants growing in the wrong exposure – it was all fairly routine until I saw an unusual shrub off in the distance.
I must confess that I had no idea what the shrub was from this distance. Now every once in a while, I am faced with a plant that I am not familiar with, but I was hopeful that as we got nearer, I would be able to figure it out.
As we got closer to the shrub, I still didn’t know what it was. I’m starting to feel a bit uncomfortable because I have no idea what this shrub is.
It did have dark, dusty green foliage that started to turn red with cooler winter temperatures.
The homeowner had carefully staked it upright and it had an attractive vase shape growth habit.
At this point, the homeowner complained about a mesquite tree volunteer that was coming up at the base.
I took a closer look and discovered that the so called ‘mesquite tree’ was actually a Baja fairy duster – that was a MAJOR clue about the identity of this unusual shrub.
At this point, I looked closer at the leaves of the shrub, which did look rather familiar – just not on a shrub…
Does it look familiar to you?
At this point, I knew what it was, but I couldn’t get my head around what this unusual shrub actually was.
Can you tell what it is yet?
The base was quite large and I could see the Baja Fairy Duster, to the left, trying to grow.
I told the homeowners that what they thought was a mesquite tree volunteer (basically a weed), was in fact the plant that was supposed to grow there.
So what was the ‘unusual shrub’ then?
Belive it or not, the shrub that the homeowners had carefully staked and fertilized over the past year was actually a WEED!
So what kind of weed was it?
That large shrub that was 4+ ft. high and 2 ft. wide was really a spotted spurge weed!
Can you believe it?
Spotted spurge is the bane of many gardeners and is a low-growing weed that spreads. I hate this little weed. I’ve spent hours battling this weed during my time as a horticulturist for golf courses and now in my own garden.
So how did the homeowners mistake this weed for a shrub? Well, I suspect that the nursery container, with their actual shrub, had spurge already growing in it (not uncommon).
The new shrub was quite small when first planted and the spurge, like most weeds, grew quickly – much more quickly than the shrub itself.
The poor little Baja fairy duster had little chance of growing afterward since weeds are famous for being vigorous growers and out compete other plants for water and nutrients.
So what did the homeowners think, you may wonder?
Well, they were shocked, but then got a good laugh out of it. The wife was having a lot of fun teasing her husband about his ‘unusual shrub’.
Have you ever seen an unusual plant that turned out to be a weed? This one is definitely one for the books in my career.
**If you have problems with spurge, you can treat them with homemade weed killer that uses natural ingredients – vinegar and soap – that’s it.
To Overwinter Peppers & Tomatoes Or Not – That Is The Question…
Uncategorized, Vegetable GardeningOne of the benefits of growing vegetables in zone 9 is that we are able to grow vegetables all year long.
However, despite our relatively mild winters, warm-season vegetables such as peppers and tomatoes can’t handle temperatures when they dip below freezing. So just before freezing temperatures hit, I run out to the garden and pick off all our tomatoes and peppers before pulling out the plants.
Of course, there is nothing wrong with doing this – I’ve done it for years.
I allow my green tomatoes to ripen indoors – click here to see how.
I then dice my green peppers, place them in a freezer bag and keep them in the freezer where I can use them whenever I make my kid’s favorite Mexican rice for dinner.
A few years ago, I decided to try to overwinter my tomato and pepper plants instead of pulling them out.
This is what my tomatoes looked like with no frost protection. That was no surprise.
But the next year, I decided to protect my tomatoes & peppers by covering them with old sheets when temperatures dipped below 32 degrees.
I even went one step further and hung an outdoor light underneath the sheets.
To my surprise, both my tomato and pepper plants came through the winter just fine, with a small amount of frost damage, and I had an early start to the growing season.
It was a lot of work though – having to cover them and uncover them whenever temperatures dipped below freezing.
Also, that winter was a relatively mild one and temperatures never strayed below the upper 20’s. However, we do occasionally experience temperatures that dip in to the low 20’s and in that case, protection or not, the peppers and tomatoes would most likely die whether or not they were protected.
So, do I still try to overwinter my tomato and pepper ?
The answer is “yes”and “no”.
I do throw sheets over my peppers, but not my tomatoes. The reason is that tomatoes are slightly more sensitive to the cold.
If we were to experience temperatures in the low 20’s, my 2-year old pepper plants would most likely not survive. But, that is what it is like to grow vegetables – you try your best, but sometimes it’s not enough.
