Roadside Bouquet

Happy Monday! I have been playing with flowers like crazy lately and I kind of love it. All of these ones came from the side of the road. I just couldn't drive on by without picking a few. Do you blame me? This bouquet is made of Lilacs (Syringa vulgaris), Bluebells (Hyacinthoides non-scripta) and Annual honesty (Lunaria annua). You'll be able to learn more about these flowers later this week :) Hope this brightens up your Monday a little. Flowers are always good, right?

Growing Plants from Seed

Happy Spring! I thought that a post talking about growing seeds would be the perfect post for the first day of spring. What better way and day to get you REALLY thinking about your garden? Enough with the small talk, lets talk benefits and drawbacks.

Benefits

• I can't stress enough that growing your plants from seed is so much cheaper than buying starts from the nursery. A packet of seeds costs around $4, maybe. Depending on the type of plant you are buying, you can get at least 50 seeds in a packet that could potentially turn into 50 plants. $4 would buy you one start at the store. You do the math, seeds are cheaper. Much cheaper. 
• Nurseries often have a limited selection of plants and varieties to choose from. You can purchase seeds online from a much bigger assortment, getting hard to get varieties for cheap, cheap, cheap. 

Drawbacks 

• The major drawback to growing your own seeds is that it takes time and lots and lots of patience. Once you plant the seed you aren't going to see anything for a couple of days, and you won't get a bloom for a couple of weeks, if not a month. So if you do decide to grow your own plants this season, stick with it! It will be well worth it in the end. 

Where do you get seeds?

• This year I got my seeds from Territorial Seed Company online. You can visit the site and request a free seed catalog. Almost all online seed companies have a free catalog. I like to request them just to look at them, even if I have no intention of buying any. Also check out Burpee, and Harris Seeds. 
• You can also get them in stores at a Lowes or Walmart and some nurseries. 
• If you're really good, you can get them from the plant itself! I haven't done this yet, but maybe this year I will. 

Planting and Growing your Seeds

• Choose the container you want to grow in. This can be growing trays or even old milk jugs that you cut the top off of. Fill your container with loose textured soil to allow oxygen to the seed. Determine the depth you plant, by looking at the back of your seed packet, lightly water and place in a warm spot!
• When the seeds start to emerge (this is so exciting), move them to where they can get some light and keep the soil moist but not waterlogged. You don't want your little plant to start to rot. 
• When your little plant has developed two sets of leaves, it is time to transplant. Only do this if the tray it is in is to small for it to develop a healthy set of roots. 
• When it is time for the little guys to go outside, you're going to want to acclimate them first. This means setting the plants outside for a couple hours, increasing the time each day. 
• Now you plant, relax and admire the little plant you grew from seed!

I hope this helps you out a little. Growing plants from seed really isn't as hard as it may seem. You just need to give them a little time. Give it try this year, you will be so proud of yourself. Im planting mine next week and am so excited! If you do plant some, keep me updated on twitter with the progress! I would love to see!

Thanks for reading!

xo

Fall Garden Scenes

A couple of weeks ago I spent some time in the garden cleaning it up and getting it ready for the winter season. Some flowers were still blooming. I love the look of buds and bright blooms against an otherwise dark and dreary landscape. Enjoy these fall garden scenes.

A tree that smells like cotton candy (no joke)

Taking these photos in the woods, finally surrounded by fallen leaves, not as many as I would like but still a good amount, I was surrounded by the smell of fall. It was so refreshing and I didnt mind taking my time and trying new things with these photos, even though there were more people walking by me than I would have liked, I still put up with it. There are a lot of dog walkers around my area. But anyways back to the smells of fall, you guys have to go seek out a Katsura (Cercidiphyllum japonicum) tree, I am not kidding when I tell you that the fallen leaves smell like cotton candy. I remember learning about this tree a couple years ago in one of my Horticulture classes. We would go on nature walks and when we got to this tree the whole class picked up a pile of leaves to smell, we probably looked crazy to everyone walking by, but this tree, oh my goodness does it smell good. My neighbor has one in their yard and when I take my dog on a walk, ill pick up a pile of leaves to smell on my way by. Sounds crazy, but dont judge until you smell. Seriously. Cotton candy.

