I often get asked if gardening takes a lot of my time. Overall, the answer is no. Yet there are times during the year where crops need changing, soil needs amending, trees require pruning, and flowerbeds need thinning and weeding. Now is the time to do the Spring Gardening here in Phoenix.

Fortunately, we have someone to help us maintain our 2+acres. However, he has been out sick for the last 6 weeks. My husband and I are enjoying the extensive yard work in the interim as it is giving us a chance to evaluate and improve our outdoor area.

The Orchard

Our orchard has primarily citrus trees, planted long before we purchased the home. From oranges to kumquats, we love being able to pick fresh fruit many months of the year.

Timing is everything when you fertilize your citrus trees. Generally, you should fertilize your citrus tree at least once every two to three months during your tree’s dormant periods of fall and winter. Then once every one to two months during the tree’s active growth of spring and summer. 

Therefore it is time to fertilize citrus trees now. President’s Day is my cue to remember, then Mother’s Day and Labor Day.

What Kind of Fertilizer

NPK is the abbreviation you find on any fertilizer bag. It stands for nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium (K is the chemical symbol for potassium). Nitrogen encourages green growth, phosphorus encourages strong roots for flowers and fruit, and potassium encourages healthy fruit size, shape, color and flavor. Fruit trees need a balanced ratio of all three to support the growth of sturdy roots, strong branches and large, juicy fruits. Consider slow-release fertilizer as too much nitrogen at once isn’t recommended.

Fertilizer works best when applied to a mulch circle around the tree. Mulch circles keep grass from competing with the tree for water and food. They also prevent damage from lawn mowing, and help keep the root zone cool and moist.

Slowly we are working our way through each tree to create a large clean mulch circle around every one. In addition, all dead branches are being trimmed from the citrus trees. Soon we’ll have gleaned all the fruit, leaving room for fragrant blossoms to appear in next year’s crop.

To give you an idea of how many fruit trees we have: 4 Grapefruit, 8 Oranges 2 Lime, 1 Lemon, 1 Kumquat, 1 Limequat, 2 Tangerine, 1 Apple, 2 Apricot, 1 Peach, 1 Fig. That’s a lot of mulch circles!!

The Garden

As returning visitors to my Spring Gardening updates may know, there are 5 raised bed planters in my vegetable garden within a white picket fence: 1 raised flower planter and numerous surrounding beds at ground level.

With the winter garden reaching its prime, it is time for me to plant our Spring selection. First, I clean out all the dead/dying plants.

Next I add fresh compost. I am a huge fan of composting because it is easy, reduces your waste by 30%, and the plants love it.

To see a previous post on Composting 101, click here.

For my garden, I prefer compost that is basically clean; no small sticks or other dry debris. I sift the soil loosely over a wheel barrow before I transport it to the garden.

Here I let it sit in the beds for a few days or several weeks, depending on what I am planting. Currently I am awaiting a shipment of strawberry plants so the bed is ready to go!

Since I buy so many flowers, I decide to have a cutting garden this year. I ordered seeds willy nilly from Floret Farm, not taking the time to determine if they work for our planting zone (9B for USDA charts). What was I thinking?

For some reason I make the assumption that all flower seeds are planted in the Spring, which, is not the case here in Phoenix. With 10 packets of flowers seeds, only 5 are able to be planted now. The balance will have to wait until fall.

Using jumbo craft sticks, I mark the location with the name of the flower, planting date and # of gestation days. Since the sun patterns will change in the next few months, I will be interesting to see how they do in this location.

Some of the winter vegetables are looking so good and healthy, there is no need to remove them just yet. It is very rewarding to head to the garden just before dinner and pick ingredients for a fresh salad. Most of my tomato plants survived the winter so I will keep those too.

If you live in this area, my go-to bible for gardening is the Planting Guide for the Valley of the Sun by Kevin E. Erdmann (2004). I finally found the link online for the Bedding Planting Guide and here it is. However, if you are interested in the Vegetable and Herb Planting guide, contact me at marycrz@cox.net and I can scan it and email it to you.

