Creativity Tip No. 30



Notoce how I planted a verbena and snap dragons protectively around the purple dahlia, hopefully so that the deer won't munch on it's purple-y goodness. We'll see how that works out!



Finally. . .finally. . . I got some some of my flowers planted.They had been sitting in their small pots for a couple of weeks or more, drying up and looking at me for rescue.

I planted the main pots on the front porch, and a couple of smaller ones sitting atop a driveway retention wall. I didn't get to the pots on the back deck yet, because I ran out of flowers. I actually under-bought --  which is a new experience for me at this time of year. I will have to run out and see what I can find to plant in the back before this weekend.

I enjoy seeing the beautiful blooming plants in their new homes, and am reminded of just how pretty summer can be. Creatively speaking, I tried to use the old pots I have on hand rather than buy any new ones. It's just part of my mindset to save and renew and reuse and all that good 'green" stuff.

Yeasty Events

As mentioned before on this blog, a lot of people got together via FaceBook and other sites to honor our moms by knitting andf crocheting charity items. This is a photo of some of the items that will be donated that were crafted during the first two weeks of May. They include chemo caps for children and adults, baby hats for preemies, neckwarmers for adults, scarves, and a multitude of beautiful flowers to brighten up anyone's day.

We plan to do this again next year, so if you are interested, please keep in touch.

Creativity Tip No. 29

Hellebores: Hardy Plants Deer Don't Like

A friend forwarded some info to me on a perennial I had not heard of, but which is supposed to be deer-resistant. And it grows in the shade!

Hellebores have been around for awhile, but I can't remember seeing any of these multi-colored beauties at local nurseries. No matter. You can order them online, and it still may be worth a visit to some of your closer large nurseries to see if they are growing them for sale.

The flowers are colorful and interesting and look substantial. And they are hardy. According to Barry Glick of Sunshine Farms and Gardens, Renick, WVA, as quoted in Pittsburgh Magazine by Doug Oster:  He has "never seen the plants eaten by deer, although some gardeners in our area have noticed some deer damage". He laughed when I asked him why he grows hellebores. “Why not? They’re not bothered by insects or disease, and grow in the densest shade or even light sun. They bloom in February, March, April and May when nothing else is blooming. They make a huge clump of evergreen foliage, and they will live over 100 years. They are almost a perfect plant.”
As soon as I can figure out how to pronounce the word hellebores I will go out and search for some to plant in my backyard where the deer have staked a claim to anything that blooms.

Creativity Tip No. 28

I was out and about today enjoying looking at flowers at several locales, trying to scope out what's new and different. I'm not sure I found anything really new, but all of the stores look absolutely beautiful right now.

As per my blog yesterday where I mentioned deer resistant plants, I did notice that some of the plants on sale had tags that listed whether they would be eaten to the ground by deer or might possibly be safe from ravaging deer.

We can do them one better as we get ready to turn our creative spotlight on our gardens. On a website created by Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station, there is a list of "Landscape Plants Rated by Deer Resistance". No longer do we have to wonder if the plants we want to use in our gardens will only serve as deer nibbles (all the while keeping in mind that no plants are totally deer-proof. But we can hope!)

One thing I noticed when looking through the extensive list was that snapdragons ARE deer resistant. So I will go ahead and plant them near the porch again this year and keep my fingers crossed.

To check out your plants, visit the Rutgers website.

Creativity Tip No.27

Flower Shopping!

After enjoying two and a half nice days in a row here, I'm getting itchy to go out and buy some flowers. I've decided that since a lot of my pots from past years haven't survived that I will pick up a few bigger pots and call it a garden.

Since I really can't plant any flowers in the ground here because they just serve as appetizers for the nightly deer herd, I am limited to what I can fit on the front porch and the deck.

So I have some pots ready to be filled and some that need to go out with the next garbage day and will add a couple more to the collection.

I generally buy impatiens as they seem invincible -- and I do bravely plant some snapdragons at the base of the front porch steps where the deer haven't bothered them (yet).

How about you? What do you plant on your share of the planet? Anything new this year? Anything that is deer-resistant?

I would love to hear from you about your spring plantings.

Yeasty Events: Cinco de Mayo

Happy Cinco de Mayo, the Fifth of May! Today marks the day in the U.S. to celebrate the pride and unity created by Mexico's victory over France in a battle in 1862, a glorious moment for the country.

Great food is part of the celebration, and so we are having Taco Night at our house, but with an American slant for dessert -- apple pie.

That's the great thing about America -- we borrow the wonderful tastes of other cultures and make them our own. As Brad Paisley says in his song, American Saturday Night:: You know every place has somethin' they're known for, although usually it washes up on our shore. . .

That makes us very lucky indeed.

Yeasty Events

Yeasty was featured on a great website staffed by eight terrific authors. They are the creators of the Jungle Red Writers website and I was honored to be included as a guest blogger.

I love the energy on the site, and you can tell by reading just how much the women care for each other and about writing and creativity.

To read my blog featuring some creativity tips that work for me -- at least sometimes!, please visit the website and scroll down to the post for April 30, 2011.

Enjoy!