All Dried Out...Over You

I won't tell you how hot and dry it is in Tennessee.  Things are tough all over from what I hear.  I ventured bravely outside in 103.5 temperatures this afternoon to photograph what I could.  Although the weather is not fit for man nor beast, there was still beauty if you looked closely.



STARGAZER LILY

CONEFLOWERS

CANNAS

TIGER LILIES

FEVERFEW

BLACKBERRY LILY

NASTURTIUMS

SUM AND SUBSTANCE HOSTA

Dry...

and Drier....

FAIRY GARDEN--situated wisely by the faucet

To make matters worse I have seen my first evidence of armadillo visits (kicked up mulch and holes).  It's enough to make a gardener cry but I'm too dehydrated to create any tears (ha).  I am blessed to have a natural spring to run sprinklers off of but it will only hold out for 30 minutes at a time and then it takes about an hour to build up again.  Summer is here with a vengeance this time--so drink plenty of water and stay in the shade (or A/C)!!

Speaking Of Fairies

I was delighted and honored when I was asked to speak at a garden day and plant swap hosted by Mary Alice Goolsby of Sugar Ridge Creations in Spring Hill, Tennessee.  My earlier post about my wheelbarrow-turned-fairy-garden apparently caught the attention of my gardening friend Heather who is friends with Mary and we cooked up a plan from there.  Mary's shop is the cutest thing around..something for everyone.  If you find yourself in Spring Hill I'd strongly suggest a stop-off the beaten path.  It's easy to find and located near the main drag through town.  When I show you my pictures you will agree it is a magical place!

See, what'd I tell ya? 

Donna posing at the side of the shop.  Love the window!

Cute bag-o-herbs in a shopping bag graced the shop steps. 

This fairy inside the shop made me a little uneasy....just sayin

Potluck lunch was delectable.  So much garden goodness on a plate!

One of my doorprizes--"the Fairy" climbing rose.

I brought 3 mini-gardens to display.  I would like to have brought my wheelbarrow one but it was too big.

A closer look at my favorite one.

I wanted to share this with you also.  A long time fairy gardener showed me this trick for making a fairy house.  Isn't it beautiful?  I can just imagine a moss or sedum "roof" draping over the edge of this flowerpot.  So cute.

I definitely had a great time and learned a thing or two as I always do.  It's good to make new friends.  As the Bible says "One friend sharpens another..."  Proverbs 27: 17

These little girls in the crowd really drank it all in.  They were so cute and couldn't wait to get started!

Thanks again to those who made today possible.  It was a refreshing dew drop to my fairy loving soul!

Reflections of Spring

With my job demands I sadly have not had much time for gardening and surely not enough for blogging.  I took a much needed day off to catch up on my personal hobbies and to decompress in general.  I have taken many spring pictures since we have had an early one here in southern middle Tennessee.  Everything has seemed to be so accelerated this year...I want to click pause so I can drink it all in.  Here are a few of my favorite shots.                                                     

Spring House--Very Shady Here

Shady side of my shed

Sum and Substance Hosta

Copper orb used to be a plastic Christmas ball!

Shady end of my flowerbed

Reblooming Iris--Unknown name.  This is its first bloom.

Early blooms of a found rose

Gnome in his natural habitat

Thanks for stopping by!

Fanciful Fairies

I had a couple of days off work this weekend and got inspired to do something I've wanted to do for a long time (also thanks to Pinterest)...a fairy garden.  You may recall some pictures of fairy things I have taken on previous posts.  I had my fairy community at the base of a gnarly old tree.  Well I continually accumilated more fairy stuff and it started to look cluttered.  (yes,  fairies can be hoarders too!)  I thought I would enjoy them more all grouped together, raised up off the ground where I can see them.  I had an old wheelbarrow missing the wheel that I had "curb shopped" as my container.  So I went about picking up rocks for the base, shredded leaves for the middle layer and some nice composted manure/compost for the top layer.  I used sedums, moss, oxalis, lamium and even a little cedar tree sprout for my landscaping.  The pond is a plastic rock planter filled with blue stones..I even have some glass fish if you look closely. 

The other items were bought at yard sales or dollar stores.  My sister painted the cute stone fairy houses.  I keep tweaking it..since this pic I added an old horseshoe as a garden arch...cute!

