Creating a textured head is a great way to spark a child's interest in gardening -- or just have fun yourself! In this step-by-step feature, Disney gardening specialist Melissa Shepherd demonstrates how a few plants and a ball of sphagnum can take on a uniquely whimsical persona. Wrap a spherical wire frame, available through many gardening catalogs, with bird or deer netting. Attach the netting to the frame in one of two ways: - Use a pair of hog-ring pliers to crimp a flexible C-ring (figure A) around a section of netting and the frame (figure B); or
- Use plastic cable ties or the twist ties that come with garbage bags.
Next, pack the sphere with sphagnum moss (but first protect your hands with gloves since sphagnum often contains a certain amount of extraneous material). Wet the sphagnum thoroughly, then stuff the sphere, leaving a small space in the center of the crown. (This space is where you'll plant the "hair.") Choose any low-growing, colorful plants to create the facial features. For the hair, you can choose plants that match the texture of the child's hair, or varieties that emit a pleasant fragrance such as lemon, orange or chocolate mint. Plants with an unusual characteristic, such as the frilliness of the asparagus fern, also make fun choices, along with spider plants, seed of pearls and mondo grass. Using a seed dibble (sold in catalogs) or similar tool, make holes in the sphagnum (figure C). Insert the "eyes," in this case, pink polka-dot plants; then the nose, santolina (or lavender cotton) and the mouth, several waxleaf begonias. Plant the "hair" -- seed of pearls -- in the small cavity you left in the crown. Pinch and trim the features as the plants grow in.
RESOURCES :
The American Rose Society
The American Rose Society provides information on rose care, varieties and judging and contacts for local rose societies.
PO Box 30,000
Shreveport, LA 71130-0030
Phone: 318-938-5402
Fax 318-938-5405
E-mail: ars@ars-hg.org
Web site: www.ars.org
Roses for Dummies
Model: 0764552023
Author: Lance Walheim
February 2000
Roses: A Growing Guide for Easy, Colorful Gardens
Model: 0028626362
Author: Mary C. Weaver & George Ball, Jr.
December 1998
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