Swiss Folk Art

We just returned from the Swiss Alps, enjoying all of the snow in Europe this winter. One thing I always love about Switzerland is the beautiful architecture and their decorative folk art, evident on their buildings, furniture and objects everywhere. It is uniquely Swiss, and you can see it broadly throughout the Tyrolean region of the Alps. To me, both are […]

Ho’omaluhia Botanical Garden

I have a few glorious days in Hawaii this week, beginning with a couple of days in Honolulu, Oahu, where I happen to be born. While my husband was in meetings, I sought a botanical garden outside of the hustle and bustle of Honolulu. A local recommended The Ho’omaluhia Botanical Garden, located in Kailua about 30 minutes from Honolulu […]

An Oak Spring

I am a huge reader and love biographies. I just finished a very interesting book on Bunny Mellon. Born into privilege, Bunny was an American style icon, art collector, self-trained talented landscape designer and Best-Dressed List regular. Bunny gained national acclaim for designing the White House Rose Garden after she was asked by her close […]

Happy 2018!

My citrus trees are loaded this year! This morning I picked Washington Navel oranges, Meyers lemons, Santa Teresa Italian lemons, Sanguinelli Blood oranges, Dwarf Owari Satsuma Mandarin oranges and Bearss limes. I juiced a few of the blood oranges for breakfast and decided to ring in 2018 with Blood orange mimosas. The color is so […]

Herb Drying

There is nothing quite as good as the taste of fresh-picked herbs. However, when you don’t have access to fresh herbs, dried herbs add a lot of flavor. Dried herbs are generally more concentrated than fresh and therefore you will probably use less in a recipe. I have an abundant of fresh organic herbs year-round […]

David Austin roses are here

I received my David Austin 2018 Handbook of Roses in the mail today, which is always an exciting event. This year’s catalog is a gorgeous, glossy booklet with cover full of – what looks like – Graham Thomas yellow roses. Bonus: they’re offering 15% off if you order before February 28. One of my favorite […]

Christmas Wreaths

Wreaths have been used at Christmas for hundreds of years. It’s circular shape represents eternity, as it has no beginning and no end. From a christian religious perspective the wreath represents an unending circle of life. The wreath above is on my front door.  I loved the grey, white and red plaid colors of the […]

Don’t give up on boxwood

My dear friend Mary shared several back issues of Country Life with me last week and I started going through them today. Country Life is a British weekly magazine (owned by Time Inc UK) with many of the subjects we love about English life – gardens, country homes, glass houses, garden and other art, and interiors. […]

Treasure Hunting at Farmers Markets

There was a wonderful article about farmers markets in the travel section of the New York Times this past Sunday by Shivani Vora. She quotes the French chef Alain Ducasse who says that “No matter what city or town they’re in, farmers markets are a year-round attraction and about much more than produce. They’re photographs […]

RIP Ruth Bancroft

Ruth Bancroft, founder of The Ruth Bancroft Garden in Walnut Creek, California, passed away on Sunday at the age of 109 years of age. Ruth spent over 76 years of her lifetime tending the garden in her namesake – a well-known green treasure in Northern California. Following are words about her legacy, as shared by her family: “Mrs. […]

Winter favas

It’s the Thanksgiving weekend and I was lucky to have my family with us in the Napa Valley again this year. On Saturday – looking for a fun local project – my gardening-inclined Mom, sister-in-law Susanne and niece Kate went to one of our local nurseries to scout around for winter goodies. As soon as we arrived, each of us meandered […]

Fleur T

My new friend Tessa sent me a wonderful gift last week prior to a dinner we were hosting – a flower arrangement from San Francisco florist Fleur T (pronouced “flirt”). And it wasn’t any old flower arrangement – it was a beautiful box, lined with colorful tissue paper containing three small glass vases, each with their own […]

A Growing Hope

Thanks Ben Lendardt from the Garden Conservancy for forwarding me the CBS This Morning news clip about the wonderful benefits of gardening for our veterans. The Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe, Illinois is providing a wonderful program for veterans to work in this very special botanic garden, which helps them heal from the stress they have experienced and begin […]

First Frost and Autumn Planting

Autumn is here! Last weekend we had our first frost on the lawn and turned back the clocks to gain an hour of much needed sleep after a stressful couple of weeks of devastating Napa and Sonoma County fires. Lucky for us, our property was spared, but many of our friends and neighbors were not. […]

Royal Botanic Garden

The grand finale of our garden tour in Scotland was the Royal Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh, which was established in 1670. They expanded their gardens to include Benmore in Argyll in 1929, Dawyck in the wooded hills of the Scottish Borders in 1969 and Logan on the southern penninsula of Dumfries & Galloway in 1978 […]