Meet Me in My Garden

Spring has Sprung.

2008-05-20T09:31:00.005-04:00

It's been a couple months since I've posted anything. I've been really busy with the whole getting married thing. Now that I'm married, and all the parties are over, all the thank you cards are sent out I think I have more mental capacity to think about our garden.

I'm not going to be planting too much this summer since our brownstone for sale! We most likely will not be living here for much longer...

A few weekends ago Matt and I took a trip to the Chelsea Garden Center in Red Hook, Brooklyn. We picked up a few small plants; then checked out Gowanus Nursery...

Here are some pictures of what we picked up!

myfolia.com

2008-03-16T09:20:00.007-04:00

I got this message in my Flickr inbox last weekend, and I've since joined the site, and I really am enjoying it! Please, check it out. It's super handy, a great way to meet fellow gardeners, ask questions, post photographs, it's a wonderful way to track your garden progress. I also started a Brooklyn Gardeners Group on the site, so if you're in the area, please join.

Wondering if you would be interested in our new little gardening site?

Hi Melanie,

We have just built a brand new (free) gardening organizer site that needs some gardening type people to give it a whirl and see what they think - we have been looking around for fellow flickrinos that look like they might be interested in our site...and we found you!

To give you a quick idea of the site: we have linked up flickr with our site so you can use your own flickr photos to journal, list and track your plants and seeds and (the most exciting bit!) see who else is growing the things you are.

For some more info and some screenshots, you can take a look through our mini tour: www.myfolia.com/tour (alternatively, you can just take a look through the site by visiting the home page - www.myfolia.com)

If you have any questions, please feel free to reply to this message and we'll try our best to answer them for you :)

Many thanks,
Nic and Nath

Starting Fresh.

2008-03-07T19:34:00.012-05:00

Its a cold, rainy Friday night in New York. There's nothing better to do than to get started on my garden. I went to Home Depot today with my Mother, and picked up an indoor seedling greenhouse...

In just a few weeks the seeds will sprout and they'll be ready to plant once the last frost passes...I planted Biker Billy Hybrids, Bell Pepper Carnival Mix, Blockbuster Sweet Peppers, Hot Peppers, and of course Jalapenos!

I'm really looking forward to Spring, planting roses, veggies, herbs and of course elephant ears. I'm going to try out the black colored ears this year, and perhaps some silver leaf plants that supposedly glow in the evening. Also in the works are fragrant flowers. I have this dream of walking outside and our garden being a flutter with butterflies, & hummingbirds.
Well, I'm off to eat a piece of leftover Angel Food cake from yesterday's Ladies Evening hosted at my house...

Happy New Year!

2008-01-16T10:00:00.001-05:00

I have GOOD feelings about 2008. Big things are going to happen.

I was feeling like we hadn't done much to our place since we'd moved in... We're renters so there's not much point in wallpaper, painting, etc.

Then I came across the photographs I took the day we first viewed the brownstone.

Trimmin the Tree

2007-12-10T22:04:00.000-05:00

Rearrangin' & Makin Room for our outdoor plants, inside.

2007-12-09T13:00:00.005-05:00

Christmas Tree Time

2007-12-09T13:00:00.001-05:00

Last night we rearranged some lamps, chairs, tables to make a cozy winter oasis for our beloved plants...and to make room for our seven foot Christmas Tree...Mister G looking very very cute & slightly guilty...

Hello Frost. Goodbye Elephant Ears.

2007-11-27T12:48:00.000-05:00

We woke up on Thanksgiving to the sight of our Elephant Ears totally frost bitten & dead. I knew it was going to happen, and I had planned to cut them before their cold wintered demise, but, oh well...

Here they are.

You, Me and Mister G in a Saltbox.

2007-11-20T12:52:00.000-05:00

John Osborn House, Kings Highway West, Southport, Fairfield County, CT

I think I could live here. I really do. There is something so magical about this place to me. Old, Musky, Haunted maybe? I think I would want a shotgun if I lived out in the middle of nowhere.

