moments notice

i love having a great camera in my pocket... er phone... to take photos of the things that inspire me at a moments notice. I'll share with you the latest:

-creeping fig by my feet at the greenhouse,

-colorful coleus outside the bagel shop on a saturday morning

-rose hips on an evening walk with my little family

-two new designs i made months ago . i swear i will list them for sale one of these lazy summer days

- and double flowered perennial sunflowers growing in my neighbors front yard. they are about 7 feet tall. *reminder, i need to plant these gorgeous flowers!

crazy sunflower i did not plant

This is a sunflower plant that is in my backyard right now. It's not just any sunflower plant. It is a crazy freakish one that wont stop blooming tons of flowers on one stalk! Im talking about 15 flowers right now. And to make it even more strange, I did not plant it. I in fact have no clue how it is possible. I think it may be from a bird feeder that Raquel made at preschool in the spring that we hung about a foot away. Maybe it was a silly bird that knows sunflowers are my favorite... flores del sol... get it?

sorry if you follow on facebook/ instagram and have already seen this. 

i am @floresdelsol on instagram. Instagram, probably the reason why my blogging has slowed!

happy monday!

touring an orchid farm

I had the opportunity to take an impromptu tour of Plainview Growers which specializes in 'Pure Beauty Orchids' or potted phalaenopsis orchids. There are rows upon rows of gorgeous Taiwanese breeds of orchids in different stages of bloom in massive greenhouses. 13 acres to be precise. It was a breathtaking rainbow of beauty to behold.

baby orchids just starting:

 

waiting to bloom:

 

classic white phalaenopsis in bloom:

 

and the varieties of colors they offer:

 The vibrant blue variety above is done by 'colorfuze'. A process in which the literally infuse the color into the orchid. I was able to watch the infuzors at work. They literally put color dye into the little plastic vessels below with the die solution in that plastic bucket below and directly insert it into the bottom of a classic white phaleanopsis orchid. The orchid then soaks up the dye and brightly shows the vibrant hues.

 Plainview Grower's 'Colorfuzed' orchids are one of two licensed growers in the US that offer the unique process, so chances are if you have seen these, they are from this grower in Plainview New Jersey! 

The variety of hues of colorfuzed orchids they offer:

 Orchids potted and getting ready to ship:

 ready to go:

 I was at the grocery store a few days ago and saw a few of the orchids above for sale. I was like a little kid, giddy and excited that I have seen how they grow and where they come from.

hydrangea block

there is a long row, a full block of hydrangea bushes in bloom that someone has planted a few blocks from my home. It is gorgeous. The hydrangeas are mostly blue and purples with some light pinks. I find myself purposefully driving by that way just to see them. I took Raquel's 5 year birthday photos at them. I have a feeling they will not last much longer in this hot and dry weather we've been having.

jasmine trees in container gardens

A few more container gardens from this season. The containers at the top were so large, along with the house that we had to fill them up with something substantial. We chose jasmine tree trellises as the center focal. They were so fragrant with a lovely and sweet smell, our client was thrilled. Does jasmine grow where you live? Summer breeze, makes me feel fine.. blowing through the jasmine in my mind ;)

heaven is here

I want to recommend a good book I just finished. Many of you are probably familiar with nie nie and her heroic story. Nie nie dialogs is a blog that I and many of you, have followed for years. Her book, Heaven is Here, is just as intriguing and even more uplifting that her blog posts already are. She retells the story of the horrific plane crash that left her at the brink of death and burned over 80% of her body. The memoir visits the lonely and hard days of her recovery; her children afraid of her new appearance, the inability to do the simplest tasks and her struggle to accept the new nie nie. The book is full of love, inspiration to get through any tough trial and hope. Lots of hope. It is the perfect quick summer read.
For a little more about it watch this video.

flower ID: Abutilon

Abutilon, commonly known as Flowering Maple or Chinese Bellflower and pronounced ah-BEW- tih-lon. Even though they carry the common name, flowering maple, they are not in fact maples at all. The name derived from the maple leaf shape they have. The delicate orange/red blossoms attract hummingbirds and butterflies. They will thrive both in indoor or outdoor settings (in milder climates) and bloom from spring until frost and occasionally in the winter. For many reasonably priced varieties, go here.

tuscan container gardens

i must say, the house and the containers did most of the work in helping us create the dramatic tuscan effect we were going for. Red rose topiaries at the top filled with deep dahlias, red petunias, dusty miller, yellow lantana, ivy, yellow tiny tunias and large gray leaf salvia (as seen below) did the rest of the work. I cant wait to see it all grown in later this season.  I loved finding the salvia and it was my favorite texture this year. 

palms in terra cotta

 

That's me in the green with the white legs. I promise they have a little sun now, and that's Julie in the pink.This client needed new containers so we went with modern terra cotta planters to go with the contemporary style of the house. You should have seen us muscle women unloading them from the van and placing them. We planted them up with blue lobelia, vinca vine, purple coleus, peach verbena, palm trees, yellow tiny tunias and green/pink caladium.  These are one of my favorites from this season.

sun lover

container gardening season is rolling along great! perfect weather always makes it extra nice too. i'm quite the sun loving plant myself and i'm getting a lovely farmers tan. i love coming home covered in dirt mixed with sweat. something about dirt under the fingernails and passing out at 9pm that shows a hard days work :)

happy weekend dear readers
-christina