Fantasy Gardens

First Visitors of Spring

2010-04-28T18:43:19Z

Newcomers to my Backyard

I looked out the window last week and discovered these two visitors in the backyard. Then my dog, Riley, happened to go out the doggie door, spotted the ducks, and chaos erupted in my nice quiet yard. A little background information on Riley: He has a history of terrorizing the duck community at my city park and actually wiggled out of his collar and attacked and killed one. That was a disaster as it was witnessed by about 15 horrified people. He was with my husband at the time and when they got home, I marched him straight to the dog trainer. He started going on Pack Walks with many other dogs at that very same park and learned better socialization with dogs as well as leaving the wildlife alone.

Being at the park on a leash in an instructional walk with other dogs is a lot different than my backyard. He charged and raced all over chasing them, barking and making quite a nuisance of himself. The ducks promptly jumped in the pool and stayed there. Of course, now I had to go out there, collar and leash in hand, and have a big discussion with that darn dog.

Riley is the white dog in the pictures above. The first picture is his graduation from “Dog School” , the second from the same day, and the third is Riley with his friend, Reba. Doesn’t he look so innocent?

Next day the ducks were still there and so was Riley. More of the collar and leash; and more discussion. The ducks flew off and I thought that was the end of it but they were back the next day. Now they leave for short periods, probably to eat, but they come back. Of all the available places in this entire area, these idiots pick Riley’s yard. I am quite certain that they now think they are going to raise their family here (having a pool is a plus according to them) before they continue on the yearly migration to the far north for the summer.

They have been here for a little over a week now and Riley acts like he could care less. He walks out there, looks at them, and goes on with his business. If I hadn’t seen this with my own eyes, I would have never believed it. I am happy that ducks do not dig up gardens and don’t even bother any of my plants or planters. I put fresh water bowls out for them but am not feeding them. I do want them to leave when it’s time. The pool is saltwater and has a great filtering system. No one will be swimming until they are long gone and I will have a professional come out to test the water.

So, there was a little excitement for a few days, but now the backyard and the gardens are quiet again. I just love the springtime. Kathy

Unveiling the Pirate Chest Garden

2010-04-26T15:44:26Z

WhooooHooooo!!!

The Pirate Chest Garden

The Pirate Chest Garden is finally finished. All of the succulent plants are in and secure in the cactus soil mix and the soil stayed where it was supposed to. I feel like a major victory was achieved with that loose soil.

There is quite a variety of small succulent plants and my goal was to try to create the effect of a sunken ship resting at the bottom of the ocean with an underwater wild garden growing all around it.

The Sunken Ship in the Pirate Chest Garden

I added lights, little miniature white ones, throughout the ship and the succulent plants. This Pirate Chest Garden is going to have its home in my backyard patio. The patio is a fairly good sized one and the container garden project will be a nice addition. With the casters that my husband attached to the bottom, it will make moving to sunny or shady locations something I can do without a tow truck.

I also added a little Octopus and a Crab. I am still looking for a mermaid that might be the right size and maybe some very small fish. I know I just said this thing was done, but just a few added touched would just put it over the top for me.

This was a lot of work, and most of it in the planning stages. Thank goodness my next container garden projects will be a little bit faster to complete. At least I have enough of an idea and a picture in my head before I start.

I think that Container Gardens are an ideal hobby and I now have some great ideas for gift giving to my family and friends. I am busy stock-piling accessories and parts for future projects. And, since the gardens are for outdoors, these items do not have to be so brand new and shiny. The garage was the first place I raided and I retrieved quite a bounty of interesting items.

Under the Sea Garden

So, I hope you enjoy the pictures and I look forward to the next project. Kathy

Easter Blooms

2010-04-18T21:45:08Z

Easter in Bloom

The Sunken Ship in the Pirate Chest Garden

It’s just a few days past Easter and the spring weather has just become amazing. All the bulbs in the neighborhood are up and as well as the blossoming trees. The only downside is that my allergies are also in full bloom. Nothing is working this season to help short of putting a clothes pin on my nose so I can finally get a full night of sleep. I am like a zombie in the mornings and this will probably be like this until the end of May. I really want to get outside and plant my vegetable garden, but I think I am going to need help this year. I have raised beds for my gardens so it is so much easier to take care of. Last year my tomatoes were taller than me and we were giving away bushels of tomatoes and peppers.
The finishing touches are being completed today on my Pirate Chest Garden so you can see the pictures. It was fun to do and looks like it will be pretty easy to take care of. The chest has holes in the bottom for drainage and casters to roll it around.

