vertical gardening inspiration

Here are some fun inspirational garden photos for your tuesday. A few I would love to try out myself!

small colorful terra cotta pots on an old fence. DIY toutorial here.

tin can wall via flickr

a shoe organizer turned vertical herb garden via pinterest

herbs in old coffee cans via ewa in the garden

burro tail succulents in old coffee cans found in mexica via mozone gardening and a vertical garden made out of an old palette from life on the balcony (remind me to try this one out next year!!).

concrete block garden via remodelista. I would love to try this out in my garden this year and I have the cinder-blocks too! I just don't think lugging them around my yard would be advisable in my last 3 weeks of pregnancy :)

found friday: vintage botany prints

Lovely vintage flower plates from the etsy store shaving kit supplies. The vintage botany prints are from an old book of floral studies. Shown above, gentian, scabious and mistletoe $8 each. These would look so fabulous framed and hanging together.

I hope you enjoy your weekend!
-christina

floraly photos

images via hatch, floralls, flickr, tubbertha, growyourbeauty via oh hello friend

some lovely floral photos for your day :)

flower id: hostas

Chances are high that you have these babies growing somewhere in your yard. Hostas are a common ground cover often found in landscapes and gardens abound. There are as many as 45 different species of hosta plants you can grow with all different leaf sizes, shapes and color variations. Hosta plantaginea originated in China, though most of the varieties we have today were introduced by Japan to Europe in the 19th century. They have since spread over gardens across the world as an easy to cultivate and pleasing to the eye plant.

I love using hostas as a cut flower. When displayed alone in a vase their ovate leaves show off great texture. Hostas have a very long vase life and I will let you in on a little secret, florists actually pay big money for them as a cut flower to use as a soft texture in garden bouquets. So while you are waiting for your summer cut flowers to bloom, try displaying some hostas!

-christina

container flower gardens

a whirl wind of a planting season it's been! It was full of rain, rain and more rain for two weeks. We ended up having to plant in the rain anyways which makes an awful big muddy mess to clean up, but I am glad we did it then because we've hit hot and sticky summer weather full force now! Here are some photos of Fresh Art Planting's container flower gardens this year. Imagine how full and luscious these designs will each be when they grown in!

maiden grass, dwarf sunflowers, rust sweet potato vine, marigolds and petunias


white mandevilla vine trellis, coral geranium, purple petunia, purple verbena and little white globe flowers

lantana topiary trees, bi color caladium, dusty miller, purple petunias, marigolds, fern, rust sweet potato vine


strawberry pots of coral hibiscus, creeping jenny, and assorted succulents

lavender duranta topiaries, regal geraniums, red spider begonia, purple petunias, lime sweet potato vine, english ivy and wandering jew

I am working on a "how to" post for this season so come back and see! Until then you can check out last years here.

prom corsage season

1- thin straight florist wire
2- florist wire cutters
3- tricillium (filler flower to use instead of baby's breath)
4- white dendrobium orchid blooms (focal flowers)
5- bear grass (I use it to make the corsage more modern with small loops and texture)
6- wristlette holder
7- floral tape

The prom corsage. My first encounter with it is was in the movie Harry and the Henderson's when he eats Sarah's 15th birthday orchid corsage. After that it I remember seeing my older sister's corsages stored in the fridge after their dances. Finally in high school I received my first. It was for a fall homecoming dance my Junior year and I remember my date's mother making sure it matched my dress perfectly. It hung dried in my room on my bulletin board for years accompanied by the others I received.

Prom season in full swing everywhere! I spent my Wednesday evening for 5 hours twisting tape and wiring dendrobium orchids into wrist corsages for a local Junior prom. Sometimes I can't help but try them on when I am done to make sure it looks its best. Im not sure I can do a DIY post on how to make them. They are pretty detailed, but maybe in the near future I will do a boutonniere which is much simpler!

garden plans

plant this note pad, terrain $8

Have you ever planned a garden out? I mean really plan it, with a sketched layout picking out specific plants or laying out your vegetable garden?
This is my first year with a yard of my own with space to grow a garden and sew some seeds. Very exciting. I did not design a garden plan this year but as I was planting up some marigolds next to my veggie box, I was dreaming of the day when I can plan out an elaborate garden and spend hours in it. Until then here are some inspiring images from a vintage home garden book I have:

I love elaborate garden design layouts. I think they are artistic to look at with all of the geometric shapes and curves. I enjoyed taking landscape design while studying horticulture in college. It actually made me feel able to finally draw something artistic!

some basic landscape design shapes so you can get started!

friday morning petal skirts

fabio bartelt, from ffffound, and twist from flickr


The last of my daily morning posts this week. Soft, feminine and frilly photos that make me want to spin around like a little girl.

happy weekend!

thursday morning: spider plant propagation

a spider plant I used in an outdoor container planting last week

In my last post a reader made a comment about how "plants seem to go through fashion cycles". Is this true? If so, can I change this and get some back in style?

How about the spider plant. As seen in houses abound in the 70's plant craze, you rarely see them anymore. The leaves are beautiful and variegated (green with white lines) and I think, if placed in the right pot and space in your home, a bit modern.

Little baby offspring shoot out from the mama spider plant and are easily rooted to make new little spidey plants. The photo above is from my recent trip to the greenhouse. We snagged a few of theses spider plants to incorporate in our outdoor container plantings. I cut off a few of the baby offspring and simply stuck them in a vase of water at home on my kitchen shelf to encourage root growth. That was a week ago and already I am seeing some progress!! As soon as more roots grow they can then be placed in a little pot with soil.

i'll keep you updated on my spidey's progress.

It's funny, in college I had a neighbor with plant fever. He would go around campus and take cuttings of different indoor plants and then propagate them in his apartment. I'm not encouraging steeling cuttings from college campuses and malls, but hey it can be done :)


-christina


also check out the kind words and recommendation Elle Decor (!!!) said about me and flores del sol blog here!!

wednesday morning garden scenes

Dreamy garden scenes. Photos from the Del Mar Fair in San Diego. I love the purple wandering jew, one of my favorite plants, creeping out of that nightstand.
I wish it would stop raining here in Jersey. I've got planting to do! It's been 4 days and its not looking to stop anytime soon. Woof.

tuesday morning art

double exposed paintings by Pakayla Biehn. So fresh and intriguing.
via poppytalk.

monday morning mugs

le Vintage Maison has a beautiful collection of floral-y mugs going on in her shop, many of which are Japanese. Check out her vintage shop here. I hope you had a happy weekend. I enjoyed getting ready for our vegetable garden by buying wood to make a raised bed!