Rooster in a Garden

2007-11-20T12:42:00.000-05:00

Gardener standing alongside shrub trimmed into shape of a rooster, in garden at Villa Trianon, France 1925 or 1926

I love looking at Black & White Photographs of Gardens. The Library of Congress is a great place to check out historical pictures...

The Chocolate Factory

2007-11-08T10:24:00.000-05:00

I posted some empty photos of this place before we moved in, but here are some filled with lots of junk.
The only area that was "organized" at first were my closet and our television.

Prospect Park South West

2007-11-08T09:01:00.000-05:00

Spent the past few days going through images on my external hard drive. Found these of my old place across from Prospect Park South West in Brooklyn... It was a huge place, but it was far from Manhattan, took about 40 minutes to get downtown, and I had to share it with two other people. I tried to make the best of it, but it still really sucked...Had a killer party there for my 26th birthday, check out the photos here...
Anyway, found a few photographs of the place, thought it would be fun to post my apartment past.

Fall, Winter, Work.

2007-10-20T09:00:00.000-04:00

Hey Ya'll... It's been a while since I've posted; I've been thinking about what direction to take Miss Garden Party since the winter is on its way. I've been 'freelancing' these past few weeks- right now at Style.com -the online home of Vogue & W Magazines. I've been working on the Spring 2008 slide shows for New York, London, Milan & Paris. There are over 200 shows, and each show has runway, detail and backstage photographs- it's made for a lot of work. I've been spending my days staring at some really fabulous clothes-so, I'm going to spend some time writing about fashion, post some of my favorite looks from the Spring Season. Maybe I'll even sneak a photo of the Style Wardrobe- wish I could make that my personal closet. Fashion is really my number one passion, too bad everything I love is extremely over priced!

I've also shot a few restaurants for my friend Noah Kalina Interiors. I'll post a few of those too when I have a moment.

In other news, Saehee Hwang of Mutual Arts and Anna Knoebel of Zing Magazine are going to be guest bloggers over the coming weeks. They're both art & fashion experts- it will be fun to have them contribute!

Lauren Lippeatt, of Spry Magazine is going to post some of my photography and a video of mine on their site- so be sure to check it out!

Mister Garden Party, Mister G and I are zip carring ourselves out of Brooklyn today and out to Montauk for some quality time on the beach, some pumpkin picking and maybe even a lobster roll.

See you later!

Death of a Pumpkin Patch

2007-09-29T11:32:00.000-04:00

Even all the love, care and water can't make pumpkins grow. One necessary part of growing pumpkins is pollination of the flowers by bees... We only saw one bee the entire summer, so no pollination took place. We could've broken off a male flower and sprinkled the pollen from the stamen into the female flower. But I really wanted nature to take its course, which it did, with tons of lovely yellow flowers, and hearty green vines. They covered the back portion of our garden with its lush greenery.

It's getting pretty chilly here now, and even if a flurry of bees were to arrive in our garden, there wouldn't be enough time for a pumpkin to grow. I made the decision to pull up my much loved vines last night.

The remnants and the inspiration for this very blog.

Affordable Art

2007-09-26T10:52:00.000-04:00

Jen Bekman Gallery on Spring Street showcases up & coming artists works on paper and photography just opened up an online shop called 20X200. You can buy limited edition works for $20, $200 or $2000 depending on what size piece tickles your fancy. I picked this two pieces, I can't wait to get them in the mail.

Untitled (Hanoi no.2), by Kelly Shimoda

The Faceted Couroucou, by Carrie Marill

I purchased two sticker dot collages on another art website called Etsy.com by Brooklyn artist Maureen Shields. I had them framed at General Art on Varick- he is my favorite framer in New York.

Videos

2007-09-24T19:53:00.000-04:00

I recently became interested in making videos- both shooting videos and also compiling still imagery then creating a little movie... I have posted a few on Vimeo- you should totally join if you haven't already, and I've decided to also post one here... It's of a wild taxi ride in Kolkata, India...

