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Eye on Life Magazine is a Lifestyle and Literary Magazine. Enjoy articles on gardening, kitchen cooking, poetry, vintage decor, and more.
Anyone wanting to have a home apple orchard can easily have one as long as you take into a few key considerations, like location, spacing of apple trees, varieties of apple trees, amending poor soil, and the pollination of apple trees. Since the average American
Read MoreCotton literally is a plant that surrounds us in our everyday life and while it is a huge commercial plant grown for the fiber to make clothing and other everyday articles, it is also a wonderful ornamental plant addition for any serious garden design. Cotton flowers are known butterfly attractors and for that reason alone they should be promoted as plants to include in any butterfly garden. They are also beneficial to bees, which as most of us know are in serious need of all the beneficial plants they can get.
Read MoreOne fun element in garden design is to grow what doesn’t naturally grow in your region. That can be a challenge, but it can lend itself to more creativity. For example, while some succulents grow naturally in Florida, one of the design elements in our backyard garden is the cacti that we grow. As a native Californian, and someone who lived among cactus for a good part of my life, growing cacti was not my first choice. Yet, my husband was apparently completely captivated by the idea of growing them. So when he found that a neighbor had chopped down significant sized pieces of cactus, he “rescued” them from a trip to the local landfill.
Read MoreNow, more than in recent years past, getting the garden plan right the first time is crucial — we don’t have time or money for newbie, or even seasoned garden efforts to fail. The ability to be self-sufficient out in the garden is a financial security concept whose time has come. Putting in a garden to offset grocery prices or shortages is now a priority for many Americans. Gardening is a way of growing money, or at least knowing how to save money.
Read MoreThe daughter of Madame Butterfly, Akina, once invited me to visit her moonlight garden. Now at the time, I couldn’t imagine that seeing someone’s garden in the light of the full moon, but then I’d already experienced her mother’s “pets” and her“spa get tay”— so nothing should have surprised me. However, the drama and romance of Akina’s moonlight garden was one I’ll never forget.
Read MoreThe thought process with Elizabethan gardens was to make sure that they held the visitor’s interest all year round. So great detail was paid to the patterns of the knotted hedges, fragrances of the plants, and the flowers in season.
Read MoreWith food safety becoming more and more of concern to many of us, along with the very high cost of food, many of us a turning back the clock and revisiting the concepts of urban gardens. However, some people don’t have enough room to grow their own, and that’s where community mini farms, rent-a-gardener, rent-a-farmer, raised bed gardens, patio container gardens, and the new square foot gardens (a spin-off of the previously well-known square foot gardens of the past) — all deserve a closer look to see if they are right for your urban garden design.
Read MoreI think right now, in our current uncertain financial times — many of us don’t have the time, patience, or the land to achieve such an edible forest. Maybe we can’t garden in a forest, but to a certain extent, we can garden like a forest, on smaller scales. Happily there are many alternatives that can keep the Allosaurus from eating our modern day food budget, and the Quetzalcoatlus from darkening our skies — and that’s what I’d like to share today.
Read MoreIt’s no secret that world-wide, honey bees are in trouble. I’ve written a good bit about honey bees elsewhere on the Internet in the past, mostly because saving the honeybee is important to me and should be to everyone else — unless you plan on starving. They are in danger and need our help. One way to help them is for each of us to do our part in providing plants and a proper environment for honey bees, by planting a honey bee garden, no matter how small or space may be.
Read MoreRoman Herb Gardens are great for a sunny courtyard. Imagine terra-cotta pots, formal raised beds, a vine covered pergola, water fountains or features, mosaic tile, and stately garden status. To my way of thinking that sounds pretty good to me.
Read MoreWhen I think of city gardens, my mind goes back to the wonderful little court yard and balcony city gardens of New Orleans. I am especially fond of the Bienville House Hotel’s courtyard garden, which is in my opinion one of those small places when the cares of the world just melts away. It’s those kinds of oases that every city dweller should seek solace from the troubles of everyday modern life.
Read MorePerhaps the mystical basics of these garden design is a rewarding study in itself. The main appeal of their designs to most gardeners, is found in their outstanding beauty. While the lessons to be learned from the subtleness and serenity of their composition, is a peek into the almost universal Asian insight and appreciation of nature.
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