The digital random thoughts of Flowergardengirl for Copper Top Cottage

When Flowergardengirl was considering the colors for Copper Top Cottage she thought of her favorite colors of fall and paired them~~~with ~~ this of all things–

~~ a rotating egg~~The above image actually spins on her computer and was created in Gimp using photos from the scenes from her back yard but WordPress will not allow that application and too bad for you~~~~Autumn is her favorite time of year. The image above allows her to look at the colors against the teal from every angle. Teal is the color of her Copper Top Cottage.

Soon the lace curtains will go up and all the treasures she’s been gathering for 50 years will purposefully be placed in every nook and cranny of her little shed. As I’m reading this back to her she’s saying this is getting way too quaint like and intense so and I should lighten the mood a bit. She says that although there’s a cute quiet side to her , she’s also a riot and that sometimes she wears her Tuesday underwear on Friday.

Copper Top Cottage will be filled with hopes of rows to hoe and gardeners to know. There will be a comfy reading chair by the stained glass window that was purchased at a salvage yard and always a red geranium in one of the windows which has nothing at all to do with the colors she has carefully planned for the space. But red  geraniums were her grandmother’s favorite and so it shall be.

The paint selection for the outside is in the  Natural Splendor line called Biltmore Estate: She’s loving the name  which is~~~‘Hidden Spring’  by Olympic Paint and is talked about in an article she wrote about HERE. One of her favorite color palettes is that of teal, deep peachy orange, and deep golden burnt umber. You can only find that in her back yard during Autumn . Right! Or does this happen in your yard too?

And she never buys a plant without considering it’s aged beauty. And she would never marry a man without considering his retirement plan.

Alaska nasturtiums are considered a bit hard to grow but they do well  in her front beds as there has never been any grown in her back beds. They love this time of year. They like the cool weather  unlike most nasturtiums which would rather see long hot sunny days I suppose~~ do you suppose?. Flowergardengirl likes the speckled leaves of the Alaska variety. She likes any speckled leaves.

Today is the first day of November and it’s so gloriously chilly. Flowergardengirl’s home is filled with biscuit breezes and the aroma of a roast in the oven. Would you like to see the leaves that have fallen and her roast in the oven? And will you please watch her later on tonight at Garden World Report. She’d appreciate it. Here she is now just before the show at her home in NC~~~~

The Porch Is Ready For Sit ‘N’

I worked all day yesterday to recover the front porch cushions and make throw pillows to match. I bartered for this chicken fabric long time ago. I made the containers for the front of a fabric store and she gave me some pretty fabric in return. I want to paint the pots yellow.

We are out here several times a day and almost every evening rain or shine. There is ceiling fan to help stir the air on the muggiest of days like today. I’m sure to take a rest from gardening and get a glass of sweet tea. Some days I bring my laptop out and chit chat from the swing.

All the cushions come off easily for washing. I don’t like to sit on dirty or mildewed cushions. Mildew hasn’t been a problem the last two years cause of the drought but this year is a whole new ballgame. We’ve had more rain than sunshine. Today it’s really humid and a perfect set up for mildew. I can nip that in the bud with a good trip to the washing machine. I like my stuff to smell good anyway.

Here is one of my Bee Balms, the Lo and Behold Blue Chip buddleia that is one of my all time favorite shrubs from Proven Winners. It’s a dwarf that will never grow any taller than what you see. But oh the blooms it puts out. A butterfly magnet. I’ve also got Coconut Lime Coneflower there too.

As a reminder to some, I planted my gardens later this year. I work my annuals hard and I wanted them to last longer. They kept fizzling out on me before the season was done which can be November around here. Now it’s all starting to bloom nicely and perfectly timed for a long season of enjoyment.

Cameron wrote about this monarda not long ago if you care to get technical about it. She’s the techy expert. I’ll just plan on going over to her blog and seeing what’s she writing about so I can steal all her hard work. It’s called Raspberry Wine.

I like it with Coconut Lime Echinacea.

Blooming its little fool head off. You know I’m going to divide this next season and have loads more. It stands out the most in my garden.

Blue Satin Rose of Sharon by PW growing as a neighbor to the monarda

And a phlox

Life is so grand from a good old southern porch!

Just sitting out here swatting flies and swapping lies Hugs to everyone. Ok, I’m really going outside now. I’ve got about 30 plants to get in the ground. I’ll need some tea of course.

