PetSugar

Tour the White House Garden With Michelle Obama

finn — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 05:41:39 -0800

Join us on a tour of the White House Kitchen Garden with Michelle Obama. This project can give school children around the country a bit of encouragement and added excitement for their own garden projects. Even if it is cold and snowy , we can start our planning for spring. Believe it or not, it is just a few weeks away
http://greengardenangels.blogspot.com

Gardening Calendar for August

Schaianne — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 00:06:27 -0700

Here are a few August gardening tasks and projects that you can do to help keep your garden looking it's best for the rest of this season.

Watering the garden
Watering can be the biggest task this month particularity if the weather gets hot. Vegetable gardens, most flowering plants, and the lawn all need about one inch of water every week to keep them green and looking nice. Be sure to water thoroughly, and deeply each time you water. When possible, do your watering in the morning or early afternoon so the soil has a chance to warm up before the cooler evening hours set in. Deep watering will induce the plant's roots to grow deeper, where they are less likely to dry out, as well as the added benefit of anchoring the plant into the ground better. Light, surface watering actually wastes water, because the water never actually reaches the root zone of the plant, and the moisture rapidly evaporates from the top inch of soil. The best way to tell if your plants are receiving enough water is to take a trowel or shovel and dig down a few inches. The soil should be moist at least 3 or 4 inches deep to insure that the water is reaching the root zone of the plants. Of course, if you planted drought resistant plants in your garden, you won't have to water as often, but the principal of deep watering still applies.
Be sure to check the hanging baskets and container grown plants every day during hot weather and about every second day on moderate summer days. Don't just check the surface... Push your finger an inch or two into the soil to be sure there is adequate moisture below throughout the root area. Water them thoroughly each time you water, but be careful not to overwater them.
Perennials, annuals, and bulbs

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* Take out a few minutes to pick off the old dead flowers on your annuals, as well as the spent flowers on perennial plants. A little time spent on grooming the plants will make a big difference in the overall appearance of the garden. By removing the spent flowers, the plants will not go into the seed producing stage and should continue to flower longer into the season.
* Perennial and biennial plants can be started from seed sown directly into the garden this month or next.
* Container grown perennials, shrubs and trees can be planted this month. Always take time to properly prepare the soil by mixing generous quantities of peat moss, compost and processed manure with your existing soil.
* Fall blooming Crocus should be planted this month, to give you an extra week or two of flowers after the main garden plants have finished for the year.
* Spring flowering perennials can be divided and transplanted this month or next. Be sure to do this during the coolest part of the day and water the plants thoroughly after transplanting.
Prune your hybrid roses in late August to promote the most fall blossoms. Remove about a third of the vigorous growth. Any stems that cross each other should be removed, as well as those that are in the center of the plant. Weak, spindly canes and any damaged by black spot fungus should be removed. Except in colder regions, roses should be fertilized through the end of September. Maintain a spraying schedule to control insects and disease.

Shrubs and trees

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Summer blooming shrubs should be pruned for shape after they have finished flowering. Remove any dead or diseased branches.

Fruits and veggies

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* Now is the time to start your fall and winter vegetables. Plant starters or seeds of green onions, carrots, beets, lettuce, spinach, radishes, and winter cauliflower directly into the garden early this month.
Enjoy the harvest of your homegrown fruits, vegetables and herbs!

Lawn

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* Contrary to popular belief, a brown lawn isn't necessarily a dead lawn. Grasses go dormant in times of drought, but will quickly return to life with the fall rains. If a lush green lawn is important to you, and you don't mind mowing, water it regularly, and deeply. If a water shortage is expected, or you hate tending to grass, you may choose to just let your lawn go dormant, and water it as seldom as once a month.
Raise the cutting height of the mower. Taller grass cools the roots and helps to keep the moisture in the soil longer.

