Garden Dining Room Project

I'm dusting off the old blog today since this project seems to fit here a bit better than over at the farm blog. Over the past two years in our backyard, we've removed a few trees and the raised beds that didn't get any sun and have put my grandparent's rehabbed picnic table into the back corner of the garden. Last summer, we enjoyed eating our BBQ dinners tucked into the leafy surrounds of the garden, but realized that it gets very dark after the sun goes down. I spent the winter scheming about how I could get some light back there and decided I needed some vintage oil lanterns hanging on the fence to add ambient light in the evenings (bonus - fill them with citronella oil and keep the mosquitoes away too!) I hit the jackpot a few months ago and found three working, colorful lanterns at one of the Second Sunday Antique Markets in downtown Sacramento.

To complete my garden dining room, I also decided to hang some Woolly Pockets that would make the fence a lush, green living wall. After measuring and deciding on the layout, I ordered four Wally Ones to flank my oil lanterns. Here's what the space looked like before:

The Woolly Pocket installation was super easy. Measure, level, drill two (provided) screws into the fence wall. And voila! I had four pockets up in about 30 minutes. By myself. And that included the ten minutes it took me to figure out how to change the drill bit.


Then, I hung the lanterns. I selected hanging brackets that keep the lanterns about 18" away from the fence since I don't want hot lanterns leaning on a wooden fence.


Now, its time to plant! Woolly Pockets suggests three "full sized" plants per pocket: a Thriller, a Filler and a Spiller. This actually made shopping for plants much easier and helped me focus while plant shopping - which is always a challenge for me! So I purchased a total of 12 one gallon plants for my four pockets. The pockets on the left are almost completely in the shade so I selected a couple of ferns, a hosta, a small gardenia and two licorice plants. For the pockets on the right that get some sun I picked a salvia, two trailing lantana, a red hot poker (that's actually a creamy white color) and a few other filler plants.

As suggested in the instructions, I arranged the plants in the pockets while still in their pots to make sure I liked the layout which was a great idea since I swapped plants quite a few times before settling on the final combination.

Just like that, I completely changed the feel of my garden dining room in one afternoon. As the plants fill in, they should completely cover the pockets and make it feel even more like a living wall. All that was left to do was put the umbrella up, light the lanterns, pour myself a glass of wine and relax....

Summertime

For the last week, my husband and I spent our first week off together in three years. We escaped to the San Juan Islands off the Washington coast and stayed lakeside in a canvas cabin at the Lakedale Resort. The weather was perfect, the pace was slow and we returned truly relaxed.

My favorite stop was the Pelindaba Lavender Farm. 25 acres of lavender in full bloom and by some stroke of luck we had the place all to ourselves as the fog lifted in the morning.

Did you know that lavender only requires water in its first year while getting established and no fertilizer at all? And deer don't bother it. Of course, the bees love it too - what a great "crop" to grow!

One of the more surprising parts of our trip was to the town of Roche Harbor. Not only are the views breathtaking, but the town is so charming. After walking around the formal gardens, having lunch and stopping for ice cream it dawned on me.....we were in one big resort. Everyone had the same logo on their uniforms. It was like Disneyland for adults - with multi-million dollar boats in their marina!

I'm not really sure why it bothered me - no little tourist town could spend this much money on gardens and have every little storefront and restaurant occupied. Someone had bought this entire town and turned it into a destination - otherwise, it probably would have died when they stopped mining lime there decades ago. Regardless, we spent an entire afternoon there and really enjoyed ourselves.




And of course, my toes had fun too.

Wordless Wednesday

My beautiful new Datura discolor from Annie's Annuals is blooming! Enjoy....

I Have an iPhone and I Know How to Use it

Okay, I've had some fun at my own expense mocking my lack of photographic prowess. I enjoy taking pictures with my iPhone - I can hold it in one hand and a drink in the other while blaming the lack of quality on the equipment. However, I have the day off today and decided it was time to start learning how to work with my chosen tool. Also, I'm totally jealous of my friend and coworker Ashlee's photo collages and wanted to have some of my own. So - here is my first effort.

Look out now - not only do I have an iPhone, I almost know how to use it....

The Opposite of My Garden

Three years ago, my in-laws moved from Cedar Ridge (literally on a ridge straight up a hill from Sonora) where the deer and antelope play - well, the deer do anyway - to five acres just outside of Sonora where the hills roll a bit more gently and the deer don't use their front yard as a playground. They installed a beautiful "waterwise" garden and I have enjoyed watching it fill in everytime we visit.

I snapped some iPhone pictures last weekend to share here. Since this garden is the complete opposite of mine (soggy shade), there's quite a few plants I'm unfamiliar with, so I'll just post the pictures and let you enjoy!

Also, my husband's cousin's girlfriend (did you follow that?) made this homemade lemonade with fresh fruit. Too cute not to share...

