More Birdhouses!

Here are some more birdhouses I painted - probably the last.  Kind of tired of this project now :)

This last one is one I made for my parents... hope they like it!! :)

Faerie Garden Bird Houses

I started a project last week (SPRING BREAK!) of painting bird houses to look like cute little fairy gardens.  The first two that I did are at my dad's house waiting to have their posts installed so that I can stand them up in the garden.  The third one, however, I just finished.  I am going to call it "Watermelon Cottage".  What do you think?

Here are side and back views and a close up of the front.  Note the faux grass/flowers I painted around the base.  They are meant to emulate English Daisies.

Also, I just remembered the last birdhouse of this style I made, I surrounded the bird hole up top with buttons as well.  But now I can't decide which color scheme to use... what do you think?


(A) Not sure about adding yellow :(

 (B) This green looks a little washed out

(C) I like how the dark green buttons are somewhat reminiscent of watermelon seeds, but they seem a bit on the large size..

(D) Pink and green varied buttons.

Vote now, vote often, and help me decide!

Labels For Garden Plants

"Labels" is too pedestrian a term.  The website from which I derived this idea termed this project as "garden jewelry," a term which more adequately describes these pretty (and functional!) garden ornaments.  To get started, you'll need a few supplies:

MATERIALS:

1. Can lids which have been cut so no sharp edges show (I use a Pampered Chef Can Opener which works perfectly for this purpose.
2. Sharpie markers, your choice of color
3. Beads and jewelry loops (optional)
4. Paint (spray paint, or acrylic - I used both at various points in the project)

TOOLS:

1. Needle-nosed pliers (I prefer the kind that have a spring in the middle so that they stay open naturally - it makes this process much easier)
2. Wire cutters (not shown)
3. Drill (not shown)
4. Low-melt glue gun (not shown)

The first thing I did was assemble the "jewels" that I wanted to hang down from the bottom of my lid/label:

 

 

The next step was drilling the holes, followed by spray painting the lids.  Next I (and by "I" I mean my dad - I'm not strong enough) cut the hangers into cute little "hooks" for the lids to hang on.  You can get 2 - 3 hooks from a single coat hanger, depending on how conservatively you make your cuts and how tall you need your hooks to be:

Finally, the fun part: Writing on and decorating the lids and attaching the jewels.  I used a low-melt glue gun to fill the small gaps in the jewelry loops because they didn't always stay closed and would slip off. 

Here are some "glamour" shots. 

 

Toad House Update

So I remembered today that I had read online that if you paint a terra cotta pot, you should paint inside and out, or else water will seep in to the pot and cause the paint to peel.  So, to that end, I had to finish painting my toad house.  I also made a little "Welcome" sign and embellished the windows with some faux window planters and flowers (painted on, of course!).  Here you go:

I can't wait to install this in my garden!  Just waiting to put my plants in, then in it goes!

Above, close up of my window!  So cute! (I painted a window on both "sides" of the house so either way you position the pot you can see a window)

Above, you can see I painted the inside of my pot dark green and the outside of the "lily pond" light green.

It's hard to see but the sign above says, "Frogs and Toads Welcome!"

By the way, I bought "Patio Paint outdoor" from the Michael's in Annapolis. The paint was located on the shelf above the ceramic pot and basin.  The pot was $2 and the basin was $1.  The paints were $1.79 each.  I purchased the following colors:

Apple Green
Mistletoe green
Carnation Pink
Blue Bahama

I accented the water lilies with some dark pink petals (Americana Gloss Enamels Razzle Berry) and yellow centers (Americana Gloss Enamels Bright Yellow) that I already had.  I painted the windows, flowers and lily pads free-hand.  But if you aren't as artistic, you might find some stickers in the scrapbooking section of Michael's that you could use instead.  Also, I used a black sharpie to write on the welcome sign.  Happy Gardening!

Toad House

For all you Mario aficionados out there, this is a different kind of toad house.  This is a real "house" (actually a terra cotta pot turned on its side) for real toads.  It's good to encourage their presence in your garden as they eat insects and other garden pests.  So here's mine!

I painted it by hand.  I bought the pot and basin and some outdoor paints @ Micheals.  The basin will fill with water and then the toads can drink from it or frolic in it or whatever toads do in water. :).  I will nestle the pot into the dirt a bit so it doesn't roll around and put a bit of dirt on the bottom - just a bit - to keep it in place.  It will be a cool resting spot in my garden for my toad and froggie friends!  YAY! :)

ps this link was my inspiration:

http://pinterest.com/pin/381046818442192469/

Faerie Garden!

Today I attended Homestead Garden's "How to Make a Fairy Garden" Workshop.  There was no instruction, but materials were supplied for us to make our own garden.  It was lots of fun and I definitely feel like I got my money's worth.  We were allotted 5 plants (I chose smaller ones because I love the miniature plants) and 2 (painted resin) garden ornaments (I chose a mushroom and a gnome).  Since I chose smaller plants, I wasn't quite satisfied with the result.  So when I got home, I went to for a walk in the woods and "harvested" some moss which I planted in my faerie garden (faerie is so much more romantic than fairy, don't you think?).  Take a look!

