Garden Projects #7

Okay - then I will tolerate the small feet.

Caterpillars, ants and frogs, oh wha!
Very cool!

I request an armadillo.

Candlepins? I always bowled duckpins.....

same thing, I think.

Love them Bill! The frogs are great!

No, Iris, candlepins had tall pins...duckpins are short....

the ball for candlepins is small too. It fits in your hand.

Softball sized for ducks....

Thought I started a thread on fairy gardens, but wasn't listed that I started one except on the MA forum...weird...
anyhoo, anyone who does miniature gardens, do y'all see this article...very cute, LOVE that she included videos
http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/3573/

Oh, those are so cute, Jen....

Love all your new creations, Bill, especially the frogs. Way cool!

Jen, I read that article and loved it. I so want a mini garden!

Karen

Trying to get a definite answer out of hubby is like pulling teeth. We keeps saying we're getting apool this year. We need to redo our deck and that would also mean doing a new patio, are we doing all three? where are we putting the pool? are we incorporating it into the deck(that would be cool!)
I want to do a garden around the bird feeder area but don't want to start planning it if he wants to put the pool there or even close to it...I will then want to landscape around the pool...(won't be an inground)
UGH.

I moved our bird feeders the other day. Turkeys have been gathering there to eat the seed that falls to the ground. Where they were before I had gardens. Now they're in an area where there are none. Turkeys can really mess up a garden. Not to mention that the shells from the seeds were really making a mess on the ground. There will still be a mess, but not in an area where we spend much time. They're over where I usually have my cow manure dumped.

Karen

In the summer, they take dust baths & really mess up the plants.

Pruning clematis....type 3 is supposed to be a drastic cut around this time of year, correct? Do you even cut any green that is still there?

Yes.

I can never remember how to prune or not prune each class of clematis.

Turkeys like to mess up hosta, too. I don't know if they're getting slugs or what, but I had a friend who had turkeys hanging out around her feeders, and they were damaging the hostas, as if they were eating them.

Karen

Wha, Nice rock critters. Can't wait to see shots of them scurrying about in your garden.

My projects lately have been making a couple of ceramic scarecrow faces for our veggie beds. They still need to be glazed, so no pictures yet. Plus they may be too weird. I will be firing them this weekend, so plenty of time to make more if need be. I also made a ceramic pendant light to go over our new Vt kitchen sink, but it is a tad small, so I will be making another one that is bigger this weekend. I have all the parts needed to wire it, so I tested out the look over the space when I was up there on Monday, and aside from being too small, it looked good. DH will have the final say as to if it is worth hanging once the cabinet and sink is in, which is long time away yet. He wasn't with me so he hasn't seen.

flowAjen. Rule of thumb for clematis is to cut back hard in the spring the ones in group 3 to within about 6 inches from the ground to promote bigger, bushier and more productive bloom count, but you don't have too if they aren't out of control. So I have left many of the green shoots uncut so they have a head start when I want them to climb high through other shrubs and they seem fine for a few years. But I am not very knowledgeable about them, but do love em and I am glad you reminded me to give them a hair cut next week if the weather is good. Victor knows best. Patti

Sounds like some fun projects, Patti.....no scarecrow face can be too weird!

Ha, you haven't seen mine. These are not glazed yet and are just a trial run. Since these pictures were taken they have been bisque, so I will glaze them and fire them on Saturday. I have better ones in my head, perhaps they will make it to my hands. Pencil shows scale. Patti

I think they're pretty awesome!

me too - wow!!!

Very neat Patti!

Very cool! I recognize one of them. ;)

Thanks for the cheers, but the glaze will either make them better, or they will be fit for the recycle bin. I want to do a scary looking childish one that is actually a flower pot with the face on the side with a big tuft weedy looking grass growing out of its head to simulate hair, or maybe some wild looking string beans so that it looked like a hippie child which would amuse me. I will have to add mounting holes to the back side to wire it to the post. I must also make some crows to sit on their heads or shoulders when I am at the studio tomorrow. Silly me. Patti

could use a couple of those for halloween Patti!!

I like the way you think, Patti! These will be awesome in your garden!

Just way cool......

The faces are very original, I really like them.

Nice faces Patti,reminds me of the last 2 dates I went on.

ROTFL!

ge1836. OMG, Poor you!

I just loaded the kiln, so we shall see how they look all painted up with underglaze. One will have a greenish over glaze with green eyebrows and beady bright blue eyes and yellowish teeth to make it even more creepy while the other has sunburned ears and it will be just a speckled tan color with blood shot eyes and a polka-dotted tongue. But they may go straight to the trash by late tomorrow when I unload the kiln. Opening the Kiln is always a crap shoot, especially when I am firing it. I made a bunch of flower pots which I assume will look OK and be at least functional. I still have a mess of stuff to glaze and a mindful of things that I want to do, if I can just find the time. I will post pictures tomorrow if they turn out at all. Off to make some glazes as my pottery coop job requires. I have to wear a gas mask when I am making them up and look ever so unattractive, but you don't want to breath in the raw materials that we use. We work in a special room with a big fan to vent out all the bad stuff. Patti

LOL JoAnn

Patty: Yes !! Yellow teeth seems familier.(just kidding) they were needy guys but fairly well groomed.

Kiln opening is also like crismiss morning.There are some wonderful surprises too. Please post photos.
Best to approach the kiln opening with no expectations and an open mind.
Just remember there are "fixes" or "add-ons" with room temperature glazes. KRYLON has saved my skin any number of times.

This message was edited Feb 19, 2012 7:23 AM

They are pretty scary looking scare crow faces. I will try a couple more. Fun to do. Most of the rest of the kiln was mostly as expected. I had 4 bowls that came out rather blah, so I will refire them. Had one that crawled a bit and could be fixed but I think I will pitch it. I have another kiln in late March so I will have to get busy as I only have about 5 new things ready to fire at this point.

Back to the garden story.....we had a mess of new crocus up on Sunday, but I went to Vt, so I only saw a photo of them, plus Winter Aconite or Eranthis are out as well as reticulated iris and a clump of Narcissus. It has begun Patti

Those faces are UBER creepy!!!

Love them!

Patti.
Tossing a crawled one? Pretty cavalier.Thats a sighn of your justly deserved confidence.
The faces are truely great.

very nice - don't know if i'd want one over my sink - could cause dropped glasses of milk in the middle of the night!!