I THINK I'LL MAKE SOME MORE

Over the last few years I have made quite few of these hypertufa balls.

Hypertufa balls with Carex 'frosty curly'

Last weekend I made two new ones, the darker ones you see in this photo. It has been a project waiting on the shelf in the potting shed for some time. Too hot to be outside gardening but not too hot to work under the shade of the junipers in the back garden. 

My greatest success has been using old glass light globes as the mold, although one of these is made from an old basket ball we found in the woods. And you can make them from a child's ball by cutting a hole in the top, setting it in a bed of sand to support the mixture. See Faire Garden's how to here. I would probably feel less guilty about using one of those than the eventual destruction of the globe. But, when recently I found several globes at an estate sale I snapped them up. They make the job a lot easier.

The equipment needed is easy. A large container for the mix, the wider the better: it makes mixing easier. Gloves, trowel, jug for water, container to measure, cement, vermiculite or perlite and peat moss. And most important a face mask and protective eyewear.

One container of peat moss, vermiculite and cement was enough for two globes. I used a salad container.
Put on the mask( not much fun when the temperature is in the 90s) and measure equal parts of the peat moss, vermiculite and cement into the bowl and mix well making sure to remove any bits of twig and obvious lumps. At this point you can add colorant which you can buy at big box stores. I used some left over pigment from the making of our stucco walls.

I used just over a gallon of water in the mix but this will depend on how dry your peat moss is. it should have the consistency of cottage cheese or a heavy dropping consistency. Gather some up and squeeze. I should stay together.
Spray the inside of the mold with Pam and then add the cement shaking to settle and fill the whole of the globe.
Set aside for several days and then carefully knock the glass with a hammer. It should break away in large pieces. Now keep in a shady place until the cement cures completely.
With two more globes waiting on the shelf I made up another batch this morning. These have no added pigment so I expect them to be much lighter in color.

An hour later when I went back to take a photograph the ants were parading up and down the globes and clustering together on the sides.. They were after the water that had settled on the top as the cement dries out. Now that's what I call desperate for a drink.

For me that's it for ball making. I think I have satisfied my need.

IT'S THAT TIME OF YEAR

The garden never ceases to provide us with an endless list of jobs to be done. As the cooler temperatures arrive there are plenty of outdoor jobs to be done.  Suddenly I remember those indoor gardening jobs I planned to do when it was 100º Somehow they just never got done.
This week I made a start on some garden ornaments that I needed to protect from the elements before putting them outside. After finally managing to pry the lid off the can of varnish and locating a paintbrush I made a start. By the time I had finished there wasn't a single metal item that hadn't received a coat of protective varnish. I found a shady place to work and made a start.

It was a job worth doing because it gave a new lease on life to all of them. These butterflies and dragonflies I picked up at a garage sale for $1. They looked pretty shabby with flaking areas.

I inherited this piece of decorative wall art from a friend who was leaving town. It spruced up nicely and found a place to hang it. This one I can see from my kitchen window.

These plaques came from a garage sale in Denver when we were traveling in our trailer some years ago. Not sure where they are going to go yet.

Then on to the wooden items. The fish who sits in the side garden pond as well as the wooden plaque above the side entrance.

Then I ventured to the outside to protect several metal wall hangings. It's quite amazing how it changed their appearance.

The bird houses were next. One of the owl houses needed a new floor, which David worked on. After which I shingled the roof.

The tree is turning into a shrine to owls. Surely this year the screech owl will come.

With plenty of bark left over I shingled another bird house. Outdoor things need all the protection they can get.

There! I ticked off quite a few items this week. Now to go and walk around the garden and see what needs doing.

THE GREEN MAN

I have always had a fascination with the Green Man, most often depicted in sculpture as a man's head surrounded by foliage, but occasionally depicted as a whole man.  This name only came into popular use after 1939 when Lady Raglan was researching these characters for an article she was writing, The Green Man in Church Architecture.  Until then he was known as a foliate head.
A new Green Man arrived in my garden this week. A Mother's Day gift which now graces the wall in my English garden and is a more modern depiction of a Green Man  He deserves to have his story told.

