The Art of Soap Making: A First Time Experience for Me

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There are many ways to make soap and my love of using handmade soaps was the reason I decided to sign up for my first class on how to make them. I’ve always been curious on what is involved in making soaps, and so this was my first window into a soap making process.

The class was held by Blessed Creek Soap and Salves (see BlessedCreek.com) online. The instructor and business owner of Blessed Creek, Jeannie, is located in Suffield, CT. Her classes are held in a large, heated barn building and I was excited this session was being offered on a Saturday in the morning hours, since I’m more of a morning person than evening person.

There are several things I enjoyed about how Jeannie set this class up. First of all, it was very informative and she provided a six page instructional booklet which she first reviewed with us in detail. Jeannie said to not be scared to learn how to make soaps, it is not difficult but it is involved (in my opinion) and you must use pre-cautions because you are handling lye and oils. This involves some chemistry.

Also, soap making involves specific supplies, proper clean up steps, and clean up products, and careful handling. I couldn’t imagine making soaps in my own kitchen because of this but maybe because I tend to be a “worrywart” is why. I’m sure once you have it down and know your steps and have mastered the perfect formula, it could be considered “not as scary” and tons of fun actually.

Another aspect I learned about soap making is there is a time element. Soaps (at least the ones we made via a basic cold process), involves curing the soaps after they are removed from the molds for 2 to 3 weeks. I thought about how keeping up with orders must require calendaring and such steps too.

Lastly, I thought about the costs associated with making soaps. God knows, everything has risen in prices! That includes the supplies to make soaps. But even though, I was very excited to learn and have a hands-on experience of soap making and I can’t wait to try my first bar in my own shower when they are fully cured.

Lye is the scary part to me (technically called Sodium Hydroxide). In part of our steps, we had to carefully pour lye into special water first (the lye is in a dry form first) and carefully stirred in to dissolve but then we had to pour that into oils later. Steps involved temperatures and careful measuring all shown in our class that day. It was pretty neat to witness all of this and then try it with proper instruction.

When Jeannie poured the lye in, an aroma took off that made me cough – I was like, WOW! I had never experienced this process before, so that was a surprise moment for me. Again, it is not technically scary, just you need to use caution, and it is interesting to see it all.

Once we got to the mixing aspects and adding fun stuff (colors etc.), I was in heaven. Doing a little dance saying, “Look at me, I’m making soaps!” We all giggled at that.

I absolutely love using homemade soaps. They usually have the best fragrances and are soft and creamy. I especially love soaps made with goat milk. I’m the type of soap buyer that once I am hooked on someone’s brand, that is who I go back to over and over again, like at farmer’s markets, etc. to get more.

The thing about making soaps is there are many choices of scents, colors, and styles, it seems endless. There are also so many molds you may use from wooden type molds to I guess silicone, and I considered what if you found some cool antique molds – how fun would that be?!

One cool thing is Jeannie showed us soap nuts! I was reading her booklet, and I missed why she brought these out in a big bag – we didn’t use them in class, but when I got home, I decided to look up the tree called Sapindus molorossi online. It appears these soap nuts (or berries or fruit?) may be used as a natural laundry-detergent. You may read more about it here. It has many other uses as well. Interesting! You learn something new every day. I had never seen or heard of these soap nut fruits before, and being a plant person, it caught my attention.

Me and my classmate decided upon using lemongrass and orange scents and colors for our first ever soaps. We each had a turn at doing all, the pouring, mixing, etc. Then we took our soaps home to set, and later slice at home and cure. I can’t wait to try a bar! I wrote the date on my calendar. Here are my lemongrass soaps in the photo below. I put them on parchment paper in a tray to cure. Not sure if this is a best way to do but I flip them over every day. They will be ready soon and smell great! So fun.

As an instructor of workshops myself on plants, I would recommend this class. I think it had a very nice balance of instruction, details and materials and a nice opportunity to be hands-on. Plus, Jeannie is a really nice person with a cool personality. When I asked Jeannie how she got into making soaps, she said she was an old hippie living off the land. Pretty cool. She also makes lotions, lip balms, scrubs, and many other skin-care products. Check her out! I took home some of her skin balms and lip balms and I am loving them! I want to try more of her classes, like the one coming up in February on lotions. Sweet.

