Blooming Friday -Plans For The New Year

I have been thinking of what to plan for my garden in 2011. I am in a state of panic because I have no plans. I'll see what my cow Daisy has to say to advise me.

Daisy:   Moooore vegetables, Rosie. Grow  enough to give to your friends and neighbours.
Rosie:   I know, I know...I haven't been seriously planting vegetables lately. I have lots of packets of seeds,
            though. I'll take them all out of the bottom drawer where I keep them and put them in a basket so I
            can be reminded of them. Is that a good idea?
Daisy:   Noooooo, that is not enough. You have to have a schedule of what to plant, and when to prepare
            the next crop.You want to have a continuous supply of a variety of vegetables, don't you?
Rosie:   Well, okay.
Daisy:   Have moooore pots of herbs on this window sill...you only have one pot of spring onions, not
            enough!  Put a pot of basil, a pot of coriander, a pot of parsley....
Rosie:   Right, right, I get the idea.
      

                   

Rosie:  What do you think I should plan for my front garden? I've already begun to add more
           flowering plants. You've seen my gladioli patches?
Daisy:  In case you haven't noticed darling, I am an inanimate holder for your kitchen towels. We may be
           having this conversation in your head, but the fact remains that I cannot move. Never seen your
           garden! I can only see out of your kitchen window.
Rosie:  You have a point there, Daisy. I'll go talk to the green frog chime on the patio. Thanks.




Rosie:   Hey Katak, can I pick your brains for a minute? I'll let you get on with your lunch in a while.
Katak:  Hey man, yo, watsup?
Rosie:   What should I plan for my garden in 2011? I want more flowers for sure.
Katak:  You're doing alright over there near the wall. I can see the flower borders taking shape.Go for
             bold colours I say, especially where the sun shines strongest all day.
Rosie:   If you say so, okay. Thanks err...dude.

          

Looks like I've got two huge tasks ahead in 2011.
1) Produce a vegetable plot that produces substantial amounts of produce.
2) Create a colourful border of annuals and perennials that covers the whole length of the wall.


This is a work in progress, beginning with the semi-shaded part of the wall where hydrangeas can thrive.
I began with this theme of lilac-coloured flowers. Will get bolder as I connect this to the gladioli patches which are in full-sun. Wish me luck for the rest of the border!

I am not daunted, however. My West Wall is not anything like the Great Wall of China. Besides, when the whole project is completed, the taste of success would be sweet. After which there's the Southern District of the Land of the Slopes to conquer in 2012. Happy conquests to all my fellow garden warriors. May each victory be recorded in history - or in the scrolls... of your blog pages at least.

Skywatch Friday- Balinese Skies

My destination for Skywatch this Friday is Bali skies. The first picture is of a slightly overcast sky above a misty volcano.




The clouds here appear to be billowing out of the crater! Better run for cover!

The clouds are wispy here, drifting in the wind like cotton candy melting and slowly disappearing...

 

Here we have it...that perfect cloudless sky for a perfect kite in the sky image!




May the Garuda in the sky guard and protect you.





Go on ahead to Skywatch Friday for more skywatching thrills.
Click on the link at the bottom of this page.

Have you met my Belle of India?

My garden is beginning to reward me with fragrant blooms lately...the most dramatic blooms of all coming from my jasmine plants. This variety is the Jasminum grandiflorum L from the Oleaceae family, commonly known as Belle of India.
These bushes require regular pruning if you want a showy effect like in the photos below. The plants require almost full-sun in order to flower in profusion. If you plant them in flower pots like I do, make sure you water them frequently as they exhaust the moisture in the pot very fast. With moderate applications of fertilizer, these jasmine plants can be easily coaxed to flower. A great plant to have near your patio or favourite garden bench, for the perfume they provide is just heavenly!

                                     White buds impatiently waiting to burst into bloom.

                                White florets filling the garden patio with a delectable fragrance.

   Snowfall on a hot tropical day!!!

                                              



The Belle of India...in her pure white sari, feeling the heat on a tropical afternoon.

For more Fertilizer Friday posts, please scroll down to the bottom of this page and click on the icon there. My thanks to Tootsie for hosting this meme.

Romantic Gardens of Bali

After a period of readjustment in my garden blog, I am longing to return to normalcy. I have missed that passion with which I had begun my blog in October 2010. I had neglected my love affair, that fine romance I have with the lovely gardens I had visited lately. To recapture that nostalgia, I shall post about my romance with the evocative Balinese garden.

I was in Bali in July 2010, just when Bali was in the grip of the 'Eat.Pray.Love' fever. Julia Roberts had just finished filming the 'Love' segment of the movie and I suppose romance was in the air since this was the segment where Liz finds love. Walking in the gardens among the ancient temples of this exotic island where paddy fields and bicycle lanes are the norm, not the exception in this rural setting, one can definitely feel the essence of romance here.


