Christmas Presents

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So this year, I ended up making a few hand-made gifts. My favorite are these:

(see tutorial here) They went to my sister and her family. Plus Peter got a practice one. I made this board for my brother’s wedding:

It was a lot of fun to do. I went on a walk and took all the pictures of the letters, and then found house numbers for the date. It then went together with a lot of photo-editing and mod podge.  Finally was this grocery bag holder for my mom:

(see tutorial here) That project plus sewing lots of skirts for my brother’s wedding was too much on my poor sewing machine. Now the sewing machine not only has the previous problem of a mis-aligned needle, but the tension is very off. I need a machine repair–but it’ll wait until Georgia.

2011 in Review

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We started this year in Springville which we enjoyed. In the summer, we moved in with Liz’s grandparents in Pleasant Grove. As a family, we were able to hike 100 miles, camped at Zion’s, and took a trip to visit Joe’s brother in California. We are expecting another boy in March. Right after Christmas, we are moving to Atlanta for a year, where Joe will finish up his last year of school.

Joe–Joe worked hard in his second year of physical therapy school. He worked the first half of the year at Vivant, and later quit to make more time for school and family. In the fall, he worked an eight week clinical at Aspen Ridge Rehabilitation Center that he enjoyed.

Liz–Liz spent most of he time running after a growing toddler. At the beginning of the year, she took an online irrigation design class. She also progressed on her gardening buisness, doing mainly design and consulting but also installing several landscapes, and did maintenance for the condo HOA where we lived in Springville. Liz also ran he first ever 5K, but then pregnancy progressed and she gave up running.

Peter–Peter turned two. He is growing, running, and talking tons. His favortie things this year included playing outside, toddler gym at the local rec center, storytime, and learning to navigate on the computer.

Merry Christmas!

Zinnias and Dahlias

I have to admit some confusion with identifying dahlias and zinnias and I hope I’m not alone. With seemingly hundreds of varieties of each, they can look extremly similar. I was recently reading a book and came across a picture with two zinnia varieites and one dahlia. I could not tell which is which without a bit of further research. I tend to second guess my first reaction over some plants–Was that really a dahila, or could it actually be a dahila-flowered zinnia?

Both dahlias and zinnias are generally planted every spring, and showcase a long display of colorful blooms. They both have a plethora of varieties that vary in size, color, flower form, etc.

They are very different plants, even if at first glance they appear similar. Dahlias develop tubers, and are actually tender perennials. The tubers can be lifted and stored for succeeding years in colder climates. Zinnias are annuals grown from seed. Dahlia varieties can be larger than zinnias (although both come in a huge variety of sizes). Zinnias are more tolerant of heat and drought.

So how can you tell them apart? Zinnia flowers are supposedly more two-dimensional, but I think your best bet is to look at the leaves. Zinnia leaves are attached directly to the stem, with little visible petiole. Dahlia leaves have a petiole and are generally more serrated. (For non-botanist readers, there’s some botanical terms to look up. And they are good to know so go ahead a google away.) With that said, the picture at the beginning is definitely a zinnia.

Freezing Fog

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The winter inversions in Utah can be horrid: poor air quality, no snow, and freezing temperatures. But sometimes the horrid weather also results in freezing fog that makes  for a beautiful type of winter wonderland, even if it is devoid of snow.

Toddler Fun

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This December has actually been extremely dissapointing weather wise. Almost no snow…and we need it now, because we aren’t going to get much in Atlanta. But at least we had a little snow on Tuesday. Before it melted, Peter and I went out and played in it. He liked the sled, but was as much interested in going in Grandma’s playhouse.

Last night, Peter suddenly popped out with “Kangaroo Zoo,” and wanted to go. It’s a local bounce house type play place that we went to early last month. Apparently he remembered, and seeing no reason not to go that evening (they charge less for 2 and under, and I had a coupon), we went. Bringing Daddy along was a great idea. Last time, after about a half hour he was done and he didn’t try any of the bigger slides. This time he went on all but the biggest slide and we were there for over an hour. Pete certainly got a good work-out, he was running around crazy the entire time.

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Designing a Garden

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I designed gardens this years and also installed a few. I’ve recently had some thoughts about the designs and garden designs in general. I read this post about how garden designs aren’t great. I have to disagree a bit: garden design are tremendously useful. But there should be some disclaimers about them as well.