Cathy Testa
Container Crazy CT Blog
Date of this post: 1/25/2025

Mandevilla are Stunningly Beautiful Climbing Plants for Summer Months in CT

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For an Amazing Wall of Flowers, Consider Mandevilla Tropical Plants in Summer in Connecticut

Happy Holidays

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Just sharing an old photo – taken the last year we held my annual holiday workshop here – before COVID. I love this photo; despite I had a cold that day and was so disappointed I couldn’t enjoy it as much as usual. I stayed away from my guests while they all crafted their holiday creations where they made beautiful wreaths and kissing balls with fresh holiday greens, so they wouldn’t catch it from me. My wine glass held juice that day, but my heart was happy to enjoy a wonderful holiday tradition we had created.

Fast forward to today; this morning, I thought about how my husband, and I created a “tradition.” Yes, the workshop was a big tradition for everyone for many years, and many have said, they miss it, but some decided to hold mini gatherings with their friends and continue the spirit. That makes me happy, that despite I do not hold this big holiday event anymore, others continued to do their own mini version of the day of creating with friends to make wreaths, centerpieces, and holiday kissing balls – to kickoff the holiday season and spirits.

Anyhow, I don’t have much to say today. First snowfall of 2024 is here – light and will melt quickly. Christmas is not too far away, and I’ve done pretty much zero shopping because I was hit with a head cold that lasted over a week! I missed some fun holiday events too, boo! Hopefully I can start enjoying some holiday fun this weekend. Looking forward to that.

In the meantime, stay safe and festive. Enjoy your traditions while they last!

Cathy T
12/16/2024

Crafting for Therapy: My Pinecone Wreath Journey

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Hi all,

It’s December 2024 – Wow! Only about 4 weeks till Christmas. Usually, in past years, I was one busy, hyper, nervous woman preparing fresh holiday greens for an upcoming huge holiday workshop during this week, but I stopped doing that during Covid year. And now I’m in a new stage of my life, being retired. I still plan to post on this plant related blog from time to time, but this year, I didn’t post that much. I was in a funk. Family drama entered during the first year of my retirement and my husband’s – such is life, sometimes timing can mess up the best laid plans. I am hoping 2025 will bring better days, but in the meantime, I do find that creating crafts is a form of therapy. So, on my sad days recently, I thought to myself, “Make something – anything. Even if it doesn’t come out good.”

When I worked on my fresh greens for those prior big holiday workshops consisting of teaching how to make wreaths, kissing balls, and other beautiful holiday items, it was my holiday too, but I was always nervous too. Will I run out of fresh holiday greens? Do I have enough for all the attendees? Will the greens last? Sometimes, I over purchased greens or holiday craft supplies like ribbons, berries, pinecones, or whatever used to embellish the wreaths and kissing balls made in workshops or for my special orders just cause of the fear of running out. So, after 20 years or so of doing my holiday workshops, I did end up with some extra “supplies” in my stock room. Thus, I could craft now by myself for another 10 years probably – LOL.

I saw one day a candy cane wreath made of pinecones on a social media feed, and I thought, hey, I have plenty of pinecones still in my stock. And I have 3 frames left in my stock shaped like candy canes. Pinecones are something I would just gather in the woods mostly. Sometimes I purchased them from a wholesale supply house if they were special, like those with silvery sparkles, or an extra touch with berries or whatever.

Thus, I made this candy cane pinecone wreath using a wire frame recently (see photo below). It was easy in ways but tricky with the hands. I just pushed some pinecones I had (faux and real) that were already batched in 3. Three pinecones wired together previously. I used two types and fenagled them thru the wire frame and then just used standard florist wire to secure. The backside of this candy cane wreath is sloppy – but I didn’t really care, cause first of all, you can’t see the back, but I also didn’t care, because I was doing “craft therapy.”

