Indoor Holiday Troughs

Sorry for the lapse in postings, my dear readers. The holidays brings its own set of urgencies, doesn't it? I hope you found a place of growth and small shoots of life growing up inside yourself, despite its being the dormant season, horticulturally.

I share with you a few surprises that came to me this season and lessons learned about troughs as gifts. I had a surprising number of requests for the dear simple trough I named Jingle (below).

High demand and not enough supply for this winner

Alas, I had not purchased a sufficient number of Chaemacyparis obtusa 'Chirimen' -- nor had I constructed sufficient numbers of 8 x 8" troughs to fulfill these orders. Dang!

Another lesson: the medium-sized troughs seemed to be the ticket and my daughter-in-law asked me to put together two indoor troughs of this size so she could give them to family members. Another revelation: not everyone wants a miniature alpine forest growing in a hypertufa container on their back patio. With the advice of my trough consultant Chris, I found some lovely durable indoor plants and managed to fill two medium troughs that delighted those who were the recipients. Good idea, Chrissy!

Indoor troughs: Who knew?

In this trough: Polka Dot Plant (Hypoestes), Golden Spike Moss (Selaginella kraussiana 'Aurea'), and "Dwarf Umbrella Tree (Schefflera arboricola ~ syn. Heptapleurum arboricolum)

This trough contains English Ivy (Hedera helix 'Glacier'), Christmas Cactus (Zygocactus
Schlumbergera x buckleyi) and more of the above-mentioned Polka-dot plant.

Final holiday lesson: Some people simply want troughs (usually of a reasonable size) without the plants so they can do with them what they want. My sister purchased three empty troughs from me and filled them herself to give to her adult children as a Christmas gift. She filled them with bright red Violas!

Lessons for the season:  Keep making those 8 x 8s, and keep those Chaemacyparis obtusa 'Chirimen' in good supply!

Trough of the Week: Jingle Troughs ~ Phase One

As I have laid to rest a solid stash of 3-season troughs, I turn my thoughts now to my holiday line. I call them "Jingle Troughs." I am preparing them for a Holiday Market I will be attending on Dec. 1.

Behold the be-decked Chamaecyparis obtusa 'Chirimen'! For now,  I am playing with the idea of having this unique miniature conifer be the only star in the Jingle-trough show, along with various holiday accoutrements that inevitably warm one's heart in the season. One of the two (above, left) is livened up with a cutting of Winterberry (Ilex verticillata), God's gift to gardeners during the winter. The other (below, right) is the tree, a rock, and some ACMoore specials. I'm still playing with various arrangements, so don't judge me yet. This attempt is Phase One: to be looked at by me for a few days and then expanded upon as my sensibilities dictate.

Back to some life lessons:

Aspiration: To make money selling these babies because I am broke.
Garden Lesson: So many versions of natural life play well with another to create an ambiance unmatched by plastic and glitter.
Life Lesson: Take pleasure in the simple, natural, beautiful gifts of earth which, by the way, don't cost a penny.

Growing Tiny Gardens: Second Steps

We quickly realized that, as a small growing business, it's all about getting out there. (Aspiration.)

Garden Lesson: Once we had put a dent in our inventory (read: up to our ears in hypertufa), we knew we had to understand "the market" and how to cobble together a "plan." We made a good effort by attending the New England Grows! conference in Boston last February.

Wow. I say it again. Wow. New England Grows! 2012

Wow -- and I mean that in an overwhelmed kind of way.  Life Lesson: One of the benefits of getting out there is coming to realize what, truth be told, isn't your strong suit. What isn't mine,  I learned, is trying to navigate conference-center space with 1000s of vendors and little idea what I was looking for.

Chamaecyparis obtusa
'Chirimen'

Good news! The highlight of my day was discovering the booth of Iseli Nurseries and having the chance to buy my first miniature conifers from them, right off the floor. I was especially thrilled to take home a new cultivar that has just recently entered the trade: Chamaecyparis obtusa 'Chirimen'. (Pronounced cammy-SIP-ahr-us --get used to it.) I love this little tree! It reminds me of the elegant commanding Cypress trees that adorn the landscape of Umbria, Italy, which I beheld daily during my years living there.

This little evergreen (hardy to Zone 5) "displays multiple textures and colors, which explains the Japanese name, 'Chirimen' a dyed crepe silk fabric." (Direct quote from GardenWeb.) The upright growing habit becomes a cluster of thick, vertical shoots with tightly congested blue and green foliage.

You'll be hearing much more about this cultivar. Later in the season I bought ten of them.

Go here to read third steps.