Make-it-yourself bouquet

Flowers are a perfect gift for many occasions. If you'd like to make a pretty bouquet for your event yourself, here is some tips from Motley Grass floral studio* on how to make a pretty bouquet using white roses, purple lisianthus and sedum.

1. Prepare your plants, flowers & greens .

Clean their stems from extra leaves:

2. Use the large flower of your choice as a center of your future bouquet.

 

Surround it with other flowers and greens in a spiral direction.

3. Add more greens in between of large flowers that they would be visually separated.

4. Make sure there are no leaves in the points of where the flower stems are meet.

If you made everything according to the tips above, you should get a nice round top bouquet with a cones like stems at the bottom.

Use a twine to snugly tie the stems. Tie a nice satin ribbon on top of the twine to cover it.

Enjoy your work or give it as a gift!

*The Motley Grass floral studio delivers fresh flowers in Moscow, Russia region. If you'd like to send some beautiful fresh cut flowers to someone in that region, please visit their online shop to order.

How to prolong life of your fresh cut bouquet of roses

Roses are one of the favorite flowers to give and to receive. How to care about your bouquet? Here is tips from Motle Grass floral studio*:

1. Use lots of icy cold clean water for your bouquet.

2. Change your water daily. Cloudy water in your vase will kill your roses.

3. Re-cut the stems at a 45' angle every time you changing your water. This way your roses will feed from it.

4. Do not remove the top petals from your flowers, it will prolong their life.

5. If you used the special chemicals for your bouquet at least once, continue to do it during all life cycle. If you stop, they will fade fast.

6. Do not place roses next to a heat source or on direct sunlight and protect them from a draft.

7. White and pink roses have to be transported careful to avoid the damage to its petals. Red roses are more resistant to it and also will tolerate cold weather better.

Enjoy your flowers!

*The Motley Grass floralstudio delivers fresh flowers in Moscow, Russia region so if you'd like to send some beautiful flowers to people you care about in that region, please visit their shop to order.

How to prolong life of your fresh cut bouquet of peonies

So you just received a beautiful bouquet of peony buds as a gift and you want them to last as long as possible. What to do? Here is some tips on fresh cut flowers care from Natalia, the owner of Motle Grass floral studio.

 

Leave you peonies in a cool place for several hours to let them recover after the transportation.

Prepare your glass or ceramic vase: clean it thoroughly, pour some clean warm water in and add a cut flower food provided with a bouquet.

Take your flowers out, place them in a separate container with warm water. Re-cut the stems at an angle about 1" above the old cut with a sharp clippers. Remove the leaves from the stem's bottom up to the point where they will be exposed to the air when placed in the vase. Do not remove all the leaves, only the ones sitting below the water line in the vase. This needs to be done to prevent bacteria and fungi growth in the water.

Transfer your peonies into prepared vase and place it in a cooler room for 1 or 2 days until the buds will open. Check your water daily and top it up.

If your flowers are intended to decorate an event, try to keep them in a cold place as long as possible to prolong their life. Do not put them close to the heat source or direct sunlight  and bring them out only as needed.

Happy World Hyacinth Day!

Today is World Hyacinth Day.

When this highly fragrant flower blooms it mean spring is near. The hyacinth symbolizes sport or play in Victorian language of flowers. The blue one signifies sincerity.

I got one last winter and it is beautiful. I am going to plant it in the garden and hope it will bloom next year again!

A birds day

Yesterday was a very nice peaceful winter day. We had so many birds in the garden that I grabbed my camera and started to shoot, first through the window and then went outside to through some seeds and pour some fresh water in the hummingbird feeder. A little hummingbird was not alone in a couple of minutes, the woodpecker hungrily joined the sweet feast.

A very cute mockingbird sat on a branch and was watching me while I was watering plants. I threw some pomegranate seeds for it to enjoy so a bird was just waiting for me to get out of way and did not mind my camera at all.

I couple of mourning doves, sparrows, a funny jumping Abert's Townhees and quails were also here to get some seeds fallen from the trees. Then the wind started, it brought a rain and everyone disappeared to their hiding places. Well, I am glad they had al least some of food to fill their tummies before the cold night.