These photos help to convey the uniqueness of romantic Balinese gardens. The romance lingers even when you leave Bali...the scent of frangipani flowers, the incense of aromatic prayer sticks, the image of green moss on temple walls, the lilting music of the caklempong and bamboo angklung, the dark-eyed dancers expressing their anquish or joy as the tale unfolds in their cultural dances . So walk with me through these gardens and images of Bali and let's fall in love...

   Walk along the riverbank and savour the bright, beautiful day...feel the joy of being   
   among unique palms and trees.

 

   Breathe in the fresh, unadulterated Bali air.

     Lose yourself in the brilliance of the colours.

    Hear the trumpet flowers making swishing sounds in the wind, heralding your arrival.

 Luxuriate in the cool green shadows of the pines that stretch to the sky.



Embrace that old-world feeling in this rustic setting.



Be welcomed by these petalled water...used in spas to pamper and delight the senses.



Be awed by the skills of the ancient craftsmen whose works of art beautify the gardens.



Be uplifted by the cheery colours of the canna lilies.





Here we say good-bye to this lovely spot on the island of Bali. Truly a garden haven for garden lovers from everywhere in the world.

Domino Coffee Table

The Domino Coffee is a great design.. Simple but eye catching.

This would create a great focal point for a living area and even better in a office loby. The cross over of wood and glass off the combination of tradition and contemporary.

Coffee Table

SIDD offer a small number of items that are worth checking out from woodern wine rack to a wooden vase.

Find out more about Domino Coffee Table
Find out more about SIDD

Source: Modern Designer Furniture Blog

Saying Thank You To Blotanical With Flowers

2010 was the start of a wonderful new world of garden-blogging for me. I began posting regularly at the end of October 2010 after picking up a few tips on blogging from online friends. Within a few weeks I was introduced to Blotanical by blotanists who were warm and friendly, offering tips like loving neighbours sharing pies or cupcakes over the garden fence.What a great introduction to me, a newbie who meandered almost blindfolded in the blogosphere. Overcoming the fear of being laughed at, I meekly tendered questions(which,in hindsight I realise are ridiculous and laughable questions) to my neighbours 'over the garden fence'. And here I am, at the end of the year, emerging unscathed from my tumbles and falls, richer for the experience I had gained. But more than the experience, I value the riches I had gathered in the form of my new-found gardening community of Blotanists.

To my Blotanist friends and to all the other bloggers I have met and who had visited My Garden Haven,

 I wish you bluebirds in the spring,
 to give your heart a song to sing,
 and then a blog, but more than that,
 I wish you...great gardening!!!

Seasons greetings and a Happy 2011 from me and my flowers in my garden haven.

Sky Above Mt. Cook

This is specifically for Skywatch... my introductory skyscape is one of blue skies, nothing but blue skies above Mount Cook. A typical pale blue sky on a a spring afternoon in New Zealand, where the warmth of the sun contrasts with the  snow-covered peaks of the mountain. Oh, did I say nothing but blue skies? Watch that jet leaving a trail behind, heading for more spectacular skyscapes...which we shall see in the following weeks' Skywatch segments in My Garden Haven!

Do click on the link for Skywatch Friday at the bottom of the page.

Horizons in New Zealand

Here are some horizons I have been privileged to have been able to photograph during my travels. These are unforgettable moments  that I would always want to keep in my memory...and when the memory fails to recall the details, these photographs will enable the magical moments to live on.

No matter how far I roam, no matter how inspiring the beauty of foreign horizons, the horizon that I can see from my  window at home is where my imagination takes flight at the end of the day...

I would like to thank Roses and Stuff for offering me a chance to post my favourite pictures on horizons. For more of the theme "horizons", you can visit Blooming Friday when you click on the link at the bottom of this page.

Classical Contemporary

For two decades, the Georgetown couple walked past a Colonial Revival brick house near Tudor Place and wished it could be theirs. “We admired the simplicity and elegance of the architecture,” says the attorney husband. “The home is somewhat unique because it is freestanding rather than a row house. It came with one of the deepest gardens in Georgetown.”

When he and his wife, a telecommunications consultant, discovered their dream home was finally for sale, they jumped to buy it. The interiors needed updating so they turned to Rob Brown and Todd Davis, who had remodeled rooms in their previous house. “They know how to integrate clean, modern furnishings with older homes in which the preservation of the historic details is essential,” says the wife. Brown and Davis, who have offices in Bethesda and Miami Beach, are best known for decorating the Washington, DC, and Chappaqua, New York, homes of former President Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, as well as Hillary Clinton’s former Senate office.

In the living room off the stair hall, Brown and Davis unified the seating groups with a Chinese-inspired rug of their own design.

