Motivation

I hope you all had a Happy Easter!  Here is a peek into our festivities:

I made the strawberry dessert and boiled the eggs.  I am very proud of myself.

My husband is responsible this time for the flowers, and I must say, he chose well:

Lilacs!

A couple of our lovely guests also brought the most beautiful arrangement of tulips:

And my wonderful auntie brought me an Easter basket full of plants!  How sweet!

Plus olive oil for chef Evan

Love!

What says spring-- time of rebirth and renewal! -- better than lilacs, tulips, and baby plants?

Well, I've managed to start this week with a rather terrible cold.  As someone who almost never gets sick, I've been an exceptional baby about it, sitting around the house uselessly when I am not at work.  If I am honest about it, here we are, well into April, and I haven't done much useful gardening yet either.  After my big test at the beginning of April, I was so excited to have all this extra free time to be uber-productive, planting plants, baking cakes, painting pictures, exercising up a storm, etc.  

You know what I have done instead?  I've spent an awful lot of time looking at facebook and reading buzzfeed articles/quizzes (apparently my aura is green, if I were a dog, I'd be a Corgi, and the city I belong in is Paris).  And I've managed to get sick for the first time in maybe a year.

So.  As a slightly goal-oriented Type A person, I love lists and resolutions and goals (embrace it, my fellow Type A-ers).  It is still early in the year for greenery and growth, and thus, I've decided to make my New Year's Gardening Resolutions for this year (since Spring is the beginning of the gardening year... get it?)

1. Stay faithful

The Key to successful gardening.  Plants are living little beings and if you neglect them even for a short time, they will look neglected, or worse, die.  And let's be honest, this is kind of hard.  Just as it's hard to go to the gym on a regular basis or having your daily quiet time or consistently cook healthy for yourself (instead of going to Taco Bell), etc.  All worthwhile habits require consistency, and with gardening, truly you reap what you sow.

2. Learn something new

Because failing isn't failure if you've learned something.  This year, I hope to learn more about tomatoes (maybe not of the heirloom variety this time), bulbs (my tulips will be ready to be exhumed soon), and propagating succulents (an ongoing project -- perhaps I will try additional varieties).  

3. Maintain an aesthetic baseline

This is an extension of staying committed to your garden but for me, warrants it's own point.  I tend to garden in spurts -- beautiful garden, slow death, replant, repeat.  It's because I hate pulling up plants that are still alive (i.e. killing them).  But successful gardeners know when to call it and plant for the next season -- everything has it's time!

4. Get started.

Specifically, this week, before my siblings get here because I am very vain and like people to think that I am a great gardener.  Getting started is the first step!  And then you've got momentum.

The end!  So I promise you that soon and very soon, I will have some actual gardening updates for you.  That, and I may be messing around with alternate blog templates... feedback welcome.

Do you have any gardening resolutions??

A pleasant aside: Crosby, Stills, & Nash - "Suite Judy Blue Eyes"

Crazy About Air Plants! Part 2: Decor ideas

Now that we're acclimated to the titillating Tillandsia plant and the ease with which they grow, let's talk about things you can do with air plants:

1.  Hang them from a string!

Available on Etsy by GemsoftheSoil

As seen here

2.  Put them in a shell!

Available on Etsy by PetitBeast

Available on Etsy by robincharlotteStudio

3.  Put them in a branch!

Available on Etsy by Plantzilla

Available on Etsy by seaandasters

4.  Make a weird sculpture!

Available on Etsy by EarthSeaWarrior

Same seller, equally awesome.

5.  Give them a tiny terrarium home!

Available on Etsy by MidnightinSeattle

Available on Etsy by seaandasters

6. Make a little wreath!

Available on Etsy by Peacocktaco

Excellent how-to here

7.  Put them anywhere there is space for them!

Available on Etsy by tinyterra

I am rather partial to this cute idea -- on Etsy by saltandginger

One more by EarthSeaWarrior on Etsy

You see?  The sky is the limit!  The world is your oyster!  Use your imagination!

If you want to start from scratch, I recommend Michael's or a similar craft store or the internet.

If you want to buy an air plant creation already made -- screw creativity! -- then many Etsy users are willing to sell you their creations at a nominal price (and I have given you many options above).

If you are somewhere in between on your air plant skills, a good third option is.......  Armstrong's Garden Center (my favorite place they are so lovely!).  I went there this past week for a new aphid killer in my continual quest to win the war against those despicable mini-terrorists and was surprised to discover that this ubiquitous garden center have gotten in on this air plant fad.  They sell air plants pre-stuffed in shells, tiny pots, and equipment for terrariums including the glass and gravel, as well as props such as tiny chairs if you would like to make a miniature garden (and ooohh is that a world of it's own).

It's not terribly cheap -- a glass plus some gravel is $13.99, a small tillandsia is $5.99 and a large up to $19.99 which is twice as much as what they cost at The Jungle, but it is an easy option.

