Copper Top Gardens

The Giant Leaves have been painted

Cheryl — Sat, 29 May 2010 21:24:31 +0000

Well today was the day of reckoning for the giant leaf castings. After laying them down on 3 cement blocks to be painted with the cement drylock and letting them bake in the greenhouse we rolled them outside to a shady spot and the beautiful colors of purple and copper have been added and its looks spectacular. After a day of drying I will apply the stencil which will read “Welcome to CopperTop Gardens”. Don’t know the color of the stencil just yet but am thinking perhaps black or white. Can’t wait to roll them around the garden and find them a most respectable home.

copper & purple paint

: first coat of paint

With respect to the gardening we have(BBBB) been busy beyond belief. We finally figured out what we were doing with the large beds in the formal garden. We were very happy to have found a supplier for the perennial we have been looking for to border the beds ; Germander “Tecurium” it grows to be about 10-12″ tall gets woody and stays green all year round. If not trimmed it will bloom a purple flower. However, we will not be allowing it to bloom we will keep it trimmed and compact. It looks absolutely beautiful. In the larger beds we have planted 85 in each bed. The pink garden took 28 we only bordered the front of the bed as the back borders a fence. We also bordered the copper bird bath. Now we just have the purple garden which will take approx. 40 as we will only do the front of that bed also as it has a natural fence of ornamental grasses. In the main beds in the formal garden we also pulled out all the perennials and replaced them with some interesting shrubbery, golden mop heads, espalier berry tree & golden barberry. We have the four large beds planted with bronze leaf red begonias. That is a first we will see how they do. That job took 2 days and consisted of 20 flats of flowers. We finished the pink garden yesterday that consisted of a half day of pruning the shrub roses that rest against the fence. OUch, that job was painful. We removed a truck load of dead wood from them and then layed down a nice 4″ thickness of sewer mulch. The plants love that stuff. Also planted a flat of pink petunias & pink geraniums. The three giant planters have been finished 2 with bronze leaf begonias and the other with Kong coleus, duck foot coleus, and just your run of the mill coleus. It has been difficult getting the planting done with the extreme heat. But I came up a genius idea. We opened the 12 x 12 canopy and move it about the garden and work under a canopy of shade. Smart huh !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yep, that idea struck me as I was recuperating from heat exhaustion after working outside for 6 hrs on Mon, and then 7 hrs on Tues. That was bad I never felt so sick in my life nause, vomiting, diarrhea, and then the chills. Won’t do that again any time soon. The canopy prevented a 3 day loss of work. I would say we are about 65% planted and the home stretch is near. Everything is looking good and very pretty and we are very please with the changes that have been made.

Oh, and we also got the last street lamp up and the spotlights have been rewired and installed to illuminate the hedge row of willows & also installed the electric awning over by the fish pond. I think that is all we have accomplished so far. Stayed tuned for the follow up regarding the leaf casting painting. TTFN, back outside I go.

Another visit from “Flat Stanley”

Cheryl — Sun, 09 May 2010 02:39:59 +0000

Today was a special day here @ CTG’s we celebrated Mother’s Day with a special tea. One of our visitors was Flat Stanley from Raleigh Edison Charter School Duluth, MN. Flat Stanley enjoyed the Victorian Tea and the chatter that went with it. A great time was had by all and we appreciated his visit and wished him well on his return trip home.

