IT'S THE ATTACK OF THE HALLOWINES!

The zombies will be having fun once this party has begun because the selection of Halloween wines seems to grow every year.

 

Pinot, merlot, chardonnay, malbec — they're all there. Paired with a peanut butter cup, popcorn ball or candy apple, it's the perfect Halloween treat.

The bottles also double as spooky decorations.

Add a creepy stopper and classic napkins to complete the eerie site.

 

If wine isn't your cup of brew, there are other options ... like tequila. Wine drinkers must exercise caution with this option or before they know it they'll be doing the Transylvania twist.

And these bottles are too cool to discard when empty — they are meant to be boxed up with other Halloween decorations in November and recycled year after year.

With the growing season winding down, mums and succulents are still great options for pots to greet those trick-or-treaters on the front porch.

And when you get to my door, tell them Boris sent you ...

The Wine Gardener goes to the flea market

In my last post I wrote about the plumerias I had been overwintering and how I had picked some of them up at a flea market. 

Plumerias at a flea market. 

 A couple of the plumerias I have now were the size of those in this box (left) when I bought them.

You take them home, fill a container with dirt, stick them in the dirt, give them a little water and sunshine and in no time they're growing.

Very low maintenance — and by mid-summer you will really enjoy them.

Speaking of flea markets, I'm headed to the Round Top Antiques Fair this week in Round Top.

Round Top is one of the largest flea market/antique shows in the country. The show is held every spring and fall, rain or shine, but it looks like the weather is going to be great the rest of this week and into the weekend.

If you have a chance to go some time, it's definitely worth it.

Yard and garden art, plants and containers, antiques and collectibles, so many things you never knew you needed. 

At Round Top Antiques Fair, you can find all kinds of accessories for your garden.

And there are shops and stands in many locations throughout the show that serve up great food, music ... and wine.

In my last blog I mentioned i was trying a new Malbec, Alambrado.

I opened it Sunday afternoon and enjoyed a glass while I was arranging all the plants I brought back from my storage space.

I generally like a red wine that is on the dry side of the taste scale — this one was perfect.

I'll bring some pictures of my flea market finds back next week and let you know if I run across any tasty new wines.

If you've ever been to Round Top I'd like to hear about your experiences there.

Out of overwintering with wine

It's time to start thinking about the weekend. 

I think it's going to be warm enough this weekend to bring out some plants that I have been overwintering.

As some of my plants matured over the past few years, I have been overwintering them in a few different locations.

It allows me to start the new growing season with mature plants that are ready to be reintroduced to the warmer temperatures and the longer sunny days.

I have some large Madagascar Palms that I started bringing into my house a few years ago — they both started out as small stalks. One of the Madagascar Palms I bought in a 6-inch pot at my local big box store. They are both now over 4 feet tall, so I have been hauling them off to my storage unit and letting them go dormant during the winter. It's a pain, but it's well worth it when spring comes around.

I have some smaller paddle plants, cacti and succulents that I drag either into my garage or my house — they don't go dormant during the winter but can't tolerate freezing temps, so I water them as needed and am able to enjoy them inside all winter — and during longer spurts of mild weather, I move them out onto my patio where I can enjoy them. 

Two of my favorites to bring through the winter are the desert rose and plumeria. I bought a few plumeria stalks at a flea market a few years ago and they have now grown to large trees. I take those to my storage place now because they're so big and they will sleep all winter without any water or light and was rewarded last summer for the first time with white flowers on 2 of my plumerias. I would bring them into my garage, but if you have a garage that looks like mine does, you know why I don't.

My experience with the desert roses has been that they don't do as well if I let them go dormant and don't care for them at all during the winter. I have two desert rose plants that I brought into the house this year and just watered them occasionally, and they already have some green leaves. I'm hoping to be able to send them back outside in a few weeks.

The great thing about all of these plants is that they are all low maintenance plants if you're also a lazy gardener and you can enjoy them in almost any size container. You can bring them into your apartment, house or garage when the temperatures drop, and in the spring, you can take them back out onto your balcony, patio or deck and you've already got the your garden started — and if you’re lucky, your plumeria might reward you with some nice white or pink blooms this summer.

This weekend I have a new Malbec I'm going to have on hand as I'm arranging my plants that have returned from overwintering — it's Alambrado — an associate of mine is a member of wine club and passed it along for me to try.

I'll let you know next week how it all turns out. 

If you have experiences with overwintering — or Alambrado — I'd like to hear them.

Wine Gardening

Malbec is the new merlot (or cabernet sauvignon)

A bottle of wine and a gardening activity — there are other variables that can be introduced, but basic wine gardening at its core is simple.

Anyone can enjoy wine gardening.

You don’t need a wine cellar or even a garden.

You can enjoy wine gardening in your apartment or house, on a small balcony or on a large patio, in large yard or with small containers, outdoors on a beautiful summer afternoon or inside on a dreary winter day.

I’m not a master gardener and I’m not a wine conossieur but I know what I like.

Everything I’ve learned that I like has been through trial and error. And from the experiences and recommendations of other wine gardeners

Here are a few things I'm doing right now:

Malbec and dark chocolate

I’ve heard is said that Malbec is the new Merlot. Five years ago it was hard to find a bottle of Malbec in my area, but now I can find a good selection at my local convenience or drug store. One of my favorites right now is Trapiche. If you like a red wine that’s on the dry side, it’s really good with a brick of dark chocolate – and it’s reasonably priced, between 8 and 10 dollars for a bottle.

I’m also planting bulbs.

Regardless of the weather or your gardening space, bulbs are a good spring gardening activity.

Are you a wine gardener?

What wine gardening activities are you enjoying right now?