Boston Brownstones for Fall

Hi all!

I spent the last few days in Boston, on a mini vacation. I spent lots of time reading in cafes (devouring Steig Larsson’s Millenium series), walking around, and visiting with old friends.

I also took a few photos of pretty doorstep decor and seasonal decorations in Beacon Hill. If you’re not familiar with Beacon Hill, it is a historic neighborhood in Boston, filled with old, quaint houses that are from the 1700′s and 1800′s. It was a wealthy neighborhood then, and still is.

First off, I noticed that my mom and I are right on trend with Thai peppers from our October Harvest Table photo shoot last week. Actually, my dad is on trend by growing them! I saw them in probably half of the window boxes, and in all colors, including purple!

Plenty of pumpkins too! I like the white ones in this elegant box. 

Traditional orange ones populated many doorsteps!I had a great time visiting my old city and dreaming about colonial architecture or owning am old brownstone.

In the meantime, I’m inspired to decorate for cooler weather and scary holidays!

-Liz

 

Zinc Succulent Planters

It was my birthday last week and Brentan knew just what to get me. I woke up to these gorgeous zinc planters (from Crate and Barrel- who should sponsor the blog since I write about them so much!) in our living room, and I knew just what to do with them!

I went out to the garden center, the fabulous Reagan Nursery, and bought some succulents.
I was all set to make some cool graphics with the types of succulents labeled on the pictures, but unfortunately, Brentan threw out the plant labels. And my memory is not good enough to remember what everything is called!!

I had thought about what to put in front of the door to the house for such a long time, I’m so happy that it turned out well, and pretty much exactly as I had hoped.

These are definitely inspired by Sunset magazine. And the larger succulent culture of California, which has transferred by osmosis into my brain.

Do you know what these succulents are?

-Liz

Linked to:

Mendocino Village

Last week was my third anniversary, and Brentan took me on a surprise trip for a little cottage getaway to Mendocino.

We visited very briefly on our road trip to Oregon in Spring 2010, and I knew that I wanted to go back to explore the tiny little town by the sea. It really reminded me of Nantucket, with the small shops and fog and cool summer weather.

We had drinks and dinner at the MacCullum house to celebrate, and it was delicious local food and wine!

I took a few pictures of the little town, full of old architecture and colorful blooms (to negate the fog, I’m guessing!).

More Cool Pots

I spotted these cheerful lime green planters in front of a store front in Santa Barbara last spring. I love the bold, bright color! They scream welcome, welcome welcome!

Look at this clever re-use of an old wooden crate. Succulents never looked so good!

Here is a flash back from the past… a terrarium. I use to make these as a teenager back in the 1970′s. Mine never looked so cool. I’m going to make some again. all you need is a largish glass jar or bowl, some potting soil, gravel or stones and small succulents. They need very little tending and can be neglected for weeks on end.

Thanks, Liz, you got me thinking about sprucing up my summer pots. Succulents are so easy so hardy and look so fresh.

`Peg

How To Make Festive Summer Planters

 

 

I made a run to the garden center this weekend to brighten up the patio a little bit for a summer BBQ get together. I picked up some bright dahlias and planted them in these super cheap, but pretty, planters I found at Ross (which just opened up a few blocks from my house!). I matched them with some succulents and purple Alyssum for a colorful impact. Note: I put shorter plants in front, with the taller dahlias in the back. It makes for a nice composition.

These flowers are annuals, so after they start looking spent and no longer flowering, I’ll switch them out for other seasonal flowers.

I learned to make pretty flower planters from my mom. See that pretty garden in the header, up there? Yeah, that’s just part of her massive garden. She’s a  certified Master Gardener.

So, to answer the title of this post, ‘How to Make Festive Summer Planters,’ you need to learn from the best. Or just find some colors and flowers you love (dahlias are one of my favorites, and just happen to be in season right now), and play around with them to make a nice composition. I placed the flowers in their pots in the larger pot to determine an arrangement first.  Have fun, because flowers are fun!

-Liz

 

 

Succulents in Baking Loaf Pans

Hey there! I told you earlier that I found some interesting containers for my succulents!

I went epic estate sale-ing with Brentan and Sarah this weekend and found a cute ceramic bowl at the first stop, and found a stack of small and medium loaf pans at sale #4 in Alameda. Loaf pans! Who would have thought that I would be inspired to plant things in them. I think it’s because I like the old school metal school lunch trays at the Alameda Antiques Fair a while ago, and am feeling the vintage metal bake ware.

