Tag Archive for: air plants

Old creosote roots with air plants(
 Living With Air Plants)

Old creosote roots with air plants (Living With Air Plants)

Air plants are both unique in their shapes as well as their relatively easy care. You have undoubtedly seen these fun plants in all sorts of places. I see them cropping up on home decorating sites, Pinterest, gift shops and much more. It’s easy to see why they are so popular as they add a fun design element to your indoor space.

Disclosure: This blog post contains affiliate links. If you click through and make a purchase, I may receive a commission (at no additional cost to you). Thanks for your support in this way.

A variety of small air plants ( Living With Air Plants)

A variety of small air plants

Living With Air Plants

Living With Air Plants

This book is a one-stop resource for anyone who wants to delve into adding air plants to their own indoor space as it covers all of the information that you need including:

Propagation

Care

How to Display and Use

Easy Air Plants to Grow

Air plants arranged on a shelf  ( Living With Air Plants)

Air plants arranged on a shelf

The distinct shapes of air plants create interest wherever they are added such as on a desk or a plant shelf.

Tiny air plants arranged along a string of twine ( Living With Air Plants)

Tiny air plants arranged along a string of twine

I was provided a free copy of Living With Air Plants for my honest review.

Guidelines for the care of air plants is addressed in this book and yes, they really don’t need to be planted in the soil. Plus, they get what they need from being sprayed with water!

There are countless different varieties of air plants and easy to grow species are listed toward the end of the book to help ensure your enjoyment and success with growing these cool plants.

*I was provided a free copy of Living With Air Plants for my honest review.

Book Review: Potted, DIY Stylish Garden Containers

Wrapped gift with pine needles on the gift package

My Favorite List of MUST HAVE Garden Gifts for the Holidays

The holidays are here and if you are like me, you a long list of people to find the perfect gift for. I love plants and gardening. This means I like to look for gifts with a garden theme to give. It’s also a subtle way to drop some hints to help my husband pick out the perfect gift for me.

I’ve created lists of some of my favorite garden gifts. They are split up into different categories, which I will share with you over the next week. Be sure to check back daily.  All items can be purchased online. Grab a cup of coffee, let’s get started.

*This blog post contains affiliate links. If you click through and make a purchase, I may receive a commission (at no additional cost to you). Thanks for your support in this way.*

What is gardening without plants? Thankfully, it is easy to order a variety of plants for the gardener in your life. Here are some of my favorites:

Waxed Amaryllis (Garden Gifts)

1. Beautiful Waxed Amaryllis is a Perfect Garden Gift

I’m starting out with my favorite this year. Imagine a plant that needs no water, fertilizer or any special care? All you need to do is set it by light. Covered in wax, they have all the water and fertilizer needed for them to bloom, which makes them an excellent choice for people with a self-professed ‘black thumb’. Click here to order.

Want to learn more about this pretty, low-maintenance flower? I talk about it in my newest Facebook Live video:

I’ve heard from several of you that you have seen these for sale at their local grocery and big box stores. They shouldn’t be hard to find if you don’t want to order them online.

David Austin English Rose (Garden Gifts)

2. Garden Gifts from David Austin English Roses

Christmas is the best time to buy a new rose for the garden, ready for being planted in January. David Austin has created a class of roses the couples the beautiful shape and fragrance of the old-fashioned roses with the repeat blooming of more modern roses.  Why else should you want to add one of these beauties to your garden? They are disease resistant. These roses are much lower-maintenance. My favorite is ‘Olivia Rose’, which grows in my side garden where I view their pretty pink blossoms from my kitchen window. David Austin roses can be ordered here.

Potted Succulents (Garden Gifts)

3. Potted Succulents as Houseplants

Dive into the latest gardening craze, which is all about succulents. You don’t need a lot of space to grow your own – just a pot, potting mix, and a pretty little succulent. Imagine how nice this would look on your windowsill. There are a number of potted succulents available. This one with a gold-toned planter is a delight. Click here to order.

Air Plants (Garden Gifts)

4. Grow Air Plants Easily

Create your own little garden world with this kit, that has all you need, including an air plant, moss, rocks and a lovely hanging glass container. Air plants have such unique shapes and are easy to care for. Click here to order.

Assorted Agave

5. All the Assorted Agave for Indoors or Outdoors

Did you know that there are over 200 species of agave? The different shapes, colors, and sizes mean that there is one (or more) that are right for your garden. You can get a good start on an agave collection. Order this assortment for yourself or divide it up into four separate gifts. Click here to order. 

Do you have a favorite plant that you received as a gift? I’d love to hear about it.

