creative jewish mom

Hello Prague: Geraniums Add Whimsy To Historic Architecture

No matter where our travels take us, as a container gardening enthusiast I am always on the lookout for lovely window boxes and container gardens, commercial or not, and I often share these finding with you here. Our visit to Prague last October was no exception, and while the city does not seem to invest in numerous public installations of flowers on a large scale, there were sweet displays of colorful flowers, mostly in the form of window boxes, and overwhelmingly geraniums, here and there, prompting me to pull out my camera. So, as I continue sharing my photos from our trip a full year ago, lets pause for a moment and enjoy the charm that geraniums bring! I'll admit, once upon a time I looked down on geraniums as too commonplace, but now as an experienced container gardener I highly recommend them for their long blooming period, ease of propogation and variety of color and type. There are pillar geraniums which grow on tall stalks, and there are also trailing geraniums and then there are all the others that are neither trailing or upright, but something in between. If you have freezing winters in your neck of the world, cuttings from geraniums are taken before the first snowfall, and new plants are grown indoors or if you are lucky, in a greenhouse, until spring, when you can replant them outdoors. Okay, lets get inspired to include some geraniums in our lives, as who doesn't love non-stop blooms and bright flowers?

DIY Rope Or Twine Wrapped Plant Pot

Since I've been talking about gardening this week I thought I'd share a super simple way to turn a basic plant pot, even a plastic one straight from the nursery, into a show stopper! If you are like me and you love houseplants, keeping them all in nice pots can be costly not to mention downright inconvenient, especially when you start getting interested in propogating, which results in even more plants! So regardless of your budget, this simple DIY twine wrapped pot is a great little trick to pull out of your sleeve when you want to make rustic centerpieces, give a plant gift, (to someone who may plant it outdoors) or spread the joy with all the baby plants you've created from cuttings! There are so many ways to go when it comes to making your plant collection look great, and sometimes that means adding a pot or two that are quite different from the rest. So, lets learn how to transform a simple pot into an ethnic/rustic/boho inspired one!

9 Easy DIY Snacks That Will Attract Birds to Your Garden​​​​​​​

With all the stress and uncertainty in the world right now cultivating simple activities that bring joy is a really great idea. Feeding birds and learning about the bird species that are local to your area is a great activity and exciting for kids as well as adults. Learning about what food will attract specific birds is also interesting, especially the first time you spot a new bird species feeding on food you've put out for him! And best of all, you really don't need a garden to feed birds, you just need a place to hang a bird feeder, or a DIY bird snack, preferably near a window so you can witness your little visitors. Birds have to look for food every day regardless of the season, so you can quite easily attract them to your garden by offering them a little something! With the right DIY snack in your bird feeder; you can attract a wide range of colorful and interesting birds to your garden, so lets learn how to prepare a variety of delicious bird snacks to feed the birds in your neck of the woods, it may just become your favorite hobby!

7 DIY Projects That Will Upgrade Your Garden This Fall

Fall is here and the cold season is approaching (well in some parts of the world anyway), it doesn’t mean that you have to ignore your garden entirely. The plants may be sleeping, or heading in that direction, and this time of the year, when temperatures are generally perfect for working outdoors, can be used to add some new and interesting touches to your outdoor areas. Winter passes quickly for most of us, and spring will be here sooner than you think, so why not start garden upgrades now, to enjoy once the weather warms up again? The garden is truly the best place to relax and have fun come spring, (or even year round, if you live in temperate zones) so spend some time nurturing the space that gives you so much joy, and consider an upgrade and get inspired by taking a look at the following 7 DIY projects to upgrade your garden this fall . Okay, lets get started!

Oleander In Bloom In Israel

Right about now I should be working on Succah decorations (truthfully I have enough in boxes in the attic for a few succahs, as you can imagine....) but instead I've been painting in my art journal and looking at some of my own photos for inspiration. Up the hill from my house and within our cobblestone paved "old city" sits this gated entrance, complete with a lovely oleander bush and a palm, that is so very picturesque and begging to be painted! Since I shared with you my oleander sketch earlier this week, I thought I would share photos of this special little spot, either as inspiration to plant some oleander, or to put paint brush or pen to paper, you decide!

Red Canna In Bloom

If you get excited when something blooms in your container garden, as we do, then make sure to always have plants in your life, as they bring you joy! The plant nursery is always like a "candy store" for me, and sometimes there are plants that I just can't resist. Of course if I happen to be with my husband on any trip to the nursery I have to keep things under control, but I have a girl's only trip planned with a friend within the next few weeks, and I may just have to treat myself a bit......and I'd say it is certainly better than buying shoes or an expensive purse, as so many others get to enjoy my plants as well, especially if they are in my container garden, which is mostly on a public access path.