Mantle Decorating With Roberta

Sometimes you meet people who are just over talented in the best sort of way and that is just how Roberta comes across. She has two beautiful websites about decorating and inspiring others to do the same. Please click on this presentation so you can get a better look and read about Roberta.

Hope you enjoyed this as much as I did preparing it for you.

Enchanted Treasures

Tresor Trouve

Create a Firefly Garden

Fireflies are attracted to each other from the bioluminescent flickering yellow green of their tails. You can create that atmosphere and perhaps invite a few Fireflies along for the fun. Let’s see how!

Kettle Korn Testimonials

Kettle korn kiropraktors are not to be konfused with kowopractors who adjust kow backs.

Kiropraktors make a living adjusting the jaws of kettle korn konsumers.

Have you ever eaten Kettle Korn? Some people get addicted and need therapy. I’m nuts about it. The korn is kooked in a kettle. The best batches are kooked over an open fire.

Sugar and korn are added together in a greased big old kettle. The heat melts the sugar and pops the korn. The two are blended by the athletic konstant sweat producing stir that is required to get-er-done.

After stirring like your life depends on it, the kettle is tipped of its kontent and bagged up for purchase.

Kids and kats scurry to get some. Adults have a kettle kitty fund for this habit. Walking around the fair with a king size portion kan make a grown man kry.

Kettle Korn is more nutritious than it once was. It is made with no trans-fats these days. You kan eat more.

It would not be a summer without Kettle Korn. It kost a bit more as the korn prices rise. I kan’t wait kan you?

Recently, I spoke to a few kettle korn krazies and they had this to say:

I’ve lost my house and kar due to my kettle korn addiction.

My kids were taken away after someone discovered korn kernals all over the house.

I was able to attract krokodiles to my pond by leaving a trail of delicious kettle korn.

My life has turned around 100% since I started eating kettle korn.

Kettle korn is a part of every kounty fair and outdoor event in the South. Baseball games and family pikniks wouldn’t be the same without it.

Do any of you have a favorite kettle korn brand? Some of you chimed in last Autumn when we first talked about it and several wrote articles about their state fair but we need a list of good kettle korn sources.

Give us the website if you do. Leave out the http—and start with the www—thanks!

I took the above picture at the Tanglewood Wine Festival at Tanglewood park in Clemmons, NC.

The Garden Cottage Bed and Breakfast

Featured in the March 2009 Cottage Style Magazine, is the Bed and Breakfast of Diana and Gary Simkins. I first became aware of  The Garden Cottage B&B located in Utah while surfing HGTV’s gardening board. Diana had just posted about her B&B gardens being listed in Cottage Style Magazine. I went over to her site and was amazed at the beauty. She has a link to the article at Cottage Style Magazine and numerous pictures of her gardens. If you love cottage style then you are in for a treat. I have never seen a cottage garden done so tastefully.

The Garden Cottage Bed and Breakfast is located in Cedar City, Utah. There are several rooms named after old fashioned flowers like, The Hollyhock Room. You can see what each of the rooms looks like and marvel at the old fashioned personality and charm. They serve a full breakfast and are located close to many attractions. Their website has links and answers other questions about the area.

The Morning Glory Room with its bead-board walls, blue and yellow wallpaper, and an 1871 Eastlake bed is my favorite. Read what the site has to say about this room.  Please take a stroll over to their site and see the beautiful gardens and read about this quaint little Inn. You’ll be amazed at the perennial gardens and climbing roses.

TheMorningGloryRoom!

Bed and Breakfast Cedar City

Welcome to The Garden Cottage
Bed and Breakfast
in Cedar City UT.
The perfect Bed and Breakfast or romanticCountry Inn lodging alternative to Cedar City’shotels and motels.
Whether you are here in Scenic Southern Utahfor the Utah Shakespearean Festival or visiting the Zion National Park, if you like Bed and Breakfasts and romantic Country Inns we would love to be your Victorian lodging choice during your stay in beautiful Cedar City, Utah

The Morning Glory Room is an enchanting, storybook Country/Victorian retreat. Convenient main floor location for those who have trouble with stairs. Beadboard walls, blue and yellow  wallpaper, original maple floors and a charming 1871 Eastlake bed with Queen pillowtop mattress, complete with handmade patchwork quilt take you back in time. A  comfy reading chair with ottoman add to your escape from the 21st century to a more relaxed time of years gone by. Beautiful view of the garden from the window. Large private bath with shower and the sink vanity is actually a lovely antique oak dresser with a serpentine front. This  room is a favorite with our many repeat guests. Private garden entrance!