Taxi Ride in Kolkata, India from Melanie Flood on Vimeo.

It is all in the details.

2007-09-21T01:53:00.000-04:00

I haven't felt like writing this week, so here are some pictures to look at instead...

Bunny in the Garden

2007-09-18T19:47:00.000-04:00

I woke up this morning to Mister G barking and crying. I run into the living room, and I spot a bunny rabbit underneath our sofa. I was like 'again?!'. This was the second time since Sunday I came in touch with a bunny. Our neighbors' bought their six year old daughter one for her birthday... He's been jumping over the low end of the fence, trampling and snacking on our pumpkins...

I tried to get a good photograph of him, but he was deep in the jungles of vines. You can see him in the dead center.

Thursday

2007-09-14T12:32:00.001-04:00

My mother came to Brooklyn yesterday to visit and check out the roses at the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens. When she arrived we took Mister G for a walk to find a groomer- he was in desperate need of a haircut. He looks so funny! At least they left his beard. Anyway, during our walk we heard a few helicopters above our heads, hovering, all from the NYPD. I was thinking to myself, 'great, here is my mom in Brooklyn, for the first time coming to spend the entire day outside of Queens, and the police are searching for someone on the ground'. She kept looking up, and speculating to what could be going on. It didn't help that everyone on the sidewalk were also staring at the sky.

We fled the hood and made our way to the Gardens. I've been here once or twice before, but I feel like I must not have been paying attention on either of those visits, since I was so impressed with the beauty and tranquility in the middle of Brooklyn. Here are some photographs.

We really were impressed with the variety of plants, flowers, trees that were at the Gardens. I think I'd like to be a member, and come back at least once a week- take photographs of every single plant there!
When we arrived at home I made cheese and pepper quesadillas for lunch- the peppers were from our garden of course. I managed to burn one, since I was reading aloud an email from Posy about her baby's due-date while cooking. Then we came downstairs to watch Oprah-boy I can't stand her. The news came on, and in the previews they mention a homicide in Brooklyn! Yes, it was in my neighborhood! At noon, Lawrence Sumpter was shot, and murdered only a few blocks from our home, and they hadn't caught the shooter. It's pretty awful... I began closing our doors and locking them out of paranoia. It is so peaceful here I forget that I do live in an urban area.

And the bonsai...And don’t shoot it with a very shallow DOF

2007-09-07T14:24:00.000-04:00

This one is for you Mister. He picked this beauty up at the beginning of the summer at Garden Dig on Atlantic Avenue...

Post some pictures of the pumpkin plants

2007-09-07T08:50:00.001-04:00

After I received a request this morning from the Mister, I went out and shot some pumpkins up so he can brag to his co-workers about his green thumb...
Can you believe the pumpkins are reaching out to teeny tiny weeds that are popping up from the ground? Close up!
What we thought was Ivy has turned out to be Morning Glory- shows how much we know... Any hoo, the pumpkins have officially become intertwined. Detail here.
I'm not exactly sure what these white-ish spots are, I have to do some research, hopefully nothing fatal.
Garden from Above
Good Morning Mister G!

The Old vs. The New

2007-09-04T11:03:00.000-04:00

For people who do not live in New York, it sounds very unusual when a person states that they've lived in six or more apartments over the course of the past five years. Maybe it is the freedom of renting that makes it so common, perhaps it is the constant desire for change, to explore a new neighborhood, a new zip code, more space, a roof deck, a garden, hopefully always upgrading with each move, its one thing about New York that I love. A constant, blurrying change of scenery.

Our new place has been a transition from our last apartment. The old spot was very hip, and exactly what we desired at the time. A thousand square foot loft on the top floor of the Chocolate Factory a mere block from where we live now. It was a challenge on many fronts; but trying to create rooms without walls was the largest feat.
Here are some before and after photographs of the place...we didn't care much about the kitchen at this point of our lives to photograph it, but it was enormous!

