Today I’m thrilled to introduce a series of posts written by Patricia Youngquist AKA The Last Leaf Gardener.  This is her second post in the series on winterizing. Be sure to check out her introduction to winterizing, and Patricia’s thoughts on building cold frames. This is Patricia’s third and final post in the series. Here she talks about how to wrap plants bubble wrap and burlap (sounds nice and cozy, doesn’t it?!).

After two years of “cold-frame living” my plants were established enough to survive without a winter home; however, I did mulch them very well, then wrapped every container twice in bubble-wrap and surrounded this with a strong burlap secured tightly with jute.

New York City got a lot of snow that season, as evidenced in the image below.

But all the things I grow survived and I was once again able to enjoy everything about them this past Spring, Summer and Fall as you might surmise from the following images.

And, now, winter is once again upon us, most of my things are beginning to look bare (see the top photo posted above the beginning of this post). Soon all my trees, shrubs, plants, and herbs will be put to bed for a winter’s nap through my wrapping winterizing method.

Since, during the growing seasons, I water everything by hand (sometimes it is three times a day depending on heat wave situations in summer) the time that my plants are sleeping gives me time to work on other endeavors. This year I will be busy at work creating movies about what I grow, and my cast of characters will be my various vines, shrubs and flowers.

Last year I produced my first garden themed movie, “The Kiwi Speaks! Fifteen Minutes of Fame . . .  almost”, which can be seen on Vimeo @ http://bit.ly/teFgCh  1010and so this year, I will be working on the sequel to that movie.

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If you’d like to see more pictures of Patricia’s garden, please visit her at www.thelastleafgardener.com. You can also connect with her on Facebook or Twitter .

Today I’m thrilled to introduce a series of posts written by Patricia Youngquist AKA The Last Leaf Gardener.  This is her second post in the series on winterizing. Be sure to check out her introduction to winterizing, and stay tuned for her post on how to wrap your plants. And now, I’ll step aside and let Patricia tell you about cold frames…

For a couple of the past winters, I protected my less hardy plants, shrubs and herbs from harsh elements by constructing a cold frame. I had learned my winterizing lesson the hard way, when some years ago, I bought my “less hardy” perennials inside my studio apartment only to have them die from shock and the dryness of my place. The dryness is caused by steam-heat – a bane of existence to many New York City dwellers. These conditions did not make a good atmosphere in making a winter home for the less hardy things that I love to grow and the things that remained outside during that year were not too happy either.

In any event, the experience of having my plants and herbs die is behind me, thanks to my having used a cold frame. A cold frame is a transparent-roofed enclosure usually built low to the ground and used to protect plants, herbs, and small shrubs from cold weather. The transparent top of a cold frame admits sunlight and so the structure functions as a miniature greenhouse. It costs nothing to use because it relies solely on the warmth of the sun.

Cold frames are generally found in rural home gardens, but because I live in Manhattan, I have become quite creative in making use of space. I saw no obstacle in having a cold frame constructed to use during the winter months that could be taken down and stored during spring, summer and fall. Normally a cold frame is constructed with old glass windows and wood, but I used Plexiglas, and 4x4s for the corner posts as well as  2x4s for the additional framing. I chose these materials so that I could take the cold frame apart and store it  – without fear of it breaking – in my closet during the non-winter months. The minimum thickness needed for Plexiglas used in this manner is 1/2”.  I used five pieces (4 sides to form a square, and one for the top that functioned as a lid). When determining the height of the sheets of Plexiglas, I had to allow for several inches of empty space above and around each plant for air circulation, so in my case my cold frame looked like a mini-greenhouse.

Usually a cold frame functions optimally when it is butted up against a home, garage, or solid fence, but with roof-extension gardens these options are usually not available. The first year I chose the part of my roof-extension that received the most sunlight, and I recommend anyone taking on this mission find the sunniest spot on their outdoor space to place a cold frame. Extra humidity can be provided by placing trays – that are similar to those that are used in a darkroom as developing trays for photographic prints - filled with bark chips or mulch and put underneath the plants.

