GreenWise Gardening 2016
"Gardening is the art that uses flowers and plants as paint, and the soil and sky as canvas."
– Elizabeth Murray
2/5/16:
I've made some progress on the watercolor painting of petunias and a butterfly in my garden. This project was started last fall; it has been nice to work on creating something that doesn't have a set deadline, so I can take my time. Eventually I'll put together a tutorial of my painting process, and post it on the Advencherus Design blog.
I'm now sorting through all the photos I took of plants last year. It's great to have these not only for reference in making more garden-themed paintings, but for reviewing 2015's growing season. I happily recall the anticipation of sprouts from the tomato seeds, the repotting phase, the first sign of little green fruit, and the last late-fall harvest.
The quality of my garden photography is getting more consistent. I downloaded the Camera Awesome app for my iPhone a few weeks ago and the image stabilization feature is great (Camera Plus also looks useful for phones with iOS 8.0 or later). Additionally, I'm trying to be continually aware of lighting conditions and proper exposure.
Clicking on the small images below will bring up a full-size version.
Watercolor progress.
Sorting seeds.
African daisy bush.
Some of my objectives for this coming spring: I want to maximize the space I have without crowding pots together, while exploring new vertical planting ideas (which could also keep herbs away from snails). As much as possible, I'd like to start from seed rather than buying plants. And I aim to pay even closer attention to growing advice for each type of plant.
I've been locating the seeds tucked away in our closet, collected from last year's plants and the seed packets that had a bit left over (Tomato and pepper seeds look quite similar, so very glad I labeled everything this time!). I found a decent storage solution for it all: a pill organizer from the dollar store. Keeps seeds neatly together, much better than little ziploc bags and such.
Then I'll plan out which empty pots will contain vegetables or herbs, and which could be more "on display" with colorful flowers. Yard Layout February 2016 shows the current state of what's growing where in my outdoor garden.
First camellia of the year.
Rosemary, fascinating up close.
Three cornered leeks in bloom.
Gradually there have been more sunny days in between the rainstorms. The combination of frequent precipitation with just a slight increase in warmth has encouraged early blooms for some perennial bushes. The camellias have had buds on them since November, but now there's five fully open, with many more to unfold. The African daisy bush is covered in bright yellow flowers, and the fuschias are still going strong. Even the rosemary and wild leeks have surprised me with delicate little blooms.
