Author: Linda

A Walk in the Woods

Mt Cuba Gardens, Hockessin, DE

A rare day in May found me walking in the woods down a path flanked with blooming ephemeral spring flowers.  There were jack-in-the-pulpit, and the trillions in yellow, wine, red, white and pink were all about the ground.  The native florida flame azalea shrub with its deep orange blossoms added intense color in the green forest.  The tulip poplar trees shot 100 feet into the sky providing a full canopy of cooling shade.  My destination was the lowland ponds.  I wasn’t sure how it could be any prettier and yet when I arrived it was wonderful....   Continue Reading

Nemours, French & Fabulous

Nemours Mansion and Gardens is Alfred duPont’s tribute to his family’s French Heritage.  In 1909 he built a 102 room mansion in the late-18th-century French style.  The mansion is said to be based upon “Marie Antoinette’s Petit Trianon at the Chateau de Versailles.”  I toured the mansion and it was lavish and lovely.  The garden surrounding the house is said to be the largest formal French garden in North America.  It is  grand,  symmetrical and designed to impress. ...   Continue Reading

Welcoming Children in the Garden

Wandering into a garden one lovely summer day I was greeted with a sign “No Picnicking, No Pets, No Bicycles, No feeding the wildlife.”  Beyond the gate was cool shade, colorful flowers, falling water, birds singing in the trees, rabbits, ducks, and squirrels on a carpet of lush lawn. I found no one in the garden but the gardeners.  I’m fine with policies about expected behavior, yet a greeting like this kicks the kid in all of us out of a garden....   Continue Reading

Texas Flowers, Clark Gardens, Weatherford, TX

Beyond the stockyards, the boots and bar-b-Q spring is the time to see Texas flowers bloom.  East of Weatherford, TX is Clark Gardens Botanical Park. A private garden of 55 acres open to the public for spring and fall only.  My mid April visit gave me a glimpse of the famous Texas blue bonnet magic.  Great sweeps of blue mixed in with double ruffled pink poppies filled the ground in all directions....   Continue Reading

Yellow Season

It is yellow season in the Desert Southwest.  It is that brief time between our short spring and very long hot summer when yellow flowering plants seem to be everywhere. No plant announces this season more beautifully than the Palo Verde tree in full bloom.   The small yellow flowers are like spring rain drops suspended in the air letting you see the spray of thousands of petals.  In the city the yellow trees are  scattered about, in neighborhoods one glorious tree after another is in bloom.  In the shopping and resort areas the landscape design marches them around the perimeter in symmetrical groves surrounding the architecture....   Continue Reading

Digging Deep

Fran Sorin’s 10th Anniversary edition of Digging Deep,

Unearthing your creative Roots Through Gardening 

Author Fran Sorin offers such a clear song of hope in an era of ernest gardening.  This book offers garden guidance, motivation and inspiration to reframe your definition of gardening. So many gardeners are digging in their plants with a fear of doom and food appocolypse in their hearts.  If a gardener isn’t connected to the beauty and randomness of nature in gardening many will give up when the birds devour the first crop.   In these pages find you find a way to weave the everyday joy a garden offers as the essential work is done. You will know flowers are essential to feed the soul. This book will coach beginning gardeners, encourage the discouraged and inspire the devoted. If you are lucky enough to have a small patch of earth to tend, this book will speak to your heart and help you see you are indeed lucky enough....   Continue Reading

A Garden Love Story – Abkhazi Garden

“A Garden is a perpetual reminder that there are no shortcuts to the important things in life”.– Princess Peggy Abkhazi 

In Victoria, BC there are many fabulous gardens. The Abkhazi garden is an acre heritage site tucked away in a residential area of Victoria. This garden situated on a rocky ridge overlooks the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Olympic mountains. Peggy and Nicholas Abkhazi built this garden over a period of 40 years as an expression of their shared joy....   Continue Reading