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All the photos in this blog were taken by me. The information is taken from friends, books, magazines, conversations at nurseries, the internet and a few of my own amateur-gardener thoughts. Please feel free to share your own knowledge and experiences in the comment section that follows each posting.


Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Garden Visuals

I love visual surprises. They ignite your curiosity and create a desire for more. A garden is full of surprises that seduce all the senses, which is probably one of the reasons I like them so much. But it isn't the plants that I am talking about right now. For example, I placed this metal lizard on the edge of a vegetable box. Many people have walked through the trellis, seen the lizard and reacted with slight alarm. Its obviously not real given its size and the texture of the metal, but its just enough of a surprise that it makes the person more alert. Now I've got you. You're paying attention to my garden.
I bought this stone mask in Belize a million years ago. Its faded from the weather and the top of the head broke off. I tucked it under the foliage of this day lily as if the leaves are long hair coming out the top. Its very hidden and few people have ever seen it, but it makes me smile when a new hairstyle emerges. A fun garden visual. 


I also love putting subtle things in pots. Just a little something to make someone look twice. Kathy gave me this beautiful silver garden spoon that personalizes my garden. I was very touched by her generosity and quickly put it in one of my favorite pots!  

Guaranteed Deer Repellent
For every One Gallon of Water add:
1 egg
1/3 cup milk
1t vegetable oil
1t detergent 
Whisk together and put in a watering can or spray bottle
Spray every 4-5 days
I haven't tried this yet because I don't have a deer problem but  one of my Garden Gurus, Melinda gave it to me. Give it a try if you've got the need! 


A POSSIBLE NEW GARDENING PROJECT
I'm going to an informational meeting regarding applying to the Santa Clara County Master Gardeners Program!  This may be just the thing for me to pursue as one of my babes moves onto college. They only admit 50 people and I've heard there are several applicants. If I don't get in, I just won't talk about it anymore... wink,wink. 

GARDEN FAILURE: Perhaps this isn't the best thing to write following my possible desire to become a Master Gardener, but I imagine the Masters would appreciate honesty. Okay, here it is:  One of my tomato plants turned an unpleasant brown color. It was large and healthy otherwise, which makes me think it was not due to water. It must have been something systemic. Its the one I bought at Love Apple Farm. Of all the plants! I had to pull the whole thing out because I couldn't stand looking at it amongst all the beautiful, healthy, sea of green.   Yikes... They better let me into this program. I need help! 

GARDEN TRAVELS:
We just got back from a week at Pinecrest Lake.  Natural gardens are truly amazing because they are taken care of by Mother Nature. Her sun and her water. We take 5 mile walks around the lake during the week. This was a beautiful surprise. One of those bonus visuals I've been talking about. Someone carved a chair into this old tree stump. It was irresistible.
This is the Pinecrest Crew. We've been going there for 11 years with this same group. They are irresistible too. 

I went on a Magical Mystery Day. It was a day that two wonderful women created for an auction item to benefit The Los Gatos New Millennium Foundation. I have some beautiful pictures from that day that I plan to share on my next blog. Until then, I will leave you with a "Garden Blessing" that was posted outside the Le Potager (vegetable garden) at Maison du Lac in the Santa Cruz Mountains. 
Le Maison du Lac gate
Le Maison du Lac
Pinecrest Lake

"May your garden be a place where you can find peace. Where time stands still. Let it refresh your senses, opening you to the hum of insects, the songs of birds, the splash of water, and the sound of wind through the trees." 

And that's why I find gardens irresistible.




3 comments:

  1. Hey Whitney! Thanks for stopping by my blog. So sorry it took me this long to reply. I love this gardening post. I am just getting into gardening and it is so therapeutic! On the music addition, just go to www.playlist.com. It's free and you can build your playlist there by doing searches and adding them to playlists (I have about 5 different playlists right now). Then on the design of your blog you'll want to add the html gadget (third party addition or whatever it's called, lol) and on Playlist.com it will have a button that says "share". Then it will give you a code to put into your gadget and voila! You have music! Let me know if that doesn't make sense and I'll try to clarify. :) Good luck!

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  2. Ooh, I've also added you to my blogroll so I can see when you update! Thanks for adding me!!

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  3. I love your site. Always relaxing, informative and pretty. Like walking in a garden (go figure?!) .

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