Studiology

Happy Halloween!

I have lit my 3 carved pumpkins. They are flickering away on a cool October evening. 

I used a flash light to photograph them. Just a little splash of light here and there. 

Halloween, my favorite time of year. 

BWAH HA HA HA...........!

Photography Class

On Saturday, November 10th I will be giving a class on the how to use your DSLR (digital single-lens reflex) camera. This is a basic, beginners class, explaining camera functions. Not specific to any particular camera type, more about understanding the various dials, what they mean and how to use them. I will talk about the technical side but also the creative side. 

The class will be held at The Center for the Arts in Manassas, VA. The class begins at 10:00 and ends at 4:00 with a break for lunch on your own in Manassas. If time and weather permits, we will go out and do a little shooting. The cost is $129.00 for members of the Center and $144.00 for others. 

Bring your camera and manual. Here is a link to register:

https://secure.center-for-the-arts.org/registration/viewclass.aspx?id=DigP-2

 

 

Pumpkins

Since Halloween is only days away, I thought I would post some pumpkin pictures. This is another fabulous display at Terrain Nursery in Pennsylvania. 

Glass eyes go a long way. Just make a couple of  little holes on a warty pumpkin and pop them in.

I tried these stick on rhinestones, they didn't work so well, but the dracula mouth piece did.

 Thursday is "The Dark Side of Plants" presentation at Fairlington Community Center. Remember to RSVP if you are going and a past post will give details. I don't want to give anything away, but it's disturbing. Some hints? There will be plant torture, the black garden and a few spiritual advisors. 

Mama Chicken Hatches Guineas

An incubation of guinea eggs this summer did not turn out so well. As it goes with guineas, you have to keep some coming  because everything in the world wants to eat them. We are down to 12 from a healthy 26 this spring. A hawk got one (well at least one that we saw), there were some foxes, probably plenty of foxes. It's usually the female that dies as she sits on her ground nest for 28 days. One guinea pair moved to the monks property in front of ours and nested near Route 50. As it usually goes, just days before eggs would have hatched, something got her in the night. So the male moved back and joined the crowd of mostly males. We were only able to hatch 4 in one incubation and a female guinea actually hatched 5 (in a raised bed with fencing around) but was sloppy and killed one, so we took them and raised them ourselves. We understand they aren't always the best parents.

My husband has been doing some research and read that chickens make better guinea mothers, so he stole a nest full of fresh guinea eggs and put them under a broody chicken. It takes 21 days for chicken eggs to hatch (versus 28 for guineas) and like clock-work, she jumped off of those eggs on day 21 and ran around basically saying that she was done, finished. Amazing, they can count! Fortunately she changed her mind and went back to the nest box. So on day 27, 9 new guineas hatched and our chicken mother has been phenomenal!  I have never watched how a chicken cares for her young, so I have been fascinated. She tends to stand, legs bent, just high enough for the babies to gather under her, but low enough to keep them warm. She clucks at them as warning when we come around or they wander too far. She is teaching them how to scratch and look for food, sometimes knocking a few down in her enthusiasim. Guineas don't usually scratch like chickens, so this will be interesting. 

The other chickens are midly curious. This is Lucille looking on.

So with any luck, we will have young guineas, possibly very confused young guineas. Call them chiguineas. 

Helloooo

Next Thursday, October 25th I will be at the fabulously renovated Fairlington Community Center in Arlington for a repeat of "The Dark Side". This is a reminder that you should RSVP for the lecture, you can call (703) 228-6414 or email [email protected]. The presentation starts at 6:30.

The address for the Fairlington Community Center is:

3308 South Stafford Street

Arlington, VA 22206

Digging and StoringTender Bulbs

If you want to save some of your tender bulbs by storing them for spring, there is a relatively new method that is easy and successful. In the past, if you wanted to save bulbs and roots, it usually meant layering them in large containers with peat moss. This was especially true for dahlias and it was the American Dahlia Society that first accepted this new method, something they don't do on a whim. You will need sulfur, vermiculite and plastic wrap. Some of the bulbous rooted plants I have successfully stored with this technique are dahlias, cannas, alocasia, colocasia, tuberose, and acidanthera,so you see it works for a great many plants. 

I prefer to dig up the roots before we have frost, we have already had a light frost (unexpectedly early), so it's definately time to get going. You have to remember that many of these tender bulbs are tropical and cold soil temperatures can set them back. Today I dug my tuberoses, cannas, alocasias and colocasias. Wash off the roots and let them dry in the sun.

The colocasia roots will often have a rhizome with baby tuber on the end, you can keep it intact or separate them. The tuberoses (right) have become very expensive, the few I dug today would be worth about $100. come spring, so YES, I'm going to save them.

