Style Lush

House Plant Help?

By Jessica

 

Growing up, my living room was filled with house plants. And I do mean FILLED. At one point, there was even a full greenhouse attached to the house through the window in our living room. We built the greenhouse from scratch and I spent days reading my books or practicing my cello surrounded by nature. My current house has not one plant inside and every time I have to pull an outdoor plant in, when threatened by a freeze, I'm reminded of my childhood living room and how much I loved having all those plants.

The thing is, I have no idea where to start or what grows best indoors, do you? I have a lot of windows but usually the blinds that cover them are shut tight. For the love of plants, I suppose I could break out of my cave like existance...unless you know of some plants that thrive in a dark environment? I usually keep the blinds closed because my windows are not the best and it helps with energy conservation, also to shut out the nosiest of neighbors.

 

{Photo: me in my childhood living room, practicing my cello}

One Last Hurrah for Your Potted Poinsettia

by Christina

I grew up with a mom who loved poinsettias. As a result, I love them too. I always get one or two, they are gorgeous and so darn festive. But when Christmas is over? I throw them away. Just chuck the whole thing, pot, plant and tacky foil wrapper. Gone. Mom on the other hand, she'd prune them back and put them in the basement because somewhere she heard that not watering them and putting them out of the sun would keep them for the next season. That never, ever worked. The instructions are much more involved then tossing the thing into the basement to die. I guess that's why I just throw them away. This year before I chucked the pot I decided to make some arrangements out of them. And, man, these are some finicky flowers. But, after Googling a few tips I've managed to keep them happy. And it's been worth it. They are so pretty.

This is just with a few blooms from the grocery store. So if you are going to just throw them out next week, cut them! Here's how.

Cut the stems from the base, near the dirt. Place them in a vase of cold water for 30 minutes, then take them out of the water and burn each stem (I used a long candle lighter, you could use an actual lit candle too, don't want to burn yourself!) and the moisture at the end will bubble. When it stops and the stem is charred, place it in a vase with fresh water. They should last up to two weeks, if they start to wilt, snip the bottom and burn it again, clean the water and wait. I know, I know, this is ridiculous! Keep them in the pot if you want, but if you want to change it up, now you can.

A Modern Adirondack Chair Alternative

by Blythe

I love my Adirondack chairs.  I really do.  But they're feeling a bit tired and, since I live in the soggy Pacific Northwest, they've started to warp after just a couple of summers.  (We do bring them inside during the rainiest seasons but the rain is an all-year thing around here.)

A friend of mine pointed out these chairs recently as we sat on them drinking wine.  They are fabulous, and a great alternative to my sad Adirondacks.

Emmett Lounge Chair

They're made from recycled milk jugs (weather-resistant!), they're comfy and sturdy, and they come in a bunch of fun colors along with attractive neutrals.  I wonder if Room and Board takes trade-ins?

{image credit: roomandboard.com}

Reader Help Update: Patio Furniture

By Hillary

It took us a few weeks longer than we expected but my husband and I finally found a patio set we both liked (it helped that we left it long enough to take advantage of the Canada Day sales - patio furniture looks a lot more attractive when it's discounted by 50%.)

I gave up my preference for wood, he gave up his love of sectionals, and now this Martha Stewart Living patio set is taking up residence on our patio:

Now if only the rain would go away so we could actually enjoy it. 

{Photo credit: homedepot.ca}

Summer Outdoor Lighting

By Leah

Cheap twinkle lights have been a staple inside and outside everywhere I've lived for the last decade, but since becoming a homeowner and then a parent/old married person, I've stepped it up a bit and explored what lies beyond the your basic plain white string Christmas lights. Here are my current haves and wants: 

3" multicolored paper lanterns. We hang these over the backyard deck every summer, and it makes every night feel like a party. (A fresh mojito helps too.)

 

These clear globe string lights are out of stock online, but we found them last weekend at our local Target. (You can still order the frosted ones online if you like that look.) They make me think of old-timey small-town street fairs--I can almost smell the popcorn and underlying scandal--and I'm crossing my fingers that they perform better for us than they did for the disgruntled online reviewers. 

 

You can't go wrong with a classic bamboo tiki torch, now available in both fuel- or solar-powered styles, depending on if you need the citronella protection of the former or kid-proof flamelessness of the latter. I also just discovered these colored fuels, which would be really fun to get in red and blue for a Fourth of July party. 

 

We saw some basic solar path lights--not the one pictured above, but close--on sale for $1 at our brick-and-mortar Target, but our neighborhood is a little too "thefty" for us to dare put them out front. Darn. 

 

I read this tutorial for homemade solar sun jars on Not Martha about four years ago, and I can't seem to forget it. Maybe this year's the year! (Using those $1 solar path lights!)

 

 
If you have, and love, your plain white string lights, here's a quick tutorial from Martha Stewart about how to fancy them up with silk flowers. I saw this on someone's personal blog years ago, but darn it if all the good ideas don't end up at Martha's eventually, right?  

 

A recent Pinterest find: glow paint speckled in mason jars! Worth it for the photo ops alone. (I tried and failed to trace this back to the original source/instructions.)

 

And finally, if you missed them the first time around, here are two great DIY projects from the Style Lush archives: recycled bottle torches and a tabletop fire bowl.

What are you doing for outdoor lighting? Is your Target wishlist full of things from their outdoor lighting page, or are you working on some DIY ideas we should know about?  

