cool gardens in a hot climate™
Flowers spill into the street, with edibles like lettuces, chard, and herbs mixed in among flowering annuals. This is a garden that refuses to be contained or constrained.… Read More
August 13, 2013 Peering from the shadows of an exuberant, densely planted front yard, artist Marcia Donahue’s turbaned and hooded figures — exotic wood sprites? — give a sense of mystery to her Berkeley, California, garden. On July 1st, the … Read More
August 06, 2013 Our 4th stop on the final day of the San Francisco Garden Bloggers Fling was my absolute favorite of the Fling: the Ann Nichols Garden. Gorgeous plants, beautifully combined and meticulously maintained, adorn a series of intimate … Read More
August 01, 2013 Our 3rd stop on the final day of the San Francisco Garden Bloggers Fling was the garden of artist and garden designer Keeyla Meadows, a scene of riotous, exuberant color in both plants and structures. Keeyla is … Read More
July 29, 2013 Our 2nd stop on the 3rd and final day of the San Francisco Garden Bloggers Fling was the Dudan Garden, a hilltop residence with a million-dollar view of golden hills and and an emerald valley. With such … Read More
July 27, 2013 Our 1st stop on the 3rd and final day of the San Francisco Garden Bloggers Fling was the Ruth Bancroft Garden in Walnut Creek. It was about 100 degrees F in Walnut Creek that last week of … Read More
July 26, 2013 Our 5th stop on the 2nd day of the San Francisco Garden Bloggers Fling was the Bernard Trainor-designed Testa-Vought Garden in Palo Alto. Out front, a contemporary gravel garden greets you, but the real excitement begins when … Read More
July 24, 2013 Our 4th stop on the 2nd day of the San Francisco Garden Bloggers Fling was the Los Altos garden of designer, author, and blogger Rebecca Sweet. I’ve admired her garden not only on her blog, Gossip in … Read More
July 23, 2013 Our 3rd stop on the 2nd day of the San Francisco Garden Bloggers Fling was the old estate garden of Filoli. According to its website, Filoli is a “654–acre property, including the 36,000 square foot Georgian country … Read More
July 18, 2013 Our last stop before dinner on the 1st day of the San Francisco Garden Bloggers Fling was the aptly named Wave Garden, a Bay-hugging, terraced garden — all curving, terracotta-tinted paths, wavy metalwork, and a cascade of … Read More
July 15, 2013 Our second stop on the first day of the Garden Bloggers Fling in San Francisco seemed inauspicious: a security door into a tall apartment building on the edge of the Tenderloin, a downtown residential neighborhood with a … Read More
July 14, 2013 As the Garden Bloggers Fling in San Francisco officially kicked off on June 28, two buses full of about 75 bloggers split up, navigating the city’s challenging hills separately so that the small gardens we visited could … Read More
July 12, 2013 Early arrivals to San Francisco for the recent Garden Bloggers Fling were invited to a cocktail party at designer and artist Shirley Watts‘ home in Alameda. Shirley graciously opened her home and garden to about 50 complete … Read More
August 22, 2012 Lovely strolling gardens wrap all sides of the country inn at Fearrington Village, near Chapel Hill, North Carolina, which I visited earlier this month. I spent a happy hour early one morning exploring its grounds, which include … Read More