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College of Charleston
C of C campus
The first leg of my September trip to the Low Country was booked through Road Scholar (formerly Elder Hostel — I really love their new name). Road Scholar is a nonprofit tour company dedicated to “lifelong learning”. They have a mouthwatering array of trips in their catalog, many involving some type of volunteering. My Charleston leg was orchestrated by the College of Charleston, a very old (1770) and wonderful public liberal arts and sciences school. We stayed in a lovely hotel, the Francis Marion, and ate our meals in the student dining room. That was so much fun; carbo loading and enjoying the high energy of the students. In the morning we would hear talks given by experts on the history of the Civil War, Charleston, cooking, music and more; afternoons were devoted to sightseeing. Many of our group had enjoyed 6 or more trips with RS. I would have to give Road Scholar and College of Charleston an “A” for my experience!
The C of C campus has amazing old oaks
On the web:
Australian Native Plant Nursery has a new shipment of books from…Australia! Click on their website to the right of this post.
Thursday, November 10: Huntington Gardens (huntington.org) Talk and sale on Native Trees for Native Gardens by Lili Singer
Saturday, November 12:
- Descanso Gardens (Descansogardens.org) La Canada: Flower Market Tour, Fruit tree pruning and Fall color walk
- San Diego Botanic Garden (sdbgarden.org) San Diego County: Bromeliad Bash
- Theodore Payne Native Plants and Flowers (theodorepayne.org) Sun valley: Irrigation 101 and Native Plant Horticulture
Laura’s pumpkins
The pumpkins everyone is gaga for!
These are THE pumpkins everyone is gaga for! Created by Laura Eubanks of San Diego, they are the perfect combination for a Southwestern Thanksgiving. I took Laura’s class at Green Gardens Nursery in San Diego last Saturday, and now I’m going to share what I learned. First of all, it’s easy to get terrific results! Assemble the following: clear gel craft glue (Laura uses Aleene’s brand), a glue gun, spray glue, a pumpkin with a bowl shaped top, moss, small and mini succulents, seeds, pods and dried buds (can be collected under trees).
Gluing on the moss
As you can see, the moss is ordinary — spray the top of the pumpkin well with the spray glue. You don’t want to glue anything on the sides as they won’t stick: confine the moss to the top. The moss should be 1⁄2 ” thick, patted down.
A sampling of the materials
Now you are ready to start gluing on the larger succulents and buds with the clear gel glue. The larger pieces should be glued first, towards the center. It’s best to have no stems or cut them very short and to have a variety of colors if possible.
Next glue in the smaller succulents, buds, pods, etc. with the same gel glue. Tuck little pieces in all over, mixing up the colors. You can see the first photo for guidance. It’s best to have a lot of stuff as that makes the pumpkins interesting. Seeds and pods around the perimeter should be attached with a glue gun.
The pumpkin should dry for about 12 hours. Laura recommends the following care: keep out of direct sunlight, Mist with tap water once a week, keep indoors for up to one week at a time, best outdoors in a semi-shady location. Laura had a pumpkin last for almost 9 months, although there are no guarantees!
Laura is selling these along with Christmas pumpkins on her website, www.design4serenity.com. There is a limited delivery area as they are too heavy and fragile to ship. Laura and husband Greg Eubanks are both Master Gardeners, and they offer “design and implementation of intimate garden settings.” In addition, Laura is a Master Composter (!), garden lecturer, and conducts workshops. Thank you, Laura, for your generosity in sharing your pumpkins with my readers!
Green Gardens Nursery is a wonderful neighborhood business in Pacific Beach, a suburb of San Diego. They are getting geared up for the holidays with extensive offerings. Their website is www.sdgreengardens.com. They have a terrific succulent collection for sale, as well as some of Laura’s pumpkins.
On the web:
Friday, 11/4 — Sunday 11⁄6 Green Gardens Nursery (see above) will be having their Annual Holiday Open House with refreshments and a 15% discount on gift shop items. Friday 4 — 7pm, Saturday and Sunday 8am — 5pm. (858) 483‑7846
Savannah’s Urban Forest
Continuing my low country trip, the next stop after Charleston was Savannah.More of a “real” working city than Charleston, Savannah is home to the terrific art school SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design), and has a very “lived-in” look. There are little restaurants and bars in every square (and some alleys). We enjoyed touring the famous 22 squares, or vest pocket parks, with Jonathan Stalcup, a local architect who restores and sells historical structures (www.architecturalsavannah.com). The high point of the day was the urban forest of Southern live oaks, or quercus virginiana (question: if Elizabeth the 1st hadn’t been a virgin what would they have named everything?) It must be such a privilege, living with these gorgeous trees. The heaviest of the native hardwoods, these trees were used for structural beams and ship building. Some of the oldest trees are over 1000 years old, with 35′ circumferences and a height of 55′. They are uniformly draped with tillandsia usneoides, misnamed spanish moss. My sister Mary Lynn and I picked some to take home, ignoring the chigger warnings. The next day we had some bites and the tillandsia went back on the trees!
On the web:
Tuesday, 10⁄25:
- Huntington Gardens, San Marino: Lecture on propagating, growing and caring for figs (www.huntington.org)
- San Diego Botanic Garden, Encinitas: Succulent wreath class (sdbgarden.org)
Thursday, 10⁄27: The Arboretum, Arcadia: Propagation workshop with Dave Larrom (arboretum.org)
Saturday, 10⁄29:
- ***** Australian Native Plant Nursery in Ojai (australianplants.com) is extending their sale to Saturday, 10/29 — Click on box to the right!*****
- Theodore Payne Foundation for Native Plants, Sun Valley: Native plant horticulture with Lili Singer and Low Impact design class on managing rain and irrigation water (www.theodorepayne.org)
- Nopalito Native Plant Nursery, Ventura (nopalitonursery.com) : Planting, pruning and watering native plants in the fall /free with preregistration.
More fun than a barrel of pumpkins!
And fewer calories! Who would have thought that succulents and pumpkins could mix! Master gardener Laura Eubanks did. She will be giving a seminar at Green Gardens Nursery in Pacific Beach on Saturday October 22 at 2 pm on the creation of these beauties. Laura was kind enough to give the following information for those of us who cannot attend: “We won’t have need to cut into the pumpkins as all of the succulents are glued to a thin layer of sphagnum moss which, in turn is glued to the top of the gourd! With a little TLC, the succulents will root right through the glue and into the moss. I have succulent topped pumpkins from last year!” Ingenious! Green Gardens will also be selling some of the succulent pumpkin centerpieces at the nursery. (www.sdgreengardens.com) If you are not familiar with Green Gardens, take a trip to check it out! It’s a gem of a nursery that offers especially creative shopping during the holidays.
HOLD THE PRESSES: 10/16/2011 — I will be able to attend the pumpkin/succulent class on Saturday. I’ll take photos and supply instructions so you can make these at home!