Our bedroom, which we used the Molo Softwall to create a private space.

And the awesome roof deck that had the most incredible views of Manhattan.

Before the Mister and I were together, there were many challenging living situations I had to deal with. The very first place in Manhattan I called home was my 8x10 foot studio, without kitchen at the George Washington Hotel- my dorm in college. I lasted for five months, then fled to Italy-that apartment was a palace! My first official apartment was a $950 a month, six floor walk up in Tribeca whose ground floor was Penda Chinese Restaurant. I don't even want to delve into how awful that place was. But, as usual I had some raging parties.

Second apartment was in Alphabet City which I shared with Mr. Popularity, Tommy Saleh Creative Director of the Soho and Tribeca Grand Hotels. Brand spanking new, elevator, trash disposal, closets, hardwood floors, and a roomie that was always in Paris so I had some big time parties every weekend. My share of the rent eventually rose above the $1200 mark (how was I affording that?) so it was time to move off the island. This was a sad, sad time for me. After a short stint living here & there, I settled for about six months into a three bedroom with two slight weirdos across from Prospect Park. This place was a cheap, cheap, cheap, $600. When I went to visit, I saw the name T.Tanner on one of the buzzers. I had a best friend growing up who I had lost touch with over the years, but I didn't expect the T. Tanner to be Tracey, but it was! So that was an added incentive to move into this place- even though she was about to move out to L.A. a few weeks after I arrived. Check out her fantabulous handmade leather goods here.

Labor Day

2007-09-03T15:12:00.001-04:00

Hope you have a good one...

Bedroom

2007-09-03T13:13:00.001-04:00

Just wanted to share my painting skills with ya'll. I thought it would look nice and give the room a warmer feeling if I painted over the mantle. Our bedding had blue and green it, so I chose Blueberry Patch. The collage, made by artist Brian McGraw was a gift to me on my 23rd birthday, by Devon Dikeou, and James Fuentes. Devon was my boss while I was the Managing Editor of Zingmagazine. She really was more than my boss- we met while I was a senior in college, at the School of Visual Arts. I was chosen to be in the Mentor Program, where they match students with some big whig of the New York art scene, to create a body of work, that would eventually be displayed in a gallery-she and I were matched up. After the show was up, and I graduated from school, Devon offered me a part time position as Distribution Director, making $10 an hour. I accepted, and an entire wild world was introduced to me. While at Zing, I met James, who owns a gallery in Chinatown; he's always been a sweet friend, and talented curator.

On the mantle is my small perfume collection. I began wearing perfume when I was a little girl- I remember when my parents would go out to dinner, or a party, my mother would dab Shalimar parfum on herself. My all time favorites are Helmut Lang, and Yohji Yamamoto. This sweet guy Jimmy I was once friends with worked at the Helmut Lang perfume store in Soho, (which housed an amazing Jenny Holzer LED light installation) Jimmy would give me unlimited perfume samples, which for the past five years sufficed. Now the store is closed, and I resort to ebay to buy my coveted perfume. The Yohji perfume is now discontinued, and I cannot find it anywhere- sadly I am very close to running out. The bottles rest on a Swarovski crystal sheet from Zac Posen's after party at the Four Seasons Restaurant -(each place setting was on top of one) celebrating his first fall collection runway show during New York Fashion Week at Bryant Park in 2002. I love to keep all my perfumes, no matter how old they are. Like Joop! for example is from high school and whenever I smell it I am brought back to romantic immature love, breaking curfew, and of course, zero responsibilities. I associate each smell with a specific time and place.

While visiting my college friend Posy (check out her cupcake blog, its fun) in Portland, Oregon I picked up these old cigarette cards- they have little photos of scantily clad women on them. I've had them in an envelope for about three years, until I came across a frame where you can see the front and back of each card since they're printed on both sides.

