The Garden Artist

Claude Monet once commented that ‘My garden is my most beautiful masterpiece.” Imagine being a fly on those garden walls. Plus it cinches the deal - the number one reason even the tiniest bit of green space is vital - to enhance creativity. Not to be overlooked when it comes to being successful, happy and yes, creative. 

While there are local parks, arboretums and botanical gardens abound, much of your own masterpiece can be accomplished with a small container garden of your own. No frets if space is tight. A small terrace in suburbia, a balcony or rooftop garden in the city is the perfect nook for creating an artistic masterpiece with pots and containers filled with your favorite plant materials.

One of my favorite summer garden activities is planting and caring for the mix of containers dabbled throughout the terraces, the borders and plant beds. Containers prove the perfect fix for those in need of getting a boost with the 'green fingers' syndrome.

Are you feeling like those fingers aren’t quite green in the garden soil? Well, here’s a recent June post, Against All Odds, for an easy plant for your containers. It will knock the socks off the typical annuals that flood the retail stores. Plus, it comes back year after year without too much effort so give Amaryllis a go.

Russell Page states it best. “If you wish to make anything grow, you must understand it, and understand it in a very real sense.  'Green fingers' are a fact, and a mystery only to the unpracticed. But green fingers are the extensions of a verdant heart.” And as Monet reminds us with his astute observation, ‘the garden is our most beautiful masterpiece.”

Share your favorite part of your masterpiece garden.

©Top Image of Amaryllis after a summer rain – Ann Bilowz

©Bottom Image of Amaryllis ready to pop in June – Ann Bilowz (June post, Against All Odds,)

If you like this blog, hope you check in for your daily share's worth of inspiration, design, and garden tips; always original, not cookie cutter and copied. Just like our design work, we strive for unique! Like our Facebook follow on Twitter or subscribe to the blog to receive posts daily via email or a feed. Either way, we hope you follow the postings somewhere in cyberspace and share it with your gardening friends. Contact me direct at Annie You can follow with visuals on Pinterest and find us on LinkedIn and Houzz, too. Don’t forget Google+ where you can find us under Ann Bilowz and Bilowz Associates Inc.

Simple as Cherry Pie

For Cherry pie connoisseurs, you may already know this fact but it is said that sour cherries are the top choice for baking and preserves.  Today’s post is for any cherry pie lover who might be tempted to try their garden luck and grow their own.  So of course, we provide you with our top-pick. Hands-down, the best choice is the Montmorency Cherry tree (Prunus cerasus ‘Montmorency’.) Yes, there may be only a pie’s worth that grew on this year’s tree but it’s certainly worth it when you experience the grand finale. One trick about cherries – collecting them before the birds or the rain splits them apart.

There are many reasons to test out your luck and grow your own. First let’s delve into the financial equation. The price for sour cherries, well, you guessed it, a pie’s worth can be quite dear. And one may wonder, is it worth the work, pitting the cherries? Yes, there is a little elbow grease before you bake but don’t bother with the fancy cherry pitter. We managed to Google how to pit a cherry without a cherry pitter and a paper clip did all the work. And for the pie, the Foodnetwork’s recipe for sour cherry pie proves to be a reliable source for a tasty filling.

So it's a wrap with my Monday morning garden thought - simple as Cherry pie. And remember the Montmorency is your best bet and our top pick. Hope all had a safe and happy 4th! And for those who are in need of a #DailyQuote, it's William Shakespeare. "Let me embrace thee, sour adversity, for wise men say it is the wisest course."

©Image of Montmorency Cherries in Pie Mode - Image by Greg Bilowz

If you like this blog, hope you check in for your daily share's worth of inspiration, design, and garden tips; always original, not cookie cutter and copied. Just like our design work, we strive for unique! Like our Facebook follow on Twitter or subscribe to the blog to receive posts daily via email or a feed. Either way, we hope you follow the postings somewhere in cyberspace and share it with your gardening friends. Contact me direct at Annie You can follow with visuals on Pinterest and find us on LinkedIn and Houzz, too. Don’t forget Google+ where you can find us under Ann Bilowz and Bilowz Associates Inc.

When The Only Bay is…

If you aren’t lucky enough to be near a bay of water on this first sizzling day of July, consider the next best thing. It’s one of our all-time favorites to use for structure plantings. The Sweet Bay Magnolia is a mid-size flowering ornamental tree with beautiful structure but that’s not the only reason to ponder this specimen. Its fragrant bloom makes it literally the ‘sweetest’ Magnolia around. While other specimen Magnolias will grow larger in size, the Sweet Bay is this ‘just right’ proportion for the smaller, more intimate garden spaces and its extra bonus is that giant surprise of scent.

We often take a Sweet Bay blossom to remind a client about that tactile experience of scent, touch, not just its visual presence, which brings me to another design note.  Our blog and our social media sites are going to receive a branding facelift. While it’s always fun to get an outside marketing perspective, we certainly won’t be losing our unique garden and design voice. In our world, authenticity equals trust and you can’t build solid relationships if you are missing either one. Plus it’s too darn hard to fake loving what you do. It should naturally boil over into your daily soup. For us, it’s that constant contact with our own garden and our love for the outdoors and nature that work as inspiration to create unique landscape designs.

And don’t forget when the only Bay around is Sweet Bay, it’s the perfect mid-size flowering ornamental tree that covers a lot of sensory ground. Enjoy your holiday week ahead and over the next few months, look for our new facelift but with the same voice.

©Images by Ann Bilowz

If you like this blog, hope you check in for your daily share's worth of inspiration, design, and garden tips; always original, not cookie cutter and copied. Just like our design work, we strive for unique! Like our Facebook follow on Twitter or subscribe to the blog to receive posts daily via email or a feed. Either way, we hope you follow the postings somewhere in cyberspace and share it with your gardening friends. Contact me direct at Annie You can follow with visuals on Pinterest and find us on LinkedIn and Houzz, too. Don’t forget Google+ where you can find us under Ann Bilowz and Bilowz Associates Inc.