I have some of that moss in stock too – it is a dry type, and I grabbed bits of it and tucked it around. I also have some of those larger red balls and I love those and added some here and there, then added a premade curly bow. I used some glue gun glue to secure some items, but that was it.

Once I was done, I posted photos and people were kind and said they liked it! But it is not perfect. And that is okay. Gathering together with friends, making something crafty, isn’t always about being obsessed with decorating your home for the holidays. It is sometimes used to heal the soul, to heal what may be off for your holiday season. I know that sometimes, in my workshops, I would sense someone that may not have been totally festive – something was off, maybe they were sad, maybe they were lonely but when we all got together to craft together, it tends to make you focus on something else and it is art therapy! It allows your mind to be distracted, to focus on something other than disturbing or upsetting thoughts. It can help you. It is art therapy, and I hope you get some of your own therapy time in too if you need some!

P.S. Someone asked me if I put the white touches (frosted look) on the pinecones myself, which I did not, but you can do that – just grab a sponge, put some white paint on it, and roll the pinecone across it and let it dry.

Love, Cathy T
ContainerCrazyCT.com
Located in East Windsor, CT
Currently retired

Date of Today’s Post: 12/3/24, Tuesday

Fall is Here; Overwinter Plants Soon

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Wow! It’s been a very long time since I’ve written a plant related blog post. Times have changed for me since entering the world of early retirement. It is difficult to have as many plants as I have had in the past because of the care involved, and my goals have changed. To travel means needing care at my home for plants while I’m away, and this is not always possible, so I cut back on having lots and lots of plants. And I also tried to focus on drought tolerant plants, so they won’t need as much watering when I’m away on travel.

I didn’t plant as much either to reduce care needs. But I still have the very serious addiction of needing plants on my deck at home. And to save money, another retirement requirement, I want to still overwinter plants as best as possible to reuse them next year in the summer again.

I have written many times how I’ve stored my red banana plant (Ensete) and Canna Lily rhizomes, and elephant ear tubers (both Alocasias and Colocasias) but it bears repeating my basic steps to remind those who ask this time of year.

Frost Expected Soon

A frost is expected later this week on Thursday, 10/10/24, this year. Tropical plants may be touched by frost if you are storing the underground parts (tubers, rhizomes, corms, etc.), but if you want to store the plant in its pot, it is best to move it before frost, so the foliage doesn’t get damaged, stressed, or destroyed from the chills. Move them in tomorrow or the next day, before the frost hits.

Agaves Disassembled

I also move in Agaves as best as possible into my home, but space is limited. I no longer heat my greenhouse (again to save money for retirement fun), so that option is out. In the past, it was no problem to store my Agaves in my low-temp greenhouse over the winter, so they just barely hung on. And then return them outdoors the next summer, but now I have to move them inside the home.

A few of my agaves got very crowded in their pots because of the side shoot babies which had been forming, so my tactic for taking care of those was to take the agave out of its pot, remove all the babies by carefully tugging them away, trying to keep roots if possible, and then placing the babies in mason jars filled with water to sit for a while. This will encourage new roots. Then for the momma agave, I pruned some roots and remove soil quite a bit to fit it into a smaller pot and then move them inside the home in a space I have by my indoor slider. Done!

The baby agave plants may look a little tattered or uneven but give it time. Soon these will have fresh roots, I’ll replant them into very small appropriately sized pots and let them grow. The shape will be normal over time, and they can grow as big as my big agaves have. This particular agave is Kissho Kan. These plants inside the home of the winter are kept on the dry side, barely watering, and in some sun by either my bedroom or kitchen slider doors. They are easy to overwinter if you have the space.

Agaves in mason jars with water above photo

Alocasia Tubers

I still have to work on my Ensete and other big pot on my deck, but I managed to take apart one of the alocasias in a smaller pot. I cut off all the foliage first, then dig out the base with roots if possible, and some will have the brown papery covering on the tuber area whereas the smaller sides shoots often do not, either way, I store the alocasia tubers in my basement in boxes with just paper wrapped around them or as a bed (like crunched up newspapers). They can go a bit on the dry side and I make sure to have some slits or air holes in the boxes used to store them. This works fine in an unheated basement that does not go below freezing. Colocasias (elephant ears) are stored a bit more on the moist side by using peat as a bed material in the box. Before moving them into boxes (either plastic or just your basic cardboard boxes), I leave the tubers to sit in the sun for a week or days for a while. I don’t put them in immediately. I may even leave them to dry some on a table in my basement if it becomes too wet outdoors due to rain etc.

