Tag: Natives

Winter berries in the garden

Winter berries in the garden

Winter berries in the garden are a treat for gardeners craving color during these cold and rainy months, but more importantly for hungry birds.    Winter berries are filled with sugar and fat for birds, helping them to withstand freezing temperatures and sustain them during their migration. Even as I write this, the shrubs and […]

Designing with Ball-Shaped Flowers ball-shaped flowers

Designing with Ball-Shaped Flowers

I love designing with ball-shaped flowers.  Don’t get me wrong, I also adore spire-shaped flowers (click here if you missed that post!) However, there’s something about spherical shapes that always makes me smile.   Maybe its because the lollipop shapes tend to be more playful?  Or maybe its because the symmetrical, round balls are such a […]

Lupine Meadow at Lake Tahoe lupine meadow

Lupine Meadow at Lake Tahoe

Every few years, when the conditions are just right, this meadow is filled with thousands and thousands of lupines. I just so happened to be visiting Lake Tahoe during this magical time and wanted to share these photos with you.    This naturally occurring meadow is located just a few miles from Tahoe City, and […]

Creating Contrast in the garden heat loving deer resistant perennials

Creating Contrast in the garden

Creating contrast in the garden is such an important design principle, I thought it would be helpful to show the many different ways I accomplished this in my modified meadow. You may remember my post Creating a Rain Garden (if not, click here.)  In that article, I mentioned my goal was not only to transform […]

Gardening on Steep Slopes Tiers-Slopes-Seattle Gardens

Gardening on Steep Slopes

Gardening on steep slopes is problematic at best.  Ever try and plant, prune, or deadhead on a steep hill?  NOT fun. I should know.  I’ve spent the past 2 years working in my new garden , trying to tame a pretty slope that has caused me to shed a tear or two in frustration. And […]

The Sacramento Historic Cemetery’s Native, Perennial, & Rose Gardens

The Sacramento Historic Cemetery’s Native, Perennial, & Rose Gardens

I can’t believe it, but I’m coming up on the 2nd year anniversary since moving up north to Granite Bay from the Bay Area.  During the past two years, I’ve been having so much fun touring lots of public and private gardens in the area. It seems like a lot of my favorite gardens are […]

Monarch Mayhem: joy and heartbreak in the garden

Monarch Mayhem: joy and heartbreak in the garden

Remember last year when I wrote about my daughter’s newly found passion for monarch butterflies? Well, I recently received this text from her: “Guess who’s back!’ Emily was thrilled to find two more emerald chrysalises hanging from her front door – a repeat performance of last spring!  (can you spot them?  It’s the teeny tiny bright […]

The mystery of the monarch

The mystery of the monarch

Throughout my daughter’s life, I’ve tried just about everything I could think of to pique her interest in gardening. And while she’s always appreciated playing in a beautiful garden, I realized early on that getting her excited about working in a garden just wasn’t going to happen. But, I figured if I can get her […]

The New York Botanical Native Garden

The New York Botanical Native Garden

I was so happy to finally have the chance to visit the New York Botanical Garden, during their 125th anniversary no less!   I blocked out the entire day to explore as much as I could of this massive, 250-acre garden in the Bronx, and while I wasn’t able to see everything, I did manage to […]

My February Garden

My February Garden

Thanks to the El Nino weather pattern we’ve been experiencing here along the West Coast (lots of rain followed by unseasonably warm temperatures) my garden is exploding with blooms much earlier that it ever has before. I’m a bit worried that my poor plants are being tricked into thinking spring has arrived, only to be […]

California Carnivores

California Carnivores

While visiting Sonoma earlier this summer, I told my husband that I just had to see a nursery located in Sebastapol, just a few miles away. He groaned, assuming that once again he’d be stuck wandering alone through the aisles of yet another nursery while I quickly disappeared, only to return an hour later with a […]

Quiet reflections, gratitude and a holiday offer for you

Quiet reflections, gratitude and a holiday offer for you

This is the fourth night in a row where I’ve awoke at 3:00 in the morning, not feeling sick and nauseous as I typically do during this week of my cancer treatment, but wide awake and filled with gratitude and happiness. Night after night I’ve quietly laid here, letting my mind wander to where it […]