Additionally, I also needed to make sure I allowed for the lid to be able to be left open  – at least a few inches – so that the air could circulate from time to time. (I used a bamboo pole on days I wanted to keep the frame open). I made my plant’s winter home festive by adding and placing little window boxes of hearty plants alongside the outer edges of it.

My plants and herbs did well in terms of warmth that first “cold-frame” year, but the second year I put the structure closer to the walls (as seen below) of my apartment to protect the plants, herbs and shrubs from wind-damage, and in addition to the lights and window boxes, I draped it in garland for the holiday season (as seen below). The SODAS sign is an object I had in my garden from the late 1990s until this past spring and I am merely pointing it out to you for a sense of scale.

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If you’d like to see more pictures of Patricia’s garden, please visit her at www.thelastleafgardener.com. You can also connect with her on Facebook or Twitter .

Today I’m thrilled to introduce a series of posts written by Patricia Youngquist AKA The Last Leaf Gardener.  Patricia gardens on a roof extension in the Upper Westside of Manhattan in New York City, a much different climate than my balcony in Southern California! Patricia knows a thing or two about protecting her plants from New York’s cold winters, and I really appreciate her willingness to share her ideas with the rest of us. First up, is Patricia’s introduction to her garden, which will be followed by posts about building cold frames and wrapping plants.

Like Fern, my garden is a container garden, and since it is on a roof extension, I also experience “life on a balcony”! However, unlike Fern — because, I live in the northeastern portion of the United States — I have to contend with the “W’ word, and prepare the things I grow to “weather the storm” of a long winter season. The garden I have is comprised of 80 plus things including herbs, vines, flowers, plants, grasses, shrubs and trees — all grown in containers.

The picture at the top of this blog entry is an “aerial view” of what it looked like this afternoon after Juan V and I put on the finishing touches of my Christmas decorations. However, the  ”overhead lights” (shape of an “X”) that you see above my garden are a fairly new addition (August 2011), so they have not experienced a winter in NYC, although, we had a mini snow storm the last Saturday in October (2011) which the things I grow in my garden, and the lights strung above it, survived.

The red and green balls (lower left hand corner of the image) are my holiday decorations made from recycled bleach bottles and they are hung on my Corylus avellana (Contorted Hazel Nut). It has been a fairly and almost unseasonably warm December — in fact my Tropaelum majus (Nasturtium), Echinacea, and roses (from three different shrubs) are still blooming!

Still the “W” word officially begins on December 21st, and last year I winterized my urban garden on December the 11th, so, I’ve already waited four days longer than last year, and plan to bite the winterizing-bullet, and do this years winterizing on December 27th unless Mother Nature slams us with bone chilling weather.

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If you’d like to see more pictures of Patricia’s garden, please visit her at www.thelastleafgardener.com. You can also connect with her on Facebook or Twitter .

I have a new post up over at Fiskars.com. It’s about making a gift basket filled with beautiful hellebores to give to your holiday hosts:

Starting with Thanksgiving right through New Years, November and December are filled with holiday parties. Of course, you are a thoughtful guest, and you always bring something special and beautiful to give to your host or hostess. Right? Well, if you’re looking for a gift idea for a hostess who loves flowers or gardening, why not say “thanks” with a basket of hellebores? Word on the street is that they’re the de rigeur gift in Europe.

Read the rest of the post >>>

Photo by Jenny Peterson

The condo association in charge of our new place has all sorts of rules, most of which I see my neighbors breaking left and right. For example, you’re not supposed to hang any planters on the railings of the balcony, but I have seen at least two people doing just that. And one of the balconies violating the rules has dead plants in the planter, so it doesn’t even look very nice. All of this talk of rules got me thinking about the ettiquette of Christmas lights. I’m Jewish and I’ve never put up Christmas lights, but I was wondering, when should I start complaining to the condo association about my neighbors?

Just kidding. I hate HOA’s and won’t be complaining. I’d rather have neighbors doing tacky things than feel like I live in a police state. To help get you in the holiday mood, check out these beautifully decorated balconies that people submitted to the Life on the Balcony Flickr group:

Photo by Monica Milla

This photo is of Robert Frost’s house in Michigan. It looks like Santa left his sleigh on the balcony. Love the swags of greenery. Classic and classy.