What I love about this planting guide is that it tells you when to plant by month, whether to plant seeds or starters, if they are annuals or perennials and when they bloom. For a complete list of what you can plant this Spring, see last year’s post here.

The gardening activity will continue as I make my plant selection so more to come on that! Keeping my fingers crossed that the frost is over, as it was 37 degrees yesterday.

Being out in the fresh air and sunshine is just heavenly. The only drawback to gardening is that I am so sore! Time to use those muscle relaxing bath salts I made over the holidays. See recipe here.

Happy Wednesday!

What a week of strange weather all around our country! Sometimes I feel a bit guilty sharing beautiful sunny photos of Phoenix. However, when others are under snow and in cold temperatures, I am hoping my photos are uplifting and a reminder that Spring will eventually arrive. Another Saturday Meanderings is here where we talk about new and exciting things this week.

Pizza from Italy

Italy is one of our favorite places to visit and there is nothing better than eating pizza there. Often we found a cobblestone alley restaurant serving wine and food, loving the ambiance of this country.

Did you know you can actually order pizza from Napoli, Italy? From the website of Talia di Napoli, “We’re bringing authentic neapolitan pizza straight to your door. Each one is all-natural and completely handmade in the heart of Southern Italy.”

The pizzas currently come in an 8 pack and you can select the type you like. My order consists of 4 Margherita and 4 Primavera pizzas. They are very well packed and frozen when they arrive. And you get 10% off on your first order. Price-wise they are less than our local pizza shop.

We tried one for lunch this week and you can definitely taste the wood-fired flavor. I believe I over-cooked mine a bit and next time, I would add additional toppings. But all in all, it is so fun to get a pizza directly from Italy, where we have so many fond travel memories.

For more information on Talia di Napoli, click here.

Local Farmer’s Market Find

Since COVID, I have not been going to the Farmers Market as often. Right down the street, the Uptown Farmers Market is really one of the best. And it is so well run, especially during COVID.

Since I am in an apron many hours a day, I did treat myself to a new one. One of the market’s vendors, Aprons by Lee, has a wonderful selection. Lee loves fabrics and hand makes each apron. The pockets are lined and she will make custom aprons too.

Aren’t these cute? One for me and one for my dog-loving daughter.

Dreaming about a Vacation

Has anyone taken a river cruise? Highly recommended by my friends, Sam and Melody, I am investigating a potential Christmas Markets river cruise at the end of this year. It is a cruise down the Danube and stops in places like Vienna and Budapest. Prices seem fairly reasonable right now. Hopeful that travel will open up later this year, I may just take the leap!

Tablescape Photos

My neighbor’s granddaughter is in town for a few months and she is helping me with some aspects of the blog. We did spend a few hours one afternoon, playing with different table settings. I cannot wait to show all of them to you, but here is a preview.

The soft blue Indian block tablecloth is again, from my friend, Darviny from @dayswithdarviny. Red Swiss polka dot paper placemat is from Hester & Cook. I am trying to step out of my comfort zone and do something other than a white tablecloth. The dishes are vintage Brown Westhead and Moore Cauldon bowls from England and a gift from my friend, Sandy.

Computer Glasses

Lately I notice my eyes seem to get tired, especially after a long day on the computer. This week and a visit to my eye doctor, we discussed getting computer glasses to relieve eye strain.

Since I do wear one contact lens in my left eye for seeing up close and one lens in my right eye for seeing far away, I did order new computer glasses. The prescription will change in only one eye so I can do up close work on the computer, and be tinted for blue light protection.

Not inexpensive, but we only have two eyes and it is important to care for them. Once I receive the new glasses I will let you know if they improve my eye strain.

Spring Will Come

No matter what is happening in our crazy world, nature is a constant reminder that life goes on. Here are some photos of things that are reminders that Spring will come~it does every year.

A Big Heart

My middle child, our daughter, Julianna is an animal lover. Even as a little girl, she rescued birds that fell out of their nests and I remember finding a a pigeon residing in her room. Sigh.

As an adult, in addition to working full time, she fosters rescue dogs. This young woman has a gift. She will get a dog who is scared, unwanted, or abandoned, and then provide them structure, shelter, food and love. Within a short period of time, it is amazing how these dogs transform.

