Contessas Extraordinary White Orchid

My orchid, now in its third blooming phase. This year it’s early. Usually blooms in March. It’s going to be a two bloom year. This “lovely” has eight large flowers and it looks as though a ninth bloom will be coming in the next month or so. We water once a week and fertilize once a month. Tepid water and we let it drain right through the planting bark. So very pretty.!!!

 

ContessasHome – Garden Consulting Services

A “Before” photo:

ContessasHome, formerly Contessa’s Garden and Gift in Del Ray, has just completed a gardening/landscaping consulting plan for this Del Ray Alexandria, VA resident at 113 Monroe Ave. Transformation of this front yard was completed in February on a 74 degree day. We refer our confirmed service quotes to a local,  family-owned landscaping company. Invite us to consult for you. A one hour site visit is customary. Contact us at ContessasHome, 703-548-1882 via txt or email us at contessashome@gmail.com

After:  project completed in February with hardy perennials for yearly sustainability

 

 

 

Contessa’s – Gardening Consultations, By Appointment

Spring is two months away. We have been retained by this Del Ray client to prepare a plan for front yard curb appeal/renovation of this home on Monroe Avenue.  They are currently on our schedule for April installation

ContessasHome LLC formerly Contessa’s (Garden and Gifts) retail store in Del Ray is accepting consulting/appointments for “Spring” gardening prep. We are listed and an approved vendor for the community of Park Fairfax under the trade name,  Contessa’s Garden. We have been doing ongoing work there since 2005.

You may remember our lovely “green space” adjacent to our store in Del Ray  We didn’t sell plants but our sense of design and knowledge of plant material is something we enjoy passing on. We are..,,…good at it

We are providing consults now in preparation for early April 2017 work. We are currently working with three Del Ray clients and would love to meet with you to help with plantings advice/selection and garden bed design.  We currently work in collaboration with a local family owned landscaping company.

Please phone us at 703-548-1882.  You may leave a message. We will return your call within 24 hours and arrange a February or March appointment

Contessa/Penny

Contessa’s Amazing White Orchid

We posted in March that our orchid had been without blossoms for several months. Here it is May 5th and she is blooming strong. Not one blossom has fallen off. We marvel at the longevity of this wonderful flowering houseplant. If you use a weekly watering regimen and fertilize once a month, your orchid specimen will pay you back with lasting beauty.

Our ORCHID, Two Month Bloom…..and Counting

On March 25th we posted our monthly gardening column providing you with how to care for and successfully grow orchids. That day we had over 825 “hits” on our site telling us how much this information helped our Orchid junkies. We were so encouraged by all your comments. Today we are coming up on the two month mark, and our beautiful specimen is still going strong. Included in this post is the original pic and today’s pic. Amazing!!!

The text of our care for orchids can be found by going to search on our About Us page, using Orchids – 101  Enjoy!

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Orchids – 101

As we are almost to March, and because our orchid is blooming so wonderfully we decided to pass along our “Contessa” tips for the growing and care of orchids. This pictured specimen is one year old. She is in full bloom after a whole year of dormancy. She is producing six beautiful blossoms. One more bud is forming very slowly on her stem. Given our years of growing orchids, we expect that for the next six weeks she will be in her blooming stage  it’s totally been worth the wait.  Often we can count on a two month blooming phase so we will see….

So what have we been doing with this “lovely” over the last twelve months  First off she sits about one yard away from a window that produces full sun/light daily. We replenish the top of her surface with fresh orchid bark about four times in the year.  Over time and with watering the bark level recedes  Give your orchid fresh bark medium regularly. After all, this is her home.  Bags of bark are available at your local nursery  They are usually rather large.  Not expensive, but you can share with a friend, so pick a friend who also has an orchid and it won’t feel like you are wasting anything.

Water your orchid once ever seven days. Personally an ice cube or two is just not enough moisture. (You heard us right, and we will stick to this advice).  Remove your plastic pot from your cachepot and carry it to the kitchen sink.  (Purchase Miracle Grow Orchid Food – it’s a turquoise powder inside a box and a small spoon is provided for measuring)  Fertilizer is a must twice a month if you want repeat blossoms. Mix one-quarter teaspoon to a gallon of water and pour the entire mixture over and through your orchid.  In between, water your orchid with tepid tap water once every seven days.  Do not allow fertilizer water to touch your green leaves. Always wipe the top and under side of leaves off so that no moisture remains on them  This helps to avoid any possibility of disease.   Do Not be afraid to water your orchid throughly, but never let them sit in water.  The key is to allow the water to pass through completely.  Allow the plant to sit on a paper towel for about fifteen minutes so that any excess water can drain through.  Now move your orchid back to its cachepot  You are good to go for another week.