"Flat Stanley" from Duluth, MNFlat Stanley @ CTG's

Flat Stanley sitting amongst the Lenox Tea Set

Spring is here and all the work that comes with it

Cheryl — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 16:14:22 +0000

Spring has sprung, the shades of green are as beautiful as can be. The spring bulbs are out in full force and looking great. The tulips, daffodils, hyacinths & jonquils are just stunning. The color palette is beholding of an artist’s brush strokes. But with all the beauty comes the work that every gardener can relate to. Raking, trimming, reappointment of plantings, placement of “tchochkes” throughout the gardens, sprucing up with fresh coats of paint. The hours are endless but oh so fulfilling. It is amazing how you can be working outside for hours on end and not realize how quickly the time passes. But the knees, back and arms are very unforgiving when rest periods are too short or not existant. But we make Motrin our best friend along with the tart cherry powder. Every day we plant our feet on the ground and forge forward. We have done some new things in the garden we have planted (in cement) 3 new plant holders which look like giant crosses with some Victorian Fret work on them in the formal garden and 1 on the upper level on the curve going to the fish pond this one also has had a light attached to it. They look stunning and really add a new dimension to the gardens. I have resurrected an iron table & chair that came from the family home on Long Island. I have given it a new coat of bright orange paint and placed a lime colored flower pot in the seat of the chair for some shade plantings of coleus & impatiens. The table has a piece of lattice cut to fit and has been placed over a mound of daylillies which will act as a support as the lillies grow up. My thought was the table will then look like a table a lillies. I hope it works. This has been added to the the mound in the front shade garden. Our cleaning process has taken us from the driveway garden to the red garden, through the shade garden around the burm and stonewall garden. We have also finished the entire upper level of the formal garden and layed new layer of buckwheat hull mulch which looks great an gives such a nice stately appearance to the whole picture. Today we are going to work on the lower level we will be removing the net lighting from the alberta spruces to trim the boxwood then replacing the net lighting on the outside of the boxwood hedge. We will weed throughout the area of the vegetable garden and get ready to lay some new pine bark mulch. We have another light to install in the lower level by the gate. Draining the fish pond and reflecting pool and getting them cleaned out will be the next saga of the gardening prep. Once we get the reflecting pool emptied we will let it dry get it painted and filled up. That is always a exciting time as there is nothing like hearing the sounds of water while gardening. It brings such a peaceful ambience and has a wonderful way of drowning out the sounds of the neighborhood we prefer not to hear. We also will be moving the 9ft watering can fountain to the driveway garden to give that area a new focal point. When that is all done we can sit back and relax for about a day or two and get right into the greenhouse growing season. No rest for the gardeners once the sun starts shining. So wish us well pray our knees, back and hands stay healthy and we will keep the updates coming. Enjoy spring it comes but once a year. TTFN

Here comes Peter Cottontail

Cheryl — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 00:12:37 +0000

Peter Cottontail and all his rabbit friends have made there way from the attic to the bays, corners, halls & tables of CTG’s. We have over 200 bunnies on display along with a extensive collection of Lenox eggs, bunny figurines & baskets. The place is overflowing with eggs and Easter grass. It seems every year when the boxes go to the attic those darn bunnies do what bunnies do naturally and they seem to multiply. It doesn’t help that I keep bringing them into the house via shopping bags. HaHaHa !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We have gotten plenty of use out of the white Christmas tree. It is now adorned with pink lights making it the Easter tree. We have bunnies, ducks, eggs, carrots, crosses, garland made of carrots and of course a few lenox ornaments. What would a holdiay be without Lenox. We will be making our annual trip to the Broadway Market for that butter lamb, rye bread, chocolate covered strawberries, cannolies, ham & homemade polish sausage. Yum !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That is such a fun day. Tomorrow we will be filling the house with lillies, hyacinths and primrose. Fresh flowers bring such wonderment & delight to the home. Not to mention that wonderful aroma from the hyacinths. It is a beautiful thing.

We have started spring cleanup in the gardens the red garden has been raked and the lilly beds cleaned up. The driveway garden is also cleaned up and ready for spring. The bulbs are busting through and the greenery is getting greener everyday. We have again installed fencing with smaller holes this time to keep those darn rabbits out. They were reaking havoc on the tulip greens. We have solidified some new plans for the garden. We will adding a walk through pergola that will pass through the vegetable beds. We haven’t decided what vine we will planting on it yet. We are going to be removing some of perennials from the formal beds and adding some more bushes/greenery this year. Trying to cut down on the amount of annuals that will be planted. It just seems like there is so much to do and so little time we figured this is one way to keep planting to a minimum. We have one more light post to install and we will be adding some additional lighting to the front shade garden. We are currently working on the antique doors that will be installed in the garage as a new entry way. This project is coming along nicely and will be just wonderful when complete. I have been scouting out CL for some new pieces for the entryway. Nothing has quite hit me yet but I am sure I will find something.

With spring upon us and all the work that has to take place outside we won’t be doing much inside. Our time will be focused on the gardens. I am going to begin the painting process on those jumbo leaf castings. I have some wonderful ideas so stay tuned, I will be posting some pics as I work through the process. The next few months will be spent playing in dirt, creating a beautiful landscape & hopefully getting in shape from the winter hibernation. Not looking forward to all those leg squats, deep knee bends & the endless trips of walking to the greenhosue. Yippie Spring is Sprung !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! TTFN

“Flat Stanley” has visited CTG’s

Cheryl — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 19:47:25 +0000

We had a very special visitor this past week at CTG’s. Flat Stanley traveled from Robert Morris School in Batavia via his magic envelope to CTG’s. He had a fun time learning about Victorian Teas. He actually got to read two books about Victorian Teas and had his picture taken with our giant teapot. He enjoyed seeing all the different teapots, teacups and all the little tchochkes that are scattered about the tea room. We enjoyed his visit and hope he sends along friends to visit too. Stanley would like all the little girls out there to think about having their birthday party tea here at CTG’s. Thank-you Stanley for visiting us and come again soon.

