Showing posts with label plants. Show all posts
Showing posts with label plants. Show all posts
Friday, August 30, 2024
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Forget Me Never by Susan Wittig Albert
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Forget Me Never by Susan Wittig Albert: Reviewed by Kristin If you like your murder mysteries with an abundance of plants and folk wisdom, Susan Wittig Albert’s China Bayles ...
Friday, September 20, 2019
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Living with Air Plants
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Living with Air Plants: Once again, we welcome back Kevin Tipple with a review. Catch up with more reviews, book news, and interesting links at his blog, Kev...
Monday, June 03, 2019
Review: Miniature Terrariums: Tiny Glass Container Gardens Using Easy-to-Grow Plants and Inexpensive Glassware
While
any author creating a fictional story is, in a sense, “world building,” authors
in the fantasy and science fiction genres refer to the term all the time and
claim great credit for doing so. When one is doing it right, one is bringing a
fictional world to life in a reader’s mind by way of dialogue, descriptive scenes
and setting, and more. In a very physical way, you are doing the same thing
when you put a terrarium together as you are most assuredly world building. You are creating an environment that--if you
choose wisely-- will thrive. Choose incorrectly and you may create a dystopia
for your plants or worse.
Miniature Terrariums: Tiny Glass Container Gardens Using
Easy-to-Grow Plants and Inexpensive Glassware seeks to guide you
in creating a beautiful and thriving world. Published by Tuttle Publishing in May
2018, the book is primarily broken into 4 chapters full of information by text
and picture.
The book opens with a short introduction that explains what a
terrarium is, what kind of containers or glassware is best suited for what
types of plants, and how the various chapter categories for the plants are
determined. Along with plenty of informative text, there are numerous pictures
making it very clear what the text is covering A nice touch is the fact that
many of the smaller plant pictures have handy page number citations. Also
included in this section are tips as to what tools you may or may not want/need,
how to basically create a terrarium, watering, the various types of ornamental
gravel, and caring for the plants as the seasons change. Some of this
information varies by type of plant and those differences are explored here.
Then, it is on the chapters with “Chapter 1: Wetland Plants”
starting things off on page 15. Plants that fit this situation will need to be
placed in a sealable container. Most of the plants that are in this section are
various types of moss. Surprisingly, at least to me, moss can come in all
shapes and sizes and not just as a sort of ground cover. It isn’t just moss in
this section as there is also some information devoted to carnivorous plants
and African Violets. The chapter winds up with some advice on the various places
to gather your moss. Apparently, a rolling stone gathers no moss, so you may
have to consider nonmoving rocks or areas under trees in parks and other places
should you seek to be a moss gatherer.
Page 31, begins “Chapter 2: Air Plants.” These are plants that
normally are usually found living in trees and thus will need to be placed in
open hanging containers so that the air in your home or office moves around
them. While you could create a terrarium in a vase with such plants, you could
also construct hanging terrariums of various types. Ways of doing so are depicted
in this section. Hanging Terrariums are not only a great space saver; they
serve as a way to get plants away from pets or children that may be tempted by
their presence.
“Chapter 3: Arid Zone Plants” begins on page 53 and this is where
you find succulents. Such plants come in all types and this allows you to create
a desert like environment or a very low water type one. As in the other
chapters of a book, various types of containers are used here and there are
numerous plant suggestions as well as instructions on how to create the
terrarium shown. One of the neat things in this book can be found at the end of
this chapter with “Practical Tip 3: Finding The Perfect Container.”
This book repeatedly stresses thinking beyond the classic
terrarium style container. Terrarium light bulbs which are lightbulbs specifically
designed to house plants, candle holders, beakers for a science project, and
more are suggested here. This page details numerous options and possibilities
beyond the usual terrarium shape.
Of course, sometimes you can combine the three types of plants into
one container and mix them up. That idea drives “Chapter 4: Mixed Terrariums.” Starting
on page 79, four distinctive possibilities that combine multiple plants from
multiple environments are depicted. Each suggested combination has tips to be successful.
Because you are putting different environments together you are going to need
some skill in maintaining the world so that everything survives and thrives.
Next is followed by a couple of pages devoted to cataloging
succulents by type. The same is done for air plants as well as moss and other
wetland plants. Those pages are followed by a page devoted to details about the
publication of the book, information about the publisher, Tuttle Publishing,
and their mission statement.
