garden — pleasure in simple things

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top 5 from philly flower show 2014

March

The Philadelphia Flower Show had an amazing theme this year…ARTiculture!

I was so thrilled to have the opportunity to attend the longest-running and largest indoor flower show!

With so much to see, the show was overwhelming. What makes the show special is in the way each attendee has a unique visit – each person sees the show from their own perspective…in this way, the show is a very personal experience.

As a way to share this personal experience with you on Friday field trip this week, I am sharing my personal top 5 from the Philadelphia Flower Show 2014.

THEME. I loved the art theme this year! ARTiculture! Working in collaboration with Philadelphia museums and the local art world made the Flower Show theme the best in years! The art influences were everywhere…but this display, in my estimation, integrated the theme perfectly!

Even food was treated as art in this amazing display:

DEMONSTRATION. The lectures and demonstrations offered at the Flower Show are always a high point for me…learning anything new is always fun and I enjoy watching the variety of demonstrations offered on the show schedule.

This year, while attending an evening sponsored by Philadelphia Magazine, I met the talented artist Denise Fike. Denise provided guests with their own fashion portraits…what a fun demonstration and a cool way to incorporate the theme of the show!

FRIENDS. One great aspect of an annual show is to visit people you have met year after year. I had three in particular that I really enjoyed catching up with in the retail section of the show.

One was Michelle Masters…she creates this

beautiful topiary art…

I was happy to have the opportunity to stock up on my notecards and to purchase a few great gifts. ;)

I also had the chance to spend some time with Jill Schwartz. As owner of Elements, she creates some really awesome jewelry…you may have seen some of her unique pieces in Anthropologie.

If you are a flower lover and have not seen the products from Chive you are definitely missing something great! It is so inspiring to see all their products ‘up close and personal’ at the flower show each year and to say ‘hi’ to the friendly staff. I love using their products for big events and small parties…they have wonderful pieces to use as favors and as centerpieces.

SCULPTURE. Each year, I am intrigued by some type of sculpture at the show. Of course, everyone attending was mesmerized by the entrance of the show, where masses of flowers were put together and displayed in a ‘frame.’ I found a couple more I enjoyed.

The paper flower sculptures in the hallways leading to the main rooms were awesome and gave any of us dappling in paper flower construction a whole new level of inspiration!

As a typography lover, I enjoyed this sculpture in the Convention Center hallway.

GARDEN INSPIRATION. Admittedly, much of my day was spent oohing and aahing the amazing varieties of flowers on display. It’s great to be inspired to find something to incorporate into my own garden. This year, that inspiration was the witch hazel. As a winter bloomer, I know it would be a lovely way to add some color to the snow next year! My own state (Connecticut) is the witch hazel capital and was the first to harvest and market it for its medicinal purposes…surprisingly, I have not already included it in my garden! This is how it looks in bloom.

That is my little glimpse into the 2014 Philadelphia Flower Show. Hope you enjoyed this week’s Friday field trip!

Thank you for stopping by. Have a wonderful weekend, Jackie

Sharing at Mona’s Picturesque, Crafts a la Mode, and The Tablescaper.

9 comments » | field trips, garden, gift ideas

goodbye garden

October

There is no denying that fall is Connecticut in beautiful. But, to make way for the beauty of the changing leaves, the flowers vanish.

This is the time of year when I have to take in my favorite bird bath to protect it from being broken by the first frost…For Friday field trip today, I thought we would go outside and take a look in the garden to see what survived the start of autumn…

There is plenty of euphorbia…it seems to like this time of year…among it, one lone piece of lavender…

Not much else…some mums of course…and, a monster black-eyed susan vine. I decided to create something with the few flowers I had left…to capture one last look at my garden…so I arranged them in one of my white pumpkins to bring into the house.

This is easy to do…if you want to create one, just cut off the top of a pumpkin, hollow out the inside, and add floral foam to arrange the flowers. (You might remember last year I planted succulents.)

I like my little reminder of what is left of summer in my garden.

Thank you so much for stopping by.

Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

Comments Off on goodbye garden | diy, field trips, garden

isn’t gardening a spring sport?

September

I think of gardening as a spring sport since I spend the most time on my gardens during the spring.

This certainly isn’t the case for my friend Wendy. And, it was strongly apparent when I stopped over to visit her on a recent evening. .. Her yard looked so beautiful that I have to share it with you for this week’s Friday field trip!

