Build A Bird Bath Lantern Planter

I love playing around with terra cotta pots to see what I can create.  This is something I came up with yesterday.  The combinations are endless. 

Materials Needed:

• Tall Rose Pot
• 16 Inch Bowl
• 6 Inch Pot
• 9 Inch Sacuer
• Potting Soil
• Plants
• One Small Bag Polished Rocks
• Teas Lights

1.   Select your pots.

2.  Set the bowl on top of the rose pot.  If you chose to secure the bowl to the rose pot, you can use liquid nails or any adhesive for pottery.  Be careful not to plug up the drain hole.  I do not recommend using a washer and bolt to secure, for the pot may not drain.  I choose not to secure mine.  I want to be able to take the pot of the stand and use as a table centerpiece when needed. 

3.  Turn the 6 inch pot upside down inside the bowl.

3.  Place your potting soil inside the bowl. 

4.  Plant your plants.   It is best to choose low growing or trailing plants.  I selected trailing Hedera Ivy.  I think succulents would also look great in this bowl.  For ease of planting, I sat the bowl on the ground and watered in my plants.  After the water drained, I place the bowl back on the stand and continued.

5.  Place the saucer on top of the upside down 6 inch pot and fill with your pebbles.  Place candles on the pebbles.  If you like, you can secure the saucer to the pot with velcro.  Using velcro will let you remove the saucer for easy cleaning.

I thought this project would also look great using 2 or 3 bowls tiered in different sizes.  If you did not want a saucer on top, you can secure another 6 inch pot upright on top of the turned over 6 inch pot for planting,  I think this style would make a great herb garden.  If you want to make a tiered bird bath, use an epoxy to plug up the holes.  See, I told you the possibilites were endless.

Some of our favorite 4 legged customers

Zek came to visit us this week!  Zek has been coming to Greenlife since he was a baby.  He used to be so-so-so shy and hide behind his mommy.  Not anymore.  We can say he came out of his shell.  We love him! He is so very sweet.

You would be tired to if you jumped up on a table with these short legs and ate F-O-U-R lunches!  The guys left their lunches on the table and when they came in their lunches were gone.  Who would of ever thought Special could jump on a chair.  Hey, whats a fella to do when he smells food?  Eat right.

I can't get my Bougainvillea to bloom. H-E-L-P!!!!

 

 

A bougainvillea without the proper care

 

 

 

A bougainvillea grown with the proper care

 

Why won't my bougainvillea bloom?  I hear this so often during the summer.  I understand the frustration.  I have been there.  Years ago, I tried growing bougainvillea, only to end up with a plant with no leaves and no flowers or a plant with a ton of leaves and no flowers.  I decided then and there this plant was not going to win.  I asked around for advice for growing bougainvillea and got many different answers with little success.  Out of this frustration my bougainvillea experiment began.  Every time I met a bougainvillea grower, I asked questions.  Below, I have listed what I have learned from trial and error.  I hope my notes will help you have a bougainvillea with lots of blooms.

 