**Have you ever successfully overwintered a warm-season vegetable?**
Teak Bowls Make Unique and Beautiful Planters
AZ Plant Lady, UncategorizedMost of us are familiar with teak wood and its beauty. Often, you can find it in a garden setting being in the form of benches, which weather the sun and rain with no problem.
Teak wood is extremely durable and unlike many types of wood, can handle water with no problem.
A couple of weeks ago, I was asked by Teak Closeouts if I would try out some of their teak bowls, which would be suitable as planters.
I am always on the lookout for unique and unusual items for the garden that can be both functional and beautiful, so of course, I said said yes!
One of the reasons I was excited to try out the teak bowl planters was that over the summer is that I saw a rustic wooden planter on a visit to the Green Bay Botanical Gardens.
I loved it’s rustic look and how the annual flowers fit into the interior of this piece of tree trunk.
So, when the FedEx deliveryman dropped of a large box, I couldn’t wait to open it.
Inside were several pieces, but it was the two teak bowls that got my attention right away.
The first bowl, was a piece of art. Its sides were very smooth, which showed off the beauty of the teak wood.
You may notice the hole at the bottom, which is essential for a planter.
The next teak bowl that I unwrapped was a bit more rustic in nature, much like the tree trunk planter I had seen over the summer.
I always like pieces of wood that allows you to see the grain, which you could see on different parts of the bowl.
This bowl also had holes for drainage and I couldn’t wait to plant them both.
To keep the potting mix from falling out the holes, I put a coffee filter over them, which is a cheap and effective way to keep the dirt in and allow the water to drain.
I planted my favorite cool season annuals – violas.
I added a variety of colors in this large teak bowl and a touch of white alyssum for fragrance.
For my rustic teak bowl, I decided to add ‘Johnny Jump-Ups’, which were the first flowers I planted as a child. I have always loved their sunny faces.
As you might expect, the amount of soil is rather shallow, but it is enough to grow cool-season annuals. However, there wouldn’t be enough soil to grow warm season flowers through the summer – the soil would get too hot.
You could however, plant small succulents in them and keep them in light shade – maybe located on a patio?
Although I used this teak bowl as a planter, however it is so beautiful, you could certainly use it to grace a patio or large dining room table.
I often have clients, like those above, who want decorative, yet functional items for their patio. Either of these teak bowls would work beautifully in this type of setting.
When exposed to the sun, teak will fade to a light gray color, which will provide great color contrast for plants.
As you can imagine, no two bowls are the same – each one retains the unique character from the part of the teak wood it was carved from, which lends to the uniqueness of these bowls.
In addition to the bowls, I also received a lovely teak vase – wouldn’t that look beautiful filled with flowers or perhaps a dried arrangement?
Teak Closeouts has a large variety of teak items including outdoor furniture and garden art at closeout prices. I encourage you to visit their online store where you will find great gift ideas for the gardener in your life or for yourself!
*I was provided these items from Teak Closeouts free of charge to review, but my opinions are my own 🙂
Twinkies, a Princess, Turf, Seedpods, Root Rot, a Puppy, a Shower & Thanksgiving
az plant lady family, UncategorizedHave you ever looked back at your calendar and wondered at how you ever got everything done while still remaining somewhat sane?
I have…
Oh, I knew ahead of time that it would take a small miracle to get through the 30 days, starting with Halloween.
At this point, I’d like to apologize for the lack of blog posts, but in my defense, I was lucky to be able to remember to feed my kids (just kidding).
Seldom, have I looked forward to December as a time where I will be less busy, but in comparison to what I’ve done the past month, it should be a breeze.
It all started with our annual Halloween celebration, which is held at our house.
I spent the day making ghosts (half a Twinkie dipped in white chocolate), black spiders (mini chocolate donuts with chocolate dipped pretzel legs) and candy corn rice krispy treats.
The entire family came over for dinner and trick-or-treating, including my granddaughter, Lily, who dressed up as Sleeping Beauty.
Two days later, we had an even larger group of people gather at our house for Lily’s birthday party – she turned 3!
Lily is seriously into princesses, so there was a lot of pink in the room.
I made her a princess cake, which went along with her favorite cake pops.
In the week that followed, I continued my work with a local golf course, where they are removing 30 acres of turf in favor of landscape areas filled with drought tolerant plants.
The areas of turf being removed are largely out of play in this parkland style golf course. Not all 30 acres are being removed all at once – instead, the grass is being taken out in smaller sections.
While a lot of my time was being spent at the golf course, I spent two days selling handmade items at a large holiday boutique.
