Fairy Garden 2015

Spring is quickly approaching and it makes me think of all the newness that it brings. For example, watching what plants have thrived over the winter and will start sprouting up and looking forward to the new buds on my trees and bushes. I can’t wait for the Crocus, Daffodils and Tulips to bloom, and waiting or my Lenten Rose to start blooming, even in the midst of the snow.

I can’t wait to start working on the area in front of my house where I had my son take out the bushes. There are lots of things to do, like getting more soil delivered, and planting new bushes and different plants that will grow in the sun, with the removal of three mature trees last fall.

I enjoy going into the greenhouse and helping to plant all those tiny plugs that will grow and be bought for spring and summer flowers. In the greenhouse store, I enjoy seeing all the new items that one can purchase for their Fairy Gardens, or seeing what new ideas that my friend, Jane, has come up with or created in the Fairy Garden area at the greenhouse.

Jane, who is in charge of the Fairy Gardens, has really thrown herself into her work. She always is thinking of new ideas of what type of Fairy Garden to make, and is always looking at craft stores or through garden catalogues for new ideas and new items to purchase for Fairy Gardens.

Recently, Jane put together a Fairy Garden centerpiece for the Blackridge Garden Club’s Night of Great Gardens. She actually made a Fairy Garden coming out of the children’s book, The Secret Garden. The garden looks like a book filled with stones for a gravel walk, moss, plants, and animals. It was a very creative and peaceful looking garden. Jane made her own book instead of using and destroying one.

Jane also created a Fairy Garden using a missing bowl with red succulent plants, a table with 3-tier cake and cookies, and a chalk board for the Dessert and Family Night at Hosack Elementary School.

Fairy Gardens can be made out of just about any old unwanted and discarded container or item. It can be made out of an old pot, drawers, baskets, watering can, etc…just about anything. Imagination is the key to all of this. All a person needs to do is use her/his imagination or ask Jane at LMS for some ideas!

Spring has arrived in the Greenhouse

 I drove to the greenhouse while the snow was coming down in big white flakes, covering the trees, grass, and roads. The oddity is the first day of spring. I pulled into the empty parking lot; everything is bare, except for the snow covering the ground, and the tops of the greenhouses.

After signing in, I find that the planting orders arrived yesterday at 2:30. Some trays were in House #1. But the majority of the plugs were in Greenhouse #5. Some of the trays were on the tall plant stand. Those were the begonias and they would stay there for a while, until they got bigger. The rest were on one of the planting tables, lying side by side. There had to be over 30 trays or more. My thought was “That’s a lot of plants!”

I went to town planting on the different tables…the two varieties of Streptocarpus in 6” pots. The rest of the plants went into 4-1/2” pots…Lanai Peach Verbena, Wall Street and Indian Frills Coleus, Papaya Petunia, Light Green and Sweet Georgia Bullfrog Impomoea, Magic Carpet Mecardonia, Vivid Deep Purple Verbena, Betty White Bacopa, Pazzaz Vivid Yellow and Pink Portulaca, and Penstemon. When I finished all of those, I planted up a few other plants without plant tags.

I worked until I couldn’t plant anymore. When my back started to hurt and my fingers and hands began aching, I decided that I was done. I looked back at the table and decided that I had put a bit of a dent in those trays.

I also knew that another smaller shipment would arrive next week and that I would be doing more planting. Spring has arrived…at least in the greenhouse with all those spring shipments of baby plugs. Let’s hope that the snow will get the memo that spring has arrived!

Tonka and Water

My second day working at the greenhouse found me starting my work day by petting and talking to the greenhouse cat, Tonka. I petted his rough fur for a while and then walked upstairs and signed in. Then I started planting in Greenhouse 5. It was nice to be able to get into the greenhouse because up until a few days ago, the door could only open a few inches. Someone had worked on the entrance way of the house and new the door opens wide, making it accessible and not having to walk around through the mud and ice and go in through the back door.

Today I was working on a new shipment of plants. I planted a tray each of Emerald Lace Sweet Potato Vine, Illusions Sunset Potato Vine, Tequila Sunrise Superbells, Supertunia Bordeaux, Angelface Dresden Blue, Catalina Grape-O-Licious, and Helichrysum Licorice Splash. While I was planting, I was listening to the music on a classic soft rock channel. The music helps through the monotony of planting. All the while, I kept wondering who gets to name all these amazing plants and some of those names are really interesting.

When I finished, I grabbed my clipboard and water bottle and walked over to Greenhouse 1, where I continued to plant more trays of annuals. In 4-1/2” pots, I planted Spikes. I took a break when Tonka jumped up on the planting table, demanding my full attention. I petted him a few times and then shooed him off the table. I guess he was miffed because he jumped up on the table behind me and started to snack on the Spike plants that I just had planted up.  I stopped him and took him off the table and then continued to plant up Midi Fiji Dahlia and Grande Colina Dahlia; half of the plants would go into 4-1/2” pots and the other half into 6” pots.

Sometimes when I forget to drink enough water, the greenhouse work becomes a struggle and I start to feel sluggish and sick…so I filled up my water bottle and drank the water from the cooler. After 5 minutes, I felt better and got my second wind to plant.

