Flowers Shrubs & Trees Archives – Page 25 of 27

Upcycling & Recycling Flowers Shrubs & Trees Gardening High Desert

Flower Bed Garden Edging

By JM PerezApril 1, 20132 min read719 views

When it comes to garden edging the possibilities are endless to meet your needs. You can choose from Plastic, Bricks, Rocks, Boulders, Bamboo, Wrought Iron/Metal, Bottles, Wood, Plates to Concrete and so much more.

Those with limited to no budget can look around their property for garden edging ideas. Do you have scrap wood, dead branches, pine cones, rocks or decorative bricks lying around in your yard? If you do, by all means put them to use. Those of us with trees of all types around our properties know that Nature has a way of stressing them to the breaking point such as:

» The weight of ice and snow
» Strong winds
» Dead branches
» Lack of nutrients
» Old age
» Plant disease (fungal infections), … etc!

What can we do with a fallen branch or a broken tree? For one, we can safely remove the fallen branch and dispose of it and/or contact an arborist to remove the fallen tree. We can use the wood for your fireplace, fire pit, as borders in your garden, and so much more.

The 2008 winter storm was so severe that it split two of my mature trees in two.
After removing and disposing of most of the branches, I kept a few branches from my broken pine tree which I am now using as plant borders.

Our preferred garden edgings are the Plastic edging and Terrace Board Landscape edging.

*Terrace Board Landscape Edging as Plant border.*

I have used pine cones as plant borders for a few years now and I have placed a lot around my plants and garden beds to deter squirrel from digging. So far, it has worked for me.

Happy Gardening and wishing you a good start into the week.

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By JM Perez

Spring Flowers Shrubs & Trees Gardening High Desert

Beautiful Blooms

By JM PerezMarch 29, 20132 min read648 views

What a lovely day in the garden today! I spent part of my afternoon tending to my plant and preparing a location for an outdoor Dining Table we will be building soon. I love the way everything is coming together. I replaced a couple of plants in the backyard with some I bought from Lowe’s® and The Home Depot® (Shrubs, Succulents, Mini Roses, etc). I wasn’t the least surprised to find Curl Grubs beneath the roots of the plants.

My evergreen Grevillea ‘Noellii’ is thriving on the side of the house in a very large ceramic planter we received from a wonderful neighbor. We placed it a few feet away from one of our bedroom windows and it’s always a delight watching it every morning. The plant is blooming with tiny lovely pink & white flowers.

Rosemary! Had it not been for the stray cats I was trying to keep out from my property, I wouldn’t have fallen in love with this plant. I have always known of its culinary and medicinal uses, but I had never thought of using it as a decorative plant in my garden. I love its aroma and its delicate small blue flowers (they’ve always bloomed from Sprint to Fall). My next project will be to propagate as many as possible.

Above is my Purple Leaf Cherry Plum all in bloom and looking lovely. I picked it up at Lowe’s in 2010 at the discounted area, almost dead. I spent so much time and energy caring for it and I honestly wasn’t sure it would survive, but it did to my amazement and I am so grateful.

Back in 2008, my husband got me some California Poppies and for some reason they didn’t make it (I guess it probably had something to do with the fact that he brought them from a different location and the poor plants couldn’t handle our harsh weather). Last December, after helping one of my next door neighbors to complete a task, he agreed to give me a couple California Poppies growing in his yard. I transplanted them right away and they are now flowering. I love the bright silky yellow flowers. Click here to learn about its uses, side effects and interactions.

The Tulip bulbs I planted last Fall are starting to bloom. It was a pleasant surprise to wake up this morning and discover two gorgeous flowers staring back at us. My Daughter is so excited. She has a whole raised garden bed of her own which we planted last Fall as well and she is looking forward to seeing some beautiful blooms soon.

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By JM Perez

Plant Propagation Flowers Shrubs & Trees Gardening High Desert

‘Little Pete’ Rose Sucker

By JM PerezMarch 25, 20132 min read613 views

Today I finally pulled out what was left of my Snow White Tea Tree in my backyard. I have been suspecting for a while now that something wasn’t right with the plants and decided to give them a few more weeks. It turns out that some White Curl Grubs were happily and vigorously feeding on the roots of the plants which resulted in the plant’s death. I also pulled out what was left of my Crimson Rose Tea Tree which I was growing in a barrel in my front yard. They were beautiful drought-tolerant plants and a wonderful addition to my garden. I have had those plants for four years and every year, during this time, they would be covered in blooms.

It seems like every time I loose a plant in my garden, I get blessed with a new one from my garden. Just a few weeks ago, I discovered a Rose sucker around the base of one of my favorite Rosebush. Last year I gained two more Roses using the propagation by simple layering method. This year on the other hand, my ‘Little Pete’ Rose Tree has a Sucker which is rapidly growing just a small distance from the mother plant. I carefully removed it along with its roots and transplanted it in a pot to create a new Rosebush. My first thought was to just separate the sucker and the mother plant and allow both to grow along side, but I quickly realized that the space between both wasn’t enough to allow them to thrive. It’s such a beautiful Rose and I hope my new growth survives.

Click here, here and here to learn about Propagation by Simple and Tip Layering.

