#Potted grape hyacinths

[los-plantalones]

Let’s make some color-changing botanical ink using grape hyacinth (muscari) flowers!

Ingredients:

1 cup grape hyacinth flowers

1 cup water

2 tablespoons vinegar

1 teaspoon salt

2-4 drops gum arabic (not necessary but USEFUL)

2 drops wintergreen oil or 1 whole clove (also not necessary but useful)

Instructions:

Add the flowers and water to a non-reactive pot (stainless steel, ceramic, or enamel-coated). Pots that are aluminum or copper can affect your colors!

Bring to a boil, and add the vinegar and salt. Boil for about five more minutes, then turn down to a simmer, stirring occasionally (again, the spoon should be a non-reactive material like wood or stainless steel).

Simmer for 10 minutes, at which point you can test the color by dipping in a strip of paper to see if you like how it looks.

If it looks good, congrats – you’re done! If you want a more intense color, continue simmering, testing with a paper strip every 15 minutes or so until the color is to your liking (this shouldn’t take more than an hour).

Remove from heat and let the mixture cool to room temp.

Filter the flowers using a fine mesh strainer. I use a stainless steel coffee filter for this purpose and it works great.

Pour your ink into a sterilized glass jar and add 2-4 drops liquid gum arabic, which is a natural binder that will 1) keep the liquid and pigment together and 2) thicken the mixture and make it easier to work with.

Add 2 drops of wintergreen oil or 1 whole clove, which are natural preservatives that will help extend the life of your ink.

Label your jar and store it in the refrigerator if not using right away.

YOU DID IT! Now go forth and have fun with your muscari ink.

** The ink will appear very purple, but when put to paper dries in varying shades of blue. If you want to experiment with color further, add an acid (lemon juice) to produce shades of pink, and a basic (baking soda) to make shades of green.

*** Because of the changing nature of the ink, what your painting/writing looks like will change over time! I have muscari paintings that started bright blue/purple but have faded to almost entirely green. Some have stayed blue. That's the fun of it!!

[huariqueje]

Blue grapes bulbs  -   Jan van der Kooi , 2020 .

Dutch ,  b. 1957 -

Oil on panel , 15 x 15 cm.

[sleepnowmychild]

If by some miracle I ever get to live in my own house, here’s the things I’ll put in it to helpol my house up:

Obviously a big ass Hypnos altar bc he’s my main man here. Whole bedroom is Hypnos themed.

Big outdoor garden shrine for all the outdoor/rustic related deities (Demeter, Artemis, Persephone etc)

Grape/vintage wine bar themed kitchen w Dionysus imagery (also bc I just really like that aesthetic for a kitchen)

Bathroom counter/sink covered in shells, all my jewellery and skincare, topped off with Aphrodite in there somewhere.

Hallway full of framed paintings of the gods I’ve been collecting from vintage fairs

Garden full of myth related flowers (hyacinths, narcissuses, poppies, grape vines, laurels etc)

A herm on the edge of my property by the road/path so those walking by not only have a land mark to remember the way, but so Hermes can check up on them

One of those garden fountains of a goddess pouring water from a pot

Collection of deity statuettes on the shelves

SWORD

At least one room will be chthonic themed and all underworld/gothed up.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Hi, President Flamme. Happy Birthday! So, I'll admit I wasn't sure what you'd like for your birthday but I did hear that you like gardening and bells, so I figured maybe you might like these.

*brings out several flower pots with intricate paintings of flowers, bells and stars, each holding different kinds of bell-shaped flowers, from bluebells to angel trumpets to twinflowers*

Hope you like them but it's fine if you don't! I can send you different plants if you'd like (please pick ones within my budget haha)

He held up a hand.

"No more," Rollo said plainly. "I assure you that this is more than enough flowers for the time being. An excess of material possessions does one no good."

He looked over the line of flowers. Each bell-shaped and beautiful. Periwinkle bluebells, creamy lily of the valley, lilac foxglove, deep grape hyacinths, blushing twinflowers, bright angel trumpets...

They would take up the windowsill and desk in his office, and then some. Already, Rollo's mind was considering an optimal configuration. Maximize sunlight, minimize the space the plants took up.

His eyes then settled on the pot and narrowed. A scattering of detailed stars, bells, and flowers decorated the containers. Rollo pointed to them.

“Are you responsible for painting these on?"

“I thought they needed a little more pizzazz since they’re a birthday gift,” you explained, giving jazz hands. “And I found some paint lying around, so I thought to use it for something.”