These plants (the alocasias) can grow very very large, and the tuber gets bigger and bigger each year. I still have quite a few of those to do. The next two days will be sunny so that helps. The alocasia plants have the elephant ears where the tips point upwards to the sky. Regular elephant ears (Colocasia) point downwards. I didn’t do any of the regular ones this season. I’m kind of hooked on the alocasias.

This planter above is my next project. I have to say the alocasia is paired with the most beautiful Coleus Limewire. It is so huge right now; it will be sad to cut it down! It has done wonderfully has a filler plant with the tall alocasia. The burgundy foliage edged with lime green was just stunning when hit by the sun, and the plant was tiny when started, now it is huge! You can also see there is a eucalyptus plant stuck in there, first year I’ve tried one. It is super tall right now and I’ll probably give the plant to my niece. She likes the smell of those plants, but I find the smell disagreeable. However, while it is living in the pot, I haven’t smelled that scent, guess it is when it is cut down.

I took this photo this weekend so I could have a reminder of how large this Ensete (red banana plant) grew this season, which is only year 2 of it. I stored it last year, and it shot up a lot this year with growth, and I have to remind myself to plant it in the larger planter next year, because it fell over twice during windy storms here – thankfully the pot/planter did not crack! I was trying to encourage my black cat to pose with me, she wasn’t having it – she wanted to walk around the deck. Her name is Mini and she is our treasure pet! We just love her. She never bothers my plants, it is like she knows, they are important to me, just like she is.

Anyhow, tomorrow I will start to take these apart and store them and will show the steps but here’s some links from prior posts about the processes I have followed with success.

Please note: Years ago, I would put moist peat with my Alocasia tubers, but no longer. I use paper for those, and it works better. That is for the Alocasias specifically. (For Canna Lily rhizomes, I use peat, and for Colocasia regular elephant ears, I use peat).

Plant Take Downs – Alocasia and Ensete
Red Banana Plant, Ensete ventricosum ‘Maurelii’
Overwintering my Alocasia Plants

Hope this is helpful.

Enjoy your day!

Cathy Testa
Broad Brook/East Windsor, CT
Date of this post: 10/7/2024

Tomatoes or Not Tomatoes? That is the Question!

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This winter, I didn’t heat my greenhouse so I’m sitting here thinking, should I start tomato plants from seed this year, or not? Sometimes I start seeding some as early as March in the growing trays. But March requires some heat in the greenhouse. Some tomato seeds however may be started in April. Waiting until April reduces my need for any heat or maybe that is when I will start up the heater again just to keep it warm enough. Usually, I start my seeds on heat mats inside my greenhouse too – and that is fine up until the germination starts and they get larger. Once they germinate, I need to keep the heat consistent inside the greenhouse as best as possible or avoid freezing of course!

The first big question is which last spring frost date to use? I always use May 12th here at my location, in Connecticut. That is a good guide. However, last year, we had a slight frost a couple days later. Not a biggie because usually May 12th is when I would be hardening off (transitioning the plants in and out for about a week or so to acclimate them from indoor growing to the outdoor environment). They wouldn’t actually be planted immediately after the 12th. They are put outdoors and returned indoors for a week or so, and I watch the weather forecasts or use my weather app on my iPhone to keep an eye on the expected temperatures. Usually, I plant them outdoors on Memorial Day.

I have also thought about if I should just buy some plants and grow them inside the greenhouse this year, test that out. I always grow my plants outdoors in container gardens but inside the greenhouse, they would receive protection from wild animals. However, the animals only show up when they see bright red tomatoes, so putting them outside in planters is fine up until you harvest later in the summer. And plants do grow better outdoors with the fresh air and sunshine (and natural insect predators). A greenhouse would need venting and lots of watering if it got hot, etc.

