I get by with a little (lot) help from my friends.....

If you happened to find yourself on our Flower Tree FB page a few days ago you already know that I still have a LOT of plants to get into the ground before old man winter sets in. I seem to be more of a "plant hoarder" as the years have gone by. I see all of the strikingly beautiful plants drift through the nursery over the season and say "I just have to have that one, and that one, and that one, just one......more plant, one more pot to fill, one more arbor", and then it gets way to busy for me to actually do anything with them. Well......you get the pic.

19 roses, untold perennials, pots of surprises given to me over the season by fellow gardeners, herbs by the dozen, a bunch of bulbs, 5 trees, a few shrubs and .......yes ..the list goes on and on.........all of these living things that just want to put their roots IN THE GROUND!


Enter my fellow dirt diggers.....first there was a little bit of disbelief, "You have what to plant?" , "How many roses!!!" , "Where are you going to put everything?", and then ...the music to this gardeners ears, "Hey, do you want some help?"

So on a magnificently beautiful fall day, with the sun shining, no wind and the husband in charge of a smoked rib BBQ in the backyard for when we were done, we set out to plant some more of my little plot of earth.


Sooz changing the direction of the path.....

roses placed in position .........we are ready to do some major diggin' 

 

want to know the meaning of "perfect timing"??? it's when you encounter a 6" root that needs to be cut out, and a 10' volunteer elm that needs to be chopped down at THE EXACT SAME TIME you hear the neighbors chainsaw fire up across the street...(Thank you Ray for coming to our rescue)

the menfolk hear power tools so they come outside to investigate 

 Jaime takes being a vegetarian to a new level.......

 Bob using his machete skills he learned in Hawaii, we all stood VERY far away

 the stubborn cottonwood roots that still show up everywhere,
long after the trees are gone

 "dirt diggers" are us!
THANK YOU LADIES!!

 what we planted around the perimeter, 10 more Burgundy Iceberg Roses :}

a little advance preview of what the entire courtyard is going to look like come Spring, here is a shot of one of the established plants that is still in full bloom now

and a perfect end to the evening......belly full, spirit overflowing and the almost full autumn moon comes up over the horizon as I wander out after everyone has headed home.....just to gaze at what a little dirt under the fingernails, and a whole lot of friendship can bring together.

The Ghouls come out to play

Our guest sommelier for the evening led us down an extraordinary wine path......

 

 
What a blast......only thing missing was more photos.....sorry to all of those that I missed.....some pretty amazing creative wardrobes were on display tonight....see you next year for another "Dead Zin Ghoulish Gathering"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gather as you Go ~ 2012

Couldn't have asked for a prettier fall day as we prepared for today's "Gather as you Go" workshop. This is one of my favorite classes that Michelle teaches. Gardeners arrive, and with pruners in hand they wander through the nursery and out to the back display garden and clip anything that catches their eye. Crab apple branches filled with berries, sea oats and cat tails from the pond, dried echinacea flowers, juniper branches and vibrant leaves from the Autumn Purple Ash fill their arms as they head back to the tables. Then with Michelle's guidance they arrange the abundance of colors and textures into a carved out pumpkin to make a beautiful porch arrangement, centerpiece or gift for a friend. Try this one at home, and if you don't think you have enough selections to prune from....come on down, and have your fill out in Linny's garden. We will even loan you a set of pruners if need be. Just one more small way for us all to savor this beautiful season. ~ Enjoy, Susan

 

