Our own worst critics

Why is it that most gardeners I’ve ever met focus the shortcomings in their own gardens, rather than focusing on the overall beauty? I am no exception to this. If someone pays me a compliment about my garden, I can’t get over the messy borders of my English border, or the potted flowers that aren’t quite right, or the ugly […]

Gerbera Daisies

I was not really familiar with these beautiful flowers until my husband’s birthday table was decorated with them this year. Our talented flower designer, Grant, filled the table with white containers with orange, yellow and fuschia-colored gerbera daisies last Saturday. And today, one week later, they are still going strong. What a beautiful and dramatic […]

A rung above the rest

Yesterday, I was reviewing my April issue of Garden Design, which is now only available online (how I will miss the glossy magazine!) and ran across a one page review of one of my favorite gardening tools: the Hasegawa tripod ladder. It was love at first sight when I first saw it at Shed in Healdsburg. As […]

Late summer flowers

Typically at this time of year, my garden’s flowers look a little washed out from the sun and heat. Roses are waning and many of my favorite flowers from the spring – delphinium, foxglove, viburnum – are long gone. When I noticed this several years ago, I began adding flowers that could withstand the intensity […]

boxwood globes

Recently a landscape designer visited our Napa home and suggested I add more boxwood globes to a planting bed, and remove & move a few Oakleaf Hydrangea plants that weren’t thriving in the shady bed. It was a great idea so I ordered 6 additional ‘Green Beauty’ boxwood globes from the local nursery. They arrived […]

Favas gone wild

If you’ve been following us for awhile, you know that my favorite part of our garden is the vegetable garden. I love everything about my vegetable garden: planning what I’m going to plant each year, buying spring starts & physically planting them, watching my veggies grow, cultivating fresh produce for farm-to-table meals, sharing my bounty, and […]

Long Meadow Ranch/Farmstead Restaurant

I first met Laddie Hall in the 1980’s while volunteering in the San Francisco Junior League. Although I have not stayed in touch with her over the years, during the summer months I have lunch at her Farmstead Restaurant several times a month. It is my favorite lunch spot! The menu has many options, but […]

The French Laundry vegetable garden

I visited the French Laundry vegetable garden, located in Yountville (in the Napa Valley) with some gardening friends yesterday morning. It’s located directly across the street from The French Laundry restaurant. What I didn’t realize is that it is open to the public so anyone can visit it at any time. You’re likely to run into […]

Farm From Home

I just finished reading Farm From Home by Amanda Brooks. It really resonated with me because Jeff and I have just moved up to our house in the Napa Valley for a couple months! We have used our “country home” as a weekend house for many years, but this year we decided to move up to […]

Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

Alex and I recently visited Kansas City, Missouri for my niece’s wedding (which was fabulous). During a brief break in the festivities, we had a chance to visit the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. A word about the museum if you’re not familiar with it: The new Bloch Building (part of the museum, shown above) was voted as #1 on Time […]

Brain Tonic

While traveling in Europe in June, I read an article about longevity in Acciaroli, Italy. The small village has over 300 centenarians with many more citizens living in their 80’s and 90’s in peak physical and mental health. Scientists have flocked to the village to study why that is. https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/656896/Rosemary-secret-Italian-village-300-centenarians Experts are convinced it is […]

Farmer’s Markets Around the World

I have been traveling a lot lately! On a recent trip to Northern Europe, I made several observations. People of all ages looked happy and healthy. They were trim, smiling and either walking or riding a bike. There were more bikes on the road than cars. In fact, most cities had separate bike lanes which […]

A kindred spirit in Prouts Neck, Maine

A few days ago, I was biking with friends just outside Prouts Neck and I decided to wander off on my own. I was sooo curious about all of the little vegetable, flower and fruit stands I kept seeing alongside the road between Prouts Neck and Cape Elizabeth. Behind each stand appeared to be small gardens and I was […]

Ruth Bancroft Garden

On Friday afternoon, I went to a garden I’d heard about for years but had never visited before: the Ruth Bancroft Garden in Walnut Creek (California). It is renowned for being a succulent and drought-tolerant garden, created by Ruth Bancroft beginning in the early 70s. The land (originally 400 acres of walnut and pears, but […]

Wisteria Tunnel

I received quite possibly the most beautiful garden picture I’ve ever seen from Ben Dhong last week. (And forgive me – someone else sent it to me recently but I can’t remember who…). It’s the famous Wisteria Tunnel, in Kawachi Fuji Gardens in Kitakyushu, Japan. This is yet another reason why I must return to beautiful Japan, and […]