Photo by alles-schlumpf

I loved the creativity behind this photo, titled ‘I Shot Santa Clause.’ The balcony owners placed all the lights and Santa Clauses climbing up the ladders, but the photographer added the black shooting guide (not sure what that is called exactly?).

Photo by Thomas Hawk

Balconies on one of San Francisco’s infamously hilly streets.

And these two photos are of my neighbor’s balconies, which are really pretty nice and tasteful, all things considered:

I hope there are some hard core gift buying procrastinators like me out there, because this post was originally scheduled for last week. I just couldn’t get all the little odds and ends I needed in time to create these gifts in time. Luckily Chanukah is 8 days long and Christmas is 10 days away. So, if you’re like me and have waited until the last minute and need some thoughtful handmade gift ideas that won’t bust your budget, here are not one, but three suggestions.

Herb Garden Basket

During the holiday season, there are lots of dinner parties to go to, which means lots of hostess gifts to give. It can be hard to find something that isn’t the same ole same ole (bottle of wine) that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg. This is a really short video about creating a little gift basket with herbs that the hostest can grow in a sunny windowsill or outdoors if your climate permits.

Here’s the cost breakdown: $7.00 for the plants, $1.00 for the basket, and $.15 for tissue paper. All the other materials are things that you probably have on hand. That’s a grand total of $8.15.

Cinnamon Basil Massage Oil

This year I grew several different varieties of scented basils, and I’ve really enjoyed finding atypical ways to use up all those basil leaves. I saw this cinnamon basil massage oil recipe in the latest issue of Herb Companion Magazine, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

• 2 teaspoons dried basil leaves and flower buds
• 1 tablespoon dried orange peel, grated
• 1?2 cup light oil (such as almond, sesame or walnut)

1. Place ingredients in a small saucepan and warm gently; do not boil. Allow to cool completely, place in a clean jar and let sit for at least 1 week.
2. Strain out leaves and peels; pour into a clean bottle with tight-fitting lid. Add a few decorative dried leaves or an orange peel to the bottle, if you wish.
3. Put a label on your masterpiece and deliver it to the lucky recipient!

I reused a jar that orignally had something else in it, (be sure to clean it thoroughly and sterilize it if you do the same), made my own labels, and used basil and oil that I already had on hand. But if you had to buy the oil, I’d imagine it would cost around $7.00, and the the jar costs about $3.00. You probably won’t be able to buy cinnamon basil, so hopefully you grew it–or some other scented basil–this past season.

Stone Plant Markers

I originally saw the idea of using small river rocks as plant markers on Heavy Petal. These are so simple to make, but the results are really sophisticated looking. I think these stones fall into the category of “I could do that, but I’d never get around to making them myself.” Which, in my mind, makes them the perfect thing to give as a gift.

To make these plant markers, find several flat, smooth stones. Then label each one with the name of a plant using alphabet stamps permanent ink. I drew a faint line with a ruler to help me. Also, if your stone isn’t completely flat, rock the stamp gently so that the entire stamp comes in contact with the stone’s surface. Allow them to dry completely before wrapping.

Oh, and if you need to make even more homemade gifts, I really liked these “Recipe in a Jar” ideas from Food Network Magazine. They’re more creative than what I usually see.

Horticulture Magazine recently put out a short list of plants they recommend for winter pots, so I thought I would play around with how they look together.

The photo above features Iris ‘George,’ Primula Cowichan series, and Iris danfordiae. OK, I lied. That’s a double primula in the middle, not one of the Cowichan series recommended by Horticulture Magazine. None of the brighter colors of the Cowichan series would look good (I think) with the two irises.

This is Scilla siberica, Cyclamen Miracle series, and Primula Cowichan series. I like the muted primary colors of this trio. It seems bright and cheerful, just what I like during the often overcast, rainy winter season here in Southern California.

What are your favorite winter container combinations?

I went to check out the Fullerton Arboretum’s Cactus and Succulent Sale this weekend. Arboretums and botanical gardens are great alternative places to find interesting plants at reasonable prices. At this particular sale, there was an assortment of people selling pups and cuttings from their plants. They were all really friendly and knowledgeable. It was a lot of fun!

