Kaseys Korner

favorite things

Some things just make you happy, right?  One of those things for me, is Charles Wysocki's cat prints.  I have bought his calendars & cards countless times just because I love cats and his portrayal of them.   My all-time favorite has to be "Remington the Horticulturist."  It combines the gardener in me with the cat lover.

I knew I liked it from the minute I saw it.  So many little details about so many things I love.  I liked it even more when I actually took a few minutes to study it and read the labels on all the jars, bottles, cans, etc., and the titles on the books.  It takes a creative mind to think up the likes of "Uncle Poppers Grasshopper Stopper,"  "Goofy Dust for Crows, Jays, Magpies, Ravens ~ Catnip for Birds."  "Bye Bye Fly" cracks me up too.  You wonder if Mr. Wysocki is a gardener himself but perhaps not.  He's just as clever with "Ethel the Gourmet," "Max in the Adirondacks" etc., etc.  Anyone else charmed by this artist?  I haven't been able to throw my "Cat Tales" calendar from 2008 yet.  Every time I get ready, I make the mistake of flipping thru it one last time and just can't do it! 

spring cleaning

I know the calendar says it the first part of February but yesterday I got in the mood to spring clean decorate.  So forget the date, I'm moving forward into the next season.  Inspired by this photo in a recent Pottery Barn catalog:

 

I decided to create a few little "gardening" vignettes of my own.  Starting with the buffet:

 

Okay, so not a good photo, but included in the arrangement is one pot of amaryllis bulbs, one vintage watering can, some old glass bottles, my cats oat grass and one mini vignette inside a cloche ~ here's a better look at that:

 

Isn't that bird in the nest the sweetest?  I think I'm "into" birds.  I mean I have been outside for a while but I've never brought them inside before.  Now I see them everywhere (and eggs too) and I wonder what took me so long.  Combining them with the greenery really makes me think of spring and "fresh" and alive.  I'm so glad I did this, it's making me happy today.  Here's another little scene I compiled on my coffee table:

Surprise, surprise, another bird!  With my new "Christmas" gardening books, another cloche & a birdcage.  Love it too.  Isn't it funny how just small changes can really perk up a room?  I'm so glad that catalog came in the mail.  It sure inspired me and got rid of the winter blues. 

methods of seed ordering

Since I have seeds on the brain, and am in the midst of finalizing my orders, I started wondering how other gardeners determine which seeds to order.   Do you all have methods to the selection process (because heavens there's a zillion choices)?   Do you order off a wish list, just because the photo is pretty, with specific planting situations in mind, or stick with the tried and true/basic favorites??   or something else entirely??  Maybe you don't want to divulge??  I check "all of the above" for my method.  I can see something striking in the catalog, read about it and if I think it could possibly grow in my garden, on the list it goes.  The cup and saucer vine 'Cobaea scandens' was one of those choices.

 

It did so well and I loved it so much, it's on my list again this year.  Of course I always order with my containers in mind.  I have 'Thunbergia' (Black Eyed Susan Vine) on my list again this year because it makes a breathtaking focal point (smothering a trellis or obelisk quickly) in the center of a container:

  

The vine quickly tripled the size of my container and looked lovely combined with 'black and blue' Salvia and the double pink Oleander (among other plants).  I won't repeat this container in 09 but I'll use the 'Thunbergia' in a similar manner.  I also have to have my favorites:

 

I can't imagine my garden without these tried and true beauties.  Lastly, I'll order (or maybe buy) off my wishlist those plants I've possibly seen and admired in your garden (that I don't have photos for yet).  It's a complicated process, isn't it?  Not nearly as simple as opening a catalog and writing down numbers.   Good thing it's such an enjoyable pasttime, right?

Christmas Garden Gifts

I'm a little "tardy to the party" as the saying goes, in posting my Christmas gifts.  Even tho it was almost 3 weeks ago now, I thought it still might be fun to share my garden related treasures.  (I always think I must be the easiest person in the world to buy for ~ get me anything garden related and I'm happy!)  I was thrilled to get these two books ~ they will keep me occupied for quite a while.  I have you, garden bloggers, to thank for receiving "Stylish Sheds & Elegant Hideaways."  I saw it recommended on several blogs so I put it on my list. 

