Simply Balisha

Simply Balisha

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Two Years in the Making

Every year about this time, I take all my houseplants outside and give them fresh soil and clean them up a bit. This year I had something fun to do. It has been a project two years in the making. A couple of years ago...at Christmas....I wanted a wreath topiary in the worst way. I tried to make one...but failed. The ivies that I had were just too short. I found that I would have to wait a year or so. The next Christmas, I made one only it was smaller than I wanted, so I unwound the ivy and waited again. 

This picture shows my wonderful potting bench. Don't you just love the upside down bucket? A greenhouse would be so nice at times like this :) Oh well, what ever works I always say....
 The ivy grew slowly and I kept pinching off pieces to start new ones. Finally the two ivies were touching the floor under my plant stand. I searched for the wire frame that Joe had made for me two years before. It was hanging in an inconspicuous place in the basement. I had the pot all picked out, not clay...but plastic. I've had bad luck with clay pots and ivy. Hmmmmm not enough  potting soil. A trip to our hardware store and found some African violet soil. Our hardware store is about to go under, I think. They have such a small inventory and never have anything that you need. When I got home, I mixed the African violet soil with what I had on hand. I first put a coffee filter in the bottom of the pot...then some broken shards of a clay pot, then I stuck in some dowels on either side of the wire form and wired it together for stability. (The wire form had two long pieces of wire....one on each side to stick in the soil.) Then I placed the two ivies....one on each side....keeping the ball of roots with soil attached, so the plant doesn't suffer stress. I filled in with new soil and tamped it down really good. Now, came the fun part.....winding the ivy around the wire. I had some jute just in case the ivy needed tying. It wasn't necessary. The two pots of ivy were just exactly what I needed for this size topiary. It's a little skimpy right now, but it will fill in with new growth before long.
                 
I had a few baby tears growing in my stack n grow this summer, so I thought I would plant a bit at the base of this topiary. Hope it does well in the house. 
This was two years in the making. Now, at Christmas, I will have a wreath of ivy to use in my decorating. 
This isn't the first one that I have made. I've had a couple others down through the years. I remember one day, going to a friend's for lunch. It was Valentine's Day. I had some ivy and quickly fashioned a wire heart out of a coat hanger and twisted the ivy around and put a red bow on the heart shape. She had that topiary for years. She just kept giving it a "haircut" when it got out of shape. That's what I will do with this one. I do like it to look a little more natural than mine looks now. When the ivy starts to grow, I'll have fun keeping it in shape. 
We gardeners are always waiting until next year for one thing or another. We learn patience from our gardens.
Balisha

16 comments:

  1. I just love "messing" with plants! I hope this Topiary does well. I rarely have good luck with Ivy and don't know why.

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    1. My aunt would never have it in her house. She said it brought bad luck. Not being superstitious....it's one of my favorite houseplants. I love vines indoors and out. Maybe you are too kind to it.....and water it too much. They kind of like to be left alone.

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  2. Your patience paid off and your topiary is very nice. It will look pretty at Christmastime.

    Happy Fall ~ FlowerLady

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  3. So much in common we have
    you are doing things I have wanted to do
    and never did.
    Now
    I am fine
    just remembering.
    You are still going at it.
    My plants
    have another month before
    being brought inside...

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  4. Ernestine....I just do somethings that don't take much time and can be easily accomplished. Years ago, I was like a whirling dervish.
    It's so hard to slow down, but I am learning. One day at a time....baby steps.

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  5. I agree with you on the patience part! I think the topiary looks great! You know what you're doing. I found a plant at the little garden place I went to, it looks like baby tears but the leaves are about the size of nickels. Maybe I will send you a pic. And you should see MY potting area. I have a huge plastic pot filled with leftover potting soil. I can set my smaller pots right down in it and fill them up. I also empty the used soil from pots in it and add peat moss in the spring. Recycling!

    I am going to order Joan Anderson's follow up book on my Nook. I really enjoyed this. Her situation was much more different than my current one. I actually don't know what sort of fault she found with her husband, it seemed to be more about "married life" overall. And my true feelings involve almost losing my husband to cancer and now wondering what I will do, how I will do if it comes back with a different outcome. Very involved and once again, I over-think things. But thank you for the recommendation. I hope someone else picks up the book!

    Jane xx

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    1. Her situation was very different than mine. I felt the same way about her husband The book is one of my favorites....reading about someone with a completely different take on life. .I was interested in her independence. I've never traveled alone or lived alone... for any length of time. My daughter has traveled to China, Europe, tropical places like Belize and now planning a trip to Ecuador. I have often wondered where she got that independent feeling....Surely it didn't come from her parents. Could I have done that back in the day? Would I have wanted to.....I'll never know. I've always been satisfied with the life I have chosen. A homebody with a close family. I've never had the feeling that I want to take off on my own.

      I hope that your surgery goes well on Monday. I'll be remembering you in my prayers.
      Balisha

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  6. Love your ivy wreath - what a clever idea! I just repotted some house plants, too. Nice to be able to do it outside before the weather gets too cold.

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    1. I always do it outside about this time of year. You can make any sized topiary and any shape. Just get a coat hanger and pot and some ivy. I have a calendar in the breakfast nook that has an ivy topiary on most pages. I love the ivy in a wreath shape.

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  7. Your topiary wreath is cute. I agree with Flowerlady, it will look pretty at Christmastime. I can grow a lot of things, but have never had any luck with ivy.

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    1. There are several kinds of ivy....why not try another one to see if you have luck with that.

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  8. Seeing this ivy wreath brings back memories of making them for Valentine's Day as an add on to our planter baskets. They would go so fast out the door. I miss my shop at times but so love being home and doing things for myself now. Thnx for the memory and I will do one for myself . Ivy is tricky for some, usually too much care, such as too much water. Enjoying your blog so much.

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  9. Thanks for visiting. What kind of a shop did you have...a flower shop? I worked in a gift shop for a while and did lots of crafty things for sale there. I made holiday decorations for our windows. The first topiary that I ever had was one made of rosemary. A small one at Christmas time. I've tried it with rosemary, but it's a little harder to work with.

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  10. I had a flower shop in a small town. I was a florist for about 20 years with owning my own shop for 17. Enjoyed it but was time to be home. Our children all living away from us and very hard to get away. We would get rosemary topiaries in once in a while usually around Christmas time.

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