Kimberly A. Cook

Military Romance Author

garden

Who Is Building A Fairy Rock Garden?

By 3 Comments

by Kimberly A. Cook                               (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

I am! It decided last Fall while looking at the tired corner of my backyard that’s overgrown with raspberries who refuse to grow in pots. Plus other cast off pots with blackberries. And the dumping area I use for my old potting soil; aka my backyard fence corner.

IMG_1596.JPG
The before mess in the corner.

 

I’m getting lazy and want more time to enjoy the patio and potted flowers instead of weeding all the time. On our trip to the Richardson Rock Ranch last Fall I even brought back a good selection of Rose Quartz for the Fairy Rock Garden. But it appears you actually have to take action to make this kind of thing happen.

So on Saturday of the long weekend it was time to charge the backyard mess and go for it. The ugly before picture a case in point above. I moved aside all the pots which will be downsized and then replanted The Fairy rose from a small pot to a bigger pot then moved/dragged it to a better position. The rose had a dirt and root clump the size of Nebraska. That was an interesting exercise in gymnastics, let me tell you.

Next up was weeding and considering the lay of the land. My hairdresser and I discussed using a raised bed on Friday for the garden. Figured I would need to level out the ground, which sounded like work. Went online for some ideas Friday night and got distracted on Pinterest. Found out there is quite the Fairy Garden underground, which was good for ideas.

While putting down the landscape fabric on Saturday afternoon, it dawned on me I could use some of the ideas from Pinterest and keep the lump of potting soil. Yeah! It would be the hill of my Fair Rock Garden with a Fairy home on it plus no digging dirt. Brilliant.

My goal is to use stuff/things I have and repurpose them. The stump in the middle of the Fairy Rock Garden will get a roof from my former cedar fence boards. I might even put roof shakes on from the pine comes left from the holiday wreaths.

Then I remembered my neighbor had given me a bunch of clay pots and those would make perfect Fairy Houses. (See Pinterest for rock, glue and Fairy house door construction on clay pots) Another old garden pot is the perfect shape of a large bee hive and I can spray paint it yellow. It appears I’ve become a Fairy Rock Garden real estate developer. Perhaps I do need another vacation, but I’m having fun!

IMG_1614.JPG
The Fairy Rock Garden development construction site in progress. Now to get white rock, 

 

I’ve made good progress but ran into trouble since I decided to go with white rock instead of river rock. Doing the rock math I need about a half yard. It comes in 50 pound bags at Home Depot. Good gravy, I have enough trouble hefting the 30 pound kitty litter bags. I need about thirteen bags! Nobody’s gym workout is that good. Must see about delivery……

Stay tuned for updates. Guaranteed this project will take years. Have you built a Fairy Garden?

 

To Nap, Perchance To Plant?

By 1 Comment

by Kimberly A. Cook                     (Twitter@  WarriorTales)

Last weekend we had fabulous sunny weather and I knew the petunias, impatiens and basil had to be planted before they crawled into the house and mugged me. In high hopes once again, I’d bought more plants than I planned. They sat for three weeks due to nutty weather.

IMG_1526.JPG
Spec Ops Cat resting after a hard day of supervising  my yard work. He had to sit on the carpet in a sun spot and look out the patio door. Tough job. 

 

It’s always fun to dig in the dirt, whether hunting for rocks or planting posies. Normally all the plants are in by mid-May, but obviously I’m disorganized this year. The tomatos got planted on time, but they don’t look too happy about it. Hot temperatures, cold weathers, rain and hail make for unhappy plants.

The roses just about put up the white flag too but they keep blooming, hardy little souls. Once again I am attempting to make fuchsia starts grow from the plant at my Mom’s house. Transplanted from the huge natural fuchsia at our former beach cabin on the coast, one of these years I am going to make them grow.

IMG_1522.JPG
Ready for surgery on the potting table. These glasses are for liquor, but the fuchsias seemed to like them very much.

 

Mom put the starts in water and brought them to me. I carefully transplanted them into the tall shot glasses which look like test tubes and left them in the Southern window for a couple weeks, adding water. Bought special potting soil for them and Saturday was their big day to be transplanted.

IMG_1525.JPG
Starts sitting on the back porch waiting for their water shower. Amazing what I find in my garage when I need to. Perfect pink pots. Priceless.

 

Found matching pink plastic starter pots in the garage, because I am sure that helps them take root. Rocks, potting soil, starts planted, then water and back in the house. Stuck them in used cat food cans for coasters to hold the water. Keep your fingers crossed. Maybe this year the magic works.

I love the smell of potting soil in the morning! Got plant starts?

 

 

Back To The Garden?

By 4 Comments

by Kimberly A. Cook                (Twitter@  WarriorTales)

Last Saturday I ended up in a speed tomato planting race against the incoming rain and thunderstorms. Weather hit a sunny 90 degrees on Friday and then dropped like a rock to 66 degrees with incoming rain the next morning.

Taking my time Saturday I checked the  Doppler radar at 9:38 a.m. and saw a blob of green, yellow and red moving my way. Tossed on my garden clothes and proceeded to weed, remove old potting soil, put in new potting soil, plant three tomato plants, add their cages, plus change the burned out garage light bulbs all before the storm hit. A quick fifty-five minutes flat. I did get misted on and a cool draft down my back.