Miniature Terrariums: Tiny Glass Container Gardens Using
Easy-to-Grow Plants and Inexpensive Glassware is a colorful and
informative book that works for both the novice as well as the experienced
world builder. It serves as a repository of creative ideas as well as a spring
board for your own creativity. Filled with plenty of information and pictures, Miniature
Terrariums: Tiny Glass Container Gardens Using Easy-to-Grow Plants and
Inexpensive Glassware is going to be a winner for those interested in
creating a magical world.
Miniature Terrariums: Tiny Glass Container Gardens Using Easy-to-Grow Plants and Inexpensive Glassware
Fourwords (division of Actus Interiors)
Tuttle Publishing
May 2018
ISBN# 978-4-8053-1477-7
Hardback (also available in eBook format)
104 Pages
$17.99
Material
supplied by the good folks of the Dallas Public Library System.
Kevin
R. Tipple ©2019
Sunday, March 17, 2019
Review: A Beginner’s Guide to Succulent Gardening by Taku Furuya
As we roll into spring, thoughts here in North Texas turn to
planting as well as worries over baseball sized hail, tornadoes, and all matter
of insect and bug many of which sting. Though the rains have been plentiful
these last several months, drought is always a fear lurking just over the
horizon. Cacti are always an answer to drought. Like cacti, though not thorny
at all in many cases, are succulents. A solidly good resource on them is the new
book from Tuttle Publishing, A Beginner’s Guide to Succulent Gardening: A
Step-by Step Guide to Growing Beautiful & Long-Lasting Succulents
by Taku Furuya.
The 100
page book is designed for the novice succulent gardener. It features twenty-one
popular varieties with tons of information by way of color graphics of various
types. Then there are the numerous pictures throughout the book showcasing
various succulents and their possibilities.
After a little bit of general information including how to use the
book, the book really gets going with opens with a section on “Spring/Fall
Types” starting on page eight. In addition to the picture of the plants, there are
several pages of information on how to pick a healthy one at the nursery, best
soil, how to transplant from the store bought container, how to propagate (how
to make more off that first plant), and various tips on growing them including
a simple month by month chart. Along with pictures of the various versions of
the particular type of succulent, there is clear and concise color coded information
on when they flower, level of difficulty to grow, the origin of the plant, and
more. Each section is setup the same way with a lot of information and plenty
of pictures for the particular variety.
You may or may not know that cacti are a form of succulents. While
you may think that Cacti always meant something with spikes or thorns, it does
not always. In this case, most of the varieties depicted in these pages do not have
spikes or thorns making them safe from children and pets. Obviously, you don’t
want either one eating succulents, but you don’t have the thorn issue that you
do with many cacti.
Though some do and if you have pets or children this is something
to pay attention to so that one avoids injuries. The first selection in the Spring/Summer/Fall
Types starting on Page 64 makes that very clear. “Moon Cactus” starts the
section off and it should be a familiar one to anyone who spends time shopping
towards Christmas as such items are always in the grocery stores. There is a
lot of info including the fact that the native region for those is Japan. I now
know my high school biology teacher was wrong about them and a certain test
grade should be adjusted immediately. While many of the chosen varieties in the
previous section did not have thorns or spikes, many in this section do and
that may or may not be of concern depending on your personal environment.
Fall/Winter/Spring Types is the final section and starts on page
80. The very few listed here the more difficult ones to grow in the book.
Nothing in this section is easy and all of them require significant amounts of
care.
A Beginner’s Guide to Succulent Gardening: A Step-by Step Guide To
Growing Beautiful & Long-Lasting Succulents by Taku Furuya closes
with a couple of pages devoted to the growing fundamentals for all succulents,
a glossary, and a short section how to combat diseases and pests.
This is a comprehensive book aimed at beginners that will also
prove very helpful to experimental Gardner. Whether you want to grow just a
couple inside the house or multiples ones outside in the yard, there are
suggestions here for you. Something and quite possibly more than one will
strike your fancy in the very good book, A Beginner’s Guide to Succulent Gardening: A
Step-by Step Guide To Growing Beautiful & Long-Lasting Succulents
by Taku Furuya.
A Beginner’s Guide to Succulent Gardening: A Step-by Step Guide to
Growing Beautiful & Long-Lasting Succulents
Taku Furuya
Tuttle Publishing
ISBN#978-0804851190
March 2019
Paperback
96 Pages
$14.99
Material
supplied by Twyla Marr, Publicist, Tuttle Publishing with no expectation of a
review.
Kevin
R. Tipple ©2019
Sunday, December 16, 2018
Monday, August 20, 2018
How Plants Affect Your Mood, Spark Creativity and Improve Focus
How Plants Affect Your Mood, Spark Creativity and Improve Focus: Plants in the workplace could mean the difference between mild and great business success.
