a trip to Roseville's Smith and Hawkins store

A quick dash in to see the new store that opened in October. What catches my do-it-yourselfer eye are two concrete products. Not that I could do-it-myself, but it gets me interested...
The first is lovely...a simple, elegant concrete water basin. If I were a bird I'd want one of these...
These pots are also lovely...rich and strong and striking.

There are some nursery sales going on....

At Windmill Nursery, some absolutely great deals thru November 30!

Their regularly priced roses (around $28) are 2 for one. Can't beat it!


At High Hand Nursery in Loomis more super deals BUT their sale is only thru this Sunday, November 23rd...a 4-flag Blow-out Sale: yellow = $25, green = $50, orange = $100, blue = $150 (with multi-flag discounts...ooh, the math!). Could these succulents be on sale??????

If their sale discounts aren't enough to get you into action, check out their newly expanded menu which just started November 20th!


On A Final Note: It's not too late, but this really is the last hurrah for fall planting! If you want some daffs or dutch iris, or crocus planted...you can do that as well, and, if you want someone to plant them for you, call Geno's Garden. Yea...that's me. Email me at genosgarden@aol.com, or call (916) 764-5243.

Back to the Redwood Barn

...back to the vets in Davis (wah!), a side trip to the nursery (yea!)...more pictures of those charming outhouses for tools! I love the details...the middle house comes with an extra pie tin for the new owner so they can create their own design.
I love the unique features, like this moon......and this handle.

Only a little weathered card tells about who made them...Urban Forest Products...a father and son creating functional art from recycled materials in Davis and the Yolo County Dump.

A Visit to the BBC Gardener's World

photo from BBC Gardening

I love buying gardening magazines, especially ones from other countries! So, imagine my thrill finding one of the blokes from the BBC Gardener's World mag talking about taking hardwood cuttings on their T.V. show.
Here it is, Rose Multiplication!

Lettuce Have Fresh Greens!

Here is my dad's old wheelbarrow planted with the lettuce starts I got at the Redwood Barn Nursery in Davis...it has rust holes for drainage.

I think of it as my "cut and come again" salad (with a few Swiss Chard transplants). The only problem is as the days get shorter and wetter and darker, it's not much fun to muck out to the veggie garden. Wait, it's a wheelbarrow...I'll just wheel it closer to the back door.

Houseplants That Can Take The Chill

(from the Christian Science Monitor blog...linked below)

My man, who's been an online editor for years, keeps his eye out for me now that I'm hooked on blogging. So, he sends me this post from the Christian Science Monitor blog. (...also sent me an article about green roofs which is quite intriguing...a new trend that I want to explore... not that I'm planting daisies on my roof anytime soon!)
Houseplants that can take the chill | csmonitor.com

Plant Driven Design Seminar & Garden Study Tour Friday - Saturday, November 7-8

Book cover photograph for Plant-Driven Design: Creating Gardens That Honor Plants, Place, and Spirit by Lauren Spring Ogden and Scott Ogden

Several years ago I visited the Ruth Bancroft Garden in Walnut Creek. I was a special guest student at the Perennial Plant Association annual meeting, and got the opportunity to attend workshops and visit numerous private and public gardens. I also got to rub elbows with a host of professional gardening-type folk...a garden books acquisition editor...Becky of Brent and Becky's Bulbs...a curator at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History (who told me about how they received their butterfly chrysalis and had to string them upside down)...the editor of Hort Mag. I believe this event, which is also co-sponsored by the Garden Conservancy and Pacific Horticulture, will be that kind of an experience. Great company, inspiring gardens and wonderfully educational!