A sad farewell

Hi all,
I'm sorry I have been offline since Thursday. I had to fly down to Florida because after a major stroke and two weeks in the hospital, my grandfather took a turn for the worse. Sadly, we lost him on Saturday morning. Granddad is a tremendous loss for the White family, and I'm lucky that I grew up with him close by and knew him so well. He had a charmed life and lived to 87.

Garden Inspiration: Poppies in Paris

For fields or gardens filled with poppies in the spring, sow seeds in autumn!

Annual poppies are easy to grow from seed. Last year, I sowed seeds in mid-October and had seedlings in December. In May, the poppies bloomed and created a nice display in my cottage garden. I played it safe last year and planted pink poppies.

After seeing the outrageous riot of orange, white and yellow poppies at the Jardin des Plantes in Paris this spring, I decided to go bolder and plant red this year.

The papaver rhoeas 'American Legion' were chosen to bloom along with my red salvia greggii in spring. With 8,000 seeds in the packet, I will plant around the red salvia in the butterfly garden and around the red salvia on each side of the garage path.

Last year, I mixed the tiny seeds with clean play sand (bought in a bag at the big box store) and put them in a spice shaker to try to distribute them evenly. With my best efforts, I still ended up with too many seeds too close together, but I gently transplanted quite a few of the poppy seedlings for better distribution.

Poppies will self-sow if you leave them in the garden when the seeds ripen. So, I will probably have a few emerge in the cottage garden and don't plan to sow more seeds there this year. I have very limited space in that garden, so the new poppies will have to go outside the fence. Poppies are deer and rabbit resistant.

If I only had enough clear ground, I would plant the orange, white and yellow combination in big swaths as seen in the gardens of Paris!




Words and photos by Freda Cameron; Location: Jardin des Plantes, Paris, France; May 2009

Fragrance Fills the Fall Air

Fall is a fragrant time of year in my garden. Ginger, gardenia and osmanthus are in bloom at the same time, yet the fragrances are complimentary.

The white butterfly ginger has been blooming non-stop since early August. Rated for zones 8a-11, I grow mine in a protected spot against the east side of the house. The ginger spreads by rhizomes and can be divided in the spring into 8 inch sections. It grows 4-6 feet high, so it is great for filling up a moist location in part sun.

Gardenia 'August Beauty' is also blooming right now. This fragrant, evergreen shrub is rated for zones 8b-11 in partial shade and grows 4-6 feet high and wide. Since I am in zone 7b, I am really pushing the zone on this one! The gardenia is located in the fragrance garden with the "mother" ginger and a large osmanthus. Other fragrant plants in this section bloom at different times. Those are Confederate Jasmine and Sweet Bay Magnolia. The Winter Daphne died this summer after blooming gloriously for several years in the middle of winter.

The sweet scent of osmanthus fragrans is everywhere in my garden as these shrubs are located on all sides of the house. Osmanthus blooms in the spring and again in the fall. This evergreen shrub is rated for zones 7b to 10b, so it is marginal for my zone. That said, I've been growing this shrub for years here in this garden and at a previous house with no problems. It has proven to be quite tough with no pest problems and can handle a variety of sun to partial shade conditions. This one grows 8-10 feet high but I've seen them even larger in other gardens.

All three of these fragrant plants are deer resistant in my garden.

Words and photos by Freda Cameron; Location: home garden; All photos taken September 26, 2009

Announcing the winner of the Home Decorators French Country Coat Rack!

And the congratulation goes to MarySue! Congrats MarySue! Please email me at ashley@decorologyblog.com with your shipping address so we can get you that most coveted coat rack. I'm a little jealous!

Are Zinnias Deer Resistant?

Every night is party night in my outer gardens. The local deer regularly invite all of their distant deer friends and relatives to my meadow for a sleepover. It is not unusual for 20+ deer to converge on the meadow at nightfall and remain there until we roust them out in the morning. Whatever grows in the outer gardens, beyond the safety of the cottage garden fence, has to be deer resistant without the use of repellents.

