Exotic plants everywhere are certainly rejoicing Hothouse Flower is not what I expected. If it had been a guide to caring for exotic plants, I would have surely killed a few of them by now. As it turns out, Hothouse Flower is a novel. There are bits of plant information drizzled throughout the book, but it is fiction. I might have had an easier time reading it if it wasn’t. Since buying my first house and starting a garden, I’ve absolutely devoured gardening books. That wasn’t the case with Hothouse Flower.

I tried. I really did. I’ve had the book for several weeks, now. I started it many times, and didn’t get past the first chapter. Whether it was children, gardening, my new job, or whatever, something kept me from getting caught up in this book. In the end, it worked out alright. I didn’t know how I would ever read Hothouse Flower in time for my review. It turned out to be a nice companion to have while I was waiting at the hospital during my sister’s surgery. That was on Tuesday, when I should I have been writing the review.

Anyway, about the book. I’m not quite sure how to sum it up. I thought it would turn out to be a romance. Lila, the main character, develops relationships with three men, but romance doesn’t feel like the right description. Despite the slow start, it feels more like an adventure, perhaps with a bit of the supernatural or mystical thrown in. By the time I had to put the book down to check on my sister, I was eager to finish it. Lila doesn’t exactly embrace her adventure, but she certainly lets herself be led on one. If she seems a bit chaotic and unsure of herself, I suppose that’s normal for a divorcee. Finding your footing can be challenging after a divorce. While my own experience was much calmer, there were similarities. I found myself doubting the credibility of a woman in today’s world just picking up and following a strange man to another country. Now, thinking back, I did that too. It’s hard to remember how flighty and immature I was, then. But really, when I got divorced, years ago, I hopped on a plane and went to another country for a fling with a guy I met online. I spent two months there. Reality can be just as strange as fiction.

There were some surprisingly insightful passages hidden amidst the fantasy. This is one of my favorites:

“If you can hear the quiet while being woken up by the garbage trucks, you have power. If you can feel the stars when all you can see are the lights in the skyscrapers, that’s power. If you can smell the forest in front of the dumpster, then you have power. Never let the events in front of you, or the people around you, tell you what to see, feel, taste, smell, or hear.”

I’ve had experiences like that. They do make you feel powerful and peaceful all at once. Unfortunately, this is not the type of book I’d pick up in search of enlightenment.

It’s interesting to note that I currently have two of the nine plants growing in my yard. One, lily of the valley, was here when I bought the house. The other, datura, is an annual that I grew this year for the first time. If it had a showy bloom time, it was while I was away for a funeral. Before I left, there were several buds. When I returned, they were mostly gone. I’ve seen a stray bloom here and there, since then, but nothing spectacular.

What’s most interesting is that datura is supposed to bring visions and dreams of the future. I’ve had deja-vu and dreams that felt prophetic, in the past, but nothing much in the last few years. Caring for an infant was just too tiring for dreaming. Lately, though, I’m starting to have visions of a wonderful future. I won’t be ingesting any of the datura to find out more. I’m content to enjoy the present and let time and experience bring the future to me.

My review is part of a virtual book tour, of sorts. I encourage you to check out some of the other stops on the tour, which can be found here. Now that I’ve read and reviewed the Hothouse Flower on my own, it’ll be interesting to visit the tour and see what others thought. From there, there is a link to a reader’s guide, which might have been useful, had I found it earlier. Although, I’m not sure what to make of this bit:

13. The movie rights to Hothouse Flower were bought by Julia Roberts. The book combines adventure, mystery, and romance in a dangerous, lush, and breathtaking setting—did you think of it as a movie as you were reading? Do you think Roberts should play the part of Lila? Who would you cast in the other roles?

At first, I thought, “Wow, Julia Roberts is making this into a movie?” Pretty cool. I could picture the movie being better than the book. Now, I’m wondering if this is a hypothetical question posed for discussion of the book?

Invite their friends,

especially the colorful friends.

Get down on their level and see what they see.

Remember to plant bite size morsels.

Remember to plant flowers for picking,

lots of flowers for picking.

Let them help with the harvest,

and let them help cook their harvest.

Most of all, let them have fun in the garden.

I’ve missed the last few weeks, since the garden fairy started preschool and I started volunteering. This has been loads of fun and I’m going to miss it through the long, cold winter. I’m looking forward to catching up on all the kinderGARDEN posts while planning next year’s garden. Many thanks to Kim, at the inadvertent farmer, for a wonderful summer adventure.

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The Garden Fairy Chronicles has been my contribution to the kinderGARDENS project. The goal was to get more kids out into the garden. The links for the final week can be found here, at the inadvertent farmer, or you can click the button below for all the details. Links to the Garden Fairy Chronicles can be found here.

