Bay Area Friends, It’s tour season and two of my favorite tours–the San Francisco Designer Showcase and the Garden Conservancy Tours happen this month. The Showcase House runs through May 28 and the Garden Conservancy Tours run in May and June in the East Bay, Marin, Santa Cruz and Mendocino. This Saturday, May 12, take [...]
This weekend I’ll be celebrating Easter with family and friends. We should have a break in the rain which means there will be a chance to point out the pink dogwood and white wisteria in bloom. Alas, the five hundred daffodils we planted in December are almost gone. I’m sorry they won’t be here to [...]
What a wonderful spring we’re having here in Northern California. I’ve been working on my garden removing the things that didn’t survive the deer or early frosts and then shopping for and planting more of what seems to thrive. The temperature is just warm enough to feel rejuvenating as I work outside and the light [...]
Now that we’ve returned to whatever we call Not Daylight Savings Time and the days are growing short, I’m reflecting on what we’ve done around here over the past year. Counting my blessings, I’m grateful for the beautiful garden that greets me every time I come home. Some of you may be dreaming up some [...]
The poet Nikki Giovanni once said that she spent a lot of time learning about bird watching. Placing these birdbath basalt rocks in my new garden has made me want to do the same. We’ve created our own little aviary hammam out front and when I’m around I try to sit very still so [...]
My friend Jana says putting in a new garden is like giving birth. Painful and messy at the time but you quickly forget all that once your new pride and joy has arrived. This has been an intense mother of a week with soil, rock and plant deliveries arriving almost daily and several professional crews [...]
The garden project continues in full swing. So full that I’ve hardly looked at anything this week that didn’t have petals or leaves. Except maybe the dirt surrounding our house–specifically, the dirt that surrounds my house vs. the dirt that surrounds my neighbors’ house. Our property is bordered on three sides by open space owned [...]
Let me introduce you to my new pink dogwood tree—isn’t she a beauty? She went into the back garden yesterday along with a bunch of climbing vines and two fruit trees–a Kieffer lime and a “Panache” fig (classy, huh?) I spent a few peaceful moments last night watering everything in, grateful to have some new [...]
Last week a landscape crew ripped out most of the tired plantings and removed all the rocks that made up an ornamental dry stream bed in the upper garden. What’s left is a whole lot of dirt potential. “Things gonna look worse before they look better,” said my handyman Gustavo after shoring up the back [...]
Plans for the outdoor spaces continue to evolve as I gather information and consult trusted experts. One of those experts is Berkeley artist and landscape designer Keeyla Meadows. I first met Keeyla twenty-some years ago when I was scouting gardens for a garden tour fundraiser for our kids’ grade school. Someone tipped me off to [...]
