Organic gardener growing food and flowers, lovin' pollinators and birds.

Floral Friday: Dec 29

Today's Floral Friday includes a mix of the outdoors (with photos taken earlier this week after an ice storm) and what's blooming indoors — a thorough account for the last Floral Friday post for 2017.

Angel with buddleia.


Frozen asters.


Frozen winterberries.



Beneath the ice the hellebore contemplates blooming. Maybe after this cold snap passes it will (we are lucky to reach temperatures in the 20s this week and next). Here's a look at it blooming last year.


An ice impression from a hellebore leaf. 


My little blue spruce.


Frozen anemone seeds.


Frozen mums and asters.


The Deja Bloom Azalea keeps its color in the winter.


An oriental poppy seed head, covered in ice.


Wind chimes in the front garden.


I'm so happy that I filled my cobalt blue pots with winter greens. It adds a nice addition to the front entry.


Inside, it's a bit toastier. Here are two succulents under the grow lights that are awaiting their future home.


The Queens Tears is blooming. This plant is in the bromeliad family, and does well with neglect. It was given to me after it didn't sell at the garden club plant sale about two years ago. Every summer I put it outdoors and basically ignore it. I then bring it in before frost, and then it forgives me and blooms when I need flowers the most.



 Here it is in my living corner, a west-facing window that the orchids also enjoy.


The air plants enjoy the morning light in the kitchen window. They are a bit decked out for the holidays at the moment.


And the amaryllis bulbs are growing more.


 A baby spider plant makes a new home in my rabbit planter.


The Christmas cactus has so much going on when it flowers. Here is one of the flowers flipped over to see the details.


The orchids are getting new flower stalks, too!



And, in a creepy way, this orchid (my oldest) has decided to keep it's stone rabbit with it, curling a root around it indefinitely.


What's blooming or growing in your house and/or garden this week?

To see what was blooming and growing last week, click here.
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Floral Friday: Dec. 22

This Floral Friday I've been focusing on what's growing inside the house, since yesterday was the winter solstice and the garden is asleep.

I've started growing several amaryllises and they are starting to show signs of life.


My coleus cuttings that I took before the big frost have rooted in water and are ready to be transplanted. In years past I've rooted balcony geraniums to keep overwinter; the coleus are much easier.


The only downside is that I didn't think about how I wouldn't be able to remove the caps to the florist tubes after the plant grew roots. Oops. Live and learn. But there are so many healthy roots!


The Christmas cactus is blooming as well. How can you tell if you have a Thanksgiving cactus or a Christmas cactus? It's all about the leaves. This article in Horticulture helps explain what to look for. (Some of my flowers are wilting, which might be due to it's location in front of the drafty window.)



What's blooming and growing in your house and garden this week? To see what was happening in the garden last week, click here.
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Floral Friday: Dec. 15

The first substantial snowfall arrived earlier this week, which gave the front garden a serene feel. It's at this time that I'm reminded that I need to continue to plan for winter color, such as these bright red berries on the new winterberry bushes I planted not too long ago. I need more pops of color to combat the dreariness of winter. 



It's also a time when you realize that you forgot to put away your garden chairs...


The echinacea looks so gorgeous in the snow, just like women wearing beehive hairdos.





I haven't had time to decorate much for Christmas this year, but I do have a colorful wreath that was handmade at Natureworks.






Even the Eco Garden System is tucked away for the winter, as I dream of what I will grow in it next spring. (To read my final review of this innovative raised bed, click here.)

What does your garden look like at this time of year?
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Unique gifts for the gardener

Trying to find a unique gift for the gardener in your life can be a daunting task. While plants and gift certificates to garden centers are always a sure thing, here are some relatively inexpensive and unique items that have caught my eye for the holiday season.


Plants Map tags
The high-quality engraved plant tags from Plants Map not only identify the plants in your garden, but also link up to your online account via QR codes. Once the code is scanned, you (or someone else) can access the information you added about the plant. (Price varies depending on customization.)

Portable speaker 
The Oontz Angle 3 Portable Bluetooth Speaker ($24.99) is small enough to carry, but delivers big on sound. (My husband bought one for himself and already noticed me eyeing it.) Weeding will be less of a chore when you listen to your favorite songs or podcasts in the garden by wirelessly transmitting them from your phone to this small portable speaker.

Solar-powered spotlights
The Litom Solar Light ($17.99) is one of my new favorite things! My husband found these on Amazon and now we no longer need to pay for our powered motion-sensor light in our driveway. These solar-charging spotlights last until the early morning hours when it is still dark (with normal outdoor use). It's great when you want to work on containers near the house late at night, too!

Photo used with permission.
Garden Design magazine subscription
If having access to professional photography isn't good enough, the stories are in-depth and there's no advertising. Garden Design magazine arrives in its protected packaging, so even if you have a maniacal mailman, it won't get destroyed. (Price varies depending on subscription preferences.) Garden Design has a special offer for those who subscribe now: you'll get your first issue free. Click here to learn more.

CobraHead
The CobraHead Weeder & Cultivator ($24.99) is my go-to garden tool when I need to battle established weeds or clear out plant squatters in walkway cracks. (I received one to review for the blog two years ago and the blade is still sharp and looks like new.) This year the company released a mini version, too ($21.95).


'Queen Lime Orange' Zinnia is a 2018 AAS Winner.
'Queen Lime Orange' Zinnia seeds
I saw these zinnias growing when I attended the veggie trials in California as an NGB Plant Nerd and absolutely fell in love with them. There are many seed companies that sell AAS Winners, and so far Johnny's Selected Seeds appears to be the first to have them for sale ($4.95/packet, backordered until January).

Gardener's soap
The Gardener's Scrubbing Soap from Botanical Interests ($8.49) smells good and gets the dirt out from under your nails. Win win.