Now, I’ve never sold anything at a boutique, but this past summer my mother, who is extremely talented, asked my sister and I to do it with her. I knew that it would be tough, since November is one of my busiest months since I spend most of my time outdoors consulting on landscapes. But, I really wanted to do it, so I used some of my down time this summer to make some things.
Xerigraphica air plant in a terrarium
The items we sold were made using sustainable, recycled and/or repurposed items.
Air plants in terrariums were a big hit.
We also had hanging terrariums filled with air plants. I made bird houses from gourds, many of which we grew in our gardens.
My sister made Christmas ornaments using seed pods from a variety of trees, including these little snowmen made from the seedpods from the Texas Mountain Laurel (Sophora secundiflora) tree.
Texas Mountain Laurel
I also sold basil salt, which quickly sold out.
We sold out of a lot of items and I must admit that I had so much fun. We’re already planning for next year.
Back in the garden, I was asked to consult on a landscape where a Brazilian Pepper tree (Schinus terebinthifolius) had suddenly died
If you look closely, you’ll notice that the leaves are still on the tree. Also, two of the Texas sage shrubs, underneath the window, were also starting to die.
The homeowners were understandably concerned. It didn’t take long to diagnose a case of Cotton (Texas) root rot. The classic signs are plants suddenly dying toward the end of summer and retaining their leaves.
Some plants are more susceptible to root rot and Brazilian peppers top the list. The solution to this problem is to remove the affected plants and replace them with plants that are resistant to root rot. Trees that are resistant include desert willow, mesquite and palo verde.
Some of you may remember that we welcomed a new yellow labrador puppy into our family in September.
Polly is growing fast and although she gets into trouble now and then, she is doing great!
Last weekend, was a day that I had long been waiting for…
My second-oldest daughter, Rachele, is expecting her first child – a boy.
She came home from her Navy base to celebrate her birthday and baby shower, which were on the same day. Rachele had been looking forward to this day when her family and friends would celebrate with her.
But, the day didn’t go quite as planned…
That morning, I was busy getting the house and food ready for 50+ people when she walked out of her room with tears in her eyes to tell me that she had been up all night being sick to her stomach.
We didn’t have time to cancel, and she was determined to make it through the shower.
It was obvious to all that she didn’t feel well, but she did get through the shower without having to leave. However, as soon as everyone left, she got sick to her stomach again.
Needless to say, the rest of the day was spent in bed with a large bowl ;-(
Thankfully, it was only a 24-hour bug and she was up and feeling much better the next day.
Now, you’d think that that was the end of my busy month – but, no…
We were hosting a large family reunion for Thanksgiving just days later!
My mother spearheaded the family reunion and asked my sisters and I to help her with it.
I was tasked with making centerpieces using old family photos AND more importantly, making food for 54 people.
Our family started out in California and hasn’t spread very far – we all live in either Arizona, California or Washington.
We gathered together, on the eve before Thanksgiving, for dinner. My mother didn’t have enough room for 54 people inside her house, so she rented tables and we ate inside the garage.
As I mentioned earlier, I made a lot of food for our reunion, which lasted 3 days. I traded the busyness of work for working in the kitchen. I contributed two batches of meatball soup, 4 loaves of artisan bread, 2 batches of toffee bars, 6 loaves of pumpkin bread, 2 carrot cakes and an icebox birthday cake to our reunion.
For our Thanksgiving meal, we searched high and low for a place where we could purchase a hot, Thanksgiving meal. It wasn’t that easy – grocery stores will provide you with a meal, but you have to pick it up the night before and heat it up on Thanksgiving day. Same with some restaurants. But, we did find that Cracker Barrel does provide ‘to-go’ Thanksgiving dinners – it was really delicious!
*************************
And so, that is a brief synopsis of the past 30 days. I am happy that I survived with my sanity intact – mostly 😉
I hope you enjoyed a very happy Thanksgiving!
I have lots to share with you in the upcoming monthy on a variety of gardening subjects including some really cool garden accessories.
My Newly Planted Vegetable Gardens
AZ Plant Lady, desert gardening, Vegetable Gardening*This blog post contains affiliate link for a product that helps get rid of caterpillars. If you click through and make a purchase, I may receive a commission (at no additional cost to you). Thanks for your support in this way.*
Fall is a busy time for me in the garden. However, you will usually find me in other people’s gardens helping them achieve their goal of a beautiful, low-maintenance garden. I did manage to get my cool-season vegetable gardens planted. I planted my favorites, which include carrots, cauliflower, garlic, a variety of leaf lettuces and radishes.