Thursday, September 21, 2017
Review: Gardening In The South by Mark Weathington
Defining “The South”
in Gardening
In The South comes up early in the book as it should. Author Mark
Weathington defines the area from Northern Florida up thru North Carolina and to
the Virginias and then back to the west through Tennessee, Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi,
and Louisiana and over into most of East Texas. In Texas, the area comes almost
to the Dallas/Fort Worth area and stretches down to the Texas coast where it bends
along the coastline after encompassing Houston and goes as far as Galveston. Heat
and humidity mean longer growing seasons as compared to much of the country as
well as other factors that make things a bit different.
After a short
discussion of geography, type of soils across the region, and seasons, it is on
to “Design Inspirations” starting on pages 23-24. This is when you have to know
the type of soil you are working with, what your needs are in terms of what you
want in your landscape, your own limitations (start small and work up), and
numerous other factors. A lot of this is aimed at the type of garden/landscape
and how it might be created for your own particular needs. Through text and
photographs of lush areas that will take years to come anywhere close to, the
author inspires the reader with numerous possibilities.
A little over twenty
pages later, “A Southeast Plant Palette” begins on page 46 with a close up
picture of a flowering “Hartlage Wine.” A hybrid plant, it offers large glossy
leaves and burgundy flowers and is flat out gorgeous. This chapter takes
readers through various plant types such as annuals and tropicals, grasses,
trees, vines, and others including “planets for problem spots.” Each section has
numerous plants listed by their Latin and their common name along with their
details in terms of hardiness, height, when they bloom (if they do), need for
sunlight, and many other factors. In this colorful section, there are also tips
for using containers, the differences between an aggressive and an invasive
plant, and many other items of interest.
Beginning on pages
284-285, it is time to learn about “Southeast Gardening Practices. “ This is
where you learn how to figure out what soil you have and how to make it better,
compost (and all that entails), planting correctly, and maintaining things
while dealing with pests such as deer, rabbits, armadillos, Japanese beetles,
and more including giant and small mosquitoes. Also covered in this section are
various plant diseases, how to plant to avoid them as you can use some pants to
protect other plants, and dealing with weeds when flamethrowers are not an
option.
The book comes to a
close with a list of recommended reading resources as well as a general list of
resources for plants and supplies, and a two page list of places to go see
beautiful landscapes. Not only is the Dallas Arboretum not listed, the Tyler
Rose Festival is also not listed. In fact, Texas is totally and completely
ignored in the listing.
Despite that major
omission from a book that includes East Texas as part of its defined area, Gardening
In The South by Mark Weathington is a good book. Filled with an
informative text that includes plenty of side bar topics, pictures on every
page, and more, the book serves as a good resource as you consider your
landscape and the changes you would like to make for next year.
Gardening In The South
Mark Weathington
Timber Press
May 2017
ISBN# 978-1-60469-591-5
Paperback
320 Pages
$24.95
Material supplied by the good folks of the Dallas Public
Library System.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2017
Sunday, April 16, 2017
Sunday, July 17, 2016
Review: "Gardening With Less Water" by David A Bainbridge
While the rains have
come back to Texas, the long term drought to the west, especially in
California, continues with devastating effects. The issue of water is going to
have to change as climate change continues to cause environmental problems.
While one can plant landscapes that feature native plants in terms of grasses
and some flowering plants, the issue with vegetables and fruits that need water
to survive and thrive is a bit more complex. Those kinds of plants absolutely
have to have water. The new book “Gardening With Less Water” by David A
Bainbridge outlines some possibilities regarding the delivery of water to the
plants.
“Low-Tech, Low-Cost
Techniques” that will allow you to “Use Up To 90% Less Water In Your Garden” is
prominently splashed across the cover of this small paper back. Also
prominently displayed is a clay pot inserted into the ground between carrot and
potato plants. Putting clay pots and other devices below the surface of
the ground to deliver water is the primary theme of this book.
After an introduction
that details the water crisis in text and pictures, the book broken into two
parts. Part One covers “Super- Efficient Irrigation Systems” and begins on page
14 with a brief overview on the topic. “The key to minimizing eater use is to
get water to the plant just as it is needed with little or no loss to
evaporation and runoff.” (Page 17)
Part of that is the
aforementioned technique of burying clay pots into the ground. The buried pots
in the form of gourds or wide mouthed clay pots can be used either to hold
water or to hold the plant in the ground. By burying the pot to the top or very
near the top one can water the planet in the pot and contain most of the water
to that immediate vicinity. The pot tends to stay wet longer when buried in
soil and thus restrains moisture around the plant. Obviously, the clay pots
should be porous, not glazed, and in their natural state without wax or paint, that
would interfere with the technique. More tips for this technique can be found
on pages 22 and 23.