So I have a stack, and planted a few full. One now sits on my kitchen table (below) and one is on my bedside table (not pictured).  And you can sort of see the pile of the rest of the pans in the left side of the picture below waiting to be planted. 

I also took this long ceramic vessel that my brother made for me a few years ago and planted some succulents in there. It’s sitting on my coffee table and I love all the colors!

So I may not be Flora Grubb yet, but I’m working on my container gardening skills.

I’m still on the lookout for some larger containers to hold my larger plants. I saw a good sale on containers at Crate and Barrel, so maybe I’ll pick up one of these blue guys.

-Liz

Linked to: Transformation Thursday, Strut Your Stuff

Saturday Morning Thoughts

It’s 9am, Saturday morning and I have the whole weekend ahead of me. It feels wonderful! I’m feeling ambitious and thinking of tackling a few projects over the weekend. I went to Home Depot last night to pick up a few supplies already.

• Install swinging arm lamps next to the bed from Home Depot (inspired by Jane from her pretty bedroom pictures)
• Install new knobs for new old nightstands (Done last night! Pics to come later)
• Make a ladybug house to attract them to eat all my garden aphids, like the one here
• Find some cute little containers to plant all my succulents
• Cook some kick-ass huevos rancheros and learn to make sushi rolls
• Oh, and maybe finally finish a cafe curtain for the bathroom

What are your weekend projects?

-Liz

Weekend Updates: Windows and Succulents

It was a nice weekend this past weekend. Brentan and I got some projects nearly finished, and started some new ones, and ran a 12k through San Francisco!

First off, Brentan put a nice frame around our bathroom window. It’s not painted, but it’s already looking much better.

I worked on finishing a shade for this window, but of course it’s not up because the frame still needs to be painted. So you’ll just have to wait and see.

As we were walking Daphne on Saturday, we came across a garage sale in the neighborhood. Usually garage sales in our area suck, but this guy was selling a bunch of succulents he propogated for $1 each. I bought a bunch and have plans for these babies! I got all of the below succulents for only $12! That was a nice day, and a nice feeling.

What were you up to this weekend?

-Liz

Curb Appeal Gardening: Billy Buttons and Kangaroo Paw

Yesterday I got around to filling in the empty space in my front garden. I love the new plants I found (Kangaroo Paw, Billy Button, and Mexican Lime). They are quite eccentric for the area and I hope they fill in the garden space. I also hope to have a huge bouquet of Billy Button next season. There are so many pretty pics of Billy Buttons on the blogosphere, like here and here and here.

Yay flowers.

Also, there are so many roses blooming in my neighborhood now. Some are bigger than my face and they come in all kinds of colors. Perhaps I’ll take some pictures one day this week.  My roses got devoured by aphids this spring, but still have lots of buds on them. Maybe they will still bloom?

Kangaroo Paw

New Plants

New Plants

I went to the local nursery a few days ago (I like to support local nurseries instead of places like Home Depot, when I can! The staff are so helpful and really care about your projects), and bought a few new plants. I was a little bummed with their selection, but I’m told that in a month or two, when spring “officially” arrives (though not in Northern CA–it’s already here!) they’ll have more stuff to choose from. However, that didn’t stop me from finding a few plants and veggies, and spending close to $150!

So this bed in front of the house still is mostly empty (remember my adventures in plant extraction?), and I’m going to wait a bit longer to fill it up completely.

Spinach

A few veggies filled up my filing cabinet planter. Did I ever tell you that I made this last spring? I found a few cheap metal filing cabinets at a garage sale, took out the drawers, and screwed them together, bottom to bottom. Then I added some casters and spray painted the whole thing a pretty light blue. A very easy, cheap, flexible mini garden! I overestimated its capacity, and had to put my spinach in pots. Though I think they’re cute in terra cotta!

Strawberries

I was delighted that the nursery carried bare root strawberry plants. These are supposed to yield big, juicy berries, and I can’t wait for June or July to come to harvest these!

The filing cabinet planter box

Here’s a larger view of my planter box, the other side filled with lettuce and peas. The box is rusting a bit so a fresh coat of paint might be nice….

How does your garden grow? I’d love some tips on container gardening, or hear about what’s been successful to you!

-Liz