This 'carpet' I picked up in Gurgaon, India. The carpet came in so many colors, I wanted one of each. But I didn't want to bring anything too feminine home- I already painted my bedroom closet the pinkest, shiniest color you've ever seen. On a recent walk around our hood, we came across a store called My Little India, where they too were selling these rugs, but for $50, I paid about $5 for mine! While in Delhi, I stayed with my friend Shveta's family.Here is an amazing panorama of the city- you can see where they live; right in the middle, the smaller condo style homes. The Mathur's and I went spent one evening checking out all of the new malls opening up in their city. I swear there were more than twenty mini-malls, and several mega-malls. Indian people love to shop, and go to the movies. Manoj and Shashi are now here in New York until January of 2008, I can't wait to show them around my hometown.

Sway

2007-08-31T15:48:00.000-04:00

When I was in India, I stayed at Osho Meditation Resort, a magnificent place to learn how to reach a state of non being, watchfulness, total relaxation. I had so much time to myself it was incredible. In between meditation I would sit outside and just stare at the bamboo trees, listen to their howls, and watch the leaves move back and forth. No photography was allowed, so I ventured back to my room which faced some really lovely trees. The window didn't open for some odd reason, so I watched in silence (no tv, i-pods, radios allowed either) the foliage sway side to side, side to side. I made a little video which I later had to delete, who knew I'd need like a 100 photos of myself at the Taj Mahal? So, this morning I felt inspired while looking out the window, the silence, the solitude, the elephant ears sway side to side...

Brooklyn Backyards

2007-08-30T16:15:00.000-04:00

Ours and theirs. I have the Mister to thank for this lovely photograph.

Four Years

2007-08-29T11:59:00.000-04:00

Today is mine and Mister Garden Party's four year anniversary. To celebrate, I made reservations at two places- The River Cafe, located underneath the Brooklyn Bridge (its where we celebrated our first anniversary) but they require men to wear a jacket, so just in case he's no into it, we can go to the more casual, but just as lovely Dressler, in Williamsburg. For a gift, I went out and bought him this blooming succulent from Adore NYC on Lafayette Street. This small shop is packed with the most unusual array of flowers, succulents, bonsai, topiaries; it's hard not to go home with enough plants to fill a greenhouse.

We're both really looking forward to the change of seasons, but sad that we won't be spending as much time in our garden. Over the past couple of months we've picked up small indoor plants here and there, as to keep our winter as green as our summer has been. I'll shoot photographs of those, and post them shortly.

What I love most about this plant, is its calming pastel colors.

The Secret Lives of Pumpkin Vines

2007-08-27T20:11:00.001-04:00

Growth

2007-08-27T12:27:00.000-04:00

It's incredible to me to watch things grow. Even on this small of a scale, its just captivates my attention. A whole other world exists in our garden, the plants seems to have a pretty good rapport. I had to uncoil a pumpkin vine from our rose bush, and ivy wrapped itself around an elephant ear stem, other than that all is happy...

I won't have to take Basil from my parents house for much longer, this stuff smells delicious!

So many peppers have been growing, I don't even know what to do with them. My father twisted off a few, the rest are just laying around our kitchen. Anyone have any ideas on what to use them for?

Told ya we loved chairs!

2007-08-27T11:57:00.002-04:00

We picked this hottie up at a neighbors moving away sale for $25. Love love love red. Looks grand in our garden.

Last Night's Party.

2007-08-19T13:53:00.000-04:00

We hosted a wonderful, wonderful gathering of our close friends (and these five guys no one really knew, but they were nice!) last evening. Surprisingly, I didn't take one single photograph! I woke up this morning in amazement, that I did not document it at all. The Mister took one single photo of a fellow Alabamian...

The day began very early on Saturday. We rushed outside to put out the trash and recyclables on the curb, we missed the truck! Then the lock on the downstairs front door broke- eek! We hadn't done any food shopping at all, and I needed lobster salad for lobster rolls- every summer party should serve these, especially tasty on mini potato buns. I was also serving a strawberry, blueberry salad with Balsamic Vinegar and Fresh Ground Pepper- it's heavenly. And we served Sliders. So tasty, and disgusting too.

