A FAIRY GARDEN GIFT

 I have seen a new style of gardening emerging.  I am intrigued by the mystical creations.
To me, it is the gardener's version of a doll house.  Miniature plants, succulents, moss, stones, miniature sized furniture and a fairy or gnome all placed happily ever after in a pot, bird bath, or niche of an old tree stump.

I have wanted to try my hand at making one but never seem to have time because I'm always sewing, mowing, hoing or blogging.

My dear friend is retiring this week and I've been thinking about a nice gift for.  Finally, I thought of the perfect gift: a fairy garden.  Maybe I should say it would be the perfect gift for me, and I hope she likes it as much as I would.

I searched the hillside for a hollowed out log but most had ants, or creepy crawlers in them.  I opted for this pretty blue one I found at Menards.

Then I chose some iddy biddy plants. I filled the pot with Rustynail compost made last year. Some of the plants were still too big for the pot, so I cut them in half with the scissors and stuck some pebbles between them to add scale.  I sound like I know what I'm doing, don't I?

 

Then I added Miss Fairy 2013.  She is playing hopscotch with the Skunk.  (She did this in the Miss Fairy 2013Talent Contest and won first place.) 

 

 

Can you see Peppy La Pew hiding along the edge?   

He's a little stinker. 

 

               Can you see little old me?  I'm in there, resting in the shade sipping Pina Coladas.

I'm a little stinker too.

Where did she go?  Miss Fairy just went for a spin around the butterfly bush!  Come back here.

 

My friend plans to spend time gardening and playing hopscotch with her grandchildren.  She is also just as pretty as this Fairy, if not prettier, and more fun, and she's a great cook, and she can touch her tongue to her nose.

 

Blessing to you my friend, and many happy hours of gardening.

 

 

PLANTING A FEW SEEDS

Actually, I stole these seeds.  I was standing under this lush canopy of vines growing over an arbor.  The seed pods were hanging down like green beans.

I do not know what the plant was but I'll call it "Jack The Beanstalk".

So I said to Jack, "Take a deep breathe, I'm gonna pull."  And I did.

Jack was tough, he did not even flinch.

 

The pod held three very hard seeds.  I scratched the seeds a little with sand paper and soaked them overnight.  They are tucked into a warm soil mix in a clay pot.  Hopefully they will get rambunctious and propagate when I am not looking.  In nine months we will know for sure if they have a boy or a girl.

 

 

 

 

These are a few of the seeds I plant every year around the telephone pole.

Sunflowers, and morning glories.  I plant different varieties of sunflower because I like a mix of heights when they bloom.  I always wanted to be tall myself, but I am what I am.  Maybe I was planted too deep?

 

 

Make this a memorable Memorial Day weekend.  Plant a seed.

Or just steal one!

 

 

TRILLIUM

 

 

My back yard drops over a hill and provides a shady hillside which nourishes some very old native plants such as Trillium and Bellflowers. Oh yes, we also have an old plant called Poison Ivy.

 

 

Colonies of Trillium bloom from April-May.  They can be white, pink or red with three pointed leaves.  It is advised to not pick Trillium because it ruins the plant for years.  Let them be.........to be or not to be.

The first of May, our Trillium began to grow umbrella like leaves on the stems.

 

Three weeks later they formed red blooms like this.

See it?  The red dot in the center of the leaves.

 

 

Amongst the Trillium is also a beautiful blanket of wild bellflowers.

 

    Can we get up close and personal for a moment?   How do you feel about world peace?

 

Every spring I comb this same hillside for Morrell mushrooms but I have not found a single one.  This is the perfect spot for them with decayed trees, shade and moist soil.  I won't give up.
Maybe next year I'll find some.  Then I will dip them in egg and flour and fry them in a pound of bubbling butter...................mmmmm. 


Thanks for gardening with us today.  Come back soon.

 

INTERESTING LOGS

 

Do you have an old log laying around?  (Besides your husband

or mother-in-law) I seem to have them all over the hillside.  When I see a fallen tree I scope out the logs or limbs decaying around it. 

 

 If you roll a log over, you might find an interesting oraface?

Don't you love the word oraface?  I do.  I like to say it and spell it.

It makes me feel so smart.

 

I find orafaces wonderful places to plant flowers. 

Clean out the debris and fill it with some wonderful, fluffy warm soil.

Poke in a few flowers, Impatience are nice in the shade.  Plant some marigold seeds if it is in the sun.  Add 2 cups of water, 2 Tbs of fertilizer, and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes..........oh no, just kidding.  The sun will do the baking part.

 

 

Log on...........

and watch out for the army of ants running up your arms. 

 

PINK IS A POPULAR COLOR AT RUSTYNAIL

Many trees and shrubs are in bloom this week.

I must be drawn to the color pink.  As I wander around the yard, it seems most of the spring blossoms here are pink and burgundy.

This is our two year old Japanese Maple. "Ah so, vewey nice."

                                                 This Purple Leaf Plum is plum purple.

  

        

           Here it is up close and purp-sonal purple.

 

 Are you uncomfortable when I get this close?

Should I step back?

Three years ago, when I was just a child, my older brother and I bought this pink Columbine.
Now my brother is 73 and I am still his little sister.  

He and I bought it after a picnic lunch of fried chicken at a favorite spot in Princeton, IL.
My brother was always the gardener in our family, and our grandfather was too.  We share this appreciation of beautiful plants.