I love zinnias and the cottage garden is overflowing with blooms. I want to have the same kind of mass planting in the outer gardens next year. And so, I experimented. I tempted and tested the deer to see if they like to eat the flowers that I like to grow.

Although zinnias are listed as deer resistant on many "knowledgeable" lists, I started with just a few flowers to see if my deer agree with the experts. I sowed zinnia seeds in various places that are easily accessed by the deer - such as right under their little noses along their favorite paths and the garden/meadow edge. Seeds are inexpensive, so I didn't break the garden budget with this experiment.

All of my zinnias are Benary's Giant (zinnia elegans). These are tall zinnias, some growing well over four feet high in the rich soil of my cottage garden that is on drip irrigation, if needed. The cottage garden zinnias were sown in late May with a few more sown in late June.

In the outer gardens, life is tougher. No babying out there, so the zinnias are sown in leaner soil and had to withstand the summer heat and drought without supplemental watering. The zinnias in the outer gardens were sown in mid-July and that has also contributed to a shorter height at this point.

So what happened to the zinnias in the deer gardens? Not much. One zinnia at the meadow edge was pinched back early on by the deer tasting party. It must have been something like a wine tasting. Taste a small amount and spit it out. The deer didn't like the foliage of these zinnias at all. The sampled zinnia is short, but has branched out to be loaded with buds and one bloom, so far. The other zinnias in the deer gardens are taller and have been blooming off and on like their sisters in the cottage garden.

I am happy with the results and plan to include a big swath of zinnias in the outer gardens next year. So, I have high hopes for a large cutting garden of zinnias in 2010.

Whenever I mention deer resistant flowers in my garden, I must also say that your deer may like plants that my deer won't eat (and vice-versa).


Words and photos by Freda Cameron; Location: home garden; September 2009

Another awesome bedding sale at ideeli

This one features Tony Bahama Bedding - These sheet sets are so pretty and boho chic. And great for fall!

Queen set only $64




You have to use this link if you are not yet a an ideeli member! It's free and quick I promise :)

Stylish studios from Marlaina Teich

You may remember Marlaina's work when I introduced her work in the Luxurious Interiors post. Well, I was recently sent these impressive photos from one of her latest projects -

"According to NY-based interior designer Marlaina Teich, modern, neutral furniture placed strategically can define living spaces without being overpowering, and bright accessories and edgy art can liven the room, creating a studio that doesn’t feel small at all. This model studio at 200 Water Street...is easy to re-create!!

Marlaina Teich’s tips for making the most out of a one-roomer: set up double-duty areas like the dining room (that can also be used as a work station) and create firmly (but softly) divided spaces with sheer curtains (like in the bedroom) and a low couch (in the living room). Using light-colored furniture, bright accessories, strategically-placed mirrors, and fun artwork make the space feel vibrant and large, and the affordable pieces from IKEA, CB2, and West Elm keep the studio in a realistic budget for tenants to re-create.

The model has been so well received that 116 studios at 200 Water have been leased within the two months the building has been open. In addition, many tenants are attempting to re-create the look by purchasing the exact items used in Marlaina Teich’s design. 'Pretty much everyone wants to recreate Marlaina's model studio for themselves, or they incorporate similar ideas like using a bookshelf in place of the curtain divider,' says Kathleen Gargan Scott, Vice President of Marketing and Leasing for Rockrose Development Corp."

I think this is all really good advice for studio dwellers, and house dwellers can apply these same principals in small rooms .

Enjoy!



The above is a 1bedroom living room opening to the kitchen.

The yummiest part? The new Rockrose Development Corp. property that secures exclusive Grimaldi’s pizza delivery for residents! Grimaldi's is TDF!!!

What do you guys think of these spaces?