Speaking of my container garden, I just love Canna, whether it be yellow canna or red canna or a combination of the two, and I currently have two large pots of yellow canna and one tiny pot of red canna. The canna is a tropical perrennial that dies back almost completely in the winter, (in my area) but comes back in the spring. The canna plant's roots are runners, which means when not in a container it can take over your garden, so do be aware of that. As far as growing them in containers it means that the plant will fill a large container in one season possibly and keep on pleasing for years to come. In areas with extreme winters, like in Canada, canna is enjoyed in summer containers everywhere, in fact I wanted to call the country Canna-da on account of the huge quantities of canna I saw there three years ago! Canna is amazing because of its very large and attractive leaves and its flowers, and the fact that it serves as a great vertical element in a container that is a mix of plants, though it also works well in beds.

Garden Crafts: DIY Rustic Tomato Cage From Sticks

While I have never grown cherry tomatoes, I do know that tomato plants of all kinds generally need support as the tomatoes can get quite heavy, causing the plant to fall over or even break otherwise. So, while the organic tomato seedlings I bought from a local homesteader a month or so ago have yet to actually grow to their expected 1 meter height or provide us with cherry tomatoes just yet, I figured I'd get started on a DIY cherry tomato cage made from sticks, as then hopefully the plant will have more confidence to keep on growing! And even if I wanted to run to the garden supply store and simply buy one of those commercially made wire tomato cages that are everywhere in the USA, well no such luck (fortunately). Instead I get the pleasure of whipping up my own MUCH lovelier version, and I am very happy with the results. I collected a huge bunch of sticks and my husband nearly threw them all out, as it took me over a week to actually get to the this project, but in the end together with the rustic stick garden trellis, I actually used up everything and need to collect some more to make a second tomato cage!  Ah yes, and of course this structure, which isn't exactly a tomato cage, but more like a garden obelisk, can be used for any plant that needs support or something to climb on. This is such a simple project, and will add a nice touch to your container garden or actual garden, so collect those sticks and make a bunch, you'll be very happy that you took my advice, promise!

Garden Crafts: DIY Trellis From Sticks

This year with all the time spent at home as a family, I've had time for some simple upgrades to my container garden due in part to the help of a few teen aged boys! At long last I planted some seeds right before Passover, though the only ones that actually sprouted were the morning glory seeds. This is fortunate as my built in planter (that had to be emptied to deal with water leakage) was looking quite empty, despite returning two standard rose buses to their original spot. Morning glories are trailing vines that need something to grow on, so I collected some long sticks in the forest area near our home, and made several low rustic DIY trellises to encourage the morning glory vines to fill the space below the rose bushes, well initially anyway! Not sure how large the vines will get, so we'll just have to wait and see if additional trellises or vertical supports will be necessary. At the moment the stick trellises are a bit empty, but I suspect that in a few weeks they will be filled with leaves, and maybe even some flowers? In the mean time I'm enjoying their rustic design, and am dreaming of some ladders and other rustic stick structures for my container garden. Want to make some yourself, it is as simple as can be, so lets do it!

Pride Of Madeira Blooms In Northern Israel

One of my favorite non-native yet very Mediterranean garden friendly plants is Pride of Madeira. I found some small plants at a local nursery years ago, and the tiny plants have become woody bushes/trees that bloom every Spring with gorgeous cone-shaped purple flower stalks. This year we had a very wet winter and so all the plants are blooming roughly a month late, which is fine by me, just now that the hot weather has arrived the blooms will likely not last as long, such is life. In any case, I've once again photographed the Pride of Madeira bush in a garden I designed a few years back, and it is lovely as ever.

Interestingly, Pride of Madeira (Echium candicans) is native only to the island of Madeira which lies in the Atlantic, southwest of Portugal. However, its rosettes of soft green leaves and dramatic spikes of blue-purple flowers, together with its drought tolerance have made it a landscaping favorite worldwide, including coastal California. (I have seen lots of it in Northern California, like at the Berkeley marina.) Just beware, as unfortunately, it occasionally escapes gardens and moves into wildlands where it eliminates the native plants that support  native birds and mammals. If you are interested in learning more, check out the link here, with photos of the plant in it's native environment! And if you are not a gardener, then maybe you like to paint or sketch and this one is a beauty to feature, right? Enjoy a little step into a garden in Northern Israel where Pride of Madeira steals the show every Spring.

Wisteria Blooms In Northern Israel

During the Passover holiday my daughter was itching to just get outside, so I sent her down the street to the garden I designed a few years back, with the mission of photographing the glorious wisteria in bloom! Wisteria blooms before there are any leaves on the vine, so it is truly spectacular, the only downside being that it just doesn't last long enough! This year the usual tour groups that gather in this location will most certainly not be coming, so this may be my chance to start the wisteria filled pergola for creating a shaded area with vines! I have seen this before, and it actually works really well, just not sure how long it takes! So with businesses now opening up again in Israel, I think we need to order some wisteria vines ASAP, note to self. How they'll be actually be supported is actually secondary to getting the vines in the ground now that Spring is here! Enjoy these photos and consider giving wisteria a try, if your winters are cold enough that is!