Great big leaves! I love big leaves! Maybe I’m just a chlorophyll-o-phile, but as a foliage-fiend building a garden leaf by leaf, I’m forever tinkering with plant combinations based upon foliage associations. I work with contrasts and harmonies in sizes, shapes, textures–even colors. And the bigger the leaf, the more I can do with it. After all, a big leaf[...]
Ok, so maybe they’re not as much fun as garden whimsy, but for those of us who need to create privacy, block an ugly view, add height to our garden, or support a favorite climber, trellises and screens are invaluable design features. Some are purely practical, but there’s a lot of potential for creativity here[...]
My fellow garden bloggers, I stand in awe of your collective whimsicality. I mean, I know you’re not a boring bunch, but really, I’m floored by your enthusiastic response to this month’s Garden Bloggers’ Design Workshop topic. It’s been a real treat to see how each of you ran with the theme and put your[...]
Sometimes we look at our garden successes and wonder how to photograph it. What is the essence? What makes it work? I walked down my driveway this morning where I have a mixed shrub border and once again fell in love with Ceanothus ‘Marie-Simon’. While I like this straight on photo, composed to evoke the[...]
A while back, I read that Sarah Raven, the author of one of my favorite gardening reads, The Bold and Brilliant Garden, originally wanted to call her book The Gaudy Garden. If I remember correctly, someone talked her out of it, using the reasoning that no one would buy a book with that title. Well,[...]