Garden Girls ~ Jaime's

Fall is in full swing as we arrive at Jaime’s for the last of this season Garden Girls tours. It seems like only last week that we had started our semi-weekly tours at my own garden, and yet months of digging holes, adding perennials, building compost bins, and planting weather have gone by. As we gathered on this evening, Jaime had already done a lot of gathering herself, of herbs and olive branches, and our olive branch wreaths were made for us and waiting for their adornments. After an all too quick tour of the pumpkin garden where Kevin has nurtured tiny seeds to humongous proportions, and the potager that Jaime has been lovingly creating and tending for the last few years, we placed ourselves around the many long tables covered with everything aromatic and wonderful that had been harvested from the gardens, and set about making an herb wreath to grace our front doors. The sunset could not have been more soothing and relaxing, the clouds filling the sky over the alfalfa field that stretches for acres to the west. As the sky gathered into darkness we pulled our chairs up by the fire and filled ourselves with hearty homemade soup and apple pie made from the harvest of the tree that shadowed us. As the unofficial photographer/blogger/memory keeper of these evenings, I like to wander alone through the gardens and see where my eye lands. I know the hours that are spent lovingly caring and tending to each small garden that together make up the homestead. Jaime has an abundance of small areas filled with roses for aromatic sensory overload, pumpkins of all sizes and colors that get delivered to friends

porches for that first surprise of Fall, herbs for tonight’s soup and perennials for small blasts of color everywhere. As I walked past an area of the potager I gazed down at a grouping of bricks that were just a small partial area of one pathway. I saw all of us that gather at these garden tours in those bricks…..how with no real intent, we were placed together on this small area of the earth, to fill in for each other spots that were somehow empty. Be it with creativity and ideas, or support, friendship and love. We just fit...…together.

Just a Plein SUCCESS!

Thank you so much to all the artists that contributed their beautifully creative work on our 1st. Annual "Playin' at Plein Air". Because of their generosity, and all of those that bid on the finished artwork, we are so happy to announce that it was a resounding SUCCESS!! (You can view their artwork on the previous post)

We raised $1125.00 !!!

We are so happy to report that we will be able to award art scholarships for the Spring semester.

Thank you ~ Thank you ~

Thank you to our artists:

Jaime Sammons

Michelle Nelsen

Lori Bishop

Lonne Sheldon

April Oakden

Dan Sperl

Patricia Sammons

Bonnie Wright

Genny Edge

Dolly Strekal

Jeannette Hale

Lissa Overlie

Gwynne Matlavage

Dorothy Kusler

Kim Rowlett

"Playin' at Plein Air"....the 1st. Annual

  Plein air, a French phrase, literally translates as 'open air', and is defined as painting or drawing done outside, in the open air. These works were taken directly from nature, and infused with a feeling of the open air.

We have hosted a lot of events at The Flower Tree over the last 12 years, but I don’t think any have ever come together smoother or quicker than the Plein Air event we had today. We had been trying to come up with an art event that would help us fill the coffers of the scholarship fund that we set up in memory of our dear friend Linny Moore who passed away last winter. While we have been adding to the account from the sale of her artwork in the gift shop, we were hoping to increase it enough to be able to offer three scholarships for local art students this next spring semester. Enter the idea for "Playin' at Plein Air" at The Flower Tree. With only two weeks to put this together because of the rapidly advancing cool weather, we looked to a group of local artists from Fallon and Fernley to help us. With their assistance and participation, I am extremely happy to say, we have met our goal. With only TWO HOURS to set up and create their vision I think you will agree, there was some amazing talent represented. A vast spectrum of medias - everything from pastels, oils, watercolor, mixed media, glass, acrylics to...yes….gun powder art.  The best part, we all agreed - Linny would have loved the day. We would all like to thank everyone that came out and enjoyed the warm afternoon and generously bid on the artwork. Take a view of the day below, and please…please… make plans to attend next season’s event when we capture spring at the nursery.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Garden Girls ~ Lucia's

Signs.....signs....everywhere a sign. While this may remind you of a certain song from my generation, Lucia's gardens exemplify not only the literal but the figurative view of the song as well. Lucia has planned and built her gardens around her acreage with light, wind, harsh sun and all the elements Fallon can throw at you in mind. You see signs of careful thought in placing her whimsically created miniature gardens just where they need to be.....in afternoon shade, to take advantage of the smaller containers and water use. Signs of her love of the mountains are highlighted as you turn a corner and alpine style gardens filled with ferns, hydrangeas and daisies lay at your feet. You see signs of her strategic placement of her roses in wine barrels not only because she is dealing with sometimes poor soil, as many of us are, but also so that they gather all the sunshine possible in between her huge old cottonwood trees that grace the property. And then there is her art, signs of her artistic skill and creative mind are placed just out of direct sight, so that you are constantly searching for what hides behind the next corner. On this late summer evening, as we settled down for dinner after our garden tour and watched the amazing sunset, I gazed around the table at all the smiles, and listened to the laughter fill the air…..and I reflected on how very fortunate we Garden Girls are ….to have these evenings together as signs of our friendship.

 

this is one of many that help keep the grass down out in the pasture 

 

 

 

 

 

 espaliered quince, who would have thought.....

I left my heart.....

Tahoe holds a special place in my heart, memories of relaxing and soul searching times fill my thoughts. If I could, I would live there...in the summer months. I would bike around the neighborhoods, walk among the trees and I would listen to the waves gently place themselves over the rocks on the beach. I would appreciate the beauty that is found in the clear blue water, and I would rejoice in the history found on its shores.

 and since my heart is in Tahoe.......I will probably need to go back real soon.....

Alameda Treasures

 The Alameda Point Antique Faire was one the main reasons for planning our retreat the first Sunday of the month. For years we had heard about the treasures that could be found there, and the fact that it was a "antique / vintage only" type of flea market was the major pull. The best part, watching each of our group search for that perfect thing to bring home. I think the fact that we were "newbies" kept us from any major purchases, and that is a bummer because we had Jaime's F150 longbed! And yes, I still keep visualizing the "one that got away", a vintage rustic red 2 pc. patio set that was calling my name. If it is still there next trip, it's MINE!

If you go:
1. Bring a wagon, they loan you a big one to get you to the loading area if you get large pieces of furniture, but a small one was great for our group of 5, and we just took turns pulling it.
2. Get there early, we didn't realize it closed at 3pm!, but some of our best deals were made as others were closing up.
3. Try the food!!! We had one of our best meals of the week from one of the gourmet food trucks.
4. Bring water, it is hot even on an overcast day.
5. An obvious thought, wear great shoes, we had to walk close to 2 miles just to get in, and that was before we started the hours of up and down the aisles.

a few views from the day.......



 these succulent gardens were made all out of reclaimed finds, very beautiful!!! 

I think Jaime will be making one of these armillaries (wine barrel rims)

 Sooz was on the hunt for anything "Yankee"

 old posters that hung in the classroom, do you remember these?

 "Ivy" is found. We had brought a wagon from the house that we were staying in and as we all took turns pulling her around the faire, she caused quite a stir

 love the way they took old watches, we all have those lying around the dresser, and gorilla glued a new adornment on them and turned it into a lovely bracelet

 wanna see what Rose did with a pile of these letters, stop by the nursery and she will show you. and what is even cooler, AFTER our return from the trip she found some of these still in their ORIGINAL use, can you guess what it was??? (comment below, you could win a prize!!!!)

 I am a sucker for these kind of re-purposed lamps, LOVE THEM!!!

 lampshade made out of rulers......hmmmm, maybe for the teacher on your list

 Rose with her first find of the day, can't wait to see what she does with it

 and Lucia with hers, can't you see that dream of the Matterhorn reflected in her eyes?



Jaime's first find of the day, can't wait to see what she creates with it..... 

 Jaime picking up the last treasure of the day, a brick for Michelle's ever increasing patio mosaic.....found it down by the bay on the way back to the truck.

 great time, had by all!



Meet Ivy

We would like to introduce you to "Ivy", our newest member of the Marketing Department at The Flower Tree. A vintage find this extraordinary took two women, Sooz & Lucia, to make it happen.  She will adorn the store with style! Enjoy the first of her photo shoots below........