Spring Planting
Forni Brown officially opened April 1st and Carolyn and I made our annual excursion Saturday morning to pick up starts to plant our spring gardens. We weren’t the first gardeners to arrive, but I think were the second and third. Forni Brown has many varieties of heirloom plants. Every year I get overly excited while […]
My 2017 Veggie Garden
It’s April 1 and it’s officially time to plant my vegetable boxes! The first weekend of April is absolutely my favorite weekend of the year in the Napa Valley. Forni-Brown in Calistoga officially opens and sells their heirloom starts, which is an event that Vicki and I never miss. They are open to the public […]
Birthday Flowers
Arrangement from Lacey by Bloomers in San Francisco Thank goodness my birthday is in March because all of my favorite flowers and plants are in the spring! Roses, peonies, tulips, daffodils, lilac, ranunculus, viburnum, cherry and dogwood blooms. I had an especially floral birthday this year and I wish to share some of the flowers I […]
Petaluma Cottage Gardens
I tried to resist buying starts before Vicki’s and my annual outing to the opening of Forni-Brown in Calistoga this weekend but I had some free time this past weekend and I decided to make the trek to the famous Petaluma Cottage Gardens – a nursery with a huge reputation and following. I had never been there before […]
Flora Grubb Gardens
I have been searching for indoor plants trying to bring a garden into my home. A friend mentioned I should visit Flora Grubb Gardens in San Francisco. Flora Grubb has a wonderful variety of both indoor and outdoor plants as well as being a great source for planters. I had visited Flora Grubb Gardens many years […]
Garden Conservancy Luncheon
Carolyn and I co-chaired a luncheon last week in the Napa Valley to introduce our friends to the Garden Conservancy. After a delicious lunch, Benjamin Lenhardt, Chairman of the Board of Directors presented “Why Gardens Are Important”, a really interesting overview of the history of gardens – complete with beautiful photographs of historical and current gardens, why beautiful […]
Planting new seeds
As I have mentioned in previous posts, I decided to try growing my own vegetable starts this year using seeds from Seed Savers. So when the new catalog came out containing all of the wonderful seed choices, I ordered more than I should have and have been storing them in my refrigerator until I had time to […]
Viola’s Market
We’ve enjoyed our first visit to Sea Island, Georgia with fun friends and what a gorgeous place it is (with an assemblage of fantastic golf courses throughout the area, by the way)! During a “non-golf” day, we perused the adorable shops in the area and discovered Viola’s Market – a terrific local garden shop. I could tell […]
Kew Gardens
I had a free afternoon in London this week and decided to go to Kew Gardens, even though it was :45 from the hotel and it is the dead of winter. I’d never been there before and couldn’t wait to see it. What I discovered was lightyears beyond what I was expecting! Kew Gardens is […]
Lovely Amaryllis in Courchevel
My husband and I are enjoying our first time in Courchevel, a charming and very special mountain resort in France, which is part of ‘Les Trois Vallées’. Throughout our hotel and many of the local hotels and restaurants are beautiful arrangements of cut and potted amaryllis. I’ve never seen so many interesting arrangements using these flowers nor […]
Roses for the shade
I received a wonderful email from David Austin last week advertising five roses that they recommend for shadier spots in our gardens. I have a few of those in my Napa Valley garden and am going to have to try some of these roses to see how they do. Not only are the colors of these roses […]
Point Reyes Market
I had a fun day today driving from San Francisco to Point Reyes to photograph the sites with the fabulous photographer Tom Brichta after all of the rain we’ve had lately. It was gorgeous and green everywhere we looked. After a glorious morning of shooting and lunch in the adorable town of Point Reyes Station, we encountered […]
EcoFarm
I received a great gift this holiday season of EcoFarm seeds. EcoFarm is an ecological farming association whose mission is to nurture healthy, just, and ecologically sustainable farms, food systems, and communities by bringing people together for education, alliance building, advocacy, and celebration. My gift box contained ten small containers of organic heirloom seeds. EcoFarm, founded in […]
Kale Smoothie
Happy New Year! Sitting at dinner on New Years Eve we all shared a few of our new year resolutions. An overwhelming theme was trying to be a bit more healthy in 2017. I make a smoothie almost every morning for breakfast, and this kale smoothie is one of my favorites. We were all in […]
Gardening for well-being
Did you know that gardening helps you maintain physical and mental well-being? Those of us who regularly garden, intuitively know this. According to a fabulous article in Permaculture News, gardening has a myriad of health benefits. As I reflect on one of my 2017 resolutions to continue to focus on healthy lifestyle practices, I will […]