The King Abdullah International Gardens

Exploring the cities of Saudi Arabia will give you a leisure of adventure because this progressive country will provide everything you want for luxury. We may overheard about the rise of this place especially the man-made islands and beaches but have you heard of "King Abdullah International Gardens"? Well this garden is currently being constructed and will be hailed as one of the new 'Seven Wonders of the World'. This 24 acre man-made indoor garden is located in the middle of the dessert just outside the Saudi capital and with the shape of a crescent, it will look like a moon after nightfall. The project is said to be completed by 2013 and surely this will become a dream of everyone to visit. 

The garden centerpiece will have the 'Wadi garden' which is the central space of the enclosed dual crescent and by nightfall it will become the 'Garden of the Moon' with the help of specialized lighting and plant lights. The last garden within the crescent building is the 'Garden of Choices' which will educate visitors on preserving the environment for the future generations. They also have Scientific gardens that will not only entertain but also educate the visitors about botanical history. Seating and picnic areas will be provided to develop a fun place to enjoy. 

This is quite a huge thing for travelers, imagine how big and futuristic this project would be. I have read from an article that by the third quarter of 2013 hopefully we can have a glance at this masterpiece. Imagine how the plants will grow in the middle of the dessert, it's a wonder oasis that is. There's a lot of wonderful gardens in this world and I guess this one will be the best.

Inspire Your Child To Make Wonders On Pots

Kids love to play most of the time and learning while having fun is what matters to help them enjoy. Introducing gardening to children at an early age teaches them to appreciate nature and gain knowledge in caring of plants. Gardening helps improve a child's patience when growing a plant and teaches responsibility at an early age. It's also a great way to bond with your kids and show them how small things create great possibilities . By starting up, first you need to inspire them with garden ideas. Let them see photos of beautiful gardens for inspiration. While your gardening, ask them to help you out so they can gather ideas of having fun while take care of living things. Every child loves fantasy, and creating a fairy tale garden is a nice project for beginners. You can help them by making a miniature garden which it's easy to do and surely the kids will enjoy because of the little plants and accessories they can put into a short a manner of time. 

Their little fingers will easily adapt with the small playground in their pots and maybe that could be a start of a first collection. Providing the right hand tools for gardening should be first on the list since these equipment will be used for a longer period of time. Give them colorful tools that will attract their attention but make sure to watch an eye for sharp ones that can cause injuries. They can also plant in small containers like planters, plant stands, windowboxes, terrariums, hanging baskets and pots. Small container creates less effort to maintain and can be easily transferred to different locations. When your child is big enough and ready to try larger plants, then that's the time you can provide a larger space for a garden. Make suggestions and update their work from time to time and never forget to give them a pat in the back after doing a great job.

My Stay At Arabica Coffee Co.

Starting a day with a cup of coffee lifts up our day and gives us the strength to perform our daily tasks. Taking in the benefits of 2-3 cups a day will help detoxify our body and reduce variety of heart deceases and cancers. It also helps us perform and think better because of the caffeine content in each cup we take. I'm a coffee lover and I usually drink my cup in places where I can think deeper. Many coffee shops offer different coffee flavors that will match your taste and they provide a comforting atmosphere for us to enjoy and tranquilize at the same time.

When I was in Maine, I discovered a coffee shop where they serve the best coffee in town. The Arabica Coffee Co. located in 16 Free St, Portland will give you a pampering effect to remember. We stayed at Portland for a week and everyday we go there to take our cups, morning and afternoon. If only they open until 9 pm I would go there, however they're only until 6 pm. On my second visit, I tried their espresso and it was just perfect without the burning and bitter taste, best espresso I had in my entire life. I guess the type of coffee bean they use and the barista complements well.

One time my husband saw the Arabica coffee kit I bought online and he said with a big smile "Honey, lets do our paperwork at Arabica's", and then off we go to take our sip. The ambiance felt like home, the area where I like to stay is near the glass window where you can see the people walking outside. It's nice to stay in a place where the staff are friendly, the place is clean (especially the bathroom), warm environment, comfortable seats and offers free wi-fi. What more would you want?

