Collecting Scented Potted Flowers For Potpourri

I use potpourri instead of air freshener inside our house because the smell of natural fragrance is different from synthetic air perfumes which is a bit strong to my sense of smell. Making your own potpourri is effortless and it can also be a start of a small business. You can place it on decorative containers to add a pleasant scene in your home and can be given as gifts for housewarming. I made a research on the net and got this one great recipe I've been using for a couple of months now.

 

You need 7 cups of mixed dried flowers, enough amount of mint, rose leaves, scented geranium and lemon verbena to make about 3 cups. Place 5 heaping tablespoons of chopped calamus root or chopped orris root in a huge glass container . Stir in 9 drops of bergamot and rose geranium oil and 6 drops honeysuckle oil, close the container and let it mellow for a week. Add the other ingredients, stir, close container and let it mellow for 4-6 weeks, stirring occasionally. For a sweeter fragrance, you can add a few drops of ylang-ylang or jasmine oil. If it's a bit bland for your taste, add some crushed cinnamon sticks, allspice or cloves, lavender flowers or patchouli leaves. To mellow the scent you can add cut vanilla bean, vanilla grass, dried sweet wood-ruff or crushed tonka bean.

 
 

Having a garden is an advantage since it's easy to gather flowers and let it dry for the summer. If you don't have a garden, you can collect growing plants in pots. Online shopping for growing plants are available which you can order scented flowers in decorative containers like roses, lavenders and orchids. Fragrant Gardenia In Green Ceramic Container is one of those. It is easy to grow and because it's lightweight, I can transfer it from one place to the other. 

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Zen Garden Ideas For Yard Or Desktop Gardening

When I hear the word "Zen", I remember going to the spa. I think it's because of the word "Relaxation" being attached to it. Bringing peace to your home is what everybody wants so why not create a Zen garden as a project for a peace of mind? Most of the people I know who have Zen gardens are minimalist, they say it's neat and harmonized. Luckily I have a Japanese brother in-law who knows about Japanese rock garden so he provided me tips on how to create one.

Consider the size of your garden and decide if you will occupy the whole yard or create a desktop garden. Zen garden uses sand so to avoid scatters, make use of wood to mold it. Use a rake to create water ripples and use a number of patterns. In using stones and pebbles, arrange them in a neat manner by submerging rocks in the sand and make sure it doesn't look cluttered.

Large rocks, pagoda, gazebo, or a pergola adds a Zen feature so make sure to have one in your garden. Some Zen gardens are merely stone gardens but if you want to add plants , make sure to add the hues of  yellow and dark green to symbolize the yin-yang energy for harmony. Water creates a positive energy so better add features like a water fountain, a pond or a man-made flowing river.

You can try to experiment and start gardening in a small way like miniature or desktop gardening. This way you can gather ideas if which feature design suits your taste. Using Bonsai trees like the Zen Reflections Bonsai from Givingplants.com will make a nice desktop or miniature Zen garden due to its minimal size. You can check other bonsai gift plants like the edible plum and flowering bonsai for other garden designs.




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Potted Plants For A Victorian Inspired Garden

Gardening is not my first love but when you start to get a life, that's the time you want to get away from the limelight and intend to see a colorful nature when you wake-up in the morning. Aside from my children, a beautiful landscape or a garden makes me feel relaxed after a days work. Sitting in my porch, drinking coffee and chit-chatting with my family and friends are one of the best things in my life. I would like to share my ideas in creating a calming garden sensation for people to share it with their loved-ones.

The Kresko Family Victorian Garden is my inspiration in creating my own version of Victorian garden. Molding a masterpiece like this is not that hard since you can search on the internet for ideas. All you need is the right tool, perseverance and faith in creating the design you want. When making a Victorian garden, you need to complete what you need inside the garden first. Pick an ornament that reminds you of Victorian style like white statues, gazing balls, fountains, gazebos, fish pond and sundials. Decorate your garden with iron-cast or stoned benches and a trellis with flowering vines like wisteria or clematis for a romantic look.

When  using plants for gardens such as this, use bedding plants. The whole idea of bedding plant is that you have two key seasons to have a continues range of flowers all year round. Use bright and dark colored flowers  to form the bulk of the colors. Make sure to add dots on the monotonous colored flowers so as to improve the color scheme of each bed. Suggested flowers to use are marigolds, daisies, lilies, violets, roses, tulips, hollyhocks, begonias,  asters, daffodils and pansies. 

If you have a small garden area in your place and you think bedding plants eat a lot of space, using potted plants are recommended alternatives. Potted plants like these can also be purchased online in Givingplants for example. Mini Pink Rose In White Embossed Tin Container is a perfect example of beautiful potted plant. Combining all your potted plants together creates a bed of potted flowers.



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