Porch Pots for the Holidays!

 What to do for 2020!  I recalled last winter being attracted to a striking winter pot of greens accented with twigs that were silver!  It was so simple but fresh and sparkly in the sunlight!  So, that became my theme for this year's outdoor decor!

Before I had a chance to begin putting my plan to work, I discovered a special Holiday Fairy or Elf had delivered a very attractive pot of mixed greens to my house one morning.  I have not been able to figure out just who it is from, but I am sure enjoying the special gift!   I just slipped it into one of the two matching pots by the garage and added some silver twigs and it fit right in with my plans!  

Another friend showed me the dried hydrangeas she had sprayed with red paint this year, so I figured a silver one would be a great accent to my larger pot!  Will see how it holds up to the wet snow, etc., but so far it handled some rain just fine!  And I have a supply in reserve I can spray to replace occasionally! 

It was fun to use the hanging basket on my front door, which I won at the Garden Club Holiday Party last year!  I kept the theme going there also with the greens with silver accents!  I plan to switch out the silver accent spray with some red berries after the holidays to change the mood to winter from the holidays!  

What did you do this year?   Our outdoor Christmas lights are not up yet due to our house being resided the first week of Dec. but Denny is hoping to get some of it done in time to enjoy it a bit before the holidays!  

Holiday Elf/Fairy gift!

Over grown dish gardens?

 I love the mix of plants whether it is house plants or outdoor plants!  It adds so much interest to gaze at!

While I admire them when the plants are a mature size, it seems the next step is to become overgrown and begin to not look so great.  Usually houseplants just become too crowded to stay healthy and attractive looking!   Outdoor ones have a short life here in MN and then we start over in the spring!

So, what to do about the house plant garden?  First I do some pruning and thinning but that only seems a fix for a short time.

Then I decide if I want to rescue all the plants by repotting them individually in new pots.  Well, right now I don't have space for seven more plants. So recently, I decided to removed four plants in front, which were suffering the most and leave the three in the back for a backdrop.  Then I went shopping in my stash of fairy garden accessories that I had tucked away for the MN winter.  It didn't take long to spot this adorable cabin (it was the second house I had ever purchased for a fairy garden scene) and it seemed to be just the right size and look to fit!  A bit of small pine mulch and a couple of seasonal touches with pumpkins,...and it was looking much better!

Yes, I think I'll replace the pumpkins for an elf or something for a Christmas touch for December soon!  Then I'll see what other seasonal touch I can find for February!

 

Thanksgiving Flowers

 If you are seeing the below flowering plant at this time, you are looking at a Thanksgiving Cacti!

Yep, there is a Christmas Cacti and also an Easter Cacti!  They are looking different in their leaves but the flowers sure look the same!

My neighbor, Tammy, has quite a collection and display that I was admiring last year.  She gifted me a white one but no blooms have appeared.  I did a search on the internet to see if I could figure out the problem and it appears it has been getting too much sun light at this point in time.  Well, I do have some plant lights providing supplemental light to my violets, which has been great for them, but not so great for my Thanksgiving Cacti!  So, I recently moved it so it would only get the normal daylight this time of the year and am hopeful it will stimulate it to bloom in time for Christmas!  

Tammy's Thanksgiving Cacti

WISHING YOU ALL A SAFE AND HAPPY THANKSGIVING!  Our family as elected to stay within our individual family households and hold a ZOOM visit this year. This is only the second Turkey Day I have had without some family with me, so it will seem a bit lonely.  But our goal is to have many more Turkey Dinners with us still all together from now on!  May your family also enjoy many more!

  Yes, I have some lefsa waiting for some turkey stuffing and gravy to join it!

It is going to rebloom!

 About a year ago I purchased my first orchid with a goal of it reblooming!  

And then later I purchased a few more and have patiently been watering and fertilizing them and anxiously looking for some sign my goal might even happen!  A year is a long time to be patient!

A few days ago I noticed what appears to be buds forming!  I am so excited!  I will be sure to post pictures of it when it is in full bloom later!  And that will probably be midst this long winter and its challenges to find excitement while enduring this pandemic!  

I did attend a free seminar on orchids at our local garden center last winter, which gave me lots of encouragement with this new adventure.

This morning on Facebook I spotted a free seminar on the internet that looks interesting, so you can also check it out if that is interesting.  My friend, Joan, has a big collection of orchids and they were all the lower priced ones and they all are beautiful reblooming freely!  

 Information on Free Orchid Class CLICK HERE

Unique Totem Pole Yard Art

 I have made a few of these totem poles yard art myself but this one is really unique and personalized to fit the recipient!

My neighbor, Marty, called me to come over and see what her creative sister made for her!

Wow, what a special sister to be designing Totem Poles to fit her sister's life interests!  

This one reflects many of Marty's interests:  At the bottom are two turtles (one hatching) representing her annual task of helping Blandings Turtles safely cross the roads to the Mississippi River when they hatch!

The dog represents her long involvement in rescuing aging small dogs (20 of them often with 6 at one time) and giving them love and special care until the end of their lives.  

 The star at the top is a recognition of her special Faith.

 The flashlight represents her extensive collection of flashlights!

 The red knife represents the knife she has always carried in her pocket!

The baseball tells about her passion for The Twins Baseball Team!

Denny is going over to see how it can be attached to the railing on her deck!

Feathered friends visit our living room window!

We don't have many trees in our yard to attract birds, but we do have feeders hanging just outside our big window area in the living room.  Our bird bath is kept open year around, thanks to a heater, so we get bird visitors in the winter for sure!   Feeding them is Denny's passion and we enjoy their visits daily!  This one was recently taken from inside when we had a nice bright woodpecker visitor!   Our boys, enjoy these visitors also and eagerly look forward to the shades opening in the mornings!

Colorful idea for Fall Yard Art!

While on our Fall Color Leaf Peep Drive this year, I found this colorful display of old bikes decorated with paint and flowers for fall!

I couldn't decide which ones I liked the best, so took pictures of them all for you!

Actually this is a great idea for any season if you have an old bike available to decorate!  Once upon a time on a garden tour there was one location which had at least five bikes spread about her garden beds, and they were cleverly mixed in so you could have fun hunting for them!