We haven’t quite reached the end of summer even though it’s already almost November and everyone’s asking me what are my plans for Thanksgiving.

The Victorian house I live in is surrounded by lots of well established roses which had their rose petals fall already.  This week I looked up at the rose bushes and saw these beautifully vibrant colored rose hips.  So I did what any horticulture blogger would do!  I harvested some of them.  I will get my neighbors involved if I like the outcome.  After I collected them, I asked my buddy Mark for recommendations on how to use the rose hips.  I consider him to be an expert in this field as he is English and has experience with growing roses.  His reccomendation was to brew the tea with dried rose hips or fresh ones.  After smelling the fresh rose hips, I have decided to let them dry out first.

On my trip to Monterey to visit my dad yesterday, I found these giant sunflowers bordering someone’s yard. They are much taker than me.. > 5.1feet. Enjoy the pictures! Ps… The stems were so strong and thick that the flowers apparently did not need any vertical support.

I was just visiting my Dad’s house in Monterey and sipping some Ridge wine out on the patio and noticed two large sunflowers in the backyard! We have no idea how the seeds got there because surely my Dad didn’t plant them. He’s not as interested in gardening as I am. Here are pictures of Dad’s sunflowers that appear to have edible seeds!

About a year ago, I was fantasizing about my dream house.  I was pondering weather to move back down to Monterey and live in Carmel.  My dream house would be a tiny Hansel and Gretel cottage (preferably with all the candy bits) with a garden in the back twice or thrice the size of the main dwelling itself.  There I would come home from work and spend most of my free time tending to my lusciously green garden.

Alas, I’ve moved once again.  Most of you might be guessing I am some sort of gypsy lady, but I promise you I am nothing of the sort.  Life happens…  Break ups happen.  And now being on my own in my own studio apartment downtown I can focus on my real passion, which is the roof top gardening.  It’s funny where life takes you.  I had to find a new place to live quickly (and I think I found it within a week).  I had put the word out and whether you want to call it karma or kismet, my good friend Geraldine found me her next door unit.  It’s a tiny studio, however the “roof/deck” is perfect for my gardening.  I get tons of sun which is a great blessing.  I still have the same plants but added new loot to my collection from Lowes last night.

Here are a few pictures I snapped this morning.

I was dashing over to the Container Store at Santana Row and noticed these beautiful flowers hanging from the palm trees. I was so impressed at the arrangement of the flowers bursting from their pots, that I had to share a picture.

Wikipedia Entry for Lithops

My only two orchids needed some TLC.  Bob the Orchid Whipserer, my new friend from the Master Gardeners’s class, offered to help me out and take a look at them.  I got some great information from Bob and got to see his amazing collection of exquisite orchids.

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I made a trip to Lowe’s in San Jose last week, where I have found the best prices for seeds.  They have a great selection of varieties as well.  My mission was to get flower seeds to attract beneficial insects and replenish my herb supply.  WARNING: FOXGLOVE IS VERY POISONOUS TO CATS AND DOGS.

I finally got around to planting all the seeds.  Now we sit back, wait,  and let the magic happen!

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I have slaughtered the aphids that almost sucked the life out of my demure and elegant rose!  In the following pictures you can see the aphids having expired, have fallen off the plant and lay dead.  🙂  I have also pruned the plant, because I did research on mildew and found that it was at the irreversible stage for the afflicted leaves.

Vanda Orchid

I have a confession, I love exotic orchids!

I was just driving back from Monterey to San Jose the other day and had time to kill. Whenever I make this commute I always drive by this huge sign called South Pacific Orchids by the Masten exit off 101 in Gilroy.  This day I decided to go on a mini adventure and find this orchid grower and check out his treasures. Lucky for me, I met the owner Dan who was so nice and informative about his business and orchid care!   The orchid prices ranged from $10-35.  Such a great deal!  The plants were in great health, obviously benefiting from Dan’s TLC and expert knowledge of orchids. There was such a fantastic selection of varieties I’ve never seen at the Safeways or Trader Joes’s.  I was so impressed!  Then I spotted an extra exotic flower hanging from the ceiling.  I had to have it!  Dan informed me that this orchid is named Vanda and told me to spray it with water everyday.  I’ve been spraying the roots down everyday religiously!  The flowers are just sooo beautiful!

I can not wait to go back to South Pacific Orchids and add to my exotic orchid collection!

Later when I finally got home our landlord’s parents paid Christian and I a visit to look at some power outlet issues we had at the loft.  The mother saw the new gem of my garden and got so excited.  I showed her my patio and it quickly became evident she was very knowledgeable in orchids and gardening.  She started giving me recommendations as to placement of my plants in relation to the sun exposure my patio gets.  Her suggestion was that I put the orchid in a shady location under a tree.  So as you can see, I have followed her advice and done just that.  She also told me to move my rose out into the sunniest area.  Perhaps keeping the rose in the shade is what caused it to get the mildew fungus in the first place.

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