Here are some of the other peoples' faerie gardens:

 A pathway to an adarondack chair seemed a popular motif.  See the fairy in the corner?  I mean, faerie?

 Another chair.  I think I might be the only one who didn't use a chair in her motif.  I just can't see a fairie or gnome or wood nymph sitting in such a modern creation.  I see them more sitting on a tree stump or a clump of moss or something.

 Yup.  Another chair.

 And another.

 Chair and mushroom.

 I kind of wish I had this in my garden.  It looks so relaxing! Too bad I'm not fairy-size.  I wonder if faeries knit? Maybe they use cobwebs to make gossamer-thin gowns for themselves.  There's a romantic idea.

 This one looks pretty relaxing, too!  The fairy is hiding behind the plant.

 Here's mine with the moss added:

 Top down view (fairy's view?)  See the cute little mushroom on the left?

 Isn't this guy so cute?  He looks like he's up to something...

 That's why he's hiding behind that fern, I think

Yup, definitely up to something.

Seedling and Garden Update!

Hello All!

If you've been reading this blog, you might be wondering what ever became of my seedling project.  Here's an update:

I successfully sprouted two rounds of seedlings in my Aerogarden and transplanted them to small biodegradable containers.  The seeds that came up quickly and developed quickly are as follows:

Sweet Alyssum (purple and white)
Morning Glory
Marigold
German Chamomile (note: seeds are tiny so I ended up accidentally pouring like 20 seeds in each seed sponge b/c they were so hard to work with.  Next time I need a plan to separate the seeds or something.)

I would definitely grow these again from seed.  I'm an impatient person by nature so seeds that have a long germinating time kill me.  Seriously. 

Seeds that took a long time to sprout:

Pansies/violas (I might start them from seed again next year, but I'd start them a month earlier - possibly as early as January so I have mature plants by April.  They are slooooooow but the first round finally germinated and developed so now I have some pansy seedlings.  I planted a second round of the seeds and am still waiting for them to develop.  So slow!)

Columbine (FAILURE)- apparently these guys take about 22 days to sprout, which is about 21 days longer than my attention span, so before they could even germinate, I threw them out and planted something else in the seed sponge.  Ain't nobody got time fo' dat!  If I decide to cultivate columbines anywhere in my garden, I'll just buy some from the nursery.  Too much trouble!

Wild Violet (FAILURE) - the germination time for these seeds exceeded my patience level so they got tossed as well.  Maybe I'll do a direct sow in a pot outside when the weather warms up.  We'll see.

Bee balm - didn't have success with this germinating.  I'll do a direct sow in a pot when the weather warms up.  It's supposed to grow like a weed and it's a hot weather plant, so I feel confident I'll have success with it outside.

Still waiting for:

Hyssop and Shasta Daisy - I planted these in my second round of seedlings in the Aerogarden.  A few of them have started but they're still tiny little things.  Hopefully they'll come around by mid April.

Seeds I haven't planted yet:

Petunia
Borage
Bachelor's Buttons
Nasturtium
Chives
Parsley (curly and flat leaf)
Cilantro
Lemon Balm

All of these will be sown directly in pots when the weather warms up, or, if I'm feeling ambitious I'll start them in the Aerogarden and then instead of the intermediate seed pots, I'll just plant the seed sponge outside. 

Right now I have about 4 dozen little seedlings that need watering at least twice a week and it's killing me!  It takes about 20 minutes to water them all.  I carry the palates over to the sink and water them there.  I try to saturate each one without displacing any soil, so I water each one multiple times until the soil and container are soaking wet.  We've had a cold spell these last few days so the furnace has been running more (even though we keep it on 66 F) so they've been drying out more quickly. 

My Pelargoniums ("Scented Geraniums")

All six plants are doing well but need to be transplanted soon.  Larger pots will mean less frequent watering (I hope) and happier plants.  But the plants are still alive for now, which is good news.  Hopefully I can stick them outside in a month or so when the weather has warmed up, and hopefully they will grow and flourish in the summer sun. I also want to try propagating them by cutting off leaves.  Maybe later after I'm sure the plants are very happy.


Outside Garden Plan:

They're calling for snow Sunday night into Monday morning, so my plans of planting stuff in the backyard have evaporated (the landscapers are working right now even as I type this and will finish up next week - yay!).  I'll have to wait a few weeks to buy stuff and plant it - after the danger of a hard frost has passed.  I'm trying to be patient, but patience is not my strong suit.  I have a feeling if I stick with gardening, though, I will have to learn patience! 

Also, completely unrelated, I'm working the Bowie Green Expo for Mama Cocoa on April 13th so that'll be fun.  And a few weeks after that is the Bowie/Crofton Garden Club Plant Sale.  So fun!!!

Sorry for the lack of pictures in this post.  I'll try to post some next time.  Happy Gardening!