What's rocking my backyard today

So we just took part in the White Rock East Garden Tour this past weekend. And after months of serious hard work, the yard is in excellent shape. The birdhouse treehouse has been totally renovated with a lovely new white shiplap interior, complete with two skylights, mid-century modern decor and a fabulous new espresso machine.

The greenhouse has been converted from winter plant storage into air-conditioned summer lounging space with a queen bed, writing desk and a half bath.

A great place for an afternoon nap.

The pond is now resplendent with 6-foot palms, three 6-inch koi and a number of small but riotous comet goldfish.

And the metal artist that was featured in our yard for the tour (Robin Funk from MetalFunk) has  been relieved of a variety of colorful new art pieces which we will, from this point forward, permanently enjoy.

Freon Cylinder Tulips

But the things that are rocking my world these days are of the living variety.  We have a Ladderback Woodpecker nest in one of our front yard trees.

Loud but lovely.

And we have a number of regular visits from Carolina Chickadees, a Tufted Titmouse and a mated pair of tiny Brown Wrens.

Carolina Chickadee are only about 4 inches long. 

The Tufted Titmouse is super cute.

The Brown Wrens like to nest in the most inconvenient places like hanging baskets and bbq grills.

And then, there are the squirrels.

I recently received a squirrel feeder at my own somewhat misguided request. But I've since learned that these vociferous little rodents simply aren't satisfied with a single corncob a day. They broke into the Elfa storage unit outside our backdoor where I misguidedly stored the bag of squirrel food. As you can imagine, there were corn kernels and plastic bag pieces strewn everywhere. What's more, they've quickly adapted to gain access to the bird feeder hanging in front of the birdhouse treehouse window.

The bird feeder from inside the tree house.

Todd suggested hanging the bird feeder there as a way to keep the birds from flying into the window. We had a couple of bird strikes last year when the sun's position makes the window invisible and the birds think they can actually fly inside the opening. Sadly, a beautiful Cedar Waxwing was killed instantly, but a dove did survive after being unconscious for a couple hours. I had a full-on bird-print on the outside of the window for months.

The birds have been slow to adopt the feeder even though it's full of sunflower chips, with the exception of a pair of dove who are both so big they rock the feeder whenever they're on it. Fortunately, a pair of cardinals come along and eat whatever they spill on the ground.

However, one particularly ambitious male squirrel has been eying the bird feeder for several weeks. Each day, he's walked around the ledge, jumped up on the perch, launched himself up into the frame of octagonal window and leaned as far out as he could to try to reach the bird feeder. But he simply couldn't reach it. So he'd then perform what's turned into a hilarious daily ritual in which he'd jump back down on the perch, stand on his hind legs and reach both arms up toward the feeder in a vain attempt to determine if he'd yet grown the three feet needed for him to reach it.

Then the other day I caught him actually accomplishing his task. In what I can only describe as a death defying reach from the window frame to the bird feeder, he committed himself to the job and dove toward the feeder which, I'd like to point out, hangs a good 15 feet above the ground.

Fortunately, he caught the feeder while his feet were still on the window frame and managed to pull it back toward the window and feast on the sunflower seeds.  Not bad, especially since he's working without a net.

The lesson I learned today. With great risk, comes great rewards. Time to find my next leap.

Ho-Ho-Holy Crap. The Holidays Are Coming.

Is it just me or do the holidays start earlier each year? I was shopping last week and heard Christmas music already, a full two weeks before Thanksgiving. I understand that retailers want the buying frenzy to begin as soon as possible—Black Friday is now a weeks-long endeavor—but just hearing those peppy tunes put a rock in my belly.

I'm not ready for this year to be over yet. Here in Texas, we've barely entered sweatshirt weather. We've had an exceptionally warm fall and just last week I was in short sleeves putting pansies, violas, dianthus and kale in the ground. But make no mistake, any second now, we'll all go hurdling over the precipice of time and start free-falling into the holiday season.

For many, this time of year is not when gardening is top of mind. Digging in the dirt doesn't seem that attractive when your hands are full of cookies and hot chocolate. But don't fool yourself, the gardeners in your life are thinking about it all the time. In many places, Christmas Day is when you put your tulip, daffodil, and hyacinth bulbs in the ground. Or plant garlic cloves (two inches down in well drained soil, get 'em in before the first freeze) to ensure a bumper crop in spring.

So as we speak, I'm working on a list of great gifts for gardeners. Not just the EP3 Planter mind you, (which of course you can check out here http://kck.st/2AL2klc) but a whole bunch of cool things I've seen and covet for myself. Stay tuned. We'll talk again soon.



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Ostrich Planters

Choosing a US Manufacturer

Bringing the #EP3Planter to Life

Todd and I are big proponents of supporting the US economy. We feel we should do everything we can to help our own country’s people thrive. So when we started looking for a manufacturing facility to produce our new EP3 Wraparound Planter, we were delighted to find that our best option was to produce in the good old USA.

