The cutest little cactus planters!

I'm a long time fan of happy little cactus and succulent plants and these little ceramic planters from noemarin (link) make them even more adorable:

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Seriously. So. Cute.  Unfortunately I am attempting to downsize my plant hoarding due to 1) total lack o' space and 2) tiny spiky plants aren't baby friendly.  How you may wonder am I trying to downsize my plants you ask? Why I am letting the natural survival of the fittest selection go in full force and will see how many plants I've killed come February when baby is scheduled to arrive. That counts as baby proofing right? I hope so...I'm not feeling very prepared...

Book Review: Fairy Gardening and Fairy Gardening 101

I'm not one to ever pass up a good book review opportunity- so for today, let me present two wonderfully whimsical books I got the pleasure of checking out for Skyhorse Publishing on the subject of fairy gardening:

 Ok, so that first statement I made isn't entirely true.  I get lots of emails from publishers asking me if I am interested in reviewing their books and I only actually agree when they are on subjects I'm interested in - and since I enjoy gardening (even if I'm not so great at it) and cute mythical little creatures (such as fairies) I figured these books were right up my alley. 

The first book we will be looking at is "Fairy Gardening: Creating Your Own Magical Miniature Garden" by Julie Bawdin-Davis and Beverly Turner.  As the cover hints, this book is full of inspiring creative little magical gardens with loads of pictures and ideas for making your own.

Julie and Beverly outline the seven simple steps to make your own miniature garden and give loads of tips and tricks for creating focus, movement, and interest in your creation.  I really like how they give you the basis of what to look for when getting supplies but still leaves plenty of space to personalize your garden and tailor it to your taste.  I also really enjoyed all of the big bright pictures in the book that really let you focus on the details and whimsy of each idea. Just look how cute this little guy is with a puppy:    

Beyond the magical creative parts of this type of gardening, it also gives you some solid gardening tips perfect for miniature gardening including how to proliferate tiny succulents:

and a full detailed list of what types of plants work well in miniature form:

I found the plants list particularly helpful since I often try to plant things in pots that really shouldn't be grown in pots which leads to their eventual death... It also left me aching to grow my own dwarf bonsai tree! 

Once you add all of the elements up you can end up with your own mini garden perfect for some charming inhabitants like this Alice In Wonderland themed pot (my personal favourite):

Next up for review is "Fairy Gardening 101: How to Design, Plant, Grow, and Create over 25 Miniature Gardens" by Fiona McDonald.  Once again the purple glittery lettering drew me in and the images on this book really demonstrate the step by step process of making these gardens. 

This publication was excellent at outlining which types of containers and plants work best for miniature gardening and shows the steps to create many different types of gardens.  I like how this book gives you specific sample gardens to make and really spells out the process.  Of course you can always add in your own creative touches, but it is a great starting point for a novice gardener. 

I also really enjoyed the variety of fairy eden's you could make including this standard fairy garden,:

this lovely mexican themed cacti pot,:

and (my personal gardening weakness) a terrarium!:

Fiona also shows you how to create both indoor and outdoor gardens that totally appealed to my inner child (and I imagine my fairy-loving niece would be all over)! This book also had instructions to make your own fairies and fairy accessories.  After searching for my own ceramic magical friends to put in my own miniature gardens I realized that they really aren't the easiest things to find - so making your own is an awesome option.  

In comparison - both books did a marvellous job of opening me up to the world of fairy gardening and each had their own way to helping you create your masterpiece.  The first book offered loads of inspiring images and information even an experienced gardener could put to use while the second showed very clear step-by-step instructions (with pictures) on making specific types of gardens.  I personally feel that Fairy Gardening 101 would be the best choice if you were planning on making a garden with a young child (or perhaps someone who needs a little more direction with their creativity), while the first Fairy Gardening book lets you take it a step beyond and allows you to focus in on the elements to make one heck of a lovely piece!  As always, this is just my opinion - so your best bet is to buy the books and decide for yourself!

So what was my take home message after reading these books? I clearly need loads of creatures in my plant pots at home!  With market season in full swing I haven't found time to make up lots of fairy items (which I'm thinking would be awesome to make our of polymer clay), but I did land this darling little brass deer who seems right at home with some of my succulents:

Ok. I've got a ways to go before I've mastered this art - but as soon as I find some extra time I will be sure to update you on my miniature magical gardens!

