Fireworks!

While scouring through the pile of seed and plant catalogs I've been getting, this immediately caught my eye.  What a fun little flower!  This is "Fireworks," an exclusive globe amaranth gomphrena from Burpee.  I can't wait to try pressing it, and if that doesn't work out, it's supposed to be a great cut flower, and even dries well too!
What are looking forward to pressing this year?

By the way, don't forget about the Mid Month Give Away drawing this week for a free paper making kit! 

Blooming Secrets

My Christmas cactus has begun to bloom - it must have almost 100 buds of various sizes. Considering that the winds are howling and the wind chills today are expected to hover around zero, these tropical colored blooms are a joy.

There are many different theories about how to get a Christmas cactus to bloom, and some of them can be tedious. My grandma gave me this plant probably over 30 years ago (how old that makes me sound! But I was really, really, young then). As she tucked the tiny pot into a cereal box to protect it on the long ride home, she instructed me to keep it shut in a dark closet for the entire month of October. I usually didn't remember to do this, or as it got bigger I had difficulty finding a closet big enough and empty enough to hold it.

Thankfully I have found a simple method that has been working perfectly. My cactus spends its summers outside under a shady burning bush, and I water it only as needed. I might give it a shot of organic fertilizer once or twice if I think of it.

The key, I have found is to keep it outside as long as possible, well into October if I can. If there is a threat of isolated frost I cover it for the night, but I try to leave it out until mid autumn. Once I bring it in, it goes up in our loft area, where it receives light from two sky lights. The cold nights outside and increasing natural darkness seem to do the trick, and I've been rewarded with loads of blossoms. One more tip, while I happen to be thinking about it, I also trim my cactus in the spring, to keep it more compact. It is almost 3 feet across, and I don't want it getting any bigger. I don't know if that impacts its blooming potential or not.

While taking a break from writing this post I noticed that Kathy from Cold Climate Gardening has just blogged about her Christmas Cactus as well, so check out what she and her readers are doing with theirs.

tillandsia multiplication

Last spring, I showed you my unusual Tillandsia bulbosa air plant, and then I showed it to you again a few weeks later after it had turned bright red and flowered.

Well, this unusual plant continues to act strangely. After spending the summer outside under my lemon tree, it has sprouted 2 new shoots perpendicular to the main plant.

The two offshoots seem to be getting ready to fall off soon, and I'm willing to share. Would anyone like one?

Growing micro greens with style

I've mentioned before that my Mom has Alzheimer's, as did her mother before her. Things being as they are, my sister and I are doing what we can to avoid going down the same path. We eat our blueberries just about everyday, my sister exercises vigorously, and tries really hard to talk me into doing it too.

RealAge has a lot of good information about keeping your mind healthy as you age, and awhile back I read about how eating micro greens may be very beneficial. Micro greens are "filament-thin, delicate plants, the smallest possible incarnation of salad greens, herbs, edible flowers, and leafy vegetables". Apparently they have been found to contain higher levels of concentrated active compounds than found in mature plants or seeds.

I bought some micro green seeds to grow on my sunny kitchen window sill. The directions recommend growing them in shallow plastic trays, and taking cuttings after the second or third sets of leaves.

I wasn't too excited about having to look at plastic trays day after day, so I asked Maureen and George from AFAF to make me two small ceramic planters that would fit right on my window sill. Above are the before and after pictures of one of the two beautiful trays they've made. George designed a template from my specifications, and Maureen ended up glazing the trays in an earthy brown with a loose abstract design, sort of organic in nature.

I haven't actually received them yet, but now that the outdoor gardening season is coming to an end, I can't wait to get them and try my new trays out.

Wisconsin Lemon Tree

For 23 years in a row, I've lugged this lemon tree inside for the winter. (I cringe at how old that makes me sound). Many times the tree has been with out a lemon, but this year we've been blessed with a whopping 19 lemons!

So, sometime in dreary February, when the lemons will finally be ripe, we will be enjoying authentic Wisconsin lemon bars ... with real Wisconsin butter of course. Definitely something to look forward to!

You frame it Friday/Monday

I didn't quite get this up before we left for South Haven, Michigan on Friday (where we had a great time celebrating the 4th) so here's my latest un-framed pressed flower picture - a few days late.

Transcantia, more commonly known as "Spider wort" is actually a common wildflower throughout Wisconsin and the Midwest, especially the version with light blue flowers. However, you have to be up early to spot the unique triangle shaped flowers, because they literally melt away as the morning sun becomes strong, and are no where to be found by noon. If it's a cloudy day, you may see them into the late afternoon.

It's hard to see in this scan, but another highlight of these unique flowers is their bright yellow stamens, which really "pop" against the rich brilliant purple color. I love these flowers!

This un-framed pressed flower art collage is mounted on an 8 1/2 x 11" piece of Gilbert Oxford card stock, to give you plenty of framing options. However, it fits perfectly in an 8 x 10" frame with a standard mat, or even an 11 x 14" frame, which would allow the deckled edges of the handmade paper to show.

The pressed flowers have been sealed with a UV and moisture resistant sealant, but as with all fine art, I would recommend using acid free matting and UV resistant glass or acrylic.

You frame it Friday

I love today's "You frame it" picture. It's from a relatively rare wildflower plant I purchased recently called Jeffersonia Twin Leaf, which apparently was one of Thomas Jefferson's favorite wild flowers. It supposedly has beautiful white flowers in early spring, but I bought the plant just for it's incredible leaves.

The collage is mounted on an 8 1/2 x 11" piece of Gilbert Oxford card stock, to give you plenty of framing options. You may choose to frame it in a small 5 x 7" frame with or with out a mat, but better yet it can be framed in an 8 x 10" frame with a standard mat, or even an 11 x 14" frame, which would allow the deckled edges of the handmade paper to show.

The "twin leaves" have been sealed with a UV and moisture resistant sealant, but as with all fine art, I would recommend using acid free matting and UV resistant glass.

strange flowers

Here's the flowers from my unusual air plant I mentioned last month. Purple tube flowers, ending in long stamens with neon yellow pollen. Strange!

Speaking of strange, lots of things are strange around here in Wisconsin. We had 15 inches of snow on Good Friday, but thankfully it's been in the fifties lately and most of the snow is gone. However, we are supposed to get 6 more inches tomorrow.

My crocuses are nowhere in sight. Last year at this time, I was busily pressing crocuses, and making pressed crocus cards. If you've been blessed with crocuses where you are, here's a tutorial on how to press crocus flowers - they press beautifully with the Microfleur flower press. I hope to be able to join you in pressing crocuses soon!

Unusual plant

I'm sure you know by now that I have a passion for plants. I am especially fond of plants that I can press and use in my art, and I'm also partial to plants that taste wonderful - especially herbs.

But once in awhile, I am drawn to seemingly useless plants, plants that are unusual and special in their own right - the kind of plant that God might have created to show us that he has a sense of humor.

Here's such a plant, and it's called Tillandsia bulbosa. It's big (10" wide and tall) and it just sits in that glass cup and with it's wild arms scattering in every direction. If you look closely, you might see that it's beginning to turn red in the center - that means it's getting ready to bloom at some point. As an air plant, all it requires is regular watering (rain water is best) and light - no soil of any kind.
I'll take another picture for you when it's in bloom. Airplants tend to grow very slowly, so it might take awhile!