Favorite Garden Moments

This is a photo gallery of my favorite garden moments from the last year. 

Desert King Figs and Heirloom Yellow Pear Tomatoes

7 foot Sunflower is a smile maker

Strawberries squeezed in anywhere I can find space

Herbs are always so rewarding to grow: Rosemary, Parsley Chives and Oregano

Sugar Baby Watermelon- another first for me in the garden this year- LOVED them

Growing short carrots was fun and great in soups and stews- super tasty

Dahlia flowers that continued to bloom month after month and made a great cutting flower

I planted Zinnia flowers for the first time in a rainbow of colors- very rewarding flower.

Happy New Year 2012 

Happy Gardening

www.nadiaknows.com

Chicweed- Dig It!

Chicweed in Solana Beach, CA is AMAZING! This outdoor garden shop on Cedros Street is a succulent lover’s paradise and a designers inspiration. Potted succulents and landscape design are their specialty with the potted succulents made on site at the outdoor potting bench. Look around and you will find living Christmas ornaments, outdoor rugs, bistro tables and outdoor showers made with mosaic tiles. The following photos will tell it all… check this place out and then have lunch or dinner down the street at the Wild Note Cafe, I promise you will not be disappointed!

Plant and Gift Shed

Living Ornaments are this seasons Hot Seller!

French Furniture, Vintage Containers and accessories adorn the store

Outdoor mosaic shower

On Site Potting Bench with owner at work

Chicweed - 240 Cedros Ave, Solana Beach CA 92075

Vertical Gardens Indoors and Out

The benefits of vertical gardens can be limitless. Indoors it can be the ultimate organic wallpaper, or a way to infuse more oxygen in a closed environment. Outdoors, a vertical wall adds more square footage for growing greens or simply creates a living wall. These are some of my favorite photos from the web and garden tours around San Diego. One of the most popular methods of creating vertical greenery on a wall is with : Woollypocket.com This web site has everything you need to get started on this project.

Vertical Garden - google image. Large and leafy plants give this patio "Life".

google images for vertical landscaping outdoors

beautiful indoor vertical spaces *google image*

aria ecoscpes vertical indoor garden ideas

wall planters * google image

Using unique containers for wall planters * photo from the San Diego Fair Garden Exhibit

succulent living wall * San Diego Fair Photo

I am continually inspired by plants and the unique ways that they can add to your life :)

www.nadiaknows.com

Thanks for visiting!

November Planting Guide: Southern California

What to plant in November:

BEETS – BROCCOLI – BRUSSEL SPROUTS – CABBAGE – CARROTS – CAULIFLOWER – CELERY – COLLARDS – ENDIVE – KALE – KOHL RABI – LETTUCE – LEEKS – ONIONS – PARLSEY – PARSNIP – PEAS – RADISH – RUTABAGA – SPINACH – SWISS CHARD – TURNIPS

Here are some Companion Planting Ideas for the fall: Mixing Vegetables with Herbs

Broccoli and Rosemary planted in a sunny area with good drainage.

Cabbage and Dill planted in fertile soil in cooler weather.

Celery with anything that enjoys being watered well!

Peas and Turnip are a great pair to grow together.

Brussels Sprouts and Thyme

Beet and Mint

turnip garden

Check this out → A fun and creative guide to companion planting: Companion Planting Guide: Soil Mates by Sara Alway

Sugar Baby Watermelon

 ♥  SUGAR BABY WATERMELON  ♥

Watermelon growing in-between planters

These melons were started as small plants vs. seeds in wine barrels with the vine trained to grow over the barrell and on to the ground. If your garden has space limitations then growing the vines on the ground and along pathways may give your vine plants that extra room needed for meandering growth.

Small sized watermelon almost ready to pick

* When a watermelon is ready to be picked  it should be ripe and ready for eating. Have you heard that watermelons do not continue to ripen off the vine? This was new information for me so I’m waited to harvest these beauties. Watermelon should have a dull colored rind and a brown dried stem when it is ready to be picked. Watermelon are heavy feeders meaning they need steady watering. The soil needs to be rich and fertile with a healthy amount of calcium in the mix. Trellising is also an option by using small fabric slings to support their weight as they are suspended in the air. Coastal San Diego gets a lot of overcast days with sunny and warm days leading into October creating a late growing season for my melons.

 Raised planter: watermelon, rosemary, eggplant, parsley and a few green onions.