So how about you? Did you always try to make little fairy havens when you were a kid like I did? If so - it's probably time to revisit that magic and get crafting! Happy gardening everyone! 

Hen Hair

If you know me (at all really) I'm sure you know why I just had to share this project (link) with you! Gimpy smily faces + craft project + (potentially hard to kill) succulents! Ah! Check these dudes out:

(source)

Oh my these are darling! The instructions look easy enough and although I've never actually mixed concrete before I doubt it would be that hard. The hard part of this project would be 1) to not make a million of these and bombard all of my friends with little planters and 2) not killing the plants in said planters.  Hen and chicks are nice hearty plants when you have them in the ground, but as soon as you move  them into a planter (like the ones I try to grow on my deck) their chance of survival goes down dramatically.  I even had a few in my living room as part of some succulent arrangements but they strangely ended up being covered in little bugs so I had to get rid of them. I'm not sure what it is about them that attracts those little flies but I prefer insects to stay outside thanks...

Cuppa Aloe?

Here's a nice little project that combines two of my favourite things - succulents and tea! Oh my! Look how cute this is:

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That little tea tag is priceless and totally ups the awesome factor on this project. The only problem? I may already have a jungle of plants in my house already and probably don't need anymore...rats...

xmas blooms

I'm not exactly the best at keeping plants alive.  I certainly have the aspirations to be a wonderful gardener but somewhere along the lines I neglect or over water whatever greenery I have and it dies.  I do get lucky once in a while and produce the most wonderful blooms like this stunning red flower I got in a bulb kit for xmas:

Isn't it lovely? I was pretty impressed with the kit - and even though I didn't plant it until many months after xmas, it still managed to grow! and flourish even! To make things even more impressive, my sister received the same bulb kit and her flower did not grow (and she's usually super good with plants)! Ok...so her bulb probably died on her trip home to the far reaches of the arctic circle (a smidge of an exaggeration perhaps) and the icy cold temperatures may have been too much for poor little bulb to handle. 

I am super curious how anyone gets plants like these to grow straight. I rotated her little pot as she grew (since she would lean towards the sun) but that didn't appear to make any difference. Look how crooked this gal is:

Well...perhaps that isn't the most convincing picture but I assure you the long leaves shoot out in one direction and the stem and flowers lean in the other. Oh well. It just gives her more character! It also makes me want to try to grow more bulbs next year! I'm stuck container gardening for now since I live in a condo but it would be super awesome to have some nice little spring bulb flowers on the patio! Does anyone have any experience with gardening out there? Do bulbs even grow in pots outside? 

all the felt succulents please

I'm pretty sure I've always had a soft spot for cacti and succulents.  Back in 1993 I remember going crazy over hen and chicks at my uncle's house and promptly making my mom and grandma plant a whole bunch in their own gardens once we got home.  I've probably toned it down a bit since then, but I still really enjoy their amazingly bizarre greenery and neato different species that make them a cool set of plants. Plus they're apparently really easy to take care of and grow at home (although it isn't completely fool proof...trust me). 

Last year I ended up taking a succulent class at the university horticulture centre where I learned all about these cool little guys and got to make a planter of my very own! I was extra enthused about becoming an amazing succulent gardener and loved taking care of my new family of plants I got to take home from the course:

Oh! Don't they look lovely? As time went on (and summer ended and I had to bring these babies inside), I quickly realized that I sort of stink at taking care of plants and a bunch of them died. Well...most of them died actually.  My friends always tell me what an amazing gardener I am with my jungle of houseplants I keep in my living room but I'm afraid the secret is out. I'm not actually that great at keeping things alive - but I am really good at buying new plants and then repotting my planters to make them look like I didn't kill them all.  Yep. No more lies. I've got a black thumb. 

I seem to be doing the "swap out the dead plants" game every few months and although potting plants is a wonderful hobby I'm enjoying (and getting pretty good at), I am increasingly drawn to the world of felt succulents I've been seeing so much of on the internet. I mean look at this fantastic arrangement made by miasole on etsy (link):

(source)

Now those are some stunning succulents - and you can't even kill them! Oh what a brilliant idea!  I am always a sucker for a good felt project and with the supplies just kicking around I'm definitely adding this one to the "to craft" list.  I'm highly doubting my creations will be as amazing as miasole's, but I like to put a good attempt in before calling it quits. I'll let you know how it goes.  I will also have to take a picture of the one succulent from that planter I showed you that seems to be thriving in my "neglectful to all things living" environment.  Any master succulent growers out there?  How do you keep your plants from dying off?