It is not that her yard doesn’t always look beautiful…believe me, it does! But, I was amazed at all the seasonal touches she had already added to her gardens for the fall.

She has one of those yards that is like a park…so many different areas to admire. I couldn’t possibly show you everything in one post, but I will share some of my favorite spots that may just inspire you to put out some seasonal touches in your own garden. (Check my facebook page this weekend for some additional photos of this wonderful space.)

I hope you enjoyed our garden visit for Friday field trip…thanks Wendy! We will have to make another trip in the spring…there is so much to see!

Thank you for stopping by.

Have a wonderful weekend and remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

Sharing with Craftberry Bush.

Comments Off on isn’t gardening a spring sport? | field trips, garden, inspiration

lovely apron upgrade

July

Today I wanted to share an easy way to upgrade a standard chef’s apron into something lovely. I was recently involved with organizing a charity garden event and I really wanted the hostesses to have coordinating aprons. The gardens were so amazing and we had some very tasty food prepared with a flower and herb theme…I needed aprons that were as lovely as the rest of the event.

Not wanting to spend much money, I decided to use a few embellishments to make a white chef’s apron contribute to our theme. If you know someone in the restaurant business, you may be able to score an apron or two at no cost. If not, you can purchase one at a restaurant supply store for $5 or $6.

The first thing I did was to add a flower photo onto the top of the apron front. This was easy to do with T-Shirt transfer paper. You can pick this up at any store that sells office supplies. I found my package at Target near the copy paper. I bought Avery brand Ink Jet T-Shirt Transfers. Six 8 1/2″ x 11″ sheets come in the container. Since I was printing a 5″ x 7″ photo, I was able to print two photos on one sheet. I chose a photo I had taken last spring of my lilly of the valley.

I printed the page using a color printer and ironed the photos onto the aprons, carefully following the directions on the transfer package. I decided to add a little sparkle around the edges of the photo by applying some silver sparkle paint with a cotton swab.

Then, I added a couple pockets by sewing on a rectangular shaped piece of fabric I found on the clearance table at the fabric store. First I sewed a hem on one of the long sides of the fabric – this would be the top of the pocket. Then, I attached the piece of fabric by sewing the two sides and the bottom

onto the apron. Sewing vertically down the middle of the pocket created the two pockets.

Rosemary sea salt shortbreads – one of the treats I made to serve at the Garden Tour.

And that was it! Using a photo transfer sheet and some scrap fabric that coordinated with my photo, I was able to upgrade my standard white apron into something garden party worthy!

You can do the same for your next event!

Hope you enjoyed today’s post on upgrading an apron. I look forward to sharing more about the garden event in future posts.

Thanks for visiting! Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

Sharing at A Pinch of Joy and Timewashed.

3 comments » | diy, garden, gift ideas

essence of roses

June

I am working on a menu for a charity garden tour, so I have been experimenting with recipes for both sweet and savory items that utilize flower and herb components. I fell in love with the combination of the Middle Eastern flavors of rosewater and pistachios when I made a Persian Love Cake. Thinking about the flavors of that wonderful cake and still having roses in my thoughts, I decided to try and create a rosewater meringue.

I was very happy with the result and wanted to share the recipe with you. This light and airy cookie has a wonderful essence of roses…perfect for my garden tour menu!

Recipe for Rosewater Meringues

1 cup confectioners’ sugar
2 whites from large eggs
¼ teaspoon rosewater (you can purchase bottled rosewater…if you make your own, be sure to use organic rose petals!)
1/3 cup finely chopped unsalted natural pistachios

Preheat oven to 175 degrees F. Line 1 large cookie sheet with parchment paper. Sift the confectioners’ sugar twice to remove all lumps and divide into two equal portions.

Put the egg whites in a medium bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until foamy. Increase the speed to medium high and beat until the whites hold soft peaks. Continue beating while gradually adding one portion of confectioners’ sugar. Beat until firm, glossy peaks form. Add the rosewater and mix briefly. Sift the remaining confectioners’ sugar over the meringue and gently fold in until blended.

Scoop the meringue into a large pastry bag fitting with a large star tip. Pipe swirls (about 1 ½” wide and 2″ high) about 1 inch apart onto the prepared cookie sheet. (If not using a pastry bag, just drop the meringue by 2 Tablespoonfuls). Sprinkle the finely chopped pistachios over the meringues.