House Plants

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Late this month Poinsettias and Christmas cactus should be brought back indoors and you should begin preparing them for Christmas flowering.
Poinsettias are short day plants. Although they will eventually bloom, if you want the plants in bloom for the holidays they must be kept at about 65 to 70 degrees, and subjected to at least six weeks of 14 hours of total darkness per day (mid to late September). This may be accomplished by placing the potted plant in a closet or unlighted room, or by covering the plant with black cloth, black plastic over a frame or a cardboard box.The plant must then be returned to the light each day and given a minimum of 4 hours of direct sun, or 10 hours of bright light. The application of a 0-10-10 fertilizer this month and again next should help encourage the development of flower buds, then feed your plant every 2 weeks with a high nitrogen fertilizer once color has begun to show.
* Christmas cactus needs the same general care, with the exception that they require cooler temperatures of about 50 to 60 degrees.
* Continue to watch for insect or disease damage and take the necessary steps to control the problem.
Warmer and drier weather means it will be necessary to water and mist your house plants more often.

Odds and ends

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* Keep the weeds pulled, before they have a chance to flower and go to seed again. Otherwise, you will be fighting newly germinated weed seed for the next several years. Weeds in the garden are harmful because they rob your plants of water and nutrients, harbor insects and diseases, and, on occasion grow tall enough to shade your flowers and plants.
* Change the water in your bird bath regularly, and keep it filled. Standing water is less healthy for the birds, and may become a breeding ground for mosquito larvae.
Continue to watch for insect, slug and snail, or disease damage throughout the garden, and take the necessary steps to control the problem.

Found at : http://www.thegardenhelper.com/calendar.html - this is an awesome site for all sorts of info. This calendar is just one of the helpful things I've found.

Flowery Prose

FashionSheSays — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 16:48:04 -0800

Jacquard coat. Vintage costume pearl beaded/brooch necklaces. Enamel & snakeskin bangles. Crochet tights. Linen tote (on table). Delman ballerinas.
With visions of Jackie O, Audrey Hepburn & Doris Day dancing in my head, I waltzed into a garden party circa 1950 in this flowery coat. I subverted its good girl aura by wearing it with little more than a pair of crochet tights & some tasteful jewelry. My ladylike trench combines starburst jacquard (giving it a watercolor effect) with metallic matelassé (painting it with icy glaze); the double-breasted design is swingy yet demurely cinches closed with a sash… Fashionshesays.com.

Michelle's Garden Cultivating a Movement

stephley — Fri, 01 May 2009 10:36:42 -0700

By Ari LeVaux (writes a syndicated weekly food column)
May 1, 2009
http://www.alternet.org/story/139206/

When Michelle Obama broke ground for her 1,100-square-foot garden on the White House lawn, the shock waves were felt around the world.

On her recent trip overseas, most of the press focused on the first lady's fashion statements. But world leaders, she said upon her return, wanted to discuss the statement her garden was making.

"Every single person from Prince Charles on down, they were excited we were planting this garden," Obama told the fifth-grade students who helped her seed it.

Reactions at home have run the gamut, from elation in foodie circles to Big Ag's revulsion at the garden's organic status. Meanwhile, the first garden has spurred a race among the gardening faithful to plant flags on other high-profile plots and lay claim to various other gardening firsts, like so many first ascents up mountaintops.

Jimmy Carter had his herb garden, and Hillary Rodham Clinton had a small rooftop garden planted in pots, but this is the first real vegetable garden planted at the White House since Eleanor Roosevelt's victory garden inspired millions of Americans to start victory gardens of their own.

Obama's garden has already exerted a similarly inspirational ripple effect. Politicians and advocacy groups are jumping on the bandwagon here in the U.S., and admirers as far away as Australia have begun clamoring for gardens on the grounds of their own houses of leadership.

"I'm beyond satisfied," says Roger Doiron, founding director of Kitchen Gardeners International. In early 2008, Doiron organized an initiative, dubbed "Eat the View," to gather signatures encouraging the next first family to replace a section of the White House lawn with a vegetable garden. Worldwide, more than 100,000 people signed on.

In foodie circles, Doiron has been applauded as the dog that caught the car, but he wears his success lightly.

"I'm more the good food roadie," he says, "making sure the microphones are on, and amplifying the voice of the people."

While not certified organic, the first garden is billed as organic in practice -- and that's a dangerous precedent to be amplifying, according to the Mid America CropLife Association, which represents agribusinesses like Monsanto, Dow AgroSciences and DuPont Crop Protection.