I first had to go to Bergdorf's to get my hair cut, a pedicure, and also wanted to pick up some macaroons- I really wanted Lauderee, but unfortunately they will not ship from Paris-can't imagine how much shipping would cost on these babies, anyhow. The Mister and I fell in love with these yummy cakes on a trip last May to France for my birthday. I did an hardcore search, and found out that the closet to these delectable goodies, are from Bouley Bakery- Chef David Bouley's sweet outpost, in the Time Warner Center, whose first floor houses a huge Whole Foods, which I was praying I could get my Lobster Salad from for my mini roll; I was let down... They chose not to make any today! I hopped in a taxi down to Dean & Deluca, this place has everything, its the poshest, most favorite luxury food store in my mind- aghast! They too had nothing. My dearest, nearest most amazing resourceful Saehee was a few blocks from Citarellas! She picked me up two and a half pounds- totaling over $80! But nothing is too much for Miss and Mister Garden Party's friends. We began making the mini delights, but ate one for every three we made...

I found myself giving an art tour of our home to a few of our guests. I was so flattered that they were interested in the history behind every thing that we own. It made me happy that every item in our home holds a memory of one kind or another, each with its own slice of our life. Overall a success. I am going to host a ladies pot-luck in November, so I'll start planning now, and be more prepared. Hopefully I'll have the Mister around, with his buddies; they took care of the finishing touches, which made our home all the more fabulous to have a party in...

Pottin' Plantin'

2007-08-09T14:14:00.000-04:00

On a recent trip to Home Depot, I picked up a few Cactus to replant. Mister Garden Party has this wonderful glazed square planter from a Jade Tree that once lived in it. I thought it would be perfect for a Cactus garden.

This was meant to be the bedroom, but living in Brooklyn, I felt like French Doors were a little scary.

Mister G absolutely loves eating dirt.

And the finished garden- I added the river rocks, because it was looking pretty boring...

This guy didn't make it in, he was too prickly, so I'll just leave him on his own.

Staghorn Fern

2007-08-09T14:06:00.000-04:00

Mister Garden Party picked this Staghorn Fern couple months ago. I honestly was afraid of it. But it's really grown on me recently, its like a piece of plant art on our wall...

Flowers of India

2007-07-29T14:20:00.002-04:00

While in Mumbai this May, I visited the Hanging Gardens of Malabar Hill. A man came up to me and gave me this amazing flower, yet I have no idea what kind it is. Of course I asked, but he was as expected speaking Hindi, I responded with Dhanyavaad, and continued on my stroll. Anyone out there know what it is?

Chair Addiction

2007-07-29T13:21:00.000-04:00

It's terribly rainy this Sunday afternoon, so I thought I'd spend some time documenting the interior of our home. We both are fond of chairs, so let us begin here...

The newest addition to the collection are these two B&W French Provincial Style from the 1950's.

As a gift, I was given these four fabulous Kartell Mademoiselle Chairs with limited edition designed fabric by Missoni.

This orange, white and black chair has stainless steel legs, and is so incredibly comfortable- it's very similar to a car seat. We picked this up a few years ago at a nearby shop in our hood called Yu Interiors.

My favorite chair I first spotted at my girlfriend Sari's Manhattan loft. The Prouve Cite Armchair, by Jean Prouve red sheet metal frame, and leather belt like armrests. This has also become the favorite lounge chair for Mister G.

Of course no home is complete without a Eames Lounge Chair and ottoman, first released in 1956.

Garden Progress

2007-07-29T12:19:00.000-04:00

The Mister and I spent the morning cleaning for an upcoming party we're having in August. This was a good opportunity to see the progress of everything I've planted over the past couple weeks. Detroit Beets, Cilantro, Basil, Pumpkins...