The Yellowey Yellowist Yellow Flambe

There is a long list of attractive glowing features surrounding  Flambe® Yellow Chrysocephalum  apiculatum Strawflower. I grew this in my garden last summer and it lives up to its drought tolerant description. We had very high temperatures for most of the summer. It was also one of the worst droughts on record. Fertilize it regularly and it will reward you with a sunny burst of color from Spring to Frost. And NO!, you do not have to deadhead this beauty.

Now this is a way to say fabulous! I really like containers planted in a mass of color. It can be one plant or many plants that are similar in color. But doesn’t this one shout at you.

At the end of a day in the garden, sit a bit. Making a seating area attractive will make you more relaxed and time will seem to linger a bit longer. We don’t always need to be so rushed.

The colors in this plate by Royal Albert called Drury Lane( available from Replacements.com) are a perfect companion for the Flambe. If you don’t want to give an expensive container as a gift to someone special, give a plate of cookies and a single plant. Make a sleeve for the plant out of sage or yellow gingham. Hold secure with a ribbon of white or one of the two colors on the plate. Or be like me and stick the plate in an arrangement.

This arrangement will last from Spring to Autumn. Imagine it with the Flambe Terracotta Pansies from Veseys

Take a Flambe with this bowl of kisses to someone feeling blue. You can’t be blue when a sunflower is peeking at you. Can you? The bowl can be ordered from Replacements.com

Are you going to get thirsty? Your Flambe is going to last all summer and into the Autumn. It will not fade until temps dip in the 30s. Set your Flambe on your kitchen counter and serve lemonade from this Ball gallon jug from Gooseberry Patch.

Isn’t that pretty cool! Give Mom a hanging basket and a cookbook!

The recipe book is from Gooseberry Patch. I have many of their cookbooks and love every one. Each page is filled with recipes and tidbits to make family memories. There are decorating ideas too!

When giving a gift the wrapping paper and card can sometimes cost as much as the present. Why not use a kitchen towel. For a hanging basket, tie the towel to the wire or plastic hook part. For a container, line the towel with foil or wax paper. Bring the towel up around the pot and secure with a pretty ribbon.

Growing Tips
Deadheading not necessary for continuous bloom. Plants will “bury their dead” (new flowers will quickly cover old flowers) so no deadheading necessary.

Exposure
Full sun

Height
8-14″

Spacing
14-16″

Hardy Temp
25°F (-4°C)

Uses
Use in planters or landscapes; great in informal drifts

Features
Tufted yellow flowers on silvery foliage; very heat and drought tolerant

Easter on the Internet

Maybe you haven’t seen some of these beautifully crafted items for Easter. This is an Bunny Bag from Rosemary’s Garden. Most of the sites I’m featuring are listed on Etsy and Replacements.com. I’m so impressed with the quality and beauty these artist bring to the market. As I’m browsing and thinking about Easter which is April 12th this year, I’m always thinking of you too. Maybe you’ll find something different for your Easter decorations or that fun gift to give for the season. I think these will all be appropriate for Spring too. I have no affiliation with any of these shops. I do believe in promoting beauty and these are certainly beautiful!

This colorful necklace is by Beth Nadler. Very different isn’t it?

A bunny heart necklace at Spittin Toad

Children around the Maypole at Replacements.com

Debbie Mumm plate at Replacements.com

Catnip Studio has some of the most beautiful eggs I’ve ever seen. You will love her blog.

Elizabethan Bobtails from Replacements.com

Out On A Whim has beautiful papers including these tags for Easter. Many more at her Etsy site.

Colorful tulips by Leigh Potters @ Replacements.com

Lenox Petals and Pearls at Replacements.com

Succulent Designs has a very attractive arrangement of succulents on this bunny. Their designs are stunning.

Vintage bracelets at Poet Summer has very unique jewelry. She pairs her subject matter perfectly.  So get busy and get ready for Spring and Easter. Don’t forget your girlfriends! If you use the Etsy search feature and choose Easter Eggs–well then…you are in for a treat. And remember….a planter with the dish inside as an accent piece would make you the best Easter gift giver every.

Using china to decorate a container.