Following the announcement of Obama's garden, MACA sent the first lady a letter expressing concern that no chemicals will be used to help the crops grow and fretting that consumers might get the wrong impression about "conventionally" grown food.

After sending the letter to Obama, MACA forwarded it to organization supporters, one of whom forwarded it Jill Richardson of the La Vida Locavore blog. The leaked letter came prefaced with the following introductory note:

"Did you hear the news? The White House is planning to have an "organic" garden on the grounds to provide fresh fruits and vegetables for the Obama's [sic] and their guests. While a garden is a great idea, the thought of it being organic made Janet Braun, CropLife Ambassador Coordinator and I [Bonnie McCarvel] shudder."
There were probably more shudders in the big-chem corner when Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack celebrated Earth Day by announcing plans for a 1,300-square-foot organic garden -- USDA-certified, of course -- to be installed in the National Mall.

"The garden will help explain to the public how small things they can do at home, at their business or on their farm or ranch, can promote sustainability, conserve the nation's natural resources, and make America a leader in combating climate change," Vilsack said in a statement.

As the garden's ripples continue, plans for me-too governmental gardens are popping up like weeds. Maryland first lady Katie O'Malley is planning a garden at the governor's mansion in Annapolis. Maria Shriver, first lady of California, has plans for an organic garden in Sacramento's Capitol Park come May. A group of Vermont gardeners calling themselves the Association for the Planting of Edible Public Landscapes for Everyone (APPLE), not only has designs on the statehouse lawn in Montpelier, they're trying to beat Shriver to the punch.

APPLE members aren't hiding the fact that they're fast-tracking the initial planting of their 280-square-foot garden in an attempt to make their patch the nation's first statehouse vegetable garden.

"[We] tried to beat the Obamas to the punch, but second place is nothing to sneeze at!" wrote APPLE member Scott Sawyer on the Transition Vermont blog.

While this farms race is run, it's worth noting that several state leaders have had vegetable gardens at their official residences for years.

Maine Gov. John Baldacci has been tending a home garden at the governor's mansion for years.
Former Ohio first lady Hope Taft put in a garden at the governor's residence in 2001.
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal inherited predecessor Kathleen Blanco's garden.
Also predating the Obamas' garden is the victory garden planted at San Francisco City Hall last summer.
While the vegetable garden in front of Baltimore's City Hall has yet to be planted, Mayor Sheila Dixon is quick to point out that the plot was being planned before the White House garden was announced.

"We are not copying!" she emphasized, pointing out that her garden, at 2,000 square feet, will be almost twice as large as the Obamas'.

Doiron, the widely acknowledged force behind the clamor for the White House garden, is now shifting gears. He doesn't plan to organize any more calls for gardens.

Now, he sees a growing need to support the many similar efforts now under way worldwide. He's excited to cheer them on, offer whatever advice he can and help publicize their efforts.

"There's a petition drive to get the government of Georgia to start a garden; there's a large garden going into the middle of Flint, Mich.'s municipal complex, could be as large as 3 acres; day before yesterday, a garden went in in front of the town hall in Kingston, N.Y. We've been contacted by groups in Texas, the United Kingdom, Australia…"

Once these gardens are put in, he says, they'll begin generating a different kind of buzz as the gardens are maintained and harvested.

Obama promised that her entire family will help with the weeding "whether they like it or not." If true, this promises to create more than photo ops the likes of which we've never seen.

My potted, indoor garden

wakeupandora — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 18:53:43 -0700

This is my garden. I live in an apartment, so the garden is indoors. The surface is a kitchen island extracted after my husband's grandfather passed away - we inherited it. It is so beautiful that we gave it life back, pained it, gave it a new handles, and most of all, planted life on it! I'm currently getting sprouts of chamomile, catnip, lavendar, mint and a daffodil bulb is emerging! I can't wait!
It also serves as a 'doggy area' for toy storage!
my little indoor garden nook

still nude

pannepack — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 09:27:57 -0800

taken on a fall afternoon at the philadelphia magic gardens with my canon powershot sd950

an angel at a gate

pannepack — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 09:23:58 -0800

i took this pic on a fall afternoon at the philadelphia magic gardens with my canon p&s

Popsugar: I'm a Huge Fan: Robert Pattinson And Remember Me Exclusive Interview!

athena4rob — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 08:02:37 -0800

Popsugar: I'm a Huge Fan: Robert Pattinson And Remember Me Exclusive Interview!