Hanging Baskets For All Year Round Flowers

Hanging baskets make a bunch of colorful hues in your porches and decks, not only it makes your home beautiful but also creates a romantic ambiance in front of your houses. Flowers that hung looks amazing especially if the arrangement is at its place. If your having a hard time growing flower vines like wisteria, clematis and passion flowers, hanging plant is the answer for a similar look for your offices and homes.

The more flowers you grow in a hanging basket, the more elegant and inviting it looks. Imagine a garden with flowers hanging around the trees and fences, it brings our imagination to a fantasy garden filled with all the colors of life. Hanging baskets on fences and outside window provides privacy because it serves as screens for our glass windows and doors. If your flowers have grown bountiful and it needs a bigger container, you can cut the flowers and give it as gifts to your loved-ones or friends. You can also transfer some to colorful pots and place it anywhere inside or outside your houses.

In choosing the flowers, make sure it blooms all year round so as not to loose the color of your blooms. These flowers include orchids, hibiscus, African violets, dicentra, bush daises, periwinkle and bird of paradise. The reason to choose all year round flowers is to ensure that you will still have colorful shades on your baskets even during wintertime. For a more decorative piece in your yard, you can use a hanging basket cascade to improve further the features of your yard or garden. It also adds volume to your plants. Many coffee shops and restaurants use this to make the place convenient and homey for customers. Most customers like to stay in places that brings home in the streets. 

Succulent Arrangement For Modern And Contemporary Homes

 Succulent arrangement is all about flowers and textures. The alien look of this plant makes it more adaptable to the modern and contemporary look of any spaces in the house. Creating an impact to your patio, deck, living room or yard is a big payoff as it improves not only your house but also a positive outlook in life. Growing succulents and cacti are easier projects than growing flowers because they need less maintenance and attention. Having a bunch of it will not hurt your budget compared to buying expensive flower arrangements, it will actually transform your garden in a unique and attractive way. 

The round succulent arrangement above is aligned in rows for a neat bang effect. You can also arrange it in a circular manner or create a different shape on the middle like a heart or a star for a one of a kind gift creation. Choosing the right container for your plant adds a big deal in terms of hues and character in an arrangement, the more imaginative you are, the more creative you will be. You can try placing your finished arrangement in a birdcage if you don't have a plant stand or hanging terrariums for a fairy tale effect. Blue succulents are very attractive, it can be nicely combined with other flowers to complete the color-wheel you've always wanted. 

Another idea you can apply is to choose the succulent with similar shape but different color and sizes like the big photo above. It creates an artificial arrangement and it mirrors the shape of their container. For cacti arrangements, you can add a spiky grass to create height and choose the shades not similar to your cacti. Bringing out ideas is easy as long as you have the will and passion to do it. Never stop unless you can't finish what you have started because you will never see the outcome unless you try.

Air Filtering Plants For Your Homes

Air-cleaning plants are helpful to our indoors and helps absorb harmful pollutants that can be dangerous to our health. We all know that plants releases oxygen and absorbs carbon dioxide during the day but did you know there are plants that was compiled by NASA for their clean-air act that can get rid amounts of  formaldehyde ,benzene and trichloroethylene? Studies show that it helps with the "sick building syndrome" and cleanses the air especially if your living in an old house. The list of air-filtering plants are Peace lilies, spider plant, golden pothos, English ivy, weeping fig, Warneck dracaena, cornstalk dracaena, Janet Craig dracaena, bamboo or reed palm, snake plant,  elephant ear philodendron, selloum philodendron and Chinese evergreen. Most of these are beautiful indoor plants we usually place inside our homes for decorations.

If your place is prone to pollutants like beside the city streets, keeping these plants will help remove some pollutants that can help you breath fresher air since it filters the chemicals that can cause sickness to our family members. These plants are also great interior plants that enhances the inside view of our house. Placing them in decorative containers will add additional improvement on the appearance of your homes. If you want to plant them in a garden but the space is limited, you can place them in window boxes to create a small garden outside your windows. You can also try planters that can accommodate many plants so you can place them inside any rooms and make sure it's lightweight for you to easily move it from one place to another. If you don't have a green thumb, you can buy these plants in botanical or garden shops. Other options are online shopping in gardening websites, this is one way to surprise a loved-one.

