Posts

No Two-Finger Point At Disneyland Paris

Posted by on
Image
There are a ton of familiar details at Disneyland Park.  The hub layout.  The castle...that is kind of a combination of Disneyland's castle at Disney World's scale.  But, I noticed one little detail that is different.  They don't two-finger point.  This is a photo I took of this Cast Member who was directing people around Disneyland Park.  I was sitting at a restaurant waiting for Nat and was able to watch this guy tell people where to go and what-have-you.  After seeing him one-finger point for about five minutes, I had to snap a photo.

What's the two-finger point?  From Travel + Leisure:
Disney is all about the details.  Sure, every Disney fan knows that the rides, snacks, and the parks themselves are meticulously designed and maintained so visitors can be delighted at every turn, but did you know that this very thoughtful mentality also extends to the park’s staff as well?  Take, for example, the fact that Disney park employees are banned from ever pointing with ju…
Post a Comment
Read more

Luxembourg Gardens Has Wonderful Chairs

Posted by on
Image
Have I fawned over our visits to Luxembourg Gardens enough here on the blog?  In the past few weeks, I've posted about how the flowers in our patio planter were inspired there, how I tried cocoa bean shell mulch because that's what they use there, how I want to build a green tree box from there, and how I really fell in love with these vines in between trees from the garden.

But there's a few more things about the garden that are worth sharing.

If you go back to the post about the cocoa bean shell/hull mulch, you'll notice that there's a couple of metal chairs in the photo.

Those chairs. You can see one above from Perigold.  That's their photo.

I think that our experience in the park/garden was driven - in large part - by these chairs.  They're everywhere.  People sitting on them.  Sleeping on them.  Eating lunch and talking on them.  In groups.  Alone.  Sometimes two at a time.  Sometimes two chairs for one person (extra one for feet!).





Nat found this ven…
Post a Comment
Location: Luxembourg Gardens, 75006 Paris, France
Read more

Hicks Yews Acquired For Back Hedge - Spacing and Planning

Posted by on
Image
That's a wheelbarrow full of 12 2# Upright Hicks Yews that are destined for our backyard.  #5 on my 2019 Garden To-Do List was to get some Yews into our yard with a hedge and now that I've waited for these to go on sale, I'm this much closer to getting this item crossed off my list.  What's the inspiration for these?  This curvy, swooping hedge from Bunny Williams' Instagram.    I bought Yews that were originally marked for $34.99 that Home Depot discounted all the way down to $9.

I bought Upright Hicks Yews - which Monrovia describes thusly:
An excellent evergreen shrub for tall hedges and privacy screens. The long, upright-growing branches with dense, glossy, dark green foliage naturally form a narrow, columnar habit that works well as a foundation plant, or placed in pairs at entries or doorways.  I've talked about my love of all things columnar - and that love extends to shrubs.


The spacing on the back of the card claims 8' to 12', but I'm pret…
Post a Comment
Location: Downers Grove, IL, USA
Read more

Getting Our Chimney Swept - Summer 2019

Posted by on
Image
I've posted here on the blog all about our firewood consumption over the past couple of Winters.  This past Winter, we started with a Face Cord of Cherry and a Face Cord of Birch.  Burned through both of those.  Then in February, we ordered a third Face Cord - a combo of Cherry and Oak.

The previous Winter, we ordered just one Face Cord and ripped through it in no time.  We also burned a bunch of wood that we had on hand when we bought the property.  Not quite a face cord there, but close.  So, all in, that's about five Face Cords that have been burned. 

We built the house new, so I *knew* that the Chimney was clean when we started.  But, I wasn't sure when we should get our chimney swept.  With the Summer here, I figured it was a slow time for the service providers, so I called one locally and set up an appointment. 

When he got there, he asked me some questions:  type of wood we burn and how often.  Told him we burn everyday and we burn mostly hardwoods.  When I told him…
Post a Comment
Read more

Trained Vines Between Trees In Luxembourg Gardens

Posted by on
Image
I could post for 100 days straight and I don't think I would run out of things to say and share about Luxembourg Gardens in Paris.  Yesterday, I posted about the green tree boxes.  Today are a couple of photos of a fountain area that is in the northeast corner of the garden.  It is a reflecting pool with a large fountain at the far Eastern edge that is lined by (I'm pretty sure that they're) London Plane trees or perhaps just Plane Trees since they're NOT in London?!?!
The trees themselves are magnificent.  There are four or five on either side of the reflecting pool that are placed in a line.  In between these trees is ivy.  You can see it in the photos at the top and bottom of this post.  The ivy is trained from the central base in between the trees - and the space in between the trees - and trained out in two angles.  Where it meets the trees, it is then trained back across in a straight line.  Look at it in the photos.  Amazing, isn't it?  The vines are massiv…
Post a Comment
Location: Luxembourg Gardens, 75006 Paris, France
Read more

Versailles Green Tree Boxes - Paris Inspiration and Garden Dreaming

Posted by on
Image
Yesterday, I posted about how after seeing the French gardeners use cocoa bean shell hull mulch in the gardens and beds in Luxembourg Gardens, I decided to try the stuff myself.  But, it wasn't just the mulch that made an impression on me during our visit.  So, too, did these large green tree containers.  They are all over Luxembourg Gardens and other parks/gardens.  They're really quite striking.

A little digging on the Web and I discover that they're actually called Château de Versailles tree-boxes.  There are a couple of sources that offer them.  But...brace yourself, they're not cheap.

What looked initially to me like wooden boxes turn out to be cast iron frames with wooden slats that make up the sides.  The corners and braces are all cast iron.  See here below:
If you've been following along on the blog, you might have seen the little planter box that I made for Natalie for our patio last week.  It is low and small and nothing like this at all.  And now that …
Post a Comment
Location: Luxembourg Gardens, 75006 Paris, France
Read more

Like the French Do: Cocoa Bean Hull Mulch

Posted by on
Image
On one of our visits to Luxembourg Gardens in Paris, we came across a crew installing some flower beds in the main area that is just north of the little circular pond where kids launch those sail boats.  You can see that they're using this white fabric template to put down flowers in a pattern, but you can also see that on the right of this photo, they use the template to just make outlines.  After that, they fill them in with (usually) one color.  As this was happening, we stopped to take it and looked around at some of their stuff.  One thing that I saw that grabbed my attention was their use of cocoa bean hulls as mulch.  They had bags of the stuff lined up ready to be installed after the flowers go in. 

I had come across Cocoa Bean Hull Mulch in bags at Menards, but didn't give it much thought.  Until now.  After we came home, I went off to Menards and picked up a bag of the stuff to see what it was all about.  Of note, Cocoa Bean Shell Mulch is toxic to dogs.  Just like …
Post a Comment
Read more