Hortustv
Hortustv ($6.99/month) is on-demand programming tailored for gardeners. It can be streamed to your tablet, computer or Smart TV. I learned about this unique service during the Garden Bloggers Fling in June, and let's just say I know how I'll be spending my gardening offseason.

Year of the Beet shirt
Beginning in January is the Year of the Beet, as declared by the National Garden Bureau. Educate others with the NGB Year of the Beet T-shirt ($29.95). (If you are more into flowers, there's also Year of the Tulip, Calibrachoa and Coreopsis options, too.)

Pretty scarves
The Fruit Garden Square Scarf ($29.99) from Ann Taylor Loft is a pretty addition to gardeners's professional attire when they have to leave the garden and go to work. (Hint: I bought mine cheaper than the online price when I found it on sale at the store in the mall.)

Happy shopping!

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These roots run deep: Eco Garden yields larger edibles

Sponsored post: This post is sponsored by Eco Garden Systems LLC, but the content and opinions expressed here are my own. Eco Garden Systems LLC provided me with an original Eco Garden System for review purposes.

This growing season I had the opportunity to trial the original Eco Garden System — an elevated raised bed with self-watering capabilities. I've been sharing my experiences throughout the growing season in previous posts on Frau Zinnie. I grew a variety of edibles in the raised garden bed, including kale, lettuce, bush beans, nasturtiums, parsley and celery.

Before the Eco Garden System, I mainly used fabric grow bags to grow edibles along my driveway, the portion of my property that receives full sun. The problem with fabric grow bags is that they dry out quickly, especially when they sit on top of a blacktop driveway. (Even if they are elevated with bricks!) I do not have drip irrigation set up and I often came home to dried out containers. That's why I was really intrigued to try out the Eco Garden System when the company reached out to me in May. I had a spot in my driveway where I was never able to grow food, and I thought this would be a great location to try out this innovative product.

As a test I purchased small celery plants that had been started in six packs, and planted six in the Eco Garden System and three in one of my fabric grow bags. I wanted to see if there would really be a difference growing edibles in the Eco Garden System as opposed to my old way of doing things.

When the growing season was over in Connecticut (late November) I dug up the celery plants from the grow bag and from the Eco Garden System.

I couldn't believe what I found.

When it was finally time to remove the plants and prepare the Eco Garden System for winter, I was surprised —and delighted — by what I unearthed.


The root systems on the three remaining plants in the Eco Garden System were not only healthy, but fairly substantial. (I had harvested three plants earlier in the season, for a total of six plants in the Eco Garden System.)

Now take a look at how the celery in the fabric grow bag did:


The roots on the celery that were grown in the grow bag (upper left) are half the size of the plants grown in the Eco Garden System (upper right). Not only were the celery plants still healthy looking (if the weather stayed warmer I think I could have eeked out a few more weeks!) but the root systems were double the size of those grown in the fabric grow bags.


The two largest plants from each container planting are shown above. The upper left plant is the largest one from the fabric grow bag. The upper right plant is the largest one from the Eco Garden System. I believe the reason for this major difference between the two growing mediums is due to the Eco Garden System's built in water reservoir, which (obviously) encouraged root growth!


Even though the Eco Garden System has the ability to self-water when connected to a hose, I found that the water reservoir that exists at the bottom of the unit stored enough water throughout the summer to keep my soil moist and the plants happy, even on the hottest of days. If I didn't get home in time, it didn't matter. The plants were fine — not stressed at all, unlike the plants grown in the fabric grow bag.

Other perks
The Eco Garden System has allowed me to grow plants in a previously unusable portion of my property. This is an ideal system not only for a gardener like myself who has to get creative to use the full sun portion of the paved property, but also for city dwellers. No access to safe soil? You can be completely surrounded by concrete but with the Eco Garden System you can control your soil and create a mini oasis. (In my first post I shared the soil combination that I put in my Eco Garden System.)

The driveway heat didn't affect the plants negatively, as plants grown in other containers closer to the ground and sitting directly on the driveway would. The height of the Eco Garden System — 39 inches high —makes it easily accessible for gardeners who have trouble bending or getting close to the ground. At 50 inches wide and 74 inches long, the entire unit is large enough to grow a variety of plants but easy to reach into the center at any given point.

Growing your own food saves money at the grocery store, too. I was happy to save money on organic celery because I was growing my own steady supply with little effort. I had success growing not only celery but also gorgeous heads of lettuce (when it was past cool crop season), bush beans and even edible flowers.




I was sent the original Eco Garden System which retails at $2,195.00. The entire raised bed is made from recycled materials – including milk jugs – from the United States. The recycled plastic is certified food safe by the USDA and the FDA, which means there are no bad plastics leaching into the soil where your edibles are growing.


I've prepped mine for winter by draining the water reservoir and disconnecting my garden hose. To protect the soil and the self-watering equipment for the winter, I went to the hardware store and purchased a blue tarp to cover the top. I bought elastic cables to secure the tarp to the legs of the unit so it will not be affected by wind. I did have to go back and put a small trellis in the center of the unit to help rain and snow drain off the top. However, the company is working on creating a cover for winter use — and the sneak peek of photos I've seen makes it look way classier than my blue tarp!

I received the unit in June, which meant I had to plant quickly to get in on the current growing system. For 2018, I can't wait to take advantage of the early spring growing season. When I visited California back in August for the veggie trials as an NGB Plant Nerd (#NGBPlantNerds), I learned about many new varieties of vegetables that perform well in containers, such as tomatoes and peppers. Now that I know what potential my Eco Garden System holds, it makes me even more excited to plan for next year's garden. The hard part will now be deciding what to grow, instead of trying to figure out how to grow it! 
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