Boxwood Topiary From HedgeScapes

Since I was a little girl, I've wanted to play in a maze garden.
"The Secret Garden" was my favorite book but all the "running from the castle books" I read as a teenager had an influence as well.
Did you read those?
Who doesn't love a heroine that goes outside when the villain is outside?
Seriously! "Stay inside the castle!"
I want to thank HedgeScapes for sponsoring this post.
You can see their wonderful website - here.
Their images bring secret walled gardens and garden mazes to mind.

I've been on a boxwood kick since I made a wreath in January.

I've sprinkled this type of foliage all around the house.

So when HedgeScapes wanted to send me some of my favorite greens to review, I was thrilled.

 HedgeScapes specializes in the creation of topiaries, hedges, shrubs and walls on a grand commercial scale.
See their boxwood hedges. 

How cool is this?
They have a variety of products available.
They sound like an amazing company to work for and they have an impressive client list.



Since they couldn't send me a maze garden, I gladly accepted this darling topiary.

It is substantial and well made.
It has a thick and realistic looking trunk.

The thick greenery is affixed to a metal frame which you cannot see through the foliage.
I love that it has two tones of green to mimic the new growth on a real boxwood bush.

It didn't come with a decorative pot which is great because I put it in one that matches my mood and my decor. We have had this lemon planter for years. It mimics the European flare of the topiary.
It also adds a fun touch of summer to our fireplace.

 I added a string of tiny white lights for evening.

This topiary never gets weedy looking.
It never has to be trimmed.
Their products are fire retardant.



It looks real which passes my criteria for faux.



It is designed to weather the outdoors.

Their products are UV stable to withstand the effects of the sun.
A must here in Texas.
If you are looking to create a secret garden of your own at your home or business, look into HedgeScapes.
Have a wonderful day!
I'm in the mood to read some historical fiction!
Katie

Decorating with Ferns

I was going to call this post, The FernGully Bathroom but I didn't think you would have the least slightest idea what I was talking about.

There was a 1992 movie by this title.
 

Here is a synopsis. 

"The fairies don't believe that humans exist until "Batty" flies in to tell them that they are real. Crysta escapes FernGully and accidentally shrinks Zak who is helping to log the rain forest. She has to bring him back to the world of the fairies so that the "Magi" can fix him. He vows to help save the rain forest once he experiences the beauty of it. He and Crysta work together to stop the evil "Hexxus" from using "The Leveler" to enact deforestation. 

I forbade my children from watching certain things. 
Sometimes because I was opposed to the content other times it was because the show was annoying. 
I'm not sure which applies here.
My daughter says that I didn't like the tree witch in this movie. I'm assuming the witch was named Hexxus. 
Creative use of names in this flick.

 I love decorating with ferns in the summer time. 
There are some great faux ferns even though I usually don't care for artificial. 
I think that I overdosed on the bad faux ivy during the 90s.   

I have a hard time keeping ferns alive. 
It turns out they like water and I haven't been vigilent about keeping them watered. 

So far I've kept the one in the garden room alive for over a year. 
I can't believe it.

A great way to create instant art is to press a fern frond in between wax paper.
It isn't so instant if it takes almost a year to put said pressed fern into a frame. 

  
My daughter did the calligraphy.
I encircled the fern with green glass collected over the years.
I broke down and made a white valance for the shower curtain in the powder room. 
I kept having to make new ones for each season.
This one has been up for two whole seasons. 

 A fern and a little metal insect from Hobby Lobby rest on the vanity. 

I pressed another fern for the entryway. 
This time I didn't dry it, to make it even more instant. 

I searched for a free image of the movie, FernGully: The Last Rainforest. 
I don't like using images unless I know for sure they aren't copyrighted which is why one doesn't appear in this post.
 
 I take issue with the title of this movie, however, because I was unable to find any ferns in the images that I found. 
Maybe they appear in FernGully 2: The Magical Rescue.

Have a great day my friends! 
Katie 

Linking with,
A Stroll Thru Life 
Savvy Southern Style   
From My Front Porch To Yours  
Share Your Style # 21   
French Country Cottage

Faux Greenery and Flowers

 My sister busted me about a former favorite of mine. 

I had a plethora of faux greenery and flowers.

If you are old enough to remember the 90s, you have to remember faux greenery. 

Everybody had it. 
We had it draped everywhere.
Homemakers had it dripping over bookshelves, picture frames and over the top of the kitchen cabinets. 

I had faux greenery draped, swathed and adorning almost every surface. It was a terrible idea. 

Most of the time it was a dusty, greasy mess.
(Do you say greasy or greazy? Bill says greasy and I say greasy. )
It was even worse with plastic grapes woven in and out.
  My sister pointed out that she doesn't "do" fake flowers or greens ever!
She makes do with pine cones, fresh fruit or flowers, antlers, sea shells and other items that are apropos to the season.

I started to wonder if it was possible to live and decorate without needing a Hobby Lobby floral department fix every now and again.
 I can't say I've been 100 percent successful but I have made progress and I'm in fake floral rehab.

Here are a couple of ways I added the real and nixed the plastic without having a stark environment. 

Lliriope or Monkey grass in a glass jar can be tucked in another container. It lasts about a month. I've got an abundance of this stuff in the yard. Ivy or clippings from shrubs would work as well.
My yard won't miss a thing.

Philodendron is by far the easiest house plant to grow. 

Even I can't kill it.

I trim the vines and re-root them in a vase. I've been doing this groovy thing since the 70s. 
I have even passed the technique onto my offspring. 

The other way I have added color without the silk is with dried flowers. Status is wonderful. It is cheap and it lasts for months.

I ordered these hydrangeas last year from Oregon. I got a big box for $25.00. They still look great a year later.

I love baby's breath. It also lasts a while and is very inexpensive. I found some at Kroger for $3.99 a bunch.

Hobby Lobby and Michaels have a great dried section. I have even gotten feathers to add to arrangements. 
Of course roses from the grocery store are wonderful too. I just turn them upside down to dry. 

Once they are dry they can be used in different arrangements.

I do use faux fruit. I really don't want the family eating my displays all the time. 
So what are my exceptions?
I do have a few bunches of fake flowers.
I like the ones that are made of velvet or velveteen.



Most of my fake ones are from a local wholesale company, Raz Imports. 
I use them in small doses and only as they are blooming in nature. Pansies when they are blooming outside, etc.


My favorite artificial would have to be vintage milner flowers. 
This one is off of one of my grandmother's flapper dresses. 
Love!
If you go with the faux, there are some good quality fakes out there.
I still have a plethora of fake Christmas greens. 
I went with more real last year than I ever have but it sheds so bad and I had to get new greens mid-month. 
What about you? Faux or No?  
Katie