Weekly links to all of the participants’ links can be found here.

Filed under: garden fairy ]]> http://evolutionofagardener.wordpress.com/2010/09/26/childrens-garden-tips/feed/ 4 Kate, the evolving gardener asunflower abutterfly adragonfly amushroom astrawberry adahlia IMG_7295 a0699 alahdo avines Inadvertent Farmer http://evolutionofagardener.wordpress.com/2010/09/18/dragonfly-2/ http://evolutionofagardener.wordpress.com/2010/09/18/dragonfly-2/#comments Sat, 18 Sep 2010 12:23:07 +0000 Kate http://evolutionofagardener.wordpress.com/?p=1298 ]]>

The garden has been full of dragonflies, lately. The season is winding down, with temperatures cooling and harvests dwindling. It’s time to evaluate how the various plants and gardening techniques have performed, but the garden fairy has started school and I start a new job next week. That could be good news for next year’s garden budget if I can manage my time well and make it worth it.

It took a while, but the nasturtiums finally grew up above the faded sweet peas.

Inside the garden, the nasturtiums are shaded by the taller, vining vegetables. The leaves are generally larger and healthier looking spilling out into the gravel paths, but there are fewer flowers due to the soil amendments and fertilizer used on the veggies.

In the sunniest, driest patch, the nasturtiums are not looking happy. I’m waiting to see if they perk up any with the lowering temperatures and position of the sun.

I did discover that the climbing nasturtiums are capable of climbing with the right support. Most of the supports I provided must have been too thick. Here, a leaf has wound itself around the narrow wire fence. It’s really only latching on and growing horizontally, but perhaps it could climb this type of fence on its own.

I thought I’d get a better photo after removing the dying leaves, but after doing so, I remembered they were poison ivy that I clipped and never went back to dispose of. Fortunately, washing immediately with grease cutting dishsoap and cold water really can prevent the nasty rash.

what’s left is still interesting and has a subtle beauty, all its own?

After picking, I rub the spines off, rinse them, and trim each end. The garden fairy eats them like apples. They are the perfect size for her. She tried this with the regular sized cucumbers, but couldn’t finish them and finally had to let me slice them for her. So, I’m adding miniature cucumbers to my must-plant list. I’ll also be on the look out for other miniature veggies or fun varieties to try with the garden fairy.

Over the weekend, we planted red and purple carrots. The spring crop failed completely, but we’re trying again. Cosmic purple and atomic red carrots just sound like great fun for snack time. Just imagine the wondrous looks from the other kids in preschool. Maybe they’ll all go home and convince their parents to plant gardens.

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The Garden Fairy Chronicles is my contribution to the kinderGARDENS project. The goal is to get more kids out into the garden. This week’s links can be found here, at the inadvertent farmer, or you can click the button below for all the details.

At first, I tried the different harvesting methods described in various sources. I tried sorting through the bin by hand. I tried dumping it all in a pile under a light and sorting through it. I tried letting it go a couple of weeks without feeding, then putting a melon rind in one spot for the worms to gather in. All of these were very time consuming, tedious, and dirty. The castings might be worth it, but still, there must be a better way. So, the last couple of harvests, I’ve tried something new.

My worm bin is a plastic storage bucket with holes drilled into the bottom for drainage and around the top for air circulation. There are  layers of composting materials inside. On the top is the cleaner shredded newspaper that provides a barrier between the composting materials and the house. This prevents fruit flies and soaks up excess moisture in the bin. When the shredded paper gets damp and the worms start working their way up into it, I add more fresh, dry, shredded newspaper.

Under that is the layer where the new food scraps are added and the worms live and do their composting work.

Under that is the more finished compost, the worm castings, and a whole lot of worms.

To start the harvesting, I remove each of the top two layers, putting them onto old pizza boxes or bin lids.

The bottom layer, I move into a bin without holes. Then, I put the middle layer into the bottom of the working bin with holes and the top layer back on top. If the top layer is too damp or there are food scraps mixed in, I’ll mist it and add fresh, dry, shredded newspaper on top.

The fresh bin with holes goes into the bin with the mostly composted materials and worms from the bottom layer of the original bin. I have holes drilled all over the lid. As the worms in the bottom bin finish off the last bits of food scraps, they migrate up through the holes in the bottom of the top bin, looking for food. The longer I wait, the fewer worms there are in the bottom bin at harvest time.

The closed bin underneath is where the finished, mostly worm-free compost stays until I need it. Hopefully, by the time I use it up, the upper bins will be ready to harvest.

In the summer, I keep the worm bins at the bottom of the basement stairs. Last winter, they were upstairs, where it was warmer and would keep them composting more. The basement doesn’t get cold enough to harm them in winter, but they do slow down at lower temperatures.