Her latest foster, Peaches, is one of a kind. We are hoping our neighbors adopt her as I am growing rather attached to this sweetie.

Blog Updates

I have been working on a re-design to the blog website, but naturally having technical difficulties. In order to fix them, I may be down for a few days some time in the future. But hopefully I will be able to give you a heads up beforehand.

Again, I cannot thank you enough for all the support, kind words, recommendations, recipes and thoughtfulness you have shared with me. It always warms my heart to hear your stories of something that inspired you from my blog.

With that, I wish you the best of weekends. It will be a gardening one for me as it is time to plant the Spring beds.

Be safe, be warm and most of all, be healthy!

At a recent small gathering of friends on our back porch, one of our guests admiring the fresh cut flower display on the table asked, “Where did you get those gorgeous hydrangeas?” I paused. Do I tell her that they are artificial? I did confess that I failed to have enough flowers for the numerous vases so I filled in with fake flowers.

It’s actually a really good trick because today, some of the faux flowers look so realistic.

However, I prefer the real deal to those things that are artificial or substitutes~~ crystal and china to paper plates and napkins; real butter and sugar vs. butter substitutes or artificial sweeteners.  Even friends~~I cherish those who are rich in experience, intellect, humor and sincerity and steer clear of those who are deeply shallow.

Orchids

But every now and again, you find something that is artificial, but looks so realistic.

On my kitchen windowsill, I have several orchid plants.  Yes, the real ones.  They are mostly the Phalaenopsis Orchid, the ones you can pick up for a few dollars at Trader Joe’s or the local grocery store.  They occupy the corner of my kitchen that overlooks the yard and even though I see them daily, they suffer from my lack of attention.

I forget to water them and rarely fertilize them, yet they continue to produce the most beautiful blooms.  Yesterday, it dawned on me that I hadn’t watered them in how long? And as I went to give them the care they deserved, I noticed two plants were beginning to bloom.  I experienced a pang of guilt as they are so forgiving and generous in sharing their delicate flowers year after year, in spite of my neglect.

Though I love real orchids, the centerpiece on my dining room table is a grouping of artificial orchids~~white ones that strongly contrast the dark wood table. They certainly aren’t as detailed as the real orchids, but they look authentic from a distance.

And I don’t forget to tend to these orchids, as they look great every day!

Hydrangeas

As much as I prefer real flowers and plants to artificial ones, the really, really good quality artificial ones are worth the money you will spend.  On my hall entry table, I have faux white hydrangeas in a crystal vase.  I purchased these from The Enchanted Home. But in recently checking their website, these hydrangeas are no longer available.

They measure 16″ tall and have life-like stems.  They used to be available in a variety of colors ~~white, deep purple and lilac.  

If you are looking for faux hydrangeas, Amazon has an extensive collection here.

You see them in various places around my house~like my office that I recently cleaned and organized. See that post here.

During the year, depending on the holiday or season, I move the flowers around~~for example, red berries, greens and hydrangeas are added for the holiday garland.  Since I cannot seem to keep fresh hydrangeas alive for more than a few days, these beautiful artificial ones always look stunning.

Peonies

Another acquisition of artificial flowers is also from The Enchanted Home.   I LOVE peonies but we cannot grow them in Phoenix,  so I again relied on the great taste and quality from Tina at The Enchanted Home. The stems are short, however, so they will display well in smaller containers or a larger one that is opaque.

Unfortunately, these too are no longer available, however, Amazon has a GORGEOUS selection of faux peonies in various colors here.

In writing this post, I realized that most of the artificial flowers are located in rooms that aren’t heavily used~~the living room, dining room, bedroom closet.  The more lived-in parts of the house (kitchen, family room) are where the fresh flowers are displayed and enjoyed.

Do you remember the movie with Diane Keaton in that fabulous beach house, Something’s Gotta Give? Well, in each scene, there are fresh flowers in every room.

Right after that movie I determined that in a perfect world, I’d have flowers in every room.  So whether you like artificial or real flowers, or a combination of both, we are fortunate to have great options at our fingertips.

Happy Wednesday!

