I recently received a review copy of P. Allen Smith’s Container Gardens Deck. In order to test it out and see whether I would recommend the deck to other people, I took one of the cards with me to the nursery and used it to create a container design:
As you can see, I think the cards are a pretty good idea. It’s easy to stick the card you want to use in your purse or back pocket and take it with you to the nursery. And with the diagram that clearly shows where to place each plant, it is equally easy to create the pot pictured on the front of the card. All in all, I think these cards will really appeal to LOTB readers who like lush flower displays in their pots.
Here is the card I used and the completed container. The container will look even better when the cabbages fill in a bit.
I also think they’re priced really well to give as a thoughtful gift that won’t break the bank. The list price is $14.99, but Amazon is selling them for $10.14 right now. If your office has a holiday gift exchange and you draw the name of someone who likes to garden, I think they would really like these cards (but be sure to buy one for yourself too!)
Recently, Kylee from Our Little Acre dug up an old project of Jodi DeLong’s called “Where in the World Are YOU.” I thought I would pipe in and share a little bit about the city I live in and my garden.
I live in a city called Long Beach in southern California. In Californian parlance, LB (or “The LBC”) is about 30 minutes south of Los Angeles so long as there isn’t any traffic. In many other states, Long Beach’s 500,000 residents would make it the first or second largest city in the state. But in California, it’s only the 6th largest city, and our close proximity to LA often leaves us in their shadow. Nonetheless, while Long Beach may not be as well known as it should be, it is still a great place to live.
Long Beach has all of the big city amenities people want with lots of smaller town charm. We have a major university (California State University, Long Beach), several great shopping areas (2nd St, Pine Ave, The Pike), great restaurants, many great cultural events/venues (Long Beach Blues Festival and The Carpenter Center, to name a two), two good sized museums (Long Beach Museum of Art and The Latin American Museum of Art), lots of great parks and one gigantic one (El Dorado Park), and plenty of interesting architecture (The Pyramid, Rancho Los Alamitos & Cerritos, two Greene & Greene homes, and whole neighborhoods full of Craftsman style homes…). Long Beach also has award winning public schools, close-knit neighborhoods, lots of mom-and-pop shops and residents who are passionate about their city.
Oh yeah, and we have miles of white sand beaches and one of the greatest climates in the world. Within an hour’s drive you can get to some of the best surfing spots in the world, great skiing/snowboarding, high desert spots for off-roading, and many different awesome hiking areas. There is a reason it costs an arm and a leg to live in southern California! Though Long Beach is more affordable than other beach cities nearby.
Here is a short video I made of my tiny little patio garden and some shots from a favorite spot near my apartment:
After uploading the video I realized I called the white dome behind the Queen Mary the Epcott Center. I don’t know what I was thinking! The Epcott Center is obviously in Florida. The white dome used to house the Spruce Goose, now it is a terminal for a cruise line based out of Long Beach.
Earlier today I met up with Scott Bunnell and a bunch of other Long Beach locals (including Adriana of Anarchy in the Garden) for a little guerrilla gardening…
Guerrilla gardening was lots of fun and the City of Long Beach now has a beautiful succulent garden on Orange, just south of PCH. I used to be [...]
In the vlog review of the soil scoop, I mentioned that I was yanking out a silver South African Geranium and replacing it with a black Sweet Potato Vine (I think it’s ‘Blackie’ but I’ve misplaced the tag), but I forgot to include a shot with the finished pot. I really love how this container [...]
UPDATE: Jayme of aHa Modern Living just sent me a discount code for Life on the Balcony readers who would like to try the soil scoop. If you use the code “balcony” (without the quotes) you’ll receive 10% off. This deal expires on 4/11/2010.
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I am so, so, so, sooooo excited to have [...]