 

I haven't had time to actually read either of them yet, I've only flipped thru and looked at the pictures.  I have to say tho, this chicken coop (in the Stylish Sheds & Elegant Hideaway book) sent me over the moon:

 

I think it would make almost anyone want chickens, it's so adorable.  I just love everything about it, too, too cute.  Another fun gift I received was these garden magnets:

 

I have a thing for "vintage" so these images, combined with my plant obsession are perfect.  This "Mighty Magnets" set is called "Old Tyme Posies" and are by Lucy Lu Designs.  I also received two magazine subscriptions, one to Country Gardens and the other to The English Garden.  I was pretty spoiled, wouldn't you say?  Anyone else care to share their garden related gifts??

plans for the day

Sneak in a little reading time.  I "hope" I can make this work out.  'The Beach House' was on my summer reading list.  Somehow I got 50 pages into it and got sidetracked.  I've been dying to pick it back up but haven't had the time, pretty sad, huh?  I didn't do so well reading this summer, two books in June has been the extent of it.  Seems like a perfect way to cap off the summer tho and the Labor Day holiday...

wishful Sunday thinking

Anyone else tear out ideas or keep magazines for future inspiration (either in the garden or out)??  I am guilty of keeping WAY too many ~ there's always a chance that someday, I just might be able to implement one or two of those cool ideas in my own garden/house.  Today it is murderously hot outdoors so to pass the time, I've been browsing thru some of my saved special issues.  I bought this magazine last summer:

I've read it cover to cover several times thru and always find something new to ogle.  Even the ads have me dreaming.  I LOVE this (top left photo).  I can picture it in my backyard.  Wouldn't it be lovely to sit underneath the twinkling lights, in the company of good friends, until well after dark??  I need to add it to my vision board, (a whole nuther post).  I love this too (image number 5, first photo, second row).  Although it looks like it belongs on a big property the likes of which I don't own.  Someday I will have a little greenhouse that looks something like this tho:

or it can look exactly like it, I think it's just that adorable. *sigh*  Anything special on your wish list??

sit a spell

Sharing my latest summer reading.  I bought this book based solely on the cover and the title, figuring anything garden related "had" to be good!  It's an interesting story with an even more interesting premise ~ that using herbs & flowers in foods will draw out certain characteristics in people.  I know it's fictional but I'm wondering if Jane Marie (because of her extensive herb collection) has any knowledge about whether herbs & flowers have the power do that kind of thing?  Obviously they are medicinal but it's thought provoking to consider the possibility they could be so much more.  That part is probably pure fiction but it still intrigues me.  "Garden Spells" is a faster read than my last book so I finished it in one day, which is perfect.  Happy Friday all!

immersed in pages

Last night I started reading 'Fox's Earth' and could hardly go to bed.  I got up this dreary, rainy morning and immediately picked it back up.  I've stopped to get my daughter breakfast and straighten up the house but otherwise, it's a lost day for me.  I only want to be reading.  You know what that means.  No big post today because my summer reading calls!  The only thing better would be a hammock under a tree with some lemonade and a warm day.  Maybe it doesn't matter.  When you're pulled into a good story, enveloped by it really, nothing matters.  Except finishing the book...   

sizzle, pop, burst

From an emerging diminutive mound to flat out spectacular is what seemed to occur with my clematis integrefolia this weekend when our temperatures took a dramatic turn upward.  Where did that come from??!  I'm used to a much slower evolution but I guess plants and humans alike were just waiting for a little heat.  I've learned to insert an obelisk over the emerging foliage early in spring to help keep the lovely rounded shape I prefer.  Otherwise, it sprawls all over and falls apart in the middle (kinda like its owner, but that's a whole 'nuther, much less fascinating story).  I have a long and interesting history with this perennial.  I first saw a photograph of it in Lauren Springer's book titled "The Undaunted Garden."  That was approximately 18 years ago, give or take a few??  On sight, I fell in love with its unique bloom and started obsessing about acquiring one for my own garden.  Not knowing where to search, I wrote to Lauren herself, inquiring where I could get one (pre-Internet days).  Unbelievably she promptly jotted me off a handwritten note with a source!!  Glory days!  The rest is history.  I bought myself one that week and the original plant has been with me thru four moves and three gardens, that's how much I love it.  It is amazingly tough as it survived (not sayin' thrived) in a container for two years (during a brief apartment stay).  I  wouldn't think of being without it.  Those pretty, nodding heads always make me smile.  Welcome back old friend! 

Container Bonanza

Barnes & Noble tickled me pink, red, green, purple and every other color in the rainbow last Saturday when I found this issue sitting on their shelves.  My 2006 Container Gardening issue received so much love that it's practically coming apart at the seams.  I'm sure its relieved there's a new edition.  I don't think Fine Gardening publishes one every year??  At least I didn't see a new issue last year or I positively would have bought it.  $7.99 but worth every penny if you are into container gardening even the teeniest bit.  The new issue has a lot more tips on successful planting, aftercare, etc., than the 2006 issue did but there's still enough eye candy to keep me wholly satisfied and completely inspired.  These issues have raised my consciousness about the art of planting a container.  It's so much more than sticking a few petunias and a spike into a pot.   Last summer, I really contemplated the plant combinations I was grouping together on a level I'd never done before.  Fine Gardening also has a container contest called "Thrillers, Fillers & Spillers" which even if you don't care to enter, provokes consideration about whether those three elements are present in your pots or not.  If you care to check it out, the new issue must be in every bookstore now and there's also a link here for online ordering.  I'm expecting great things from my containers after all this extra time I've had to plan (due to inclement weather) so stay tuned!  ha!  the pressure is on....