 Ah, a pink Dogwood I planted right smack in front by the road, so everyone who drives by can see it.  Except no one drives by.  This is the end of the road.  But I see it, every day.  It makes me feel light and airy with sprinkles on top.  I feel like dancing, don't you?

What big eyes you have.

This Purple Leaf Sand Cherry shrub was an impulse buy.  I'm so glad I was impulsive.

                                                      Are you seeing a pattern here?
                                            I like pink. I like purple, and I love to be close.

 How can such a beautiful little fruit tree be 'crabby'?  I have no idea.

I think we should rename the Crabapple to Gladapple. 

\

Please don't ever be crabby.

I once worked with a sweet lady who had a picture on her desk of a pink flower.  She said, "Everyone should enjoy a little 'pink' every day.  It cheers us up.

CHEERS TO YOU!

TETANUS

Weeding this week I got a few cuts on my hands.  It got me thinking that it might be time for a Tetanus booster.   

Can Stepping on a Rusty Nail Give You Tetanus? We grow up hearing that a wound caused by a rusty nail can lead to tetanus, also known as lockjaw.  The bacteria that cause tetanus are common.  However, it is the nature of the wound, rather than the presence of rust that is connected with tetanus. The bacterium is Clostridia.

Clostridia can be found in soil, dust, feces and on even on the surface of the skin. The bacteria only reproduces in the absence of oxygen, so any deep wound can become a breeding ground.

  This is a picture of the nasty little vermin. (google.com)



 

Keep in mind, you can get cuts from gardening tools or wire fence.  Any object, whether it is rusty or not, that punctures or damages the skin, can lead to tetanus.  The symptoms can be severe causing spasms and muscle rigidity all over the body, most frequently in the face. 

Check with your doctor and get the vaccine or a booster every 10 years (or as your doctor recommends) . 
 

Second, wash deep wounds thoroughly an antiseptic / antibiotic wash.

And see a doctor if the wound does not heal promptly and cleanly.



 

OUR COMPOST PILE

This is one of my compost piles.


I have several wire cages I use for composting.  This mixture consists of rabbit droppings, straw, coffee grounds, spoiled vegetables, and grass clippings.  The Rustynail system of composting is about as simple as they come.

 

 

 

I'm sipping a glass of wine right now so forgive me if I get sloshed.

I'll try to keep my compost-ure.

 

Ok, this second picture, this one, right here, look down, see?

Well, this shows the compost after it has settled and cured a few months.

Sometimes I stir the compost with a swizzle stick..........I mean a pitch fork, or I use the tractor bucket to move it around and push it down.  Then I sit on the patio with more wine.

 

 

 

 

 

Sherioushly.........this is my hand, and this is the finished product.

This compost is full of nutrients and is nourishing.  It is also good for hangovers.

 

 

This loose, filtered compost is ready to spread around plants.

This pile composted in about 9 months.  Why hurry, good wine is worth waiting for, and so is good compost.

 

 

Last fall, we bought mulch at the yocal nursery.  I mean local, nursery.

Mulch is finely chipped bark and wood products.  Mulch holds moisture in the ground, cools the root system, and it goes good with cheese and wine.

                                                                 Shoveling the mulch.

 

 

 

 

I went for the bigger shovel.

I spread mulch around the fall mums.  I do not cut the dead stems until spring.
A. Stalks help me find them again in spring
B. The stalks nourish the roots through winter.
C. Wine nourishes me through winter.

This one I piled a little high because I was feeling a little tipsy.  You do not need to pile
it this high.  But you might need more wine.

Bottoms up!

 

 

Next issue: What to do with empty wine bottles.

 

taken from Pinterest

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHECKING THE HOSTA IN MAY

 

 

Let's visit the hosta and see how much they grew today.

Hosta intrigue me.  A month ago this spot was bare.

A few weeks ago little shoots began to pop up in clusters.

May 10th, and it is well on it's way to a beautiful plant.

This one is three years old this spring.

 

 

 

 Next to it is another variety with a powdery blue cast.

 

 

 

Hello pretty girl.  Welcome back. 

 

 

 

                                                         A lighter green variety.

 

 

                                                            What a nice walk that was.

                                                                       Wag wag.

SHOPPING AT THE NURSERY

 

 

We love to visit our local nursery. 

 

It inspires me to go home and landscape the whole yard.  I love trees with color, beautiful white bark, red leaves, pink blossoms, tall trees, short trees, you name it.  D. calls them specimen trees because they are a nice focal point in the yard.

 

D. heads to the rows of fruit trees to shop.

 

 

Still......checking out the fruit trees.  D. loves apple trees.

 

 

 

Oh, I would love one of these Weeping Cherry Trees.

Or two or three......

 

 

 

Nice Forsythia in bloom.  I have one.

  Purple Leaf Sand Cherry Shrubs.  I have some.

But I could use some more. 

 

 

On Sale .  Bonfire Flowering Peach-hmmm.

 

Sir, just put 41 in the red van sitting over there. 

 

 

    I might have to get one of these.

 

 

They ARE on sale.

 

 

Honey, come look over here!  Look what I found.

Don't you love it?  It's on SALE.

 

 

But.......but it might be gone tomorrow, or it might run away tonight.

I'd hate for it to get lost in the woods tonight.

 

Ok, I'll think about it....................how long must I think? 

Is 12 seconds long enough?  Then I'll come back and get it.

Honey, can you help dig the hole for this monster tree?

I had knee surgery 24 years 15 hours and 32 seconds ago................ :)