• In our plant zone, bougainvillea plants are typically grown in container and hanging baskets.  They are not winter hardy if planted in the ground or left outside in pots here in Waco.
• Bougainvilleas need a good quick draining potting soil.  I put in a little pine bark mulch to my potting soil, if is not in the mix.  I like a mix with peat moss, pine bark mulch, & perlite. 
• Make sure your container has plenty of holes for good drainage.  Do not use saucers.  Saucers capture water, helping maintain moisture in the soil.
• Plant in full sun. You may have to move your plant several times before you find just the right spot where your plant produces the most blooms.  From my observations, I have found the bougainvilleas that bloom the most are on driveways. 
• Bougainvillea plants do not bind the soil like most plants.  You must handle with care when transplanting being careful not to distrub the root ball.  I usually advise my customers on leaving the plant in the container they purchase the plant in and setting it in the container of their choice.  If I can tell it is root-bound in the container they are buying, then it is okay to transplant.  Otherwise, the dirt normally will fall from the plant, resulting in a dead or damaged plant.
• Bougainvillea roots like to be crowded in a pot.  This plant blooms better when it is root-bound.  If you plant it in the ground, you will need to cut the roots back every so often to make it crowded.
• Clay containers are a good choice.  The clay pots tend to stay drier, thus stressing the plant.
• Bougainvilleas like to be on the dry side.  Allow your soil to dry to touch between waterings.  Watering a bougainvillea to often will result in a lot of green foilage and very little flowers.  This plant comes from a hot humid climate and is happiest in this environment.  I have found when we have a summer with more humidity than normal my bougainvilleas bloom longer.  When we don't have as much humidity my bougainvilleas cycle, blooming about 6 weeks then resting another 6 weeks from blooming.  Two summers ago my bougainvillea bloomed constantly.  In the summer, we water every other day.  We let our leaves wither or flag a little.  You will need to inspect your plant to decide what watering schedule is best for your plant.  We get a lot of wind at Greenlife and reflected heat from the concrete that our plants grow on, thus drying them out faster.  Every growing site is different.

Bougainvilleas going into the greenhouse for the winter.  Trimmed back 75% and defoileated
• Bougainvilleas that are pruned back, bloom more.  The more you cut back the more blooms you will have.  To the horror of my staff, I prune our bougainvilleas back 75% when I move them to the greenhouse for the winter. They think I am a little scissor happy.  At this time, I also remove all the leaves to protect them from aphids and mealy bugs.
• Bougainvilleas bloom on new growth,  try to pinch back often to create new growing points. 
• On pruning, don't prune to often, constant pruning to keep a plant from getting to large can inhibit blooming.  The ideal time to prune or pinch back is when they finish blooming. 
• When the night temperatures are 60 degrees or more move out of the greenhouse.

• Bougainvilleas are 'heavy' feeders.  At the beginning of each season, use a fertilizer that is high in nitrogen.  Bougainvillea foods usually have have higher number in nitrogen.  This will provide nourishment to help your plant become strong and healthy.  When the vine starts to bloom, switch to  a hibiscus food.  Hibiscus food has a higher last number which is your potassium.  Make sure you feed the right amount.  Don't skimp and don't overfertilize.  When you apply your fertilize make sure your soil is moist.  If you apply fertilizer to a dry plant you run the risk of burning your roots and killing the plant. 

Bougainvilleas do not like temperatures below 30 degrees.  If we have high winds or heavy rains, the flowers will fall off.  I try to protect mine.

 

Our Bougainvillea growers greenhouse.  He is the best! 

Brett and our grower loading the truck today with our new bougainvillea's and Hibiscus

Look Whats New!

These beautiful tropical bloomers came in today

This Little Piggy Went To Market...

...and bought a whole container full of pottery from the far east and Italy.  It arrived this week!

When we opened the first door - we saw leaning pots!  Not a good sign. 

We carefully unloaded one pot at a time

and found these beauties

and these, oh! so Italian they make my heart sing

and these so very english!  Makes me want to have a tea in the garden

and every color of the rainbow!

You have to come see them!  We know you will love them too!!  The price will make you squeal all the way home!!!

It's Tomato Planting Time Y'all! Yum,Yum

Our Tomato plants are in!  We have a big selection of these yummy treats.

I love home grown tomatoes.  There is nothing better than a big old beefsteak tomato on a BLT sandwich or grabbing a hand full of cherry tomatoes as you are picking them off the vine.  Yum! Yum!   Tomatoes are one of the easiest vegetables to grow and they are so good for you too.

One of the great things about growing tomatoes is you do not have to have a big garden, you can grow them in containers with great success.   I grow mine in containers because we have so much rock in our yard.  I swear the only reason we have any dirt in our yard at all is from years of accumaltion of me dumping the dirt out of my shoes every day when I come home from landscape jobs and the nursery before I go inside my house.