Through a Dirty Window

Walking downstairs in my house, there is a small landing halfway down where the stairs turn and go the other direction. That landing is eye level with this window which has a pretty unremarkable view most months out of the year. Except for when my neighbor's hydrangeas are blooming - which happens to be right now. He keeps them pruned to exactly the height of the fence so the happy blooms peek right over the top - where I can see them everytime I walk downstairs. So I snapped a pic with my favorite photographic equipment this morning (my iPhone of course) to share. Now, I need to get out there and clean that window so I can enjoy the view while it lasts!

Summer Challenge

Remember when you were in school, you were given a list of books to read over the summer to be ready for the next grade? Or maybe it was just something for your parents to hassle you about doing so when you went back to school in the fall there was still a brain cell or two left in your head? I've always enjoyed reading, but as an adult (and without the required reading list), the volume of books I consume in a year has been replaced with a volume of TV watching that nobody would be proud of.

Seriously, if I'm at home, the TV is probably on. I'd like to think it's on in the background while I do other, more important stuff, but most of the time, it's on and I'm sitting in front of it. When we got our first DVR years ago, I thought it was the best thing since sliced bread - and it would enable me to spend far less time watching my favorite shows, right?!? Wrong. It just allows me to keep up with more than ever before.

I'm always telling myself that there are so many things I'd like to do more of (garden, read, blog, bike ride, etc, etc, etc) and not enough time to do it. Then, a few weeks ago, it dawned on me - STOP WATCHING SO MUCH TV!!! What the heck am I watching half the time anyway? Like I need to see another episode of House Hunters or Yard Crashers. Really - why don't I go crash my own yard? Or read or go for a bike ride or take the dog to the park...heck, I could even clean the house or do laundry during the week which would free up some weekend time - what a concept!

So - here's my challenge for the summer: No TV on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday evenings. I can catch up on the DVR on Thursdays or weekends.

I started this week and, already, I've been doing all of the things on my aforementioned list and my house is pretty clean too! I actually don't think this will be too difficult since I'm replacing TV with things I truly enjoy. In fact, I'm keeping a list of all the books I'm reading this summer - if you're interested, there's a link on the side bar of what I just finished, what I'm currently reading and what's on deck. Now, if anyone asks me in the fall if I kept up on my reading over the summer, I won't have to lie and say that the dog ate my list.

A Little History

Last weekend, Dennis and I had some company over for a BBQ and, for the first time ever, were able to sit with all of our guests around one big table. No kids in the kitchen, adults in the dining room, nobody leaning against the island or balancing a plate while sitting on the couch. One. Big. Table. A picnic table.

This isn't just any picnic table, this is my grandparent's table that has been used for fifty years of bar-b-ques before its inaugural dinner at my house last weekend. My Grandpa Roy built the table from a kit after tiring of his four children dragging the freestanding benches from his prior picnic table to other places in the yard - no doubt to assist in tree climbing or some other adventure that the benches were not intended for. He passed away when I was ten years old so my memories are of begging him to play his harmonica or seeing he and my grandma dressed to go square dancing.

As an adult, I've gotten to know him through the stories my family has told - most are related to his many projects (he was a contractor). Some of my favorites include his theory that hallways are a waste of square footage (I tend to agree) and the argument over a sliding glass door or a single door leading to the patio of the house they built that my grandmother still lives in. She swears she would have left him if he put in the slider - he must have taken her seriously since there is no sliding glass door there to this day. And finally, the idea that if your children are going to beat up the things you own, you might as well do it first.

I know you've seen it on the HGTV shows - the hosts explaining that you can make a new piece of furniture look weathered and aged by beating it with chains and cutting it with a knife. I guess my grandpa was just ahead of his time. My parents have a coffee table and two end tables he built years ago using this technique. Not only did they stand up to his children, but to my brother and I as well.

So - getting back to the picnic table - after fifty years of use (and no doubt abuse), the wood had rotted beyond repair and I asked my grandmother if we could have it to fix up and use in our yard. She was happy to let us have it, provided we could lift it. And she wasn't kidding - the frame is steel and that sucker is heavy!

Finally, last weekend, Dennis took the old wood off and put the brand new redwood on. After admiring his work for a few minutes he decided something wasn't quite right. He disappeared to the garage and came back with a knife, a heavy chain and a sander. After a bit of "damage", he declared it done. The finishing touch I'm sure grandpa would approve of.

Mother's Day Garden Tour

Okay, so I've gotten behind on blogging (again) but really wanted to share some photos from the Placer County Master Gardener's Annual Mother's Day Garden Tour. This is the second year my mom and I have attended and the local MG's really do a good job organizing this event. This year's theme was Country Gardens which I was very excited about. Although I don't live in the country, I grew up there and my parents still live on 12 acres northeast of Lincoln. Plus, I love to see what people can do with a little bit of shoulder room in their gardens.

