Serious Play

Easter Cactus

So, my Easter Cactus is blooming.

 

Funny story... when I bought this cactus, I assumed that it was a Christmas Cactus. Since we are still experiencing bouts of snow, I was inclined to think that my cactus was having a bit of an identity crisis! However, at supper the other night, my MIL informed me that there are also Easter Cacti and that must be what I have. Who knew?

I will most definitely be adding it to my Plant Profiles Mini Album.

How can it tell when it's time to bloom? That's what I want to know.

Plant Profiles Mini Album

So, I finished my altered album, which I lovingly labeled Plant Profiles. It is a record of all the plants I currently own and their stories. It may seem a strange thing to document, but I have acquired a love of plants and it will be interesting to see how many of them survive and for how long!

Because I wanted to preserve the 'old' look of the book, I tried to use all elements that would contribute to the feel of something that had been around for a while. The following is a list of what I used:

1.  a digital overlay for the photos to give them an aged look (sorry, I forget where it is from)
2.  a grunge digital library card from Katie Pertiet, which I altered to suit my needs, printed out on paper and cut out
3. Naturals Letterhead Premium Paper in Ivory Linen for the inside pages (found in the stationary section at WalMart), it has a slight linen texture to it which is yummy!
4. Stampin' Up ink pad in Soft Suede to ink the edges of the pages
5. some decorative red packing tape that I found at Michaels to add a pop of color and interest to the pages

There are still empty pages at the back of this album for me to add more pics of my plants as I accumulate them. This little book truly makes me happy.

Spring Surprise

 So, you may have read this post about my mom's magical garden. Well, this fall, during a blissful visit to the farm, I mentioned to my mom that I would like to start my own garden...and could I possibly create it from bits and pieces of her garden? Absolutely, she beamed... 'cause that's just how my mom is! So she set to work digging and prying and lifting mounds of dirt surrounding precious roots and setting them in a bucket for me. 

Yes, I am ashamed to say that she did the work. I just pranced around pointing and asking, What is that? Can I have some of that? And of course, I was working the camera! This was a moment that I wanted to capture and remember for years to come. I began by choosing those specimens that were most meaningful to me... the Siberian Rose that I remember my maternal grandmother always having in her garden so many years ago, another little ground-cover plant that lined the paths at my other grandma's house. I chose those that I always admired in my mom's garden. And then there were the pretty ones... irises, pansies, poppies, lilies.

 Delicate shoots and roots were stacked with care in two big buckets for me to take home. I gathered an assortment of poppy heads full of seeds ready to carried away on the wind, but instead snapped up by me and transported to the city. Once home, I painstakingly transfered each and every precious piece into my own meager garden. It is small. It is ordinary. But the soil opened up and accepted the new foliage, which I took as a good sign. In fact, as the sun went down and I tamped down the soil around the last plant, I am sure that I heard welcoming whispers as the newbies were accepted.

I cannot be sure I will remember the names of those added to my garden. After living in the bucket for a few days (due to incessant rain) I could no longer recognize several of the plants. It doesn't matter though. Come Spring, I will get a big surprise... and I will have my very own magical garden.

Terrariums

 

So, I fell in love with terrariums recently! I don't quite remember where or when, but once I learned about them I was hooked. The internet is amazing for learning new things. I found everything from shops that specialize in terrariums,  videos on how to make them and a plethora of other information. 

After much research, I decided I could do this. So I visited my local Rona plant department and picked up most of the supplies. The rest of the things I needed were found at Walmart. 

I must confess that due to other goings on in our household, the supplies sat on my kitchen table for a couple of days. But last night Ashley and I dove happily into the task of assembling our terrariums.

I started with a round glass jar that I found at Value Village for $3 and lined it with small pebbles. 

Directly on top of the pebbles, I sprinkled coal. At first, we had trouble finding coal. The info that I found said that the coal would keep bacteria from forming in the moist environment of the terrarium and keep it fresh. We ended up finding a rather large bag of charcoal (not briquettes) at Walmart in the plant section. The chunks were fairly large, so Ash took some outside in a bag and smacked it with my rolling pin (which I will now need to replace)!

