Favorite DIY Posts – Day 7: Self-Watering Bottle For Containers

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Have you ever had to leave town for a few days and wanted to ensure that your potted plants don’t dry out?

Look no further than your wine cabinet…

water your potted plants

Glass bottles, like this empty wine bottle, can help water your potted plants for a couple of days.

water your potted plants

Create your own self-watering bottle

All you need is a clean glass bottle and water to create your own self-watering bottle.

water your potted plants

Create your own self-watering bottle

1. Water your potted plants well.

2.  Fill an empty glass bottle with water and cover the top with your thumb to keep the water from dripping out as you turn it upside down.

wine bottle into the soil

Create your own self-watering bottle

3. Insert the mouth of the wine bottle into the soil, about 2 inches deep.

That’s all there is to it!

wine bottle into the soil

As the soil dries, water will slowly seep into the soil from the bottle, essentially watering your potted plants for a couple of days.

*This can also be done to plants in the ground as well.

So, the next time you find yourself putting empty glass bottles in the recycle bin, keep out one or two to use to water your plants while you are away.  

Grow Vegetables in Pots!

Favorite DIY Posts – Day 6: Growing Vegetables in a Grocery Bag

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I enjoy growing vegetables in both my garden and in containers. While some of my containers are rather traditional, one of mine is not.

vegetables in a grocery bag

This was one of my favorite projects because it was an unexpected sight for visitors to my vegetable garden.

While you would expect to see leaf lettuce poking up from a grocery bag – you certainly don’t expect to see it growing inside of one.

This is a very simple DIY project, which are the kinds that I like best.

“What Am I Growing in a Grocery Bag?”

You can grow many different types of vegetables in a grocery bag.  Would you consider doing this in your own garden?

Favorite DIY Posts – Day 5: How to Dry Herbs

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I enjoy growing herbs for two reasons. First, they are easy to grow, and second, I love to use them when I cook.

dried herbs

In addition to fresh herbs, I also use dried herbs from time to time, especially in winter when some of my favorite herbs (basil) aren’t growing.

While drying herbs is rather simple, there are some guidelines to follow, which I wrote a blog post about…

“How to Grow and Dry Your Own Herbs”

Do you have a favorite herb that you like to use when you cook?

Favorite DIY Posts- Day 4: Freezing Herbs Into Ice Cubes

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Do you grow your own herbs? Did you know you can freeze herbs to preserve their flavor and use them all year round?

Freeze Herbs Into Ice Cubes

I frequently freeze my freshly-harvested herbs into ice cubes so that they are easily on hand, even when they are out of season.

“Freeze Herbs Into Ice Cubes”

Whenever I need them in my favorite dish, I simply pop out an ice cube from the freezer.

Favorite DIY Posts – Day 3: Stepping Stones and Border

Do you have a border in your garden? How about a decorative spot with DIY stepping stones that you made yourself?

decorative garden

Last year, I visited a garden that had a beautiful border that the owner made herself using concrete mix, broken dishes and glass beads.

Stepping Stones and Border

There were also lovely step stones as well.

The creator of this functional garden art was kind enough to show me how she made them.

“DIY Stepping Stones and Border”

Have you ever made a piece of art that you display in your garden?

Favorite DIY Posts – Day 2: Natural Grapefruit Cleaner

What kind of household cleaner do you use? Earlier this year, I had heard of DIY natural cleaners made from grapefruit and decided to try it out myself.

Natural Grapefruit Cleaner

The cleaner was very easy to make and I used grapefruit from my mother’s tree, although you can get yours from the grocery store.

I was pleasantly surprised at how well it worked.

“DIY Natural Household Cleaner”

Favorite DIY Posts – Day 1: Natural Air-Fresheners

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I have spent the past few weeks indoors whenever possible avoiding the desert heat.  While I do venture outdoors occasionally to do consults and take a weekly tour of the garden to make sure everything is okay.

We did lose a small tree and some branches during a fierce monsoon storm over the weekend, but I was grateful for the rain and the cool temperatures that followed.

Last week, I showed you some of my favorite plant photos.  This week, I would like to share with you some of my favorite DIY blog posts, most of which you can do inside.  

Natural Air-Fresheners

One of my favorite DIY projects was creating natural air-fresheners.

I don’t know about you, but I do not like the heavy, artificial smells of air-freshener sprays – not to mention the idea of chemicals floating through the air.  So, the idea of making air-fresheners using  plants definitely appealed to me.

“DIY Create Natural Air Fresheners From the Garden”

I hope you are inspired to make you own!

Favorite Flower Photos: Day 6 – Spikes of Red

I am excited to show you two pictures of one of my favorite perennials.

Favorite Perennials Firecracker Penstemon (Penstemon eatonii)

Favorite Perennials Firecracker Penstemon (Penstemon eatonii) 

Isn’t this a cool picture of a bee, ready to pollinate the flowers of this penstemon?

I must confess that I did not take this photo (or the other one below).  My husband took both of these beautiful pictures.

Favorite Perennials Firecracker Penstemon (Penstemon eatonii)

This firecracker penstemon is happily growing in my garden and is now over 14 years old, which is rare.

Every winter, it sends up spikes covered in red, tubular flowers, much to the delight of the resident hummingbirds.

The blooms last through spring in my desert garden.  In cooler climates, it will bloom in spring through early summer.

To learn more about this red beauty and how easy it is to grow in your garden, click here.

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I hope you have enjoyed my favorite flower photos.  Starting tomorrow, I will begin posting a series of my favorite DIY blog posts, so please come back for a visit!  

Favorite Flower Photos: Day 5 – A Cloud of Yellow

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Yellow is a great color to include in the garden.

Why

Yellow-flowering plants will help the other colors in your garden to ‘pop’ visually because it provides great color contrast.

damianita plant

Damainita (Chrysactinia mexicana) 

One of my favorite yellow-flowering plants is damianita, which blooms in spring and again in fall.

damianita plant

It thrives in hot, sunny, desert gardens, is drought-tolerant and is almost maintenance-free.

I love how it looks like ‘yellow clouds’ sitting on the ground when in bloom.

For more information on damianita as well as a few other desert perennials that I like to use in desert landscapes, click here.

Favorite Flower Photo: Day 4 – Purple Profusion

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I love the color purple in the garden because the color, helps to visually ‘cool’ the garden.

'Rio Bravo' Sage (Leucophyllum langmaniae 'Rio Bravo')

‘Rio Bravo’ Sage (Leucophyllum langmaniae ‘Rio Bravo’) 

Have you ever wondered how some plants handle our hot temperatures and intense sunlight?

Look carefully at the flowers above.  Note the small hairs covering the petals?  They help to reflect the sun’s rays.

sage shrubs

I like using large shrubs to screen the back wall of my garden, so I have quite a few ‘Rio Bravo’ sage shrubs.

They put on a spectacular show off and on throughout the summer when they bloom.  (Leucophyllum langmaniae) is just one species of Leucophyllum (Texas Sage).

Of course, if you insist on pruning your sage shrubs into round ‘blobs’, you will never see the flower show.

For guidelines on how to prune your desert, flowering shrubs correctly, click here.

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