Garden Tip for the week: Weeds!

Newspaper! Newspaper is pretty much organic - made from trees, often recycled material now anyway, and interestingly, most US newspapers use soy based ink - it breaks down quickly, but provides a great cover to keep weeds at bay and even protect young plants during cold winter months.

Source: heartofwisdom.com via Brande on Pinterest

The key is to keep it moist, and to cover it - I would cover it with a layer from your compost bin if you have one, or leaves, then a thin layer of fresh potting soil or bark. If you plant more in the same area later, it's easy enough to dig through, but should do a good job at keeping weeds, especially grass seeds, at bay...

There is more info on it here and here.

Cold nights!

Happy Monday, gardeners!

With the cold nights we've been having here in Southern California - complete with both frost and freeze advisories - I though this article on protecting plants from nighttime cold would be useful!

Source: todayshomeowner.com via Brande on Pinterest

And have faith! While some of your plants might not be looking too great right now, because this cold snap is a fluke and not the norm for us, there is a good chance many of your plants will recover. As the article states, some of your annuals should disperse seeds once the weather warms up - so give them a chance! For plants that just have damaged tips and the like, we are waiting for it to warm up a bit, and will then give some of ours a gentle pruning to see if we can inspire some new life. And don't forget, some of those cottage garden classics you so love are actually intended for cold weather, so you should see some new growth in the early days of spring. Same goes for your cold weather bulbs.

Stay warm and have fun! We have some new plants coming in later this week, so more updates soon!

Light!

Happy happy Tuesday, gardeners!

I guess I'm a little obsessed with garden light ideas these days. Maybe it's the long winter nights, or missing my Christmas lights already (they just came down yesterday...) but I'm loving some of these cute and cheap ideas for bringing a little light to your garden!

Click the photo to see the play by play on how to do this one - such an awesome idea!

Source: theartofdoingstuff.com via Brande on Pinterest

In Our Gardens RIGHT NOW Just For YOU!

Some more new plants we just got in this past week:

Selinum wallichianum: REALLY cool Himalayan native that is remarkably easy to grow. An unusual, fun surprise for any garden!

Source: anniesannuals.com via Brande on Pinterest

Poppies! It's still a GREAT time to plant your poppies to get some great spring blooms! We have all sorts of super cool varieties in right now, including some of the ones pictured below! Poppies are super easy to grow, and if you leave 'em alone, they'll reseed, returning to your garden year after year - they certainly make a great botanical investment!

Source: anniesannuals.com via Brande on Pinterest

Source: anniesannuals.com via Brande on Pinterest

Source: anniesannuals.com via Brande on Pinterest

Source: anniesannuals.com via Brande on Pinterest

Michauxia campanuloides - super cool, rare plant. A native of Israel and Lebanon, quite easy to grow and perfect for Californian climates. Stick it towards the bad of your beds for an amazing show of summer blooms!

Source: anniesannuals.com via Brande on Pinterest

Achillea millefolium - a beautiful white yarrow that does well in both heat and wind. A must have for any cottage garden OR Californian native lover!

Source: anniesannuals.com via Brande on Pinterest

Come see us soon! These and lots of other cool cool plants are looking for a home!

Garden Tip of the Week: Let there be light!

Thought this was a super fun idea. I think this would be cool year round in any garden or patio!

Source: candiecooper.typepad.com via Brande on Pinterest

Read more about it here.

Happy Sunday, gardeners!