Bake until dry and crisp, about 3 hours. Turn the oven off and let the meringues cool in the oven for 1 hour. Serve immediately or cover and store at room temperature for up to 1 week. (And since I don’t have air conditioning, I can strongly recommend from experience to store your cookies in a cool place until you are ready to serve.)

This recipe was adapted from a meringue recipe in a wonderful book called Desserts 4 Today by Abigail Johnson Dodge that contains recipes for flavorful desserts using just four ingredients.

I hope you enjoyed sharing my rosewater meringues recipe. Thank you so much for stopping by.

Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

Sharing at Timewashed and Mona’s Picturesque.

4 comments » | food & festivities, garden, recipe

but i don’t care for roses…

June

A rose has never been my favorite flower. When all my friends would hope for a dozen roses on Valentine’s Day, I was wishing for an arrangement of many different varieties of flowers – all white. Or, a single variety of something unique or exotic.

So, when a friend suggested I visit the rose garden in bloom at Boothe Memorial Park in Stratford, the idea of making the trip was met by me with lukewarm enthusiasm. Not one to dismiss new experiences, I decided to surrender a little bit of my time to the roses in bloom.

Today’s Friday field trip is a visit to this rose garden. And, with hundreds of different types of roses represented, it was really hard to edit my photos to just a few representations. The weather had been very rainy and I was lucky to time my visit between a series of rainfalls. I thought the weather actually added character to the photos, although an excursion like this really makes me yearn for a good camera. (hint, hint Santa!)

Enjoy our little stroll through the garden…

And yes, I did change my mind a little on the roses…still not my favorite, but I definitely have a new respect for them after this experience…hard not to, right?

I hope you enjoyed sharing the Boothe Memorial Park rose garden with me. We even happened upon a lovely volunteer caretaker during our trip :)

I will be posting more photos from the Boothe Memorial Park rose garden on my Facebook page in the coming days…please ‘like’ my page if you haven’t already and please feel free to share any rose experiences! Also, please feel free to ‘pin’ any photos you like :)

Have a wonderful weekend. Thanks so much for visiting.

Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

Sharing at Mona’s Picturesque, Little Red House, and The Tablescaper.

9 comments » | field trips, garden

‘spruced up’ in westport

April

It is that time of year in Connecticut…the time when ones thoughts are consumed with warm weather and gardening (as you can tell, I am still in a gardening state of mind)…And, for Friday field trip this week, I am going to take you on a visit to a new home and garden store in Westport center called Spruce.

The store has been opened almost a year, but quite honestly, I only recently became aware of it because I usually tend to concentrate my store perusal to Main Street when I am in that part of Westport. Spruce is definitely worth the short walk from Main…it is located at 90 Post Road East. A Paper Source has recently opened right next door which gives me two great reasons to walk over to the Post Road when I am in the downtown area.

In 2010, Spruce started with one store in Connecticut…there are now 7 Spruce stores in 3 states.

As you can see, they carry a lovely selection of home and garden items, gifts, jewelry and clothing, and other accessories.

I hope these few photos gave you a little bit of an idea of what Spruce has to offer…I had a great time visiting!

and Chad at Spruce in Westport, CT help to make your shopping experience a fun time!

Patty and Chad at Spruce in Westport, CT help to make your shopping experience at this home and garden decor store a fun time!

Hope you enjoyed our Friday field trip to Spruce in Westport, Connecticut. You can learn more about the store by visiting the Spruce website. Be sure to visit the store if you find yourself in the Westport area.

Have a really wonderful weekend. Thank you so much for stopping by!

Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

I am sharing at Little Red House and The Tablescaper.

7 comments » | field trips, style

transforming terracotta pots

April

We won’t be going very far for Friday field trip today…just outdoors! The weather this week in Connecticut has been amazing, and any free time I had this week was spent on planting preparations… It didn’t help that I had a garden club meeting this week…during the lecture portion of our meeting, I was furiously writing notes of all the things I ~~want~~ need for my garden. My thoughts have been consumed with plants!

Planting isn’t done around ‘these parts’ until Mother’s Day (my traditional planting day), but that hasn’t stopped me from planning and dreaming. It is going to be a particularly tough year to make the yard look nice since we had a couple really bad storms this year that destroyed much of the garden – particularly large shrubs and trees.

