Serenity in the Garden

Kings Ransom Brunnera - Plant Delights Nursery   A blue flowering plant with variegated leaves for part shade that deer don't like, is easy to grow and tolerates wet  (not soggy) soil!  Yay!  I am talking about the s pectacular Brunnera 'Jack Frost' (silver foliage with green veins)  and a  newer variety , 'Kings Ransom'.  These tough perennials grow to about 12" -18" high and have made shade gardening more exciting with their wonderful foliage that catches the eye.  The blue flowers rise above the heart-shaped leaves and appear in late April and May.  They are hardy, native to Siberia, and grow in Zones 3 - 8 (maybe zone 7 is more accurate).  I planted Jack Frost Brunnera with deer resistant white Angelonia - photo by Jan Johnsen They naturalize and self seed but are not invasive. The clumps  slowly spread by creeping rhizomes to form a ground cover. They have no  serious insect or disease probl...

The far-seeing media critic Marshall McLuhan famously suggested  that people deciding whether to buy a book should turn to page 69, read what's on it, and then make up their minds. It's a great technique  and the results are pretty good. There is even a blog dedicated to it:   the page 69 test .  So, of course, I applied this test to my book, 'Heaven is a Garden - Designing Serene Outdoor Spaces for  Inspiration  and  Reflection' .  Here are the photos and a paragraph from page 69: Cascades and Traveling Streams Streams and small cascades often are centerpieces of a serene garden. The sound of water tripping over rocks and the sparkle of the sun off a moving eddy calms us and makes us a little more contemplative.  Ralph Waldo Emerson describes this in his book Nature: “Who looks upon a river in a meditative hour, and is not reminded of the flux of all things?” 

Dumbarton Oaks , in the Georgetown section of Washington, DC,  is a unique outdoor space of tranquility and serenity. It is one of the top ten gardens of the world according to NatGeo . The house was bought by Robert Woods and Mildred Bliss in 1920 and filled with their collection of Byzantine art. It is now owned by Harvard. Prunus walk - photo by Yoma Ullman The gardens, designed by Beatrix Farrand, are beautifully inspiring. The original 53 acres have been split up but 10 acres remain as a public park. At cherry blossom time, late March to early April, it's so lovely.  I used to take my college class (I taught landscape design and development in the 1970s)  there every year in April.  We would get a private tour by the director and see the forsythia and cherries in bloom...what a treat! Please try to go ... Dumbarton Oaks 1703 32nd Street, NW Washington, DC During the spring, the gardens are open daily, except Mondays, from 2-6 p.m....

"I have reduced the world to my garden and now I see the intensity of all that exists" -  Jose Ortega y Gasset

KIDS LOVE PIZZA... Pizza is the most popular choice on the school lunch menu in the United States. So why not grow a Pizza Garden? It can contain all the ingredients we find in a pizza pie.... Tomatoes, Onions, Peppers, Eggplant, Scallion, Parsley, Basil and Greek Oregano, among others. Here is what you can plant: All the photos below were taken from a wonderful Better Homes and Gardens article on a  Pizza Garden 'Husky Red' Cherry Tomatoes 'Golden Jubilee' Tomato Basil Sweet Green Bell Pepper or Other Color Peppers Hot Jalapeno pepper You can also plant Greek Oregano, Parsley 'Italian Flat Leaf', Tomato 'Roma' ( small, oblong tomatoes with a thick meaty flesh), Basil 'Dark Opal', Red Leaf  Lettuce and Onion 'Spartan Banner' ... The Pizza Garden can be shaped like a pizza. Tie a piece of string to a center stake and mark off a circle with it. The radius can measure 4 ft. to c...

Kawase Hasui, 1937 In Japan, the short-lived cherry blossom signifies the fleeting beauty of Nature.  Cherry tree blossoms remind us that life is made up of singular moments.  Savor what is around you.

If Nature is your teacher your Soul will awaken ~ Paracelsus