His brows creased.

"… The flourishes are not necessary,” Rollo replied sternly. “A flower pot still serves its purpose with or without decor. Do not trouble yourself with the additional effort.”

“Oh. Uh, okay?

Is this his way of saying he appreciates it? That he doesn’t like want me to overwork myself for his sake? you wondered. It was difficult to tell from his stony expressions.

But when in doubt, you liked to look on the bright side.

“I’ll try to keep that in mind for next time then,” you reassured him. “No extras, no frills, no bells and whistles.”

“Next time?” The crease on his forehead deepened. “What’s this about? That was not an invitation for any future visits or gifts.”

“Eheheh, well! You didn’t say to not drop in, only that I shouldn’t cram extra stuff into your presents. That’s one thing I won’t give up on!”

Being your friend.

[zombolouge]

Thought I'd share a pic of how my balcony garden is doing

The stand has a few plants that I don't know what they are bc they were just given to me, although top left is jasmine! There's also grape hyacinth, snapdragon, and daffodils in the hanging planter. Some violets and I think pansies down in the lower left, too.

I'm most excited about the big pots! A dwarf sweetheart cherry tree with a fuschia vine starter, then a blackberry and strawberry plant sharing a pot with some marigolds, and lastly a blueberry bush with a salvia and marigold for friendship.

I'm SO hyped to have all these berries. Not sure if they will fruit this summer (the tree def won't she's too new) but I'm pleased that they're all getting bigger and flourishing.

Also my lil cherry tree gave me a handful of flowers. I've been SO happy watching it grow. Here's a before pic from when I first brought it home:

And today:

And the flowers:

Sorry y'all I'm a plant nerd now so I might just have to do an excited yell abt them from time to time!

[cookies-over-yonder]

guys what do i name my pot of grape hyacinths

[catherine-white]

Grape hyacinths in sculptural pot.

[7serendipities]

My Bealtaine Season

A lot of witches and pagans use the term “Samhain Season” for the months of October and November (approximately - everyone seems to define it a bit differently) but I hardly ever see its counterpart - “Bealtaine Season”. There's an Otherworldly high tide at this time of the year as well, though it might be a little more difficult to sense, as there are upticks in activity in the physical world and many of our mundane lives as well - getting outside more and tidying gardens in preparation for planting, making summer vacation plans - as opposed to the slowing down of the autumn and winter.

But just as Samhain is the modern Irish month of November, kicked off with Oíche Shamhna, November Eve, so too is Bealtaine the modern Irish month of May, with Oíche Bealtaine the May Eve festival. Though this year where I live, the rising tide was already quite high by the dark moon on the night of April 19th-20th, and I expect it'll be another week or so before I actually feel the ebb.

It's a busy time of year, for me, because the beginning of the high tide often overlaps with another of my personal festival calendars, and there are a number of mundane anniversaries as well. My other personal festival calendar follows the movements of the star Spica, and this year, Spica’s heliacal seetting was approximately April 25th. So we went straight from the dark moon (20) into that (25), and then my wedding anniversary the following day (26), and then Oíche Bealtaine/Hexxenacht (30), Bealtaine/May Day (1), my child's birthday (3), the astrological cross quarter & full moon (5), my mother's birthday (7), mother's day (14), and the dark moon again (19), which is when I expect things to settle down, given my past experiences.

I wouldn't mind Otherworldly things settling down early, though - whether it's just that or also the astrological weather, I haven't been sleeping well, and when I've been asleep I've often been pulled off somewhere, doing magical work instead of getting uninterrupted rest. I'm exhausted.

Despite that exhaustion, though, I've been outside quite a bit, getting garden beds ready for the growing season, and getting my beautiful new crabapple tree settled in. While the cherry and plum blossoms usually follow the equinox around here, it seems like this crabapple will flower along with the azaleas and rhododendrons. Those tend to be at peak bloom just after our last hard frost, which is usually just about the first of May. And then a week later, it's time to start moving all my seedlings outside for good, so it's a busy time of year for a garden witch like myself as well! Weeding the herb bed and transplanting seedlings and planning out what else to plant where once the ground is warm enough to germinate seeds. This year I'd also like at least one more shrub to fill in a gap in front of the house.