Along with suggesting
ways of using clay pots inside of bigger
clay pots for those of us apartment and condo owners where space is very
limited, the author how to effectively garden with, porous hoses, porous
capsules (such as bottles and flasks among others), deep pipe irrigation, wicks,
and more. A number of different techniques are explained in detail by text and
photographs so that you can use one or more ways of addressing your personal
landscaping situation.
The various
techniques and ideas lead into “Part Two: Taking It To The Next Level.”
Starting on page 78 the author gives tips on how to water wisely as well as
advice on how to use your landscape to contain water by way of plants, rain
barrels, grid gardening, and more. Included in this section are tips on how to
develop a water garden plan for your particular situation. Beyond your personal
situation in terms of your landscaping, the author suggests ways to encourage change
with your local governmental policy makers at all levels.
The book concludes
with an appendix, an acknowledgments page, a 2 page list of suppliers and their
contact info, and a 3 page index.
At 130 pages Gardening
With Less Water by David A Bainbridge is a short, but extremely
informative book. Through pictures and text the book details how one can take
very small steps to conserve water as well as how to upscale info significant
savings. Detailed and comprehensive Gardening With Less Water is a well done
source that explains how you can do your part to save our precious resource.
Gardening With Less Water
David A Bainbridge
Storey Publishing
Dec 2015
ISBN# 978-1-61212-582-4
Paperback (also available in eBook)
$14.95
130 Pages
Material supplied by the good folks of the Plano Public
Library System.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2016
Thursday, June 02, 2016
Sunday, March 29, 2015
Saturday, March 23, 2013
Review: "The Beautiful Edible Garden: Design a Stylish Outdoor Space Using Vegetables, Fruits and Herbs" by Leslie Bennett and Stefani Bittner
You want to grow some food, but you don’t want your
yard to look like a farm. Or maybe your Home Owner’s Association has rules on
that and will freak if they can tell you planted some produce producing plants.
Or maybe you have a difficult neighbor who has a tendency to report everything
you do to the city inspectors. If you are looking for a way to mix in the
edible plants with flowering things The Beautiful Edible Garden: Design a
Stylish Outdoor Space Using Vegetables, Fruits and Herbs might be the
book you.
Recently released in paperback by Ten Speed Press,
the paperback book is broken into six chapters detailed with text and numerous
photographs. Designed to take you through design, planting, harvesting, and
maintaining your garden there is also information geared toward us apartment
dwellers with patios and balcony’s. Colorful and edible is the idea here along
with using whatever space you have to maximum effect.
Chapter One “Principles for Successful Edible Garden
Design” opens the colorful 200 page book after a very brief introduction. The
main theme here is to come up with something that has balance and complements
the architecture of the home. By choosing the right height and color plant and
considering the ideas of symmetry and asymmetry, among other design ideas, you
can achieve something beautiful. The authors take readers visually and by text
through these ideas as swell as show how to make the garden work year around
with multiple harvests of the same produce. Various styles of landscaping among
other topics are covered here.
Chapter Two “Creating Your Beautiful Edible Garden”
takes the reader through the author’s five step process to create exactly what
the chapter title suggests regardless of the space. They also tell you what to
consider regarding your soil, light, water, and other issues.
Starting on page 67 you can start applying what you
have learned in “Chapter Three: The
Beautiful Edible Front Yard.” This is
what the neighbors will see the most and there are ways to grow food without the
issues noted above. Your only issue may be being sure to plant enough to share
when harvest time comes around. Design elements are also a major focus of this
chapter as is the problem of unwanted pets in the yard. Front yards can also be
a good focal point for containers and they are discussed here.
Once you have done the deal in the front yard you
move on to “Chapter Four: The Beautiful Edible Backyard.” Working off the idea that the vegetable
aspect of gardening should be a focal point of the overall landscape, the
authors explain in detail how to make things beautiful, productive, and
functional. Along the way they go through various options such as if you want
to have a large family dining area separate away from the main house, on a small patio, or something else. What you can plant intermixed along a walkway
and what really needs its own beds (garlic and potatoes) among other topics are
covered.
Chapter Five comes into play where your space is
limited. “Beautiful Window Boxes, Side Yards, and Other Small Spaces” begins on
page 149 and opens with advice on container gardens. Once you gave the right
container, you need the right edible plant for it. The authors make numerous
detailed suggestions. Window boxes, side yards, and other small spaces are also
extensively covered very well in this chapter.