Granted, we looked at both domestic and international options. And eventually, we chose to have our injection molds fabricated in Moldova—a tiny country between Romania and Ukraine—because they could do it substantially cheaper and would air-ship the molds to us upon completion, whereas China would just put it on a slow boat. It was a compromise we made based on limited funds, but when it came to production, it was the USA or nothing. And after much research, we chose PTI manufacturing in Point Pleasant, West Virginia.

Perhaps you know the location from the 2002 movie “The Mothman Prophecies” starring Richard Gere and Deborah Messing, based on actual incidents that occurred in 1966 in which a large winged creature appeared predicting great tragedy, and on Christmas Eve of that year, the Silver Bridge collapsed, killing 36.

Supernatural associations aside, we found PTI to be a great fit. Rod Roush, the plant manager was super-smart, personable and seemed personally invested in our success. Plus, he took us to dinner at a great BBQ place, which, as anyone who knows Todd will tell you, is the way to his heart.

But more importantly, Rod helped us step-by-step along the way to help finalize our design, choose our materials and evaluate mold makers all over the world.  His focus on our success (and as a byproduct, his company’s) made us comfortable every step of the way.

Help us fund the EP3 Planter. Support our Kickstarter Campaign at http://kck.st/2AL2klc

Gardening Trends: House Posts Need Love Too

Most of us look at our house posts as those things than simply hold up our porches or roofs.  As part of the structure of our homes, they become invisible elements we look past every day. We pass them morning and night, going about our business without a second glance. And so they sit there, unloved and ignored—a sad and useless wasted space.

But some people look at house posts and wonder “Why aren’t we using them for more?” They see a tall expanse and imagine a perfect platform for beauty. Those people are Casa Linda residents Todd and Julie Price, creators of the EP3 Planter, a new Kickstarter initiative that lets you give your lowly house posts the love they deserve.

“We have 13 square posts on our own house,” said Todd. “It’s crazy that we weren’t using them to create more curb appeal.”

Todd set about designing a planter that wrapped around those square posts. And the resulting EP3 planter takes plants to “a whole new level of awesome,” he says, though not with a totally straight face.

The pair is hoping to gain traction with a $10,000 Kickstarter campaign to fund their first production run.

“Kickstarter’s changed the way new products are brought to market,” said Julie. “It’s leverages the voice of the consumer. We’re hoping the consumer will speak up for us.”

See the campaign at http://kck.st/2AL2klc.

Garden Trends: Shed Your Dead Space

Add Blooming Color to House Posts

They flank your front porch like dead-eyed sentries. Eight to twelve feet of vacant vertical space. But instead of just accepting bare house posts as a sad fact of life, now you can use them to add a welcoming pop of color.

Before | After

With the advent of new products like the EP3 Planter, launched on Kickstarter this week, you can use your square house posts, porch posts, balcony posts and more to improve the curb appeal of your home.

Two Large EP3 Half-Wraps with petunias, plectranthus and marigolds.

Created as an option to planters that eat floor space on landings as well as old-fashioned hanging baskets that look out of place on many newer style homes, the adjustable, patent-pending design gets flowers up off the ground to deliver an eye-catching display.

The result? When I come home, I'm greeted by beauty, not bare wood. And that is an improvement indeed.

See the EP3 Kickstarter campaign at http://kck.st/2AL2klc

40 Days in Brooklyn: Day 40

Saturday, October 29th

What I did on my last day in Brooklyn:

• Packed.
• Cleaned house.
• Weighed suitcases again and again and again.
• Cooked an omelet and sausage for breakfast while simultaneously trying to consume the rest of the vodka in the apartment.

• Cooked the rest of the turkey burgers for lunch but never ate them. They're probably turning green in the fridge as we speak.
• Went on one last walk in Prospect Park. Made sure to photograph lots of things for posterity.

The entrance to my fabulous apartment.

The front of my fabulous building.

A beautiful day in the park with a whole bunch of people
doing I-don't-know-what.

With a helicopter.

Getting lost in a yellow tree.

The road less traveled

Okay. Who knocked all the trees down? 

Pods. I picked them up and made a bouquet with them.

'Shroom on a log.

Getting lost in the park and then, off in the distance, seeing an entire circle of food trucks.

That circle of food trucks.

Thinking you're taking a photo when you're actually taking a video.

An Apple Cider Donut that's as good as everyone said it is.

Crazy beautiful scene

With crazy beautiful swans

One last shot of the apartment. Bye apartment!

My ride to the airport

Thank you. I feel welcome.

And then it's all…

And next thing you know.

Guess who'd picking me up at the airport?

And guess who's happy I'm home?