Remember Me is finally out today and here's our last installment of I'm a Huge Fan: Robert Pattinson! Our winner Tracy has been amazing ever since she first heard the huge news and here's a peek into her big day. She was surprised with a complete red carpet makeover! Tracy was styled head-to-toe in H&M's new Garden Collection (which isn't available in stores until March 25!), had her hair done by the Sally Hershberger Salon dream team of Rodrigo Padilla and Erin Bogart, and her flawless makeup was achieved by Benefit's global trend artist Maggie Ford Danielson- so clearly she looked incredible! Then, it was time to hit the red carpet and interview Robert Pattinson and the rest of the cast. Watch her exclusive Robert interview here.

English Cottage Gardens

Schaianne — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 21:23:29 -0700

Ok, SueBree...doing some research for you and have stumbled across this article @ about.com -

From Peasants to Monet - Triumph of English Cottage Gardens
The beginnings of the English revolt against formal garden design in the time of Pope (mentioned on Page 2) received an additional impetus later from the Romantic movement in literature and art -- a movement against Classicism and its appreciation for order, discipline and moderation. In garden design the influence of Romanticism translated into an emphasis on using plants to inspire us emotionally rather than intellectually. In the minds of many Americans, the defining moment of the English revolt against formal garden design is the evolution of English cottage gardens. With their mystical charm and romantic aura, English cottage gardens exhibit a style that is the direct result of having been born of these historical movements.

Romanticism not only focused on the emotional, but also placed the hitherto despised peasantry up on a pedestal.

And it was originally the peasantry that had planted and maintained English cottage gardens. They had done so before it became trendy with more affluent groups. The true English cottage garden of the peasantry was practical, as well as aesthetically pleasing. Thus herbs were common components, used both for medicinal and culinary purposes; and fruit trees, too, were often included.

But after English cottage gardens caught on outside of peasant circles (and outside of England, too), their aesthetic properties received most of the attention. One of the most famous English cottage gardens was designed by none other than the French Impressionist painter, Claude Monet (1840-1926). As already mentioned above, art and literature influenced the historical course of garden design in Europe. No discipline exerted a stronger influence on garden design than did landscape painting. It was a case of "life imitating art," if you will. Monet is a particularly interesting case, being not only an artist who painted landscapes but also someone who was active in garden design. With Monet, the influence went both ways.

English cottage gardens, with their wild abundance of rose bushes, perennial flowers, vine-covered arbors, and plants tumbling over walkways, are widely emulated in the U.S. This is an informal style meant to evoke a mood of light-hearted gaiety. The eye feasts on a diverse jumble of flowering plants, distributed in a seemingly haphazard manner, evoking thoughts of a "natural landscape." The plants themselves are just as important as their use in the overall composition, and the wildness of the arrangement is meant to suggest a closer communing with nature.

But while English cottage gardens are popular in some American circles, there can be no doubt that the lawn is the dominant element in American landscaping -- the subject of Page 4....

http://landscaping.about.com/cs/history/a/design_history_3.htm

H&M-The Garden Collection

FashionWithoutGuilt — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 14:17:40 -0800

As we all know H&M is a retailer that is geared towards bring relevant fashion at budget friendly prices. Me being the "Penny Pincher" that I am, H&M is definitely on my list for favorite stores to shop.

Spring will be here again before we know it and designers and retailers are already showing us what to expect for trends this spring season. H&M:The Garden Collection is a eco-friendly romantic creation. The floral looks of this line are inspired by chlorophyll-green gardens, sundrenched landscapes and even 70s hippie chic flower-power. The romantic garden collection is made using organic and recycled materials. All the garments have been produced using sustainable materials or using recycled PET bottles or textile waste.

How great is that Fashion with Purpose, what more could you ask for? The Garden Collection is set to debut at the end of March. I wish I knew the exact date, so that I could be there with bells and whistles on to be the first in line. Prices ranges from about $7.95-$59.95. Below are some items that I will surely have in my spring wardrobe, if my sizes are still available.To view more styles from the collection, click the picture below.

Photo Courtesy:H&M