The beautiful results of my terracotta pot transformation using house paint and gel stain.

Because of this, there is so much more I ~~want~~ need than my budget will allow. One thing I was determined to replace this year was the ugly terracotta pots that we use to plant some of the herbs. I say ‘ugly’ because I really dislike that new terracotta orange (you know how I feel about orange) look. For me, they are an eyesore. I thought they may ‘accidently’ break in the garage before planting season this year, but I want to use my garden budget to buy more living things, not to replace pots.

So, I decided to see what I could do to transform the terracotta pots I already have into something I could enjoy looking at! I found it was a really easy fix and I wanted to share the process with you in case there are others out there that are cringing over the look of their terracotta!

Certainly there are plenty of methods to ‘weather’ terracotta or to create moss, etc. I did not do that. I went on a ‘hunt’ around the house to find things I could use for the transformation without making a purchase.

And, I found I needed very little. Some leftover house paint, stain, and a rag did the trick!

First, I simply painted the (bright terracotta) pot with some house paint (it happened to be Benjamin Moore Kingsport Gray). This color will coordinate nicely with the exterior of my house which is sided in cedar and stained with ‘driftwood’ (of course my house is painted a color with a ‘beachy’ name…what did you expect lol).

After that dried (I left it overnight), I used some gel stain (Minwax in Hickory that I had left in the basement) on a rag to give some dimension to the look. I rubbed some on, and using the rag, rubbed it off…pretty easy, right? My pot had a design on it and I made sure to get a lot of stain on the design part so that I could have it settle into the crevices. Although my pot had a bright, new look, it was a few years old which made it even better for this process since any cracks or scratches looked great when the stain settled in. You can do this same process repeatedly if you want more color or depth. After I was done, I dabbed a little of the paint onto the highest part of the design…just as a highlight.

My first purchase of the season…some herbs from Gilbertie’s.

What an easy way to give terracotta pots a little more interest without making any purchases! If you don’t have these items in your house, you can do a simple whitewash. Everyone has some white paint left somewhere…just thin it down a little bit and paint it over your pot to get rid of the new orange look. These pots may be the least expensive, but they don’t have to look that way! You can easily transform them with some leftover paint and/or stain. Have fun with it! I can’t wait to add some plants to my new creation :)

Have a wonderful weekend!

Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

Sharing at Crafts a la Mode, Craftionary, and The Well Crafted Home.

1 comment » | diy, garden

a day at the philadelphia flower show

March

For Friday field trip this week, I am sharing some of my day in Philadelphia last Saturday…so; technically…I guess it is a Saturday field trip!

My weekend was planned around the fact that the largest and oldest flower show in the world was taking place at the Philadelphia Convention Center. The theme for the 2013 show was “Brilliant!” and was a homage to all things British.

I had never been to a flower show – never mind the largest – so I was excited!

Since I was visiting my daughter for the weekend, I decided to plan my flower show visit during the time she was working at the hospital.

I got an early start and headed over to the Free Library for a couple hours before the flower show started at 11:00. I was very lucky that the programming for “One Book, One Philadelphia” happened to coincide with my visit. The selection for the year is The Buddha in the Attic. I really enjoyed the book so it was easy to spend time at the library checking out the exhibits related to this year’s selection.

A photo of the Free Library in Philadelphia.

As 11:00 approached, I reluctantly left the library (I didn’t have enough time to see the rare book collection) and headed over to the Convention Center. Wow! What a crowd had formed waiting for the 11:00 start. While I waited, I was intrigued by this sculpture in the lobby:

Cool, right?

When I got into the flower show, I checked the schedule and decided to attend some presentations in the seminar rooms before making my way into the main show area. Living outside New York City and having attended various shows at the Javits, I was pretty right on with what I expected to find inside the show as far as crowd, etc. ($4.50 for an iced tea!) But, I had no experience on attending garden shows and I was a little taken aback by the darkened room and theatrical lighting. I thought to myself I think I made a mistake with this. But, I soon found out there was ‘something for everyone’ as I made my way around the show area. Although the theatrical type displays did not appeal to me, I found some areas that were more in tune with the natural elements I admire.

My favorite part of the show was probably the Gardener’s Studio. This was a presentation area and every hour, on the hour, I rushed back; anxious to see the next presentation.

