" To plant trees is to give body and life to one's dreams of a better world " Russell Page

Sunday, April 6, 2014

Spring cleaning

Spring has definitely settled in so there is some cleaning an re potting due!

I have sampled over the years a small family of 4 Phalaeanopsis Orchids which once the flowering time was over, just found their way into a shallow basket where they happily thrive - producing way more (healthy) leaves than flowers...
I had many other orchids too, but I had to find out that I am not really an orchid person - or maybe they don't fancy the climate of my living room and I am not too eager in transforming it into a hothouse either. So gone are the Dendrobiums, Miltonias and Catleyas I frequented for a short period.

But Phalaenopsis are tough girls and as I told you, they happily produce new luscious leaves and even keikys - those tiny orchids babies and everything. It's just the flowers they are less eager to repeat, but hey, gardeners never loose hope!

So here I decided to re pot and clean them and settle them on a shadowy terrace for the coming summer.

 So this is how they basically looked like before the whole operation started.

I decided to add some sphagnum moss and a bit of bat guano to the regular bark, just to see if they like it better than the plain bark I used before. The bat guano was recommended by a website specialised orchid products...



 This is how they looked like once I discarded the old bark.

I empirically mixed the bark with a handful of moss and a dash of guano... since everything happened in the kitchen I went on exactly the same way I do my cooking - using a lot of free inspiration!

And this is how they look like once they have been re potted and bathed with luke warm water to clean the dust and some annoying mealy bugs... This one is 4 years old and has bloomed twice since I have her, but I would love to convince them to get a bit more industrious on the blooming issue.

The whole program will be continued with Orchids fertilizer 20-20-20 and some nutritional complements (phosphorous, potassium, magnesium and algae). Well see how it goes.

If anyone should have some tips about growing orchids at home - and making them bloom, please share your tips with me!

For the ones in Italy, I highly recommend two absolutely fantastic Orchid growers: Orchideria Morosolo on the Lago Maggiore and Nardotto e Capello near Ventimiglia which not only have an incredible selection , but who are absolutely lovely and passionate about their work!
http://www.nardottoecapello.it/

Sunday, March 23, 2014

What's blooming now

Hi folks! Finally my Fortuniana Rose is in full bloom! White pompoms cover the long, arched branches, which try to climb into the nearby tree.



The Clivia isn't doing bad either! This one has been rescued literally from the dustbin, but now it seems to be a very grateful girl! Five bloom stalks in her second year after the rescue maneuver, And never asking for any special treatment.




Tuesday, January 21, 2014

What's blooming now


Hi there my friends! It's been quite a while since my last post...
So let's celebrate this year fist the first blooms and a nice harvest of Buddha Hand or Fingered citron,(Citrus medica var. sarcodactylis) .

The perfume is just wonderful and I have trouble at the thought of cooking them... I think they will sit there for quite a while, to be admired.
The poor plant suffered a massive cochineal attack ( grrrr x!x%#/¿!) last year, so it is a wonder that it has still managed to produce four big fruit ( the other two are still hanging on the plant).







 The shy Christmas Hyacinths bloomed their head off a couple of days later



The beloved Yuletide Camelia behaved well and bloomed generously, considered that Barcelona has not the perfect camelia weather... Summers are too hot and they struggle, but this is what they get so I'm happy with them anyway.


I just love Yuletide, that bright and clear shade of red! Blooms not too heavy.


Talking about harvesting, a nice bowl of wild oregano and serpolet thyme (the one that flavours all southern French stews) to store for cooking.



My precious gardening helpers at their favourite "in and out" game

Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Merry Christmas

LE VERT-GALANT:
A very festive-looking cocktail special from New York’s Le Vert-Galant Restaurant.


You need:
1 small scoop raspberry sherbet
½ oz. cognac
Chilled champagne 
Stir the sherbet and cognac together in a tulip-shaped champagne glass. Fill with champagne and stir quickly. Yield: 1 serving.

CHRISTMAS RED:1 ½ ozs. gin
¾ oz. Campari
1 tsp. grenadine
Tonic water, chilled
Lemon slice
Pour gin, Campari and grenadine over ice in a rocks glass. Stir well. Fill with tonic water. Stir once. Garnish with 1 cherry. Yield: 1 serving.




 Cheers folks and Merry Christmas to you all!!!

Sunday, December 15, 2013

The enchanted world of Rudolf and Leopold Blaschka - The forgotten glass flowers

In times were Internet and Wikipedia give us instant answers for any possible quest and millions of accurate pictures of plants and animals fulfill our curiosity for scientific detail, there is an stunning and incredibly poetic collection of painstakingly accurate botanical models created of glass - the artwork of two Bohemian glass artists in the name of Leopold and Rudolf Blaschka.


Apple Blossoms


The Ware Collection of Glass Models of Plants  represents 847 plant species painstakingly and accurately crafted by father and son glass artists duo for didactic purposes. 

Hardly known by the big public, the Blaschkas also produced an impressive collection of sea animals - especially invertebrates, jellyfish, sea anemones and microscopic organisms. Part of the marine fauna collection is stored at the Trinity College in Dublin for which it has been crafted.
 Their colorful glass replicas captured in every detail the liveliness of organisms usually reduced to shapeless blobs in jars of alcohol.



 Jacarranda

Originally charged with creating just a few models, the Blaschkas signed an exclusive contract with the Harvard University to produce a collection of over 4,000 glass models, working from 1886 through 1936. 3,000 models are on display, and just one model of the angelica tree includes some 2,500 individual buds and flowers. The models also include remarkably accurate anatomical sections and enlarged flower and fruit parts. Leopold Blaschka’s actual work bench and tools are on display in the gallery. 

 Rudbeckia

The nearly 3,000 models were made by the two men over a period of 50 years. Heirs to a long tradition of glass-working in Bohemia, they had moved to Germany and established a studio outside of Dresden.

The Blaschkas' glass sea creatures drew the attention of Professor George L. Goodale, the first director of Harvard's Botanical Museum. He had been searching for a better way to represent the flora. "Flowers are perishable," he explained at the 1890 dedication. "When dried they are distorted, when placed in alcohol they are robbed of their color." Drawings, while "spirited and truthful," were flat. Wax flowers or papier-maché, often used in funeral wreaths, were "exaggerated and grotesque."
Goodale believed glass models were the answer and in 1886, he met  the Blaschkas in their German home and started a lifetime collaboration. The results is this absolutely stunning and enchanted world of hyper fragile yet immortal glass flowers.

Waterlily


 Flytrap - Nepenthes Sanguinea.

 Fig branch and sections

 Okra flower

 Glass apple with branch

all pictures are from the Harvard site
http://www.huh.harvard.edu/libraries/glass.htm

Monday, December 2, 2013

Books for Christmas

I've just ordered theese books for Christmas ( oh, yes, I am indulging in self gifting  ;-) ) since there is not much left to do in the garden and a good read is just as pleasant.

Weeds: In Defense of Nature's Most Unloved Plants  by Richard Mabey

 



Any Day, by Henry Mitchell

Mitchell is the late author of the Washington Post gardening column and author of some of the most delightful and witty gardening books

Monday, November 25, 2013

Cornucopia

Last week I've been on a trip to Italy. In spite of pouring rain I went to a local market in Reggio Emilia and this is what I saw:
Baskets and loads of local, antique fruit, pumpkin and kale varieties in an abundance which would have been fit for any Flemish still life painting ( see my previous post).

 Green Cabbage and Black Tuscan Kale

 Black Tuscan Kale

 Pumpkins and squash




 Old pear varieties and quinces


 Local "Campanein" apple variety

 Redder than ruby pomegranates!