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Sticking my face into a hedge of lilacs is a fond childhood memory. Inhaling deeply, I recall this heady, sweet fragrance confirming that Spring is here. My lilac memories as an adult are a bit of a blur since life took me to multiple geographic locations, some with lilacs and some without.

These flowering, woody plants range in color from magenta to purple to white. The colors symbolize every thing from purity and innocence to love and passion.

I have a longing for lilacs every single year, because they do not grow in our hardiness zone in Phoenix. Buying them locally is a disappointment due to lack of smell. What is a lilac with fragrance?

One year when I was back east visiting my parents in Connecticut, I literally brought a huge bouquet on the plane which took up most of the overhead bin. I was the only one happy about that!

Another time, during a business trip to Lake Tahoe, the hotel’s flower shop had an abundance of beautiful, fragrant lilacs. I purchased all of them and requested they be sent to my room. I don’t remember much about that 4 day conference, but I do recall how wonderful my room smelled!

Since I am unable to enjoy lilacs in person, I am inspired to paint them. Recently, my friend, Barbara from Mantel & Table created a gorgeous arrangement with lilacs and wisteria (another thing we cannot grow here). To see her lovely post, click here.

I have never painted these flowers before, but I know that it is difficult to capture the color and detail. This weekend, I took a few hours and found an online class by Kelli Folsom on how to paint lilacs. She luckily can pick them from her yard and this is a photo of her still life inspiration.

What I love about art and painting is that everyone has their own interpretation. Here is Kelli’s finished version.

And here is mine~~again not completely finished yet as I need to noodle it a bit more.

Now that I see these paintings side by side, I have an idea on what I can do to improve mine.

Kelli Folsom recently posted more lilac paintings. Unfortunately they are not subjects of an online class, but the paintings are up for sale on her website. Wish I had some extra cash laying around!

Practice makes perfect so I will be painting many more lilacs! Do you have a flower(s) that you love? That evoke wonderful memories? If so, please share.

Wishing you a Tuesday where you smell lots of flowers!

It has been an interesting week. What started with a lovely, relaxing Mother’s Day and ended with a flooded basement. The good news is the governor’s quarantine is over and life in Arizona is slowly getting back to the new normal.

Garden Update

The garden is abundant with artichokes, eggplant, fennel, cherry tomatoes, shishito peppers and fresh herbs ready to harvest. However, I have a garden mystery and hope someone can help me solve it.

Kale usually does very well here, even during the warmer months. We enjoyed one green and two purple healthy and producing kale plants over the last several months. But last month, my gorgeous kale plants went from this….

To this, literally overnight.

What kind of creature would have done this amount of damage? None of the other plants have been touched, just the kale.

This week, my husband created a fortress around the green kale plant, in hopes it may produce again.

Another, very big and disappointing discovery this week occurred in the bulb garden. You may recall that last fall, I planted hundreds of bulbs and rhizomes. This spring we enjoyed the fruits of my efforts.

During my walkabout, I was shocked and stunned to see that someTHING has stolen/eaten? all my tulip and hyacinth bulbs! There are hundreds of little holes with nothing in them. The bulbs have vanished!

I’ve have never seen anything like this! The irises have not been attacked, I hope, but maybe this critter is eating everything from below ground? Help.

New Projects

Well, this one is not so new, but we are finally making some progress on the back staircase. I posted about this last August (click here), but the project obviously stalled. The sisal carpeting is past its prime and what a dirty and smelly job it is to remove the rug and the excessive amounts of dried glue underneath. Not to mention, possibly old lead paint too.

Using a heat gun to get rid of the glue is nasty business, but the most time consuming part is taking out hundreds of carpet staples. Since I never want to glue down a rug here again, I’m debating what to do. Perhaps just staining and finishing the treads and painting the risers? We still have the final 6 steps to go. Ugh.

So excited about receiving this gorgeous green tile from Home Depot. We will use it as a backsplash behind the outdoor barbecue. It is 9 3/4″ x 9 3/4″ porcelain Monteca Encaustic tile. Quite surprising, but Home Depot has many beautiful tile selections online. Click here for link. It also comes in blue.