We hope this info was useful!  Tell us about your successes via email at:  contessashome@gmail.com or you can provide comments on this blog.

Enjoy!

 

BZ…..BZ!!!!!

We are plenty bz these days prepping to begin two new yoga classes, one in Arlington and one in Del Ray,  and we continue to search for items for sale for our etsy.com site, ContessasHome. And, believe it or not, we recently completed some gardening for a longtime Del Ray resident. This led us to decide that there are those of you out there that still enjoy free info about gardening and plants.

So we posted and promised to offer gardening tips on a monthly basis through this blog. (and we will push these posts to our Facebook followers) Our tip for January is about forcing bulbs indoors.

Gardening TIPS from Contessa

Purchase pebbles by the bag at your favorite gardening center along with bulbs. Available now are narcissus, tulips, grape hyacinth, Tete-a-Tete and crocus. Most likely you have some glass vessels at home, but if you do not, consider visiting a local thrift store or consignment shop. You will be surprised to find out that you can purchase inexpensive clear glass containers for your windowsills.  Its no secret that it will take a bit of sun to grow your bulbs. But having these darling bulbs bloom in early winter is such a treat for your home on a dreary winter day.  Who wouldn’t love to have a Tete-a-Tete or Narcissus pop it’s beautiful little blossom in you window. Honestly it’s easy and thrilling to see nature give us her surprises.

Simply place pebbles about two inches deep in your vessel. Bury the root end of your bulb into the stones.  Add enough water to about one-quarter inch below the bulb.  If it touches the tip it’s ok. Your bulb will enrich itself with the moisture and magic   – your blossom will arrive. it’s simple and pretty. Do have a little patience as some bulbs, like tulips can take a few weeks to sprout.  We think part of the fun is waiting and watching for these little miracles to happen  Enjoy!

 

December Gardening???

Yup!  Today we did some outdoor gardening for “Joe” a long time resident of Del Ray. It’s very hard to believe the weather we are having is conducive to gardening but the earth hasn’t frozen yet. Now is a perfect time to clean up. Beware though, we may have frosty evenings in the next couple days. Last minute flowering plants can still be brought inside, like your Geraniums. They can be repotted and placed in a sunny window. We did this at our house and ours is bringing new red flowers just in time for the holiday. It looks so lovely in our living room window.

We have decided to continue giving you gardening tips on our contessas.wordpress.com blog and push these posts to Facebook. We will make posts to provide gardening information on a monthly basis.  We have learned that we still have a local Contessa’s following. We trust you will enjoy this information as it comes along  Enjoy!

Contessa

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pansies – the sweetest little flower

A previous Contessa’s gardening post. An oldie-but-goodie. We think worthy of re-posting. If you cultivate your pansies on a nice day like today you willbe happy you did when Spring arrives.

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It occurred to us this morning as we were outside planting our fall pansies that it might be good to share.  The beloved pansy is a lover of the chill.  If you plant them now, you will have lovely little blossoms on cold sunny winter days, but the best part is that in the spring they revive themselves.  Go outside next March and cut off some of the purple/black dry growth and even the dead blossoms which have frozen from the cold.  You will be surprised that if you do this, especially on a sunny day, within a few days they will start to refresh themselves and blossom just for you.  They are one of Contessa’s favorite flowers.  They blossom for you from Oct/Nov all the way through the end of April.  We love looking forward to what next spring can bring.  It’s a good thing at Contessa’s.

Coleus – a plant that just keeps on giving

Monday morning. We are making cuttings of coleus. This is the prettiest plant. It is colorful, prolific and forgiving and inexpensive. When you cut it back, place the diagonal cut stems in water. In three days you will have rooted stems to plant. Yes! …….more plants.

And a pic pf a newly rooted Coleus we just planted. These plants produce great color as we approach the late summer/early Fall.