I included broccoli in my list of vegetables this year, despite the fact that I have yet to grow a healthy head of broccoli (the broccoli in the photo above is from my mother’s garden).
Every year, I grow beautiful cauliflower while my broccoli decides to produce very few flowering stalks. At the end of the season when I look at my less than stellar broccoli harvest – I promise myself that I won’t try again.
But, after 6 months pass, I am always tempted to try again hoping that this year will be different.
With the exception of carrots and radishes, I planted all of my other vegetables from transplants. Normally, I almost always use seed, (with the exception of broccoli and cauliflower, which do better when grown from transplants) but I knew that I wouldn’t have time to come out and thin excess plants later.
This smaller vegetable garden is closer to my kitchen and so I put in vegetables that I would harvest more frequently throughout the season in this area. Leafy greens such as lettuce, Swiss chard, spinach and kale all went in here.
The larger garden is a bit further away and so it was planted with broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, garlic and radishes, which are harvested once.
My artichoke plant from next year died back to the ground in the summer, (which is normal by the way) and is now growing again.
In addition to my artichoke, my bell pepper plant is also a holdover from last year’s garden. Actually, it is 2 years old. Although pepper plants can die from freezing temperatures, I protect mine when the temps dip below freezing, so they are qutie large and produce a lot of peppers much to the delight of my husband and children who like to eat the bell peppers raw.
I also dice them and freeze them for using in my favorite Mexican rice recipe.
I’ve already had to spray my leafy greens with BT (Bacillus thuringiensis) to deal with the caterpillars that had started to eat holes in the leaves. It worked great, but I will need to reapply every once in a while. I use Safer Brand 5163 Caterpillar Killer II Concentrate, 16 oz.
Nasturtiums are coming up again from seed in the gardens. I just let them go to seed each year and they always come back. I use nasturtiums in my vegetable gardens because they repel bad bugs. Besides, they look pretty, don’t you think?
Nasturtiums aren’t the only flowers in my vegetable gardens – marigolds are also great at keeping damaging insects at bay. This year, I planted a marigold at the end of each row of vegetables.
I love how their orange flowers brighten up the garden in the middle of winter. Marigolds and nasturtiums are just a few of the flowers who actually help vegetables. For more information on other plants to include in your vegetable garden you can visit my previous post, “Even Vegetables Need Friends”.
I am having a problem in one of my vegetable gardens that began this past summer – spurge! I have come to truly hate this creeping weed and it has decided to move from the nearby landscape areas into my vegetable garden.
It got pretty bad last summer and we ripped it all out. To help combat it, we added 4 inches of compost/manure, which did help to smother some of the weeds. But, some are still coming up. So, I go out every week and spray them with my homemade weed killer, taking care not to spray my vegetables by accident.
You may see homemade weed killers that list salt as one of the ingredients. DON’T add salt to weed killers – especially if you live in the desert Southwest. Our soil and water already has a lot of salts in them and adding more is not good for your plants – in fact, too much salt can kill them.
Homemade weed killer made from vinegar and soap works just fine on most weeds, except for the really tough ones.
Have you planted a vegetable garden this year? What are you growing?
Natural, Recycled DIY Items for the Home & A Sale!
Arizona, UncategorizedDo you like to decorate your home with natural objects?
I do.
Recently, I’ve been busy creating items using things found in nature.
For example, these may seem like regular pieces of wood from a tree – but what if I told you that they were actually old roots from a cresote bush?
You may not know what a creosote bush is, but if you live in the desert – you’ve seen them. They are the shrubs scattered throughout the desert.
The roots that I used for my project came from one of the creosote shrubs in the picture, above.
This creosote shrub was in an area that I was asked to design next to a golf course. While I kept most of the creosote, I had one removed to make room for new plants.
You can see the pile of creosote roots left over after the shrub was pulled out.
I came up on these roots after placing the new plants and thought that they would be great for a future project. They were woody, twisted and had great character. I loaded them up in my truck and stored them in my side yard until I could find the right project in which to use them.
I decided to pair my old wooden roots with air plants.
My mother, who is extremely creative, introduced me to air plants and I immediately fell in love with their unique shapes.
Air plants are unique in another way in that they do not need soil. All they need to grow is air, water and a sunny window, which makes them perfect for using in home decorating projects since you don’t have to worry about soil.
You can read more about air plants and how to care for them, here.
