creative jewish mom

Stunning Variegated Bougainvillea Bushes Grow In The Galil, Israel

Wow, when I saw this bougainvillea bush with variegated leaves during our recent stay on Kibbutz Harduf, I just could not believe my eyes. I thought I new just about everything about bougainvillea, but apparently not! It is widely available online, but I have not yet been able to find any info about it, and we are now heading out for more adventures! I can say that just as soon as the shemittah year is over (at rosh HaShana) and I can once again garden this is a plant on my list to purchase as it is truly stunning! The leaves remind me of my bower vine and the blooms are classic bougainvillea, just lovely! Keep on reading for some more photos!

Canna Blooms In My Container Garden

In the middle of July, both red leafed and green leafed Canna blooms in my container garden in Northern Israel! Okay, not a dense collection of blooms, but rather just a few, but I'll take it! And I'm really loving the height of the red leafed Canna this year, fabulous! I have noticed that Canna is a favorite around the world as a container plant for planters within a city, because the leaves are so large it makes a great "thriller" meaning dramatic and tall element in a planter with other types of plants that are "fillers" and "spillers" and it is also easy to propogate meaning for all that bang, it is likely not so expensive and so cities can buy huge quantities to fill all kinds of planters and park beds. I always wonder whether the tubers are dug up and saved to make more plants, or just tossed? In my neck of the woods, the Canna does die back in the winter, but comes back each spring with beautiful new leaves and eventually flowers, either bright red, or yellow, as you can see here. So do consider adding some Canna to your life, after all who can't use some thrillers in the form of lovely plants?

A Peak Into My Northern Israel July Container Garden Blooms!

We are in the 7th year in Israel, a year called "shmittah" in which we let the land rest, and while this also applies to my container garden, it does not mean that I need to let the plants die, but rather tending to them in a more minimal way than usual. Of course my poor container garden often gets forgotten when I'm busy with my art, but yesterday I stepped outside to a variety of delightful blooms that I just had to share with you! Nothing densely flowering, but each little flower is lovely and appreciated! In the photo above, yes, my wonderful little daisy plants that re-seed and reflower year after year, are just so wonderful, especially since I have them at the base of larger plants, like a lemon tree and tall bougainvillea. Okay, shabbos is coming, so lets quickly take a look at a few other flowers now in bloom in my container garden in Northern Israel in July!

White Daisies That Fill Containers Year After Year!

I'll admit, my poor container garden, while quite large, does get neglected now and again, and I have mostly filled pots with large plants that perform well with low effort on my part! The lemon tree that I've had for a good ten years at least, generally looks good, though it looks even better when the bottom of the pot is filled with something in bloom. Hello daisies, look at them now! (Well actually in November.) While I don't know the name of these particular daisies, they are small and grow in rounded clusters, and in our climate, despite some near freezing temperatures, they reseed and come back every year! It does take quite a few months to get this full look, but who can complain? So friends, next time you decide you need some flowers in your life, say to fill the bottom of a pot holding a tall tree of some kind, give daisies a try! If you go for daisies that stay relatively small like these, you can always up root them, and overwinter them indoors or in a green house. There were years when my pot was filled with pink daisies, that reseeded themselves, but somehow the white ones took over, and of course I can't complain as long as there are flowers!

Here in Israel, we are not planting as it is the shemittah year, the year in which we let the fields rest (and so too our gardens) but right after Rosh HaShana, I'll be running to the nursery! Mostly to replace a lemon verbena bush the husband drowned a few months ago, sadly, and one that I left out when it was way too cold for it......and such is life! Keep on reading for another photo of my daisies!

How To Choose Pots For Succulents

Succulents make amazing pets, truly! They come is so many amazing varieties, have a great range of size, and require very little care. Plus you can talk to them and they won't talk back! Ah yes, and they are so very simple to propagate, so if you like you can make gifts for friends, or simply amass your own huge collection quite easily. And of course, if you are looking for some really great looking outdoor accents, assuming it doesn't freeze where you live (or you have a greenhouse and pots on casters) succulents (as well as plants in the cactus family including agave and yucca) may just be your answer! While it is true, the succulents given just enough water generally don't need much care, but they can get too big for their pots or most often, too leggy, meaning some pruning (which leads to more baby plants) is generally necessary. Of course, this article is about choosing pots for your succulents, so lets get back to that!

The Cyclamen That Didn't Stop Blooming!

