Air Plant Memories

When I was a little kid I bought an air plant that had been glued to a seashell that was then glued to a refrigerator magnet. The lady at the seaside gift shop told me to water it by putting water in my mouth and then spraying it out onto the plant in a fine mist. That was terrible advice to give a five year old. There was spat out water all over the kitchen floor every week. The plant never got watered properly and died pretty soon. Really disappointing at the time. It's taken decades for me to revisit the air plant.

Review: Round up of the Halls Single Cold Frame

Last winter I got the Halls Single Cold Frame for a Christmas present. I had wanted a cold frame for a a couple years, but it was hard to justify buying one when I live in such a mild climate (Sunset zone 21 or 23). However, it was very easy to demand one from a sibling who has much greater earning power than me. I'm on year two now, and I can definitively say that even in a mild climate a cold frame can still be really helpful for getting a jump on sowing Summer annuals.

Mini film can succulent planter

 

A quick addendum to those film can succulent centerpieces we made last year.

Film cans are really variable in size both because of the width of the film and the length of the reel. Recently I acquired this adorable, wee film can that was for a TV show opening and closing footage. I made another planter for a friend out of it. Check out how cute it turned out...

Seed packet info- a look at a few envelopes

I'm kind of a freak about good packaging, because I'm a nerd and like to read all instructions thoroughly, no matter what the product. So it's no surprise that I like a lot of info on my seed packets. I don't know how much of a practical crutch it is at this point, because I could probably remember on my own how most things are supposed to be planted. But I like having that info nearby in print just in case for quick reference. For a new gardener, accurate and thorough label info can be very important. It certainly was for me since I didn't own a lot of gardening books initially. So I thought I'd go over a few seed packets that I've accumulated and see how useful their labeling is...