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!

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!

Hillsides Filled With Echium Pininana In Devil's Slide

As we were about to enter the Devil's Slide trail in Pacifica, CA, which I posted about here, I could not believe my eyes......... hillsides filled with tall cone like plants that truly looked like something only seen in Dr, Suess's imagination, not actually in real life! Wow, wow wow, it truly felt like I'd landed on another planet! Upon closer inspection, I did realize that this plant had quite a few similarities to my beloved Pride of Madeira which is also a coastal plant that does equally well in Northern Israel. Pride of Madeira is called Echium Candicans, namely in the Echium family, and when I got home and researched this plant, voila, Echium Pininana, so they are cousins. What can I say, hoping to capture this amazing plant dotting the hillsides in a painting or illustration and maybe I'll find some to enjoy in Israel sometime! Enjoy this little introduction to Echium Pininana!

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!

Gum Rock Rose, Cistus, The Flowering Shrub Of My Childhood!

On our recent trip to the San Francisco Bay Area I had a deja vu moment when I first spied this pink flower........it is THE most memorable flower from my childhood as we had some bushes lining the driveway and who can forget sticky leaves! I had truly forgotten about this tissue paper-like bloom, and I was so surprised when it just popped back into my consciousness! It really is quite remarkable, and unique, though like any drought tolerant blooming bush, likely used so much that folks might just tire of it? Really, a pink bloom like this? So maybe one bush will do, but do look into gum rock rose for your garden or even container garden! Okay, lets learn a bit more about this beauty, shall we?

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.

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. Plus, adding outdoor wall fountains will also serve as their source for drinking water and will add more aesthetic value to your garden. 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!