I had to enlist the help of babelfish this morning.  (have you ever used it? –it helps a ton with translating web  pages in other languages).  It is harvest time here in the Northern Hemisphere and across the way at my neighbor’s orchards, the peaches, nectarines, blueberries and raspberries are waning, but the apples are […]

I had a goal last weekend….I wanted to finish our new pergola in time to  have a BBQ and sit underneath it on the patio for dinner on the holiday Monday.  It didn’t happen, so I am hoping to cash in the rain check for this weekend. We did however get a lot done and […]

My christmas cactus is kind of disgusting. Many years ago, I had this (less than) genius idea to plant my cactus in a clear glass vase.  I thought that the layers of rocks at the bottom with soil on top, permeated by the roots would be some sort of beautiful ant-farm-like terrarium of underground interest. […]

If there were a nationwide contest for fall holiday decor,  New England would be the outright-no-questions-asked winner. This corner of the world goes halloween decor crazy (your your biggest brightest holiday light display has nothing on our 2 story skeletons, pumpkins towers, and legit collection of haunted houses, creepy old graveyards and battlefields. You can […]

As the vibrant greens of summer gracefully yield to the warm hues of fall, we get a new opportunity to craft autumn container gardens for the front porch or anywhere we spend outdoor time in the fall. I’m always looking to break away from the standard mums and pumpkins fare and am looking for front […]

Gardening Books for Beginners – Books every Garden maker Should Own Gardening books are my kryptonite (or are they my superpower? ) – I think both. My students often ask me which landscape design and gardening books I recommend, and which are the best for beginner gardeners or for other garden specific interests. And more […]

The Chelsea Flower Show in London represents the pinnacle of garden design. It is, without question, an annual opportunity to check in with many of industry’s leaders to see what they are thinking about and how they choose to represent the artistry and influence in the world. This year, I’ve combined my thoughts and takeaways […]

In 2015 PITH + VIGOR had two correspondents reporting from the Chelsea Flower show. Gillian Carson covered views and impressions as a visitor and from the perspective of a garden writer and Carrie Preston covered the Behind the Scenes (BTS) as a garden designer working on a garden at Chelsea Flower Show 2015. ….. BTS […]

I first met Kenton Seth when he and I worked together on a story for the print edition of PITH + VIGOR. At the time, matrix gardening and matrix planting were very new terms and I had no idea what the fuss was all about (and tbh, as you will read below, Kenton was just […]