  • Designing a garden is never quite done because the garden is living. Plants will need to be re-arranged, thinned, added to, moved, and even dug out and thrown away. No garden is ever really completed.
  • Every plant reacts differently to a different environment, and every garden has its own unique environment. I can get what I think is a perfect plant arrangement on paper, and it might be in certain situations. But  it could turn out that a certain plant or plant combination just doesn’t work. It doesn’t mean the design is wrong: it simply needs to be modified for the specific situation.
  • Starting out with a design (that will most likely be modified) will mean there is somewhere to start, something to work towards, and something to modify. It’s better than no design at all. Garden designs turn gardening into an enjoyable, manageable task where everything is eventually able to come together and create a unified appearance.
  • Designing is essential to get a good backbone to the garden. The plant material will be adjusted over time as it grows (or fails to grow), but basic plant arrangement, lines, borders  and the structure of it all can be defined by an initial garden design and won’t change too much.
  • Good gardens only come about with good maintenance. Even a low maintenance design needs a watchful eye.

I’m putting this out there, but I’m also moving across the country. Any garden I’ve designed, or you would like me to design, comes with a free yearly consultation by me to see how it is coming along and offer suggestions on continued development. All garden designs really are a first draft, one that will need to be modified over the years.

Christmas Activities

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We went up to Temple Square on a cold night last week and enjoyed all the Christmas lights and a bit of choir music. Always a fun place to go for Christmas.

Last night we made gingerbread houses. You can look at the houses below and guess which one is who’s. My husband, Peter, my grandma and I all made one.

Okay Peter’s was pretty easy. Mine is the one with a mulched landscape. I cared more about my landscape then the actual house, and I think I’m the only one ever who put “organic mulch” down around a gingerbread house. Joe’s is the most architecturally interesting and detailed. His took a while, but turned out awesome. (He’s quite a good artist.) Grandma struggled a bit with hers, but it turned out pretty cool. It was a fun activity to do together.

So there is still lots of packing to do. I really haven’t started and I’m moving in less than 3 weeks. I’m excited. But I really need to start packing.

Some of My Approaches to Gardening

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Never worry about pests until you see them. Then make sure you identify them and know what damage they are going to do. Most of the time I never spray, just accept the damage as part of gardening. This results in a huge decrease of chemical use.

Stuff dies. The difference between a thriving garden and one full of dead plants, is the people with thriving gardens threw away their dead plants and tried again.

Weeds are acceptable. Some are very pretty. I love the violet-clover-lawn in the back. Even the dandelions are beautiful. Manytimes weeds are just filling in niches, not overtaking other plants. If a weed isn’t ugly or offensive, I don’t worry about it.

Weeds are also a lot easier to deal with when they are tiny.

Black plastic mulch is wickedly awesome for vegetable gardens and cheap online. Use bark mulch everywhere else. Unless you are trying to grow penstemons and other plants that hate good, moist soil.

There cannot be too much compost in the garden. Unless you are trying to grow penstemons and other plants that hate good, moist soil.

There are plants that will grow in every situation. So instead of trying to change what you have to get a plant to grow, find a plant that fits the situation.

If a plant is pretty, not encroaching on anything you don’t want,  and you aren’t going to get fruit off  of it, it doesn’t need to be pruned. Except for roses, which is why I really don’t like roses.

Deadheading is usually overkill. But extremely enjoyable if you want to stop and smell the flowers.

Gardens are more meaningful if they are yours: if you planted and cared for the plants. But start small so you can enjoy it and it doesn’t turn into a monster chore.

101 Miles Hiked

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This Saturday we bundled up and went on another hike. With another 2.5 miles, this makes 101 miles for the season. I reached my goal, with a few weeks left. (With busy weeks ahead though, this might be it). We started at Dry Canyon trailhead in Orem and hiked on the Bonneville Shoreline Trail over to the Battle Creek trailhead. It was a nice, easy hike with great views. There was lots of company too-we saw bikers, runners, horses and dogs. It was a cold day, but we stayed warm all nice and bundled. Peter walked quite a bit, although he is a little slower and curious then his parents might like. He was also content to be on daddy’s shoulders (and luckily daddy is okay to have him up there). It snowed a little bit that morning, which was lots of fun. We probably aren’t getting much snow this year so we have to enjoy the little we get now. Now for pictures, which mostly feature one adorable little boy. He’s actually starting to pose.

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Rose

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The calender is more right than our minds. Winter has not come, even though we are anxiously awaiting blankets of snow and singing carols about sleigh rides. It is still fall. This single rose has clung onto fall far longer than the rest of us. Protected by the house, it has not noticed that temperatures have dropped into the 20’s. I never look at this diminutive rose bush in the regular season, but now it is the highlight of the whole garden.