In other news, tonight I realized that in 2014 I wrote a whopping 6 blog posts. That is a good 360 fewer posts than many of my previous years and I'd really like to meet somewhere in between that 6 and 360 post range. Seems doable right? We shall see. This is a good start right?

New Goals

It's official - I have been motivated enough to create two wonderful new goals for myself! How lovely!

They are as follows:

Goal 1. Recreate this beautiful piece of lumpy succulent joy (on the cheap):

(source)

I'm thinking to fulfill this goal I will scavenge the thrift shops for some sort of neato jello mold, spray paint said mold,  then string that baby up and fill it with love (also known as dirt and potentially hard to kill plants). It's a plan!

Goal 2. Blog more. 

I will let you know how things go with the goals...or you know, I won't if I fail at that second one...

Spring!

By some miracle I have managed (well...more like nature and the past tenants here...) have managed to make a tulip grow and even blossom on my patio! Looks like spring is officially in full swing around here! Just look how cheerful that blossom is:

Hooray! I love the wonderful pop of pink when I peek out onto my patio and am especially pleased that this baby grew on her own! Good job nature! Usually I kill pretty much everything on my patio since it is covered from the elements and hauling water out there is very unpleasant and painful with my swollen wrists and hands. Perhaps I will try container gardening once more when I'm officially back in Kamloops and am inspired to give it another go! How are your gardens coming along? Any tulips gracing you with their presence? 

Xmas in April!

So remember how I was telling you what terrible luck I have keeping my plants alive? Well apparently I'm not completely hopeless because I've somehow managed to get my xmas cactus to bloom (again!)! How wonderful! I love seeing those bright pink blossoms popping up and making my plant shelf look much less dismal! I mean just look at that pop of colour:

Isn't it spectacular? And not just one bloom - a whole bunch! Turns out the rainy winter/spring here lead to a big enough lack of sunlight that my cactus thought it was still the extra short days of December and popped out some pink babies! Hooray!  Flowers!  You may also have noticed my creative angle on that last shot - but there are no lies here. I was trying to mislead you into thinking I'm skilled at house plants. Nope. I actually totally killed the other half of the plant and when you check out the xmas cactus in its entirety it's a little sad: 

Wah - wah (you know, that sad sounding noise they make in cartoons)...looks like I'm only half a success. Alas. I'll take what I can get! I'm thinking I may try to repot this bad boy next winter when I can hopefully find another (perhaps different coloured) xmas cactus mate to stick with it. Well...if I don't kill the surviving half before then...

no green thumb required

I've been having no luck with my houseplants lately.  I've managed to kill pretty much all of my cacti and terrariums and the few plants I have that are still kicking look like they are on their last legs! Oh dear! I figure there is little point in trying to start any new plants with my upcoming move to Kamloops and am hoping a little extra love and care will keep any of my green children safe from their inevitable doom!

On the good side of things, I did come across a wonderful interent article outlining 11 wonderful indoor plants that are apparently hard to kill! How perfect! Take a peek (link)!

(source)

What a concept! I figure a little more plant research is needed for me to overcome my black thumb and lots of the greenery from the plants on this list are just wonderful! I mean look how lush and shiny that rubber plant above is! I even have a haworthias plant (on the list) and why yes! It appears to have survived the terrors of my awful plant taking care of skills! How wonderful! I am also seriously considering converting to fake greenery in my weedy and desolate terrariums but I'm not totally sold on how tacky they would look if the plastic plants looked too obviously fake. Looks like I'll be keeping my eyes out for natural looking moss and succulent alternatives - as well as any of the lovely hard to destroy plants from the list! Wish me luck! 

Again? Really?

A few weeks ago I had a chance to head home for the weekend and to my surprise my mom's very neglected orchid was in full bloom! She certainly is the master of orchid re-blooming it seems since this must be the 6th or 7th time it has blessed her with such enormous white flowers:

Oh my it is a delight! I'm finding out that my green thumb for indoor plants is turning more of a brown colour as I've managed to kill the majority of my cacti and my attempt at terrariums are in a very sad (and totally dead) state. Rats. At least my mexican milking cactus is still content and I will remain hopeful for my coffee plants and ficus. Perhaps I should try my hand at fake foliage...what are your thoughts? 

Not completely dead...

