HOSTAS (Plantation Lily)…Planting, Dividing, and Maintenance

Posted on August 14, 2011 by fredgonsowskigardenhome

The Hostas is also called the Plantation Lily

Hostas, also called the Plantation Lilyare a common sight in many gardens. In my area of Upstate New York, zone 5-4, they are widely used in shady areas.

Hostas come in many sizes. They can be plants that mature to the size of a dinner plate, or ones like the Blue Angel that can grow 6 to 8 foot across. The Plantation Lily also comes in an assortment of colors, from green, to blue-green, chartreuse, gold, and white. A white one, is not completely white, but most likely edged / trimmed in green. Continue reading →

Posted in planting a SHADE GARDEN, The Autumn(Fall) Garden, The Spring Garden, The Summer Garden | 1 Comment

DAYLILIES…Planting, Dividing, and Maintenance

Posted on August 9, 2011 by fredgonsowskigardenhome

Daylilies blooming in my garden, here at Whimsey Hill.

Daylilies are probably one of the most dependable and easiest to grow of all the Summer flowers. The Daylily is also called the Hemerocallis. It is called the daylily, because its flowers only bloom for one day. The nice thing about it, is that there are many flower buds on its scape (stem), so you have flowers for a long period of time.

Daylilies come in a wide range of colors, from white to almost black, and many tones of yellow, orange, red, and pink. The only color they don’t come in, so far, is a true blue. As for height, they can be kind of short stemmed like the Stella de Oro, or have an almost 5 foot scape / stem like the wild orange variety that grows along the road.

Daylilies come solid, multi-colored, and can be single or double petaled. They also can bloom early, in the middle, and late in the gardening season. Some are even repeat bloomers. Continue reading →

Posted in Roses, Peonies, Tulips, etc, The Autumn(Fall) Garden, The Spring Garden, The Summer Garden | 23 Comments

Hanging Pictures Around a Room

Posted on August 3, 2011 by fredgonsowskigardenhome

Natural Horizontal and Vertical Lines in an Environment

Lining up pictures, based on natural Horizontal lines in a room

In interior decorating there are Natural Lines in an Environment that direct your eye both Horizontally and Vertically around a room. When adding decorative elements (pictures, mirrors or other kinds of wall decor) to your space, you want to line up your decorative elements, with the room’s natural lines, so your eye moves smoothly from one thing to another, without moving up or down too much. Continue reading →

Posted in Hanging Pictures and Mirrors / Arranging Knickknacks and Collectables, Interior Decorating Principles | 9 Comments

It’s Easy to Hang Pictures up on the Wall

Posted on July 17, 2011 by fredgonsowskigardenhome

Hanging Artworks up on the Wall

In the previous two posts, I covered lining up edges, making groupings, and the natural directed action artworks have. This post is all about getting your pictures, photos, mirrors and paintings hung up on the wall.

Positioning your picture hook ..Let’s say you want the top edge of your picture or mirror’s frame to hang 18 inches below the ceiling line, or any crown molding in a room, if you have some.

Step 1 ..Mark the wall 18 inches down from the ceiling / molding with a light horizontal pencil line. Continue reading →

Posted in Hanging Pictures and Mirrors / Arranging Knickknacks and Collectables, Interior Decorating Principles | 6 Comments

Making an Interesting Arrangement of Pictures

Posted on July 8, 2011 by fredgonsowskigardenhome

Right, Center, and Left Directed Action

Center focus is an Ideal

All pictures, photos, paintings, mirrors, etc have a Natural Directed Action/Movement. By Natural Directed Action I mean, the way the painting, photo, etc moves your eye along from one place to another. There are only three naturally directed actions. They are Left Directed Action, Center Directed Action, and Right Directed Action.

Look at all the pictures that make up Illustration 1. Continue reading →

Posted in Hanging Pictures and Mirrors / Arranging Knickknacks and Collectables, Interior Decorating Principles | 2 Comments

It’s Easy to make a Grouping of Pictures

Posted on June 29, 2011 by fredgonsowskigardenhome

Groupings of Pictures, Heights and Widths, Lining up Edges

Balance Visual Weight, Vertical Groupings, Natural Lines in an Environment

Hanging up artwork, pictures, framed photographs, and mirrors can be easy, once you know a few decorating basics.

