From the clipping file: Drought-tolerant fresh-air living rooms

The following images appeared in a garden bonus section of

the July 2009 issue of Sunset magazine. 

What inspires me about the image above:

bougainvillea

flagstone and gravel

garden gate

What inspires me about the image above:

stone and concrete table

pergola

flagstone

What inspires me about the image above:

olive tree as a shade tree

flagstone and gravel

chaise lounges

What inspires me about the image above:

Saltillo tile

What inspires me about the image above:

Saltillo tile

Wall of divided light doors

Potted flax as a large garden plant

NOTE: In an effort to downsize and organize my studio, I've been going through some of my clipping files and scanning the images, so I can send the original paper to recycling. I'm posting the images here for my reference and for pinning on Pinterest. 

These images are being shared for reference and educational purposes only. 
I do not claim them as my own. 
No copyright infringement is intended. 

It's perfect weather for garden installation around here

I think normally when someone says, "Yeah, I'm taking the whole week of Thanksgiving off because we have plans" it means that the person is traveling to spend the holiday with relatives or go on a vacation of some sort to celebrate the holiday.

Not so around here.

When Hubby said he'd be taking the whole week of Thanksgiving off because we have plans, it's because:

1. a portable storage container is being delivered to our driveway
2. the last of 1500 pounds of boulders needs to be moved out of the back of our low-riding pickup truck
3. the invasive ivy and vinca major that's grown through the fence from the neighbor's yard over the past few years needs to be hacked away
4. the boulders that were in the pickup need to be arranged to line the path down the south sideyard in preparation to install a pea gravel and flagstone path (which we'll probably tackle during his time off around Christmas)

Oh... and Hubby is also doing the pre-holiday food shopping that needs to be done while I'm sitting here typing this blog post. Yeah, I married a saint of a man.

The garage has, up to now, been our storage area for my floral design supplies (including some massive coolers too big to put anywhere else and big boxes of blocks of floral foam), home construction materials, and food storage in pantry units down one wall. Over the past few weeks, we've relocated the pantry units to available temporary space in the house, but there isn't room anywhere for everything else in the garage that needs to be cleared out in order to begin the work of transforming the space into my new studio.

So last week, we made the decision that we'd just have to bite the bullet and include the cost of a portable storage unit in our construction budget.

The portable storage unit was delivered on-schedule mid-day on Monday. It's called CoolBox because (unlike other portable store pods) this one is completely insulated so the interior stays more temperate. The 16 foot x 8 foot unit is now sitting in our driveway taking up one parking space with its door facing our garage door. Today, Hubby started the transfer of stuff from the garage to the unit while I worked on setting rocks.

Hubby had done the monumental task of cutting back ivy the past couple of Saturdays (despite being plagued with an allergic reaction to all the stuff he was kicking up in the process). Once he had cleared the ivy away to reveal bare ground, he started moving rocks from the back of the pickup and pre-placing them in a line.

Then it was my job to come along and apply my vision to the placement of the rocks. I had to dig, scoot, and rearrange to get each one looking just right. The long course of rocks now forms a raised bed for the warm climate lilacs, loquat trees and Cecile Brunner rosebush that form the dense arch of foliage leading down the sideyard to our "secret garden" in back.

Hubby smartly discovered one rock with a little "mouse hole" on the bottom and placed it perfectly over the irrigation line that runs to the raised bed (you can see it in the photo above). (I'm telling you, he's awesome!)

With the November air cool and crisp, it was the perfect time to be doing this hard labor.

This time of year is always interesting in the garden. There are some trees and bushes (the liquid amber, plum, pomegranate and cherry) that are turning beautiful shades of yellow gold or russet red. At the same time, the leaves of the non-deciduous trees and bushes, like the thick glossy loquat leaves, remain a lush green. The hummingbirds and bees still have plenty to snack on since the lavender, loquat and navel orange are in bloom. At the same time, their deciduous neighbors have bare branches ready for winter.

It's such a wonderful time to be out in the garden, I may have a hard time breaking away for the Thanksgiving festivities. Then again I'm "a bona fide turkaconis freak" of major proportions so it probably won't be that hard to lure me away.

We are not being compensated in any way by CoolBox Portable Storage or getacoolbox.com for the photo of their storage container or mention of their company's services in this blog post.

Slow and steady wins the race when it comes to fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, and garden installations

I know it is officially autumn when the Japanese maple tree begins to change color. It has. The leaves dance in the breeze in colors ranging from russet red to bronze to a pale Granny Smith green. Fortunately, this tree holds on to its leaves a long time after they've changed color, so Hubby and I can enjoy them and savor their beauty.

