DECEMBER

If you would like to create a heartfelt and homemade gift for your favorite gardener  feel free to use one of these three calendar photos to start an annual garden journal, calendar, or scrapbook page. You can then use your own photographs or monthly photographs below to complete the project.

Capsicum

Camellia

December Inspiration

This beautiful botanical art tempera is part of a monthly series of natural art by the British artist, Eliot Hodgkin (1905-1987). The Ramsbury Manor Foundation. He celebrated seasonal flowers, leaves, berries, and seed pods from each month in the compositions of his art work.

THE MONTHS - DECEMBER
ELIOT  HODGKIN
1950

References.                                                             

Richter, Robert S. Texas Month-by-Month Gardening: What to Do Each Month to Have a Beautiful Garden All Year. , 2015. Internet resource.

Gill, Dan, and Dale Groom. Month-by-month Gardening in Texas: What to Do Each Month to Have a Beautiful Garden All Year. Franklin, Tenn: Cool Springs Press, 2006. Print.

The Months in Photographs.  

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Hyden Photography for 

Grassroots Horticulture __________________________________________________

Fronds, Ferns, Fiddleheads, and Fossils

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Fronds, Ferns, Fiddleheads, and Fossils

This year I had to remove ferns encroaching on a walkway so I thought I would take photographs before digging them out. 

They are a very mysterious foliage that seemingly commit to a spot in the garden and thrive. They thrive under the Ginkgo tree, another long surviving plant.

Of course, the fiddleheads unfurl with grace,

the silent music of nature...... 

Fossil fern phegopteris guyottii

Fern Societies                                  

          American Fern Society

Ferneries                                          

The Dorrance H. Hamilton Fernery

Botanical phylogeny chart.        

Phylogeny Chart

Trachaeophyta Lycopodiophytes (club mosses, spike mosses, quillworts) Euphyllophytes Spermatophytes (seed plants) Ferns Psilotopsida  Psilotales (whisk ferns)   Ophioglossales (grapeferns etc.)  Equisetopsida  Equisetales (horsetails)  Marattiopsida  Marattiales  Polypodiopsida  Osmundales   Hymenophyllales (filmy ferns)   Gleicheniales   Schizaeales   Salviniales (heterosporous)   Cyatheales (tree ferns)   Polypodiales

Eusporangiate Ferns Leptosporangiate Ferns

DIY___________________________   

Hanging baskets and landscape plants are often overlooked as gifts in favor of floral arrangements or a dozen roses which are lovely to receive but a thoughtful gift to any gardener can be an appropriate plant from your local nursery. Once aware of the giftees needs and requirements, (hardiness zone, the home's shadiness, and a preference for wildflowers, roses, foliage plants, succulents, or orchids) a thoughtful gift can be selected readily.

If your Mother has a shady tree lined garden, and likes ferns selecting the right one is important. 

I have wood ferns and evergreen ferns in my zone 7 garden. If I lived further north I would love hanging baskets filled with ferns, but they do require more attention than I am willing to give them in the heat of the summer. Your local landscape nursery professional can direct you to the best choice for your climate.

In the previous post I treated wildflowers with an "artistic flair" and I am adding cards that you can create or use for an enclosure. This post will be about ferns with a "musical twist," with cards for enclosure that you may use or create yourself.  Of course, not everyone appreciates puns so these "ideas" are obviously not for you. If your Mom needs a new washing machine go for it, but if not, she might like a fern.

Explore Further.                       

A Dell Full of Ferns, by Charles O. Cresson

Ferns

Author:	Martin Rickard
Publisher:	London : Cassell Illustrated, 2003.

