I am excited to introduce you to Delphine Gitterman of France who creates one of my favorite blogs Paradis Express— This is her self description:
I’m 31 years old. I’m french.

I’m an Art Director for Graphic Design and print.

I live with a french garden designer and photographer named Lucien.

I have an 18 years old son.

I have 2 cats and I have also have a Parrot named Raton since 35 years. It’s a female, she hates women.

My german grand father was mad about greenery but at home, plants were forbidden by his wife because of the dirt. He has a secret garden, far away from his home. The family says that he had often some germinated seeds in his pockets.

I am an occasional guerilla gardener. A French television station did a story about it and
we were filmed with my friend throwing seedbombs riding our big motorbike.

I live in a very old house, quiet a ruin, but with a gorgeous garden. Our neighbours would
like us to finish restoring the house before creating the garden. But we didn’t. We prefer
to invest our money in greenery.

I « collect » garden designers ! Some people would be capable of the photographed with Johnny Depp or Brad Pitt, i would not. But I can make extravagant things for a photo with Topher Delaney (yes, Rochelle, I saw your picture with her! I’m jealous! ) or Piet Oudolf. The photo that I’m most proud of? A picture with Patrick Blanc, Creator of the first vertical gardens. He has green hairs.

I’ve always lived in an area with a very rich cultural past in matters of gardens. This may be partly an explanation for my passion. I live in Pontoise, which is 34 km away from Paris (21 miles). You can find some «  impressionist gardens » in my town.  I live 50km away from Monet’s garden in Giverny (30 miles),  7 km away from Auvers sur Oise, the village is devoted to Van Gogh (4 miles) and 45 km from Versailles and its huge castle and gardens (28 miles).

My parents were both artists. My father was a german painter and decorator. My Mother is ceramist and still continue to make pottery despite her blindness and her age (she’s 78 !). I have had a green childhood. My family had an huge house, full tropical plants, like a jungle for me when i was a kid. In the living room, my father had 12 parrots, flying free between the alocasias.

My father was hypnotized by the United State and passionate about american movies. This may be the explanation for my passion for american gardens and garden designers, no? I’ve never been to the United States, except one week in New York. I love this city but i confess, i love Paris very much too.

My Favorite things: Delphine Glitterman

image by Lucien Gres
1) Tirtaganga, a water palace in Bali, Indonesia. My favorite place on Earth.
2) Tony Duquette’s residences : Los Angeles residence, Dawnridge & a sprawling Malibu estate, both destroyed in fires. Duquette was an internationally acclaimed artist and designer in the1940’s .

3) François Houtin’s imaginary gardens. A french printmaker and also a garden designer. I could spend hours looking at his creations.
4) The fern and especially the tree fern. Dicksonia Antartica is my favorite and is the only one to resist to our french cold climate.

What do you do to find inspiration?

To find inspiration, i collect pictures from gardens of all over the world in my blog and i
spend hours looking at my treasures. 3 years ago, i did notice that this collection was inspirational for many other people than me : landscape designers, gardeners and artists from everywhere. I enjoy this very much.

Best Garden or Design Advice Ever (Given or Received)?
We must all continue to stay mobilized for the planet and its future. The only advice i
could give is to promote the practices of environmentally friendly gardening in NYC, in
Paris, in Mexico or in Moscow, everywhere in the world.
« un jardin beau,oui, mais un jardin bio *»
* french expression. Could be compared to « organic is orgasmic »

click through to see more images of Delphines garden of miniatures and peonies as well as her mother’s beautiful ceramics.