Look at Illustration 1. What do you see? Do you see the similarity of the silhouettes of the different images? If not, what you are looking at are three different groupings, that are the same height and width. 1-A is an image that is the same height and width as the two images that make up grouping 1-B. Both 1-A and 1-B are the same height and width as the 4 images that make up grouping 1-C. Notice how the horizontal top and bottom edges of the 3 groupings line up with each other. Also look at how the vertical side edges of groupings B and C line up with each other. Continue reading →

Posted in Hanging Pictures and Mirrors / Arranging Knickknacks and Collectables, Interior Decorating Principles | 7 Comments

Picking and Hanging the RIGHT size Picture or Mirror over your Fireplace

Posted on June 23, 2011 by fredgonsowskigardenhome

The right size Picture or Mirror for over your Fireplace

When it comes to picking the RIGHT sized painting, picture, relief sculpture, mirror, etc. for over your fireplace there are four possible width options for you to choose. Those options relate to the Natural Lines in an Environment. Natural lines in an environment direct your eye from one place to another, hopefully in one smooth movement. Natural lines run both horizontally and vertically in an environment. In the case of the fireplace, they are vertical lines. Lines that direct your eye upward. Continue reading →

Posted in Hanging Pictures and Mirrors / Arranging Knickknacks and Collectables, Interior Decorating Principles, San Francisco Chronicle / eHow references or resources | 11 Comments

Starting a Rose Bush and other plants from a Cutting (Slip)

Posted on June 17, 2011 by fredgonsowskigardenhome

Starting a Rose Bush from a Slip

For as long as I can remember, my Grandmother, Mother, and Aunts were always starting new plants from cuttings (slips). I think they called them slips because, they tore the piece of plant material from the donor plant, instead of cutting it off. They wanted a piece of plant skin, on the slip, they called it the tail. Well, for what ever reason they did it that way, they were able to start a large assortment of different plants, besides rose bushes. Aunt Anna started a nice collection of Blue Spruce trees, along with Roses, Euonymus, and Lilacs, that I still have. My Mother started many Roses, as well as Azaleas, Blue Spruce, Spiraea, and Hydrangea, to name a few. My maternal Grandmother was soo good at it, that she had many odd bushes and trees, and I know she could get a broom handle to root, if she put her mind to it. So this is what those Gardening Gals did… Continue reading →

Posted in Bushes, Shrubs, Trees, Roses, Peonies, Tulips, etc, The Spring Garden, The Summer Garden | 26 Comments

Grow a Topiary from an Upright Yew

Posted on June 15, 2011 by fredgonsowskigardenhome

Some topiary I have grown

The three steps to growing a topiary

Over the past 10 years or so, I have experimented with growing simple topiary.

Photo 1 shows one of a pair, that I started on old upright yews, that were planted about 57 years ago, on the side of my house. For years they were just clipped squares. I grew the ball on stem part. Because they were old yew bushes, when I started the topiary part, and are sited on the north side of my house, they took longer to grow than young plants in more sunny locations. Continue reading →

Posted in Bushes, Shrubs, Trees, Fred's Garden at Whimsey Hill House, The Spring Garden, The Winter Garden | Leave a comment

A look at my Garden, here at Whimsey Hill

Posted on June 11, 2011 by fredgonsowskigardenhome

The Great Border out back, 14 to 16 feet deep by 125 feet long

More views out back

The front borders facing East

One of my favorite parts of the gardening season, is the space of time after the daffodils have bloomed, and before the riot of color the Summer perennials produce. This gardening period is soo Zen to me. The garden at that time, is about the different colors that make up the foliage tapestry, and the shapes of leaves. Continue reading →

Posted in Fred's Garden at Whimsey Hill House, The Spring Garden | 1 Comment