The Pirate Chest Garden

My next project is going to be with bird houses incorporated in a container succulent garden. At least they won’t take near as long as my Pirate Chest to complete. I really like using succulents because they do not require a deep planting space. And they love to be crowded together. I have another big terra cotta planter filled with succulents that have grown pretty big so I will need to remove a few plants and put them somewhere else. I can’t seem to kill them which is a good thing. The big pot got knocked over and broke in a bunch of pieces scattering my plants all over the patio. All I had to do was get another pot, a little more cactus mix, and put it all back together. Not one plant died. If that would have been an Orchid, I would have had a plant funeral. Pictures of that are also in ‘My Pictures’ on this blog.
Got to get up off this couch and get busy. See you all soon. Kathy

Easter Week

2010-04-18T21:42:05Z

I sure wasn’t prepared for Easter Week to come sneaking up on me. We always make a big deal out of Easter Sunday and all of the FOOD!! This year instead of the traditional Ham (which I dearly love to put in the smoker) it is going to be a Salt-Baked Leg of Lamb. Got the recipe from the newspaper that featured the recipe from the Chef-Owner, Michael Mina, of the Stonehill Tavern in Dana Point, California.

I have previously tried fish recipes encased in salt and have a great one for small potatoes in salt that you do in a cast iron skillet. Unbelievably easy.

Anyway, I have spent most of the week scouring my kitchen ( I always seem to do this before a big food event, only to make such a huge mess), making a shopping list, and mentally justifying all the reasons that I will not be on my diet for an entire weekend. I have made a whole bunch of promises to myself that after this weekend, I am getting serious about this weight loss project and the restoration of my energy. I must admit that this winter I was like a bear in hibernation who added on a little too much.

The Ship and the Chest

My Pirate Chest is not forgotten; all the soil is in, it now has lights, and most of the plants have been placed but now planted yet. I thought it would be completely finished by now, but I am a little behind. I plan to make a huge effort in all of my projects next week.

My husband drilled holes in the bottom of the metal chest to attach casters. The chest, with all the dirt in it is going to be pretty heavy and I can’t even imagine how heavy it will be when I water it. I am hoping to be able to move it around for shade and the sun so the casters are a must.

Drilling Holes in the Metal Chest

Have a Wonderful Easter and Enjoy this meaningful time of the year. Kathy

Another Day of Indecision

2010-04-18T21:46:21Z

The Ship and the Chest

I have been wasting a lot of time starring at the Pirate Chest trying to figure out just which way I want to position the model ship that my husband broke in half for my project of a sunken ship. I know he is wondering if I have lost my mind so I am just going to flip a coin and that’s how the ship is going to be. This is such a dumb thing to be stuck on and I seem to have that problem of wanting everything to be so perfect, that nothing gets done. But not this time because I am going to move on.

I can’t wait until I can start putting in the soil for the plants. I am using a succulent/cactus mix that I got from my favorite Nursery. Actually, the nursery is about 225 miles from my house. It is in the town where my sister lives and every time I visit, we always make time to go to “Ron’s”. My Aunt used to go there when she was still with us, and she always said it was one of her favorite places. One visit and I was certainly hooked. If I was young again, I sure would have liked to work there. They are so creative and inspiring. It’s impossible to just make a quick trip there. Lots of beautiful things to look at.

By this weekend (today is Wednesday), that ship is going to be anchored in there and I am putting in the soil. Still have to drill a couple of holes in the bottom of the chest for drainage, but that should be fast. Also going to put some small casters on the bottom the the Pirate Chest so I can move it around.

I have been taking pictures so they will be published soon. I sure hope they turn out on this blog so that you can tell what you are looking at. I bought a photoshop program for the computer, but haven’t quite gotten into it yet. So very much to learn and not enough hours in the day.

Have a great Wednesday. Kathy

Latest on the Pirate Chest

2010-04-18T21:23:00Z

The Broken Sunken Ship

Well, the Pirate Chest garden is coming along, although rather slowly. The chicken wire is in and wasn’t the easiest thing to mold into the chest. Then ran into a problem with a type of material to go over the wire to keep the soil in place. My husband went to several places looking for something mossy and finally found what will work. Then the ship model doesn’t seem to want to stay put so that is another hurdle to overcome. I also have to make sure that all of this can be weather proof because I want to display it on my patio. The patio is covered so that will help but I don’t want the ship to fall apart either.

Terra Cotta Succulent Garden

I already have a planter with succulents in it that I made last summer and so far it is doing wonderful. I started to take more pictures of everything, but the camera was dead so it is on the charger.

I have quite a few succulent plants (small ones), so when I get this Pirate Chest Garden completed, I am going to plant a bunch of them around my Koi Pond. I also have two more containers, big square terra cotta ones, that I have some ideas for. I have a favorite nursery that has so many succulents, I can’t help but bring more and more home. They are so easy to take care of, not like me and orchids. I can’t keep an orchid alive no matter what I try.

More on the progress soon. Enjoy the day. Kathy