Last weekend my mother and father's neighbor was showing me her massive pumpkin patch, which was taking over her entire front yard, all from a mere 3 plants! Well, I planted seven, and the leaves are growing like wildfire. I'm thinking we'll have to put a little fence around them so it doesn't swallow our rose bush...

I think we accidentally sprayed Round-Up on one Elephant Ear, so it's turning a little brown. It doesn't seem that it affected the entire plant.

The Peppers that I harvested last week have been ripening even more since they've been picked.

We have this lovely Ivy growing in our garden, so we guided it along the fence; its since taken over our Tiki torch.

The Basil and Cilantro are going to be ready in no time.

Pick a Pepper

2007-07-24T14:22:00.000-04:00

Chili, Jalapeño and Habanero Peppers fresh picked this afternoon from our window box. Now I just need to find a recipe to use them in...

Fresh Picked Basil

2007-07-23T19:52:00.001-04:00

Whitestone, Queens-Grown Basil from Mom and Pop's Garden

And the Pesto Pasta Mister Garden Party & I had for dinner tonight...

Other Peoples Property

2007-07-22T10:24:00.000-04:00

Chives & Sage from Mom's window box at their house in the country...

Cotton hand-picked by Casey Middlebrooks (the most famous man of Eclectic, Alabama according to Google) from a random farm outside of Millbrook, Autauga County.

Evening in Brooklyn

2007-07-22T09:37:00.000-04:00

We had a nice evening last night, Mister G lounged on our laps getting puppy massages...

Lobster Lights I picked up with Mom at the Christmas Tree Shoppe.

Mister Garden Party snapped this photo of our tiki torches, & elephant ears...

Miami

2007-07-19T12:50:00.000-04:00

This is what I'd love to see every morning when I look out my window- just a lush messy Floridian landscape...without having to live there would be ideal.

Things

2007-07-19T10:46:00.000-04:00

When I first arrived in Kolkata this past June, I accepted a ride from a rowdy taxi driver. On our way to the Fairlawn Hotel (which I highly recommend if ever visiting) we passed by a small shop that sold all kinds of children's games, kiddie bric-a-brac, and colors suspended in mid-air.

I asked the driver if we were nearing the hotel, so I could walk back later and buy up the shop- there was no sense in trying to explain that I wanted to stop and make a purchase, so I remembered each turn, a few landmarks, to make my way back later that afternoon. The suspended colors were Indian blow-up animals held up with fishing wire; I imagine they're for the swimming pool, but they were so colorful, so filled with life I just had to have them. Right now they're resting on our Cubitec Shelves, but soon I will hang them from the ceiling in our guest bathroom.

Pumpkins

2007-07-19T10:40:00.001-04:00

Pumpkin leaves are popping up only after a week of being planted!

Roses

2007-07-19T09:40:00.000-04:00

Our Rose Bush in Full Bloom this past May, Mom trimming away...

Our Backyard

2007-07-19T09:14:00.000-04:00

We're in the midst of garden clean-up, Mister Garden Party with the help of my parents trimmed & shaped our rose bush, I was nervous about this, but there's so much new growth, I can't wait to see it bloom again next June!

After a recent trip to Alabama, fleas became Mister G's (he's our Brussels Griffin puppy) best friend, so we decided to rip all of his favorite chewy grass out- it's a good hideaway for bugs.

Ex-Large Elephant Ear

2007-07-18T22:08:00.000-04:00

I've always been enamored by elephant ears since I took a trip to the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens about two years ago. I saw the large bulbs in a cardboard box, I picked one up, clueless to what was waiting to grow inside. I travel a few times a year to Miami, I just love all of the tropical plants covering the landscape.

These were the first to be planted, and in about two months they're reaching three feet high...

Peppers

2007-07-18T20:42:00.000-04:00

Seeds

2007-07-18T20:38:00.001-04:00

Detroit Dark Red Beets, Jack O'Lantern Pumpkins, Big Max Pumpkins

Basil and Cilantro

2007-07-18T20:32:00.000-04:00

These are little basil leaves growing on the left- the cilantro has yet to pop up...