New David Austin Catalog is in!
Be on the lookout for the new David Austin Handbook of Roses 2020. I just received mind and I think it’s the best catalog they’ve ever sent out. They’ve added new sections to their book, making the entire catalog over 170 pages. One of my favorite new roses from last year – Roald Dahl I […]
Soursop
While on vacation in the Caribbean this holiday season, I discovered a new plant for the first time – soursop (also known as graviola, guanabana, custard apple, and Brazilian paw paw). Apparently, it is everywhere in the Caribbean and other similar climates around the world. The locals I’ve spoken with are all familiar with this […]
Aaron Bertelsen
The New Year is about to begin, and 2020 is loaded with great local Garden Conservancy events, beginning with a talk by Aaron Bertelsen in our home on February 25. I hope you can join us! If you are interested, please sign up through the Garden Conservancy (registration information below; admission is limited). Born in […]
The new NY Apple Store
Who doesn’t love wandering around an Apple store? I had heard the 5th Avenue store in New York had been recently renovated so when I had a little extra time last week, I decided to check it out. I didn’t expect to find the greenery inside that I did. The designers created a small garden […]
The Ford Foundation Garden
Last week, a group of us from the Garden Conservancy visited the Ford Foundation building and atrium, located at 320 E. 43rd St in New York. This gorgeous property is the result of a 5 year collaboration between architects Kevin Roche and John Dinkeloo of Kevin Roche, John Dinkeloo & Associates and landscape architect Dan […]
The perfect container plant
Last April, Roger filled the containers near the kitchen of our Napa Valley garden with a lightly scented plant I wasn’t familiar with – heliotrope (or Heliotropuim arborescens). While this plant can come in several shades of purple, he chose the lightest purple/white and paired it with ‘Sophistica Limegreen’ petunias. We even added a few of […]
Christian Brechneff
Botanical artist Christian Brechneff will be appearing at Allison Caccoma’s fabulous shop on Sacramento Street for a Garden Conservancy event on November 12 from 5:30 – 7:30, in celebration of his art and BEAUTIFUL new book, entitled Into the Garden. Reservations are required for this special event through kbeach@gardenconservancy.org. Bunny Williams and John Roselli’s garden […]
GC Luncheon at the Fall Show
Earlier this month, the Garden Conservancy partnered with the Fall Show, formerly called the Fall Antique Show, in San Francisco. A small group of west coast Garden Conservancy Fellows organized a luncheon, honoring Bunny Williams at Ft. Mason – Clare Gordon, Trish Turner, Barbara Niemann, me, Sandra Swanson and Suzanne Tucker (pictured below in that […]
Updates from Masseria Salamina
Yesterday, I re-posted my previous post about our visit to Masseria Salamina in 2015 because we revisited this wonderful destination with friends yesterday. Filippo and his wife Laura were generous enough to host our gang for a tour of their property, vegetable garden and olive oil fields – followed by an olive oil tasting. What […]
It’s all about olive oil – in Puglia
I now realize that I knew nothing about olive oil until I met with Filippo de Miccolis Angellini, proprietor (along with his sister) of Masseria Salamina in the Puglia region of Italy. What a lovely man who is passionate about his craft, as well as the masseria which has been in his family for generations. (‘Masseria’ […]
Purple tomato debuts as ‘Indigo Rose’
I found this great article about Oregon State University’s Indigo Rose tomato on their website and while I could paraphrase it, I thought I would include the entire article. I have this tomato in my garden and it’s been the most interesting tomato I’ve ever grown. It’s visually gorgeous, interesting to observe as it grows […]
Tomato Season
This year has been a very different year for our tomatoes. Most everyone’s tomatoes in the Napa Valley are behind schedule because we’ve had an unusually cool summer, alternating with occasional extreme heat – very strange. Indigo Rose – a fully ripened tomato is all purple with a reddish bottom and soft to the touch […]
Ninomaru Gardens
As I continue to document the beautiful Japanese gardens we visited in April and May of this year, I must include the significant Ninomaru Garden, contained within the walls of Kyoto’s Nijo Castle, built in 1603 as the home to the first shogun of the Edo Period, Tokugawa Ieyasu. Just outside of the inner palace […]
Soil Amendments for Veg Beds
I worked with Anton in our vegetable garden this week, as we cleared out a couple of vegetable beds whose contents were done producing. After we cleared out the plants, I watched him add 3 bags of organic amendments that he says he regularly uses in all of our beds: This amendment from G&B Organics, […]
Kenroku-en Garden
They say that that the three most important gardens to see in Japan are Kairaku-en in Mito, Koraku-en in Okayama and Kenroku-en in Kanazawa. So, during our recent trip to Japan, it was our goal to see as many of these gardens as the geography of our itinerary allowed and we managed to see two […]