Now that the hours of daylight are getting shorter and shorter my well loved (and barely surviving) xmas cactus has decided to bloom!

Hooray! I decided against showing the whole plant since it is pretty charlie brown looking and dismal...but here's to hoping I can find one around town (perhaps even in a different colour) to plant next to this dreary remnant and really spiff up the pot! Yay!

In other news - after three years or daily blogging I'm considering cutting back for 2013. It may just be my stomach flu talking, but I'm finding less and less time for quality blog time and wouldn't want to spam you all with my filler type posts. Everyone likes weeks filled with random internet cats right? No? Well...we'll see how 2013 rolls as far as blogging goes...Any thoughts? 

How does your Hamish grow?

While Fraser was here this past weekend for my cousin's memorial service he was thrilled to see that I didn't manage to kill anything while he was gone!  Fraser was doing such a good job of taking care of the fish and plants this summer that when it was time for him to go away on his practicum he was a little concerned he would return to a house of dead things. Well apparently our fish and plants are okay at dealing with my neglect and, in fact, Hamish (my lovely milking cactus) has even thrived! I hadn't even realized how tall he was getting until Fraser pointed it out so I thought I better share my excitement:

OoOo! What a good boy he's been! Here are some pics from past posts (link and link) so how his wonderful progress! I bought him in May, successfully moved him to the coast in Septmeber and by December he had already outgrown his third shelf height and needed to be moved to the top! 

Looks like it's time to figure out a new home for this pal - but since we're heading into the coastal winter (meaning no sun and loads o' rain), he shouldn't be moved too far from our only source of natural light. Hmm...looks like I've got a few weeks to decide since there is still about a centimetre before he actually hits the ceiling:

Oh my! I am pretty stoked that I haven't killed him off yet, and think I need to only purchase hearty plants like Hamish in the future. How about you? Are you good with house plants? Any suggestions for me? 

Neon Dipped Succulent Pots

It's no surprise that I have a thing for house plants. Nothing like a little indoor greenery to spice (and home-y) up the joint and these adorable paint dipped succulent pots from hello bee (link) certainly appeal! Take a peek:

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Ack! So cute! I love the idea of giving them as little gifts with the little homemade flags (could you image how sweet they'd be out of washi tape!?) but I must admit when I saw this one I was thinking of making them purely for myself. In fact - I think I need to take a trip to the garden supply store and do a little upgrade on many of my boring green plastic plant pots! Haha! I could even make some little washi flag name tags for Bob and Hamish! I figure the extra attention may even do my plants some good before we head into the rainy season here and my dear Fraser (the loyal plant water-er) leaves for his practicum. Looks like it's going to be a long winter for my plants so I hope they're ready for some neglect. Now to decide what colours to paint the pots with! Oh my! What do you think?

Herb-y Update

 With fall peeping in around the corner I figure I had better show you my summer progress on my herb growing before it's too late! I had quite the rough start this year and after three attempts at indoor growing, I decided outdoor herbs (and patience) were the way to go. Take a peek at my herby greenery on the patio:

OoOo! Much more successful than my first attempts! I managed to kill off cilantro a good three times before this one, and although there aren't many actual cilantro leaves to use - it did bloom so that must count for something right? Check him out:

Rosemary is next in the lineup and although it took an enormously long time to sprout, it is getting some hefty leaves on there. Also note that the bald side of the pot is where my niece Jean decided to pluck some plants out. I'm sure it would be more impressive sans empty side but that niece of mine is speedy with her actions! 

Lastly we've got mint - and boy oh boy was this ever a good one! It sort grew out like crazy and even with my weekly grooming (mostly to put in my water) there is tons left to use! Hooray!

Yay! I figure once it gets cold out I might bring the pots inside to have fresh herbs over the winter but depending on space on my plant shelf, they might just get moved into a more sheltered spot and I'll hope for the best! What do you think? Has anyone out there ever managed to successfully grow cilantro in a pot?

Plant Pals for Bob

I seem to be having a spout of plant killing going on at the moment. I decided it would be a great idea to put a few of my babies into bigger pots and apparently none of them are taking because I have a whole lot of plant death going on around here. Rats. 

