Oxblood lilies popping up after Hurricane Harvey

Oxblood lilies popping up after Hurricane Harvey

August 30, 2017 Hurricane Harvey dumped nearly 10 inches of rain on my garden between last Friday and Sunday, and high winds littered the ground with leaves, twigs, and ball moss. A Texas mountain laurel fell over in the sodden soil, and we lost power for 6 hours. A weather ...
Color-blended garden retreat of designer Barbara Katz: Capital Region Garden Bloggers Fling

Color-blended garden retreat of designer Barbara Katz: Capital Region Garden Bloggers Fling

July 12, 2017 Opening the summer issue of Country Gardens magazine a few days ago, I felt an immediate jolt of recognition at seeing, on pages 10-13, one of the gardens we toured during last month’s Capital Region Garden Bloggers Fling. It’s the garden of Bethesda, Maryland, designer Barbara Katz, ...
The whimsical woodland garden of Ellen Ash: Capital Region Garden Bloggers Fling

The whimsical woodland garden of Ellen Ash: Capital Region Garden Bloggers Fling

July 11, 2017 Although the tree-shaded entrance to this Great Falls, Virginia, garden was elegant and restrained, I knew the owner would be a gardener with a sense of humor. How? Because at the driveway’s end I spotted, atop a pilaster, a statue wearing actual sunglasses. It was the first ...
English garden in Virginia horse country: Capital Region Garden Bloggers Fling

English garden in Virginia horse country: Capital Region Garden Bloggers Fling

June 29, 2017 Attending Garden Bloggers Fling is always a whirlwind of garden touring and socializing with other bloggers. I come home with ideas bouncing around in my head, as well as a sense of new connections made and friendships renewed — not to mention hundreds of photos to sort ...
Summer color that stands up to the Death Star

Summer color that stands up to the Death Star

August 08, 2016 As the Death Star sizzles for weeks on end — 100 degrees F and no rain in sight — it might seem as if all the garden can do is endure. But no! Plants that put on their best show in the heat of summer, even a ...
Magical mosaics in the garden of Wouterina De Raad, Part 2: Minneapolis Garden Bloggers Fling

Magical mosaics in the garden of Wouterina De Raad, Part 2: Minneapolis Garden Bloggers Fling

August 05, 2016 Yesterday I shared Part 1 of my visit to Wisconsin artist Wouterina De Raad’s mosaic sculpture garden, which was the final garden — and my favorite — on the recent Minneapolis Garden Bloggers Fling. Today I’ll end my Fling series with Part 2 about Wouterina‘s delightful, exploratory ...
Minnesota Landscape Arboretum: Minneapolis Garden Bloggers Fling

Minnesota Landscape Arboretum: Minneapolis Garden Bloggers Fling

July 25, 2016 Our Minneapolis Fling banquet dinner — an opportunity to dine with blogging friends, win amazing giveaway prizes from sponsors, and listen to entertaining anecdotes and announcements from organizers — was held at the end of the second day, at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. Time was short before ...
Fired up for WaterFire in Providence, Rhode Island

Fired up for WaterFire in Providence, Rhode Island

July 22, 2016 Who says fire and water don’t mix? Not the city of Providence, Rhode Island. On July 9th, my daughter and I happened to be there during WaterFire, a free summer arts festival along the three rivers of downtown Providence, and we were excited to attend. What is ...
Flowers and rich foliage at Chanticleer's Pond Garden

Flowers and rich foliage at Chanticleer's Pond Garden

July 07, 2016 Is any garden feature more alluring to people than a body of water? I think not. As Diana and I emerged from Chanticleer‘s shady, green Asian Woods during our early June visit, the sunlit and flowery Pond Garden greeted us (the pond was hidden from view at ...
Those who play in glass houses: Conservatory and Indoor Children's Garden at Longwood Gardens

Those who play in glass houses: Conservatory and Indoor Children's Garden at Longwood Gardens

June 26, 2016 Maybe Southerners don’t need conservatories because our winters are pretty green. Growing up in the South, I don’t recall ever visiting a conservatory until I started garden traveling to northern states. (We don’t have a culture of spring garden shows either, perhaps for the same reason.) Call ...
To all the moms

To all the moms

May 08, 2016 Pink petal hearts Lots of fishes kisses Kiss Kiss You’re my cup of tea To all the moms, and to my mom especially, happy Mother’s Day! I welcome your comments. If you’re reading this in an email, click here to visit Digging and find the comment link ...
Falling for the Folly Bowl, a garden amphitheater

Falling for the Folly Bowl, a garden amphitheater

October 07, 2015 Twelve years ago, Los Angeles garden designer Susanna Dadd and her husband, artist James Griffith, built a back-yard amphitheater in a ravine alongside their Altadena home. Dubbing it The Folly Bowl, they’ve been hosting free, or nearly free, public concerts each summer, choosing unique performers that will ...
The Gardener of Good and Evil makes my garden look good

The Gardener of Good and Evil makes my garden look good

August 28, 2015 Water visually cools Pam’s back garden. Photo by Lori Daul. Although she claims both a halo and a pitchfork in her blog name, Lori Daul of The Gardener of Good and Evil is purely a force for good — or at least that’s what I believe after ...
Munro Lights at Atlanta Botanical Garden, and a whale of a show at Georgia Aquarium

Munro Lights at Atlanta Botanical Garden, and a whale of a show at Georgia Aquarium

July 31, 2015 Earth Goddess, Atlanta Botanical Garden After we left New Orleans, we drove to Atlanta, Georgia, arriving in time for a Sunday evening visit to Atlanta Botanical Garden to see a special art exhibit, Bruce Munro: Light in the Garden. Seeing a garden in late afternoon and at ...
Lively formality in the garden of Deborah Hornickel

Lively formality in the garden of Deborah Hornickel

July 06, 2015 If you admired the beautiful details of James David’s grand Rollingwood garden, which I had the privilege of visiting last spring, you may have wondered what a smaller, more economically built garden of his might look like. And I’m here to show you, thanks to James’s longtime ...
Cabbagetown garden art and Hugh Garner Co-Op Green Roof: Toronto Garden Bloggers Fling

Cabbagetown garden art and Hugh Garner Co-Op Green Roof: Toronto Garden Bloggers Fling

June 29, 2015 The teeny tiny gardens of Toronto’s Cabbagetown neighborhood of Victorian homes kicked off our final day of Toronto Garden Bloggers Fling in early June. Due to the tight quarters, pictures of artful vignettes were easier to take than overview photos, and I’m sharing my favorites here. Cabbagetown ...