Publisher Synopsis

Oft regarded as dull and Victorian, ferns could not have had a worse press. But if you have a shady corner which you can't fill, you can be sure there is a fern suitable to add presence and stateliness throughout the year. From their tightly packed fronds curled through winter in readiness for the warmer weather of spring to the gentle unfurling to reveal their summer beauty. And no, they don't all look the same. They have a diversity as wide-ranging as any genus, from the diminutive Blechnum penna-marina to the towering matteuccia struthiopteris; the delicate ash green and pink of Athyrium niponicum var. pictum, the glossy lime green of the Aspleniums; fragile Cheilanthes to the sturdy Dicksonias. Covering cultivation, which plant to choose for what situation, propagation, pests and diseases, this is part of the RHS Wisley handbook series, providing a comprehensive and concise look at ferns, fully illustrated and clearly written. Aimed at both the amateur and professional grower, this is an invaluable addition to any serious horticulturalist's bookshelf. - Lucy Watson



Neyland, Ray. A Field Guide to the Ferns and Lycophytes of Louisiana: Including East Texas, Southern Arkansas, and Mississippi. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University 

Diggs, George M, and Barney L. Lipscomb. The Ferns and Lycophytes of Texas. , 2014. 

Hyden Photography

 for

~Grassroots Horticulture~

2016

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Refreshing Summer Propagation | DIY

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Gardening with Herbs

Propagate herbs  and enjoy the scent

Pinch off a few sprigs of  basil, mint, or lemon verbena. Place the sprigs in a canning jar or get fancy with a hollow stem goblet and add water. The roots should form within two weeks if you change the water often. 

If placed in a window with a southern exposure your room  will smell awesome. 

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Grassroots Horticulture

2006-2017

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Mother's Day | DIY | Wildflowers

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 Mother's Day Gift Ideas

Wildflower, Lyre-leaf Salvia 
(1) texturized (2) paint-brush

DIY

If you would like to make your Mother a personal gift take a collection of Texas wildflowers photographs and easily add artistic flair in your Word program and save it in an image format. You can create note cards, framed art, magnets, or bags. I am selecting wildflowers that are a bit more unusual than our iconic bluebonnet and Indian paintbrush. I have taken a photograph of lyre-leaf sage against  a background of an Irish linen smock that my Mother gave me. As the season continues on I will continue to photograph wildflowers with the goal of creating  note cards  with a personal touch.

1. Open you Word program, click on the tab" insert", click picture, and find the photograph you would like to use.
2. Once the photograph is added you can adjust the size readily by clicking on the corner and stretching or shrinking the image.
3. Crop the photograph at this time, if you like.
4. Now, you are ready to play with the automatic artistic conversion icons.
5. You can modify the edges by choosing a frame.
6. Save your masterpiece, click file/save as and when the box comes up on the screen, instead of saving this as a Word document, save it as a web page. I usually name the file with a “1” at the beginning i.e. 1_wildflower_lyreleaf sage. This way when I need to transfer the image to a jump drive it is found at the top of the list.
7. It should be ready to send or take to your favorite printer.

Add Text or a Monogram

Of course, these pansies aren't wildflowers but this is from a previous project I made to illustrate that text boxes can be added easily.

Gulf Coast Penstemon

Evening Primrose Pastel

Dahlberg Daisy
A welcome mat to match your flowers with a "paint brush," alteration gives a French Impressionist touch.

See April's Texas Highways | Wildflowers for additional inspiration.

Grassroots Horticulture

2006-2016

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How to Make a Pine Cone Wreath | DIY

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Supplies:

Circular wire wreath frame 12”

Floral wire, Paddle Wire 22 Gauge 110 Feet-Green

Wire cutters

Gloves

Elongated Pine/Spruce Cones (30) to frame the wreath.

Rounded and pyramidal shaped cones,

(you will be creating clusters of 3 to 5 cones before attaching the cluster to the frame)

Use elongated cones such as from Norway Spruce to form the frame of the wreath.

Cut 10” – 12” (30) wires for the elongated cones.

Bend one wire in half and attach it to a single elongate cone at the top.

Wire all 30 in this same manner.

Attach these to the outer frame.

Cut wire for clusters and form groups (3-5 cones) with rounded cones. After I have several clusters created, I start to attach the clusters. Fill with clusters.

You can accessorize with a bow.

Link to Cones from Evergreen Trees on Pinterest

All through the long winter, I dream of my garden. On the first day of spring, I dig my fingers deep into the soft earth. I can feel its energy, and my spirits soar. --Helen Hayes

©  Grassroots Horticulture

2000-2015

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