Cannas need some wrestling to get them all out of the ground. I love Canna 'Bengal Tiger' and it's not always easy to find, so I dig them up every year.

Mix 1 part powdered sulfur to 8 parts vermiculite in a plastic bag.

I suggest you take off your jewelry, the sulfur turns all things silver - black. Cut the leaves off, as low as you can go. The remaining roots are tossed in the bag and coated by shaking. The roots will come out looking very yellow.

It's important that you give the roots a night to dry, preferably in a warm place. I sometimes coat them again the next day, if I see places that were missed. Lastly you wrap them in plastic wrap individually, don't let 2 bulbs or rhizomes touch. Masking tape works great to label what's in each bundle. I prefer to store the tropical roots in a warm place. I have found that the wall beside my freezer works well. Dahlias can be stored on the cool side, like 40 degrees.

As you store your sulfur/vermiculite mix for next year, you will find that the mix usually needs more sulfur, it seems to stick to the roots more readily. I keep the bag in the garden shed, ready for the next fall, when my tuberoses will be huge!

Show Reception

Friends and family came out for the big show at The Center for the Arts in Manassas. Holley was the caterer and she did another fabulous job. 

She even brought a gorgeous flower arrangement.

My daughter and family were there, including precious Felicity, my granddaughter.

My daughter Rebecca teaches art and Felicity is becoming quite the art appreciator.

The venue is wonderful, I am very proud to have my work hanging there, especially with Linda Carlson as my cohort. 

Here are a few as they hang:

This is one of my favorites from Linda:

The show hangs until October 26th. Here is a link to the center:

http://www.center-for-the-arts.org/

Chanticleer Gardens

On the outskirts of Philadelphia there is a fantastic garden, located in Wayne, PA, it's inspirational on so many levels and if you've ever gone to my lectures, you know I love Chanticleer Gardens. The first time I visited I was so excited that I returned 5 more times that year. That was about 10 years ago, when I still had the plant farm and I loved seeing so many new and exciting plants used in so many different ways. 

There are still great plants, great containers, and gardens that are always changing. The tea cup garden was full of towering banana trees (with dark trunks), underplanted with a black leafed colocasia. 

This garden had always held low growing plants, it was startling to see it with tall things. It changed the dynamics of the open patio space. Before it was something you looked down on or past and suddenly you are in a corner or in a private space with walls behind you and essentially walls in front of you. The banana is a new variety called the Thai black banana and it's very striking. So, did I like it? Well, I could get used to it.

In typical Chanticleer style, the containers are extraordinary. There was a papyrus in a water bowl with floating flowers and vines.

And check out these containers with succulents.

The colchicums were flowering in the lawn, something I have seen several times and always love.

The gravel garden was chock full of good things including a few plants I had never seen before. This Liatris elegans was glorious. Reminded me of an echium.

The muhly grass and love grass made this fluff, this awesome fluff.

The ruin garden was the highlight for me. The walls were really softening with plants that had matured. In addition, the reflecting table had a new addition, a worn mirror, surrounded by sphagnum and drippy plants, which reflected  in the water. 

The ribbon garden contained dwarf sorghum this year and alongside the edges were willows with their branches twisted and braided, weighted down with stones. It was fantastic!

A passing shot of our group enjoying a remarkable garden.

Chanticleer is open Wednesday to Sunday from 10 t0 5. 

 786 Church Road, Wayne, PA 19087

Closing November 4th.

http://www.chanticleergarden.org 

Longwood Gardens and Terrain Nursery

I found time to make one last visit to Longwood Gardens before the Bill Munro light show finished. My prior visit in August was fabulous but there was more to see.  I made it to the water towers which are stacked water bottles with fiber optic lights inside. The cylinders play music, which is just fabulous in the middle of the wildflower meadow. 

What you don't realize by looking at still photography is how the lights change colors. A subtle glow of pink becomes blue or yellow and it moves in slow motion. The lights near the Italian fountains number in the thousands as they surround an area under large trees.

It was also the first time I have seen Longwood Gardens completely sold out. A very successful display and I am glad I was able to see it twice. 

Terrain Nursery is just down the road. It used to be Styers and is now Terrain at Styers. Their ability to put up interesting and creative displays is above and beyond. The assortments of pumpkins was exceptional. Here are some with various leaves glued to them.

The buildings themselves, which have plants growing out of wall sacks, were draped in gourds and pumpkins, strung on string.

Some of the buildings have plank shelving and simple pumpkin displays.

A trip to Longwood requires a stop off at Terrain... and Chanticleer Gardens (next blog)... and The Drafting Room, a restaurant/bar that has the best nachos you have ever eaten. Ever!

I love fall.