Jonathan Wright from Chanticleer – a public garden outside Philadelphia – demonstrates how to create indoor arrangements by using branches from the winter garden.

It was impossible to get photos of the flower exhibits because of the sheer mass of people and because of the crazy lighting. I did take a few photos, but not of the typical things everyone else seemed to take. If you want to learn more about the show, you can check the Philadelphia Flower Show website or see some of the many photos on line. Better still, plan a visit next year because you really have to be there in person to truly appreciate it…besides, everyone should attend the Philadelphia Flower Show at least once in their lifetime!

A photo of some curious egg-shaped sculptures at the Philadelphia Flower Show – one from hoses and one from tires.

In addition to all the flower displays, the retail area was really fun. Some of the retailers rivaled the flower displays in their creativity and beauty. I fell in love with Chive, a Canadian company that sells a wide array of vessels for flowers. They carry some really unique pieces…all beautiful. Here is an example of one:

One of the many unique flower vessels available from the Canadian company, Chive.

Aren’t these flatware holders adorable? Cutlery Couture offered a wide selection:

One of the many styles of cutlery holders offered at the Cutlery Couture booth at the Philadelphia Flower Show.

Some really unique jewelry pieces were available at Elements:

A selection of the offerings of Elements at the Philadelphia Flower Show.

I had to stop and admire the fresh flowers from The Hawaii Tropical Flower Council. They were even hand crafting orchid leis to order! Beautiful!

This wonderful item is the work of artist Michelle Masters – a creator of topiary art and fine art originals:

A sample of the topiary art by Michelle Masters at the Philadelphia Flower Show.

If I hadn’t had a ticket for the afternoon tea, I may still be wondering around the marketplace area! The tea was a lovely way to meet some new people and admire the fresh roses that were everywhere.

After the tea, it was time to meet my daughter so I said ‘cheerio’ to the Philadelphia Flower Show, but not before making a vow to return next year. Wait! We had one last stop before we left Center City for the day. We can never be in Center City and not visit the West Elm Philly store!

NOW we can say good-bye to Center City for the day…a day well spent :) Especially the part I got to spend with my daughter :)

Thanks so much for visiting. Have a wonderful weekend, Jackie

1 comment » | field trips, garden

planting succulents in a pumpkin

October

seasonal succulents

I have taken a real interest in succulents recently. There are probably two big reasons for this. One is that I saw a photo of a succulent garden in a huge conch shell. I love shells, so the photo immediately caught my interest and got me excited to try and plant some succulents in shells. Second, a new Home Depot nearby carries a huge selection of succulents.

I actually had a really early love for succulents. The first plant I ever personally owned as a kid was a cactus plant I bought in Arizona when I visited Phoenix with my grandparents. My first magazine subscription wasn’t Teen Beat, but rather Arizona Highways because I adored the pages filled with photos of various desert plants across the backdrop of gorgeous sunsets! Although the varieties of succulents available here in New England aren’t the same as out West, Home Depot does have quite a large selection.

I read as much as I could find on the subject of succulent container gardens and also watched some videos on the subject. The cool thing about succulents is that they can be planted in virtually any type of container. I decided since it is October, I would try a pumpkin as my first container garden. Also, because I love the way white pumpkins mix with succulents.

Planting is pretty simple. The big difference from planting any other type of plant is that succulents require a fast draining soil. Instructions on creating an appropriate soil are easy to find, but it is actually more cost effective to just buy a prepared soil at Home Depot.

Most succulent container gardens use a top dressing – most often rocks. I would love to use sea glass in a future garden, but for the pumpkin I decide to use some reindeer moss and also decorate with some Spanish moss. I will probably use the sea glass idea for a terrarium when the pumpkin starts breaking down and I need to move the plants to a new container.

A photo of succulents planted in a white pumpkin.

Don’t they look great in the white pumpkin? Small white pumpkins planted with succulents would look great at individual place settings at the Thanksgiving table!

I hope you enjoyed succulent gardening in a white pumpkin!

Thanks so much for visiting, Jackie

7 comments » | garden

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Tag: garden

top 5 from philly flower show 2014

goodbye garden

isn’t gardening a spring sport?

lovely apron upgrade

essence of roses

but i don’t care for roses…

‘spruced up’ in westport

transforming terracotta pots

a day at the philadelphia flower show

planting succulents in a pumpkin

seasonal succulents