Hope that was helpful!  As we lead up to this Easter weekend, let's be thankful for all we've been given.  :)

An aside, to listen:  Sufjan Stevens "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing"

On Happiness...

Do you make New Year's Resolutions?

I do.

And why do we?  Isn't it because want to be happier and better, and by being better, happier?  I've been thinking about happiness recently, for whatever reason...  maybe because I am 30 and when you're 30, all of a sudden, it seems like maybe life isn't as long as you thought it was and you better get a move on things if you're going to make anything of it all.  Or maybe it's because I am thinking about the changes on the horizon at work and at home.  Or maybe because everywhere I look, there are resolutions promising a better me:  "New Year, New Butt!" was my favorite (and I will admit, with that advertisement, I almost bought a class package to Pop Physique despite already having a gym membership).

So how do we go about obtaining happiness? 

Well, I haven't found the answer, but like I said I have thought about this quite a bit recently, so here's what's out there:

There is a good chance that you've seen one of the various articles about the top 5 regrets of the dying:

1. I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
2. I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.
3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.
4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.
5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.

Or maybe you've seen the TED talk about how getting what we want is not what makes us happier.  (Instead, as this TED talk explains, we are capable of and do synthesize happiness based on what we end up with in life, some better than others).

They've even made a whole documentary about the topic of happiness.  (Here is the link.  It is available on Netflix and it was quite good).

All of these things have the same conclusion:  that extrinsic things such as money, prestige, and image are not ultimately what make us happy.  Instead, things we can do to specifically "grow happiness" include new experiences, "flow" via play or even in work, physical exercise, gratitude, acts of kindness, and meditating on love and compassion.

Despite the fact that we all know this deep inside, it seems like most of us still spend most of our time chasing and working to build that extrinsic stack, myself included.  That's the first part of why I am sharing these thoughts with you...  it's a New Year and we all want to be happy.

So here's my New Year's Resolutions for this year:
1. Exercise at least 3x per week on average:  I think given that I am a doctor, I can at least follow the medical advice we give others on exercise.
2. Cook at least 3x per month:  health and personal education, what more can I say?

Product of my resolution last week.  Given that I rarely cook, I am quite proud.

3. Most importantly, learn to rest:  This was inspired by a sermon by my pastor on "honoring the Sabbath".  It was excellent and you can download it here ("The Fourth Word").  The thing that stuck with me was that the reason to have a "Sabbath" day of rest is so that we learn that our self-worth is not in what we achieve (but instead in God).

I THOUGHT THIS WAS A GARDENING BLOG!!

Yes, yes it is.  Which brings me to the second reason I share these thoughts...

A short argument for gardening:

A recent poll in the UK discovered that 80% of gardeners felt satisfied with their lives, compared to 67% of non-gardeners (and 55% of people who did not have any hobby).  Also, gardeners were less likely to have symptoms of depression compared to others.  

I will admit that polls are not terribly scientific.  So how's this for science: a published study shows that contact with a bacteria in soil Mycobacterium vaccae through the skin or respiratory system causes a release of serotonin (which is responsible for mood and learning).  Also, feeding this bacteria to mice made them more capable at learning mazes.  Sound gross?  Take from that what you will.

My personal argument is that gardening constantly exposes you to new experiences, provides a chance to stop paying attention to the noise from the rest of the world (some call it meditative), brings you outside into the sunlight (also associated with happiness), and the work you put in is directly related to the reward -- you reap what you sow, in the best way.  In essence, it is a chance to rest, which we all need.

So in summary, let's let ourselves be happier.  Even if we're busy, even if gardening is not your thing, I encourage you to find your flower somewhere... whether's it's cooking, writing, exercise, rock-climbing, surfing, or just stopping to smell the roses every once in awhile.

Happy 2014 to us!

Click for source

This week's Awesome

At the risk of seeming redundant, as I did just give you an update of what was going on in the garden last week, I wanted to show you some of the really cool little things that are happening right now in my little green garden.

#1:  One of my tiny succulents has an even teenier side shoot.  How neat!

#2:  My portulaca blooms changed colors from just a few weeks ago.  I wonder why that happened!

#3:  My vincas (aka periwinkles) are going nuts!  Bloom explosion!

#4:  Meyer lemons are on their way!  It will be awhile before they are ripe -- generally meyer lemons are fully ripe in the winter, just in time for some seriously delicious roast chicken.  And I can't to eat them -- last time we bought meyer lemons at the grocery store, they were very sour.  Not the same!

And lastly, this is for you.  

I start my new "craaazy" job tomorrow.  Say a prayer for me...

Quick tips for cut flowers

Don't you hate it when you buy flowers and they seem to die instantly?  Here are a couple tips to help with that.

