Sea Blossom Soap News

Blooming Garden!

 Sedum Autumn Joy and Marigolds mingle in my garden and are blooming their heads off!

So wonderful to see the flowers blooming after hurricanes, heat waves, and the predatory insects of the summer kept the blooms down. 

I hope you are enjoying your own "autumn joy!"

Safe from Hurricane Irene

A million thanks to all who saved my house in Fire Island from damage from Hurricane Irene. 

First, my wonderful renter, Regena, and her friends battened down the house, stashing all the deck stuff and closing up.  Then, they evacuated.  I thought of some little stuff still out and called my neighbors who fortunately were still there.  As Jerry went over to get the stuff, Minda called me from the ferry after closing up her house, telling me Gena G noticed that my kitchen window facing the ocean was still open.  I called Erica who went over and closed the window.  I am so grateful to all their help.

I finally got back there last Sunday and everything was fine, with a few exceptions.  My lower front garden looks beaten up and possibly many plants are lost from the salt water that soaked them.  I probably won't know till spring.  So after sweeping a lot of sand and tying lots of plants back up it's only a little battered.

The biggest problem is my roof which lost a lot of shingles.  Now I wait for the estimate and insurance reports.  But compared to so many others who are still under some water, we are so very lucky!

Summer Garden

Now that summer is in full swing, I've taken time off to enjoy the beach and my garden.  Sea Blossom is busy but for a few days soapmaking is taking just a slight back seat as I get to enjoy the best of summer.  For a gardener, it's the very best time - everything (or most everything) is blooming, the heavy work is done, and all you need to do is snip here and there, feed, water and enjoy. I just love to show off my garden when it's looking good!  Here are some of my deck plants -

That's purple Imagination verbena on the left, such a fabulous plant, here with Lemon Drop Marigolds I grew from seed.  And on the right, red verbenas look great with the sweet potato vine and coleus. 

Hydrangeas are having a boom season, and my baby Anabelles, taken from my huge one, finally are thriving in the front garden.  The marigolds are loving the heat but I'm still waiting for most of the dahlias and cannas to bloom.  Day lilies are mostly finished, as are the Asiatic lilies (mine are Lollipops).  Casa Blanca orientals are budding, and tomatoes are coming along - cherries are ripening and I was able to pick one Japanese Black Trifle (an heirloom variety I love). 

I hope you are enjoying the fruits of your gardening labor too! 

 

My Summer's Over - Holiday Fair time is here!!

Just finished closing up the beach house.  It was freezing but thankfully sunny and dry.  Got all the dahlias and cannas out of the ground and pots and took them home for a long winter's sleep. 

While the plants sleep, I am gearing up for holiday craft fairs.  Making some new gift packs of soaps, 2-packs and trios, plus a new Soap Sampler Kit with 3 soaps plus a small lotion in Ocean and Lavender scents.

First holiday fair:  November 7 at Paramus Catholic High School in Paramus NJ. 

Come on by and say hi!

End of Summer Garden Musings

These are my caterpiller friends - they became gorgeous swallowtail butterflies after eating up my fennel.  I'm happy to report that the fennel, though all its leaves were eaten, survived just fine.  It's now blooming, lots of airy yellow flowers that are providing food for bees.

This summer really flew by, even though the heat was extreme.  My flowers are recovering from the heat -   some bloomed super early and were finished too soon, others, like the dahlias, waited out the hot weather to start blooming now.  But the sun has started to be low in the sky so I can see the slow-down of fall is already beginning.

But Sea Blossom is just heating up.  I've got a big lineup of fairs, starting October 16 in New York City.  Stay tuned for more details!

My Spring Garden

It's so wonderful to see everything wake up in the garden.  The muscari (grape hyacinth) really play up the new greens coming in.

This year I didn't plant any tulips after years of planting hundreds.  But how great is this - despite pulling all of them out to plant other annuals (or so I thought) some have regenerated just enough to give me a few beautiful blooms.  It was quite a surprise and so pretty.

My garden is always full of surprises even when I think I am totally in charge of it.  Many - the millions of weeds - are unpleasant and create lots of work to keep them from overtaking everything. 

But sometimes you get tulips.  Cool.

Rainy Garden

What a season!  I finally got my tomatoes into the ground, and most of the dahlias.  Now if the sun would stay out for more than the occasional hour maybe they will grow.  At least they haven't rotted yet.

I'm trying something new - red plastic mulch around each tomato plant.  I got it from Gardener's Supply Company (gardeners.com).  Their catalog says the red mulch increases tomato harvest by 20% and it's reusable, so I tried it.   I figure at least it will keep down the weeds and prevent the blight that the heirlooms tend to get from spreading. 

A big thank you to Gardener's Supply - I had my order shipped via a method that I didn't know couldn't be delivered to me.  They shipped a new package via a more expensive shipping method without charging me the additional shipping, and I got it right away.  Thanks Gardener's Supply!  Now if you could get it to stop raining for a little while.....

The bright red plastic mulch is a riot to see - picture coming soon!

April News and Sales at Sea Blossom

I'm so excited that Spring is finally showing up!  My tulips are peeking up from the ground and some are budding.  Not like the city tulips which are actually blooming, but it's so encouraging!  Here's a past picture to show what they'll soon look like -

My first Spring craft fairs - in Huntington, Long Island and Stonybrook, Long Island - were a great season opener, and I was so happy to introduce myself and my Sea Blossom products to lots of new customers.  My next fairs are in late May, in White Plains, NY, and in Westhampton in June.  Come see me if you can!

So until then I'll be gardening and getting ready for the Nautical Soap season at the beach resorts.  Lots of fresh new Lighthouse Soaps, Sailboat Soaps, Beach Glass, White Tea & Ginger Shell Soaps, and new Starfish Soaps are ready to go.  Not to mention the Flip Flops!

I've kept the  Body Butter Cremes - Serene and Springtime fragrances, on Sale till the end of April - at just $12, (20% Off), this is a great time to try them!