Trying to Balance an Art-Filled... Love-Filled... Health-Filled... Fulfilled Life!

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Invite Winged Guests to your Garden

The best part of cultivating flowers and fruit trees up in the High Country is the welcomed friends that come to see your handiwork. I get so excited when I see the first hummingbird of Spring make its way back up from Mexico to visit my feeders and flowers. The variety of butterflies up in Payson compared to Phoenix astounds me, and I am always happy to see the native bees, whose populations are dwindling, that fly around my parent’s fruit trees and gardens.

If you want to welcome nectar loving creatures into your gardens, now is the time to start looking for their favorite treats to plant. Hummingbirds love trumpet and tubular shaped, bright-colored flowers, and there are many drought tolerant flowers that will add color to your garden while also providing the high energy sucrose for the little jewel birds. Plant penstemon, salvia (or commonly known as sage), honey suckle, columbine, and paintbrush. If you are particularly generous, put out a variety of feeders for the birds. Each male hummingbird is very territorial, and will guard his feeder and/or flowers, but will allow females to feed. Hummingbirds also rely on the protein of insects and spiders, but need the instant energy that nectar provides for their bug hunting escapades. My grandma has always sworn that her hummingbirds only fed from feeders that contained C&H sugar water, and from research I’ve discovered she was correct in that the hummingbirds greatly prefer cane sugar to regular generic table sugar which may be made from beet sugar. The cane sugar contains the same sucrose that natural nectar supplies. To make your own affordable nectar, combine 4 parts hot clean water, to 1 part cane sugar, mix well, and place in your very clean humming bird feeder. The nectar need not be colored, as long as the feeder has red coloration to attract the birds. Do not use artificial sweeteners or honey in the nectar as these can end up poisoning the birds either by chemicals or the mold and fungus that feeds on these sweeteners. Be sure to keep your feeder clean on a regular basis with hot water, and a little vinegar if needed, just be sure to rinse well, and be very cautious with detergents. Hang your feeders under trees so that the birds may perch protected while keeping guard over their feeders.

Another important factor when welcoming hummingbirds and other colorful winged creatures to your garden is to avoid harsh pesticides which can poison not only the insects in your garden but also the birds and lizards that feed on them. Keep a few of the less obnoxious spider webs around as the hummingbirds use the sticky silk to create their nests. Pesticides can also kill off the beautiful multi colored butterflies that are so welcomed up in the high country, and they are also contributing to the very scary declines of the honey bee populations through out the U.S. Most of our population is unaware of how essential these winged pollinators (bees especially, but also moths, butterflies, and even hummingbirds) are to our food sources. My apple trees alone, must have the presence of bees to cross pollinate, otherwise, we will see no fruit this fall.

Both wild and honey bees love small flowers created by planted herbs including rosemary, thyme, and basil, along with beautifully blooming lavender and nasturtium. Even the common flowering weed is a great source of nectar for bees.

For attracting butterflies to your garden, you can plant items that both attract the adult butterflies but also attract the juvenile caterpillars. Plants that attract caterpillars include red oak trees, hollyhock flowers, cosmos, zinnia, milkweed, and red clover. The adult flying flowers love the following flowering plants: butterfly bush, milk weed, coneflower, goldenrod, asters, violets, and coreopsis. Butterflies need a lot of sun light to warm their cold blooded bodies, so plant in open sunny places, incorporate rock gardens that can also provide a warm resting spot. Also be sure to leave cool, damp shaded areas where the butterflies can hydrate and cool off in our hot afternoons.
Ask the local nursery to show you through their stock of plants when choosing the appropriate flowers, herbs, and shrubs. There are so many available that will thrive even in low water environments once established, however, if just now planting, be sure to keep them hydrated while they are taking root in our extremely warm afternoons. If your yard is extremely sunny and dry, you may want to wait until monsoon season before trying to establish new plants. And again remember to take a few moments to observe and enjoy your garden guests this summer.