I found two trays of Ivy; Glacier and Ritterkreuz and took them back to Greenhouse 5, and planted them into 4-1/2” pots, next to the Sweet Potato Vines. I stepped back and noticed the different shades of greens, next to the lighter ones and marveled at how healthy everything looked. I look forward to seeing the plants next week and seeing some of them flower and survive in the long cold days of winter. It all makes me see the promise of spring coming.

Before I left, I placed the newly arrived Pansy tags into the trays that I had planted on my first day in the greenhouse. I took out the old labels that I had hand written in black market. Now, everything really looked great!

Coffee Cup Lid Plug

The other day, when I was at one of the coffee shops, I bought a coffee to go. While waiting for my order – I noticed a cup filled with some white ‘things’ and a sign that read, Take One. I picked one of the picks up and lo and behold, I realized it was a coffee plug. Wow! Who would have thought that it took this long for some genius to figure this one out and invent a coffee plug?

I paid my bill and added the cream and sugar to my coffee, where I promptly put the coffee plug into my coffee and admired it. I took the coffee back to my table and waited for my friend to sit down. After taking a sip of the coffee, I decided it wasn’t very good. I should have figured that out about the coffee house because no one was in the shop, except for the first two people who left and now all that was there were my friend and I. We sat at our table talking for about 20 minutes and no one else came into the place.

Finally we got up and I threw away my filled coffee cup into the trash can but I kept the coffee plug, all the while, marveling at the genius who invented it!

Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood

When my kids were little, I used to watch all the popular children shows with them: Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood, Sesame Street, The Electric Company and others. We also watched cartoons like Looney Toons, Tom and Jerry and Transformers.

When I started to babysit for my grandchildren, each of them introduced me to the newest and popular cartoons and Disney Movies. I overdosed on The Lion King, The Little Mermaid, Dora, and SpongeBob Square Pants. Now, while watching one of my younger grandchildren, I have been introduced to Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood. It is a Mr. Rogers Production and starts off with the same song, Won’t You Be My Neighbor, and with Daniel Tiger zipping up a red sweater and lacing up tennis shoes…just like the old Mr. Rogers shows. It shows the neighborhood, the trolley and the friends like Mr. McFeeley, Lady Elaine Fairchilde to King Friday.

I have to say this is a sweet show, just as the old Mr. Rogers show. This is totally refreshing and one of the better animated shows with positive messages for younger children, just as Mr. Rogers show was for my kids and well, for me, too!

Planting 2015

Last Wednesday was my first day back at the Greenhouse for this year’s planting season. Despite that I was looking forward to working, I wrestled with wondering if I had the time or stamina to do the job. I am babysitting twice a week, and writing with a friend one day a week. I thought about the greenhouse and decided that I loved it and needed to do something for me.

I was excited to be back. I had my back pack filled with my work gear, pulled into the lot with snow covering the ground. I parked by two cars, other than that the lot was empty and forlorn looking. I walked into the greenhouse and was greeted by the displays of plants, brightly colored pottery, and Tonka, the yellow tabby cat. Tonka gave me a loud meow and I had to stop and pet him.

Before walking upstairs to the office, I passed the inviting Fairy garden area, where I had to check it out. I admired the tiny white lights draped on the ceiling, and the blue tulle gathered around and on the table where the fairy items were. Then I finally made it upstairs, signed in, and went back downstairs, ready to start planting. I walked into house one and found a planting bench filling half of one side with nothing but plants.

I worked on the pansies; six trays to be exact. I planted up the baby plugs of six different varieties: Primrose, Peach, Mixed, Violet, Blue, and Strawberry Cream. Before I know it, it was lunch time. I left early but didn’t miss much because the well water froze, and there was no more water to plant up the rest of the baby plugs.

Hopefully I won’t have to worry next week because it looks like the weather will be warmer. I pretty much have had a heads up about more plants coming in to the greenhouse. As long as the weather warms up, and the well isn’t frozen…I will be back planting up those little baby plugs.

Felix, the Cat

I reluctantly “adopted” Felix, my granddaughter’s black and white, long hair cat. She couldn’t keep him anymore, so I took in her cat. After my last two cats had to be put to sleep last year, within the same two weeks period, I made a promise to myself – no more cats.

I was adjusting to my life alone. At first it was hard. I used to share my bed with two big cats; one cuddled next to me, the other would sleep on my legs. At times, after they died, I thought I heard a cat’s meow, or out of the corner of my eye, I thought I saw a cat running down the hallway.

Then my granddaughter pleaded with me to take her cat, or it was going to be shipped off to the Humane Society. I couldn’t let that happen, so I reluctantly said yes, and Felix moved in with me with his litter box, a big 10 pound container of litter, a 5 pound bag of cat food and his own cat bed (that he never uses).

Felix used to live with me for a few years before his family moved out and into their own home. Somehow, I forgot about Felix’s quirks. Felix loves to wait until you are walking down the steps, and tries to run down the steps and take out your feet. Even though I give him fresh water daily, Felix loves to drink out of the toilets. So, I always make sure that the toilets are clean and flushed. At night, Felix loves to annoy me by meowing, or jumping up on my bed and nudging my hands to pet him. The same goes when I eat…Felix is nearby, begging for food or trying to intercept my next bite.

Despite all of this, Felix has become my shadow and pet. Whenever my granddaughter comes over for a visit, she holds Felix like a baby and cuddles him. But most of the time, Felix, is my buddy, my pet, and my companion now.