Original art by Milo Re

His origins will always remain a mystery although much has been written about the meaning of the faces. One interpretation is that he represents our connection with the earth and therefore the renewal of the plant life every spring. As I now have several presiding over my gardens I think I like that interpretation. Multiple depictions of this character date back to medieval times and before. He is found in too many cultures not to have significance, but is very prevalent in medieval churches and cathedrals of Great Britain and France, carved into the stone work. Also in carvings in India and the Middle East.

Sometimes he has a friendly face like this one on the wall in my Spanish Oak garden.

Foliate head

And less friendly faces of these smaller ones which are attached to the metal supports on an awning over a doorway. Where else would you put fringe magnets? I picked them up in England over 10 years ago and had been waiting for just the perfect place. It came last year.

Disgorging head

Foliate head

Disgorging head

Foliate head

These are all depictions of the Foliate head with leaves surrounding the head, and Disgorging head with leaves coming out of the mouth. A Bloodsucker head has leaves coming from all the orifices and probably represents death and burial.

England abounds in pubs called The Green Man, this one in the village of Grantchester.

The sign here may represent Jack-in-the-Green, a character sometimes linked to the Green Man. He danced through the streets in 16th and 17th C Britain on May Day, covered in leaves and garlands of flowers. The practice eventually met with Victorian disapproval and Jack was replaced with the May Queen. Currently there is a revival of Jack's character in many towns celebrating May Day.

I have Kingsley Amis novel, the Green Man which was also turned into a BBC production. It bears no relationship except for the fact the the pub the character ran was called The Green Man and has some supernatural experiences in which a ghostly apparition conjures up the apparition of a nasty green man. My green men are much more friendly.

PILLAR TOPPERS

The pillar in the herb garden, which is normally topped with a square planter of agaves, has been sitting naked for weeks. The planter spends the winter in the potting shed.

Surely I could find something to put on there for the winter months. Unbeknown to me, until the other day, I had just the perfect item in my potting shed.

I had a pair of gate pillar toppers, picked up at a garage sale, and no gate pillars on which to put them. Now I found the perfect place for at least one of them.

They were made by CHRISDON, of some kind of heavy resinous material. I checked out the name on the internet and found many items made by them but nothing like this pair. I am remebering back to the day when I found them. The end of a garage sale with lots of outdoor objects. I also found the pair of doves that sit on the bird bath as well as the stone balls in the front garden. The doves need a bit of a touch up to bring them back to their former glory.

So what to do with the other orb. Then I remembered the bird bath pillars in the front garden. I bought the two of them at a going out of business sale at Pots and Plants. They were missing their tops and at the time I thought they might work well to hold two glass globes I had inherited from a Gardeners' Supply photo shoot. This one survived the hail storm but the other globe, in a more open position, was smashed.

Then I spotted another found object that was without a real home. A pot tiki torch. The colors were just perfect for the other pillar. I can't think why I didn't think about it before.

 The colors are just perfect and almost look as though they were made for each other. i must decide what to do with the stainless steel oil reservoir int he center.

And I still have to find a home for my other orb. Meanwhile it goes back on the potting shed shelf.

VACATION TREASURES

What's a vacation if you don't bring back a little treat for the garden. This time I was fortunate to find some suns and moons. Perfect for my sun and moon archway.

I already have a small collection mounted on the archway between the English garden and the sunken garden. Now I have three more for the other side.

 The new ones all came from different places.

The crescent moon, scalloped sun and the lady with flowers in her hair came from the town of Monterosso, Italy. We had to go there to buy the tickets for our train ride to Rome. Happy day!

The small sun came from the Greek Island of Cephalonia. When our ship docked there we rented a car for the day and drove around the island. When we passed this pot shop we stopped the car and went in to look what they had. Mindful of how the luggage would only take little things I picked the little sun..