This is the best cyclamen plant I've ever owned as it just will not stop blooming! Okay, honestly it took a tiny break during the early summer, having bloomed non-stop from December to May or so, and then after that short rest, it started blooming once again, and now 5 months later it is just starting to look like it may need a rest. No complaints, I received this as a Chanukah gift in 2020 and it has been such a wonderful addition to our entry courtyard! I even left it on that table as a succah decoration! Yes, I have a sidetable next to my front door, because it is under an overhang, and just happens to be perfect for holding a plants. The side table was actually found on the street years and years ago, and back then I was actively doing mosaics with broken tile, so the top got a mosaic treatment that is still going strong 20 plus years  later! Keep on reading to see more......

Houseplants 101: The Money Tree, Pachira Aquatica

Isn't this Pachira Aquatica Money Tree houseplant great looking? I can't take the credit for choosing it, as it was on the kitchen counter in our airbnb in San Francisco. Of course I can take the credit for realizing that I ought to share it with you! And I have to admit, while I have not been a fan of terra cotta pots lately, this looks fantastic, and is such a great compliment to the exposed red brick wall. So, I'm rethinking the terra cotta pot friends. I don't think it will fit into my Moroccan style black white gold and aqua theme, but who knows! And regarding this plant's name, i just did a bit or research and discovered that while money trees, are considered to be a symbol of luck and prosperity, but they haven't been for all that long. This doesn't date back centuries, like we might expect, but rather, to the 1980s! The braided money tree as we know it was actually first cultivated then by a truck driver in Taiwan, and quickly became popular in Japan and East Asia, also becoming associated with the Chinese practice of Feng Shui. Okay, maybe we need to come up with our own money plant, right?

Okay, lets learn a little bit about how to care for a money plant, should you be blessed with one anytime soon. Here in Israel we generally aren't buying new plants this year, as we are in the Shemittah year, the year in which according to Jewish law we need to let the fields rest, and this extends to our personal gardens at the very least in that we aren't busy with it! So, while I'd love a plant like this, I don't recall seeing any in my area, and it will have to wait a year in any case. Okay, get out those green thumbs......

Foxtail Agave Makes A Stunning Container Garden Addition

I just love Agave, and was so happy to see them in gardens and container gardens all over San Francisco, during our visit this past July. I'll admit I first became aware of them because they are used and grown in abundance in Australia, and I just so happen to follow the design/gardening scene on that huge continent via a very lovely site called the Design Files. Lest I digress, Australians love all things Californian, and now vice versa, the Agave has caught on in California, well northern at least, and it looks amazing! Lets take a closer look at this great looking plant, that by the way can also be grown in a huge clear glass vase, as Australians do! (This may not be long term though, so maybe don't try it on an expensive plant, but rather if  you have a bunch in the yard!

Narrow-leaf Chalksticks, Senecio Vitalis Makes A Great Bedding Plant

We are now in the shemittah year in Israel, meaning we are letting the land rest, so no gardening, or at least no planting for me this year, but I can surely dream right? Plus, right now we are in the middle of Succot, when there is no crafting, so a great time to share some of my gardening discoveries from our trip to the USA this August, including this wonderful succulent, Senecio Vitalis!

This popular, ornamental spreading evergreen succulent plant hails from the Eastern Cape of South Africa and is a member of the Asteraceae family. Narrow-leaf chalksticks are both bedding plant and succulent, which is a great mix! I recently saw this large succulent bush, planted at the base of a japanese plu, and it was lovely indeed! It is deer-resistant and naturalizes easily in a wide variety of settings. It is a great choice for Mediterranean gardens, succulent gardens or rock gardens when paired with Kalanchoe, Agave or large Aloe. It does well as a bedding plant or border plant. It is an interesting choice in containers and even hanging baskets, but it does not do well when grown indoors as a house plant. Okay, lets learn a bit more about this interesting choice, (also referred to as Blue Chalk Fingers, Blue Chalk Stick, and Narrow-leaf Chalksticks), for your garden, shall we?

An Amazing Succulent: Rock Purslane

I love gardens and all things botanical and I am always on the lookout for interesting plants and great garden design, where ever our travels take us! The love for all things drought tolerant is particularly strong in California, by necessity, but also because so many of the drought tolerant species are just downright wonderful. I thought I was somewhat well versed regarding succulents, but apparently not, as an amazing succulent called Rock Purslane, somehow flew under my radar, has now come to my attention and wow, wow, wow! Look at those amazing vibrant pink flowers on tall stalks! I'm sold, of course we are now in the shemittah year here in Israel, meaning no new additions to my garden anytime soon, but I can dream! The really really amazing thing is that the leaves of the Rock Purslane look almost identical to the leaves of the Oribe Gorge succulent that is a part of my container garden, check it out here.