Serenity in the Garden

The new re-imagined Garden Design book-a-zine is out - and what a first issue it is!   Garden Design Premiere Issue 2014 This is a completely new incarnation of the stalwart magazine that we have known for years. This new edition goes beyond the glossy photos of furniture and lush outdoor enclaves that dominated the pages of the previous Garden Design to delve into fascinating details, ideas, places, people and plants. It harks back to the early days of Garden Design when I would read the magazine cover to cover.   This is one of the articles I am an huge a fan of the new Garden Design (full disclosure: I am a contributing editor of Garden Design) - it is a basically a gorgeous book that has NO ADVERTISEMENTS.  A big plus is that the paper quality is the best - book quality - and as you turn the fully illustrated pages you realize you are reading  a compelling new garden book - one that has been developed with care and an honest desire to create ...

Storm King Art Center by Jerry L. Thompson     Considered one of the world’s foremost sculpture parks, the  Storm King  Art Center   features 100 works of art across 500 acres in the Hudson Valley of New York.  Large, abstract works frame and transform the landscape:  An Andy Goldsworthy stone wall snakes through the woods and into a pond.  Mark di Suvero's work stands tall.  Richard Serra shares the scene with a stand of trees:   Maya Lin's art undulates across the fields.   The stone art of Isamu Noguchi, Momo Taro, invites interaction:  Co-founder H. Peter Stern  quoted Isamu Noguchi -  “Noguchi says that there are two ways of proceeding as a sculptor.  One is to plan what you’re going to do and then do it.  The other is to create, and then see what you have done.  Noguchi puts himself in the second category as an artist, and I’d say that...

Denim Planters "Jean-etically Modified Plants" by Tom Ballinger A Unique Screening Idea! Who needs a fence?

BY BELZBERG ARCHITECTS    “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” ―  Leonardo da Vinci

Tiny House by Jessica Helgerson Interior Design  - click here A lovely morning in the garden.

Worm tubes from National Gardening Association  Want to know a great way to  enhance biological activity in  your garden? Think of it as adding  probiotics to your soil.... Worm Tubes! It is a fun way to use your vegetable food waste without the hassle of true composting. Worm tubes attract worms to your garden and this, in turn, creates rich, worm casting-filled composted soil for you to use.  Josh shows us how - click here And did you know that  worm compost suppresses plant diseases ? Research has shown that worm compost can successfully suppress  Pythium aphanidermatum  - a mold responsible for the dreaded 'damping off', where seedlings and young plants rot away at the base of the stem. The microbes  in the compost are key. They chemically prevent (disrupts the signalling)  the Pythium pathogen from accessing the plant.  This is why you should consider making worm compost with a 'worm tube' in your garden. ...

I must admit I first discovered  Drumstick Allium  when I could not find any other allium bulb to buy...it was late fall and I had waited too long to buy the popular Globemaster Alliums... What to DO? I bought the Drumsticks and was thrilled at the result. These purplish - red blooms are small - 1" -and oval shaped.  They bloom in my part of the world in June atop wiry 24" - 30" tall stems and wave in the breeze...and they make a superb cut flower (which you can dry to be an 'everlasting').   Drumstick Allium bouquet - Martha Stewart Photo Drumstick Alliums look fantastic tucked in the early summer flower border...You can add these small bulbs easily in the fall around clumps of established perennials such as Artemesia, Yarrow, Nepeta and Agastache. They peek out around these plants and are a delightful addition that come back every year! Artemesia Powis Castle - Great with Drumstick Alliums - Great  d...