Sunday Morning Coffee Musings: Garden Sage

You’d be amazed at what could happen in less than an hour. I met a master gardener. Better known as an angel. This lady took my cart and wheeled it around and the both of us put my flower bed together. She said don’t worry about Home Depot we got this. She gave me so much wisdom about gardening with just a few nuggets. She even pulled my cart up front. It was like being taken under the wings of a sage. Every gardener admired my selection.

And then I pulled my cart up to valet for my plants and the man says let me get you a number. He grabbed the number 44 which is one of my favorite numbers or any sequence of four. The lady says what number did you give her? Let me see that. She said oh you have a good number that’s the year we were born and we’re married. Are you married? I know we’re not supposed to ask that anymore in this Society. I said not yet. This may be a sign. She said it’s a good number for us.

Last photo is a Bergonia

Garden Tips:

Plant in odd numbers

You don’t have to buy so many of plants that spread like Hostas or Elephant Ears. You may overcrowd your space because they comeback every year with increase

Ferns are beautiful. Except a woodland fern will take over and they are hard to get rid of.

Look for a thick stem, healthy looking stem. Anything limp or broken needs to be removed to conserve energy.

Don’t plant them too close to each other. They need room to spread their roots.

Don’t plant too deep. Where you see it’s already planted in the nursery pot is where you plant up to.

Once you plant, break up the soil around it to give roots room to spread.

Sodium nitrate

Plant the day before a rain if you can

~Nikki

Houseplant 2. Lydia.

17880579_10156061149048266_7334370907542309399_o

This is a Sanseviera trifasciata…whew say that three times. I named her Lydia. Mainly from Africa (Madagascar) and Asia is what I read. I didn’t know that once you buy one houseplant you would want more! I am going to stick with the two I have for now. It is a great option as I don’t want to plant a garden just yet. It is also a great option to a garden because I can handle these even if I am not feeling well.

~Nikki

Meet Mamacita

17880725_10156057820268266_1520984081829344760_o

Meet my first houseplant. I named her “Mamacita.” She is a codiaeum variegatum (croton) which comes from the Pacific Islands, Malaysia, Northern Australia region, normally. This one specifically is a dreadlock/mammey croton. I wasn’t looking for a plant but my daughter was. She has 3 now. My mom still has the houseplants from my grandma and that was about 13 years ago. Well here’s to me and Mamacita. My daughter’s aloe vera plant is named Toronto and the other one is Montreal. Then there is the cactus Quebec…he is new. We are crazy…yes lol!

I am researching on how to take care of her or this type of plant. I hope I am not in over my head.

~Nikki

Dixon Gallery and Garden

picsart_10-13-12-35-16picsart_10-13-12-37-21picsart_10-13-12-48-04

picsart_10-13-12-44-16picsart_10-13-12-45-01

picsart_10-13-12-38-29picsart_10-13-12-39-45picsart_10-13-12-42-04

Yesterday my daughter and I visited Dixon Gallery and Garden in Memphis, TN. These are a few photos I wanted to share with you of the beauty we encountered. There is no wonder people have weddings here. We saw the exhibit FOLD and toured beautiful paintings and sculptures. Below are photos from FOLD.

20161012_130310
Mary Jo Karimnia

 

20161012_130117.jpg
Mary Jo Karimnia

~Nikki

Memphis Farmers Market

14317569_10155259368113266_8305755807815642807_n

Memphis Farmers Market is an outdoor market with local farmers. Included in this outdoor market are local artisans, live music, arts and crafts,  gardeners of fresh flowers and really there are surprises there almost each week. There has been an outdoor yoga session as well! It runs every Saturday from April to about mid November and is located on Front St. This is just one of the outdoor markets in Memphis.

I can personally tell you the staff, mostly of volunteers, are always friendly. They have coffee available to aid you in waking up if you are not an early riser and literally smell the aroma of fresh flowers, citrus fruits, basil and fresh mint leaves. People in general are friendly at the market and you can ask the farmers anything about their products and they are always eager to tell you. If you come often enough you will get to know them and they will get to know you.

This week I met a young lady who was looking for sweet basil. I pointed her in the right direction and she said “Great! Now I can make pesto.” I said “Hold on. You know how to make pesto?” She happily put down her bags down and began to tell me with great joy how to. I can always tell a true foodie. I plan to make pesto, put them in ice cube trays, freeze them and have it on hand. See…you learn so much at the market. Which got me to thinking, how many recipes and tips were passed down in the days of open markets…

Here’s my healthy loot for this week:

~Nikki