With the cooler daytime temps, I've been able to go back out into the garden to do involved hardscape installation that I can't do in the summer heat. However, I do have to keep telling myself the old adage, "Slow and steady wins the race" and that it's perfectly okay to do things at a slower pace than what my creative imagination and my ambitious brain would like.

Last Saturday, Hubby and I went to our local landscaping yard and handpicked over 1500 lbs of beautiful moss-rock boulders of various smallish sizes. Actually, I picked and Hubby lifted. I wasn't able to help because of a minor fibromyalgia/chronic fatigue flare-up. He loaded each rock onto a palette. Then the landscaping yard guy came and picked it up with a forklift, drove it to the scale and then to our truck where employee unloaded the palette into our truck and Hubby was able to finally get a break. The poor little pickup was riding pretty low on the way home, but it handled the rocks like the champ it is.

My flare-up has been keeping me from moving forward with installing the rocks as the border for a future pea gravel and flagstone path down the side yard, so the truck it still sitting the driveway (very low) full of rocks.

I keep repeating to myself, "Slow and steady wins the race... Slow and steady wins the race."

Because I haven't pushed my body (as I often do) I'm feeling this flare-up wane already. And if I don't jump the gun and let it completely subside, I'll feel just fine to start hauling rocks around in a couple of days.  Then I can line the path in preparation for a pea gravel to be put in so flagstone can be set in it.

I just have to remind myself, "Slow and steady wins the race... Slow and steady wins the race." You know, now that I think about it, I feel a little like Dory on Finding Nemo.

Learning something else new... edible forest gardening

The pineapple sage is in bloom right now and the hummingbirds are happy (taken 16 Oct 2012)

A couple of posts ago, I wrote about learning a new word--permaculture. The concept has had me transfixed ever since. Then a couple of days ago, someone I follow on Pinterest pinned a diagram of a garden design that had a link to a blog about permaculture. I followed it and was introduced to a new concept...

Edible forest gardening!!!

"Picture yourself in a forest where almost everything around you is food. Mature and maturing fruit and nut trees form an open canopy. If you look carefully, you can see fruits swelling on many branches—pears, apples, persimmons, pecans, and chestnuts. Shrubs fill the gaps in the canopy. They bear raspberries, blueberries, currants, hazelnuts, and other lesser-known fruits, flowers, and nuts at different times of the year. Assorted native wildflowers, wild edibles, herbs, and perennial vegetables thickly cover the ground. You use many of these plants for food or medicine. Some attract beneficial insects, birds, and butterflies. Others act as soil builders, or simply help keep out weeds. Here and there vines climb on trees, shrubs, or arbors with fruit hanging through the foliage—hardy kiwis, grapes, and passionflower fruits. In sunnier glades large stands of Jerusalem artichokes grow together with groundnut vines. These plants support one another as they store energy in their roots for later harvest and winter storage. Their bright yellow and deep violet flowers enjoy the radiant warmth from the sky. This is an edible forest garden." (www.EdibleForestGardens.com)

I read the above paragraph and found it wasn't hard at all to picture myself in that setting... because that's exactly what I have when I walk out my door into my own garden! I didn't even know that's what I had going on. Not a clue.  It's just so cool to think that by simply following my inner voice and the inspiration that kept coming into my mind when I needed it most, I've created an edible forest garden over the past 12 years. It seems like it was by accident but I don't believe in accidents. I think there was a divine power at work helping me with this all along.

I thought I'd share some photos from when we first bought our house in 2000 alongside some photos I took today. It was fun for me to compare how things have changed so much.

Our barren backyard when we bought the house in 2000

A Cecile Brunner rose bush grows like a tree with the lower branches
trimmed to form a natural walkthrough pergola along the side of the house.
Loquat trees grow up through the edges of the canopy of roses to reach the sun.
(photo taken 16 Oct 2012)

River rocks and flagstone hide the drainage system that drains rainwater away from
the house to prevent flooding of the crawlspace that we used to have every winter.
Warm climate lilacs and climbing roses grow along the fence line
with vinca major that was already here growing at ground level under their canopy.
The plum tree I planted in 2001 is big and mature (upper right)
(Photo taken 16 Oct 2012)

In the back corner the cherry tree that was already here forms a canopy for partial-shade loving plants.
The branches are good for hanging bird feeders. I fill them in the winter when the bugs are less active.
I've selectively allowed cherry saplings to grow to create a thicket for privacy and shade along the fence line.
In the spring, the cherry tree is covered with ladybug babies (ladybugs typically lay eggs on the forest floor).
(Photo taken 16 Oct 2012)

A pomegranate bush had been growing here when we bought the house,
but it had been cut down to the ground. I've let it grow back tall and beautiful next to
the Santa Rosa plum I planted in 2001. Together they provide shade for the pond and
a shady place to sit and watch the fish.
(Photo taken 16 Oct 2012)

This was the same view of the back of the house in July 2000 as the view
in the photo above. Such a huge difference!