I try to only put native plants directly into the ground, with my crocuses being the main exception. I didn't plant any of the daffodils or grape hyacinths or dandelions, though the pollinators seem to love them, so I let them stay. I try to proliferate what native plants show up, like the milkweed, the boneset, the wild blackberry, and the asters. the crabapple is a hybrid, not a wild type, but it's still close enough that the native pollinators and birds should get use of it. Pretty much all of my other herbs and veggies are in raised beds or pots, in an attempt to contain them. The containment hasn't worked well for the mint or the yarrow, but it turns out yarrow is native here as well, and the mint is a reasonable addition to my front lawn, no worse than the grass. I planted an eastern white cedar in the back yard last year, and also a passionflower vine, but I'm not sure if that actually made it through the winter. It's supposed to be a perennial but I've yet to see it this spring. If I had a bigger budget, I'd love a couple of serviceberry bushes and a redbud tree and a bunch of native irises and honeysuckles… but most of that will have to wait!

Being in good relationship with my land and local spirits is one of the foundations of my practice, and native landscaping is just one of the ways I lean into that. I've also been working on a ritual format similar to quarter calls, that petitions large nearby land spirits or waterway spirits that form natural borders in the landscape. I used it for a small ritual with a group of friends last weekend, and called upon the Susquehanna River, the Chesapeake Bay, the Potomac River, and the Appalachian Mountains. I know these landmarks, I know their spirits, and I have been developing relationships with them for years - it seems only fitting to give them offerings and to ask for their support as I do seasonal workings.

[brightsuzaku]

A Trip to the Botanical Gardens: Part 5

Ok, I finally have enough brainpower to work on this post! This next entry is about my trip into both conservatories at the botanical gardens!

In this picture, towards the bottom, or the orange hanging blossoms of Antirrhinum majus, or the Solstice(TM) Orange Tricolor Snapdragon! These blossoms are a pinkish shade of orange and yellow, like a bright sunrise... or maybe sherbet.... Mmm, delicious. Abode, to the upper left of these blossoms is a single yellow flower, of which I do not know its name.

This picture is of several Anthurium or "Flamingo Flower". It's a plant from the arum family. I guess you could say that it looks like a.... deep wine-red peace lily? There's one Solstice Snapdragon bloom peeking out underneath the Flamingo Flower... I did say these were "everywhere" in here, didn't I? lol

This picture is of several stalks with clusters of beautiful purple flowers! Think like hyacinths, except a deeper, royal purple color, with long trumpet-shaped blooms. This plant is called Salvia splendens, or Scarlet Sage. They're normally red, but this variety is "Lighthouse Purple" Behind all these purple flowers are more of those Solstice snapdragons!

And... what are theeese?? Another bunch of purple flowers?! That ARE NOT VIOLETS? These are tiny light pinkish purple flowers with 5 petals and yellow centers. They are Primula malacoides, or "Fairy Primrose". There's many of these tiny flowers in this photo, though it's hard to really determine their size just from the photo.

Sitting in a pot in this photo is the majestic curved form of an orchid! It curves outwards and towards the right side of the frame. This deep reddish-purple group of about 7 or 8 flowers is labeled Cybidium orchid, "Girl Crazy" x "Regal Ruby" hybrid.

This pot is another orchid! Tall slender green leaves poke out from the top of the pot, while three long stems heavy with many tiny yellow orchid flowers spill out, framing a pot of pansies on the ground. This is Cybidium Fifi, called "Harry", according to its sign. No, I don't know why, either. (You can see a small orange tree in the background, to the right! The fruits are at varying stages of development, and they are very tiny. The fruits are not for eating.)

In this picture, is a tall plant with speckled-yellow-and-green leaves and pale orange bell-shaped flowers. It's called Abutilon pictum or Flowering Maple. This is the "Thompsonii" cultivar.

In this picture is a strange, tall plant with large slender green leaves and red flowers that looked like flaming red cups, with a dark purple part growing from within them! This plant is called Pavonia multiflora, or the "Brazilian Candle Plant". I suppose the flowers do look like flames, don't they?

Here's a close-up of those flowers! They are long, slender reddish-purple petal-like things with points at the end, that grow upwards in a shape like a cup, or are reminiscent of a flame. There's a dark purple growth in the middle that opens up to a soft reddish inflorescence with absolutely tiny light grape-purple flowers! I struggled to take a good picture of these.

And in this picture are.... More of those Solstice snapdragons! The yellow trumpet-shaped blooms I don't know the name of! And lots, and lots, and lots of tiny clusters of pale lavender blooms! Are they some kind of violet? I do not know...

It's a plant that's nothing but leaves! Ornamental leaves! Large emerald-green leaves patterned with bright orange and yellow veins and edges. This is Codiaeum variegatum, var. pictum... Or "Croton".