“Chapter Six:
Planting and Maintaining Your Beautiful Edible Garden” is all about just
that. Improving your soil, getting a
compost bin going (assuming you can have one), water issues, etc., are just a
few of the issues covered here before more information on the various types of
seeds and plants. Along with a list of toxic plants that you may wish to avoid
if you have small children that put anything and everything in their mouths,
there are suggestions regarding tools, planting techniques, mulch, pests,
beneficial bugs, and more.
This isn’t just a how to grow book. Interspersed throughout the book are
instructions with pictures on how to assemble wreaths of all types, flower
arrangements, and other colorful elements for your home. That carries over into
the five page resource list that stars on page 200. In addition to blog and book suggestions,
there are recommendations for composting supplies and materials, nurseries,
organic fertilizers, tools and furniture, and more.
The book concludes with a one page acknowledgement
page and a one page author/contributor page and a four page index.
The
Beautiful Edible Garden: Design a Stylish Outdoor Space Using Vegetables,
Fruits and Herbs is one of those colorful gardening
books that not only will inspire you to try to duplicate the results, it will
show you how to do so in simple step by step detail. Colorful and informative,
this paperback works on every level. All you have to do is get out there and
get dirty.
The
Beautiful Edible Garden: Design a Stylish Outdoor Space Using Vegetables,
Fruits and Herbs
Leslie
Bennett and Stefani Bittner
Flower
Arrangements by Studio Choo
Photographs
by David Fenton
Ten
Speed Press (Crown Publishing)
February
2013
ISBN#
978-1-60774-233-3
Paperback
(also available as e-book)
220
Pages
$19.99
Material supplied by the good folks of the Plano Texas
Public Library System.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2013
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Review: "Waterwise Plants for Sustainable Gardens: 200 Drought Tolerant Choices for All Climates" by Lauren Springer Ogden and Scott Ogden
Water supplies and drought are increasingly serious
issues across large sections of the country and especially here in Texas. As
noted in the introduction, the 200 plants in this book are plants that can
survive and thrive on one inch of water every two weeks during their peak growing
times. Obviously, brand new plants will need more water to get going and during
cooler weather these established plants will need much less.
As noted in the subtitle these are 200 plants that
can work anywhere. Broken down into 11 chapters that cover trees, shrubs,
grasses, flowers, ground covers, and more here is a huge variety here in plant
materials and appearances. There is certain to be several selections that will fit
your particular situation. Each chapter features numerous specimens in large colorful
pictures with their Latin names, explanation of shade and light needs, how fast
or slow the plants grow, zone recommendations, and detailed notes on each plant.
In each case there are also design idea recommendations and a listing of
related plants to the one being covered.
A
seven page index pulls the 249 page book together. Each section of plant types is
color coded for ease of use. Another nice touch is the use of numerous symbols
with each plant making it clear in a glance what you are looking for. Colorful
and well done, Waterwise Plants for Sustainable Gardens: 200 Drought Tolerant
Choices for All Climates serves not only as a handy reference guide but
a beautiful book to inspire you to transform your landscape into a sustainable
one that will be an envy of all and environmentally aware.
Waterwise
Plants for Sustainable Gardens: 200 Drought Tolerant Choices for All Climates
Lauren
Springer Ogden and Scott Ogden
Timber
Press
Sept.
2011
ISBN#
978-1-60469-169-6
Paperback (also available in eBook format)
249
pages
$24.95
Material
supplied by the good folks of the Plano, Texas Public Library System.
Kevin
R. Tipple ©2012
Friday, April 13, 2012
A Sandi Update
Sandi updated her blog today with her post on “Update On Our Outside World.” She included her latest pictures of the various plants growing in containers on our porch. If you scroll down a bit you can see pictures from earlier in the planting process. We have been lucky that what little hail has hit here has all been small in size so far and thus hasn’t killed anything as has happened in past years.
Having finished her latest craft project (19 coasters of various types for a client) Sandi has also updated some of her stuff at her store at http://www.sanditipple.ioffer.com/
She continues to feel better than she has in months and is tending to seriously overdo things at times. I’m doing my best to slow her down and get her to pace herself. It is not easy. She finally has some energy back and sees all these things she wants to do that have been stacking up around here. She can't wait to get back to work and desperately wants clearance from the doctor to drive. She remains convinced everything is fine. We should know just how right she is later this month.
As for me, I remain committed to being “that weirdo on the porch” to my neighbors---by day or night.
Kevin
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