Cherokee starting to change colors.

It’s ironic that after I perfected my whole tomato growing process for years, I am adjusting it to a new routine of seeding and timings. That is the way of growing plants, learning plants, experiencing plants – it always, always changes each year. It seems for me anyhow. Experimenting can be part of the fun or part of the headaches too. This year, I’d like to save a bit of money. It is not too expensive to start seeds but keeping them growing as you pot up and such does require some good quality soil mix and tasks to monitor and water, etc.

Yummy – This is the photo that will motivate me!

For years, I grew many heirlooms and other interesting tomato plants. Some of my favorites have been Oxheart Tomatoes (huge, 3 lbs), Goldie (heirloom so flavorful and pretty yellow), Cherokee Purple (self-explanatory!), Bumble Bee or Fox Cherry Tomatoes (prolific and delicious)! The list goes on.

The thing is Oxhearts may be started anywhere from 6-10 weeks before the expected (or estimated) spring last frost date, which I noted above, I go with May 12th each year. 10 weeks before the frost date is early March, but you can wait till 6 weeks before. Anyhow, probably what I will do is stick with the varieties I can start 4 to 6 weeks before the frost date. Some are Paul Robeson tomato, Honey Drop Cherry (another unbelievable sweet as honey cherry tomato), Mikado (heirloom). Or maybe I’ll be lazy this year, and just go buy some!

Sowing Seeds

Many people start their tomato seeds in early April (6-week mark). You sow and grow them and then once May 12th comes around, carefully watch the weather. They are not planted out until Memorial Day (safe in the ground or in pots usually). Also, May 12th happens to be Mother’s Day this year, so write on Mother’s Day that is your expected last spring frost date. Then look at your seed packet and see where it says how many weeks before the frost date to start the seed in seed trays. Each type of tomatoe is different for the “weeks before” to start them. If you start too early, the seedling plants may get too large, if you start too late, they won’t be ready to fruit in time in the summer. So just look at the packet on when to start sowing your seeds.

Goldie Tomato Above

Another thing – is cost of all the materials. From seed starting mixes to and mixes to pot the seedlings up to and all of that. I do have all the trays and plastic pots in stock but the mixes and such costs extra (rather than just buying some from a local nursery). However, I would miss out on the fun of growing them from seed and utilizing my greenhouse. So, the debate continues in my mind for now.

My tomato jungle

I also like to grow basil. Basil is started two to four weeks before my last spring frost date. Basil is kind of a must if you are growing tomatoes! But they do need warmth and do not like cold temps, thus the greenhouse heating thing again comes up. And of course, it should be warmer two to four weeks before our frost date, mid-April ish. Decisions Decisions.

Baby Seedlings

One of the things that usually drives my decision is looking at all the wonderful tomato photos which are already starting up in Facebook feeds – oh gosh, a homegrown yummy tomato is the BEST! I actually can’t eat tomatoes as much due to a health issue – seems my body is not liking them as much (acidity). Maybe I ate too many but my husband, Steve, loves tomatoes, so if anything, I grow them for him and also because I love plants all around on my deck, including creating a tomato jungle. And I love making sauces or apps with tomatoes.

Well, there is still time to ponder all – but it is not a bad time to look at the calendar and my planning charts to remind me of timing. I just wrote down May 12th on my calendar to remind me that is my last spring frost date estimate, and I also counted back to 6-8 weeks before to make a notation to start seeds if I decide to do so. At a minimum, I have glanced over all and now may ponder this some more.

Have a nice weekend,

Cathy Testa
Container Crazy CT Blog
Broad Brook/East Windsor, CT
Zone 6b

Date of this post: 1/26/2024

Saying Goodbye to A Blog

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Today I did it – I clicked the button to not renew my subscription to another blog I maintained, called Workshopsct.com. It will officially expire on 2-29-24. This site was used to announce my workshops a few years ago, and most recently, my service offerings from things like my creative Succulent Topped Pumpkins to Summer Watering Services. I have officially closed my small plant related business, but I am always here to offer tips on container gardening, plants, and hobbies. Thus, for now, this site, called Container Crazy CT, is staying.

