Ninomaru Garden
As I continue to document the beautiful gardens we visited in Japan this past April and May, I cannot leave out the significant gardens within the walls of Kyoto’s Nijo Castle, built in 1603 as home to the first shogun of the Edo Period Tokugawa Ieyasu. The castle is just outside the Ninomaru Palace is […]
Filaree Garlic Farm
Continuing down the road with my new obsession with growing garlic, Barbara shared her garlic resource with me – Filaree Garlic Farm. If you want to begin your deep dive into garlic, this is a wonderful site to get started From their website: “Filaree Garlic Farm is a grower and supplier of premium quality organic […]
Betsy Everdell Landscape Design
Congratulations to my friend, Betsy Everdell, for the article about her in this month’s Nob Hill Gazette (page 30), ” Elizabeth Everdell’s Secret Garden”. Not only do I have the honor of calling her my friend, but I’ve been fortunate enough to experience her work and talent first-hand in our own San Francisco garden. San […]
Julia B facemasks
We are all masking these days. Who knew that masks would be a year-long – or longer – accessory?!? As long as we’re going to be sporting masks for the foreseeable future, shouldn’t they be pretty, gals? Pretty wildflowers Beautiful design For the holidays – mistletoe and holly Check out these beautiful linen masks from […]
Inside Gardens
During this crazy pandemic period of time, we’re all just trying to be grounded in our new reality of wearing masks, socially distancing and spending more alone time in the safety of our homes than we ever dreamed possible. Who could ever have imagined 2020 would have been such a year?!? On the west coast, […]
Special Offer 20% off!
A garden moment from my 2016 GC trip to the North Shore of Chicago Thank you Ben Lenhardt and Laura Mintz, from Monacelli and Phaidon (Monacelli’s parent company), for offering our subscribers 20% off on Ben’s new book, Gardens of the North Shore! You won’t want to miss this book when it comes out later […]
Gardens of the North Shore
October is here which means my friend Ben Lenhardt’s new book, Gardens of the North Shore, published by Monacelli Press, is almost here! Ben, a resident of the North Shore of Chicago and Charleston, has an intimate knowledge of the special gardens featured in this book – and the stories behind them. Luckily for us, […]
Visiting Filoli
Yesterday, Trish and I visited Filoli in Woodside. I hadn’t been there in years. It was such a treat to see the property again and to discover it’s as beautiful as ever. It was also nice to get out of the house and back to visiting beautiful gardens with a friend, albeit socially distancing with […]
The Earth in Her Hands
Photo by John Whittlesey, 2019 I have been meaning to pick up and read Jennifer Jewell’s new book, The Earth in Her Hands, 75 Extraordinary Women Working in the World of Plants. I finally finished up my other stack of reading and started her book over the weekend. All I can say is WOW. If […]
How to harvest onions
Image by Couleur on Pixabay I went online to figure out the best way to harvest and store globe onions because I want to free up a bed for some mid-summer plantings in my vegetable garden. I found some really helpful tips which I want to not only remember for myself, but to share with […]
Chopped Salad
What to make if you want something quick and healthy for lunch? A chopped salad using everything you can from your spring garden! Right now I’m lucky to be harvesting celery, radishes, spring onions, garlic, carrots, beets, cucumber and a variety of lettuces which all work well in a chopped salad. If you don’t have […]
Garlic Scapes
Garlic scapes, image by Lynn Carson Harris, via Flickr Garlic is a new crop for me in my vegetable garden and it wasn’t until I spoke with my friend Barbara this weekend that I learned about garlic scapes. What are they? Garlic scape flower, image by Chris Yao, via Flickr Garlic scapes are the center […]
SF Bouquets to Art
Let’s all support our local Bouquets to Art, opening next week – online! (Information below taken directly from their website). Join Bouquets to Art online June 1–7, as museum curators, conservators, and featured florists bring your favorite floral content to the comfort of your own home! Programs include featured talks, floral-themed games, interactive demos, and […]
Harvesting garlic
This year was the first time I tried growing garlic in our vegetable garden. It was easy! Last fall, we planted partially peeled individual cloves, with the pointy side up about 2 inches deep and about 6-8″ apart – and waited… Garlic typically takes nine months to mature and grows best when it receives at […]
Lewis Miller Design in NYC
I received this email from two different friends and have copied it verbatim. What a wonderful and thoughtful gift to New Yorkers and first responders at this time, courtesy of Lewis Miller Design! Enjoy… This April in New York City, spring feels different: there is still beauty under the shadow of the virus. This spring […]