Come back tomorrow. I’ll share my picks for garden tools and gear.

Do you like to decorate your home with natural objects?  

I do.

Recently, I’ve been busy creating items using things found in nature.  

natural objects

For example, these may seem like regular pieces of wood from a tree – but what if I told you that they were actually old roots from a cresote bush?

creosote bush

You may not know what a creosote bush is, but if you live in the desert – you’ve seen them.  They are the shrubs scattered throughout the desert.

The roots that I used for my project came from one of the creosote shrubs in the picture, above.

creosote bush

This creosote shrub was in an area that I was asked to design next to a golf course.  While I kept most of the creosote, I had one removed to make room for new plants.

You can see the pile of creosote roots left over after the shrub was pulled out.

I came up on these roots after placing the new plants and thought that they would be great for a future project.  They were woody, twisted and had great character.  I loaded them up in my truck and stored them in my side yard until I could find the right project in which to use them.

air plants

I decided to pair my old wooden roots with air plants.

My mother, who is extremely creative, introduced me to air plants and I immediately fell in love with their unique shapes.

Air plants are unique in another way in that they do not need soil.  All they need to grow is air, water and a sunny window, which makes them perfect for using in home decorating projects since you don’t have to worry about soil.

You can read more about air plants and how to care for them, here.

So what do you get when you pair air plants with pieces of natural wood?

natural objects and air plant

A very attractive centerpiece that looks great on the coffee table.

I was so excited about how nice it looked that I decided to try using smaller pieces of wood and different air plants.

natural objects

Because each piece of wood was unique and had been twisted over time by nature, each pairing looked different.

natural objects

I must admit that I had so much fun playing with different combinations.

So, what am I going to do with so many creosote wood / air plant combinations?

Earlier this year, my mother proposed going together with my sister and create items for the home that are made from natural elements for a large holiday boutique.

My sister and I both agreed and have been working on making different items focused on using natural and/or recycled elements, along with my mother.

Here are just a few of the items we will be selling:

Gourd Bird Houses

Gourd Bird Houses

My mother and I have both grown gourds in our gardens and transformed them into bird houses and feeders.

Seed pod Christmas ornaments

Seed pod Christmas ornaments

Can you tell what type of tree/shrub this seed pod comes from?

Sophora secundiflora

If you guessed Texas mountain laurel (Sophora secundiflora), you’d be right.

My sister has made a variety of Christmas ornaments using seed pods.  I love the idea of transforming natural items and using them to decorate your home for the holidays!

Terrariums with air plants

Terrariums with air plants

Do you like terrariums?  I think of them as small worlds enclosed by glass.  There will be quite a few terrariums with air plants, including hanging ones.

Lavender sachets made from antique seed bags

Lavender sachets made from antique seed bags.

During a trip to Winona, Minnesota – we bought quite a few old seed bags from antique stores.  My mother, who is an excellent seamstress, made them into sachets, glass cases and aprons.

Reading glass cases made from antique seed bags

Reading glass cases made from antique seed bags.

'Sparkly' white Christmas seed pod ornaments

‘Sparkly’ white Christmas seed pod ornaments

My sister has made a variety of Christmas ornaments using seed pods.  I love the idea of transforming natural items and using them to decorate your home for the holidays!

Basil Salt

Basil Salt

I love using basil salt on my favorite Italian dishes.  The basil came straight from my garden 🙂

Mini air plants on antique wooden spools

Mini air plants on antique wooden spools

Seed Bombs

Seed Bombs

Have you heard of seed bombs?  I wrote about this fun garden trend last year.  I first saw these at the Sustainability Festival last year.

*Can you tell that they are wrapped in ‘recycled’ packaging?

Air plants mounted on driftwood sitting on top of wooden plants ready for hanging

Air plants mounted on driftwood sitting on top of wooden plants ready for hanging.

My mother and I collected much of the driftwood during our trip to Lake Michigan this summer.

natural objects

In addition to what I’ve shown you above, we will have aprons, totes made from seed bags, terrariums made from light bulbs and fairy garden houses made from wood and moss.

Our goal was to create items using natural and/or recycled items.

If you live in the greater Phoenix area, we would love to see you!

We will be selling our natural items at the Believe Boutique, which is a large holiday boutique with over 125 vendors.  It is being held at Cornerstone Church in Chandler, Arizona on Friday, November 7th from 4:00 – 9:00 and again on Saturday, the 8th from 10:00 to 3:00.

**We’ll be located in the main lobby in the ‘Sustain’ booth.  I’d love to meet you, if you have time to stop by!