Sunday, June 24, 2018

JOIN THE FUN IN A CREATIVE WORKSHOP IN JULY

Need some creative fun to do with your friends or family this summer?  Here’s  our creative workshops for July at From the Summer’s Garden. 

Paint Your Own God Bless America Stepping Stone

Create a Mosaic Fountain Ball 
that will sparkle with bubbling water

Learn how to mix Hypertufa
and make 5 garden projects
in our Hypertufa Studio 

Make your own Fairy Garden
with a house and accessories

Creat a Mosaic Collage Stepping Stone

Try your hand at making Concrete Balloon Pots

Learn to how to Marble a Fabric Apron
with a tea party for refreshments.

Click on the workshops names 
for more info and to enroll.

Monday, June 11, 2018

FOLK ART BOTTLE ANGEL WORKSHOP


Folk Art Bottle Angel Workshop
THURSDAY, JUNE 14 7:00-9:30
These bottle angels are a fun way to re-purpose water and soda bottles using handmade paper and paper clay. Select a prepared body and add wings, face and arms. Then accessorize your angel with a selection of beads, and assorted bling to make it your own.
Lots of choices, lots fo fun!
We'd love to have you join us. 

Saturday, June 9, 2018

FUN GLOW-INTHE-DARK POTS FOR SUMMER GROWING


Glo-in-the Dark Flower Pots


 Solar lighting is very popular in gardens today.  It’s a great idea- place your solar lights in just the right spot to create a focal point at night, activate the light bulb and let it charge up in the sun. Not all solar lighting is created equal however.  Some work well initially and then will not function anymore. Others require expensive replacement bulbs or batteries that sometime cost more than the item did originally.

Here’s a fun way to achieve a cool effect in your garden at night using  outdoor glo-in the dark paint on flower pots. You can makeover old pots or use new ones.

What You Need:

A grouping of three flower pots that work together.  Terra cotta or cast foam pots work the best because they both hold the paint well.  Plastic looks cheap and does not hold the paint well.  Of course, I used hypertufa pots because they really hold the paint well!

Wire brush and coarse sandpaper

White exterior primer

Brushes and plastic drop cloth

Exterior Glo-in-the-dark paint  Here is a very good source:

Polyurethane (optional)

What You do:

1.  If you are using an old pot, use a wire brush and/or coarse sandpaper to remove paint, dirt or debris from the surface. If you are using a new pot, rough up the surface gently with the sandpaper for good adhesion of the paint. Either way, flush with water and allow to dry thoroughly.  It works great to allow the sun to do this and heat the pots as well.  They absorb the paint even better this way.

2. Spread out your drop cloth and place the pots to be painted upon it.  Using a brush, paint the areas you wish to glo-in-the-dark with a good thick coating of the white primer.  Be careful not to drip where you don’t want paint.   You might paint one or two of the pots completely white- all of the outside, up and over the top edge and down into the pot at least three inches.

3.  The third pot should ad a bit of a twist. Perhaps this pot is striped or polka-dotted.   You could even do handprints for the fun of it.  What ever you do, establish a single motif and repeat it.   Keep it simple so your plants within the container remain the stars.

4. Allow the primer coat to dry thoroughly, in the sun again, if possible.

5. Paint all of the primed areas with a coat of the glo-in-the -dark paint. Repeat this step 3-5 times to build up a good layer of the glo paint.  Allow to dry between coats.

6.  You can add extra protection by coating all areas of glow paint with a coat of polyurethane varnish.  This is available in Gloss, Semi-gloss and Satin.  If you like shiny use the gloss or you might prefer the more subtle satin finish.

6. Allow the finished pot to dry thoroughly and you are ready to plant!

Tuesday, June 5, 2018

ICE PLANT


This summer I have discovered Ice Plant, Delosperma cooperi and it is absolutely perfect for growing in shallow hypertufa containers. It forms a vigorous, succulent, spreading, evergreen ground cover growing to 3” tall and spreads quickly to 24”.Daiisy-like, brightly colored flowers cover the plants from June to September. 
Make your own Hypdertufa containers this coming weekend in our Hypertufa Studio
More info and to enroll:

MORE INFO AND TO ENROLL





Friday, June 1, 2018

JUNE HYPERTUFA STUDIO

Hypertufa Studio 
Saturday morning, June 9 9-12:00 noon
Sunday afternoon, June 10 1:00-3:00 
The Hypertufa Studio offers a hand-on experience making Steve’s “green” version of HYPERTUFA, a mix of cement, sand, recycled paper fiber and water. You’ll mix, mold and sculpt concrete and hypertufa into unique and functional garden art including a box planter, a bird puddler, cast leaves, a stepping stone and a draped cpncrete planting container. Most participants take home 4-5 finished projects from this two-day session on Saturday morning and Sunday afternoon.