today.

november garden

it has taken me a long time to really understand that fall sort of equals spring in socal. it is my favourite time of year in the garden. our drought tolerant plants start to look alive again!

the pic on the top is of ornamental gourds. i had hoped they would be grown, dried and ready to transform into bird houses by the holidays. (i have carried this image in my memory bank since i first saw it.) we will see.

the color of play

green (and purple, yellow, orange, brown, red, black...)



a hike / play at the "farm" only a few blocks from our home.


so happy about the donation of over 600 shrubs and 60 trees for our schoolyard. just need a sign to welcome birds and bugs!

and happy to have been invited to participate in a presentation to the Los Angeles City Council on the value of Community School Parks!

Happy (happy!) Monday

natural pest control

with a nasty infestation on my native sunflower bush, we turned to the ladies for help...



thanks ladies!

mellow yellow

friday already? feeling much better, though the time change thing seems harder this go round. luckily, it has been a gorgeous week. and taken up by digging in the dirt. the natives we planted last year are all starting to bloom. {i am so loving the yellow flowers on this california sunflower bush (encelia californica) we planted around the turtle pond. as is the turtle.(for her lunch)} we have our little starter plants going for the veggie beds, and there is nothing i would rather be doing than working in the yard. unfortunately, there is a lot of stuff i should be doing.

with that. we are off to the bay area for a few days of escape - to mellow out - and to spend some time with much missed friends.

{yay for spring break!}

enjoy

Corners of Our Home 24

the wall of the patio off our bedroom where i want that vine to go

plant{ing} community

ahhhh. stretch. good to be back. the break was much needed. went too quickly. so enjoyed being with my mum. {can't wait for a trip home in june!}

we finally made the trip to the Theodore Payne Foundation over the weekend. i had never been, but had heard mention of it, and had been urged to visit after my post on sew green about our gardening plans. it was well worth it. they were founded in 1960 with the mission to "promote and restore California landscapes, and habitats", "propagate and make available California native plants and wildflowers", and "educate and acquire knowledge about California flora and natural history". {it was also their annual "poppy day" with plants priced 10% off!} what we thought would be an hour visit turned into a morning. the big bug was fascinated by the variety of plants. and walked around searching for tags with "dry", "full sun", "clay soil".

we are trying to plant by community. with the notion that plants which would grow together in nature, should grow well together in our yard. their similar needs will also ease maintenance. and they will attract more native critters {birds, lizards, and small mammals} to our yard as well. {we are also basing our plan on the concept of the national wildlife federation's backyard wildlife habitat program.}

we settled on a range of ceanothus {california lilacs} - some that will serve as low ground cover on what was our front lawn, others that will grow to be small trees around our pool; a largish variety of sage for drama; some toyon ground cover; a couple of native succulents that i couldn't resist; california fuschia for the butterflies and hummingbirds; and for good measure - a california bush sunflower {which isn't a member of "our community" but i thought i'd throw an outsider in the mix - plus they are a favorite of mine and a reminder of my prairie home.}

we are also going outside the box with a little meadow for our breezeway, which will also house a new pond for giselle. it is also an area which will be easy to give a little extra attention {"semi-dry" choices here instead of "dry"} to due to its small size. the girls chose most of the plants for this area, their favorite the dainty coral bells hybrids {as pictured above} and various grasses.

next trip - a few monkeyflower plants; some yarrow; manzanita; buckwheat; and a vine to cover the wall of the new sitting area off our bedroom.

it's great. neighbors passing by are all very curious about where our {albeit dead} grass has gone - and once they hear the virtues of native planting, they seem to be joining in. it will be curious to see the transformation {if any} along our little street.



i am madly preparing for our big sunday event for the school at month's end. so far it all sounds pretty on track. with a few bumps i hope to have resolved this week. we will be planting a native garden on the campus, touching up a faded mural and doing some general "sparkling". my mission "to promote and restore" our neighborhood, with our school being the heart of it all. {hopefully attracting new families, and birds and butterflies too!}

happy wednesday!

weekend in review

so no "smockets" were made. the temps soared into the 90s. (this scares me. it really does.) and my time "making" ended up being limited to an "artist's apron" for a birthday girl. and plans for our yard to go"native". goodbye sprinkler system and traditional lawn (which is dead anyway), hello ceanothus and yarrow. much time was spent chasing after these two - who we were puppy sitting for our neighbours. oh. my. they. are. cute. and yes, now all talk has turned to how we "neeeeedddd" a puppy of our own. (and that was just me!)

in the midst of all this, fried chicken from Dinah's was eaten. (yes, a guilty pleasure.) and a much coveted turtle arrived. (the image above.) both courtesy of sam. (thank you thank you!)

and so it is monday. children were dragged out of bed to make it to school on time. i absolutely detest having to wake my kids. it is a rare occasion as they are usually up with the sun, but this time change thing... there is nothing worse to me than trying to rouse those beautiful warm and cozy dreamy bodies. i just want to watch them doze on. but alas, the school bell rings at 7:55 for us...

and lastly, i am thrilled to be part of Sew Green, a collaborative effort concerning our environment/consumerism/consumption/sustainability... instigated by "a rave and a rant". thank you shash for the inspiration and getting me thinking. (and thank you lisa, for bringing me in.) go check it out!

happy monday!