Repurposing Seaside Cottage Garden Art

Finding Inspiration . . . .

Here . . . . .

There . . . . .

Everywhere . . . . .

One of my personal goals for the year is to simplify and redecorate my home and studio using furniture and accessories (and art) that I already have. Since I am fortunate to live near the Newport Bay and Pacific Ocean I wanted to give my home an updated coastal feel at the same time keeping the cottage garden look I love. . . and at the same time . . . staying on a very tight budget. I had my sofa, side chair and ottoman slip covered in white cotton denim at a 30% off sale and moved furniture and accessories around from other rooms in my home. I added lots of blue sky and water to some of my existing paintings - and at the same time left the flowers to give them the new coastal cottage garden look.

Let's take a look around and I will show you what I have been up to!

In keeping with "it's not what you don't have - it's what you do with what you do with what you do have" philosophy of decorator and author Kitty Barhlomew - I decided to re purpose another one of my garden paintings to give it a coastal feel.

First, I painted out the white bistro chair and began painting in the blue sky and blue ocean.

I moved the yellow wicker chair from my office to the living room and wanted to add more yellow to the painting to pick up the color in the chair. I sketched in a white wicker chair using my own chair and throw cushions as inspiration.

I felt the floral design on my yellow pillow was too much and competed with the flowers on the table and also that the angle of the chair was not right.

I changed the angle of the chair and painted out the flowers on the pillow and painted the pillow a solid yellow.

I paint outside as weather permits so I can really see the colors in daylight. Now that the painting is complete - let's take it inside and hang it over the fire place to see how it looks.

Bentley, my Studio Assistant has been patiently waiting to get a first hand look!

Looks like Bentley approves and is waiting for our next project!

Thank you for visiting. I love to hear from you and it really means a lot to me that you have taken time to leave me a comment and to follow my blog. If you have any questions or would like to see me paint something special, please leave me a comment or send me an e-mail.

Wishing you and your family a joyous and blessed Easter and Passover season.

Blessings, Erin

Geranium 'Bevans Variety'

A number of years ago we had a garden center right up the road from us. It was part of a chain, the name was Franks Nursery and Crafts. Many of the plants carried by Franks were of the basic variety but if you looked carefully you would often find a true treasure.

I learned quickly that hardy Geraniums do quite well in my zone 6b garden here on Long Island. There are so many different types, some that prefer sun and others that need more shade.

One of the first varieties I bought was this one, Geranium macrorrhizum 'Bevan's Variety'.

(Side note, this tag is at least 6 or 7 years old and still in perfect condition!)

Here you can see this plant growing in the garden. This bed is not at all typical of my garden. You can still see the soil!

This area has a huge problem, it is at the base of a Norway Maple (Acer platanoides) tree that sucks the life from everything around it. Hardly anything grows here because the ground is chock full of roots and always dry. And yet, you can see how well this charming Geranium does here.


This week I hope to carefully pry this plant out of the ground and divide it into at least a half dozen pieces. In the past when I first planted it, I didn't use the internet to research proper growing conditions. Today I googled Geranium macrorrhizum and found a wealth of information at Mobot's wonderful site. Apparently I got lucky when I planted it in this horrible site as this Geranium is quite tolerant of dry conditions.

The new divisions I get will be spread around the garden in a few locations plus I might have 2 or three potted up for sale. I will try the new pieces in areas with better soil and a bit more sun to see how well this baby can shine.

Don't you love it!

Melanie

Black Gold

One simple photo, so many thoughts!

This photo shows a young Hellebore in my back shade bed. It has a bud about to unfurl.

Looking at this photo my first thought is that I need to get the leaves off the plants in this garden. But wait, there's also a second strong though. Look at all that black gold!

Black gold is what some gardeners like to call compost. These leaves haven't composted enough to be black and crumbly but they are still valuable. I will be careful when cleaning these beds and all these nicely broken down leaves will be added to the compost heap.

Don't bag up and give away your black gold!

Melanie

I've just birthed a baby!

My oh my am I tired. I've just birthed a baby!