After I posted my pic on facebook I was contacted my my garden buddy Heather about doing a workshop on fairy gardens.  I agreed-- so now I'm busy coming up with neat ideas I can share with others at the workshop.  The neat thing about fairy gardens is they can be done in any container..the more unusual the better.  I have seen them in old washtubs, flowerpots, birdbaths, and baskets.  Now for today's fairy project.  I have seen fairy houses made from gourds on the internet so I decided to give it a try.  My gourd was well past its prime for any bird housing so I didn't have anything to lose. 

 This is the gourd before:

This is the same gourd after about 15 minutes:

This "extreme makeover" consists of lichen, acorn cap, and nut half I found in the woods near my house.   I used some silk floral odds and ends that luckily hadn't been thrown away to give a little color and hide the ugly entrance hole.  Did you see the little porch light I made out of a marble and acorn cap?  Here's a closeup:

I have decided to keep it as part of my back porch display for now:

To end I will pose the question made famous by the fairy soap company....

Adventures in Hydroponics

Hello!  I can't believe we have had 70 degree temps on Feb 1.  If that old groundhog has a sunny day tomorrow maybe we can just forfeit this whole winter to spring.  I wanted to share my newest hobby...hydroponic gardening.  This was my set up I requested for my birthday.  Glen did a good job I think!  We researched designs on the internet and he sketched up our own version. 

Then it was my turn to figure out exactly how to use it.  I am more a fan of rooting cuttings than starting seeds or actually growing entire plants in it.  So, I set about finding some cuttings in my yard.  A few roses, some camellia, holly twigs and african violet leaves.  I prepared them Thanksgiving weekend and transplanted 2 of the roses today. 

Here is the best rooted one (although both were good)

I suffered information overload from all the sites recommending "these" nutrients and "that" growing medium.  I was eager to get started so I just used what I had...some liquid plant food and some coconut coir.  I was dreading a dark cold winter with nothing to putter around with that was garden related.  Well the winter really has been mild but I've enjoyed the hydroponic set up just the same.  It is situated in my basement underneath our staircase which makes it convenient and out of the way.  It contains 28 growing "holes" and the containers I used were just plain clear cups from Wal-mart with holes poked in the sides.  By the way..the camellias and holly were a dud.  The african violets rooted well.  So what are YOU doing till spring??



Treasure Hunt

I celebrated the winter solstice with a big ole HURRAH...since it marks the end of shortening days.  As the days lengthen so does my mood lighten.  I am on school break so I promised myself to tackle a chore most days that I have been putting off.  The potting shed was a wreck so I spent an afternoon cleaning and organizing (sorry no pictures).  While I was down there I decided to look and see if I could find any "buried treasure." 

CAMELLIA- YULETIDE--appropriate isn't it?

This variegated ivy keeps my windowbox from being bare!

Bud on my pink lenten rose

This is my "woodland garden" that I started 2 years ago.  I took a pic at this angle to show you its proximity to my house.  A little story about the rock edging in front-  I recently removed this from my dad's house when we sold it.  I didn't know it but my brother told me that he and our dad hauled these from a location in Wayne County near the Buffalo River.  He further said they had been the foundation of an old springhouse.  I love things that have history so this made me especially happy to keep them near me and in my garden.  I have bulbs, gold dust acuba, hellebores, azaleas, bleeding hearts, etc in this area.  Right now it's the hardscape and the acuba keeping it real.

YUCCA- COLOR GUARD-  It has a faint pink blush if you look close.

Birdbath with violas

Pixie says "Merry Christmas to All and to All a Good Garden!"

Gnome for the Holidays

I love to use nature's freebies to ramp-up my entry --just as much as I like decorating indoors for the holidays.   I like to experiment and create things that can carry me not only through Christmas but to the end of January (at least).  I bought the sled for $3 and the gnomes for $2 each at yard sales this summer.  It's hard to buy Christmas decorations in July (or sweaters, etc.)...but when December rolls around I'm always glad I did.  I re-painted the sled (it was badly weathered) and was quite tickled with the results.   I'll subtract the gnomes and keep this out until it starts to look dry and unhappy.   My school vacation is coming up and I plan to stop neglecting my blog.  I'm sure you'll also be keeping track of your favorite blogs as I will to sustain you through the winter months ahead.  Merry Christmas to everyone!