Apartment Garden Blues (Blog): Taking a Home and Garden Tour

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Published on Saturday, April 26 2014 16:12

Written by Alexandra Martin

Every spring affluent communities around the United States open up select homes for home and garden tours. Home owners, working with their home owners associations, organize events that allow locals and tourists to enter their homes and gardens. We small-space gardeners, who generally live in tiny apartments or condos, can greatly appreciate the large homes and gardens in our midst! This time of year is a great time to visit your neighbors and get some home and garden inspiration!

This weekend I attended the 22nd Annual Floral Park Home & Garden Tour. Floral Park, Santa Ana, is located in central Orange County, Calif. It's hard to imagine charming historic neighborhoods within the bustling city of Santa Ana, but they are there! The neighborhood of Floral Park has many charming and unique homes from the 1920s and '30s that have been placed on the city's historical register, and this year six Floral Park homes and two gardens were open to the public. This year's booklet (which also serves as your map and your ticket into the homes) says, "We are proud of our heritage and endeavor to maintain historic correctness in the process of refurbishing, remodeling and upgrading our classic homes."

In addition to the homes and their gardens, there were many booths with antiques and crafts that could be purchased, food trucks with many delicious options, and a car show. A Floral Park visitor could be entertained all day!

I will definitely attend more home and garden tours in the future. Floral Park's emphasis is on the homes and their history, more than the gardens, but other tours have an emphasis on the gardens. Garden Walk Buffalo, for example, has many fantastic private gardens that are open to the public every year.

So get out to a local home and garden tour and see how your neighbors' backyards look! And when walking through their gardens, ask yourself, "What would I do with this garden space?"

See more photos from the 22nd Annual Floral Park Home & Garden Tour below.

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Alexandra is a professional writer from Southern California who grows vegetables, herbs, lots of aloe vera and one giant Boston fern in her balcony garden. She also grows dracaena, pothos and English ivy indoors. She loves traveling and birdwatching in addition to gardening.

Apartment Garden Blues (Blog): 5 "Hands-On" Plants for Touch Gardens

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Published on Sunday, April 20 2014 17:46

Written by Alexandra Martin

Sensory gardens (gardens with plants that appeal to the senses) are usually geared toward kids, but even adults like to reach out and feel an interesting-looking plant! Everyone loves a touch garden, so let's learn about 5 "hands-on" plants that you can include in your sensory garden.

1. Lamb's Ear. I've never felt an actual lamb's ear before, but I've touched the lamb's ear plant, and it's exactly what I expect a lamb's ear would feel like! The 'Silver Carpet' variety of Stachys byzantina is commonly grown for its big, soft silver-colored leaves.

2. Jerusalem Sage. This perennial yellow flower has thick, fuzzy leaves that store water. If Phlomis fruticosa's flowers are in bloom, look for bees before grabbing the Jerusalem sage plant!

3. Mexican Feather Grass. The super thin blades of Mexican feather grass (Nassella tenuissima) feel almost like hair.

4. Chenille Plant. The chenille plant (Acalypha hispida) will draw you in with the sight of its long, brightly colored flowers that range from purple to bright red. The flowers can grow to 18 inches long and are fuzzy to the touch. This plant can even be grown indoors.

5. Sensitive Plant. The sensitive plant is my favorite touch plant because it moves right in front of your eyes! Shake the plant or gently touch its leaves, and they will fold in on themselves. Why would a plant do this? During a hurricane, a plant with a lot of leaves might get seriously damaged. But if a plant can fold in its leaves and has less surface area, it is more likely to survive the storm!

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Alexandra is a professional writer from Southern California who grows vegetables, herbs, lots of aloe vera and one giant Boston fern in her balcony garden. She also grows dracaena, pothos and English ivy indoors. She loves traveling and birdwatching in addition to gardening.

Apartment Garden Blues (Blog): Best Garden Jewelry From Etsy

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Published on Sunday, April 13 2014 17:48

Written by Alexandra Martin

In this Etsy roundup, we'll look at garden-themed jewelry, which ranges anywhere from kooky to classy! We can all display our love for plants and gardens by adding little touches of nature to our daily outfits. Enjoy these 10 garden-themed pieces of jewelry available from Etsy.com.

1. Yellow Oak Leaf and Ladybird Earrings from LadybirdandLeaf.

2. Spring Garden Pendant from NikkiMac.

3. Keep Calm and Garden On Necklace from Handmadeinchico.

4. Silver Flower Ring from JenniferWood.

5. Big Giant Bee Necklace from lilypickford.

6. Garden Gnome Brooch from LaLaForest.

7. Tiny Garden Shovel Necklace from treasuredcharms.

8. Pea Pod Earrings from artprose.

9. Moss Fields Terrarium Necklace from FireflyGardens.

10. Calla Lily Earrings from balance9.

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Alexandra is a professional writer from Southern California who grows vegetables, herbs, lots of aloe vera and one giant Boston fern in her balcony garden. She also grows dracaena, pothos and English ivy indoors. She loves traveling and birdwatching in addition to gardening.