In this picture, at first glance, it's a bunch of leaves on a short plant, but upon closer inspection, you can see tall spikes with long slim tube-like purple flowers that grow outwards. This plant is Plectranthus neochilus, or a Lobster Plant. This one is called "Mike's Fuzzy Wuzzy". Make of that what you will.

Whew! That's it for Part 5! I'll add more pictures in my next post, whenever I manage to put that one up. I have a few more pictures from the conservatory to share, which I've missed in this pose, so consider the next post to be like... 5.5 or something. lol

See my previous post here, in Part 4!

[los-plantalones]

Ready for some delicious syrup made from grape hyacinth (muscari) flowers?! LET’S GO.

Ingredients:

1 cup grape hyacinth flowers

1 cup water

2 cups sugar

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Instructions:

Wash the flowers (we REALLY don’t want bugs in our syrup).

Add the flowers to a mason jar or other heat-safe container. Pour 1 cup boiling water over the flowers and let infuse for 1-2 hours (no longer or it can turn bitter!)

Strain the flowers and add the infusion to a pot along with the sugar and lemon juice.

Simmer over medium heat, until the sugar is completely dissolved.

At this point, your syrup is technically done. BUT if you want it to be thicker, you can continue simmering, stirring occasionally, until it’s to your liking.

Remove from heat and pour into a sterilized mason jar. At this point you can either 1) Store your syrup in the fridge if you plan to use it soon, or 2) Water bath can it for long term storage.

YOU DID A SYRUP! This can be used to make lemonade, mixed into cocktails, poured over ice cream. . . you do you!!

[cheerfullycatholic]

Hey! Just a PSA: if you do not plan to have grape hyacinths EVERYWHERE in your garden keep them contained like they are now. We've made the mistake of putting them in soil and they are impossible to get rid of now if you don't want to remove like half a meter of soil. They can and they will spread like wildfire, with tiny little bulbs you have to pick out one by one by hand just to have peace for ~ a month (I've tried it quite a few times to no avail). Yes they are super cute, but please do yourself a favour and keep them in pots 😅

Oh no, that's exactly what I want!!! I've yet to see anyone else do this but my brother loves experimenting with wine and to make a grape hyacinth wine he'd need a ton of them. But I think I'll find a nice place for them far far away from our gardens so they don't mess with our other things. There's a really big oak tree out in the woods in a little clearing and I may plant them near it (I'd also love to sell/give away the bulbs someday). But oh my gosh thank you so much for the information! I made that mistake with peppermint years ago and every once in awhile we see them popping up in our main garden and have to rip them out 😂 it's also overtaken my little herb box and mixed with everything else, so now I have orange chocolate spearmint basil thyme peppermint and it's a very, uh... interesting combination

[night-dark-woods]

ID copied from alt. a photo of a porch with lots of 5 gallon buckets and other large containers full of dirt and plants. there are three with small bushes in the middle, and smaller green plants around the base, but the rest are empty. there is a folding chair in between some of the planters, and a cat in a cone of shame in the open screened window. End ID.

my blueberries survived the winter on the porch! so i got a baby raspberry and ive set up the 5gal buckets for tomatoes, cukes, and cucamelons(!!!). behind me when i took this i also have some grape hyacinths and crocuses coming up, and some snap peas (and maybe snow peas? the packet says snow peas, but it had snap peas written in sharpie on it...?) started! :)

i also want to get some bee balm! i will probably put her in a 5gal bucket too. i may need to move the bluebs and strawbs away from the side of the house in the heat of the summer but we'll see. the high solid railing makes it hard bc the containers have to be raised up to get sun if theyre next to it.

i want to try watering the veggies with ollas this year (unglazed terracotta gourd-shaped containers that you bury except the neck and then fill with water so it seeps thru into the dirt and u dont have to worry about evaporation) so i made some with 4" pots and their trays and some aquarium-safe silicone :) we'll see how it goes, since terracotta for plant pots is uuusually not as porous as purpose-made ollas. i need to paint some rocks to set on top of them to block the fill holes once i bury them so mosquitoes dont get in.

here are the ollas:

ID copied from alt. diy ollas. small terracotta pots are glued upside down on top of their saucers, and are resting on a green metal rack. End ID.

and here's a closer picture of the more impressively leafing out blueberry! im so so happy they both survived the winter :)

ID copied from alt. a close-up photo of young new leaves on a small blueberry bush. End ID.

