The Home Gardening Season is Fast Approaching

Today is the last day of February, in a leap year no less.  I can't believe the first two months of 2012 have flown by so fast!  We normally have the furnace on late October to mid-April but this past winter has been extremely mild to a fault.  Just last week a couple of farmers were talking in the local ER waiting room about the lack of cold weather, specifically a hard freeze.  One said that

Making do with STYLE

Sometimes, your living room serves as your bedroom too. These all make tiny look beautiful !

Pothos (Epipremnum)

Pothos (Epipremnum) is a beautiful, low maintenance house plant that with white or yellow variegated leaves, or the leaves can be solid green.  It is commonly called devil's ivy or variegated philodendron.   My pothos is about 10 years old.  It grew nicely until we moved to our last house where no plants wanted to grow indoors.  I struggled for 4 years to keep him alive and I do mean struggle. 

Two New Gardening Finds

This is a wonderful time of the year when a wide range of new gardening finds make their way onto the store shelves.  I have been buying seeds since they first appeared on the shelves a couple of weeks ago.

As a Canadian home gardener I tend to support Canadian plant and seed growers.  While this helps to keep other Canadians employed, there is the practical side to it as well.  Bringing back

COLOR.....Are you in?

Are you embracing the latest Color Trend? After years of the muted 'Belgian' look and a dour economy, just maybe this is what we need to brighten our outlook. What do you think?

Everywhere we look...........fabrics

Furniture

The trends in flower development is a sharp infusion of intense color

Flora Grubb's in San Francisco

A favorite.......the British Morris Minor. Remember turquoise cars? Well, even turquoise appliances?
I'm wondering if that would ever return? That I would ignore!

 

                                                              Would you go this far?

Fashion is easy.......Tiring of my basic black, I welcome a wardrobe switch

You could enter slowly with a signature piece for "pop"

                                                               Or total immersion

Inspiration is everywhere

Nature in particular is a huge source of inspiration

creeping thyme and grass checkerboard

                                                                     Are you in?

Happy Weekend, enjoy the Oscars!
xo
Debra

Repotting Houseplants and Starting Seeds

It's that time of year!  Spring is just around the corner and with our ADLF quickly approaching it is time to start seeds.  I have been busy repotting all of my houseplants into self-watering pots.  I really do like the pots!  The larger self-watering pots for the floor plants are only $7.47 at Wal-Mart which is rather inexpensive compared to some of the regular pots that size (12 - inch).   I

Talk to Your Plants

Years ago as a newlywed way back when terrariums were all in vogue there was a movement encouraging talking to your plants to stimulate healthy growth.  Some likely thought that this idea was a sure sign of an unhinged gardener heading to the confines of a padded cell but you know talking to plants has a lot of merits.  I talk to my plants even name some of them.  The benefits of talking to

The Nashville Garden and Antique Show 2012

My annual pilgrimage to Nashville for the Garden and Antique show never fails to inspire, tease,  spring cannot be too far behind (Nashville maybe....Chicago, not at all) and induce a covetess nature. I want it all!

The entry garden. Beautifully acknowledged this years theme of 'Color' but these grass like men were both ingenious and creepy......to me that is.

Nothing appeals to me more than an allee of trees

These massive containers were dressed in strips of Redwood skins

One of the premier speakers at this event was Eddie Ross. The lecture was brilliant, the speaker engaging and the content doable for all.........but that, we know, is his forte

Let's walk through the stunning booths together........you'll see where i began coveting

Simple elements take on a curated look against a white background and the appropriate lighting

Three long strands of farm equipment chains. When individualized they will make great coat hooks in my foyer

Favorite booth by ' Garden Variety' of Nashville.

See what I mean, she is good, very very good

This inspired me to repeat this with outdoor containers but with spilling plantings instead of sphagnum moss

My friends Mary Bairstow of Atlanta and Murielle of Paris shared a booth. Mary is renown for her basket lights

With the evocative art by Andrea Costa

A surprisingly comfortable chair from vintage rugs

Murielle's furniture is all Parisian. She strips the ordinary brown stain, bleaches the wood and viola!

Just adore these miniature gardens where everyone can become a landscape designer

An evocative figure found buried, for at least a century, in Mexico

 More farm implements. Here turned into wall art/vine support

 Obelisks.........in ground or in containers.........an all important vertical ornament

Hope you enjoyed the mini "tour"and shared in a moment of Spring!
xo
Debra