'Little Pete' Rose. — *‘Little Pete’ Rose.*

On a much happier note, we are weed free! I will blog about it in a different post and let you know how we got rid of weeds on our half-acre property in less than two weeks (using just a hoe, rake and a hand shovel).

Happy gardening!

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By JM Perez

Vintage Weather Flowers Shrubs & Trees

Almond Tree Blossoming

By JM PerezMarch 9, 20132 min read594 views

We have this huge Sweet Almond Tree in our front yard that we love. Here at home, it is the first tree to flower after Winter followed by Saucer Magnolia and Purpleleaf Cherry Plum. For the past three years, the Almond Tree started flowering as early as January (lasting only two weeks, thanks to our high winds).
The White flowers are so beautiful and it’s always a delight watching them bloom indoors in a vase. In just a few days, honeybees will be heading towards the blossom, collecting pollen.

The tree produces Sweet Almonds during Summer and we had a good harvest in 2007. During the following years, the crows eat almost everything before we got a chance to harvest any. Sometimes we are lucky to find a few and other times all we find are scattered shells on the ground, waiting for us to dispose of.
At times during the cooler Summer evenings we pull out extra chairs, gather underneath the tree as it provides shade and we admire Nature while having interesting conversations.

With great weather and Spring rapidly approaching, the weeds are coming on strong. Have you noticed how bold weeds stand in a garden? They literally rob a yard of its natural beauty. I love Spring because it reminds me of new beginnings. It’s always the perfect time to start something and for us, it’s the best time to start weeding and ridding the yard of ‘bad seeds’ as well as getting it ready for fun Summer entertainment, gatherings and activities.

My beautiful bouquet of Almond Blossoms now sits pretty on my Fireplace Mantel. I love those delicate white and pink flowers. The Jug is one I bought from the 99¢ Only Stores ten years ago (along with a matching Sugar Set). Just in case you are wondering, what you see above the Almond Arrangement is a 1975 Vintage Kitchen Book Holder, movable thanks to some springs on each side. We spray painted it white from its original Honey Oak color.

Thanks to the awesome weather today, we made good progress hand wedding early in the afternoon around a few garden beds in the backyard. We are allowing weeds to grow on a designated area to give a chance to the kids to go Ladybug hunting, which are often found around grassy fields.

Since my dear husband has been craving some Mongolian Grill, we went to The Mall of Victor Valley, which is the closest location to us (the Restaurant is located in the Food Court). I love the fact that they make it easy for individuals to create their own stir-fry. We also spent a few hours at Barnes and Noble, reading books with the kids and looking around for some great Human Anatomy books for Children. I purchased a few books prior to leaving. We all had a marvelous time today and I hope to remember to set the clocks forward for daylight saving time.

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By JM Perez

Health and Wellness Weather Flowers Shrubs & Trees Gardening

Rebirth in The Garden

By JM PerezFebruary 28, 20132 min read507 views

After days of cold, high winds and dreary weather, the sun is finally coming through and I am able to get up, get out and get my gardening tools ready for Spring. I love new beginnings as it reminds me of a Rebirth in the Garden when Nature re-awakens and the plants suddenly become aware and start breathing. The days are getting slightly warmer and everything looks so lovely, even the unwanted weeds in the backyard.

The Sweet Almond Tree is starting to bloom. The Raywood Ash or Claret Ash Tree is budding (with wind-pollinated dark purple flowers opening). Daffodils, Daylilies, Violet Queen, Birgi® Lily, Belladonna Amaryllis, Hyacinth, Grape Hyacinth, Imprimis Bearded Iris, Tulips and other bulbs have been sprouting over the past few weeks.

I started weeding yesterday and I was amazed at how much I was able to accomplish. I have noticed that the best time for me to weed is a couple of weeks before Spring (when the soil is still slightly moist from rain and/or snow) and I always start early to have everything done before Summer (when brush fire warnings are high). Here in the High Desert we have a variety of weeds (most of which are Tumbleweeds) growing in our yards as well as the open land around us. It is much easier to pull them up when they are small because their thorns are still tender. As they mature, they break at their roots spreading their seeds on their way as they are driven about by the wind. Quite messy and dangerous. As funny as it is watching them spin around; it’s all laughs until a bunch of them end up in your yard, underneath your car or you get injured by the thorns.

Ideas for Tumbleweeds

Well, you know how the saying goes: “when you live with tumbleweeds, you end up finding uses for them.” Looking for decor ideas and unique inspirations for your Home? Check out how other people entertain themselves and or make a living using Tumbleweeds. I particularly like the Tumbleweed on Panel and the Living Tree Art.

Tumbleweed Ideas. — *Tumbleweed Ideas*: 1., 2., 3., 4., 5., 6., 7.

How about Tumbleweeds to compliment a Flower Bouquet or to use as a lamp shade? Possibilities are endless.

*Twinkling Tumbleweeds.*
*Image Source: Sunset.com.*

Are you overwhelmed with the plants growing in your garden and can’t tell if they are weeds or not, if they are toxic or not, if they have healing properties or not? Are the plants looking so lovely that you are divided between keeping them or getting rid of them? You may find helpful information in the following links.