[forestchat]

IT'S A STRANGE OLD WORLD

So here we are coming to the end of March and Easter is upon us. In some parts of the world the weather is cold, wet, and very windy. Up here in our little valley in the forest the weather has been changeable to say the least.

Normally at this time of year we have some rain a storm or two, even snow, but this year everything has been a bit off. For a start we have not had any snow, although it has been cold. The temperature has either been very mild, warm, or cold but not consistent. Then there is the rain or lack of. Now being green we rely on it to rain to fill the cisterna’s so we have house water for the year. My wife relies on it to fill her garden cubes, so she has water for the plants for the summer. Catalunya has been in the throws of a serious drought for quite a while and cities like Barcelona are suffering badly. Our advantage is that we are in the Ebro Valley although not near the river so when rain manages to get over the mountains, we are ok.

February was a month of showers and wind. This brought trees down which gave us wood for next year. However, even though we were careful with our supply from last year, we still had to buy wood for the rest of this year as the weather turned very cold. This changeable weather Galtonia candidams, Iris, miniature Grape Hyacinth, and the little Gaura Lindheimeri along with white and yellow Ganzania were out alongside the river road. I assume they are the result of seeds being blown from various gardens over the years. Then last Monday the rain came again. Far from bemoaning this my wife is positively ecstatic. The rain arrives and outside go the pots of Geraniums and other plants for their spring baths (her words not mine).

I am currently sitting in our Fly Free Zone (a netted covered area which is bug free) typing and listening to the birds. This is where I do most of my work in the summer. Its pleasant and cool until around mid afternoon when the sun is at its hottest, so I then move to my desk where it is cooler.

At this moment in time, I am going through my books for adults and changing them. I once read an article in the Sunday Express that a book reviewer wished there was a bit more sex and not so much “wave crashing.” I could do that I thought and wrote A Soldiers Wind. What I did not realise then (18 years ago) was that you needed the waves crashing, imagination is something a story needs.

Being unwell can either be a blessing or a drudge. For me, with my writing, it has been a blessing. It has given me the time I needed to re-edit my books on social and historical attitudes and ways the world looked at things we today think nothing of.

M D Bosc

[illbecreativelater]

Hiii~ ❤ List 5 things that make you happy, then put this in the ask box for the last 10 people who reblogged from you. Get to know your mutuals and followers! ✨🍄✨

Oh hello! This is cute

1. Hot pot, it’s my favorite food. Specific kinds I really like are sukiyaki and Shabu shabu.

2. Orcas! I just think they’re neat

3. Watercolor landscapes. I just like landscapes a lot and people who are good at water color drive me insane

4. Bluebells. Grape hyacinth specifically, the little ones. I go coo coo every spring when they start popping up. They are so!!!!!! LITTLE!!!

5. I really love the bit where an orchestra starts tuning before a concert. I just think the sound is so neat. It’s all a little discordant but pretty at the same time.

Thanks for the ask!

[littlewitchesconcord]

A white pearl hyacinth along with lupines & a purple-headed garlick (not flowering yet) in one pot, some muscari (grape hyacinths) along with two fava sprouts in the other.

[ahamiltongarden]

OUT NOW: MEYER LEMONS AND SASANQUA CAMELLIA ‘EARLY PEARLY’

We are coming to the close of autumn. The two oak trees still have many golden yellow and green leaves to shed. We have big white bags of dry leaves lining the studio verandah and they will soon be mulched and put on the garden. Decent rain is coming in a day. The white camellias we planted last year along the driveway are starting to flower. It was quite a battle keeping the bushes alive over the hot dry summer. After flowering, new foliage should take off, aided by some fertiliser, and hopefully next year, there will be a more prolific flowering. The petals of the flowers are thick and waxy. Our Meyer lemon tree outside the kitchen window is laden with young yellow fruit that are too bitter to harvest just yet. The English parsley is starting to flourish in time for soups and parsley sauce. Our grass has at last turned green again, thank goodness, as that swathe unites the whole garden again, and on a beautiful mild sunny day, with white clouds billowing above, and the half tame thrush singing her heart out to gain my attention, makes one feel glad to be alive. I have recently dug up some double pink hellebores and put them in terra cotta pots to see how they flower with a little more attention from me. Potted sweet pea seedlings are coming through and the tulip bulbs lie beneath their covering of potting soil. Pots of grape hyacinths and daffodils are all serried together on the potting table to receive their daily dose of sun. The daphne bushes in the side garden are budding and will start to flower around the first of July, not so far away. Today I cut the old yellowed foliage off the sedums as the new rosettes are breaking through the soil. I am ready for winter.