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Gazing Balls

Bright & Shiny

This time of year Christmas trees decorated with lights and ornaments are showing up all around the town.  If you decorate a tree with traditional glass ornaments in red, gold, or silver you will see the beauty surrounding you reflected in their shiny surface.  Stories of glass ball ornaments trace back to the 1800’s in Germany, though the origin of glass balls has been documented back to the 1300’s.  Venetian glass blowers began creating colorful spheres  as gazing balls to reflect the light and the view of gardens. The fragile and colorful balls were a sign of wealth and status used to accessorize the gardens of kings. King Ludwig II, King of Bavaria during the 1800’s, adorned his palace, Herrenchiemsee, his replica of Versailles, with these gazing balls.  Could there be a connection?...   Continue Reading

The River Cafe, Brooklyn, NY

Hurricane Sandy has done such harm.  Many lives were lost, homes destroyed, business devastated and natural beauty permanently altered.  Living in the West it is hard to grasp just how much damage this area of our country has received.  I was in New York last fall and as I read today’s news I recognize areas where I visited.  An article in the NYTimes (11/11/2012) described the damage done to “The River Cafe” in Brooklyn.  This 35 year old restaurant is an icon of elegant, formal dinning.  This is where one went for very special dinner occasions, such as marriage proposals, significant birthdays and anniversary celebrations.  According to the Times article one evening not long ago 7 couples were each celebrating their 25th anniversary in the dining room....   Continue Reading

Hospital Gardens

If you are at the hospital there is probably a crisis going on in your life and your mind is in a whirl (arriving babies quite the exception.)   Once there as you navigate the many halls and pods of rooms you may rush by a garden.  Healing gardens and meditation gardens are part of many hospitals.  Banner Desert Hospital in Mesa, AZ has gardens.  I recently spent three days rushing through the halls here and found the Harmony Garden, Bistro Garden, Children’s and Train garden....   Continue Reading

Philbrook Art Museum & Gardens, Tulsa, OK

“Oh what a beautiful morning!”

 

My primary exposure to Oklahoma was in the movie theatre many years ago, “where the wind comes sweepin’ down the plain.” So when driving through the state recently and finding an ornate Italian Villa with 23 acres of formal gardens, I realized I needed to learn more about this place where there is “Plen’y of air and plen’y of room, Plen’y of heart and plen’y of hope.” (lyrics of Oklahoma, Rodgers & Hammerstein)...   Continue Reading

Foster Botanical Garden, Oahu, HI

Exceptional, Exceptional trees.  There are so many things to discover in Hawaii and this  small garden is big in delight.  There are 24 officially designated “Exceptional Trees” in this space.  Large, unique, spectacular and astonishing trees are here. In the large category, there are Tamarind, Boabab and Quipo trees.  The Quipo is sleek and tall growing like a silver streak train to the sky.  The unique, includes the blue marble tree and the cannonball tree.  A cannonball tree is truly loaded with heavy, round, brown balls that grow from beautiful orange flowers....   Continue Reading

Limahuli Garden, Kauai

The tour guides try to convince you the only way to see the beauty of Kauai is by helicopter and the Napoli Coast cannot be enjoyed but by guided activity.  Yet this garden will give you a glimpse of all of this in a most enjoyable stroll.  You drive nearly to the end of the road of the northwest shore of Kauai.  The 1000 acre valley garden rises up from the entrance gate.  Lush and green surrounds you.  Mountain peaks and unique plants are well labeled and described in the accompanying booklet provided with your admission.  Plants in Hawaii arrived by wind, water and wing, the garden illustrates these contributions....   Continue Reading

Madeira, Portugal, Island of Flowers

Painting in plants creates art.  This art is the highlight of the Jardin Botanico in Madeira, Portugal.  Landscape design is a combination of texture, color, structure, climate and patience.  An artist working in oil must allow time for the canvas to completely dry.  The garden painter working with a palate of plants must wait for the art to grow.  All this must be done again and again to keep the art of the garden in view.  It is a significant commitment.  As a living creation it requires devotion far beyond the painter using oil and brush.  Once the painting is sent out into the world the painter has little if any further stewardship.  This is not so for a garden creation....   Continue Reading

La Posada Hotel & Gardens

Sometimes the treasures closest to home are the ones we miss.  One of our  Arizona treasures is La Posada Resort in Winslow, AZ. Built in 1929 it is described as “the last great railroad hotel.”  It is Mary Coulter’s architectural masterpiece. She designed 21 projects for Fred Harvey. “Mary Coulter was hired by the Fred Harvey Company in 1903 to design fine hotels, restaurants, and gift shops along the Santa Fe Railway.  She became America’s most influential woman designer.  . . . This was her favorite project, the only time she was allowed to design everything from the buildings (to the china, maid’s uniforms,) to the gardens.”(laposada.org) Her plan was to create an oasis in the high plateau of the Colorado River to greet the guests arriving by train.   LaPosada opened in 1930 and in a turn of history’s fortunes, her garden plans were never fully realized....   Continue Reading

Rio Grande Bio Park, Botanical Garden

Even on a 100 degree day this garden is a cool place to be.  Only 15 years old, this 36-acre botanical garden was built in the site of a city park that had fallen into disrepair.  As a result, mature cottonwood and elm trees provide shade all throughout the garden.  The entry courtyard is spacious and decorative. As you enter the garden through beautiful, ornate bronze gates, the first space to catch your eye is the children’s fantasy garden with a castle tower and dragon.  The dragon towers up above the trees with fabric wings and a spine planted with rounded boxwood.  The castle tower floor is a sand pit ready for play.  Walking through the castle courtyard, you find yourself in a land of giants. This garden grows huge carrots, radishes, and onions.  The tools of the giants are scattered about.  There is a rake, trowel, watering can, and flower pots, all fit for the giant.  A motion activated bee begins buzzing overhead as you enter the potting area.  You walk into the interior of a monstrous pumpkin with the seeds and stringy center dangling overhead.  The tree trunks open up for play, you may slide down to another level. This imaginative garden space is a bit of magic for all ages....   Continue Reading