Posts Tagged ‘gardening’
on a sunday walk
Posted in Branches, Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged beauty, flowers, gardening, Inspiration, landscape architecture, Photography, urban landscape on July 9, 2018| 1 Comment »
in the landlord’s garden
Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged flowers, gardening, Inspiration, irises, lavender, Photography, purple on June 3, 2018| Leave a Comment »
reaching for the sun
Posted in Branches, Inspiration, Kitchen Inspirations, Nature Notes, tagged beauty, cultivation, gardening, houseplants, indoor gardening, Inspiration, musings, Photography, serenity on January 7, 2018| Leave a Comment »
![DSCN9511[1]](https://wordsandimagesbycynthia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/dscn95111.jpg?w=500)
cuban oregano
![DSCN9534[1]](https://wordsandimagesbycynthia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/dscn95341.jpg?w=500)
flat leaf parsley
![DSCN9522[1]](https://wordsandimagesbycynthia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/dscn95221.jpg?w=500)
geranium
![DSCN9514[1]](https://wordsandimagesbycynthia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/dscn95141.jpg?w=500)
nasturtium
![DSCN9533[1]](https://wordsandimagesbycynthia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/dscn95331.jpg?w=500)
african violet
![DSCN9510[1]](https://wordsandimagesbycynthia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/dscn95101.jpg?w=500)
sprouts planted and empty vessels waiting for seeds
in a winter garden
Posted in Branches, Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged beauty, garden design, gardening, indoor gardening, Inspiration, Photography, plants on November 2, 2017| Leave a Comment »
I’m in the mood to plan a winter garden. I think in the coming week that is one of the things I shall endeavor to do in one of my blank notebooks. Design a garden. Now planning such a garden, and even implementing it, will in no way save the world or “fight the powers that be” but it will center me and that’s important for when I am ready to deal with the insanities of this world through words or images, my pocketbook or my vote.
I did garden this past spring and summer. It was a hodge podge, not a great failure, but not quite the success of previous years. Even so I did find joy in cooking with the fresh herbs and even in watching their beautiful decay when I would forget to water them. Ahem.
Growing lavender indoors was a spur of the moment experiment. Not wholly successful but still growing and smelling delightful. That’s the plant I unfortunately watered too much. But I’m learning.
Part of the winter garden will include the geraniums given as a gift by a young friend not knowing that I mostly grow herbs inside. The red petals, when fresh and now dried, brighten several rooms and I hope they will do so this winter. We’ll see …
a magic harvest
Posted in Branches, Inspiration, tagged abstract, beauty, flowers, gardening, Inspiration, morning glories, nature, Photography, seeds on October 22, 2017| Leave a Comment »
I went outside to dump the trash and thought I’d take a look at the morning glories growing on the wall nearby. Most of the flowers gone of course but then I noticed the little seed heads and somehow they found themselves in my house sitting in the sun. I’m going to add them to my box of seeds for this year’s winter garden.
from my cousin’s garden
Posted in Inspiration, Kitchen Inspirations, tagged beauty, family, food photography, gardening, gifts, Inspiration, Photography, red, tomatoes on August 27, 2017| 1 Comment »
From her lovely garden in Brooklyn. These that weren’t eaten on the road back to Boston were sliced up with some cucumbers and celery and tossed with oil and vinegar. Good stuff! 🙂
in the flower market of course
Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged beauty, flowers, gardening, Inspiration, Photography on June 19, 2017| Leave a Comment »
preparing for winter
Posted in Inspiration, tagged decorating, flowers, gardening, indoor gardening, Inspiration, Photography, plants on October 23, 2016| 1 Comment »
I need to prepare for winter in all sorts of ways. I am beginning by planning my garden. I finally, finally, finally cleared away those things that had died or had served their time and their purpose. I consolidated the potted herbs that thrived like the oregano with those herbs struggling but worth nurturing like the tarragon. Spread around me are empty pots, vases and votives. So many votives in different colors and sizes. I love lighting tealight candles in the winter time, not so much to banish the darkness but to bring out the beauty as light and shadow dance on the various surfaces.
In previous winters I’ve grown tomatoes and potatoes in addition to herbs, sprouts and edible flowers. I live in a house with many windows so there is a wonderful greenhouse effect. Though I sometimes freeze the plants do surprisingly well as light pours in at different angles throughout the wintry days. It’s not yet happened but it will — the oak tree that towers over one side of the house will lose its leaves and even more light will enter. I try to remember that as I plan my gardening strategy.
It is also a decorating strategy. What is it that I want to see and perhaps even need to see in the winter time as I enter a room or hallway in my home? What do I want others to see? While I don’t think I think it through that thoroughly it is a rather, soothing creative time. It might also be a procrastination time … there are so many books I need to read, want to read, and things I need to write. But I choose to believe that putting those things aside, concentrating on this task of cleaning, arranging and strategizing is part of my creative process.
I am done for the day and pleased enough with the results so far. My to do list for next week includes buying a small bag of potting soil and then I’ll begin to plant my sprouts and we’ll see what else falls in to the soil.
a few quick pics in a garden
Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged flowers, gardening, Inspiration, nature, Photography, travel on September 27, 2016| Leave a Comment »
roots
Posted in Branches, Kitchen Inspirations, tagged basil, beauty, gardening, herbs, indoor gardening, Inspiration, Photography on July 8, 2016| 1 Comment »
It may not look like much but I am rather happy with this pot of basil. It began as a handful of stalks after Steve and his cooking crew had picked a bag of basil clean in preparation for his pesto. There was just something about the branches that called to me that day. I thought the mass would make a great picture and I wanted to keep them upright so I placed them in a glass. And then, of course, I could not help but wonder what would happen if I actually placed water in the glass. I took some photos and then tucked the glass away. Then lo and behold, I peered into the glass one day and what did I see but roots! I let the roots grow and even added a tiny bit of fertilizer and then soil to the water. The roots grew long and strong and new leaves unfurled. Until finally I could plant this … everlasting plant … in a new pot of soil. It’s the little things … 🙂
Words + Images 