My Favorite Time of Year

By Rebecca

It is my favorite time of year here in Southern California.

"Spring is your favorite time of year? How novel, Rebecca!" you are probably thinking.

But it's not JUST spring, although the warm weather and longer days make late park visits and bike rides possible. It's my favorite for two very specific, plant-related reasons: it's when the jacaranda trees and my hydrangeas are blooming.

Do you have jacarandas where you live? They are gorgeous trees, and each May, their branches fill with in-your-face purple blooms and it colors the entire neighborhood. Like so:

On my way home from work, I drive down a street overflowing with them. They just... make me happy, and I love them.

Also, right now my hydrangeas are blooming. I have a hydrangea plant in my backyard that looks pretty much like this one:

When the landscaper planted them, he told me a bunch of things about how the acidity of the soil changes the color of the blooms. We have never tried adjusting it, but every year, despite my neglect, they grow from what look like bare, wintery sticks to a huge colorful burst of pink, purple and sometimes even blue flowers.

Each week, I cut them and put them into a vase on my dining table, and you know what?

They also make me happy.

 

{Photo credit: thewisegardener.com; gardeningcentral.org}

Flower Trend: Craspedia

By Leah

Photo from Grower's Box.

Have you guys seen these things? They're from Down Under, and part of the daisy family, and they're just plain awesome. Called woolyheads, drumsticks, and billy balls or billy buttons, craspedia are pretty much the coolest growing thing I've seen this year, and I was lucky to have the genius behind Green Snapdragon (who was also my matron of honor), incorporate them into my wedding last month.

My son and his dadddy. Photos by Sweet Monday Photography.

Far from traditional, they're perfect for arrangements you want to feel fun and/or super-modern. They they lend themselves to grouping in tight bunches or looser bouquets, and the balled heads on slender stalks look as good dried as they do live.

 Photo from Carmen Weddings.

Photo from A Merry Mishap.

Their straight, bare stems made them perfect for these escort cards by Botanical Floral Design: 

Although they're most common in yellow, you can special order white, orange, and green....or you could just airbrush them once they're dried and have any color you like.

Photo from Whole Blossoms, where you can buy 200 for $1 a stem.

Last weekend I found a craspedia plant on sale at a local nursery for $4, and I can't wait to have them popping up in my yard this summer. So fun.

 

Summer Project: Tabletop Fire Bowl

By Sara

Now that the weather has finally warmed up in Chicago I've turned my sights to our backyard. It's been a lovely space for the almost four years we've owned our home...we have a nice deck with space for a table and chairs and a small yard with decent landscaping. The one thing that I have always thought would complete the space was a fire pit. I adore the idea of sitting around a small fire pit in the late summer evenings gathering neighbors and friends for one last glass of wine before bed. However, and sadly, I don't think any of my neighbors would appreciate me burning down their homes since they are a mere 20 feet from my backyard. I also believe that fire pits are rather illegal for homeowners in the city limits (but I could be wrong).

In lieu of a permanent large fire pit, I came across this adorable little tabletop fire bowl in Better Homes and Gardens:

This looks a) super easy to make and b) just the right amount of ambience for our small patch of land. All it takes is a terracotta bowl, a can of gel-alcohol fuel (available online at Amazon) and pretty recycled glass. I even feel pretty confident that I wouldn't burn down my house or my neighbors' with this small fire bowl. I bet they would feel confident coming over for that glass of wine knowing I won't be burning down their house. 

Do you have any back yard (or front yard) projects that are on deck (heh) for this summer?

Favorite Games For Backyard BBQs

By Jessica

We get very little nice weather in Texas, and what little we get, we like to take full advantage of with as many BBQs, picnics and outside get togethers as humanly possible (notice I left out crawfish boils, I am HIGHLY allergic to shellfish, so I'll pass thank you very much).  While my main goal of any of these events is stuffing my face with as much good food and drink as I can, helllloooo margaritas, I do, on occasion like to partake in some sort of leisurely bonding activity as well.

Like Bocce

image via Amazon

or Ladderball

image via Target

 

perhaps Horseshoes

image via Walmart

or Washers (they call it Washer Toss)

image via Amazon

Badminton?

image via Sports Unlimited

or, finally, Croquet

image via Meijer

 

What's your favorite outdoor game?

Just Add Ice Orchids: Worth It or Worthless?

By Tara

If you're great at tending to plants and flowers and gardens and such, they say that you have a green thumb. If you're not so great at these things, they say that you have a black thumb.

And if you're me, they say nothing because they haven't yet come up with a color dark enough to describe the state of your thumb. To say that I am terrible with plants would be an understatement of epic proportions.

I overwater things. I underwater things. I fail to provide adequate sunlight, or I keep plants in places where I know the cats will eat them, or I put the plant in front of a heating vent. I have never had a plant in my house that has lasted longer than two months, unless the silk plant on top of my refrigerator counts, and I'm pretty sure it doesn't.

So, around the first of December, when my husband came home from the grocery store with this orchid that claimed it could survive on just a couple of ice cubes a week, I was understandably skeptical. I mean, I'm pretty sure I can kill a plant just by looking at it funny, so keeping an orchid alive for longer than a week seemed a little beyond my skill set.

But you know what? Every Wednesday since December, I've given that darn orchid it's two to three ice cubes for the week.

It's April now, and my orchid? Still looks good to me. I totally own this gardening thing.

{Photo Credit: my husband}