Favorite new gardening tool---A Garden Knife

For those waging a war against a particular kind of weed, I've found the best new weapon. I'm obsessed with a new gardening tool I was sent to test---OXO Good Grips new Garden Knife. It's the first garden knife I've owned. I wielded this sturdy stainless steel knife against my arch enemy weed---the Asian Knotweed yesterday and came out victorious. It's the best tool I've ever used for deeply cutting into the earth and removing the root structure, along with the stem and leaves of this persistent weed. I love that it comes with a safety sheath with belt clip too, to keep it handy, yet not accidentally digging into my thigh when I drop to the ground in a weeding frenzy. Ahhh my little weed friend, you have met your match!

($24.99; www.oxo.com) 

http://www.oxo.com/OA_HTML/xxoxo_ibeCCtpOXOPrdDtl.jsp?a=b&item=67815&section=10503

--Monica Forrestall

Hovering Hummingbirds make Beach Rose Cottage a stopping spot

The bright red Bee Balm flowers AND the two hummingbird feeders my son Max and I put up are attracting several of these hovering miraculous beauties around our house. One red-throated male hovered outside of the kitchen window this morning starring in at me for a few seconds. They are tough to photograph! 

Everything's Coming up Roses!

July is rose month in Nova Scotia. Everything is either just past blooming, in full bloom or about to bloom.  Here are a few of the roses from around our little house "Beach Rose Cottage", which I am deliriously gathering by the armload and filling up every vase and container in sight with.

The jaw-dropping American Pillar Rambling Rose climbs up our 1940's era workshop.

"Big Pink" climbs the old workshop.

A curtain of Dorothy Perkins pink roses cover a living room window.

Morning sun on the blooming roses.

Max and me with Big (American Pillar) Pink on July 13th.

--Monica Forrestall

Beach shell craft hostess gift

                                                   My Max and his little crab.

Every day on our little stretch of beach we collect shells, even if it is just one or two beauties slipped into a pocket. And everyone who travels to visit anyone this summer who lives on the beach will undoubtably do the same thing. It's a universal beach-visit activity. But then what to do with the shells, once the suitcases are unpacked and these sandy, sometimes smelly things emerge? Fill a jar? Fine, but why not create a gift for your hostess or yourself?  Last summer I picked shells and crab legs and stones off of our beach with my son Max, and by the end of the summer we had quite a collection. I had several very plain wooden picture frames on hand and used one of them to made this charming ode-to-summer picture frame.
How to: The plain unpainted wood frame can be bought anywhere. I chose one that had no molded or relief decorations, as it is easier to attach things to a flat surface. There can be picked up anywhere, even second hand at yard sales, keep your eyes peeled. Mine I bought at Pearl Paint in New York for about $13. I carefully washed the shells with soap and water and let them air dry completely. Then I planned out my design, with a crab shell body at the top and used a symmetrical pattern of matching shells at the top. I took the shells off carefully and set them on the table next to the frame, then warmed up my hot glue-gun and got busy glueing the shells in place. Within less than a half hour my project was complete, and just needed to sit and allow the glue to dry completely.
I chose a complimentary photo of a very happy summer moment to showcase the new frame. Doesn't Max look sweet here?

--Monica Forrestall

Airing your clean Laundry

Is there anything better than the fresh aroma of fabric after it's been blowing in the ocean breeze?
When we have guests over for dinner, even if my linen napkins are clean I make a point of hanging them up outside for a hour or so, before dinner. It's a small touch, but when guest lifts a napkin to wipe their mouth and breathes in fresh salty air,  I know that aroma is brings the ocean inside.

"Memory lets us have roses in December"

A (little altered) quote from James Barrie that speaks of the passion of gardeners.

These are the fragrant roses from Beach Rose Cottage I remember and can't wait to tend, smell, fill our house with come summer.

Pretty "Topaz Jewel" pale yellow rose under the kitchen window is surrounded 

with a few round stones collected from Delaps Cove. The yellow rose, according to the Victorian-era language of flowers, symbolizes friendship and devotion. 

In early July the peonies and tall white rose bushes along our driveway are in full bloom. Don't they look stunning in a creamy white pitcher? Look for white stoneware pitchers at yard sales and junk shops all over the province. Chips on the edge of spouts won't matter when used for a vase, but make certain there are no cracks, because it definitely needs to hold water!

The large rose bush that climbs the garage in full bloom July 27th, 2009.

To put it in perspective, the bush reached around 12 feet last year.

Close up of the pink roses in full bloom.

Beach roses (left) and American Pillar climbing rose (right)

There are so many roses in July, the vases are filled and I use teapots and creamers to hold buds.

Three different rose varieties that bloom around Beach Rose Cottage in July: Ballerina Rose (left), Dark red (center) from large bush out front and pink with white center (left) from climbing bush in backyard.

The white rose bush on the east side of the house has roses that start as pale peachy color, and when they bool they become creamy white all over. 

A small white bush in the side garden has delicate, and impossible to believe fragrant blooms.

My pink rosebush on the side of house that blooms in early August was so full, the stems were dragging on the ground this year. 

So in mid-August I put a trellis, bought from a woodworker up the shore road, behind this rosebush to prop it up, and then supported some stems to climb up around the living room window. The joy of peeping out through fragrant roses on curling vines will be something to look forward to indeed. 

This deep red rose bush (above) we planted ourselves in the backyard under the large picture windows overlooking the back lawn.

On the side of the house, next to the "Capt. Samuel Holland" climber rose bush I planted in August 2008, I rooted several stems (greens stalks right in photo) from our large pink rose bush. Since buying rose bushes can be expensive (they usually start at $20 each) learning how to root cuttings from thriving plants is a very economical way to spread beautiful rose bushes all over your property. Many seemed to take. I can't wait to see how many survived the fall and winter and will reward us with roses in the future. I am learning, gardening is about the future and enormous patience.

I am trying to root more stems/branch cuttings from the big pink rose bush, next to our old 100-year old chicken coop way in the backyard. 

Here's looking forward to a summer of roses, roses and more roses than ever.

---Monica Forrestall

Anticipating Summer at Beach Rose Cottage

As the weather starts to warm up, I am anticipating wonderful times at the cottage.
Here are some happy memories from last summer.

Having friends over for dinner is a joy! Here our simple table is set and ready for company.

Simple details like an elastic shell embellished napkin ring, woven place mats and modern organic shaped dishes help create an updated beach feel.

So many roses in the month of July, I run out of vases and teapots and creamers come to the rescue holding brilliant buds.

Monica Forrestall