Easy Garden Cocktail; Red White and Blue Spritzer

It’s summertime and the sippin’ is easy. No time to make a fruity syrup or fancy infusion for your cocktail? No problem, here’s a simple straight-from-the-garden idea for making a refreshing drink  with seasonal charm.     Stroll out to the garden and pluck a handful of ripe berries. My raspberries are finishing up while […]

Inspirational Details; Chihuly Glass in the Landscape

The appreciation of color, light and form is a fundamental aspect of enjoying plants in the garden. It happens to also be the basis of enjoying the glass art of Dale Chihuly, so his current exhibit at the New York Botanical Garden is the perfect reason to visit this world-class destination  to explore and enjoy […]

Celebrating Our Native Flowers

This spring, the so-called “super bloom” of California, has received a lot of attention, thanks to social media. Selfie-seekers and satellite photos have really fueled an interest in a phenomena that has happened for a millennia (not specifically for “millennials”, although many may argue that point). In 1868, John Muir wrote, during a visit to the Santa […]

In The Garden; Spring Rain and Daffodils

  Dear Daffodil, I have deep regrets that I did not pick you a few days ago, at your peak .     – To have snipped your stem and set your shapely beauty in a slender vase.     But the sun was low and you were so lovely, with your grassy companions, blooming […]

Hellebores; Early Garden Beauties

A true friend plays well with others and brings you cheer when you need it most – that would be a good description of a garden Hellebore. Early blooming and thriving in the shade of trees or deciduous shrubs, Hellebore plants are a fine addition to many tricky garden spaces.           […]

Greenery; The Color of the Year

Greenery; An often-used word when discussing gardens or landscape or nature. This year it’s the name given to Pantone 15-0343, and chosen as the Color of The Year.  In a call for “rejuvenation and connection”, The Pantone Institute names a color for 2017 that every gardener already  knows and loves; that soul-quenching bright green of new […]

In Memoriam; Honoring Fleeting Beauty

We’ve said goodbye to many important public icons this past year and I’ve lost personal dear ones as well. It certainly feels like the passing of an era. Words fail me, in an attempt to honor those that are gone, but I am comforted by a passage from Mindfulness In The Garden, by Zachiah Murray;   Beautiful […]

Fave Books; For Nature-Lovers, Travel-Lovers, and Nature-Travelers

Right about now is when many of us think of books. (ok, many of us think of books all the time…but…let me continue…) We think of books to gift to others. We think of books to suggest that others gift to us. We think of books to simply gift to ourselves. For me, the best books […]

In the Garden; Celebrating Fall and Planning for Spring

I love this time of year. The days are short and the light bends low around the earth. We reap the final rewards of the season and hopefully take a moment to celebrate while, maybe, thinking how we might do it differently when we have the chance to do it again – and usually, in the […]

Urn It; A Very Versatile Water Feature

Water; too much or too little. Either way, water and its power are central to the concept of a garden. To those of us in the West, and parts of the world where the presence of water is less dependable and less abundant than we would like, we take our cues from the garden-makers of […]