I was tasked with the creation of a gift for my garden club’s president to be presented at our year-end luncheon. Since we are the Crown Garden Club, this crown was a perfect start for the project.
This cool crown was the starting point.
I created a little succulent garden to fit inside the crown, using cuttings from my yard. Before I created the little pot of succulents I spray-painted the pot bottoms with a champagne-colored paint. Also, I had a square piece of plywood that I covered with some heavy decorative paper to use as a presenting tray.
A nice collection of cuttings make a nice dish garden.
I think the finished product turned out beautifully. What do you think?
The finished product turned out great!
It just keeps getting better and better for the Snowflakes, those lucky girls. They’ve been hiding behind a wall of bamboo, but we rocked their world on Sunday by doing a little remodeling on their humble abode.
The Snowflakes were hidden behind this bamboo wall.
The girls got stashed in their laying enclosure for an hour while we moved things around. They were not happy about being caged up, but no one promised that a remodel would be easy, even if it only last an hour! Suck it up, girls.
Nervous remodelers
The bamboo wall got repurposed out by the sidewalk, providing cover for the ugly base of the vine I have growing out there. A huge improvement!
This was bamboo wall that was replaced with the big window.
Next up: replacing the bamboo wall with one of two big windows I found in an alley a few weeks back. FREE stuff!
I found these windows in an alley!
Their new picture window is quite extravagant, but not in price. Mi Esposo is not usually impressed with the FREE stuff I bring home on a regular basis, but he did like these windows and agreed to do the heavy manual labor for me. We got the window installed, trimmed by lumber I have been saving which I also picked up FREE in an alley. Voila. Not quite a mansion, but still, pretty darn nice. The Snowflakes are living a good life!
The Snowflakes have a window to the world!
The girls thanked us by laying two eggs as usual. Thanks! (Total count is up to 275!)
I didn’t know this! Butterfly wings are clear. The colors and patterns visible to our eyes are light reflecting off tiny scales on the wings.
Monarch butterfly wing up close
I LOVE to spend time in my garden, but I’m my own worst enemy. There’s a lot of work to be done out there, and I’m mostly to blame for that. Ask my husband or my neighbors. Just about the time everyone thinks I’m finished working my magic, I create another project. The garden looks great but it’s a constant shuffle going on out there. Move this plant there, move that plant here. If I paid as much attention to the inside of my house as the outside I might qualify for some kind of “Martha” award! I’m fortunate to work from home, so I can fit a 15 minute break in the garden a couple of times a day into my schedule. The weekends are reserved for more strenuous and dirty work; that’s when I tend to go overboard. It never ends, but I’m not complaining. It’s what I love to do. It’s all good, all fun, and I like to keep the neighbors guessing!
Bart is good company in the garden.
Welcome to a new week. Here’s a selection of miscellaneous tidbits to start you off.
A new geranium was unveiled recently in honor of Balboa Park. The Martha Washington hybrid was commissioned for the upcoming centennial celebration of the original Panama Exposition, first held in 1915.
I’m always looking for ideas to raise the yield in my garden. I’m finding that I can pack a lot of things in to my beds, a lot more than I originally thought was doable, and this article validates that. 7 Secrets for a High Yield Garden
I’m growing Dragon Fruit in my front yard. The plant was an impulse buy when I got back from Hawaii where it grows all over the place. The fruit is spectacular looking, but time will tell whether I actually get any from my plant!
The weather, as we SoCal locals realize, has been unseasonably wet and cold so far this year. This article talks about how to take advantage of this cooler weather.
Pesticides in our food chain are something a lot of us are concerned about. Fortunately, these days, it’s easier to get information about this subject and other entities are doing a lot the of work for us.
Yum – spinach year-round in the garden. That’s a worthy goal! Succession planting and a few tips are helpful.
Happy Monday – Have a nice week!
I was out in my garden this morning and found this cute little critter traveling along my neighbors fence.
Acting a bit coy, the snail seemed to be posing for the camera!
Cute, as long as you stay in the neighbor’s yard! 
My friend, Sue, lent me this book to read – The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating.
The story is true, written by a woman with a debilitating illness who lies in bed and watches a snail on a plant next to her bedside. Her observations are intriguing and I really enjoyed reading the book. Thanks, Sue!