40 shades of “Green”

Cheryl — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 23:32:04 +0000

May the luck of the Irish be with everyone who reads this. The leprechauns are out and about the celtic music is playing and the wearing of the green is upon us. Even if your not Irish St.Patrick’s Day is a wonderful day of happiness and cheer. We have added a new St. Patrick’s Day tree to the village setup this year. It is very festive and of course “Green”. The table is dressed with all kinds of adornments. As we swing through March in anticipation of the Easter Season we can begin to smell spring in the air. We have marched (no pun intended) right into another project here at CTG’s. We are ready for the renovation to begin in the garage. This will gives us more much needed storage space and a little sprucing up to the entry way. Can’t wait till it is done and hopefully it will be as beautiful as I planned. Who doesn’t need more storage. I am beginning to equate storage with my close friend Craiglist. HaHaHaHa !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Found a great little chandelier ( of course, Craiglist ) that I am going to convert to a teacup chandelier. Wish me well, I have never drilled into china before but I am going to give it a whirl. I have a couple odd pieces I will attack first in case they explode and shatter all over on me. But I like the idea of doing it myself thanks A.L. you encouraged me on that one.

With the garden season pounding on our door there are still plenty of decisions to be made regarding the gardens. We have decided to move the giant watering can into the driveway garden to give it more exposure. We are going to revamp this garden a little bit pulling out some bushes and also some perennials. We would like it to be a little more guests friendly. Perhaps put a walkthrough in to connect the 2 driveways. We will be adding some additional lighting in the back formal garden. We are going to be spotlighing the willows. We think this give a great look on a breezy evening . Those trees just seem to dance in the breeze so lighting them will definetly add a component of beauty to them. We are still thinking about the annuals that will be planted in the larger beds this year haven’t quite decided what we will use. We have some other plans lurking in our minds but those require alot of work and we promised no big projects this year. But wait we are working on a big project right now the garage. See how quickly things change here. So one ever knows what will happen next. We have some pretty big events taking place this summer here in the gardens and we are excited about them.

As the plans progress and the work gets done I will be downloading some new pics. Stayed tuned for those. I will also begin work on the painting process of the giant leaf castings that took 3 people to move off the deck. Man, those things are heavvvvvvvvvvvvvvvy. But I can’t wait to see them painted. I will post pics of them also and perhaps the process of the painting will a good topic for the blog.

Well, dinner is calling and I think I have summed things up for another month. So TTFn, Think Spring, it is coming.

The Holidays Keep Coming

Cheryl — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 03:12:07 +0000

It seemed like Christmas was never going to make its way to the attic but we have completed this task. We took a great deal of time to organize things in numbered totes with inventory list done on spread sheets so we know exactly what is in every tote. We are hoping this will make the relaunch of Christmas next year that much easier to expedite. Time will tell. It also should be helpful when using village items such as trees, fencing, benches, light cords and the likes for different holiday displays other than Christmas. Thats right villaging just isn’t for Christmas in this house. We have moved onto Valentine’s Day. This includes a Valentine’s tree and a small village setup that consists of only 4 buildings. I think I will dismantle this the week after Valentine’s and then move on to the wearing of the green. We are for the first time going to do a St. Patrick’s Day tree. This should be interesting, and we are looking forward to doning the green.

We have had a steady falling of snow as most of the states have had but snow is normal for us and we enjoy it. When the snow if falling and the new park lights are lite in the backyard you can’t help but think of central park. It is a beautiful sight. Despite the cold we had to break down and give the dogs haircuts yesterday. They were just too hairy and with all the snow the cleanup every time they come in is way too time consuming. So off come the hair and we now have 2 beautiful aristocratic english blood wire haired fox terriers. But with the lack of hair we now have to ensure their warmth by wrapping them in blankets and afghans they love it.