Cheapest Way To Start Container Gardening

Did you know you can make use of your old things from the attic or basement and use them as containers for gardening? Using recycled stuff are useful for the environment and leaves a larger space in the house. This blog will let you bring your creative imagination to reality in just a jiffy and will change your garden magnificently.

 

If you have old colorful handbags, beach totes and wrist lets in your closet, it's time to let it out and show it off under the sun because it can make a fanciful hanging or wall garden. Hanging them on your fences, porch, branches or even windows will surely attract many fashion lovers that will pass by your house. Plastic beach toys like pails, sand buckets, ice coolers and shells can create a beach-themed garden. You can plant succulents or mosses on seashells so you can make use of it. Do you have old rusty bird cages? After painting, you can plant in flowers so you'll have an indoor plant stand terrarium . Hats and caps make a good wall container too. Storage baskets of different shapes and sizes when varnished with polyurethane can be as good as new.

 

You can turn an old working desk into a beautiful indoor garden by placing plants on the drawers and on top of the table. Another amazing container you can use are old shoes that won't fit anymore, boots, school shoes and sneakers. For a sophisticated gathering on the garden table, using chipped mugs, teapots, glass pitchers and teacups will be a nice tabletop garden. Old colorful reproduction food tins will bring a classic centerpiece effect to your tables and cabinets. Ever heard of a portable garden? If your kids have play wagons, it can be used as planters for different variety of plants.

Compost Bins and Plant Lights

After completing your watering and hand tools you need to have a compost bin and a plant light. If you have dead plants like grasses, leaves, shrubs, leftover food, vegetables and fruits, you can place it in a compost bin to create an organic compost. Compost conditions the soil that adds moisture and nutrients to the plant. It is good for mother nature to use recycled compost since you make use of waste and help clean the environment. Make sure that the compostable waste to use are either nitrogen or carbon based materials as this creates enzymes that helps tenderize your compost. A good compost smells good so if your finished product doesn't smell right, it's better to discard it because the smell might reach your neighbors.

Another gardening supply that should be on hand is the plant light. If sunshine is out of reach because your plant is inside the house or the weathers not right, the solution is to use plant lights that can be your plants' indoor best friend. I bought an intelligent plant light from an online shop and it does everything for my plant even when I'm at work. It can be programmed to turn and off and signals when the plant needs to be watered. It is a tabletop lamp that can be adjusted up to 14 inches tall. It's great for decorative potted plants since the flower with lamp light adds focal point to your house.  This is the ideal gift you can give to your office mate or friend that already have plants in containers on their tabletop. This is a great solution for flowers that doesn't bloom or flower interiors that needs moisture like orchids, violets and kitchen herbs. A plant light doesn't only help your plants grow but also serves as a lamp that can add light to any parts of the house.

Hand And Watering Tools That Should Be On Hand

Completing your watering tools before having a garden is one important thing you should remember to satisfy your plant needs. Watering tools depends on the type of garden you have. If you have a small indoor garden made of potted plants, you can use a plant mister to avoid spill inside the house but if you have a large garden outside, using a self watering kit will help you deliver water evenly to your plants. Watering tools like the "Oasis" from emilysplants is a lightweight watering system that enables you to feed your plants with less effort since it can water up to 60"range. You can stay in one place  to water your plants, no need to do it one by one. Many high-tech equipment are invented each year to make our lives easier and these discoveries are only less than a hundred dollars. To have a healthy garden, you need to provide total responsibility to achieve its health and feature. Watering the plants is not enough to achieve a beautiful garden, you also need to fertilize, trim, cultivate the soil, etc. to fulfill their everyday needs.

Hand tools need to be a set of complete and better ones to make your gardening work less longer. If you spend money on gardening tools, make sure it's worth the buy to avoid you from redoing your gardening job over and over again. A good set of hand tools should be of good quality, either steel or aluminum. Choose a pruner that doesn't stick when you close and open the handle to avoid repeating your job. Make sure that the edges of the blade is smooth, examine it carefully to be sure its sharp. Same thing when choosing the trimmer to perform the cutting  and pruning easily. Rake helps to loose the soil and remove unwanted weeds around our plants so you better have this in your gardening tote bag.