Winter is such a hard time for the wild life. The day before we parked on the hospital's parking lot to take mom for her surgery and we heard a chorus of hungry coyotes right outside where we were. Canadian geese are staying around the lakes to stay warm during cold times up North. We've seen some rabbits and smelt a skunk. As long as we live here, I am always surprised how the wildlife found the way to co-exist in such a huge megalopolis as Phoenix. And I am always grateful for a chance to see them free and that close.

A lavender bottle sachet / La bouteille de lavande

I was browsing facebook this morning and noticed the prettiest lavender wand sachet made by Irina from Belarus (JewelryFloren). She got so many blooms this year that she was able to make 25 pretty sticks from just 2 lavender bushes.

I love this idea because all the sweet buds stay inside after the stick has dried out and it still will look pretty and ready to do its job to refresh your linen closet or dresser draw. The idea of  "La bouteille de lavande" came from France where lavender is a part of culture and history. Oh so romantic!

All you need to make 1 stick like this is about 25 to 30 lavender stems, 2 1/2 yards of narrow satin ribbon (about 1/4" wide) in your favorite color and a sewing thread.

Сlean your lavender stems from the leaves and bottom flowers. Gather them together and tie the stems tight right under the flower heads with a sewing thread. Now, bend the stems to the sides to cage the flower heads inside. Run one end of the ribbon along side the flowers to poke out of the bottom of the flower cage. Tie your pretty satin ribbon on top of sewing thread and start weaving the other loose end of the ribbon around the top of flower cage using basic under-and-over basket weaving technique. Push the sticking-out flowers back to cage with a toothpick.

Keep weaving tightly (very important since the lavender will shrink as it dries) to get a bottle shape.

Tie both ribbon ends tight around the base a few times and make a pretty bow. 

Voilà! It's ready to use, just let it dry and enjoy!

Thank you, Irina, for this great idea!

Lavender in my garden

A couple of years ago we drove 4 hours up north for a lavender festival to see those beautiful purple fields. While people from cooler areas might not see it as a big deal, for us in the low desert with hot and dry summers it is very special. I bought a little potted plant of lavender as a souvenir and planted it in my garden later with not much hope for it to survive.

Surprisingly, the lavender bush is thriving and happy! I am still learning how to care for this but I was so happy to gather some flower stems.

The plant is blooming in a weird time (September through February) and giving just 2-3 stems per week but its alive and it makes me happy :)

Easter fun

Easter is such a beautiful holiday. Everything is so gentle and tender, the colors are soft and the food is simple but delicious.

Some painted eggs, an Easter bread and a cup of tea in the garden, what a great treat!

 

This morning I saw a couple of birds through the window. They were trying to get some pieces of branches and ribbon off my wreath in the garden. Then they found some other nest building materials under the tree and flew off to the nearest tree. What  fun watching it!

 

I was happy to see some beautiful flowers open, a gift from friends which I got several years ago. Right in time for Easter!

Happy Easter, dear friends! May you have a great spring!

5 simple ideas on flower pot embellishment

Sometimes you are just not happy with how your flower pots look. Maybe, they are not matching your house decor, your colors or maybe, you are just tired of looking at the same things.

You can buy new pots or you can try to improve the ones you already have (this way you will get a new look for less).

Here is 5 simple ideas to embellish outdated flower pots:

1. Glue an ornament, a button or other decor items

2. Tie and glue a decorative rope around the pot's neck

3. Make a pot necklace

4. Cover it with mosaic or tile

5. Simply repaint the pot in your favorite color.

I was replanting my plants yesterday so here is more on idea 1, a flower pot ornament.

I choose a gold colored button for my black pot. I like the minimalist look of these 2 together.

When I get tired of this look I will add a piece of bright crystal on top of button but right now I am happy with the way it is.