So what do you get when you pair air plants with pieces of natural wood?
A very attractive centerpiece that looks great on the coffee table.
I was so excited about how nice it looked that I decided to try using smaller pieces of wood and different air plants.
Because each piece of wood was unique and had been twisted over time by nature, each pairing looked different.
I must admit that I had so much fun playing with different combinations.
So, what am I going to do with so many creosote wood / air plant combinations?
Earlier this year, my mother proposed going together with my sister and create items for the home that are made from natural elements for a large holiday boutique.
My sister and I both agreed and have been working on making different items focused on using natural and/or recycled elements, along with my mother.
Here are just a few of the items we will be selling:
Gourd Bird Houses
My mother and I have both grown gourds in our gardens and transformed them into bird houses and feeders.
Seed pod Christmas ornaments
Can you tell what type of tree/shrub this seed pod comes from?
If you guessed Texas mountain laurel (Sophora secundiflora), you’d be right.
My sister has made a variety of Christmas ornaments using seed pods. I love the idea of transforming natural items and using them to decorate your home for the holidays!
Terrariums with air plants
Do you like terrariums? I think of them as small worlds enclosed by glass. There will be quite a few terrariums with air plants, including hanging ones.
Lavender sachets made from antique seed bags.
During a trip to Winona, Minnesota – we bought quite a few old seed bags from antique stores. My mother, who is an excellent seamstress, made them into sachets, glass cases and aprons.
Reading glass cases made from antique seed bags.
‘Sparkly’ white Christmas seed pod ornaments
My sister has made a variety of Christmas ornaments using seed pods. I love the idea of transforming natural items and using them to decorate your home for the holidays!
Basil Salt
I love using basil salt on my favorite Italian dishes. The basil came straight from my garden 🙂
Mini air plants on antique wooden spools
Seed Bombs
Have you heard of seed bombs? I wrote about this fun garden trend last year. I first saw these at the Sustainability Festival last year.
*Can you tell that they are wrapped in ‘recycled’ packaging?
Air plants mounted on driftwood sitting on top of wooden plants ready for hanging.
My mother and I collected much of the driftwood during our trip to Lake Michigan this summer.
In addition to what I’ve shown you above, we will have aprons, totes made from seed bags, terrariums made from light bulbs and fairy garden houses made from wood and moss.
Our goal was to create items using natural and/or recycled items.
If you live in the greater Phoenix area, we would love to see you!
We will be selling our natural items at the Believe Boutique, which is a large holiday boutique with over 125 vendors. It is being held at Cornerstone Church in Chandler, Arizona on Friday, November 7th from 4:00 – 9:00 and again on Saturday, the 8th from 10:00 to 3:00.
**We’ll be located in the main lobby in the ‘Sustain’ booth. I’d love to meet you, if you have time to stop by!
Beautiful Agave: How to Grow and Use It In Your Landscape
Agave, UncategorizedQueen butterfly and a Victoria agave
Do you like succulents?
I do. I must admit that I am not a huge fan of cacti in my own garden – I have only two. But, I do have a number of agave, which are without a doubt, my favorite succulent.
What’s not to love about agave?
They are drought-tolerant, fuss-free and with over 200 species to choose from, the possibilities in the landscape are almost endless.
From species 18 inches in size to large size species over 6 feet tall and a variety of colors and leaf shapes to choose from, it’s a wonder that I don’t have more agave in my landscape.
Would you like to include agave in your landscape?
Learn more about this versatile agave and how to use it in your landscape in my latest article for Houzz.
Do you have agave growing in your garden? What species is your favorite?
Decorate the Landscape With Versatile Agave
DIY Pumpkin Bird Feeder
DIY, UncategorizedDid you enjoy your Halloween? While you may be spending your morning cleaning up small candy wrappers and trying to get your kids out of bed after they crashed after their sugar high – I’d like to ask you a question:
“What are you going to do with your pumpkin?”
Before tossing it in the trash can (or compost pile) – how about getting a little more use out of it and creating a pumpkin bird feeder?
Last year, I took my heirloom pumpkin and transformed it into a bird feeder.
Needless to say, the birds were thrilled and my kids and I had fun seeing how many different birds visited our pumpkin feeder.
**You can make your own pumpkin feeder and I recently wrote a “how-to” post for Birds & Blooms Magazine. You can find my blog post, “Backyard Project: DIY Pumpkin Bird Feeder”.
So how about you? What do you do with your pumpkins after Halloween?