Late growing season for watermelon in San Diego. The skin of the melon is a shiny green as it grows, then turns dull when it is ready to be picked.

Super Ripe !

Chula my Chihuahua with a Sugar Baby Watermelon. Watermelon = 7 pounds & Chula = 6.5 pounds

Blog Surfing: www.urbangardensweb.com

Urban Citizen’s Traffic Island Garden

September 20, 2011

Last May, when New York City workers were planting a tree on the traffic island in front of the salon where he’s employed, Victor Rueda asked them if he could contribute his own plants, including some sunflowers, to the small plot of land. They agreed. Ever since, Rueda has cultivated the garden as if it were his own, protecting the tall sunflowers from the recent hurricane by tying them with nylon thread to keep them from blowing over.

The tree planting effort is part of New York City’s Greenstreets program, launched in 1996 as a partnership between the Department of Parks & Recreation and the Department of Transportation. The citywide program’s goal is to convert paved, vacant traffic islands and medians into green spaces filled with shade trees, flowering trees, shrubs, and groundcover.

In April 2007, Mayor Bloomberg announced PlaNYC, a blueprint for New York City to attain sustainable growth and improve the quality of city life. PlaNYC includes a number of groundbreaking greening initiatives, including planting street trees in all possible locations, creating 800 new greenstreets, and reforesting 2,000 acres of parkland. Mayor Bloomberg has dedicated $391 million over ten years for these initiatives, and also funded an additional 156 staff and $4.6 million in new forestry and horticulture maintenance funds to support these greening efforts. The city’s plan did not include citizen gardeners like Rueda: he’s just doing it out of the goodness of his heart.

Garden Lanterns Votives

♥ Garden Lanterns and Votives can add a bit of charm to any garden or patio area and they are easy to make.

Table top or hanging, here are some creative ideas I found on several DIY Blogs.

Any of these can be created to enhance holiday decorating too or given as gifts.

Halloween Votives: DIY BLOG directions

Basic Garden Pots with candles: Image from Google images.

* Use transparent stickers and glitter glue to decorate a re-used food jar or mason jar.

 Frosted glass on mason jars: Follow directions on how to create these by following this link: DIY Lanterns.

 These lanterns look great during the day too:

 Photo credit to : http://hearttheday.blogspot.com

Mason Jar Lantern Votive

Blog Sharing: Liventhingsup

Garden Feature Today:

   Liventhingsup.blogspot.com

Sharing another blog link that featured my succulent gardening and landscaping.

This blogger’s mission is about ” Sharing her passion for design, interiors, art, travel and photography.” 

Thank you for the “shout out” and for sharing the beauty of drought tolerant landscaping :)

www.nadiaknows.com

September Planting Guide

September Planting Guide for  So. CA

*Frostless areas

Herbs ♥  Vegetables ♥ Flowers

The greatest gift of the garden is the restoration of the five senses.  ~H. Rion

FLOWERS: My garden is now a permanent home to flowers. The Zinnia’s and Dahlia’s are coming to their seasonal end with Sweet Pea and Snapdragons waiting to be planted in September. Flowers are a great way to add color to the garden when rotating crops and seasonal vegetables create a sparse landscape. 

September Flowers: African Daisy, Bachelor Button, California Poppy, Flax, Foxglove, Marigold, Pansy, Petunia, Snapdragon, Stock, Sweet Pea, Verbena, Viola, Wallflower.

September Herbs: Marjoram, Oregano, Parsley, Rosemary, Thyme

Vegetables: Beans (bush), Brussels sprouts, Carrot, Celery, Fava Beans, Kale, Leeks, Lettuce, Mustard Greens, Onion sets, Radish, Swiss Chard.

* Remember to mulch even in the cooler months ahead.

* Check for feeding (fertilizing). Azaleas, cyclamen, roses and fuchsias this month.

*Plant perennials. Plant sweet peas the first week of September (specifically the early variety: Mammoth, Early Spencer or Multiflora).

*referrences from Pat Welsh’s Southern California Organic Gardening Book- a month by month guide to gardening in Southern California.

* Think good thoughts when gardening and they will grow

Thank you for your visit- www.nadiaknows.com

 →  Create – Grow – Enjoy  ←

Plumeria Martini

Decorating with Plumerias

A huge Deco Martini Glass full of Plumerias… 

Plumeria Martini

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