Garden Inspiration Part I

Hello world!

I'm a bit tired today, but happy! How are you?

Soooo... I'm thinking about the garden these days (duh, can't you tell? hehe) so I put together a little garden inspiration post in anticipation of the weekend! I can't wait to tackle some projects in the backyard, for example planting the rest of my lonely gang of succulents and cacti that have been sitting in a wagon on the patio for weeks! Not to mention, I need to go out there and wrangle Cactus Corner, its raging out of control (in a good way) and things have grown so big that they're creeping up on and crowding one another, haha...  Which means that it's time to collect a bunch of clippings from all the succulents and sprrrrread the love... as in, around the yard!! That's right, my mom and I are diligently spreading succulent and cacti cuttings and leaves around the yard so as to propagate and grow them everywhere.  Can you blame us?  Succulents and cacti are gorgeous, interesting and colorful!  My goal is to have Kalanchoes and other succulent landscaping (as seen in this post), but everywhere!  And believe me, everywhere is a lot of places, haha...  My mother's yard is big and there are many different areas that we are trying to fill out along the edge of the house, the fences bordering our left and right and the back wall border.  I'll start with those two projects and not overwhelm myself, as it is I know I'll just go with the flow on Saturday and probably end up doing lots of other little things too.  I'll fill you in on the details come Monday!

What about you, have you been in the garden lately?  Are you planning any projects for this weekend or have some interesting ideas/tips to share?  Do you spread succulent clippings around like me?  Send me pictures, I'd love to see! 

I want to let my readers know how much I appreciate all of your wonderful comments and e-mails!  I love hearing from you, especially when you tell me that I've inspired you to get back in your garden or start a garden for the very first time, that makes me so happy!!  I always look forward to your comments and e-mails, and seeing pictures of your garden or crafts...  It truly makes my day!  With that said keep'em coming, feel free to send me any questions, comments or images you may have pertaining to gardening, interior design, decor, crafts, travel and so on.

As you will see, this post is full of vibrant lush gardens, many with incredible canopies made from the intertwined branches of the trees themselves, or a trellis covered in vines and flowers...  Quite lovely!  Have a wonderful Thursday and I hope these beautiful garden images inspire you to find your green thumb because I must say, it is oh so gratifying to nourish a garden and watch it grow and evolve!  ;)

Catch you all later.... You know where I'll be this weekend.... ;)

(All images sourced via Pinterest)

A Life and Garden Update!

I know.... I know....  

I've been missing in action waaaaay too long and I deserve to be punished!  *sigh*

Even worse, I haven't done a garden update or any type of garden post since....OCTOBER!  *GASP*  SPANK ME! hehe...

What can I say?  Other than I've been a tad lazy, a tad busy and tad preoccupied with organizing my life.  My life is in a state of limbo after moving, but I hope to have my feet firmly planted on the ground again very soon.  I'm sure you all understand... And if not, well, in the words of Bill Cosby, "I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody."  I first heard that quote the other day and I am quite pleased I found a way to work it into a blog post, HA!  As for my garden, well, between packing, moving, the holidays and my plants not looking as fabulous as they should have, I just didn't have the motivation to post a garden update.  But.....

Now my garden currently resides within another garden, and that's the oasis that is my mother's backyard....  They're scattered lovingly around the pool and amongst her plants in the covered patio.  And wow!  They are growing and thriving beyond my expectations now that they are no longer enduring harsh sun and wind up on a 16th floor balcony downtown!  Have I mentioned how happy my plants make me??  I can't quite explain the joy I feel when I go out to my planters and see leaves propagating little babies and most of all, such drastic improvements in their health!  The succulents are more succulent, their colors more vibrant, and they are growing, growing, growing!!  Many of them, mostly the Hen and Chicks and Kalanchoes, have sprouted flower buds!!  My "Magic Tower" Kalanchoe, (which I found growing in wild abandon by the side of the road while stuck in rush hour traffic - read all about it in this post) has put out the most lovely salmon pink flowers that hang from the top of the plant like mini bells!  They are fascinating!  Check'em out in the photos below.

