Your obsession with Gardening

Recently, I procured some cards for Aquarius birthdays.  Here's one you might enjoy.  Is it true about your obsession with gardening?

You can find more cards here by the clever artist Erin Smith.  I found them at Guiry's, a real treasure trove of art supplies and creative goodies, among other things.  I was there to buy one thing and I walked out with a whole bag of stuff.

Flower Face

After going to the Denver Art Museum, I walked across the street to visit the Byers Evans House.  I've been wanting to see Kristen Hatgi Sink's new photography exhibition, Flower Face.

I am curious and want to know more about this body of work, but I cannot find an artist statement.  The Colorado Historical Society described Kristin's process as using eyelash glue, pins, and string, to attach flower arrangements to her subjects’ faces. Along with these photos there is a clever video of the portrait models dissembling the works on their faces.

You can see more of Kristin's ethereal, romantic photos here.

Lu's box of Sunshine

Late last week I heard the hum of the UPS truck driving away.  I opened the door to find this heavy box.

My mother-in-law Luvenia sent a sweet treat of Honeybell oranges from Florida. This hybrid of Dancy Tangerine and Duncan Grapefruit, I have never seen before.  Lu tells me that she's been ordering them for 25 years and wanted to share their goodness with us.

A box of sunshine to enjoy during a rather dreary weather week.

The packing receipt from the grower, Hale Groves, notes that there is NO warehouse, NO middleman and NO cold storage.  They are enormous and beautiful.  I immediately cut one in half to sample it. Luscious.  Juicy.  Divine.

They're are only available in January, so I savor every single one.  Thinking about slicing one open now. Besides on their own, I have been incorporating them in salads with green and black olives or red bell peppers and avocado or ... Tonight I am trying out this salad recipe with beets and mint.  

Mini Garden

On the kitchen counter in front of the best window in the house for getting sunshine in the winter, lives a tiny garden of succulents.    In the health-well being bagua, for all you Feng Shui people out there.  I don't know if it works, but I am fascinated by the concept of using Feng Shui and latched onto this Feng Shui guru.   Her book lived on my nightstand for over a year and features homes with a timeless quality. I like the way it is organized.too.

The succulent planting on the right is about a year and a half old.  It's still going strong in a 5" x 7" McCoy pottery dish that my mom gave me a long time ago. I love this dish.  Green glaze with tiny brown speckles and scallopy edges.  I have a small collection of McCoy randomly grouped, but this website features some clever collections and displays.

The yellow McCoy dish has a new planting of Echeveria varieties that all came from HOME DEPOT. Yes, that's right, HOME DEPOT.  I was in the store looking for light bulbs when a tall rack of succulents starting calling to me.  They said "take us home to live in that empty yellow dish where the dried out paper whites were living."  So that's what I did.

Living Wall

Outside right now it's -4 degrees with 78% humidity. Which leaves me no choice but to find a gardening diversion to take my mind off these temperatures that will be with us for the rest of this week.

I have been toying with the idea of installing a living wall.  Perhaps Summer 2014.  They have been around for a while now and there is a plethora of kits and products to create your own.

This one above is featured on inhabitat.

The above (center)  indoor Living Wall looks dreamy about now, doesn't it?  An alternative to artwork?  Do you have the space in home for one?  I do not, but that doesn't stop me from imagining the possibilities.

Back to the topic of outdoor Living Walls.  This one to the right is actually a major installation created by San Diego landscape designer Amelia B. Lima.  Magnificent. You can see the details for this lush living wall here.

I am noticing that many photos and web stories are from climates with mild temperatures and humidity. So I have many questions that need to be answered, like...

I live in Colorado!  It's arid here.  What is the best irrigation system?  How do you ensure the plants get enough water?

How do you winterize a living wall?  Take it indoors?  Make peace with the fact that all the plants will be frozen when winter's first cold snap arrives?

This photo is of Hotel Modera in Portland and taken from Lisa S. Town's inspiration section of her website.  Her photos capture both the natural beauty of the Northwest and Nature.  My words not hers.  Both of these things I enjoy immensely and I think her fashion photos are intriguing.   

Oregon is yet another humid environment. Here are more photos of this hotel's lush and modern garden.
Thank you Lisa for introducing me to this garden.

Right now I am exploring ideas and researching options.  I would love to hear from you.  Do you have a living wall that's outdoors?  What is your experience with caring for them?  Are they high maintenance? What types of plant materials have you been successful in growing?

Handsome Fellow Returns

We received a visitor in our backyard today.  The graceful fox.

We think he is our old "friend", but it's been more than a year since we witnessed him in the backyard. I wondered if he had met his great demise when we hadn't seen him in such a long while. We have coyotes in the neighborhood and they are predators to the fox.  We live in the city, but there are two parks close by.

Oh, I startled him!  One of our cats is looking out at him, but seems clueless.  He kind of looks like a cat, so maybe that's why Ginger seems disinterested by the encounter.

I think the handsome fox is a male, but I don't know really.  How to tell beyond the obvious, which isn't apparent.  Do you know? This photo was taken eighteen months ago.  If it is the same fox he has grown.

I definitely get attached to these creatures.  I had a nanosecond where I wondered about having one as domesticated pet. Probably not a great idea, but I find it intriguing.  What do you think?

Have you seen the blog about the coyote pup that was rescued named Charlie?  I highly recommend that you visit and make sure to look for the photos marked "six years ago" when Charlie was just a pup.

Lush floral Escape

I was introduced to this duo of floral artist and photographer, when visiting Paris this summer. While checking into our hotel I noticed a copy of the du Monde magazine in lobby.  As I leafed through it I came upon these drop dead gorgeous "Flower Works" created by Makoto Azuma and photographed by Shunsuke Shiinoki.

I am captivated.

For Christmas I received their book: Encyclopedia of Flowers. When I need a creative lift, this book does the trick. Every photo has an accompanying photo key/list that identifies every flower.