I think one of the hardest things to let go of is all my amazing photos of plants, many of which were showcased on WorkshopsCT.com. I’m addicted to plant photos – probably because I’m a visual person type of person. I love reviewing my photos and thinking about the story behind each container garden creation, or a nature situation like spotting of a butterfly or other cool insects and also looking back on photos of many types of plants, flowers, herbs, succulents, cacti, tropicals, tomatoes, and even weeds at times! LOL.

Anyhow, saying goodbye to a blog is not easy for me so I’m doing it in steps. First to go is Workshopsct.com, and next will probably be my 3rd blog about container gardening services, called Container Gardens CT. But, again, this blog, for the time being is staying. I’ve been writing on it for over 10-15 years, I’ve lost count! Below is a photo of the screen shot of workshopsct.com, just for the heck of it.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend! Cathy T of Container Crazy CT
Today’s date: 1/14/2024

A New Year

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A New Year is coming up in just a few days, and what is in store for 2024? It is hard to tell. Things are changing for me. My husband has retired. It feels surreal! It is amazing, and it is an adjustment. New days are coming.

We now feel we will have time to do some gardening together for a change. While he has always been the most enthusiastic helper to my plant endeavors over the years, even learning some of the plant’s Latin names, we could not actually physically build a garden together at our home because he was always so busy with work.

I always fill our long deck along the back of our ranch style home with container gardens filled with plants of all kinds and some vegetables over the years. Tomato plants and hot pepper plants are two of our fav’s. But we have done others like Edamame and pumpkins, just to name two! And of course, many big planters filled with wonderful tropical plants like Ensete, Colocasias, and Canna Lilies.

Steve, my husband, always helped me with the heaving lifting of bringing up pots with a hand-truck to our deck, but sometimes, I was on my own and that is probably how I strained some muscles here and there. We are both getting older and need to be careful with that.

We always dreamed of having a large, raised bed type of garden system in our backyard. One where there are several raised beds in a pattern to walk through, with a fence and arbor entrance. However, one of our big dilemmas is the wild animals! There are plenty in our yard from groundhogs to squirrels. In fact, I usually allow the groundhogs to keep their home under a shed and have babies which are cute to watch scurry across the backyard when they see or hear us at the house or on the deck, but now, how will we ever keep them away if we build our dream vegetable garden in our backyard?

Wild animals have become one of the biggest challenges to gardeners. Some people will put gardens in the front yard or lawns, closer to the street, and that may help keep pests away. However, our front yard is a big hill so that wouldn’t work. Plus, there is no water access up on our front hill.

Sometimes I think we will take down our pool now. It is more costly to maintain. The bucket of chlorine tabs of supplies went up so much in price that we don’t think it will be worth it. The pool filter always breaks, and we are not home in the summers all the time, so we can’t watch the filter basket – stuff like that. Could that area be our new garden space if we did remove our pool? Not sure. Even if it was, it would have to be foolproof to protect from the pests.

That is just one of our goals. I always also grew tomato plants from seed, and it is a wonderful experience. I don’t see the hubby tending to those, but maybe we could grow the plants in our greenhouse till fruit time, but a greenhouse can get very very hot in the summer, maybe too hot to set fruit. Fans and screens need to be maintained, and I suspect insects would be a bigger problem in the greenhouse rather than outdoors where there are more natural insect predators to help. So, I’m not sure on that idea. Maybe I will test it out this year for the first time though. Maybe with smaller tomato plants, like some cherry tomatoes because inside the greenhouse, groundhogs and squirrels can’t enter.

One friend suggested just using the community garden space in our town for a garden, but I would really like to tend to a garden at my home and be able to enjoy it daily. Our backyard is totally surrounded by woods and the river runs down in the back which brings along many types of wild animals. Deer is another. And we all know here in CT how deer love to eat plants. It is like I need a fortress.

We also have lots of home improvement ideas brewing in our minds but which to do first will be the big question. I’m sure we will make a list and decide from there.