The canopy opens up on this side of the garden and lets in lots of sun.
Lavender grows in pots around a water fountain to attract pollinators and ladybugs.
A bay laurel tree grows against the fence. We can use the lavender and bay leaves
in the pantry to repel bugs like weevils away from flour.
(Photo taken 16 Oct 2012)

There wasn't anything along that fence when we bought the house in 2000

In the center of the garden is the pond that is surrounded by potted subtropical plants
including aloe for medicinal uses, palms that will become habitats for barn owls when they get taller,
and a dwarf Morro blood orange tree (right) that gives us sweet fruit along with the other citrus trees.
(Photo taken 16 Oct 2012)

Strawberries grow in raised planters and pots under the protective canopy of one of the palm trees
next to the rock waterfall that flows into one end of the pond. The strawberries like the mini marine climate.
(Photo taken 16 Oct 2012)

What still amazes me is that we can have an edible forest garden on our lot that is only 50 feet wide. That's not very wide. Yet I'm still able to feel like I'm completely removed and secluded when I'm there...

...well, except for when the neighbor turns up his radio too loud. When news talk radio is blaring over the fence, I'm reminded I'm not in a secluded locale after all. Oh well. Fortunately, I have large spans of time during the day when I can pretend.

Did you know there is no such thing as a "green thumb"?

A couple of days ago, while hunting for information about something else I stumbled upon an online article that has had me thinking ever since. The particular quote that I continue to contemplate says:

"Think about it, nobody digs and sows, plants and weeds, or sprays bugs in a forest. Still, all those chores are taken care of somehow. The forest grows and feeds its inhabitants, doesn't it? 

"If any task in your garden is an unpleasant chore then there is definitely a better way to do it or to eliminate it. Learn from nature. Nature has already developed a solution to every problem that you could possibly encounter in your garden." (from What is permaculture?)

The sentence I underlined hit a chord with me and has resonated long after I finished reading.





This resonation has caused me to reflect on one of the first unpleasant chores I eliminated when we moved here over 12 years ago--keeping a lawn. Although mowing the lawn was never a distasteful chore that I did growing up (I learned to enjoy it), the thought of pampering the lawn and coaxing it to be lush and green during our hot, dry summers was not a pleasant prospect.

An interesting chain of events followed that pivotal decision to eliminate any thought of a lawn. And the events came from seemingly unrelated sources:

• Just prior to moving here, I had read (and re-read) Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes and fallen under the spell of her descriptions of all the herbs and plants she and her husband put into their gardens as they restored the Tuscan villa the gardens surrounded.
• In trying to educate myself on growing herbs and edibles (particularly the ones Frances Mayes wrote about), I discovered the age-old practice of companion planting.
• My mom stumbled upon the website for the National Wildlife Federation where they gave instructions of creating a backyard wildlife habitat.
• I discovered drip irrigation systems at our local hardware store and realized I could hook up all the tubing myself to a timer at the tap so everything got watered at once and regularly. I only had to handwater if I wanted to as a relaxation activity.
• Hubby really wanted me to grow fresh tomatoes for him. I really wanted to grow roses and citrus for me.
• I discovered a collection of gorgeous rocks left by the previous owners under a pile of decomposing leaves and rediscovered how beautiful hardscape can be in the garden. Paths of pea gravel and flagstone looked "Tuscan" to me and, in my estimation, were far prettier than any old lawn.

I took things slowly as far as the design of the garden was concerned. I needed to get to know the seasons in my new climate. I needed to familiarize myself with how the light hit different parts of our lot and how water drained (or didn't). One can only do that by taking things slowly as the seasons roll in and out for at least a year or two. I somehow knew that.

I discovered that one of the most important garden chores I would engage in was sitting parked in a patio chair for long stints of time and simply observing. No earbuds with music from an iPod... no book to read... no one there to chat with... just me sitting alone with the garden. And the garden "told" me an awful lot about itself that I never would have "heard" otherwise.






What ended up happening was that I stumbled upon the very truth that I just read a couple of days ago. I had no idea I had lit upon a key aspect of permaculture. In fact, I'd never read about permaculture until I read the article I quote above.

