Coral Sunset Peonies and William Shakespeare Roses

Sara has been doing quite a bit of landscaping and gardening at another property here on the Gulf Islands. She prepared the soil with fertilizer and mulch and built stone walls to contain her flower beds. She planted all her favorite plants and worked very hard conceptualizing, as well as carrying out her plans. Many a wheelbarrow full of new soil, compost, and broken rocks was pushed up the inclines in order to replenish some already existing beds and some new ones.

Her peonies were magnificent and many other blooms graced the sizable property throughout the spring and summer. The different kinds of peonies she favors are Coral Sunset, Bowl of Beauty, and Do Tell, as well as one called Madame Emile Debatene. There is a Gertrude Jekyll rose, and a brilliant red camellia, that looks somewhat like a rose. She also took some William Shakespeare roses from her Gabriola garden to her landscaping project.

Her future projects include the installation of a waterfalls and fully utilizing an irrigation pond to save on water usage. There is a fully automated underground irrigation system and many a flagstone pathway was created by Sara in order to save the wear and tear on the lawn.

Please enjoy the pictures of her "other" garden, and know that many hours of hard work have gone into creating this little paradise away from the urban rush. As is the case with our home garden, Sara used Advanced Nutrients Iguana Juice Grow and Bloom, as well as Bud Factor X and Rhino Skin to ensure vigorous, healthy plants, resistant to pests and diseases.

Thriving Zucchini, Beautiful Roses, Economical Hydroponics

Those of you who've read this blog before know that Sara does the flower gardening and I attempt to grow vegetables in the back of the house. It's not often that I have a success story to boast about, but this year my two zucchini plants have taken off like a comet shooting across the sky.

My cherry tomatoes are coming along, but I don't seem to have enough buds on the heirloom and beefsteak varieties. I think a treatment with Nirvana is in order. Nirvana is an all-organic foliar spray and that encourages your plants to produce more and more buds.

Some of you know that we grow our flowers and vegetables organically, usually fed by 100% organic Iguana Juice, made by Advanced Nutrients. There is Grow for the vegetative phase of all the plants, and Bloom for the flowering phase. I have to be careful not to allow the Bloom to fertilize the lettuce next to the tomato plants, otherwise the former will go to seed and taste bitter.

Sara, in the meantime, has helped produce a bouquet of incredible roses of different varieties, a bunch of glorious daisies, exquisite phlox of different colors, as well as black-eyed-susans, clematus, and some other flowers whose names I have forgotten.

The other day I received a confirmation of our decision to grow everything organically. I went into a Chinese grocery store and saw that while the regular bananas were all green and unappealing, the organic kind were perfectly formed and yellow and very attractive indeed. I opted for the organic kind, and even though I had to pay a bit more, when I tasted one the difference was heaven and earth. Non-organic bananas will never touch my lips again!

Even if you grow your vegetables or fruits hydroponically, you can still grow them organically if you use quality fertilizers like Iguana Juice and quality additives, such as Nirvana.

Speaking of hydroponics, such a setup doesn't have to cost a fortune. The current issue of Rosebud Magazine (the one with Justin Timberlake on the cover) has an excellent article written by hydroponic guru Erik Biksa, entitled Eco Growing Systems, Simplicity That Can Feed Our Planet. It describes in detail a new hydroponics system on the market that is affordable and simple to operate. Look for it in quality bookstores and newsstands. Better yet, pick one up at your favorite hydroponics store.

I leave you with a thought from the great Persian poet, Rumi:
"Observe the wonders as they occur around you.
Don't claim them. Feel the artistry
moving through, and be silent."