Quick tip of the day #1 -- Trimming the stems:

First off, don't just stick your bouquet in the water.  You need to cut the stems at a 45 degree angle.  A Dutch family trick is to also make an additional cut 1-2cm directly up the length of the stem from the bottom.  All of this exposes more of the water-absorbing portion of the stem to the water.  You also need to trim off any leafy debris and extra stems below where the water line will be.  Otherwise, they will decay and shorten your flowers' life.

Spray roses

Quick tip of the day #2 -- Conditioning the flowers:
To keep your flowers standing up straight, when you buy them put them in water for 4 hours after trimming the stems but before taking off the wrapping so that they are propped up straight in the vase.  After 4 hours, remove the wrapping, and your flowers will be in good shape!  You will notice the difference with flowers with softer stems such as tulips which have a tendency to droop at the stem when they wilt.

Tulips!

Quick tip of the day #3 -- Additives:

I've heard (and tried) everything from adding Sprite, pennies, and straight sugar to the water in order to extend the life of my bouquets.  None of those worked and I have personally had better experience with just plain water.  But some sources suggest additives both to feed the plant and also kill any bacteria.  That's why sometimes flowers come with little flower food/preservative packets attached.  If there is no handy packet, you can try this little recipe, provided by the UCDavis Division Agriculture and Natural Resources (scale up or down as needed):

Flower food/preservative:

2 Tablespoons lemon juice

1 Tablespoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon bleach

in 1 quart of water

Make sure to replenish the water regularly and if you notice any gross moldy-type consistency, then completely replace the water, trimming the stems and cleaning the vase again before putting the flowers back in the vase

The flowers pictured are both bouquets from the party we had this weekend, now on day 3 of being in a vase.  As you can see, we are kind of obsessed with painted ceramic pitchers at the moment, both procured during our trip to Italy... pitchers make great vases!  (That is a decorating tip from Evan, my interior decorator/husband)

Happy gifts

I am a sucker for flowers.  I think that they are beautiful in a way that is so simple.  They are beautiful if someone is there to appreciate them or not.  They are beautiful if they are sitting in a field in the middle of nowhere, they are beautiful in a garden, and they are beautiful in a crack of a highway side lane where the seed happened to fall.  And it's simple reproducible formula (though nature does it better!):  seed + sun + water + food = flower.   I know scientifically flowers exist to attract insects/birds to spread pollen to make seeds to reproduce etc etc.  But it still feels like flowers exist just to make the world beautiful, just because.  When I'm there to see it, they feel like a gift from God to me.  I feel the same way about the ocean, each wave I caught when I used to surf, sunsets, cool cloud formations, sunrises, scented flowers, and beautiful scenery.

I will be honest, I haven't had a great couple days.  Bad days happen.  They're worse when they come in series and when you realize how blessed you are, but you still feel like you're sitting under your own personal storm cloud.  But those are the days when I go into my garden, stare at my flowers and think, gosh, how beautiful this is, and just for me.

Is that weird?  You should try it with whatever makes you happy -- keep a whole patio full of it!

Here are the happy gifts this week:

1) This is so great. My second dahlia plant has bloomed, a lovely peachy pink color.  I love it.

2) More mind-blowing succulent reproductive magic.  This time on a form of Kalanchoe I have.  How interesting that the Eccheveria grows new babies from the broken off base and the Kalenchoe produces new baby plants from the tip.

3) This is actually a birthday gift for me that we bought in Italy.  A ceramic hanging to be hung in my garden.  By an artist named Innocenti.  How Italian!  We have to figure out what type of elaborate contraption will be able to hold this heavy thing up very very securely (it was rather expensive and I love it to much to let it break).  But once we do, it will make a great garden addition.

Life is too short and full of beautiful things to feel bad for very long.  Here's to finding our happiness!  

The little things

Here's the things that are making me happy this week.

The first meyer lemon bloom of spring:

The incredible speed with which my heirloom tomato plant is growing:

About 3wks ago

Now

Delicious blueberries (which I promptly ate):

An unexpected gift succulent (thank you, Janice!):

And today, I spent most of the day gardening :)  Happy Saturday!

Highlights

I love lists because even more than I like making them, I love checking things off.  Last week, I made a short list of goals, and I'm happy to say that I am making progress on the gardening front.  Here's a few highlights:

Sniffing my jasmine one last time... and then hacking it down with all the rest of my dead plants:

*sniff*

I'm sorry, plant

The biggest moth I have ever seen in my life:

Fully 3 inches long, ie, monster-sized

If only I could understand Japanese...

Going to Armstrong's Garden Center to research plants for my garden:

Another happy new pot:

Say hello to my one-eyed sunshine...

Gilding terracotta pots (whaaaat??  I did whaaaat??  Yes, I am proud of myself, more on this later):

Not perfect, but I feel like a Martha Stewart genius

Also, after calling a few more wine stores without success, I bought a wine crate online from Wine Pine which I am eagerly awaiting (picture to follow... can't wait!).  Next up, actual plants!