Sunday Morning in Early May

Sunday Morning in Early May
Valerian and Tree Poppy

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

May Garden Tour

"One of the most delightful things about a garden is the anticipation it provides." W.E. Johns------

After long and delightful hours spent in my Silverado Canyon Garden during the past three months, I think it is finally ready for the May 2012, 2012 Modjeska/Silverado Garden Tour. The pink valerian are in full bloom as are the white and pink roses, salvia waverlys, orange and yellow iceland poppies, sweet scented lavenders, white and pink bacopa, and much more! Hummingbirds are a joy to watch as they move from flower to flower, as are the house wrens and other birds at the feeder.
I am excited to share my garden with friends, neighbors, and garden lovers, and look forward to and anticipate the questions I'll get.

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Blooming......nasturtiums and iris

"She paused there a moment, looking absently at a growth of nasturtiums and iris tangled at its foot, as though sprung from a careless handful of seeds.....
F. Scott Fitzgerald



Spring has arrived in my Silverado Canyon Garden! White roses and orange Iceland poppies by the driveway gate. Orange, red, and yellow nasturtiums are blooming by the California native garden and glorious purple iris....here and there. I'm looking forward to the Modjeska/Silverado Canyons Garden Tour on May 19, 2012.   Stop by and see what else is blooming by then!

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Tending the Early Spring Garden

"Each spring.....a gardening instinct, sure as the sap rising in the trees, stirs within us. We look about and decide to tame another little bit of ground." Lewis Gannett



I'm spending wonderful early spring days in my garden....planting annuals, herbs, and enjoying the breeze, the cry of red-tailed hawks, and the house wrens at the bird feeder. I'm also thinking of Vanessa Bell in her garden at Charleston Farmhouse in Sussex in the 1920's 30's and 40's...wondering what she was planting in early spring or deciding which piece of ground to tame.

Sunday, July 31, 2011

Peaches on a Rainy July Morning


“It’s very nice here you know, and it’s very lovely now, all pale brown……..The peach tree is covered with peaches.” V. Bell

In our dry, southern California Mediterranean like climate, it rarely rains in July. This morning we were blessed, waking up to the sound of a soft, summer rain. The intoxicating scents of white and black sage, artemisia californica, and laural sumac fill the air as raindrops dance on three almost ripe peaches.

I will gather the peaches in a basket this afternoon...and make a wonderful peach cobbler!

Friday, January 7, 2011

The Garden on New Years Day


"Notwithstanding our disasters born of unseasnable frost and wet, sunless skies,I console myself with the reflection that on the whole we have made good progress. The garden is in better order than it was....last year" H. Rider Haggard A Gardener's Year


My Silverado Garden survived the winter storm of late December 2010. The creek rose.....10 feet perhaps.....bolders roared......past the house and garden. New Year's day brought 30 degree weather and frost. All in all, only some damage to tips of salvia waverlies, and this wonderful view of a sycamore leaf incased in ice in the frozen birdbath.

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Gardens with good bones.....


"I like the gardens with good bones and affirmed underlying structure.....well-marked paths, well-built walls, well-defined changes in level."

Russell Page The Education of a Gardener


My Silverado Canyon garden in mid April is in full bloom---especially the Salvia greggii "Lipstick"---, accentuating the good bones, well-marked paths and well-built walls.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

The Garden in early April


"Gardening has compensations out of all proportion to its goals. It is creation in the pure sense."
Phyllis McGinley.....The Province of the Heart

My Silverado Canyon garden in early April is a feast for the senses and takes my breath away .....Lilacs, abutilon, bacopa (white and pink), begonia richmondensis, tulips, iceland poppies, alyssum, viburnum, anisodentia and the magnificent western red bud all in bloom. Campanula, roses, and geranium incanum are on the way!