Sunday, June 1, 2008

Spa Indulgences Using Natural High Country Elements



Urbanites pay high dollar for it, Hollywood stars seek it out, we high country residents are surrounded by it. It is the peace, healthful benefits, and refreshing serenity that spa treatments try to provide.
Usually these treatments emulate many of the elements that we live with every day up in the Rim Country -- fresh spring water, clean air, stimulating herbal and botanical treatments, hot springs, invigorating exercise and healthy food.
After our recent stretch of cooling rain, I wondered at the beautiful herbaceous scent in the air afterward, much different from the creosote smell of the desert rain that I grew up with, and finally realized it was the juniper trees emitting their essential oils in the cool humidity.
The blueberry-like cones have been used to flavor gin, for their medicinal, antiseptic and diuretic attributes, and to flavor wild game for centuries, and are now also being used for aromatherapy and other spa treatments for their stress-relieving qualities.
Like most hard-working folk, when life gets too hectic and stressful, I sometimes need a reminder of just how lucky I am to live up in a high country paradise, stock full of Mother Nature's natural stress relievers. This weekend, after a long week of work, I took a moment to enjoy the unexpected rain and cool weather, took a long walk, and decided to make a bathroom centerpiece that would remind me to take the moments, and to pamper myself just a bit, even if it is just in those quick five minutes that it takes to shower.
Here are a couple quick and easy projects that make terrific gifts, home accents, or just simple bath accoutrements for those rare occasions when you remember to spoil yourself.
Bring nature inside with a eye-opening shower bouquet
This project is a Rim Country adaptation of one of Martha Stewart's going green Good Things. Gather a few small branches of juniper with its ripening berries, a sprig or two of herbs from your garden, such as lavender flowers and rosemary, and a couple of branches of dried eucalyptus branches from the craft store. Bundle together with raffia or twine, and hang in your shower or bath, away from the stream of water. The hot steam will awaken the essential oils in the plants (much like after the rain), and will wake you up with a natural, chemical-free aroma therapy treatment.
Replace the bouquet after two weeks, and I recommend experimenting with various herbal and foliage combinations. Try mint sprigs (it grows wild near my folks' home on the East Verde), pine needles, fragrant rose buds, sage, thyme, cinnamon sticks, jasmine flowers, whatever may strike your fancy. The bouquets can be augmented with a couple of drops of essential oil, available in the home candle and fragrance section of many stores.