Ok, maybe I'm not as tired as all that. Still, if you want to see what's got me so excited, you will have to visit my new blog, Melanie's Perennials.

So why a new blog? Well, I'm going to bite the bullet and start that little gardening business I've been dreaming about. I've been tip-toeing around the whole subject for years now, it's time to get down to business.

Tomorrow morning I need to be out there as soon as I've got enough light so that's why I'm posting tonight instead of in the morning.

Don't worry, I won't be giving up this blog. Melanie's Perennials will be geared towards the business end of gardening. How to hire me for lectures (I've been doing them for years and years), when my garden is open for tour and what plants will be for sale (and when).

Can you tell that I'm excited!

Melanie

Swamp Path Progress

I spent some time last weekend picking up sticks from the woods and using them to edge my paths. I shoveled some more sand around, too. I now have a clear path right to the heart of our swamp, for the moment.

Here is the view into the woods:



. . .and this is the view back out:

The War Will be Won

Chris' anti-bunny fence is up! It still needs a bit of clean-up around the edges, but it now encloses the garden.



The fence cost us less and took less time than we thought it would, so Chris asked me if I would mind if he started turning his rows into raised beds. I can't resist when he gives me those puppy-dog eyes, so I said yes. And I have to say, the result is turning out to be rather pretty, even if it does currently bear some resemblance to trench warfare.

Composting Chris

For Chris' birthday this year, I bought him a compost tumbler. This particular compost tumbler is a ball that you turn by rolling around the yard.

Before loading the icky kitchen scraps into the ball, I made Chris get inside for a photo-shoot.






So far the design of the compost ball seems sound. It wasn't too difficult to assemble, according to Chris, and in theory it can be rolled over to wherever the final compost is to be dumped. In theory it will produce compost in a matter of weeks, but that will only be true at the hottest time of the year. We plan to keep it inside the fence to discourage hungry animals from chewing into it.

Sunday morning stroll

It's a misty, foggy morning here on Long Island. Perfect weather to play in the garden, that is if you like to get muddy :-) I've got my muck shoes and slicker waiting for me in the breezeway, as soon as I put this post up I'll be out there having fun.

Walking around with my camera shielded by my bright red slicker I saw many things that need to be tended to. The clumps of Sedum are already pushing forward their lovely rosettes, I have many that still have last year's dead growth on them. Must cut them back!


The crocus are about finished with their bloom. Some clumps have grown quite large and cramped. I have never read about dividing crocus but I think they need it. I'm going to try to break this clump up into three or four pieces and place them in new locations.


The primroses have started to bloom. Here's another plant that looks to me like it could be divided. I've only divided them once before, many years ago and must have done something wrong because I lost both divisions. This year I'm going to try to divide them gently now, before we get too much warm weather.


Oh no! What is it about spring with the wait, wait...Hurry Up cycle? The last gardens that I clean are the shade beds in the back of my property but the Hellebores are coming up and starting to bloom and I'd better get out there some time this week.


Ugh! There's nothing pretty about this mess in my potting area. Can't pot up new babies without fixing this spot. One of these days I'm going to have to address a ground cover as the area turns to instant mud when ever there is a rain. It's too shady for grass, a concrete is too expensive. This year it might have to be a few loads of wood chips. I sure wish we could have those darn toothpick Hemlocks removed as they are almost dead (some already are) and they just take up space.
Last shot for today. Here's a little bit of what I worked on yesterday. Found lots of pots with growth in them, they are on the bottom layer. The top of the bench has Sempervivum (hens and chicks) that I started potting up. I think working with them is my most favorite task in the garden.

Off to make some mud,
Melanie

Gabe's Garden, Progress!

Garden priority these last weeks has been getting Chris' fence up, but I've had some time to nibble away at Gabe's garden, too, along with some other clean-up around the yard. Here is the raspberry and strawberry bed, with the straw removed from the strawberries. I realized it was high time to release them from hibernation when I saw a butterfly in the front shrubs. (It was one of those white ones with a black spot on the wing - a cabbage white?)