 
 Next, we put in a sufficient amount of potting soil. Rather than make a flat surface for the plants, I tried to create a hilly slope, just to give it more interest.

We then inserted some moss to cover the 'ground level'. I am unsure if this moss will survive or not. I really did not research the specific types of plants for inside the terrarium, I just tried to choose ones that looked small and pretty. This is the only moss that I came across without going to a full-fledged nursery. 

So we'll see which plants will survive in our little terrariums. It will be a learning process for sure. I will keep you posted. 

 
 

In the meantime, I have pretty scenes to enjoy in my house... and I'll probably make more!

A Magical Place

So, my mom pretty much has the most beautiful garden around. It didn't start out this way. No, it was just a patch of ordinary field that first transformed into a vegetable garden. While I lived at home, my mom planted, maintained and harvested fresh food to put on our table. I remember picking beans and running out to gather some lettuce for a salad that night. I remember digging mounds of potatoes and storing them for the winter in our well house. It was full of goodness and variety and magic.

  After my sister and I left home, the garden was more than what my parents needed to feed the two of them and so it was downsized. They kept rhubarb, potatoes and a few rows of peas. My mom knew that Sean liked peas, so she kept them going for a while ...he's so spoiled! In place of the vegetables, a few flowers were planted. A few more shrubs grew up and a few trees were moved into the garden. It grew more and more magical.

As the various plants and trees grew and took up space, tiny garden trinkets started showing up in the garden. Our visits to the farm included a mandatory stroll through the garden to discover its treasures. At the time, my girls were very young (two and three) and they adored Gramma's Garden. They spent hours looking at leaves and smelling flowers. They were mesmerized by Papa's handmade windmill. Their little feet padded through the paths that were being laid in the form of various forms of brick and stone. Paths that took them through delightful colors and aromas. Each visit produced cries of, "Look at that Mama!" and sure enough, they would discover a new ceramic frog or dangling bird house. At the end of the path, a chair awaited us, under the tree. Perfect for sipping some tea while watching and listening to the birds that also visited this magical place.

 Now, the tallest flowers reach closer to the sky than I do! As I look across a sea of brilliant color, the memories of this garden rest deep within my heart. Last summer, my dad drew up plans and built a gazebo for tranquil escapes to the back of the garden. Shaded by trees and surrounded by the sweet smelling flowers, the gazebo is a true labour of love and, yes... so magical.

If only I had a magic garden...
 

Plant Love

Myrtle

So, I do love plants. I read somewhere that plants are the best air freshener that you can get for your home. They are not full of chemicals and they do not leave residue all over your house. They are not toxic but rather absorb many of the dangerous toxins in the air....and they boost the oxygen levels in your home! I cannot think of a better reason to stock up on plants.

Enter Myrtle (pictured above). Shortly after our renovations, I wanted to clean up the poor quality of air in our house due to the dust (and who knows what else). Sean and I were shopping at Home Depot and I saw her...she had to come home with me! Now since the actual name of this little plant is the Myrtle Tree, I thought it fitting that I call her by name...Myrtle.

When Myrtle first came home, she resided on my new white coffee table. One evening, we were playing a family game around the table and Myrtle happened to be sitting close to me. Every once in a while, I would lean in and talk to Myrtle about my status in the game. Well, Jessica thought this was a riot, so of course I continued it all night long. I had also read somewhere that plants like it when you talk to them because you are giving them carbon dioxide, which they like. I wanted to keep Myrtle healthy, so I have continued talking to her (and my other plants) on a regular basis.

Now, since Myrtle had a name, all of my other plants became jealous. They wanted a name too! It was very simple really since they all have a story and a personality. The following is a mug and title for each of my lovely plants!

Frieda

 
LaFerne

Lily

Lola

Missy

Queen Anne

And the latest addition (last week)...

Florence

Most of my plants I have purchased at either IKEA or Superstore. They all have their own story... and I think I feel a new mini book coming on!!

The digital photo frame used for all of the above pics is from Lynne Grieveson.