Doctor up affordable spa products with the real thing for sophisticated display
I purchased some very affordable small glass containers (for more character, you can also reuse vintage glass bottles readily available in our local antique shops), and filled them with Village Natural's Stress and Tension Therapy products, mineral bath salts, bath gel, and bath oil, dropped in a small cutting of juniper with the berries in each bottle, and tied raffia around each bottle for a little flourish.
I topped each bottle with river rocks or natural corks. This collection of spa products uses juniper essential oil as its main ingredient for stress relief, and it's refreshing blue color reminds me of the fresh water so abundant in our streams and rivers and clear blue skies that we so often enjoy.
The floating juniper sprig just adds an extra organic dimension of beauty to your bath décor.
For a beautiful candle centerpiece, I layered from the bottom up: small river rocks, juniper cuttings and eucalyptus leaves, juniper berries, larger river rocks, and Dead Sea Salt mixed with blue mineral bath salts layered at the very top into a large glass candle hurricane container.
I then set in three to four green herb-scented tea lights into the salt layer, being sure to level the top of the tea light cup with the layer of salt.
I then tied a raffia bow around the hurricane and set it on a large glass platter, surrounded the hurricane with more river rocks, my shower bouquet, and a couple of awesome handmade herb soaps purchased from Pine's Honey Stand around the platter.
The centerpiece brings the outdoors in, emulating one of our natural stream beds, with the earth (river rock), water (emulated in the blue salt layer), and foliage (herb cuttings), along with the natural element of fire, for an invigorating, fragrant, beautiful arrangement for your bathroom. Be cautious when using flame, be sure that the flammable herb cuttings are set well below and away from the flame of the tea lights in the arrangement.
Just be sure to actually take a few moments, light the candles, hang your shower bouquet, and take the time to indulge once you've created your natural spa treatments, and remember how lucky we are to live up here.
To See the article in its entirety check out my local newspaper at: Spa indulgences using natural high country elements
Sarah McAnerny
Friday, May 30, 2008
Urban flatlanders pay high dollar for it, Hollywood stars seek it out, we high country residents are surrounded by it. It is the peace, healthful benefits, and refreshing serenity that spa treatments try to provide.
Usually these treatments emulate many of the elements that we live with every day up in the Rim Country -- fresh spring water, clean air, stimulating herbal and botanical treatments, hot springs, invigorating exercise and healthy food.
After our recent stretch of cooling rain, I wondered at the beautiful herbaceous scent in the air afterward, much different from the creosote smell of the desert rain that I grew up with, and finally realized it was the juniper trees emitting their essential oils in the cool humidity.
The blueberry-like cones have been used to flavor gin, for their medicinal, antiseptic and diuretic attributes, and to flavor wild game for centuries, and are now also being used for aromatherapy and other spa treatments for their stress-relieving qualities.
Like most hard-working folk, when life gets too hectic and stressful, I sometimes need a reminder of just how lucky I am to live up in a high country paradise, stock full of Mother Nature's natural stress relievers. This weekend, after a long week of work, I took a moment to enjoy the unexpected rain and cool weather, took a long walk, and decided to make a bathroom centerpiece that would remind me to take the moments, and to pamper myself just a bit, even if it is just in those quick five minutes that it takes to shower.
Here are a couple quick and easy projects that make terrific gifts, home accents, or just simple bath accoutrements for those rare occasions when you remember to spoil yourself.
Bring nature inside with a eye-opening shower bouquet
This project is a Rim Country adaptation of one of Martha Stewart's going green Good Things. Gather a few small branches of juniper with its ripening berries, a sprig or two of herbs from your garden, such as lavender flowers and rosemary, and a couple of branches of dried eucalyptus branches from the craft store (Wal-Mart stocks these menthol packed branches in their craft/floral department).
Bundle together with raffia or twine, and hang in your shower or bath, away from the stream of water. The hot steam will awaken the essential oils in the plants (much like after the rain), and will wake you up with a natural, chemical-free aroma therapy treatment.
Replace the bouquet after two weeks, and I recommend experimenting with various herbal and foliage combinations. Try mint sprigs (it grows wild near my folks' home on the East Verde), pine needles, fragrant rose buds, sage, thyme, cinnamon sticks, jasmine flowers, whatever may strike your fancy. The bouquets can be augmented with a couple of drops of essential oil, available in the home candle and fragrance section of many stores.

Doctor up affordable spa products with the real thing for sophisticated display
I purchased some very affordable small glass containers (for more character, you can also reuse vintage glass bottles readily available in our local antique shops), and filled them with Village Natural's Stress and Tension Therapy products, mineral bath salts, bath gel, and bath oil, dropped in a small cutting of juniper with the berries in each bottle, and tied raffia around each bottle for a little flourish.
I topped each bottle with river rocks or natural corks. This collection of spa products uses juniper essential oil as its main ingredient for stress relief, and it's refreshing blue color reminds me of the fresh water so abundant in our streams and rivers and clear blue skies that we so often enjoy.
The floating juniper sprig just adds an extra organic dimension of beauty to your bath décor.
For a beautiful candle centerpiece, I layered from the bottom up: small river rocks, juniper cuttings and eucalyptus leaves, juniper berries, larger river rocks, and Dead Sea Salt mixed with blue mineral bath salts layered at the very top into a large glass candle hurricane container.
I then set in three to four green herb-scented tea lights into the salt layer, being sure to level the top of the tea light cup with the layer of salt.
I then tied a raffia bow around the hurricane and set it on a large glass platter, surrounded the hurricane with more river rocks, my shower bouquet, and a couple of awesome handmade herb soaps purchased from Pine's Honey Stand around the platter.
The centerpiece brings the outdoors in, emulating one of our natural stream beds, with the earth (river rock), water (emulated in the blue salt layer), and foliage (herb cuttings), along with the natural element of fire, for an invigorating, fragrant, beautiful arrangement for your bathroom. Be cautious when using flame, be sure that the flammable herb cuttings are set well below and away from the flame of the tea lights in the arrangement.
Just be sure to actually take a few moments, light the candles, hang your shower bouquet, and take the time to indulge once you've created your natural spa treatments, and remember how lucky we are to live up here.
http://www.paysonroundup.com/section/localnews/story/34514