theodore payne garden tour

last weekend was the theodore payne foundation garden tour here in so cal. the theodore payne foundation is a garden and nursery that has a very special mission statement. "to promote and restore california landscapes, and habitats / propagate and make available California native plants and wildflowers / to educate and acquire knowledge about California flora and natural history". in short i love this place. when i plant natives it goes beyond just being a pleasurable gardening experience, i feel like a garden activist in my very own backyard. and seeing all the wildlife that comes with the flora is even better!

unfortunately i wasn't able to go to this year garden tour, so i decided to post my photos from last years tour as its one of my all time favorite events! you get to explore the outdoor spaces of peoples homes who's landscapes all use the same flora in different situations and they turn their gardens into such amazing environments. southern california is mostly made up of a chaparral landscape, which lends it self nicely to meadowy designs - my personal favorite! i love when gardens look lush and wild, with surprising moments under a tree - like a sweet groupoing of coral bells (huechera) or bright purple irises (my all time favorite flowers - i always imagined if i got married that i would hold a bunch of native california irises picked from my garden in a casual bouquet). a lot of the gardens also use boulders and rocks in clusters, adding contrast and perfect homes for dudleyas (native succulents). and the sheds, collections of things and sculptures at these spaces is equally cool to see.

alright, now get ready for a CRAZY amount of photos that i took. i have a problem with editing. and i didn't just document the plants. pets watching the passing groups of viewers were too cute not to capture.

DIY Wall Terrariums

my dear friend sara is always looking out for me, sending me cute terrarium ideas and lovely arrangements with succulents. mostly i hoard the images for myself but this time i had to share this cute diy project she found on ruffled. the break down of the project is really nicely done, and made me think of other ways of pursuing this concept. i think i might have to come up with my own version at some point! in the meantime i hope all you diy-ing planty lovers enjoy!


DIY Wall Garden Favors
posted by ruffled on april 12, 2011 (3:38 pm) in DIY projects

we’re approaching the end of our DIY wedding favor series, but i guarantee you will love our last picks as much as the first ones. these vertical terrarium wedding favors make great gifts because they don’t take any room, and are extremely easy to maintain. who wouldn’t want to bring a little bit of the outdoors to their home or office?



- gravel (can be found at any pet store in the aquarium section)
- air plants, cactus or succulents (you will need a small amount of potting soil if not using air plants)
- moss
- spray paint
- magnetic metal tins (from here)
- dremel tool
- painter’s tape
- E6000 glue

cover your tins with painter’s tape before you begin spray painting the inside of them. spray tins with 3-4 light coats until they have are opaque in solid white. while your tins are drying, remove the acrylic top from all lids by putting a small amount of pressure with your hands to pop them off. measure the diameter and mark a line with a permanent marker. using the diamond cutter tip of your dremel tool, slice all acrylic lids in halves (you can also try different shapes or drill holes). lightly sand the edges using a sander tip of your dremel tool.

place acrylic tops back in the metal frame of the caps and glue both pieces. we also recommend dabbing the edges of the tins with a q-tip with glue to seal the lids to prevent the weight from the gravel popping out of the containers. it took one wall terrarium to splash gravel all over the floor for us to figure that out :)

once your tins are dry from spray paint, remove tape and wash tins with water and soap. close all tins, now with open front lids. add gravel, misty moss and air plants. if you prefer building a closed terrarium and skipping cutting the lids, you will need activated charcoal, which can be found in the aquarium section at any pet store. air plants won’t work as well in (tightly) closed containers, so you may want to switch to ferns and small leafy plants.

article taken from ruffled® - http://ruffledblog.com
URL to article: http://ruffledblog.com/diy-wall-terrarium-weddingfavors/

snapshots

so much coming up. so much! yikes! and yeah! and breathe... i can finally breathe because my studio is CLEAN. finally. that space has been begging for some attention. but the best part is that i am now renting more space and officially have a mini photo studio for my terrariums! this is super rad news because i have been wanting to add more terrariums to the shop but haven't had the proper space to shoot. now i have no excuse. game on! terri planty is back in business!
other than studio cleaning, today i had a lovely time at the flower mart (more on that soon) and am working on a woolly pocket wally (also coming soon)! in the meantime i decided to post a cool little collection of snapshots i have been taking of planty inspiration to prepare me for the all the upcoming projects. what projects are you up to these days?

p.s. i also snuck in two shots of my sloppy before studio as a reminder to keep it clean girl!