IMG_4399.JPG
First tomato in, a favorite yellow pear. Planted two each. I use plastic painter buckets with three holes drilled in the bottom sides. They were pink, but they’ve faded in the sun. Yes, that is a purple tomato cage.   

 

IMG_4400.JPG
Normally I use Sweet Cherry 100s, but am trying this yellow cherry tomato hybrid since the Sweet 100s were not in sight in the store. Notice the yellow blooms in back? Yellow tomato cage to coordinate! 
IMG_4401.JPG
The mint is growing by leaps and bounds since I planted it. Love the aroma.
IMG_4404
Farmer Bun is already surrounded by blooms from the Fairy rose and blooms from a plant where I saw a hummingbird drink ing. You can rock it with a container garden.
IMG_4419
Of course Spec Ops Cat wanted to come outside and help me, but since he doesn’t do rain or mist he stayed inside and supervised. Smart cat!

Got a garden? Let’s grow!

 

Quest For The Perfect Garden Pot?

By Leave a Comment

by Kimberly A. Cook                       (Twitter@  WarriorTales)

My roses are blooming in April. Sweet sea biscuits! While we had hail, rain, sun and thunder over the weekend, I went on a quest last Friday to find the perfect large ceramic teal garden pot for the fairy rock garden. So far I feel like Goldilocks; close but not quite.

IMG_4312.JPG
Perfect color. Great shape. Too big. Rats!

Then I got sidetracked by the plants and flowers. Luckily I had an appointment or I could have wandered for hours.

 

IMG_4319.JPG
Look at these fun purple flowers.

Then I found this fabulous pink azalea in full bloom. Yummy!

IMG_4323.JPG
So, so pretty in pink.

Then a foxglove caught my eye and I had to take a very up close and personal picture.

IMG_4318
Fairies paint the insides of these blooms, I’m sure.

And then I came across this fabulous selection of water fountains I love but are way out of my price range. But maybe if I save my pennies over the winter…. What was I shopping for anyway?

IMG_4327.JPG
The big or the small blue one, either one will work. But I need electricity. Always something.

Taken a ramble in the garden center recently? Maybe I need to use spray paint on the current big pot. Another quest begins!

Got garden style?

Time To Dig In The Dirt?

By 2 Comments

by Kimberly A. Cook              (Twitter@  WarriorTales)

Surveying my backyard this past weekend I knew it was time to downsize my pot garden. Wait one. Before folks get the wrong impression, I mean my garden in pots. Just to be clear.  Since my soil is clay mixed with concrete when I try to dig it, all my plants except for two are in pots. (The camellia and the Fairy rose are in the ground. I do not know how they survive.)

IMG_4307.JPG
Farmer Bunny watching over the new mint plants. Ignore the weeds behind the pots.

 

In the interest of simplifying my garden, it’s time to not plant things I don’t eat or enjoy. So the carrots, strawberries (alias slug bait), and the dill are history. But I did use big pots to plant new peppermint and sweet mint plants on Sunday.

While I don’t really use the mint, I LOVE their smell when I water them during the summer. Same goes for the basil, rosemary and the carnations. The sniff test passes as using the plants in my book.

IMG_4309.JPG
Can you smell the peppermint? You’ve got to plant some. Even just to sniff it or make tea.

 

Of course before I could plant the mint plants I had to buy more potting soil. Little did I know the bags of potting soil were wet until I tried hefting them into my grocery cart last Friday. Seriously? Then they peed in the back of the Subaru while I was driving home. Luckily I have a plastic liner back there. Note to self, only dry potting soil goes in the car.

On the upside, didn’t have to do much watering since the potting soil was drenched. Filled up the pots with a gravel base, potting soil, then the mint plants. My favorite part is sticking the little plant sign in the dirt as the final touch. Ready to go.

The rest of the backyard is in complete disarray with weeds and grass growing around the pots, dried plants from  last year and the perpetual weeds. The pot downsizing has not started in earnest either.

I’ll get to that next weekend. Maybe. I hope so…. Got potting soil? Get mint!

 

 

How About A Private Camellia Show?

By 2 Comments

When I motored over to my writer friend’s house April 2nd for writer support group, I arrived a little early and got to wander in her yard. It was a week before the “official” camellia show and I had a private viewing.

IMG_4250.JPG
How fabulous is this? He told me the name but I forgot, stunned by its beauty. 

 

These gorgeous flowers are award winners on many levels and they grow them all around their home. With the warm Spring weather and hot days, my friend’s husband was concerned they might not have the best buds for the show. Lucky for me I always have my camera.

Looking at some of the beauties in their yard, he told me about how much work went into making the different varieties and how he had been sought out by growers for plant starts. Seems camellia fanatics check out the winners of these shows and then hunt down the growers for stock, nationally and internationally. Who knew?

IMG_4251
This reminds me of candy. Maybe peppermint circles?

 

All too soon it was time to head off in our carpool to the writer’s group and leave the lovely blooms behind. The amazing symmetry, beauty and jaw dropping designs of these camellias are simply stunning.

IMG_4252.JPG
The petals on this camellia take my breath away. Certainly a show stopper!

 

In the backyard of my parent’s house is a gorgeous fuchsia pink camellia with a bright yellow center. I’ve grown up with that bush and it’s still there, blooming away. My friend and her husband have the same one in their yard besides all the other amazing varieties. I had no idea there were so many types. Their camellias are all truly award winners, official and unofficial.

Got camellias? It’s show time!