Also, I’m kind of semi-retiring myself. I am no longer offering my container garden services and have closed down my business officially via paperwork, but I will always still dabble in plant fun. The other big question is, do I keep my plant blog going?

Can you believe, I’ve written on this blog, Container Crazy CT, for over 15 years? I do have quite a few visitors per my stats, and I added ads this year only because I need helping with maintaining it. For many years, I never put ads on here. I just freely wrote articles to share.

I wonder how much I would miss my blog if I stopped it all together? I have even looked up things on my own blog before to remind me on what I did for this or that. I don’t get many “likes” on this blog on the actual posts – I think it is because people need to log in to do so, and today, clicking likes and heart is so easy for every other platform from Instagram to Facebook, so I think my blog is a bit old fashioned in comparison. It is not so easy to just click like.

When spring arrives, I will have to decide what my new adventures may be. I have often dreamed of getting a pottery wheel and doing pottery in my greenhouse as a new gig. But the expense of a kiln may be too much. Someone told me the other day you can bring pottery to be fired elsewhere – I’ll have to research that. That was always one of my dreams to make my own pottery items.

But the ultimate dream would be to just move to Hawaii. Yup, that kidding husband of mine jokes – Let’s do it – knowing full well he probably would NEVER agree to that! And yes, Hawaii is way too expensive! But dreaming is a good thing – we all should dream – one never knows.

Welp, if you feel like commenting on your thoughts – let me know. Just a week ago, my cousin’s son told me he was researching plant stuff and came across one of my articles from this plant blog. I thought, oh gosh, I hope it was a good article because he is super smart and a talented professional horticulturist himself. What was he looking up? How do deal with squirrels in the garden! Go Figure.

Happy New Year’s to You all. I hope you have some new goals in mind for 2024 too – even if they are unclear like mine.

Cheers!

Cathy Testa
Container Crazy CT
Broad Brook, CT

Pommy Balls for the Holidays

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Back in 2016 – yes, that far back, I made what I affectionately referred to as, Holiday Pommy Balls!

What are they? Real pomegranates topped with live succulent plants and some holiday bling.

At that time, I didn’t want any photos of them to be shown on social media. I thought they were the most adorable creations for holiday decor. I knew it was a unique idea that popped up in my mind.

It just came to me one afternoon, and I thought, “Hmm, could these pomegranates be used like succulent topped pumpkins I made in the fall to create a holiday item?”

Spontaneous thoughts are how these things happen. It just comes to me. And, because I had this feeling at that time that any unique item I was creating was being copied, I asked people who got them from me not to share photos of them.

Seems silly, doesn’t it?! I was at a point; I actually didn’t want to share it on Instagram or other places.

Anyhow,

Pomegranate fruits were introduced to me by my husband when we were dating and living in my small apartment next door to my parents. I remember him cutting one open and enjoying the fresh goodness inside – the red juicy seeds. Every holiday, we enjoy some of these as a tradition. They are in season September to November and can be found in the grocery stores in December and January.

Back then though when we lived in an apartment, we put some of the seeds in a bowl to show my dad. He had never tried pomegranates either! He said, “This is a trick?” We laughed and replied, “No, these are good and good for you!”

Flash forward to 2016, and just one day I had some pommies at home to eat soon, and that thought came into my mind. I grabbed my glue gun, some of my smaller succulents, made a tiny holiday ribbon bow, and added glitter balls. Voila! They came out so darn cute. And were really fun and easy to create!

They are natural and I love that. Also, pomegranates will dry out naturally over time, and usually with no rot. So, the plants sat on top for a long time and may be removed later, similar to succulent topped pumpkins I’ve made in the fall season. As shown in the photo below, smaller white pumpkins were used.

Any type of succulents will work from Echeverias to Sempervivums. Use a few donkeys tail to drip over the sides. Usually, the succulents will self-root eventually into the moss.

The only ironic thing is that I was sure I had tons of photos of them, but going into my detachable hard drives yesterday, I realized I could only find a few photos. Why? I don’t know. Probably because I told people not to post photos too. Maybe they are sitting on my old laptop that is collecting dust on the floor in my office. Here’s just the few that I located in this post.