It was easy to order online and then curbside pickup at the store. My favorite tile man, Rick, will be doing this project in June for us.

After a rather significant meeting at City Hall yesterday morning, I had hoped to spend Friday afternoon relaxing or painting or just having “me” time. Well, that didn’t last long. While washing the lunch dishes, we suddenly ran out of hot water. Taking my daughter to the basement to show her how to re-light the water heater, we discovered a flood in progress. One of the 75 gallon water heaters split. What a mess!

I am SOOOO happy I cleaned the basement last year (click here to read that post) or this would have been much worse. Fortunately the Christmas room items were off the floor and on shelves so we did avoid a bigger disaster. To see our Christmas room, click here.

We will be spending the weekend cleaning up and replacing the water heater. These are the moments when living in an apartment sounds attractive. Sigh.

Wishing you a stress-less weekend.

Here is another project that started out simply, and then took on a life of its own. With all this time at home, I am noticing there are so many areas that need sprucing up. This includes the front porch.

It all begins with the rocking chairs.

The four rocking chairs on the front porch did require new paint. This is a fairly easy DIY that can be done in a day. Lately I feel dangerous with a can of paint and a paintbrush! Don’t stand still too long or I will paint you!

What a difference one coat of paint makes!

With the chairs looking so new and pretty, the rest of the porch paled in comparison. Remember the blog post on Selecting a Front Door Color? If you missed this post, click here.

Now the Front Door

Thanks to all of your great suggestions, the new paint color samples were purchased.

Picking a paint color online is a different experience than going to the paint store. Since curbside pick-up is the only option available at this time, I was a bit surprised when I opened the cans. For example, the Feverish Pink is a deep berry color online and the Gladiola is a spicy, rich dark paprika color. Look how different the tones are in real life! Much brighter than I expected.

The two blue paints are much lighter, too. However, after applying the samples, I was leaning toward the blues vs. the reds.

The pillow from Pottery Barn becomes my inspiration, because it is a combination of the dark greens and the cool blue. Not thrilled with the samples from Sherwin Williams, I dug out a can of the blue paint used in our library. That didn’t float my boat, either.

Referring now to a color palette, Drizzle is a bit darker with more green/gray overtones. I am convinced this is THE color and I take the leap and paint the entire door.

I am disappointed that the chip and the paint do not match. But I leave it hoping that the paint will darken as it dries.

Cleaning the Hardware

Meanwhile, it is the perfect opportunity to clean up the door hardware. The brass door latch is assumed to be original to the house. With a bit of elbow grease and brass polish it went from dull to dazzling.

Selecting New Plants~both real and faux

Keeping plants alive during the summer months is always a challenge in Phoenix. Since they are not on an automatic drip system, they require hand watering. As a result, the foliage around the front door suffers.

Instead of live plants, why not some artificial ones? I was able to locate these 5 foot tall cedar trees online through Amazon. I placed them inside the existing stone planter and will not need to water them ever.

After a recent visit to Whitfill Nursery, the addition of vinca and rose-scented geraniums will round out the foliage at the front door, and hopefully survive the summer heat. The asparagus vine does exceedingly well here.

Accessorizing

I love these old stone tables~~they are very heavy and ideal for the outdoor climate.

The finished porch

So here is the nearly finished spruced up front porch. The door color is growing on me, and my daughters love it. I’ve decided throughout this process that I am a conservative color person. Not sure why I am hesitant about throwing caution to the color wind, but I do wish I was more bold.

The wreath is re-designed to complement the door. Being a Connecticut Yankee, I love to repurpose items vs. buying new. To read an old post about re-working this wreath, click here.

The door/wreath before…

and After……

I am experimenting with different pillows on the chairs to see which ones look best.

Thank you to my friend, Joann, who told me to “STOP DEBATING. BLUE all the way”. I sometimes noodle these decisions over and over in my head, which is maddening. Though the door color feels a bit out of my comfort zone, I am leaving it up. Even my friend Anne, who loves bold colors, said it is growing on her.

The week seems to be flying by. Are you in the middle of any projects? Hard to believe it is already Wednesday. Have a wonderful one!