This past weekend my husband, Tom, and I spent an afternoon wandering through the San Francisco Conservatory of Flowers, enjoying the rare chance to sneak away and visit a different world for awhile. I have a confession – while I’ve been there at least a half dozen times in my life and, yes, it’s truly […]
Today I want to share with a darling jewel box courtyard (that’s wheelchair friendly, too!) Three years ago our local newspaper ran a story on our (then) new book, Garden Up! Smart Vertical Gardening for Small and Large Spaces. Within 24 hours, I received a phone call from Judy, who was in desperate need of […]
While visiting New York this summer, I spent a glorious weekend touring the Hamptons. Oh my. I’ve never quite seen anything like it- the estates, the gardens, one charming town after another, the pristine beaches. It surpassed everything I thought it might be – pure heaven on so many levels. One day, while touring the […]
A few years ago my good friend, Patty Craft (who is also the editor of Horticulture Magazine) invited me to attend Northern California’s Heirloom Exposition. It’s a glorious event centered around the pure food movement, with gardeners of all walks of life enjoying the displays and the vast array of information (you can read about […]
One of the things I look forward to each year is the moment when fall finally shows up, usually announced by the arrival of the The Great Glass Pumpkin Patch. This year was a little earlier than usual as my hometown got a jump on things and had their own glass pumpkin festival a few weeks ago. […]
As summer comes to a close, I thought I’d share with you the last gardening tidbits from my summer in New York. They might seem a little disjointed from one another, but I hope you find them interesting nonetheless! (To read about the other gardens I visited, click here, here, here, and here!) 1. Guy […]
Without a doubt, one of my very favorite places in New York is Central Park’s Conservatory Garden. This was my first time visiting this garden, and I’ll admit I mistakenly thought it would be yet one more formal garden filled with the predictable evergreens, fountains and acres of lawn (pretty, but probably not the most […]
One of the many things I love about New York is the surprising amount of community gardens tucked in here and there just waiting to be discovered. Some are small, some large, some created for children, some for quiet contemplation. They’re everywhere! As I’ve mentioned in the past, as much as my daughter enjoys hanging […]
After spending two months in Manhattan, it would be an understatement to say I was in dire need of a bit of nature. So one day last week, I hopped on the subway to the very edge of the city to explore The Cloisters (a branch of the Metropolitan Museum dedicated to Medieval art). While […]
Don’t you love the feeling you get when pulling up to someone’s home for the very first time, and the moment you see their garden you just know you’re in for a treat? That’s how I felt when my taxi slowly crept along the street, looking for the address of Sheila Schultz. This past May, I […]
I’m a sucker for good ol’ American holidays, with the Fourth of July being right up there at the top of the list. But with California’s severe drought amplifying threats of wildfire you won’t be seeing many firework shows this year. But that’s okay. This summer I’ve been organizing my zillions of garden photos and am seeing exploding […]
I spent a few weeks in New York City this summer, and am thrilled to have finally visited the High Line public garden. Ever since its grand opening in 2009, I’ve been dying to see the transformation of this abandoned, defunct elevated railway into one of the city’s most inspiring and innovative public gardens. I’d like […]