We are going to start a project of major proportions, Cleaning the garage. Getting it ready for better storage which in my world means more space to fill with Craiglist buys. HaHaHaHa !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Don’t tell my better half. Once the garage is done I am thinking that spring will be right around the corner and our days will no longer be ours. The garden work will begin and the consumption of Motrin will once again be upon us. We are going to make some changes in the garden a major one being we are going to attempt to make a more formal border around the perennial beds in the formal part of the garden. No more marigolds lining the walkways. Also, perhaps a few more specimens of trees/bushes giving us some permenant greenery. We will see how it goes. We have talked about doing the deck in greenery like last year that was so nice and made it very peaceful I liked that. The boston ferns worked really well and were fairly easy to care for.

We have some major family events coming up that will be both fun and time consuming. Baby shower, Bridal shower, wedding, major birthday’s, and the welcoming of our first grandchild. Can’t wait for that. Fun Fun Fun. Well, with that in mind I get tired just thinking of all the things that have to happen in the proper order for all of this to take place. But CopperTop Gardens seems to be a magical place that can make all that happen so fear not my friends it will happen. I will try and keep things as current as possible but forgive me if I get distracted. I will do my best, TTFN

Christmas is behind us, New Year is upon us.

Cheryl — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 17:26:22 +0000

It was a wonderful and exciting Christmas season here @ CTG’s. Things were certainly busy, bustling & beautiful. The many people who visited us this Christmas season were uplifted and given a piece of Christmas spirit. The Christmas went very well looking forward to next year. Our new additions to the villages and decor fit in very nicely and added a new dimension to our home. I truly loved the angel room and will be on the hunt for some new additions to make it bigger and better next year. We met a very interesting TV set director from Toronto and I am very excited to have been invited to shop with him. Yippie !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HOARDERS BEWARE. I am sure I will feel like a child in a candy store I can’t wait for this exciting adventure. It is moments like this that despite the hundreds of boxes that must be put away in the attic I look forward to the next year of decorating. He also offered some great tips on organizing collections. We will try some of his ideas this year in hope of making it easier for the #1 man when he hits the attic in November. As much work as it is to put everything up for the season it is a welcome relief to have it come down. Today the 11th of Jan. will be our first day of demantling. Wish us luck and I will post again when we have finished. Wait is there such a word here @ CTG’s. From here we move on to Valentine’s Day. This is a small holiday for us only 8 boxes. HaHaHa !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Stay posted and we will talk soon. TTFN.

Christmas Tea’s are in full swing and going great

Cheryl — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 03:46:21 +0000

Well, the season is upon us. The greenery is hung, the trees are dressed and the villages are humming with activity. The splendor of the Christmas season can be seen in every room nook & cranny. It seems that we really had to push this year to get everything together. Just as time was running out the decorating came to an end and we could stand back and exclaim, “We are finished” in every sense of the word. It was an exhausting 3 weeks. But we can now sit back and enjoy the beauty and revel in a job well done. The ladies are enjoying the Christmas Teas, decorations & fresh greens and poinsettia’s. I have to work on getting some pics and posting them. Everything turned out just great and the villages have taken on a dimension. North Pole is outstanding and looks the best ever. We went over the top and put a 5ft gold buck (deer) in Christmas in the City with central park circling his feet. Really cool !!!!!!!!!!!!!! It will actually be nice to sit back read a book and enjoy the atmosphere. Looking forward to it.

“LARGEST” leaf casting ever

Cheryl — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 22:18:57 +0000

Well, we made history today @ CopperTop Gardens. Thanks to my sister & brother-in-law (Claudia & Charlie) we were able to cast some of the most awesome leaves ever. They shipped to us from Florida these (3)massive elephant ear and (2)bananna tree leaves. There were also (2) smaller leaves which compared to any leaves around here were still huge. We used 720 lbs of cement and (2) 22lb bags of buckwheat hull mulch. We worked on these leaves from 11:30am when they arrived via FedEx till 6:00pm. The various reinforcements that were used was chicken wire, plastic bottoms of the plant flats from the greenhouse along with 1 full roll of fiberglass drywall tape. My arms hurt and my back is board like. But I can’t wait till that 7th day when we do the flip and get to see what they look like. My hope for the big bananna leaf is to have Travis build a table frame and lay upholstery straps and creat a hammock like design for the leaf to lay on and use it for a table top. My plans for the giant elephant ear is to have 2 huge wrought iron easel like holders made and display them upright as “Welcome” signs for the gardens. I think this is the longest we have ever worked in cement but hopefully the rewards will be great. Thanks, Claudia & Charlie we appreciate your kindness and thoughtfulness. Here is a pic. WOW —— These are AWESOME !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The elephant ears come out to be about 45″ wide x 51″ long.

The bananna leaf was 49″ long x 24″ wide.

AMAZING