Edited by Cathy Tylka, for Let’s Talk Plants! November 2024.
The current Sharing Secrets question…
Did you put up a structure in your garden to enhance it?
If you did, is it just wonderful? Or has it outlived its usefulness or does it just need rehabilitation or even an addition?
Linda Woloson responded…
… I have two beautiful large palapas on my property. They are old and the original palm roofs are in bad condition not to mention the fire danger.
Any idea what to replace the roofs with? I am in Rancho Santa Fe and will have to get a permit.
And I, Cathy, responded to Linda…
“Well, there’s always a tin roof that you can put on it. Additionally, there is a thatching material that looks authentic but is without the fire danger available for purchase. (Send me pictures of what it looks like now and also keep the question as there might be answers from the peanut gallery.)”
Do you have an answer for Linda?
Rachel Cobb shared…
… I needed to add a new plant room. I need more room for all of my extensive collections. I live in zone 7a, and I need to bring in my San Diego plants inside each change of season. I have been bringing plants home in my suitcase for many years. I also inherited a collection of caudex plants. They desire a place of display as well as seasonal comfort.
I had a deck already off my house, making adding an 8 x 8 plant room straightforward. I need winter warmth, requiring a solid roof but four skylights. It still needs to be finished inside; I will add insulation, but it is ready for plants. It is the best thing I have created in a long time for my plants and myself.
Julia Erickson stated…
... Yes, I did put both an arbor and a shaded area in my back yard to enhance it.
Now, if I could just keep the drip irrigation working! 🙄
Karen England of 92084 asks, …
… does my 20-year-old former garden “Soap Shop” shed (say that three times fast!) now called the “Pub” count?
My “pub” is as famous an accidental creation of mine as my porch bed. After my husband’s death in 2014, I had to close my handmade soap business that had a little garden building that my hubby purposely built for me to be able to make and sell herbal soap right from my garden by the street.
The question became what to do with the building and the herbs planted around it now that the soap shop has closed?
It wasn’t a big leap to turning it into a pub in 2015, (the full name of the pub is The Dover’s Arms Pub and Devon Tea Room if you are wondering), since I was still using all the herbs that I had been putting into making soaps only now in my cocktails, but originally the change to a “pub” was just for me and my best friend (you know her, it’s Karon De Leon, the SD Hort board member in charge of volunteers).
The fact that this tiny building, hardly big enough for two people, has since been the setting for a pre-wedding welcome reception in 2019 for 125 guests, a post wedding reception in 2022 for 85 guests and a wedding and reception for 150 people in 2023 and has attracted worldwide acclaim in the process is mind boggling.
The Pub front door gets decked out with wreaths ocasionally...
Recording artist Dominique Arciero had a professional photo shoot in and around the pub in 2019 for use with the release of her upcoming album and my collie dog, Dover, as well as the pub ended up with Dom on the cover of the single, “Wanted It to Be You”. Take a listen: wanted it to be you by Dominique Arciero
Cathy Tylka of 92026, laments that…
… my back porch has had it after 27 years and the tear down starts today.
The plan is to mostly redo what was already there. I loved it for the partial shade and as a place to have my plants that cannot take full sun.
Sharing Secrets question for next month:
November is pumpkin and fall colors time, so do you have anything in your garden that reminds you of Thanksgiving Day celebrations?
Remember, all who answer the Sharing Secrets questions get their name thrown into a hopper to win a SD Hort logo hat every quarter!
Just like member Jim Booman, the most recent winner!
Cathy Tylka, RN, retired Emergency Nurse, found her love of plants and the SDHS merge many years ago. Cathy acted as Treasurer for the organization and volunteers for many activities. Now, she is more than happy to assist in gathering questions to ask you in the Sharing Secrets area of the Newsletter.
Comments