With Easter approaching there are so many things to do. Between tending to the garden, keeping the kids busy and decorating the house; there isn’t much time left to plan for dessert. I have been going through some blogs and websites to come up with some simple, yet fun Easter treat ideas to give me a little inspiration to create something beautiful and fun for my family. I hope they can be of help to you as well.
What a lovely day in the garden today! I spent part of my afternoon tending to my plant and preparing a location for an outdoor Dining Table we will be building soon. I love the way everything is coming together. I replaced a couple of plants in the backyard with some I bought from Lowe’s® and The Home Depot® (Shrubs, Succulents, Mini Roses, etc). I wasn’t the least surprised to find Curl Grubs beneath the roots of the plants.
Grevillea Noellii.
My evergreen Grevillea ‘Noellii’ is thriving on the side of the house in a very large ceramic planter we received from a wonderful neighbor. We placed it a few feet away from one of our bedroom windows and it’s always a delight watching it every morning. The plant is blooming with tiny lovely pink & white flowers.
Rosemary.
Rosemary! Had it not been for the stray cats I was trying to keep out from my property, I wouldn’t have fallen in love with this plant. I have always known of its culinary and medicinal uses, but I had never thought of using it as a decorative plant in my garden. I love its aroma and its delicate small blue flowers (they’ve always bloomed from Sprint to Fall). My next project will be to propagate as many as possible.
Purple Leaf Cherry Plum.
Above is my Purple Leaf Cherry Plum all in bloom and looking lovely. I picked it up at Lowe’s in 2010 at the discounted area, almost dead. I spent so much time and energy caring for it and I honestly wasn’t sure it would survive, but it did to my amazement and I am so grateful.
California Puppy.
Back in 2008, my husband got me some California Poppies and for some reason they didn’t make it (I guess it probably had something to do with the fact that he brought them from a different location and the poor plants couldn’t handle our harsh weather). Last December, after helping one of my next door neighbors to complete a task, he agreed to give me a couple California Poppies growing in his yard. I transplanted them right away and they are now flowering. I love the bright silky yellow flowers. Click here to learn about its uses, side effects and interactions.
Purple and Pink Tulips.
The Tulip bulbs I planted last Fall are starting to bloom. It was a pleasant surprise to wake up this morning and discover two gorgeous flowers staring back at us. My Daughter is so excited. She has a whole raised garden bed of her own which we planted last Fall as well and she is looking forward to seeing some beautiful blooms soon.
This afternoon we had another opportunity to work on a Family Decorative Project for my Son’s class. We had so much fun coloring the Easter Egg Canvas below. He was very specific on what he wanted and I think it turned out just wonderful. My kids are looking forward to decorating some Eggs for Easter.
Easter Egg Decorating Project.
Tomorrow, along with the other kids, they will be decorating some Eggs. He’s quite excited!
It seems like every time the weather changes, our fishes get some type of disease. After noticing some white spots on one of the fishes in the Tank, we rushed to Aquarium World in Apple Valley and bought Melafix®, an all-natural aquarium antibiotic, which helps heals open wounds & abrasions, treats fin and tail rot, eye cloud, mouth fungus and promotes regrowth of damaged fin rays & tissue. For use in fresh or salt water only.
Aquarium World is a lovely pet store. We bought our Blood Parrot Cichlid there three years ago and we’ve been there a few more times. Store owners Mike and Michelle are very friendly and helpful. They specialize in fresh and salt water Fish, exotic hard and soft Corals, Invertebrates (Crabs, Snails, Shrimps, Starfish, Urchin), African Cichlids, Community Fish as well as Live Rock. They carry a variety of reptiles, snakes, lizards, mice, crickets, worms and a wide selection of frozen food options, accessories, supplies and maintenance services.
Aquarium World. Apple Valley, CA
Address Location:
18838 Highway 18, Apple Valley, CA 92307 http://www.mnmcoraldepot.com Phone: 1 (760) 946-3474 Email: mnmcoraldepot@gmail.com
Today I finally pulled out what was left of my Snow White Tea Tree in my backyard. I have been suspecting for a while now that something wasn’t right with the plants and decided to give them a few more weeks. It turns out that some White Curl Grubs were happily and vigorously feeding on the roots of the plants which resulted in the plant’s death. I also pulled out what was left of my Crimson Rose Tea Tree which I was growing in a barrel in my front yard. They were beautiful drought-tolerant plants and a wonderful addition to my garden. I have had those plants for four years and every year, during this time, they would be covered in blooms.
It seems like every time I loose a plant in my garden, I get blessed with a new one from my garden. Just a few weeks ago, I discovered a Rose sucker around the base of one of my favorite Rosebush. Last year I gained two more Roses using the propagation by simple layering method. This year on the other hand, my ‘Little Pete’ Rose Tree has a Sucker which is rapidly growing just a small distance from the mother plant. I carefully removed it along with its roots and transplanted it in a pot to create a new Rosebush. My first thought was to just separate the sucker and the mother plant and allow both to grow along side, but I quickly realized that the space between both wasn’t enough to allow them to thrive. It’s such a beautiful Rose and I hope my new growth survives.
Click here, here and here to learn about Propagation by Simple and Tip Layering.
‘Little Pete’ Rose.
On a much happier note, we are weed free! I will blog about it in a different post and let you know how we got rid of weeds on our half-acre property in less than two weeks (using just a hoe, rake and a hand shovel).
By JM Perez
