Serenity in the Garden

photo courtesy of  business wire The Muhammad Ali Center of Lexington, Ky and Yum! Brands Foundation launched the global Muhammad Ali Center Peace Gardens project on September 21, 2010.  This coincided with the United Nations International Day of Peace. Peace gardens focus on using edible plants from different cultures to teach youth about the world through culinary delights.  They also teach children how to "nurture and care for other living things" and remind them about the importance of fruits and vegetables  in their diets.   Through the process of growing food students learn about nature's processes and increase their access to fresh fruits and vegetables. What better way to create awareness about hunger than to have them actively involved in growing a garden, taking food home to their families, and giving to the community? The model for this idea came from the John F. Kennedy Montessori...

What is an aerium? Flora Grubb Gardens of San Francisco describes it as, "a tiny universe of air plants, lichens and mosses".  Wall Bubble Aerium from Flora Grubb Gardens It is a miniature garden in a hand blown, unique glass container....some hang, some are footed, and some are square. They are absolutely enchanting and just the sight of one makes my heart sing. All the photos here are from the Flora Grubb Gardens website. The areiums are described in FLORA'S BLOG.  (click here). This is what she wrote: "Our Cube Aeriums are evolving. I first began making these little aeriums as a way to relax during my work day. I love looking at the lichens and creating tiny little gardens. I loved being able to complete something.   I still make a few Aeriums every week, but we’d never have been able to share them with our customers had it not been for Liz. Liz has fallen in love with the Aeriums, too, and now spends many hours a week making them. She has taken them ...

Is gardening like writing? This is what Carl Lennertz of HarperCollins Publishing wrote in his blog Publishing Insider : "....every 5 years or so, I get a truckload of topsoil dropped off so I can elevate a corner of the yard or start a new flower bed.  And it occurred to me, sleepily, that the sound of a shovel going into dirt is one of the most satisfying, tangible sounds, of all. 'shoosh' The shoosh of metal on dirt, then the creation of something new.  And then it hit me that writing was like that, too. The sound of writing, the sense of building something, measurable bit by bit, and most of all, the going back and reshaping and redoing. " Jan Johnsen - garden path I wholeheartedly agree! For me there is nothing more satisfying than physical creation: seeing a swimming pool and garden emerge from nothing more than a drawing.... or a Japanese stream evolve from orange paint lines on the ground.....or a delightful ca...

George Hargreaves, one of our leading landscape architects today, works the earth to reveal underlying natural processes. He often takes urban sites that are abandoned, and restores them to the public realm. His award-winning projects include Candlestick Cultural Park and Crissy Field in San Francisco, Pittsburgh Riverfront Master Plan and the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Hargreaves Associates also designed rhe 12 acre urban Discovery Green park in downtown Houston.  It features an interactive fountain, pond and water gardens, playground and two acres of botanical gardens. Discovery Green from Waymarking website Mr. Hargreaves was an artist in residence at the American Academy of Rome in 2009. He taught at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University for 20 years. He is the co-editor and author of “Large Parks,” a book that explores large urban parks in depth. He is quite the consummate landscape architect of our time! What I like about Hargreaves the most is that he is...

My son, Dan Algarin , makes wonderful music videos and films... Here is his latest music video for a very talented singer/songwriter, Benoit Piolard. The setting is here in Croton on Hudson, NY. It went on Pitchfork.com  today.

WALTHAM,  MASSACHUSETTS Though small in size (only 5,600 square feet), Embassy Park has great potential to be a lively place for people to gather and linger . This design competition seeks to generate new design ideas for  Embassy Park, an underused public park in the heart of downtown Waltham, Massachusetts. The program includes a Community Visioning event and a juried Design Competition, and will culminate in a Project Exhibition and Awards Celebration. Monetary awards will be made in three categories. For more info click here : http://www.embassy-park.org/

Matt Berger was my high school intern for a season...and now he is a sophomore studying landscape architecture at University of  Rhode Island.  He is a remarkable young man - check out his blog "  Doubling Your Summer Money for Young Adults"   ... He even created a college scholarship fund for any student from his high school that exhibits a passion for environmental awareness! He funds it with his earnings as a landscaper in the summer. He wrote this as a message to me, describing his vision of a serenity garden, and I would like to share it with you. Montauk Daisies Jan, after listening to your talk show, I was thinking about "Serenity in the Garden" and what it makes  me think of. So I sat down, and wrote ...the first things that came to me... When you walk into a garden [designed for serenity], you feel a sort of energy. A fusion between relaxation and excitement. ...Your first rush of energy is usually captured at the entrance way...