Interesting ways with cacti & succulents...

Bright lolli pop cacti give this planter bowl wow factor.

 

Plant a variety of cacti in a low dish. Choose brightly coloured grafted cacti like the "lolli pop" type shown here. We have a great mix of cacti & succulents including cacti in pink, yellow, purple and orange in the garden centre for around $6 ea.

Place your display in a well lit room in the house, patio or veranda.

 

I thought this was a great idea to plant succulents in the crevice of each step. The green life really does soften the hard edges and creates an interesting visual display.

 

Happy Gardening Krystal xx

A modern statement with Aloe Trees.

This garden is amazing. The architectural trees emerging from the decking are aloe trees and we actually have these available at  the nursery and they also grow well in large pots. Surrounding the over sized concrete slabs are cordylines, agave's and a variety of succulents. In the top picture you can see the blue chalk stick succulent, which is a low growing blue statement plant.

The garden accessories are bang on. Love the stark white swing chair, table and single seat.

 This garden works because there is a variety of flooring materials used. Timber and concrete slabs in varying sizes combined with earthy mulch add texture add interest. varying the levels in the garden is a great way to a sense of style to a small space.

Enjoy. Krystal

Image via Real Living Magazine

Soft touch foliage

 Come instore and see our Kalanchoe tomentosa is a wonderful succulent with a velvety fur-like covering. When they came into the nursery the other day I couldn't help but touch them. This succulent will reach 45cm and is a great landscaping plant ( see picture above). Kalanchoe tomentosa is also a good container plant and mixes well with other succulents to create different textures and colours in your garden.

I also love the huge natural stones in this garden. we have similar in now

See you in the nursery soon.



Beat the winter blues!

Geranium " Big Red" in a hanging basket in the garden centre today.

For a splash of colour this winter don't go past Geranium "Big Red". It's a compact hybrid geranium and is said to be the first true deep red geranium around. The flowers are huge and will inject colour into any garden large or small. Ideal to hang from a veranda , plant in pots or use as a flowering hedge. "Big Red" will flower for you just about all year round just make sure it is positioned in a sunny spot.

First image here

Let's get creative...

 What a cute little idea. When the kids grow out of their gumboots turn them into garden art.

 What an innovative way to recycle plastic bottles. I have also seen old gutters mounted to walls and used as herb gardens.

Have some fun outdoors with this clever idea.

First two images here. Last Image here.

Zen Zone V's kitsch

Have you seen our GIANT water lettuce?

They are AMAZING.

They look great floating in earthy

 or glazed water bowls.

 It's so easy to grow them just drop them in the water

 and they will multiply

 by growing little pups on the side.

( our zenned out Buddha's are cool too)

Have fun

 in your garden

with our kitsch pink flamingos

 and giant flower wall hangings.

Photos by Krystal

Old school is cool

 A veggie patch on wheels. This image is just adorable.

I love this. I don't know why but I have always loved old teacups, and the idea of incorporating them into a garden appeals to me.

 

 Show off your old doily collection by making them into a table runner. It looks great on a rustic timber table.

 

Gypsophila commonly known as Baby's Breath was used extensively throughout the 80's and 90's in bridal floral decoration. The dainty white flowers fell out of fashion,but now it's back. In fact we have it growing in pots for sale right now. It will grow in the garden and creates a lovely soft border.

 Sunflowers, gerberas, lavender and daisies are old school plants that are becoming more popular in the modern garden. An old bath tub planted  up in all your favourite flowering plants could be a cool way to garden.

Make this!

A recycled wooden spool had been transformed into a nifty book shelf- slash-  coffee table. Heart it!

image via countryliving

Living Sculptures

Those of you who haven't seen our planted succulent chair in the garden centre, I would like to share it with you. We made this quirky living sculpture from scratch using an old wooden chair that we salvaged from a garage sale. We removed the padded seat and replaced it with flexible plastic mesh forming a shallow bowl shape. This was the covered with shade cloth. The bowl or pocket was then filled with a specialised succulent potting mix and small succulents were planted. We selected taller growing succulents and low growing forms such as sedums. A staple gun will come in hady to staple the mesh and shade cloth on.

Retro Plants

A bit of inspiration from my travels abroad. This 1950's/70s? hotel boasts some excellent retro plants. I adore the succulents dripping over the edge of the balcony's.

The circular wire balls with a climber in each one is a magnificent idea. Imagine growing a flowering mandevilla  or an ivy in a huge wire ball to hang in your patio.

Image by Krystal James