bohemian hellhole

Urban Land Army

Urban Land Army on Flickr.

Coming soon, so stay tuned and check back at the Urban Land Army Supply Shop.

Thinking it is pretty fantasticly stupid to blog about gardening, while indoors on a beautiful day, with so much left to do, Alice

Tell me you don't wish you lived here

via our little corner of paradise

Thinking I should really put my foot down about afternoon tea, Alice

Garden Art

photo from here

We've been doing a bit of gardening; a small over-populated raised bed, a lonely tomato plant and some mutated carrots, and a fountain. Not to mention the chickens got some upgrades in their house, and the patio table has a new pink umbrella. It still looks like a junk yard, but it is getting greener by the minute. I love this little garden building. I wish our carport could handle the weight of all that soil, but I think it would collapse.

Off to find some scrap wood, Alice

Blight Removal

photo via Studio Beerhorst

If I remove enough blight, I might even have a chance at this backyard someday. The we finally got some chickens, built them a high tech scrap yard coop, and are moving on to the Utopian pea patch.

Maybe even bees.

again, via Studio Beerhorst

That may be the best thing I have read in ages.

Losing feeling in my legs at 1:11 {it is always 1:11, or 11:11. what is that?} Alice

Enter In

Photo via Kitchen Design Notes

Krislyn Komarov was featured in this LA Times article about her 1920's Spanish revival home. All I know is that her entryway is amazing, and impatiently await the day that my house is covered with plants.

 

Photos via Cyburbia, where I couldn't actually determine the seriousness of the author.

If we lived in a fantasy, everyone would have a Comstock house. The crooked chimney, the wonky stairs, the wild garden, it's...fantastic. Even better, this house is called the "Hansel cottage". Hansel. That's a name that you don't hear enough of.

{I love this} "The adjacent house sure is a homely beast, full of gaucherie."

This was ostensibly Comstock's studio. I feel as though there must be birds inside, doing the dishes and mice mending the clothes. Really, it is rather charming. Although I have gotten a little off topic regarding entryways, Hugh Comstock is distracting. {The neighbors house is ugly.}

Photo via In the Land of Nandi  

Photo via Paris Parfait

I may need to add "build a wall around our property" to the to-do list, just so I can have a fabulous gate. If that doesn't work out, I'll just plant more plants.

Looking forward to a visit to Carmel, Alice

Green Giant

If you are looking for low-effort, high impact plants, here are two of my favorites. The Cardoon is basically a giant thistle, related to the artichoke. It has very large purple flowers, and the leaves make for a fantastic addition to a flower arrangement.

A friend of mine was searching for something dramatic to place on her low-slung mid-century mantle and used some cardoon cuttings from her yard on a whim. The result? A large-scale graphic bouquet of silvery green that lasted for weeks.

Peruvian Lilies-or Alstroemeria, are also easy on the gardener, and great in a vase. They come in a wide range of colors, and grow to over 4 feet tall {at least they do in my backyard} with little to no effort.

Locally, Swanson's Nursery is a good source for plants such as these.


Sharpening my pruning shears, Alice

 

Beautifully Brief

www.wildchicken.com is a gardening journal full of great photographs and plant information

Over the weekend I purchased some plants, one of them is a Geum, which I have been wanting forever. In the few days of sun granted to us, I plan on finding them a home in some corner of my garden, and maybe even pulling up some of the gigantic dandelions that have taken up residence here. Before I can do that, I am going to pick up an amazing mission leather and wood hide-a-bed {similar to this} that I recently acquired. It will be in pieces, since it is too big to fit through any doorway in our house, and then I will puzzle it back together. The leather seats are in need of repair, but that is to be expected since it is around 100 years old. I don't even have room for it right now, so there are parts to it in my yard. White trash? Maybe, but I feel like I am off the hook since it is a really cool antique, and not a dirty blue recliner.