Also, the peepers are singing merrily! We opened the bedroom window last night and had them serenade us.



I built up the beds of Gabe's Garden from chunks of sod, and I had been getting progressively more worried about erosion, about the soil drying up and blong off, about the work it would take to break up the sod clumps, and about the sod growing. So when I started pulling the straw off of the strawberries, I realized that I could layer it on the beds and solve all of those problems at once. When the plants are ready, I will clear places for them in the straw. It's a variation on lasagna beds, or sheet composting.

The first plants have been plunked into the beds: some irises went around the poor silly Norway maple, and our live Christmas tree from three winters ago (not pictured) went into a spot closer to the house. Neither of these are native, but it seemed like a good use for plants I needed to move anyway.



Irises are poisinous, but the base of the Norway is outside of the main "toddler containment ring". We had to move the iris patch that had been in front of the shed, in order to get Chris's bunny barrier in place. They were overgrown and in need of redistribution anyway. I dug two buckets of them - ten gallons of irises! - and gave away all but a half bucket.



This is the keyhole bed where the serviceberry seedlings will go. I would write more, but Gabe is demanding a diaper change now!

Female Deer Tick - Tick Check Time!

While Michelle, Gabe, and I were taking a lunch break Michelle suddenly startled and screeched. She then said oh crap as she searched around for the tick she though she had flung out into the room. In the end I found it crawling up her arm and picked it off into a coke bottle cap. I took it outside to get some good shots of it with the camera before "retiring" it.


It is somewhat hard to believe that this little female deer tick can fit on the head of a pencil eraser and have room for company. At this same time a large percentage of them harbor Lyme disease. Even if they bite you it takes them a while to fully embed themselves, I guess they take their time so you don't notice the bite. You have a window to remove them when you get bit, so always take the time when you've been in brush to do a tick check. I do a full check whenever I come in from the garden and I've discovered more than one that way.


I flipped it over so you could see the underside. Scary beast.

Florida Wetlands

Florida is the most fascinating place. I've only seen small parts of it but I've loved every thing I've seen so far. What grabs my attention the most are the wetlands that I've visited with my mom. Some day I'd like to go kayaking or on a small boat through the swamps.

I think people tend to think of beaches and skyscrapers like what they show on CSI Miami but there is so much more to Florida than that. We are surrounded with lovely beaches here on Long Island so I guess they don't call to me as much as they do with other tourists.

My mom and I could walk for hours so these nature centers are the perfect spot for us to visit.


The two nature preserves I've seen are built on the same concept. They have long boardwalks built just above the swamp. Native plant life is encourage to grow to help support the multitude of birds and creatures in the area. Parts of the boardwalks cross large open areas like you see above.

At times, the boardwalks cut through groves of trees.

Every now and then you will come across a shelter built on a small side path. What a wonderful place to sit and take a rest or as in our case, shelter from a sudden rain squall.

The plant material is thick and luscious. I don't have botanical names for these but I can guess that this plant is in the iris family.

Here's another beauty we saw in the water. Mom and I wondered if the bud opened on sunny days or if this is what it looks like in full bloom.

More plant material. I couldn't find a reference of this plant anywhere but it sure looked like a Canna lily to me.

The flowers that we saw weren't huge and in your face as is the case so often with species plants versus hybrids. Still, the simplicity alone was stunning.

Of course a walk through the wetlands wouldn't be complete without a good viewing of an alligator. We also spied out quite a few babies that were swishing through the water.

Ha Xuan, when we were walking there I thought about you and wondered if this was similar to Vietnam. I also thought about how incredibly difficult it must have been for those early explorers to make their way though this wild but beautiful land.

The last few days were insane here as I wrapped up my commitments to help run our high school fashion show. Finally, today I can get out in to my own garden. Yesterday we had balmy temperatures in the 60's but I didn't get to peek at a single plant. Today is cooler and damp but I can't wait to get out there and decide what chore I will begin now. I'm just dying to start dividing and planting.

Planning on getting nice and muddy,
Melanie