I considered repotting my beloved ficus Bob, but since I have had such good luck with the other plants I decided against it and instead bought him some little plant pals for his soil. Consider it a present to win over the plant growing gods. Take a peek:

Okay - so you can't really see them very well...let's go in closer:

Oh hello little bunny, elephant, and giraffe! I'm sure you are loving your new home and despite the fact that you were designed for topping cupcakes I am sure you are just thrilled about accompanying Bob to help encourage growth (or at least...not death...). If you aren't convinced of their cuteness take a peek at their back sides:

Nothing like a little tail watching to perk up the plants right? Come to think of it..it sort of looks like they are mooning him. Good thing I love mooning so much (and obviously my plants must too!) Hooray! Plastic plant pals for everyone! Here's to wishing some long life to my ficus! 

The Mystery Plant Blooms

Well it appears as though my hours of Murder She Wrote watching isn't helping my detection skills much. Mind you - I don't have any murders to solve, but I do have the unsolved issue of the odd plants I seem to be growing! After writing my original post asking for any botanists out there for a hand - mystery plant 1 remained nameless and mystery plant 2 was identified as "elephant ear." Here's a refresher shot for you:

Well just as I suspected - mystery plant one has started to bloom and although there are loads of buds ready to burst I thought I'd take some pictures to see if it could help anyone to figure out what plant it is! Check it out:

The blooms look sort of like a petunia/morning glory hybrid but that foliage still has me stumped! Here's another shot:

Yup. Beats me what it is. If my memory serves me, the other matching plant to this one had yellow blooms last year but it isn't showing any signs of flowers just yet. So - now it's your turn! Any ideas?

Friday Find: Petit Beast

Today's find is the wonderful, whimsical, air plant wonders of Etsy's Petit Beast. I would certainly have never thought of using sea urchin remnants as a plant vessel to make one heck of a hanging pseudo jelly fish! Eek! Check it out:

(source)

Aren't they magnificent? I think a nice swarm of these would be just charming hanging in my living room! It certainly intrigues me into attempting to grow my own air plants and see what lovely decorative things you could do with them! Of course coming across sea urchin shells may be a tad on the difficult side so luckily Petit Beast sells little DIY kits for reasonable prices (link)! OoOo! So neat! I wonder what the laws are on shipping live plants to Canada...

mystery plants

After my epic fail of outdoor gardening in Kamloops, I have been trying much harder to master my hand at patio gardens this summer in Victoria! We have two lovely big plant boxes on either edge of our deck and although my attempts at seeds have failed out there, the lavender I planted last year seems to be surviving and since Fraser has been religiously watering we've even got some thriving mystery plants! It is very possible that they will turn out to be weeds, but since I have no clue what they are I thought I'd throw some pictures up to see if any of you are pro-botanists! Let's take a peek shall we:

Yup, I certainly have no clue what that plant is! I even found a few bulbs when I was planting the lavender (which you can see peeping in from the side in that last picture) and they seem to have turned into those big heart/lily shaped leaves hiding under mystery plant number one. To add to the guessing fun it seems that the mysterious greenery is coming in symmetrically on both sides of the planter making me think they were at some point intentional. Let's take another look (this time with labeling)

Any of you gardeners out there have a clue what these are? Inquiring minds would love to know! If not, I guess I will pray for blooms and hope that can help me with identification! In the meantime - hooray for greenery! Happy Thursday!

Charles - the cool work incentive

My adventures in indoor gardening continue with the arrival of my new plant pal Charles! I am quite thrilled about this one and actually won him in a contest at work! Talk about sweet work incentive program - if only more things in life were rewarded with house plants! As soon as I got him I promptly brought him right home and replanted him into a bigger (prettier) pot in hopes to give it a warm welcome to its new residence. Meet Charles - the coffee plant:

I was hoping for a sunnier day yesterday to take some more flattering photos, but sadly living on the coast means lots of rainy days so that image will have to do. Although it doesn't give him a lot of justice - I assure you he is very green, has a nice waxy cuticle on his leaves, and is perfectly perky in his new pot! I'm trying to take extra care not to kill him with either over watering or neglect (my usual plant death culprits) and am dreaming of the day he has grown into a mid sized coffee tree with lovely cherries I can Martha Stewart roast into an extra fresh cup of joe. Okay, so that is pretty unlikely to happen and even if he does produce fruiting bodies capable of edible coffee beans I'm much too unmotivated to roast the few beans to get anything out of it. Did you know it takes an entire coffee tree to make just one pound of coffee? Charles has a long long way to go before that stage. Looks like I'll stick to enjoying his tropical plant wonderfulness instead! What do you think? Have you ever been given a plant as a gift?