gardening :: thrifty and nifty

What a nifty idea! And a great gift I think for the gardener in your life OR for your own garden!

I wish I had a patch of garden that I could "plant" these in but my yard is shaded by big maple trees. :(

But fret not, these markers are great for pot gardens as well as indoor house plants too. The Etsy shop called Monkeys Always Look makes these wonderful aged markers from neglected old silver plate flatware, turning it into something new and useful. Repurpose, reuse. LOVE THAT! These are JUST COOL!

garden :: have a seat

Love this! Furniture that fits right into your garden. So take a seat ...



or a nap ;)



Gardening thats fun and JUST COOL!

via apartmenttherapy

gardening ::watch your garden grow!

If you love gardening and watching the seeds you planted turn from tiny two leafed babies to lush and robust plants over the course of the summer then THIS you'll like! I found it in one of my favorite catalogs, Hammacher Schlemmer, which btw always seems to have the coolest gadgets. It's called the The Timelapse Garden Video Camera and will take a series of time lapse shots of your garden and save them as an avi movie!

"This is the camera that makes a timelapse video of your garden to show you the development of individual specimens or entire areas over a period of time. It can focus as close as 20" away to illustrate petal growth or, with its wide 54° field of view, it can capture perennials as they grow to conceal your spent spring bulb foliage (play the video). The camera takes a picture at one of six pre-determined intervals (five seconds to 24 hours) and combines them into a single 1280 x 1024 resolution AVI movie file for easy playback on a computer. It has a light sensor that turns off the camera at dusk and back on at dawn, allowing for continued video capture each day. Movies are timestamped and stored on the camera's removable 2GB USB flash drive, which can take up to 18,000 pictures. The camera's weather-resistant exterior enables operation between 122° F and 14° F."

It's only 159.99 over at Hammacher Schlemmer so check it out!

photo via ohgizmo

gardens :: a polka dot walk

If you're looking for some cool landscaping ideas for your garden this Spring then check out these! A different type of walkway that really makes a statement!

Aren't these unusual pavers neat? The Ellos floor cement tiles, designed by Renata Rubim and Débora Lacroix and produced by Solarium Revestimentos, a Brazilian company producing refractory cement wall and floor products was the winning design for the Prêmio Bornancini de Design 2008/ Surface Design Category. Imagine them planted with patches of herbs. And as a walkway I bet they are very comfy underfoot. Plus lets not forget the nifty polka dot factor going on.Very JUST COOL!

It's Spring! Finally!

via design addict

gardening :: a green thumb for dummies

Having a green thumb has never been easier thanks to this cool device called Easy Bloom. It makes a cool gift for that horticultural/geek friend on your gift list, too. This ingenious flower shaped in-ground sensor reads and analyzes growing conditions in specific spots inside your home or in your yard. It measures sunlight, temperature, humidity, soil moisture and drainage. It even uses the same technology used on NASA's Mars Phoenix mission to measure the soil. After a minimum of 24 hours, you just plug it into your computer USB port and watch as it turns readings into recommendations, listing plants sure to flourish in your exact environment. Narrow your search more by specifying desired bloom color or season, plant height, drought tolerant, deer resistance, and other factors.

So here's how it works:

1. Set It
Plug the EasyBloom Plant Sensor into a USB port--you will be brought to your My EasyBloom Dashboard page. Put the sensor into Recommend or Monitor mode.

2. Place Sensor
Place the sensor in a spot where you would like to grow a plant, or adjacent to the plant that needs monitoring. Let the EasyBloom Plant Sensor gather a ‘plant's eye’ view of that location.

3. Plug It In
After 24 hours, plug the sensor into your USB port. Sensor data is uploaded to the EasyBloom website where algorithms are run that will either recommend a plant or diagnose what is wrong with an ailing plant.

4. Get Results
When in Recommend mode, the EasyBloom website will present a set of plants that will thrive in that location. In Monitor mode, you will be told what is going wrong with a plant with visual cues on how to fix it.

5. Enjoy
Sit back and enjoy flourishing plants.

Gardening made easy is JUST COOL! You can get the EasyBloom here at Amazon.com