You can click on any photo to see a larger version:

Maybe you have an aloe plant that was happy growing on your balcony this summer and now you need to bring it inside, or perhaps you’re looking for a useful and beautiful plant to spend your gardening energy on during the winter months. Either way, aloes can be grown inside, so long as you provide them with enough light and don’t over water them.

Photo by cromacom

Choosing the Right Plant

If you’re growing aloe purely for it’s intriguing form, then by all means, pick whichever plant you like. There are all sorts of different aloes, and they’re all attractive plants. But if you’re growing Aloe to make a skin salve, you want Aloe vera (sometimes also listed as ‘Aloe barbadensis,’ ‘Aloe indica Royle,’ ‘Aloe perfoliata,’ ‘Aloe vulgaris,’ ‘Chinese Aloe,’ ‘Indian Aloe,’ ‘true Aloe,’ ‘Barbados Aloe,’ ‘burn Aloe,’ or ‘first aid plant’).

What Aloe Vera Needs

To keep your Aloe happy indoors, you want to provide bright sunlight, preferably from a South facing window. Hopefully this spot is also a comfortably warm temperature. An unheated sun porch, garage, or shed is probably not a good choice, as most Aloes don’t like temperatures below 40F.

Plant the Aloe in fast draining soil meant for cacti and succulents, and water your plant only when the soil is dry. Likewise, make sure to use a pot with a drainage hole, don’t use a self-watering pot. If you see the leaves start to shrivel or flop over, you’re waiting too long in between watering. But do not over water! If your Aloe is constantly sitting in soggy soil it will rot and die.

Make More Aloe Plants

When grown inside, an Aloe plant will most likely not bloom, but it will make little offshoots called “pups.” When the pups are about 2 inches long, use a sharp, clean knife to cut them from the mother plant. Make the cut right at the base of the pup. Place the pup in a pot with new moist soil and it will start to grow its own roots shortly.

How to Use Aloe Vera

Aloe has two kinds of juices and only one of them soothes skin burns. First, obviously, if your burn is really serious, don’t treat it with Aloe, go to the doctor. Now to the “juices.” The green surface layer of Aloe exudes yellow/green sap. Don’t use that part, it’s a skin irritant. To use Aloe on a burn, remove a leaf, cut it open and place the exposed center flesh of the leaf directly on the burn and hold it in place. The center flesh has the “good juice.”

Temperatures usually don’t get cold enough to really harm my plants until January or February here at the beach in So Cal (and then we’re only talking about the low 40s), but I hear that those of you in the rest of the country start getting pretty cold weather about this time of year. Here are some tips to protect your plants and pots from cold snaps.

1. Move Plants Indoors: If possible, move your plants into a sunny window inside your home. Obviously you want to make sure they are free of pests before moving them inside. To keep them bushy, pinch them back if they become leggy. If that’s not possible, move your plants to your garage or a shed. Many plants become dormant during the winter and won’t miss the sunlight. To help them get ready for dormancy, slow down their watering schedule for several weeks before moving them. Once they’re in the garage, only give them enough water to keep the soil from completely drying out.
2. Make a Tent: If your pots are too big to move indoors, or you don’t have room for them, it’s pretty easy to create a tent to help keep your plants warm. If possible, move them up against a wall or the building. Then stick bamboo stakes (available in your garden center) into your pots so that the top of the stakes are about 6 inches above the plant. You’ll also need a painters’ tarp, you can get disposable ones for pretty cheap, but be sure to get one that is substantial, not too flimsy. Then drape the tarp over the stakes. Weigh down the edges with empty pots or rocks. During the day, be sure to open up one side to let in fresh air and keep things from getting too damp under the plastic.
3. Wrap Your Pots in Bubble Wrap: I’ve never done this, as my area doesn’t really get that cold, but the Brooklyn Botanical Garden recommends wrapping the pots of marginally hardy plants in special bubble wrap that you can find at your local nursery. More info about that here: Protecting Your Containers During Cold Weather – Advice From People Who Know About These Things.

What do you do to protect your perennial plants during the winter?