Showing posts with label gardening. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gardening. Show all posts

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Winter Weeds and Blooms

It's always spring in my art studio.

Before I had a garden, I wasn't a huge fan of winter.  The cold temperatures, the short days and that whole ice falling out of the sky thing just seemed like not very much fun to me.  These days, however, that seems like a small price to pay to get a break from battling the evil fairies in my garden.


Candles and flowers can brighten the darkest days.

Still, after three seasons of pulling, pruning, digging and planting, I find that I can't completely stop gardening.  Instead I have discovered that the lessons and habits I acquired from my outdoor projects have followed me indoors.  I realize that I have been tending to the rooms of The Cabbage like I do my flower beds, removing the weeds of clutter, dust and disorganization so I can give all the things and activities I love the space they need to bloom.


I follow this recipe to cure the winter blues and make art. :)

And just as it is when I garden, when I become overwhelmed by the weeds in my path, it is "the blooms" that motivate me and keep me sane.  In fact, when I take the time to notice, I realize there is as much life, blossom and color around me in my home as there is in my garden in springtime.  That makes me feel very blessed and grateful.


My Out Of Water Mermaid reminds me to embrace the time and space that I am in.

Yeah, winter isn't so bad after all.



Garden Angel "Winter Rose" Magnet
Garden Angel "Winter Rose" Magnet by Victoreeah
View other Victoria lynn hall Magnets at Zazzle.com



"Bloom" Garden Angel
"Bloom" Garden Angel by Victoreeah
Find other Grow Aprons at zazzle.com



Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Bringing The Outdoors In

Several vases full of Zinnias bring the outdoors into my dining room

The summer heat and those pesky mosquitoes prevent me from spending as much time as I'd like to in the garden this time of year.  Fortunately, I can bring the outdoors inside in the form of bouquets.  

Actually, I love to do this throughout all of the blooming seasons.  I have a lot of fun searching my favorite home décor and second hand shops for inexpensive and unusual vases and experimenting with different flower arrangements throughout my home.   Below are a few photos of some of my favorites.  I hope they bring a little bit of the beauty of nature into your home or office today.

Home is my rainbow and bouquets of Cherry Blossoms help make it so.

After a storm I salvaged these fallen Irises for this arrangement.

This arrangement of a variety of summer flowers brings even more color to the inside
of my garden shed.

One of my favorite vases containing some of my favorite flowers,
Ballerina Roses.

Another wonderful thrift store container perfect for small roses.

I think these Limelight Hydrangea and Tall Summer Phlox
blooms make a very striking combination.






"Grow" Garden Angel Apron
"Grow" Garden Angel Apron by Victoreeah
Find more Grow Aprons at Zazzle

Thursday, July 11, 2013

The Good Fairy Garden

The Good Fairy in her garden

I received a few comments and questions about the photo of my fairy garden that I included in my last post.  So, I thought I would tell everyone more about it here.

It all started with a visit to our local antique mall where I first saw our charming little fairy house.  I fell in love with it then but thought it was a bit too extravagant and didn't know exactly what I would do with it.  I half jokingly suggested to Hippie that he get it for me for Christmas and then walked away.

Fast forward to Christmas morning, where this was waiting for me by the tree:

Merry Christmas to me

The minute I saw it I realized that, of course, I would put it in the garden.  I thought Spring would never get here but when it did, Hippie and I got to work clearing weeds and vines from an overgrown corner of the garden.

Hippie, banisher of vines and evil faries

I wanted the house to be elevated so we made a raised bed using a few kits from the home improvement store and literally a ton of top soil.

A garden within the garden

Then it was time to plant the garden.  I made the front path using rainbow rock and lined it on either side with Irish Moss.

The Fairy garden shortly after planting

I planted two types of Veronica on either side of the house, the delicate pink and appropriate "Fairy Tale" on the left and "Purple Explosion" on the right.  In front of that is Campanula "Samantha" also known as Bellflower.  The trailing plants with the white flowers are Lobelia, an annual in these parts.

Fairytale Veronica

Purple Explosion Veronica

Samantha Bellflower

So far everything is doing great.  It's really nice having this little garden which is easy to maintain and fun to visit even when I am feeling overwhelmed by all the work awaiting me elsewhere in the garden.  It truly is a magical place.




I Believe In The Magic Of Kindness Magnet
I Believe In The Magic Of Kindness Magnet by Victoreeah
Check out more Kindness Magnets at Zazzle






Thursday, June 27, 2013

Once Upon A Time In My Garden


Shaun Cassidy, The Garden Gnome

Once upon a time in my garden I asked Shaun Cassidy the garden gnome, "Shaun Cassidy, how do I get rid of evil fairies?"

"With hard work," he replied, "they hate that and it has the added effect of attracting good fairies."

I knew he was right, so this spring Hippie and I rolled up our sleeves and did some major work in the garden.  Sure enough, not long after that I began to notice less evidence of evil fairies and more of a presence of magic and goodness.  See for yourself in the photos I took and posted below.

As long as you obey her rule, this fairy is one of the good ones

Garden Guardian

A Magical Mermaid tries out our new tree swing

For Good Fairies Only - Our new fairy house.

And we gardened happily ever after.

I Believe In The Magic Of Kindness Bumper Sticker
I Believe In The Magic Of Kindness Bumper Sticker by Victoreeah
Check out more Kindness Bumper Stickers at Zazzle

Ever After Poster
Ever After Poster by Victoreeah
Browse through more Posters, Art & Prints at Zazzle.com

Dragonfly Fairy Art Nouveau Mug
Dragonfly Fairy Art Nouveau Mug by Victoreeah
Look at other Dragonfly Mugs at zazzle.com

Fairytale Photography Print
Fairytale Photography Print by time2see
Browse Fairytales Posters online at Zazzle.com


Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Everything's Coming Up Roses


Wild Rambling White Roses

It's really just a guess that evil fairies are the ones who plant all the weeds in my garden. It could just as easily be gnomes or aliens or time travelers. Perhaps there is even a more reasonable explanation, I don't know. All I know is that I didn't ask for them, don't want them and will defend my flowers from them at all costs.

Growing Together, White and Red Roses 

The funny thing is that weeds aren't the only thing that show up unexpectedly in my garden. Sometimes something sprouts up that I actually like, like the lovely wild white roses that suddenly appeared a couple of years ago and are now thriving. Maybe those evil fairies aren't so evil after all.


Rambling Red Roses

Okay, here is the my garden is a metaphor for life paragraph: Weeds are like all the random things that happen in life to inconvenience me. For example, when the oven decides to stop working in the middle of cooking my pizza or someone is rude to me for no reason or a rock flies up from the road and cracks my windshield. It's easy to feel like the universe, or evil fairies, are picking on me some days.  However, just as often as some random little problem pops up, good things do too. Like when my favorite song comes on the radio, or when a stranger insists I go ahead in line at the grocery store because I only have two items or when, out of the blue, beautiful roses just decide to start growing in my garden.


Pink Ballerina Roses

So maybe not everything's coming up roses all the time but when they do, I'm going to take the time to notice and enjoy them. I hope you did too.

Tiny Dancer - Ballerina Rose Photography Print