I cannot wait until Spring is in full swing (oooh nice rhyme, hehe)!!  The weather here in Miami has been crazy and unpredictable lately, one day it's hot and humid, then it rains and a cold front slams us with the shivers for a few days, then it's back to hot and humid, then it gets a little cool, then it's humid and well, you get the picture.  It's quite annoying, however I won't complain much more than this because at least we aren't shoveling our way out of our homes and sliding down icy freeways in our cars like most of the country.  *Phew!*  I couldn't deal with that.  I most certainly could not deal with my plants possibly freezing to death and dying, oh the horror!  Plus, I wonder how on earth people endure the crazy snow and cold weather, I wouldn't be able to drag myself out of bed, let alone step out of a steamy shower to brave the elements!  Suffice it to say I'd get fired from my job shortly after the onset of winter if I lived up north!  HA!

Anyway, I hereby break my long blogging hiatus with this garden update post.  You may notice that the quality of my photos has vastly improved, which is due to my wonderful new camera (that I put off buying for nearly two years - somewhat to the detriment of my blog and its photo quality thus far - oh well)!!  I bought myself a Canon SD1400 IS which features 14.1 megapixels and video.  So far, I'm in love, and I'm sure you will be too once you get a load of these photographs I took of my babies...errr...plants!  Enjoy!

You might like to check out some of the other posts I've done on my garden in the past:

Succulent and Cacti Madness 

(when my obsession began!)

The Fruit of My Weekend

Relaxing Weekend Gone Too Soon

My Mother's Garden

The New Gang

My Grandmother's Garden

Garden Update 1

Found by the Road, My New Succulent!

The Death of a Succulent

Garden Update 2

Random Garden Pictures

The Transformation of my Echeveria Succulent

Succulents from my Garden

The Amsterdam Flower Market Part I

The Amsterdam Flower Market Part II

Garden Pictures

New Brass Succulent Planter

My Aunt's Garden Patio

Garden Update 3

The Tribulations of Gardening

Good Afternoon World

Garden Photos: Contrast Colors and New Planters

 Mama's Garden Part II

To see all other posts that I've done on succulents, cacti and gardening just scroll to the very bottom of my blog and click on any of the various descriptive key word labels, such as succulents or cactus (or many others) which will take you to a page containing all blog posts on that subject matter.

Have a great day!

xoxo

 First, let's start with the plants and planters that reside in the patio....

DRUM ROLL PLEASE!!!
This is my newest succulent, one I have been hoping to find for a long time, Echeveria "Doris Taylor"
She's a fuzzy beauty!!!

 

 

And these are the gorgeous pinks bell looking flowers that have sprouted from my "Magic Tower" Kalanchoe that I found by the side of the road, read about it here!

And this is one of my favorite succulents, Echeveria Glauca I believe, and has undergone quite a bit of growth and transformation since I got her!  Check out this post to see her various stages, at first she had no babies, then she put out the second one you see int he picture and the many babies growing from her stem seen in the pictures below.  At one point in time she also had long gorgeous flower stalks, check out this post to see all that!

Now, let's check out the plants hanging out on the patio table by the pool.....

A brief intermission on the plant update to feature two of my three dogs.  They were curious about me laying on the ground snapping pictures like a madwoman and came over to say hello!  Hehe.....

This is Manchita, named for her spots because "mancha" means "stain" in Spanish...
Oh, and she is 15 years old!  I got her around the 6th grade!  This old gal is a trooper!

And this handsome fellow is Kimbo (yes, as in Kimbo Slice!)...  He is my brother's best friend!  He was given to us when he was a puppy and had already been named Kimbo, so we went with it!  He is like a human being, such a character!

Alright, the grand finale, here are my big boy planters lounging poolside in all their glory....

(All images in this post were taken by me and are my personal photographs, please ask permission to use them, or at the very least link back to Inspire Bohemia - Thank you)