Indoor Gardening: Winterizing Geraniums from last Summer Now that all plants are indoors from the balcony I want to talk about winterizing Geraniums. Geraniums are among the most affordable and easy to care for plants. I really hope you divided yours during the warm months and made new plants. With proper care and dedication they can provide you with a show of colourful and beautiful flowers from Summer to Fall. Let's winterize these beauties! It's easy.  This is what how I do it: Leave plants in the containers they were initially planted. Cut them down.  Stopped wate ..read more

Indoor Gardening: Fall is here. It's time to start moving plants inside. Happy Fall! I hope you had a great Summer. As temperatures start to cool down it is a good time to bring some plants indoors. Plan their new spots wisely as they will spend the long cool months there. Think about very important things such as light, humidity and space. Group your plants if possible. They like growing together with other plants. Get your LED lights ready. Did you know that under cabinet lights are also a great option to grow your plants? Visit this post and learn more. That's all for today. Happy ..read more

  source: Friends of Arizona Joshua Tree Forest Arizona Desert Trees: Joshua Tree Forest. Grand Canyon West trip I hope that January is treating you well. Here in T.O. We could do with a bit of more sun light. It's been gloomy for so long. Today I want to show you a very unique tree from my visit to the Arizona Desert, the Joshua Tree. If you read my last post you know that I spent the end of December visiting the Arizona Desert and the Grand Canyon West for the first time. I took the first photo above from my bus window seat. Of course the tour bus was in motion. Althoug ..read more

  Arizona Desert Plants and Trees: Grand Canyon West trip Happy New Year! I hope you had a wonderful Holiday Season. Mine was great. I spent part of it visiting the Arizona desert and the Grand Canyon for the first time. Always wanted to see this wonder of the world but mostly for its plants.  These photos above do not justify the intricate beauty and colours of the landscape. It is amazing! As these plants are new to me, I did a research to best to qualify them by name for you and me.  Bottom center is a magnificent Juniper Top Right is Greenstem Paper Flower Middle Left is ..read more

  Wishing you health, wealth, and endless blessings in 2023. Happy Holidays! Subscribe to Balcony and Indoor Gardening in Toronto, Botanical Art, Flower Pressing, Workshops. by Email ..read more

  Gift Wrapping Ideas: Paper Punch Cut Outs and Glitter Topper Have you run out of gift wrapping supplies? May be you should take a look at your Scrapbooking stash. I am talking about paper punches and decorative papers. If you love crafts as much as I do, you probably have a great collection of goodies. Get creative! This is what I used for this gift wrap: scrapbooking sheet paper punches (leaves cut for the bouquet and lace cut instead of ribbon) glitter glue gun glue gun sticks That's it! Isn't it pretty? It took me no time at all and used what I already had in my studio. Happy Gif ..read more

  Repurposed DIY Gift Wrap for Boxed Grocery Store Amaryllis  Boxed Grocery Store Amaryllis make wonderful plant gifts. A great gift idea for the Holiday Season. They are also affordable if you get them at grocery stores. I collected quite a few over the past few months to give away and grow at home.  Today I am sharing with you how to gift wrap and pack boxed Amaryllis. Take a look at the images above. As you can see the box comes with a photo of the bulb in full bloom. I want the receiver to get excited about the beautiful flower is getting. It also comes with instructions I ..read more

  Gift Wrapping Ideas: Fairies Wrap. Make your own gift toppers. Gift Wrapping is one of my most favorite creative activities. I miss teaching my Gift Wrapping Workshops as I used to in December every year. Today wrapping gifts come with a higher cost. Prices are one big factor, people do not spend that much on gift wrapping materials. A good quality sheet of gift wrapping paper can cost about ten dollars! With this in mind today I am sharing an easy way to decorate your packages combining gift wrapping papers and cut outs. I used a plain cheaper wrapping paper for this packages and cut ..read more

Turn a recycled muffin box into a pretty package for a gift As I promised here is the gift packaging idea for your hand painted ornaments I mentioned on my previous post. I always keep plastic containers from food or fruits. Wash them well, let them dry and think about a new way to reuse them. This muffin box is just perfect. I love the shape, size and colour. It seals tight. The top lid is transparent which allows the receiver to see immediately what's inside. Coincidentally, it fits four ornaments inside. Although I decorated this gift box with a couple of glittery toppers I had left fr ..read more

Hand painted floral ornaments: Beauties from the Garden The count down to the Holidays has begun. You probably already started decorating your home. What about gifts? What's on your list?  Finding the perfect gift for your loved ones might be costly, a little tricky and time consuming. What would you give to those that have everything? How about giving something you decorated like hand painted floral ornaments? They are trendy this year and will the be one-of-a-kind gift. Give a box of them! MATERIALS: Plastic ornaments (buy them in boxes and save money!) Ribbon (check your scraps ..read more