There were all kinds of nautical and island reminders but I am now wondering why I didn't buy the moon?

But then I found this delightful bird's nest with house martin in Split.

They had an artisan fair and much as I was taken with all the lovely fish and crabs when I saw the nest I knew that was the one I wanted.

"How are you going to get it home?" David asked. "They will never allow it on the plane" I carefully wrapped avery piece of metal and buried it in my suitcase. It made it home in one piece.
The suns and moon are now mounted on the wall .

and the nest under the patio. I wonder what the odds are on that nest being filled in the spring. A wren is surely to take a fancy to it.

HAND-ME-UPS

If you don't know what  hand-me-ups are, just have a guess. Yes! They are items passed up to you by your children. This time I am just thrilled to find a new home for this wonderful female Bacchus. She   has replaced the sun who has been relegated to an outside wall!

This and several other items had been lying on the ground, down the side of my son's house, for more than 5 years. The last time we were there I asked what if anything he was going to do with them. "Take them" he said. They were loaded on our truck in a flash. I knew exactly where this lady was going to go. She would replace the sun, which had replaced the planter with the Huernia schneideriana, which had replaced the original green man. Don't anyone say I am not up for a change.

There were also 4 architectural relics on the ground, and those too have found a home among the Ficus repens ivy which covers this retaining wall.

I may just have to do a little more scouting around next time I visit. I think it is time to rename this garden.

A TOUCH OF COLOR

 I am not one to use a lot of colorful accents in the garden. I like to leave the color to mother nature. Most of my plant pots are clay and garden furniture brown. However, I am not one to pass up a good deal and when the cushions went on sale at Garden Ridge I decided it was time to dress up the furniture.

This is a favorite spot of ours to sit and have tea on a winter's afternoon. It catches the westerly afternoon sun.

 The little table is made from a clay plant pot, faux finished with a glass top and holds my collection of fossilized sharks teeth and a variety of other beach flotsam.

It is a pleasant place to sit and listen to the fountain bubbling to itself.

In the same garden is another favorite place. Sheltered from the north wind and facing south we often eat lunch out here on sunny winter days when we are at home.

I heard an interesting statistic the other day while listening to BBC radio 4, Gardeners' Question Time. They were talking about the increase in profits made by garden centers. However, most of the money spent is on garden furniture, ornaments and barbecues. Now I know this is England but I think it is probably true in most of our garden centers too. I certainly have noticed they are selling more in the way of pots, furniture and decorations for the garden.

A GARDEN DECORATION FROM MY CHILDHOOD

One of the reasons we returned by sea from our recent trip to England, was the fact that there is really no luggage limit on a cruise ship. You just have to fit it all into the cabin and we did. All 12 suitcases. We saw it as a perfect opportunity to bring back some family memorabilia. We had recently made the decision to rent my mother's flat and needed to remove family items of importance. You would probably laugh at some of the things we brought back. Of course there were the usual tea bags, tins of Marmade, the boomerang my great uncle brought from Australia. Photographs, books, teapots, dinner sets and this glass ball.

The glass ball was one of several I had found, as a little girl, washed up on our beach at Cleveleys, in the north west of England. My gran-dad and I would go down to the beach, he looking for driftwood and me for any treasure the sea had washed up. It was a special day when I found a glass ball. Our garden had quite a row of glass balls but this was the only one that came with us when we moved house.

These balls were sewn into the fishing nets, acting as floats, until they were replaced by plastic and polystyrene. All the balls we found were green and I have no idea from where they came. There is no mark on the bottom. I read that most of the balls, made by the Japanese, were green because they made them from old saki bottles. I have no idea if mine came from a Japanese boat fishing out in the Atlantic and carried to our beach on the Gulf Stream. Maybe it just came from one of the trawlers which came into the busy fishing town of Fleetwood close by.

So the glass ball came back with us across the Atlantic and is now nestled in its new home, among the thyme, in my herb garden.