Outfit Details

Dress || Modcloth

Sweater, Boots & Necklace || Forever 21

Socks & Tights || Target

Jacket || H&M

Little Oak Tree

Can we just take a minute to admire this oak tree? It has got the most perfect shape! Discovering that this tree was only a minute away from my house in the back portions of a park made me even more excited for fall and taking outfit pictures. This oak is going to look gorgeous with red, orange and yellow leaves! You guys have to remind that this tree is there and not to let fall go by without me documenting its beauty in photographs.

Also, you guys still have ONE week to enter my Modcloth Giveaway!

Outfit Details

Dress || Target

Jacket || Nordstrom

Shoes & Belt || Forever 21

"Lets Go On A Road Trip...

...It will be a fun adventure... and we can pick flowers along the way!" This is what is written on the front of the shirt. I bought his awhile ago at H&M and as soon as I saw it I had to have it. This is so me. I LOVE road trips, I LOVE adventures and I LOVE picking flowers. Pulling over on the side of the road to pick flowers while on a road trip sounds so whimsical to me. I guess it is just something you wouldn't normally do. While on these trips you want to get from one place to another and have planned stops along the way. You don't want to lose time by stopping to pick flowers. And besides, what would you do with the flowers after you got them back in the car? I guess I'll just leave this adventure to my daydreams.

Outfit Details

Shirt || H&M

Skirt || Target

Shoes || TOMS

Bow || Handmade

Getting Outside More

Something I want to do more of or even start, is go hiking. Get out into the great outdoors. There are so many lakes and views and waterfalls that can only be found by getting out there and hiking to them. The most beautiful places are not accessible by cars. And I think thats a good thing. I live in prime territory for this new goal so it shouldn't be a problem. Easier said than done though. These pictures were taken at the trail head to Wallace Falls, new Gold Bar in Washington. Right at the base of the Cascade Mountains. We were just checking out the hike and how long it would take. It really made me want to do it and especially after our little stop at Hurricane Ridge, I really got the craving to get out there more.

Outfit Details

Dress & Umbrella || H&M

Plaid Shirt || Target

Leggings || Old

Shoes || TOMS

Necklaces || Forever 21

Washington Coast Vacation - Part 2

After our ferry ride (check Part 1 of our vacation!) it was a about an hour from our next destination, Hurricane Ridge. This is a gorgeous area located in the Olympic National Park. You drive up a road lined with yellow wild flowers for 17 miles. When you reach the top you are looking at some of the most gorgeous views you can find inWashington. Rolling green hills, evergreen forests and snowcapped mountains all in one view. Does it get much better than that?
So when we got to the top it was time for lunch. We brought left over homemade mac and cheese and we needed a way to heat it up. What did we do about that you ask? Well we put it under the hood of my car. Yep. We did that. It sort of worked, some of it was warm and some was still cold. However it did melt some of the container it was in.
After lunch we hiked up a little trial to the very top to see some more spectacular views. I definitely want to go back to hike the other trails we didnt get to.

Outfit Details 

Shorts, Tank & Sunnies || Forever 21

Chambray Top || Kohls

Shoes || TOMS

Washington Coast Vacation - Part 1

Here is the first installment of my vacation over the weekend to the Washington coast. To get to our destination we opted to take the scenic route (always take the scenic route) which is going all the way up and over and around the Olympic Peninsula instead of down and through Tacoma and the big cities.  Going this way included a ferry ride, one of the reasons I wanted to take this route. I think ferries are one of the many things that make the PNW what it is. This ride included lots of fog, something I have missed so much living on the east side of the state the past couple of years. These sorts of rides always take me back to my middle school days and early high school. To get to some of the away meets for track and cross country we had to take a ferry and that was one of the only reasons I ever rode a ferry when I was younger. They will always in some ways be connected with pre-meet jitters and nerves. But I'm ok with that. It was the perfect way to begin this adventure.
A fellow PNW blogger Amanda from Amanda k. By the Bay did a PNW Love post on Ferries awhile back. Check it out. 

Outfit Details

Shorts, Tank & Sunnies || Forever 21

Chambray Top || Kohls

Shoes || TOMS