A bad news - good news day today...
A few days ago I put together a 3 tied succulent combo hanging basket. I didn't post it on here yet because I was trying to figure out the best way to get a nice photo of it. This was what I had.
But now it doesn't really matter. Here's the sad story. Our weather here in Florida has been beautiful in the mornings into early afternoon (at least where I live)and then raining, sometimes pouring hard in the afternoon or evenings. So I have been hanging this outside in the mornings and then bringing it back into my screen room every afternoon. Well this morning as I was moving it, the way I was holding it the hook moved on the chains and the whole thing crashed to the floor. Yes that was the bad news.
After better than an hour of scooping up dirt and gently picking up succulents and then redoing the whole thing it doesn't seem to be to much the worse for wear. I did replace a couple that had more damage so they can just rest by themselves. However I am going to let them all have a little R & R in the house for a bit before I hang them (carefully) again. I am also going to bend the hook so it can't come undone!!
I also need to re-identify them since all their ID tags also went helter-skelter, but that shouldn't be too hard, just a little time consuming.
Oh the good news; I have a bunch pieces that broke off that I will use to root out for new plants!
The big project for the past week has been to enlarge the landscaped base of the palm tree. It has been bursting at the seams for the past year and I decided it was time. I had been putting it off because I knew I would have to buy new border pieces that would make a larger circle, and more rock to fill in said circle.
First I had to dig out the old rock. (you can see where the border has been pushed apart)
Next there was the digging out the sod to set the new border pieces in.
Make sure the circle is right size and the depth is good.
Lay down the fabric liner.
Finally, fill in with rocks.
And now I can set out the fun little fairy, scary garden. (Or whatever mini-garden of the season I might want to place there)
After reading about the Sun Hosta on this wonderful wedsite, I decided I needed (yes NEEDED) to add this plant to my gardens. Because of the mixed reviews I have read on getting the best results with this plant, I wasn't sure what area I wanted to put it into. So when I bought my plant, I was sure to select one that could easily be divided into 2.
The first area I selected is in with the Caladiums. This is on the east side and gets fairly late good morning, early afternoon sun. It doesn't get early morning sun because of a neighbor's oak tree.
The second area is with the Bromeliads. This is on the north side and gets good early morning sun. This area is also more protected from frost because it is under an oak tree canopy. However I don't expect frost or freeze to really be a problem as we don't too either one too often or too heavy. I think the hosta is strong enough to withstand these.
Time will tell as to which area seems to do better for them. The great thing about plants, you can always move them somewhere else if you have to.
Now that creating fairy gardens has become my latest hobby, I am always looking for things that would make a great container. When I came across an old wicker (actually plastic wicker) coffee table someone was throwing out my mind started going. As quite often happens, I get so excited about starting my project that I for forget to take "before" pictures. So I found a generic photo that was similar to the table I saved from the trash. The only difference is the bottom on mine is not so decorative.
The first thing I did was cut out the legs from in between the top and bottom level with a hacksaw. This gave me two separate pieces. Then I used my hot knife and cut out the center area of the top.
After I removed that I used a mini-hacksaw to remove two of the supports, leaving the one in the center.
As I was doing this, I wasn't exactly sure what I would use to hold the dirt, but I could not believe my luck when I found something the absolute perfect size. (A while back I had purchased these tubs for storage in a camper. No longer have the camper but still had the tubs and they were IT!) Well almost. Correct length and width, but too tall for what I wanted.
No problem. The hot knife cut them off quite easily. It was great that they had holes all around the sides so things could breathe. I used the knife and cut a few holes in the bottom for drainage. After I spray painted everything and used few zip-ties to hold things together, I laid garden fabric lining in them and filled them up with dirt. The whole thing could just sit on the bottom level of the table.
Next I started adding plants. This is where I usually run into trouble. I have a hard time deciding what to put in. Sometimes I have an idea of what I might want to use only to find out they aren't compatible. Or I might go buy something that I fell in love with and then have to redesign. But I digress. Anyway this is what I ended up with. Whether it works together or not, time will tell. Later I might add other plants.
And then for the finishing touches: houses, fairies, walkways, etc.
Sometimes you have to be aware of a drippy faucet and what might be growing under it. I was lucky. A little house has popped up with some industrious residents living there. As long as they take care of the weeds and be sure to water if the faucet dries up, I will be happy.