We managed to make it to all of the gardens this year and although we got rained on a bit, it was better than last year's hot day where we gave up early to go drink wine instead of hiking around in the heat! So - here are some of the highlights that I captured on my state of the art iPhone camera :-)

This was so cute - a little track with a cart on it sitting on a granite outcropping, planted with succulents.

I covet this - a Hakuro Nishiki Willow. I've really been wanting one and was excited to see this one. Hmmm...where to fit it into my yard.

This was so impressive in person - a little difficult to capture with my high tech photographic equipment though. Just below their back deck, mixed beneath the oak trees, a huge flower bed filled with annual and perennials. I can only imagine how beautiful it looks as the summer continues.
Using rose bushes for clematis to grow on - brilliant! I went straight to Eisley's Nursery after the tour and bought a clematis to experiment with in my own yard.

The next place we stopped was created by two Master Gardener's and was truly a "gardener's garden". I can't believe I only took two pictures here - I think I was just so enjoying looking around, I didn't pull the phone...excuse me, camera out of my pocket.


Our last stop was truly the best stop. This place was staggeringly beautiful and had surprises at every turn. It was nestled into a small valley at the site of a small cottage that had been built about 100 years ago. There were plants the owner thinks had been there for just as long which was really impressive. When you first enter the garden, there is a small shaded courtyard that leads you to the front of the cottage.

In the photo above, we have just reached the corner of the cottage where you look down on a beautiful pond. After climing down a fairly steep slope, you arrive at this peaceful pond area.

After enjoying the pond, we realized there was a small walkway that led to acres of additional gardens! The photo below is from the opposite corner of the property, looking back towards the house. There was a fairly formal lawn area, a terraced rose garden, a greenhouse surrounded by veggie beds, and a bog garden that followed a natural stream. It just went on and on....This snowball viburnum was one of the plants estimated to be 100 years old. To give you some perspective, I could stand underneath it - it was that big!

Finally, after the tour was done, we headed straight to Eisley's with lots of great ideas fresh in our minds. In addition to my new clematis, I picked up this new book, hot off the presses. The authors spent one year going to the Saturday Farmer's Market at the Auburn Courthouse and then hosted a meal every Monday for friends. The result is all of their recipes, organized by the week with lots of great information about buying local seasonal food.

Cruisin'

When I saw this photo of an old bicycle and basket used as a garden planter from the Chicago Flower & Garden Show, I knew it would be a great idea in our front yard. I thought it would be super simple...find an old bike, get a basket and fill with plants. As it turns out, old bikes are either a little hard to come by or they are the item of the moment because everything I found in antique stores and online was over $100. For an old, rusty, falling apart bike....I don't think so.

By today, I was ready to give up on the idea but decided to cruise my own bike (with a basket) into Old Roseville to see what I could find and voila! - an old bike right in front of The Tattered House. Turns out, they had just picked it up on a trip to San Diego and hadn't had a chance to do anything with it yet. I was happy enough to snap it up (for way less than $100) and finish my project.

Check out the results - and if you take this project on yourself, keep in mind that the full basket does have some weight to it, so you have to figure out how to anchor everything down - it doesn't just stand all cute on it's own. I used u-shaped stakes between the spokes of the back tire and dug a small trench to sit the front tire into.

Now, I've realized I need some flowers along the edge of the bed to add more color, but my neglected front yard is slowly becoming a bit less neglected with the addition of the cruiser planter.

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day - February

This is my first Garden Bloggers Bloom Day to participate in, although not for lack of interest in the past on my part. The 15th of the month just always seems to come and go and I forget about getting out in the yard to take pictures until everyone else's wonderful posts show up in my feed at which point I figure I'll just wait until next month. Well, I've finally remembered - and it doesn't hurt that it's a beautiful, sunny holiday that has me hanging out on the patio, encouraging me to take some photos! So, here's what's blooming in my Zone 14 garden today:





I have three Camellias that came with the house. One has finished blooming already and the other two are just getting started. Camellias are a big part of Sacramento history although the long-running Camellia festival is now defunct, but you can still see them blooming everywhere this time of year and I like having a little piece of that in my yard too.









My little Meyer Lemon has been blooming like crazy and the local hummingbirds have been enjoying it too. I hope this means lots of lemons in my future!











Lots of blooms on my earlier blooming azaela - the other two don't bloom until April or May.








Uh, yeah...still alive. I finally had to move it outside - it just didn't look right on my dining room table anymore, but I just don't have the heart to throw it out. So instead, I'll let it die a slow death here on the patio.







And two of the newbies from this weekend's trip to Green Acres, one of two Hellebores I picked up and a pretty little Bleeding Heart to mix into the rocks around the pond.

Now, I'm off to enjoy more of this beautiful "spring" weather!