Gorgeous home office and organization inspiration

I have a feeling after looking at these photos that I'll be decorating my office more than working in it today!


This wall was painted with a magnetic paint

Too small for me but I think it's helpful to have a little surface in the kitchen dedicated to writing or a laptop for looking up recipes - too many times has muffin batter ended up all over it.




yay! for storage you can hide with the swish of a curtain!

color coordinating can help create visual order

This is an amazing home office. I'd love to have a comfy place to sit and go through papers and magazines.







images via BHG

Balancing your home with color

I thought this was a fun little chart that House Beautiful put together.

I would definitely consider having a yellow or orange kitchen



At the least, lavender gives me a sense of serenity and light heartedness


I've read in quite a few books that having a splash of orange on your desk or in your studio helps with creativity - I usually opt for orange flowers on my desk




Deep blue encouraging efficiency is interesting too - and something I'm going to test out!

Light blue and aqua are my favorite colors. Especially in my bedroom.

I think that color theory should be applied to more public buildings and establishments like retirement homes, prisons, and hospitals. Do you guys have a room or object where the color was chosen specifically for it's effect on your psyche? If so - what's the color - and what's the room/object?

Pretty and delicious

More of my days on the farm so far!

My favorite lunch is tomato, mozzarella, and basil on fresh bread. Rosemary focaccia is my fav, but since we didn't have any I just used Italian bread and sprinkled on some rosemary, course-ground salt, and olive oil. The tomato I was privileged enough to pick just a few minutes prior from my parent's garden. Above was yesterday's lunch.


This photo was inspired by Polly Wreford's STUNNING photo. My mom has a large and ever growing collection of glass bottles that we find in the woods behind one of the soybean fields. Whenever I'm walking back there I pick up a few and bring them back up to the house. They make great and interesting bud vases, and the flower gardens are bursting with zinnias which make for pretty arrangements.

Polly's work of art. You can see more of her work here.

And a close up of my mom's gorgeous zinnias.

Fall Show from Hardy Garden Mums

My attitude about common garden mums used to be - that they are "temporary" plants to put in containers for fall color and then dismiss.

A year ago, I bought a few mums from a big box store to use on my front porch. I don't know why I didn't toss them like always, but they overwintered in the planters on the protected porch until spring.

In early spring they were green and looking good, so I asked Tina at In the Garden blog about when to transplant the mums to the garden. In the ground they went. After that, I didn't give them much attention except to keep them in shape. The foliage is quite beautiful and can easily be kept in a mound (meatball) shape with a bit of pinching back to promote fall blooms. I stopped pinching back the mums around July 4.

I love to experiment with conditions and critters to test how plants perform. I planted one in very hot, scorching conditions (these photos), one shaded by taller annuals (zinnias) and one outside the fence where the deer party all night long. No bugs, bunnies or deer have (to date) eaten the foliage, buds or blooms.

My three mums never complained about too much or too little water or attention and they are evergreen here in zone 7. That's a lot of positives and no negatives, unless you just hate the look of mums or their vigorous expansion in the garden.

Time to rethink the use of common garden mums!

Since I've basically ignored hardy garden mums until now, I'm no expert. Here is a link to read about the zone and care for Chrysanthemum morifolium.

As for companions, the mum shown in the photos was planted with a few other experiments. The coneflower is from seeds I collected from 'Prairie Splendor' and the sedum 'Green Expectations' is a tip that I pinched back from a mother plant in early summer. The hardy geranium 'Rozanne' was a rescue from the deer (moved inside the fence) and the rabbits (had to spray repellent). The dark red coleus were left-overs from container plantings this spring. Not a bad display for a bunch of misplaced and displaced plants. That said, they are crowded into this tiny space so I'll rearrange this bed again next spring.

With my positive in-ground experience with garden mums, I may look into some of the more interesting varieties in the spring catalogs next year!


Words and photos by Freda Cameron; Location: home garden; September 2009