When growing tomatoes make sure you have at least six hours of direct sun each day.   If you do not have enough sun they will hardly bloom or bear fruit.  If you are planting on a patio make sure that your tomatoes will have some wind or movement to pollinate them.  If you feel you are not getting any wind, then gentley shake the leaves a couple times a day.

Watering is one of the keys to growing tomatoes.  You will need to keep your tomatoes moist, but not wet.  If they are kept to wet they will wilt or rot and die.  I recommend you place a top layer of mulch on top of your tomatoes to help maintain moisture, retard weed growth,  pests, and it forms a barrier that keeps diseases in the soil from splashing up on the leaves. To prevent disease, keep the leaves dry.  Avoid watering overhead.  One of the causes of blossom-end rot is not keeping the plants evenly moist in hot and dry conditions.  This also causes a nutrient deficiency in tomatoes.

If your space allows to plant your tomatoes in the ground, work in some Back to Nature cotton burr compost.  Your tomatoes will thank you.  This will give your tomatoes some nutrients, help improve your clay or sandy soils, and help your plants resist disease.  Back to Nature compost is completely composted and ready to use.

Feed your tomato plants with a good well balanced fertilizer.  Avoid using a high nitrogen fertilizer, as this will cause your tomatoes to produce few tomatoes and have more leaf growth. 

My favorite organic food  for tomatoes & peppers

When planting, plant your tomato plant deeper than you do your other potted plants, due to the fact that tomatoes send out roots from their stems.  This is especially true if the tomato plant is leggy with alot of stem between the leaves.  Some gardeners I know plant their tomato plants sideways so that a large portion of the stem is below the soil.  

You may have heard of the terms 'determinate' and 'indeterminate'.  This is simply how tomatoes are grouped on how they will grow fruit.  Determinate type tomatoes grow foilage to a certain point, then produce fruit which often ripen at one time.  Determinate typically stay compact and are bush form.  Often not requiring a cage or stake.  Indeterminate tomatoes keep growing after they bloom and produce fruit.  The plant grows large and will bear fruit later into the season.  You will need to place a cage or stake on this type of tomato. 

There are many disease resistant tomatoes.  Some of the 'tried and true' most popular varieties at Greenlife Nursery are Celebrity, Early Girl, Porter, & Cherry.

We are not quite through our average last frost date.  If you plant your tomatoes now out in the garden, keep a close eye on the weather for frost.  Use frost proof cover, old blanket, etc. to cover your tender new plantings.  Containers can be brought inside overnight.

Bulid-A-Fountain

Have you ever wanted a fountain, bought one and found that it is a little bit of a headache to keep filled and cleaned.  For less maintenance, consider a disappearing fountain.  They are easier because the square base below catches the water and recirculates it, emliminates constant refill, lessens the possibility of a burned out pump, and debrise getting in the bowl and pump.  Here's how to get started:

1.  Measure the area you would like to place your fountain.  This will help you select the correct size of a base and a container.

 

2.  Pick your container.

 

3.  Pick a base according to the weight of your pot.

 

4.  Buy a pump that will carry the water the height of the base and the container.

 

 

5.  If you want to bury your base in the ground, dig a hole the depth and width of the base.  I recommend that you place a little sand and pea gravel on the surface of the soil before placing your base in the soil to help stablelize and level your base.  Another way is to not dig a hole and sit the base on top of a level surface such as a patio or deck.  Place a dry stack of stone, brick, or chop block to conceal the base.

 

6.  With your connection kit, assemble the pipes, valves, and hose to your pump via the hole in the bottom of the container.  You will cut the top pipe 1/4 inch above your container.

  

 

7.  Fill the base with water from your garden hose or a bucket.  It is not necessary to have water plummed to your fountain.

 

8.  Plug in.

 

9.  Place stones, broken glass, etc. on the top of grate to conceal.

 

 

10.  Sit back and enjoy your new fountain!

 

My First Wedding Landscape

I was given the 'dream job' of my career by The Willis Group for their client's Randy & Kathey Hall.  The task - design a venue for a fairytale wedding.  It was an absolute pleasure and honor to be part of such a special event in their lives.  Their daughter, Jessica was the most stunning bride.  Thank you for letting me be a part of your dream.

