As the name of my blog indicates, I spend a lot of time thinking about home. Of course, my Heavenly Home is the one that is eternal, so that’s where I need to lay up my treasures, and that’s the one I’m striving for. But in the meantime, I have been given this tiny piece of the here-and-now—this home on the edge of town, this family, this neighborhood—in which to serve Him. And, though this is in the earthly realm, I want the things that happen here to be investments in the Heavenly realm.




Tuesday, May 8, 2018

Topiary Love


The subtitle of this post should be "Can I Keep Them Alive?" 



My track record with green things is not so good. In fact, I am the kiss of death to house plants. "You can't kill fill-in-the-blank," I have been told. But yes. Yes, I can. Which is why I am a huge fan of faux greenery.

I love the classic look of topiaries and I have several faux. But when these live beauties called my name in the Walmart garden center, I threw caution to the wind and put two in my cart. 

I put one on my kitchen island . . . 

. . . and the other on the drop leaf table in front of the picture window, both places where they will get plenty of light. 



Determined to do my best to keep them alive, I did a little research. My new friends are Eugenia plants, sculpted into topiaries. According to this article, they need plenty of sunlight, moderate water, and occasional fertilizing. (And a bit of luck, I might add.)




I may decide to put them on the living room mantel. I do think topiaries look nice in pairs. There is not as much light on the mantel though. Hmmm . . .



Bekah gave them their first haircut yesterday. So far, so good!

Do you have any topiary tips for me? 




Also around the house,

Ron is off this week and this is happening . . .



We are painting the north and east wall of cabinets. Yesterday we removed everything from the kitchen that was not nailed down, sanded (ugh), and removed doors and hardware. Today, the first coat of paint!


18 comments:

  1. ... as mentioned elsewhere:
    "I don't think of myself as having a "gray" thumb,
    but more of a plant hospice worker; easing the
    transition to plants can go to Jesus."

    that's me.

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  2. Your topiaries are such classic beauties, Cheryl! I love how they look in the Pineapple House. I took a topiary class at the Disney Institute years ago and fashioned a Mickey Mouse. I'm sorry to say I have no sage advice. It looks like your's are very happy!
    Your kitchen is going to look so lovely. Hang in there during the process! If I were you, I'd order take-out. ♥

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A topiary class sounds like a lot of fun. Yes, ours are happy . . . so far.

      Whew! We actually ended up painting the second coat this afternoon! We still have some adjustments here and there, some touch-ups, a missed spot, and hardware and doors to put back on, but we think we'll be done this phase by Friday(ish). The head of our little crew (Ron) took us all out for dinner tonight!

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  3. added to say ::
    i can grow things outside, but not inside.
    my husband? he's the plant whisperer. i throw
    out what i see as a dead plant and he gets it
    out of the compost and brings it back to life.
    we have many plants named lazarus. wink.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Topiaries?!? I KNOW better than to try :)
    Yours are lovely. I'm sure they'll do just fine.

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    Replies
    1. I am not so confident. Merely hopeful. :)

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  5. I’ve never tried topiaries but I adore them! I’m having trouble with my ivy’s right now. Not enough sunlight so I’m babying them on the deck. We’ll see how it goes!

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    Replies
    1. My local friend suggested that I put mine on the sun porch for more direct sunlight. Hope your ivy recovers!

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  6. Topiaries are such classic beauties. Hope that they make it under your care! (I have never had one.) Oh busy week! Hope that the painting doesn’t take all your time so you may have some fun this week as well. (Not that having a freshly painted kitchen is not fun.)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We have scheduled in some time for fun, but vacation equals projects around here! :) And, yes, a freshly painted kitchen is all kinds of fun! (But we're having a little non-kitchen fun too.) :)

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  7. Woohoo topiaries and painting. I will not give you any advice on living indoor plants. Wouldn't be prudent or helpful, I'm afraid. Right now the real estate agent has a couple orchids here and I'm hoping they don't die while in my possession. Looking forward to seeing the freshly painted kitchen!

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  8. I love your new plants! I am a "crazy plant lady" ! I bet your sun porch would be a good place for them!

    How exciting to be painting your cabinets!

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    Replies
    1. A local friend suggested the sun porch too! Yes, we are so excited to be nearly finished with the cabinet painting! Yahoo!!

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  9. I'm only good with faux topiaries. Your real ones look good and promising! I'm sure you can care for them... Good stuff happening in your kitchen. I bet you're excited!

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    Replies
    1. I'll do my best, but I don't feel as confident as I did when I plopped them in my cart.

      I am excited about the cabinets! We're almost there!

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