About a week ago I turned a year older; I am not saying how old, lets just say I am old enough to know not to tell. I woke up a did my usual morning routine with includes watering my container gardens. I have been working very hard on growing my herbs and some veggies from seed. I have had some success and some failures. One of the troubles I was having was my parsley. I started curled parsley in mid spring from seed these guys where taking their sweet time to grow. Fertilizer helped, of course, and a regular watering. I was just getting them to the point that they where looking like something, when the most amazing thing happened.

I counted ten Swallow Tail caterpillars munching away at my baby crop of parsley. It was the most wonderful thing. To think that they thought my parsley was the most delicious to have a feast in my garden. Most would think that this would be a bad thing, but I know how beautiful these creatures can be and what a wonderful contribution to my small ecological environment they have. Sadly enough, all that parsley made them extra scrumptious to the birds and wasps, that also inhabit my garden. By the time I got my camera to share this wonderful experience with you I had one smart caterpillar that had crawled into my basil to hide. I am sure more survived but they are hard to find if they want to be.

I had so much fun with these little garden friends, it did not bother me that they decimated my parsley. In fact I am going to grow more next year in hopes they come back for round two. I though it was a great birthday present and I hope this means a year of good things.

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This is for the gardener looking for perfection. These shears make prune almost fun. Slicing through new growth, soft foliage or wet material is one of the most demanding tasks for a cutting tool. It is in effect a specialist job. It’s no good expecting secateurs to do it – they were designed specifically to cut through woody material and will just chew up anything soft, leaving ragged, unsightly AND unhealthy edges.

These shears, with their razor sharp blades will slice through soft stuff like butter and what’s more, they’ll keep doing it long after other similar tools have blunted.

This design of shear (developed from sheep shears) is particularly good for Topiary because:the grip position places the hands right over the blades giving maximum possible cutting control – essential for precious topiary shapes.and the single handed operation leaves one hand free to ‘fluff up’ the foliage
Burgon & Ball Topiary & Garden Shears are also ideal for lawn edging, dead heading, opening compost sacks, cutting wet pond weed and dozens of other trimming jobs around the garden.

Burgon & Ball shears out perform any others of similar design by miles – here’s how and why - insert anatomy of a shear!!

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So over the past few months, we have had some computer issues. I guess you could say it all started with a fire this passed January and it all went downhill from that point. The fire trigger a server disaster and it has been a rough run since that point.

So we have been working on getting all the data back and even our backups were affected. So I have lost about a year of blogs but no big deal. I will just make up for all the lost info.

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The founders of Ampholia wanted to make pottery that is different from the others Anduze’s potters. They built upon this tradition and so created a line of pottery with an ancient looking patina. All the beautiful hand-made pots and cups feature this antiqued finish.

The Garden Gates Ampholia pottery from France maintains its 16th century original patina and handcrafted quality. This piece of gorgeous pottery is not only beautiful it is functional as well. Meant to hold potpourri, scented oils, and other such items. This pottery is made of two parts: the pedistal base and the vented top both with a beautiful antiqued finish.

Please check the Indoor living and candle sections of the website to see additional pieces of Ampholia Anduze Pottery such as pots, plates, scent balls,candle sticks and candles.

Check this product out!

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When my wife and business partner finds something she likes, she buys it. If Beth bought it, it ususally means it will make most women happy. Haley Hill Designs selects beads from all over the world to create our unique pieces. We use an assortment of vintage and Czech glass beads, Austrian crystals, sterling silver findings and semi-precious stones. Each piece is handmade using the finest quality beads, pearls and stones, making it a timeless treasure; the size and color of the beads, pearls and stones vary so every bracelet is unique. The shoe buckle-inspired centerpiece is made of jeweler’s alloy and is inlaid with beautiful Czech glass pieces. Bracelets are fully adjustable with an innovative spiral hook and chain clasp and are able to adorn any wrist.

Check this product out!

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I have been looking into hummingbird feeders for some time and found a great product. These birdfeeders are a great alternative to the traditional notions of bird feeding. This beautiful hand blown glass humming bird feeder features three feeding vessels held suspended in the air by a black powder coated hanger. These feeders feature an ant moat blown into the glass top – just fill with water to keep ants from finding nectar. Flower Pot™ vessels measure 4” and is made from Recycled glass. They add a nice dimension to the garden with color, style and function. This is the perfect gift for any garden lover. Check this product out.

The Garden Gate Guy.

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Well I really don’t think it’s perfect. It’s perfect for me. That’s the important part for each and every one of us, what makes your garden yours is you. Yeah that sound crazy or just a bunch of words put together but it is true. I had an experience this week with a new garden installation at a home in the Lakeview area of New Orleans. It was for a local builder at his personal home and he always did the work himself or had one of his crews do it for him but this time wanted it done right. People who garden for themselves sometimes cut corners. This builder cut the corners when it came to landscaping his homes. The problem was that I have developed into a garden designer that does one garden very well, French Gardens. I don’t like color in gardens except for white and I really like the use of topiary shapes to make a statement. This project has both sun and shade issues as well being on a small lot. The home is raised about 5 feet off the ground so height proportion comes into play with the style of the home being a haze town. I decided to use 5 plants on this project planting each of the similar materials in a solid mass. This helped me with the uncomfortable territory of this garden design that just doesn’t work with my taste. So I have put together a grouping of plants that I like and the client seems to be happy, well….his is crazy so that make everything else balance out. Here is a picture of my garden at night and a few photos of his garden.

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We are building this really great garden home at our store called the Lovina Dining house. It is using the latest technology that makes it extremely easy to build and is super Green friendly. We have 2 guys with no tools and just 2 ladders putting it together. They will be on TheGardenGates.Com in about a month for sale and installation all over the country. If you get the chance and come see it for yourself at Garden Gate it is worth the trip.

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I often get the question, “I need a quick flower arrangement and don’t want to throw the flowers away so can we make it something that I can use?” I always say, “ I don’t do flower arrangements but if you would like something great, I can wipe up a pretty orchid or a similar plant, put it in a great pot and moss it.” They always look at me and say, “Well, let me see!” Once they buy into the idea that flower arrangements aren’t just for cut flowers, they usually never go back.

Suggestions for great flowering pots or baskets:

Orchid in Guy Wolff pie crust pot with ribbon.

6” orchid that has not completely opened so you get a few months of blooming
Guy Wolff pie crust cream pot
Oregon green moss
3 feet ribbon
1 floral tie stick

Place the orchid in the pot facing it so the bloom sits off to the side. Place the floral stick in the center of the pot directly over the cente. Gentle place the moss on the top of the soil and tuck it between the orchid pot and the inside edge of the planter. Take the 3 ft of ribbon and place it on the opposite side of the logo on the pot. Wrap it around the pot and finish with a clean and simple bow.

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