When we visited Boyce Thompson Arboretum last November, I spotted lots of patches of fall color – and not just in the trees!
Here are some shades of an Arizona autumn for you!
When we visited Boyce Thompson Arboretum last November, I spotted lots of patches of fall color – and not just in the trees!
Here are some shades of an Arizona autumn for you!
I think the fantastical plants I kept seeing around San Diego are called “dragon trees”.
On the way back from Coronado Beach, I noticed the playful-looking shadows they cast on the sidewalk. So, once again, I stopped in my tracks to take a photo of the ground.
Other photo favorites from July include a sunset in La Jolla (San Diego) and Quijote looking at the ocean.
Have you seen anything interesting on the sidewalk lately?
Part of the fun of container gardening is actually the containers themselves! There are lots of ways to form, fold, build, stitch, tie, repurpose, and personalize new homes for your plants.
Here are a twelve pots and planters that you can make!
Create a hanging garden in the Japanese kokedama style with low-light houseplants, moss, peat soil and bonsai soil. / via Design*Sponge
These little succulent pots are fashioned out of oven-baked clay. I think the small ones are super cute, but you could probably enlarge the plans if you wanted to make them for bigger plants. Tutorial and templates are on sayyes.com.
This would be a great way to put an herb garden in your kitchen without taking up counter space! / via Not Just a Housewife
You can also repurpose flea market finds, like kitchen items, by planting a small garden in them. This lettuce-filled colander could double as a centerpiece on an outdoor table. / via House of Hawthornes
With a few folds, you can make your own biodegradable pots for starting seedlings! I first saw these at Phoenix Chile Fest and later got to make my own at CraftHack.
Dress up any old can with some colorful fabric for a cheery place for a houseplant to live. / via Design*Sponge
This is actually carved from a coconut! There’s also another coconut planter project in the same post on the Jungalow.
This is a project that’s simple to make with a chic result! / via Fall for DIY
We actually have more of these IKEA Gorm shelf units than we are currently using, and I’d love to turn one into a planter or garden storage box. / via IKEA Hackers
These folded fabric covers are like coffee koozies for your plants! / via Sotak Handmade
A sign with your house numbers and a little planter is such a welcoming touch for an entryway! To keep costs down, you can use succulent cuttings and scrap wood. / via Shanty 2 Chic
The sunset the last evening of 2017 was gorgeous – nature’s fireworks to celebrate the New Year.
A couple of the year’s other beautiful sunsets showed up on my Instagram Best Nine, fitting neatly into its unintentional bright pink/purple/royal blue color scheme. All of my most-liked photos were taken in Arizona, so, of course, they include some desert scenery.
Only a few coincided with my monthly photo picks.
1. #LOVE sign at airport protest 2. Star Wars Capacitance Electronic Disc (CED) 3. Sunset behind palms 4. Tovrea Castle, Phoenix 5. Buildings in Old Town Peoria 6. Hotel Congress sign, Tucson – July 7. High Desert Trail, Black Canyon City – August 8. “Let’s Be Better Humans” campaign bus – March 9. View from Picacho Peak – en route from Tucson
I thought the photos I’d picked for 2017 were more varied than the automatically-generated Best Nine list. But, looking back, almost all are plant- or architecture-related. I guess it was a good year for both those categories.
I wonder what 2018 will bring.
My elementary school art teacher didn’t like my trees.
The drawing I had been working on was of a whole forest of them – with trunks that were bent and twisted all different directions.
“Trees grow straight up and down,” she criticized. “Not like that.” She made me start my drawing over.
I remembered this while I was hiking recently.
And I wanted to laugh every time I passed yet another example of nature showing that I had been correct all along.
Find more trees over at Happiness and Food’s Tree Love Thursdays!