Pomegranates can be kind of expensive at times. I do think they look better with large pomegranates, over small ones. We searched out pommies at various grocery stores, and if they were bright red, firm, and perfect, I would grab them to make my new idea of succulent topped holiday pommie balls.

The steps are so easy to make them: Glue some moss with a glue gun to the top, add the succulents with roots into the moss using the glue gun glue to secure each carefully and try not damage the succulent, and add the bows or whatever decorations you would like.

The pommies looked so nice on a table, setup somewhere in the home. I could see them lined up on a large dining table at each plate, or even within holiday greens as a centerpiece. Either way – adorable and natural. They also made a perfect hostess gift and were again, what I thought was a very unique idea!

I haven’t made any this year (2023) because I don’t have any succulents in stock, but if I did, I’d be tempted. If you make some, let me know. Please share your thoughts!!!

Enjoy your Friday!

Cathy Testa
Container Crazy CT Plant Blogger
Broad Brook, Connecticut

Date of this post: 12/15/2023

Shore Pine for Holiday Wreath Making

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Shore pine was not one I had on my list of greens for a few years until I discovered it. It is odd how you may know so much about plants and such, but then make a new discovery just because you noticed some sitting in a box at the supply house!

I was picking up my typical greens’ orders in early December one year, and I just happened to see it in a box on another table, and asked, “What’s this?” The reply was, “shore pine.”

Next question, of course, was, “Can I get some?”

I always wished wholesale suppliers would have classes. A manager literally rolled her eyes at me when I asked or suggested this idea. I understand, they just don’t have the time, they are so busy, and teaching us is not part of their job, but I do wish there was an intro to what they have and how to use it, especially if someone was a newbie.

Anyhow, if you are new to the world of greens for wreath making, hopefully you found me because I started writing this month about the various greens used in holiday wreaths and kissing balls. Each post is covering a different holiday greenery.

Shore pine is a needled evergreen tree or shrub. The needles appear and grow along very long stems. The whole stem is covered with the short dark green needles, so you end up with a nice long piece of fully covered dark green needles on a stem.

The stems are somewhat flexible, but I think what I liked about these the most is how long the stems were. You could literally use whole pieces of the shore pine branches to make a quick simple wreath without cutting it into pieces if you wanted to, and because they are flexible, they were easy to bend in a circle around a wreath frame. Then just using some green florist wire, wrap here and there to secure it to your wreath frame.

One year, I made some Peace Sign wreaths. I used coat hangers to make the center of the peace sign and used the shore pine wired to it – it was relatively easy to secure. Again, the long pieces of the shore pine worked well for this application.

On this wreath, I also secured moss behind the shore pine so it would be a nice green color.

Shore pine is a great item to add to the mix. It offers another texture when side by side with other greens. It also makes an excellent thriller tall piece in the center of outdoor holiday pots.

Another way that I used it was as pot toppers. Rings with greens that would be placed level on the top of a pot around the circular perimeter of it.

By just adding some wired pinecones, it was an instant way to dress up a pot. On this photo above, I used small green foam type wreaths as the base, covered them with moss, and just bent the long stems of shore pine over it and wired it in easily.

This dream catcher wreath I made has a round bamboo type wreath under it. As you can see, the long pieces of shore pine were perfect to just mold around it easily and secure.

As far as longevity of the shore pine, I would notice some minor tip yellowing after the holiday or if the shore pine was stored too long. Otherwise, it had decent needle retention and I found it was an easy use green.

Some pieces would have tightly closed cones attached too. And when provided as an item in my box of greens, it was another layer of green texture to use.

I can’t find the photo of this but years ago, a friend at my workshops, made a horse profile wreath and the shore pine is perfect to create the mane along the horse’s head portion. When I find the photo, I will update this post! But any animal like wreaths you may consider making, think of the shore pine as useful for things like that – a tail or whatever. All you have to do is get creative!

Hope you are enjoying these “greens reviews” posts and are having the time to make your own creations this season.

Thank you for visiting,

Cathy Testa
Container Crazy CT
Broad Brook, CT