Gardening on a Budget!

Gardening these days is expensive. So finding inexpensive ways to garden and have the look you want in your garden, sometimes you have to get creative. You can divide plants you already have, you can plan a plant exchange with friends and family, or you can invest in seeds or packages of flowers. The problem I have with seeds is sometimes you never get the flower you want nor the prefered color especially in perennials. 

So recently, with my new gift card from Home Depot, I went shopping and decide to invest my money in a few packages of flowers, mostly peonies and the Daylily 'Stella de Oro', both plants which I love and you can't have enough of them in your garden! They are showy, and provide excellent cut flowers as well! Who doesn't love peonies! For $10. you can get a package of 3 or 4 plants. Just make sure they have some life to them and look healthy. 

When removing them from the packages be careful not to damage them. You can soak them or as I did I temporarily put them into pots, covered with good soil, and prayed! I leave them out for the day, in order to start climatizing them, and bring them in at nights to avoid the freezing temperatures common in April. So if all goes well I will have 7 Daylily 'Stella de Oro', and 7 peonies for $40.compared to if I bought them in pots at the garden centre I could be spending anywhere from $10-$30 per plant! The downside is the peonies may not bloom the first year. But that's Ok with me! I know that I will have them and will plan accordingly! Just remember "There are no gardening mistakes, just experiments" . Happy Gardening!

Happy Gardening Folks!

A Celebration of Spring!

I have no children! Well...I do but he's 35 and hasn't provided me any grandcildren yet, so I find Easter isn't celebrated with easter hunts and chocolate bunnies.

It's celebrated more as the beginning of Spring!

Here are some very pretty and  inspiring photos that just say Spring so well!

Have a very enjoyable Easter Weekend!

Spring is here!!

After a freaking long and extradorinary winter finally Spring is here. It's been a real hardship these past few months, one reason I haven't blogged much is because I lost my job. Thank fully I found another. And even though it's only part time, it provides a little relief nonetheless.

So to relieve some of the stress, I turn towards my garden and this weekend is perfect! 

I have a few problems with my garden. For one my backyard is sloped. Also I've accumulated some trees over the past few years, standards mostly, that if I leave them where they are I won't be able to move them so now is a good time to do that. They are not too big that they can't be moved.

So here's the problem! I created steps that go up the backyard. They are made of wood instead of stones, which sometimes I regret but the folks that built the deck, were handy at the time and they built them for me. It was probably cheaper!

Here is what it looks like in the summer!

I have a standard  Japanes maple to provide some height and a lovely orange azalea. Then I added lots of hostas, and Japanese Grass or as someone referred to it as Fiber Optic Grass (kind of a crazy name!) to cover the hardlines of the wooden stairs.

Anyway, I love the look of this grass. It just sweeps over the stairs, and adds that lovely yellow to the garden that compliments the dark purple blue salvias, and and blue lilies among other plants I have there!

But what I didn't like it the way the maple tree was growing, It would be better if it was turned around. I would rather see the trunk than all those leaves! Anal, aren't I! Also what bothered me is every garden should have a focul point and I wanted something for the top of the stairs! I really would have liked a colection of 3 tall thin cedars, like in Italy, but this year it's not in the budget. So I decided to take a mulberry tree I have and plant it at the top (where the clock is!

What do you think? And then I plan on moving the Japanes  maple to the other side of the stairs but turn it around so I can see the trunk more than just all the leaves!

So I've been gathering some inspiration from these photos.

I have a lot of work to do but I have some time. Working with no budget means that I'll have to get creative. Probably divide many of the plants I already have, but that's Ok as it's good to have some consistency throughout the garden. I'm more formal then informal, and although I love a lot of plants I'm not a "cottage" gardener. but by creating a good solid plan, gives me something to plan and look forward to.

There is always a silver lining when times get tough.

Happy gardening folks. Thank God Spring is finally here!!!

Adding Architecture To Your Room Or Garden!

I have these lovely church windows I bought years ago in a yard sale. They actually came from a church here in Nova Scotia. I believe they said they came from Parrsboro.

 

 

There are in fact 2 of them, that I joined with some antique hinges that I got at Restoration Hardware. I got them to use as a room divider to seperate the living room from the dining room. Like everything I do I used it for awhile and then I got bored and tried something else. My current home didn't have room for them. At least not yet until I finish the basement and then I may actually have a place for them.

 

I have often thought of putting them in the garden but they meant so much to me I was afraid I might ruin them. Plus they are really heavy, I mean REALLY heavy!! Can't drag them around willy nilly, especially since I would always have to bribe my son to help, and you know that can always be costly!!

 

Anyway, I'm trying to sell them!

 

So I thought I'd show some great examples I collected where church windows were used in pleasing and architectually inspiring ways!

 

Have a look!

 

After looking at these pictures I'm having second thoughts as these are such lovely examples!

 

But I'm pretty sure they have to go!

 

Contact me if your interested!!



Proud Canadian!

 

So proud of our Girls Hockey team. 4th in a row for Gold!!

 

Congratulations and we are so proud!

Zaria Forman

Wow, am I inspired by this lady, Zaria Forman!
 

"In addition to exhibitions, recent projects include a series of drawings that served as the set design for the classic ballet Giselle, which premiered in October 2012 at the Grand Theatre of Geneva, Switzerland. Ten of the drawings were also used in the set design for House of Cards, a Netflix TV series directed by David Fincher and starring Kevin Spacey." So her biography reads.

 

Are these not the most remarkable works of art you've ever seen! She doesn't use a brush, she uses only her fingers!!

 

 

She attaches the Board to the wall and then starts working away until you get this.

 



Amazing eh?

 

I think she so perfectly captures the ocean. This is a gift!

Welcoming those That View My Blog!

I started this blog a few months back because my passion has always been home decor! It was a perfect outlet to share pictures and ideas while providing a liitle insight into myself and my family!

Lately it hasn't been very easy for us as after 13 years I am about to lose my job. I'm 56, will be 57 in October.  I'm finally realizing that my skills in my current job do not transfer well to another. It appears that presently, in this job market, you need a certificate for just about everything! I've never been unemployable! I've always had a job!

Although technically I'm employed until March 31, 2014, it's been a tremendous strain on me and my family. 

I'm allowing this bit of insight to my current affairs, as that's what a blogs all about! It's about sharing. Not only the good times but sometiems it's the bad as well! 

When I knew the end was coming I started, or tried to start a business called Dorothy Newcomb's Inspiring Arrangements for Home and Garden, because I thought, well, do what you like to do. Easier said then done, but I'm trying! The concept was simple: let me take what you already have and rearrange it, organize it, in a way that it's new to you and makes you feel like you've had a personal decorator in but with at a fraction of the cost! Also if your struggling wth colors or what to purchase next, I could devise a plan. 

Some people thought it was a great idea, others, not so much! Then I started the blog. I've always wanted a blog because I love home decor, and I love my home, which I painstakingly, on a very small budget, try to do all the things I love to it. It's my pride and joy! And I wanted to share it with someone, YOU! 

You ,whoever you are, bring me great joy whenever I see that people have visited my page. A blogger's dream I guess!

Well, thank you!

It means the world to me when you visit and I hope that I will always have something worthwhile to share.

I also want to thank those few visiting from Germany! I'm a second generation German, living in Canada, while my mother, who is quite ill, and lives with me still, was born in Nuremburg! It means a great deal to me to know that sharing our German traditions, which we keep alive and well, might resonate with you as well!!

Again, thank you for visiting!

I wish you well and Guten Abend!