A beautiful garden for a beautiful bride

My 'Pretend' Pond

As long as I can remember, I have always wanted a pond.  We have the perfect place in our back yard for one with a waterfall.  Let me just say, I have a set of landscape plans that are now 14 years old!  We have not had a break to do our yard.  Every winter I ask our landscape designer to pencil me in the schedule.  As fate would have it, I got bumped again this year out of my spot.  Oh well, there is always next year.

On a recent trip to the bookstore, I stumbled across the perfect pond for me.  It is totally maintance free, the fish will never die, and I don't have to wait for the landscape crew to do it for me.  All you need is one piece of patio slab and a little paint to equal 'instant pond'.

Deb's pond in progress

If you stand back about six feet and squint your eyes, it does not look half bad.  I am not quite finished yet.  When I am finished with my painting, I plan on placing a border around it with river stone and plantings.

The book I painted this from is called 'Painted Garden Art Anyone Can Do' by Lin Wellford.  There are some really cute projects in this book that are easy to do and anyone without painting experience can paint.  The instructions are easy step-by-step with photos.  

Our landscape designer Carla painted some really cute baskets from a couple of blocks we had left from a retaining wall.  She gave these to her family for Christmas and they loved them. 

In the book, I really like the caterpillars painted from round river rocks and adore the frog concrete edging.  I am hoping to paint these for presents for next year.

The pond I'm painting is picutred in the lower left corner

Fun book to put a little whimsy in your garden

Ornamental Grasses

If you have not cut back your ornamental grasses, do so now.

Cut the grass all the way down to the ground, leaving a short stump.  Fertilize with the same fertilizer you use on your lawn and water in.   As soon as the temperature rises, your grass will start to grow.

Winter Damaged Palms

We have been getting calls regarding cold damage to palm trees from our customers asking what to do about their palms.  At this point, I advise you to wait until the danger of frost is over before you take any action.  I have seen several palm tree stumps in yards where they have cut their palms down.  Normally, when someone sees brown foilage on a plant they assume it is dead and remove the plant. For most palms it is really to soon to tell unless, you clearly can see rotting.   Brown leaves act as a buffer and protect your palm from cold damage.  Cutting back the leaves to soon allows the frost to get even deeper into the plant.  Although, not trimming back at all and leaving dead leaves promote disease.

Palms don't mind a little snow or light frost, but ice and severe cold weather can damage and kill them.  To protect your palm, tie up the leaves and wrap with frost proof cover until the danger of severe weather is over.  Palms that are grown in pots lose two hardiness zones.  If you are able, move potted plants in the garage or protect by wrapping the pot with insulation or warm blanket and covering the top.  It also helps to water your plants before a freeze to help them adjust to the lower temperatures.  If the soil is dry, roots can be injured.

One of the after effects from the cold weather that causes more damage than the "frostbite" itself is crown rot.  This can kill a palm.  To help prevent this, spray the heart of the palm with Ferti-lome Systemic Fungicide as soon as we enter the cold season.  Also, repeat this every time after a heavy freeze or ice storm.

There is no palm that is completely cold hardy.  In our area, Windmill is one of the toughest and is cold hardy down to 10 degrees. Pindo and Sago are hardy to 15 degrees.  Sago palms are not a true palm, they are actully cycads.  Mexican Fan, Mediterranean Fan, and Sabal Palms are hardy to 20 degress.  The older or more established a palm is, the chances of its survival increase.  Wrapping of palms is highly recommended during severe freezing weather or ice.

As soon as danger of the last frost is over, cut back brown foilage to the next node and continue until you see green and stop there.  I would feed the palm at that time to promote flushing of new foilage.  This will require some patience on your part.  Palms typically put on new growth in the heat of the summer.

This palm was severly damaged by the January freeze and it appears as this one will not recover

This palm still has hope.  There is some green on the leaves and the trunk is firm.  Remarkable, being left out in a pot.