After 20+ years making all sorts of gardens for myself and clients – I have opinions – especially when it comes to container based gardens. I’m not a fan of the mixed container garden, the thriller, filller, spiller mantra or any other formula for making what often amounts to extremely short lived floral arrangements. It’s […]

Flower pot design Recipe: The Stately Natural Rouge Urn Garden Do you want to hear a little behind the scenes flower pot design story? I created this container garden for the Summer 2015 issue of PITH + VIGOR. It is one of my most favorite pieces of container planting art ever. I love the plant […]

A quote I think about when creating a container planting or designing a flower pot garden. “You just can’t plant exotics in the countryside. They just jar. But in town, where the are no points of reference, you can get away with all sorts” – Jinny Blom, Garden Design Magazine, March 2011 The whole concept […]

There are tools that make life soooo much easier. ​​​​​​​​ ​​​​​​​​In gardening – a hori hori knife… For the kitchen….that one perfect spatula I found for 50 cents at a garage sale… In my office….my favorite Sharpie 0.5 Roller pen… ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​And in garden design…. apps. ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ A Landscape Designer’s Favorite Garden Design Apps I use […]

You should probably unsubscribe right now it your garden isn’t a mess…. At least sometimes, or seasonally, or because you are “working on it”… We are all a hot mess.  If you genuinely aren’t – this isn’t for you.  (and also, can we even be friends?) Seriously.  The pretense of garden perfection is just as […]

Making a garden can change your life. Lots of beginner gardeners (and even advanced ones!) struggle to get the design part right. Gardening and garden design are two halves to a whole – if you want to build a beautiful landscape this is my best, most straightforward design advice. This collection of concepts (in no […]

I love it when many different rituals converge on one celebratory day.  Suddenly the original cloth becomes beautifully clear. The seemingly disparate threads of tradition are woven back together.  Such is the case with February 2. Known as Mid-Winter in many Anglo-Saxon countries; individual yarns have names such as Imbolc, the Feast of Saint Brigid, […]

I don’t know if you know this, but girls eventually become women!! And, while research shows that there is an obvious and notable physical transformation when females morph – in my first hand experience, their brains stay entirely intact. (It is only when they start to become crones* that I wonder what heck happens!)- I […]

I’m not going to apologize for this note arriving a day later than intended. (Silly pet peeve: when creators imply they think I’m paying enough attention to notice or be bothered if they miss their own arbitrary schedule – whew, NO) But mostly I’m not apologizing because I have a really good excuse.😉 Plus it’s […]