professional garden floozy

2010-05-21T07:27:00.000-07:00

flowers are like people...

give them good nourishing food

lots of fresh air, plenty of vitamin

d from the sun, and an abundance

of clean pure water and they

will bloom their heads off

2010-05-05T14:38:00.000-07:00

fleur *_*

2010-05-05T14:36:00.000-07:00

2010-05-05T14:34:00.000-07:00

2010-05-05T14:33:00.002-07:00

2010-05-05T14:33:00.001-07:00

2010-05-05T14:32:00.001-07:00

2010-05-05T14:26:00.000-07:00

OK my garden roses are all coming into bloom along with other shrubs and perennials . i hope you enjoy the color and short lived magic of first blooms

2010-05-03T09:21:00.000-07:00

Digitalis alba and Rosa Pat Austin

2010-05-03T06:58:00.000-07:00

2010-05-01T10:29:00.000-07:00

2010-04-30T17:34:00.000-07:00

Looking outward

2010-02-16T07:10:00.000-08:00

So why have a blog that no one knows about and I never post anything? That is about to change.
Spring is coming, this is what spring looks like

2009-08-26T19:39:00.000-07:00

It's fall, what a strange summer we have had...hardly a hot bothered day to complain about.

2009-08-02T17:21:00.000-07:00

2009-06-14T20:28:00.000-07:00

2009-05-16T06:03:00.000-07:00

2009-05-16T06:00:00.001-07:00

Garden in Napa coming into bloom in the shade

2009-05-05T15:38:00.001-07:00

Rosa Climbing Colette

2009-05-05T13:47:00.000-07:00

Bette Midler on gardening
"My whole life had been spent waiting for an epiphany, a manifestation of God's presence, the kind of transcendent, magical experience that lets you see your place in the big picture. And that is what I had with my first compost heap."

2009-05-05T06:07:00.000-07:00

Just a little garden I did in Laural Heights after we took the lawn out

2009-05-04T15:29:00.000-07:00

2009-05-03T08:40:00.000-07:00

2009-05-03T08:38:00.000-07:00

2009-05-02T08:02:00.000-07:00

2009-04-30T18:13:00.000-07:00

JULIET:
      'Tis but thy name that is my enemy;
      Thou art thyself, though not a Montague.
      What's Montague? it is nor hand, nor foot,
      Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part
      Belonging to a man. O, be some other name!
      What's in a name? that which we call a rose
      By any other name would smell as sweet;
      So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call'd,
      Retain that dear perfection which he owes
      Without that title. Romeo, doff thy name,
      And for that name which is no part of thee
      Take all myself.

2009-04-29T17:39:00.000-07:00

Peonies by Mary Oliver

This morning the green fists of the peonies are getting ready

to break my heart

as the sun rises,

as the sun strokes them with his old buttery fingers

and they open ---

pools of lace,

white and pink ---

and all day the black ants climb over them,

boring their deep and mysterious holes

into the curls,

craving the sweet sap.

taking it away

the flowers bend their bright bodies,

and tip their fragrance to the air,

and rise,

their red stems holding

all that dampness and recklessness

gladly and lightly,

and there it is again ---

beauty the brave, the exemplary,

blazing open.
Do you love this world?

Do you cherish your humble silky life?

Do you adore the green grass, with the terror beneath?

Do you also hurry, half-dressed and barefoot, into the garden,

and softly,

and exclaiming of their dearness,

fill your arms with the white and pink flowers.

with their honeyed heaviness, their lush trembling.

their eagerness

to be wild and perfect for a moment, before they are

nothing, forever?

2009-04-27T10:26:00.000-07:00

Lesson 2:

Growing geraniums: which are actually not geraniums, they are Pelargoniums.

Pelargoniums are tender perennials loving to leisure in warm climates.

They are like roses in that they love full sun, at least 6 hours a day. In Monet's garden Giverny he often planted Roses and Geraniums together and used them as a ground cover in many vibrant color combinations. The Geranium color palette ranges from white to violet with red perhaps being the most well known.

Geraniums will thank you with abundant blooms if you provide them with a nutrient rich growing medium, ample watering, drying out in between watering, and a feeding of water soluble plant food, 20-20-20 every 2 to 3 weeks.

2009-04-27T10:18:00.000-07:00

2009-04-27T10:09:00.000-07:00

Lesson one:

today I prepare to purchase "drought tolerant" plants, for planters (sigh) which of course is a misnomer since container plants can never be drought tolerant because they are contained and cannot send feeder roots outside their containment .