But somehow my own garden taught me something that nature is always willing to teach anyone who will listen. "If any task in your garden is an unpleasant chore then there is definitely a better way to do it or to eliminate it."

I now enjoy a somewhat symbiotic relationship with my garden. It provides me with so much--particularly serenity. And it doesn't demand much of me in return because I've allowed nature to create a balance. I feel that I was guided through the process of discovering this truth by a much wiser power than my own intellect, so that I could enjoy what the article finally says:

"If you think ahead and design your permaculture garden right, it won't take much effort, it will mostly look after itself, and it will also be incredibly productive and beautiful and attractive to wildlife."

I wish I could somehow infuse that vision into others that they could see what lies ahead if they step back and let nature do it's thing. Oh how I wish I could. And that the result doesn't have to look like a tumble-down mess. It can have wonderful structure and still have nature taking care of most of the chores. Your garden can be inspired and designed after ones in Tuscany or cottage gardens in England or the great plains of the North American continent. The possibilities for inspiration are endless.

In the past 12 years, I've learned one more very important truth... there is no such thing as a "green thumb". Those individuals who appear to have a "green thumb" are actually seeking out and absorbing gardening information through every source possible and particularly through observation. That's the only difference between a "green thumb" and a "brown thumb".

In my estimation one can never have too many rocks

Just look at that pile of gorgeous bad boys! It's one of the most beautiful sights ever... a pile of huge hunks of naturally eroded and rounded off granite. I have my sister and her husband to thank for these. They were moving from their home and asked if I would like to give these boulders a home. I couldn't say, "Yes!" fast enough.

Then came the hard part... getting them from their house to ours.

The boulders are so large and heavy that multiple trips were involved. Aching muscles and backs were too, Hubby tells me. I obeyed his strict orders to stay away from the loading and unloading zones. Our trusty little Toyota pickup was riding low with these behemoths loaded in the back. But the Tacoma never whimpered. Now the wheelbarrow... that was a different story altogether. Let's just say we have to procure a new one and leave it at that, shall we?

Once the rocks were unloaded into a pile in the middle of the unfinished half of the back garden, Hubby gave me permission to roll them around to my heart's content as long as I didn't try to lift them and strain myself irreparably. As my personal "Jiminy Cricket", he knows me well enough to know I'd do something stupid if he didn't give me carefully worded and firm parameters. Luckily, I listen better to my Jiminy than Pinnochio ever did to his.

I took my time getting around to rolling any rocks since I've been recuperating from a nasty bronchial virus I caught over two weeks ago. The delay gave the lizards and the little semi-feral garden kitty time to claim the rock pile. Little Missy regularly sits on the largest boulders surveying her domain while toasting her petite fanny on its sun-warmed surface. The lizards enjoy sunbathing too as well as darting in and out of every shadowy crevice catching bugs to eat.

Once I was feeling up to it, I rolled the first rocks into place to better define a canna lily bed (above). The rocks fit like a glove. I was feeling so good about them that I decided to roll a few more into place in a different location under the lemon tree to better define the path that curves under its branches (below). These large boulders will be an important addition to hold pea gravel in place so I can place flagstones along the remainder of the path as I've already done further back toward the shed and thicket.

After rolling 5 boulders weighing at least 100 lbs piece I was pooped. I have yet to roll anymore from the pile. I have to do some planning and clearing first. I got the clearing pretty much done the past couple of days. Now I just need to decide what goes where.

In the meantime, Little Missy and the lizards are doing a great job vying for who is Ruler of the Rock Pile.

From a problem spot in the garden to a brilliantly colored canna lily collection

My favorite color of all my canna lilies, "Apricot Dream"

When I first started gardening here at Rosehaven Cottage, I was faced with a conundrum. Due to weird drainage issues in the back garden, I decided to work with the problem instead of against it and dug a pond. These drainage issues and the pond created a unique situation... an area with clay soil, boggy conditions and full sun. I went on a hunt for what would grow in these conditions, but found that not many bog plants love full sun... at least the kind of full sun we get around here in the height summer--intense blistering sun and rarely any summer rain.

That's when I discovered canna lilies. I knew of them as some really common varieties are grown a lot around the Bay Area in mass plantings. Most of those varieties are planted for their variegated or burgundy-tinged foliage. The variegated ones usually produce a bright orange flower. The burgundy-tinged foliage produce a brilliant scarlet flower. As I often do, I went on a hunt to see if there were other varieties besides what was always in stock at the big box and home improvement stores.

