February 2011
13 posts
2 tags
Keep it simple.
Floral Design Day (February 28th) does not have to be complicated. In fact, I prefer to embrace the simplicity of it…
…by relying on a few colored glass bottles and some dried natural ingredients. After all, it’s still the dead of winter, so why knock yourself out trying to come up with fresh flowers?
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FLORAL DESIGN DAY February 28th
Who doesn’t love flowers billowing from a vase on the dining room table, or an orchid blooming sporadically in a kitchen window?
Even an indoor office with little daylight is greatly enhanced with a dried floral arrangement. February 28th presents the perfect opportunity to talk about flowers: it’s Floral Design Day.
More than sixty years ago, Carl Rittner founded the Rittners...
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9 tags
LOOK SHARP: garden guidance
Don’t confuse “pruning” with “shearing.”
Shearing is appropriate for hedges, topiaries, and formal gardens. Shearing can destroy the natural growth of a plant, and diminish flowering. Shearing is ideal for hedge maintenance and stimulates growth of new leaves.
These boxwoods are sheared regularly to keep them within their desired borders.
Pruning should be done to improve the...
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WHAT I LOVE MOST about the February garden
You’ll get non-stop delivery from this evergreen perennial, season after season. The Lenten Rose Helleborus orientalis blooms in late winter before anything else, and has the energy and resistance to stand up to late frosts. Bloom season is January through March, and even the faded, nodding flowers are beautiful at the end of the cycle.
It’s best to choose plants when they are...
7 tags
Winter Treats
My two favorite colors are coral and turquoise, not necessarily in that order. It’s mid-February, and it’s just occurred to me how much “coral” you can find in the garden this time of year. (I’ll talk about turquoise another day.)
One of my favorite trees, the Coral Bark Maple, has brilliant red branches in winter, especially the ‘Beni Kawa,’ a personal...
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“My green thumb came only as a result of the mistakes I made while learning to...”
– H. Fred Ale
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Inside the February Conservatory
A glorious day, after wicked winter weather. Today the conservatory is bursting with color from the orchids, while the Amaryllis have lapsed…..
The lovely white roses from Valentine’s Day are starting to droop, but their fragrance still lingers in the unseasonably warm winter air.
And my favorite Chrysanthemum, a white Spider, still lingers on two weeks after I picked them up for a...
While the Baby Sleeps.... →
Little Red Riding Hood, Buddha Baby, Snow Fairy, Princess & the Pea. When you have an obsessively creative mind, this is what happens: you choose sentiment over slumber.