Hardly the typical Washingtonians whose conservative tastes run to wing chairs and Oriental rugs, the well-traveled homeowners prefer more stylish, pared-down designs. “In essence, we are Bauhaus admirers,” says the husband. “We dislike clutter, excessive ornamentation and overly decorated spaces.” At the same time, he and his wife appreciate the historic charm of Georgetown and made sure renovations respected the architectural character of their 1883 home. “The challenge was to find the right balance between preserving the best of a 19th-century structure and furnishing it with designs that are clean, simple and elegant,” he says.

In the dining room, golden drapes warm the north-facing windows. The rosewood table, upholstered chairs, banquette and rug were designed by Brown Davis.

Brown and Davis addressed both modernity and history by setting sleek furnishings into rooms outlined in elegant architectural details of their own making. “The façade is gorgeous but the interiors did not match that,” says Brown. “To either side of the central hallway was a jumble of rooms. It was time to give the house new life.” On the main level, archways between the hallway and flanking spaces were widened and raised to improve flow. A small room behind the living space was replaced with a coat closet and a powder room with a sculptural stone sink.

Brown Davis designed new paneling in the family room, where they repurposed furniture from the couple’s previous home. The print is by Robert Motherwell.

At the rear, the kitchen was completely overhauled by Poggenpohl with contemporary cabinets, glass backsplashes and stainless-steel appliances. It now opens to the rebuilt back porch overlooking the terraced garden and pool. The room across the hall from the kitchen was framed in new paneling and built-in cabinetry to create a family space. Chairs and sofas were recycled from the couple’s previous home and reupholstered to provide comfortable seating for reading and watching TV.

Throughout the house, the décor reflects what Brown and Davis call “classical contemporary,” a luxurious but streamlined look that has become their signature. “One of our trademarks is the juxtaposition of old and new, and bringing colors together in unexpected ways,” Davis says.

The contemporary was revamped by Poggenpohl.

The more formal rooms at the front of the house exemplify this mix of traditional and modern elements. In the living room, Brown and Davis replaced the fireplace mantel with a carved limestone surround and installed new architectural moldings to create a classical backdrop to stylized, Deco-inspired furnishings. Instead of pairing sofas around the fireplace, they arranged seating areas at either end of the room and connected them with a floral-patterned carpet of their own design. “It was inspired by a late 19th-century Chinese import rug for another client,” explains Brown. “The furniture has a Deco flair and in terms of Deco interiors, Chinese rugs were often used.” Ivory upholstery on the chairs and sofas provides a contemporary twist within the room’s traditional setting.

The husband’s cherry-paneled study centers on four chairs originally designed by Brown Davis for the British Embassy.

Across the hall, a similar contrast is evident in the dining room, which also serves as a music room for the couple’s three children. A baby grand piano faces upholstered chairs pulled up to a rosewood table and a banquette in front of the windows. As in the living room, the piano and furnishings are linked by a large rug in subdued tones to match the upholstery. In both living and dining rooms, marigold silk draperies add a jolt of color. “These rooms tend to be dark because they face north,” says Brown. “We chose a golden tone to warm them up.”

Abstract prints by noted American artists Robert Motherwell, Robert Rauschenberg and Richard Serra, and large paintings by Spanish artists Miguel Angel Campano and José Freixanes underscore the contemporary feeling. “We think the art reinforces the importance of simple furnishings—the furnishings do not collide visually with the art,” says the husband.

In the master bedroom, Donghia wallpaper provides a dark backdrop to light-colored furnishings and a sleek stone fireplace mantel.

Upstairs in his study, Brown and Davis extended the same strategy applied to the living and dining rooms, but reversed the approach. Instead of ornamenting the walls with intricate moldings, they used streamlined cherry paneling and shelving as a modern backdrop to traditional furnishings, including four chairs the designers originally created for the British Embassy.

Contrast continues in the master bedroom, where light-colored bedding, drapes and upholstery are set off by raisin-colored silk wallpaper. “We were asked to make it a cocoon,” says Davis. “So we used materials to absorb sound from the street.”At one end of the room, a print by British artist Henry Moore hangs over a fireplace framed in a simple stone surround. “It’s our favorite room, especially in winter with the fireplace burning,” says the husband. “We are often there, reading or working late at night when the house and the city outside are quiet.”

Study Table For Children In The Bedroom

Designed a study table for children in the bedroom is nice, well where desks are nice, cool, and comfortable will make your child will use his passion for learning or making school assignments are done at home. Well usually the children tends to couple a table Study abroad requires facilities that support the learning activities at home, such as equipment / tools are full making it easier for them to learn.

By selecting the appropriate furniture and accessories as well as adjust the layout for this learning space for you to choose and set together with your child, because the needs and comfort to learn that directly felt by them. you only need to provide whatever they need to support them that their achievement in class.