I first searched at our local nursery center and found the common varieties I was used to seeing. I bought some of the burgundy-tinged cannas with their brilliant scarlet red blooms to put in the area right by the pond and give it a go.

The cannas LOVED it! They liked have soggy feet and sun-scorched heads. In fact, they began propagating on their own rather quickly through an underground reproduction system similar to rhizome plants like iris. I was very pleased. I have really good luck with bulbs and rhizomes (not so much with seeds) so this seemed to be a good fit.

But I wanted more variety. And I wanted lush looking bright green foliage that looked like it came straight off a tropical island.

The color of watermelon!

I went to the trusty internet to find out what other colors canna lilies came in and to see if I could procure some. Hunting around I was in a tropical-lover's paradise. I felt like I'd been transported to my beloved Hawaiian island of O'ahu.

It was then that I knew I needed to have a canna lily garden with all my favorite varieties I was finding. I didn't want all the colors... just the ones that made me smile the moment I saw their photograph.

This color also reminds me of ripe juicy melon

This year is the first year that the canna lilies have really filled in the beds I created and they've put on the tropical color show I'd been envisioning when I ordered them over the internet.

Some grow in large pots that sit directly on the ground with a dripper in each connected to the entire drip-mist system that irrigates my drought-tolerent garden. Some are directly in the ground (with a dripper at the base of each) in a raised bed right next to the deck so when I lean over the railing I am met with an explosion of colors that rivals any crayola box. It amazes me because nothing else really wants to grow there. But the cannas do.

Canna lilies are sensitive to frost so they eventually wither up and turn brown some time in December. I leave the dead foliage on as frost protection until around early March. Then I gently cut it all back to find new green spears emerging from the old foliage. By May or June, I have beautiful green tropical foliage and the beginnings of the bloom that lasts all summer if I continue to deadhead them.

I couldn't be happier with the result. And each year the beds will get fuller and more beautiful because of the canna's propensity to self-propagate.

Not bad considering it all started out because I had a problem spot in the garden.

New Plants and More of the Spirit of Aloha in the Garden

Above: The "beach" of the pond where I already have touches of the spirit of Aloha
in the canna lilies and potted palms (squirrel-planted seedlings now in pots)

Yesterday, I was left with the instruction from Hubby that I should do something that "feeds my spirit". I thought long and hard about what to do to achieve that. Then I realized that I probably should go to WalMart and see if they had any of their planting pots at super-low discount prices like they always do in August. I knew I needed to buy bags of soil anyway, so it was a good excuse to go and "play" in WalMart's nursery center.

Although I usually prefer to buy my plants from local nurseries, WalMart is a great place for me to find inexpensive bagged soil, pots, and sometimes an interesting plant or two. I wasn't in a hurry, so I decided to slowly browse through their plants. Most looked very healthy (our WalMart's nursery center is very well managed), and I was intrigued by all the sub-tropicals they had in stock.

When I came upon a fairly mature plumeria (no blossoms on it yet), my heart leapt. I have a great love for Hawaii because I spent a semester of college on the North Shore of Oahu at BYU-Hawaii way back oh-so-many years ago. Plumeria is the quintessential Hawaiian plant. To be able to grow it in my own garden would be a dream come true. I carefully reviewed the tag. Interestingly, it is hardy to 30 degrees and if given a place outside of intense heat or intense cold, it will thrive in our climate! Hallelujah!

In my head, a garden design began to form for the corner where I've already planted the brugmansia--a garden design for a "Hawaii Garden". It already had a water feature with a red canna lily growing in it. It already had the tropical looking brugmansia and white oleander, it had the necessary shelter... it was perfect!

Then I browsed around the other sub-tropicals and settled on a new plant that I'd never seen before--a "Golden Shrimp Plant" (Pachystachys lutea). I also decided to finally buy two Bird-of-Paradise plants (one orange and the other a giant white with blue throats), as I've always wanted them in my garden.

I came home and started to work on getting the planters built out of recycle concrete blocks and rocks left over from my shed demolition. Once I had the planters constructed, I dumped the new bagged soil in each and then planted the new arrivals. The final step was to make sure each one was properly irrigated with the drip-mist system that waters the entire garden. Just one new connection needed to be made for the plumeria. The others were adequately watered by increasing the spray on an existing full circle sprayer for the brugmansia.

I am so pleased with the result. It is so tranquil in the "Hawaii Garden". Hubby and I sat out there as the sun went down last night simply enjoying the space. It is our own little piece of Hawaii and the spirit of Aloha in our own garden.

Above: The "Hawaii Garden" after installation.

Above left: Plumeria
Above right: Bird-of-Paradise plants

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