You will need:

deco cement glue

a flat button, about 1 1/2" to 1 3/4" in diameter

rubbing alcohol

a cotton ball

ceramic pot

Wash the pot with clean warm water, let it dry. Choose the place where you want to glue your button. Clean it with rubbing alcohol and a cotton ball, let it dry. Clean the button surface with the same cotton ball and rubbing alcohol (the side which will be glued to the pot). Carefully spread the thin layer of glue on top of both surfaces. Wait a little bit and add a little bit more of glue. Now, gently press the button to the pot surface. The glue should stay under the button so you should not have to clean around it. Lay your pot horizontally and let it dry for 24 hours.

How to free a lizard from a sticky trap

July here in the desert is hot and humid thanks to occasional rain clouds or even rains. It is hard to stay outside so we are really limited on outdoor activities during monsoon season. It is the only time of year when cicadas are so loud. There are lots of bugs in the garden and it's really a paradise for hungry lizards who are hunting under the cover of leaves in flower beds.

 

Talking of lizards, I just remember a very good tip I found online last year. There are a sticky pads offered by pest control companies to get rid of bugs and spiders. It is so sticky that you can not free yourself once you touched it. The lizards don't know this, so when they are going to eat the bugs on a sticky trap they can get stuck, too.

So, if it will ever happen, do not try to free the lizard by pulling it off the pad, EVER! Their skin is thin and fragile. Instead, get the sticky pad with a lizard to a flat surface in the garden, place a very shallow plastic container underneath. Pour some vegetable oil in a small container and have a table spoon ready. Wear a protective gloves if you want. Hold the sticky paper with a lizard a  bit up at the head area that oil would not get into the mouth or the eyes. With the table spoon, start pouring the oil on the paper at the lower body area first and continue until you free the animal completely. Lizard will run away as soon as it can so hold your paper next to the ground.

I found this tip very useful. Whatever we humans do, it has good and bad sides, so it's nice to know how to help to reduce the negative effect on nature.

How to propagate an African violet / saintpaulias

How to propagate an African violet?

 

It's actually very easy. If you'd like to grow your own baby African violet just snap off a green leaf of a healthy plant and put it in a shot glass filled half way with water. 

Place it in a windowsill with indirect sunlight and wait until roots will appear, in about 2 weeks. Don't forget to add some water to a shot glass when needed. Watch your plant because you don't want to overgrow the root system.

When roots will appear and develop a bit it's time to plant it. African violets likes smaller pots so at this stage I use plastic drinking cups.

So here is what you need to plant 1 leaf:

2 plastic cups

permanent marker

African violets soil mixture (you will find it at almost any garden center)

dull knife or similar tool for planting

sharp pointy knife or a tool for making holes in a cup

1 leaf with developed roots

lukewarm water

Liquid fertilizer for African violets (for future care, do not use when planting)

Make about 5 small drainage holes in a bottom of one glass, write the date of planting on a side with a permanent marker. 

Fill this glass with planting soil and water thoroughly with lukewarm water. The soil should be completely moist. Now, with your dull knife make about an inch hole in a middle of the soil and carefully place your rooted leaf. Hold it with one hand and move some soil to the middle to support the leaf. Stick this glass to another one and place it in a windowsill with bright indirect light and no drafts.

Water your new plant about once a week or more often, depends on how dry the air is in your area. Always use a lukewarm water to water it and some African violets fertilizer with each watering. Give it some time and you will see the small leaves will appear around the base of leaf. 

It will get bigger and bigger every day and one day you will see some little flowers appear!

When it happen you will know that your baby plant is happy and singing!

 

Blooming orchid tree

I planted 3 seeds of an orchid tree in the spring of 2009. I used simple white plastic cups for planting and wrote on each: "Please grow". Well, it listened! We've got 3 perfect little seedlings. We left 2 in the pot and planted the third one right in the garden.

Over the years the 2 potted ones died but the one in the ground survived the heat, the frost, several transplants and became a beautiful little tree. Today it's about 7 feet tall and this is the first spring when our tree made some flowers and there are so many of them!

I am very happy about it - big smiles :) I just took a picture of the massive planting of these trees by Harrah's Hotel in Laughlin, NV so here is how it will hopefully look one day: