She sells seashells by the sea shore

Drift wood tables and clear, white and pastel blue gift ware.

Lot's of hand made shell decorations.

Explore the wagon shed for an affordable yet stylish gift.

What's in the old wagon shed?

Timber dice stool/ coffee table. Aluminium and timber coffee rest and hand made throws.

Rust garden sculptures, heuchera plants and phormiums ( NZ flax)

Hand made gifts, Multi coloured floor rugs and faux cacti.

New Summer fashion and necklaces. Rope dogs and crafty handbags made from fabric and leather.

Trendy folding stools.

The old wagon shed full of on trend goodies.

Perfect Pieces

Acid brights are still a main theme in our little stone wagon shed gift shop ( pictured above left). We have gift and home wares rolling in from Melbourne leading up to Christmas so now is the time to get the best pick. We have scarves in all the colours of the rainbow and

 oil cloth handbags in spots and florals.

 

Pretty pastels are another theme we have chosen and our powder pink, blue and white hanging hearts and garlands are a gorgeous decorative touch for the home...Mum found them on an overseas buying trip so they are truly unique to us...Enjoy.

 

PS. Love lavenders? pop in now for a huge offering, including the one pictured here!

 

Krystal





New Lifestyle displays

 

Thought I would share with you some displays Kelsey and I worked on today. We are loving all the new decore items to work with!



An eye for beauty...

Love this idea. I want to try this table decoration at my next dinner party.

 

 

Industrial/ Country

Industrial/ Country display at Serenity Nursery

 

Another display I wish I could say that I whipped together, but being 6 months pregnant the merchandising process was a little slower than usual. I made use of the old wagon shed stone walls as an earthy back drop to our new home wares. Cream industrial stools, FOB Clock and lots of inspirational and quirky signs to make you laugh.

Gummies Sliders available now at Serenity Nursery.

 

We are loving the new range of Gummies sliders in red/ white polka dot.

 Perfect yard or gardening shoe. Pop into see our new range of leather gardening gloves in new new seasons colours.

Project with Pots..& faux plants...

 

So I've got the day off and finally have a few minutes up my sleeve to create this little project. I love indoor plants, and there are many available that are suited to low light conditions but this time I want to use artificial succulents in an arrangement. The style of pots are endless at Serenity Nursery from modern shiny ones to rustic metal. I have chosen heavy paper mache pots. I decided to group a cluster of artificial succulents for a natural/ earthy look.

 

I have used oasis to help hold the plants in place. there are two main types of oasis. The silver gritty foam type which is used in artificial arrangements ( see pic here)  and the green soft foam that holds water and living plants in place.

 

I have simply cut the oasis to fit snug into the pot and then begin to push the succulents into place. It's nice to combine different plant textures like the broad leaf and spiky type.

 

It comes together very quickly.



 

I love this faux greenery available in the gift shop. It's so handy for so many projects. I cut it up and push it in between the succulents to help hide the oasis. It looks real and natural.

 

I'm tucking the fine greenery in here. No need to glue down as it has wire fibres in it that help wrap it around the secure plants.

 

 



 

I love the finished pot displays. Great for those " Hard to Grow" spots in the house.

 

The display makes a cute little addition to my kitchen, well i think so.

 

Enjoy

Krystal xx

Glam Gardening...

Bring out your feminine side with PGA's new plant release "The Princess Lavender".

It is so pretty you have to visit us a Serenity Nursery to see it!!

The Princess lavender features large, vibrant pink flowers and a long flowering time. The main flower flourish will be in Spring and will continue to flower through out the year. This is a compact lavender growing approx 70cm x 70cm. The foliage is aromatic and the cut flowers are ideal to use in arrangements.

Princess Lavender is easy to grow and requires little water once established.

Try Growing your Princess Lavender:

In your favourite container

As a small growing border

En Masse for great effect

Image via Plant Growers Australia

Wake up Maggie

White Magnolias

Hi there, I have had a wee time away from the computer over the last couple of months, so I haven't been posting as much as I would like to. During my time away I managed to travel to Victoria twice, mainly for business but also to have a break from the garden centre and do some sight seeing. I always love exploring Melbourne and I had a chance to visit many remarkable garden centers and I have come back with loads of inspiration. I particulary liked Botanical Creations Plants Plus. The crew there gave us some great ideas for Serenity.

The one thing that always stays in my mind about visiting Melbourne in winter is the magnolia plants I see growing everywhere. I mean it seems every second suburban house has a magnificent flowering magnolia teetering over the front fence. Bright pink, maroon red, white I don't care what colour I love them all. The way the flowers form on bare branches before foliage just adds to the visual drama.

It's just that you rarely see magnolias here in Murray Bridge, mainly for the fact they they thrive in acid soils and our soil is quite alkaline. Of course there are ways to make alkaline soils more acid, mixing in peat and organic matter will help sweeten the soil. A more dramatic way to make alkaline soil more acidic is to add aluminium sulphate or Yates Acetone to your soil. If you want to see the awesome magnoliage blooms for yourself pop into the nursery over the next week or so we have some coming in including one of my favorites called Black Tulip. Oh and how can I forget magnolias have the most divine fragrance..

Hope I can keep my posts more regular and happy gardening!!

Bye for now
Krystal

Picture: White Magnolias at Bay Road Nursery By Krystal James.

So Tweet

A couple of things in our home wares shop that I am loving right now are the rhinestone swallow wall art and woolen throw blanket with Love/ birds design...Divine!

Fave Finds...

A few of my favorite things to come into the garden center this week.

1. Flower wall art in soft muted turquoise and brown

2. Aqua Decorative bird cages.

3.Our terracotta garden stools that Mum and Dad found on their China buying trip. They make a useful item to have in the house or garden.

Also available in black and red.

Heavenly Perfume

Chinese star jasmine is one of my favourite climbing plants. From November to February it produces star-like flowers with a wonderful Jasmine scent. It's an evergreen climber so it's a good one for covering ugly fences . It looks spectacular trailing the edge of a veranda or archways and will flower in shade or sun.

Below - Pierre de Ronsard climbing rose is another spectacular climber with large showy flowers.

Green Eyes...

New handbags, home decore and arm chairs in our giftshop today.

New rustic urns & canvas art on show in our pavilion.

Terracotta garden frogs that we imported are a fun garden gift idea.

Recyle me pretty.

Make your own pretty pot plants with recycled tin cans.

Here's How:

1. Remove the label off the can
2. Drill some holes in the bottom for drainage.
3. Paint the outside of the tin with house paint or any acrylic paint. You may need to paint 2-3 coats.
4. Once the paint has dried fill up with a premium potting mix such as Plants Plus Terracotta and Tub Potting Mix.
5.  Fill with any in season annuals like pansies or snap dragons.

Makes a cute hand made gift.

Enjoy! Krystal

Image via Makapar

Something Pretty...

Pretty Polly

Tu Tu Mauve

Royal Highness

Just a few of the roses due to arrive in the garden centre very soon.

Have you got your rose order form yet?
Order your roses here for 2012.

 

ChrysantheMUMs

Double dusty pink.

 Mauve pink

Double fluffy white

Our Chrysanthemum plants are so pretty. I photographed these ones in the nursery today. The mauve pink has an amazing form and the ones with

 double petals are just so voluptuous.

I think the traditional chrysanthemum plant is a must gift every Mother's Day.

Potted flowers last longer than a bunch of flowers because once mum has enjoyed them indoors for a while she can then plant them out in the garden.

Hanging Tough

Our timber carved jackets arrived today.