The-Artistic-Garden's Blog

There’s Lots Of Helpful Creative Tips & How-To’s
For DIY Garden Art Crafters

If you’re familiar with my hugely popular website that has lots of DIY unique garden art projects The-Artistic-Garden.com, then you KNOW you’ll be just as pleased with all the great information and how-tos found on this new site.

So come on in, and take some time to look around. If you’ve got information to share after reading a specific post, then please leave a comment or helpful suggestion. Everybody can benefit from each others trials, tribulations and great tips in making handmade garden art items. Me included.

News Flash!!

My new eBook The Shoestring Gardener is available for sale!

I’ll tell you … it’s been quite a labor of love but my new 300 page book is finished, the website is developed and now I can show the world what I’ve been up to this past year or so.

www.ShoestringGardener.com

To learn more … please go to: www.ShoestringGardener.com.

Here are Three Attractive, Simple & Frugal DIY Christmas Wreath Ideas

With the holidays looming before us, many of us are still adding final touches to our homes. Sometimes a wreath is all it takes to add a bit of holiday flair to a lonesome spot that’s begging to be decorated. With this in mind, I was looking around online for some easy, quick and not expensive do it yourself ideas the other day. I came across many options, but these were rather interesting and I decided to pass them along here on my blog. Continue reading

A Reader Shares Some Garden Gnome Photos

I received an email the other day from Pat, one of the many The-Artistic-Garden friends who contact me to share their ideas and photos. Pat thought we’d all enjoy seeing these gnome photos, and I agreed. So here goes:

Hi Claudia,
Just wanted to tell you how much I enjoy your web site and also to send you a photo of the gnome display my step-dad has in his yard. The round balls you see are something he got years and years ago from a place where he worked. I have no idea what they are made of but probably cement. Continue reading

A New Book Just Released on Garden Gnome History

I received a very nice email recently from “Twigs Way”, the author of a new book about garden gnomes, asking if I’d be kind enough to review it and make a mention about it on my blog. Continue reading

This Gorgeous Dahlia Has Become
My Favorite Flower In My Garden

Just because I get so awe-struck every year when this Dahlia, cultivar ‘Contraste’, begins to bloom in my very own garden, I thought I’d share with everyone what this particular Dahlia looks like. I am always glad to see the new little buds pushing up from the ground in Spring, letting me know it made it through the winter.

I admit, I don’t dig up the tubers and divide them and then store them in the Fall like Dahlia aficionados would do. But I’ve never lost one of my Dahlia plants (I’ve got two other varieties) by leaving them in the ground. Maybe it’s because I’m in planting zone 6B and our winters aren’t as brutal as the more northern states.

Click here “planting zone maps” to find your particular zone if you don’t know it.

Purple does happen to be my favorite color, so the deep purpley-maroonish color of this flower certainly helps it inch on up to the top of my “most favorite flowers” list!

The Dahlia in this photo measures 6-inches wide! It brings a smile to my face every time I see it and I marvel at what God can create.

Ok, this isn’t garden art related at all, but it’s ART related for sure!

Hey – Google (yes that #1 most used search engine) is having a fun contest for one child’s doodle art to end up on their home page May 21st. That’ll be a pretty neat honor for some talented kid.

Personally, I hope a younger child can beat out an older kid – like a kindergartener wins out over a 12th grader. Anyway … that’s just me (I like to root for the “little guy” not to make a sort-of pun here) but I’m getting off the subject, so back to what I was posting …

Here’s an example from the Grades K-3 division that I really like. I also like the student’s description of his doodle:

The public voting is NOW – May 11th – May 18th. Please take a minute and place a vote in each age group. You can see the doodle art and vote right here: Doodle Art Finalists.

I wish all the kids best Doodle Luck!