A picture speaks a thousand words. Get inspired and come on a journey through our gardens by clicking on the galleries.
These five mood-boosting plants—all of which are scientifically proven to improve your day—take self-care one step further. Add one (or all) to your home this season.
DIY pine cone bonsai. How to create a pine cone bonsai tree.
Thoughts about our garden. “We desire,” the Emporer dictated, “that in the garden there should be all kinds of plants.” Charlemagne the Great I do a lot of writing about gardens, but our own personal garden has never been the subject of this blog. Our garden is always a backdrop to my thinking about gardens and gardening—a sort of character in my story whose face is never revealed. There are many reasons for this: first, our garden is just in the process of being established; I’m a terrible photographer and our garden is surrounded on three sides by unattractive roads and on one side by our unattractive house; and mostly because the act of gardening feels profoundly personal to me. It was designed for us, for our own pleasure, so the idea of opening for public consumption is a bit terrifying to me. BEFORE: The garden area when we bought the house. But I love other blogs that openly share their own gardens. James Golden’s View from Federal Twist is a brilliant blog about two wonderful gardens. That James bears his own soul through the garden is a source of endless inspiration to me. I’m just not that brave. And Scott Weber’s Rhone Street Garden is another fantastic blog. Scott transforms his small garden into and endless expanse through the lens of his camera. Through his images, I see and enjoy Scott’s garden much in the way he probably does. Nasella tenuissima and Salvia 'Caradonna' So in homage to other bloggers who bravely open their own gardens to public scrutiny, I am adding a few images of our own “in-process” garden. This spring marks two full years since I began smothering a triangular wedge of lawn in our sunny side yard. This area was too small to be a usable lawn, and too close to the road to be an enjoyable outdoor use area, so it seemed like a practical area for a garden. The sipping terrace which my brother-in-law calls the "duck blind" in late summer The house we bought was a neglected mid-century ranch which we essentially gutted, so my wife and I have poured our resources and time into renovating the house room by room. The only way to afford the renovation was to do everything ourselves, so that has left little time and money for the garden. The assembly of plants—and assembly is a much more accurate term than design—is a result of what we could get cheaply, what we could divide, what was available, and what would survive the mid-summer heat and humidity. This approach is probably entirely familiar to most gardeners, yet entirely problematic from my point of view as a designer. The garden becomes a product of impulse purchases and ad hoc decisions, not careful planning. Kniphofia 'Salley's Comet' with Pleioblastus viridistriatus, Nepeta "Walker's Low' and Eschscholzia californica But I’ve decided to embrace this non-designed approach. Design has its limitations, too. Any designer who has ever installed a garden, walked away, and then visited that garden five years later learns that design is not a singular vision set to paper; design is a thousand of little decisions and actions made through the life of the garden. Iris 'Persian Berry', one of the most exquisite colors I've ever seen With no real design to speak of, the garden has only a sort of guiding philosophy: plant only that which gives us pleasure. To use an admittedly pretentious term, our garden is a sort of “pleasaunce” by default, an archaic term for pleasure-garden. The concept of a pleasure garden is a bit antiquated these days. We are now much more likely to call non-food bearing gardens ornamental gardens. But “ornamental” is such a poor descriptive phrase. Who picks plants like they would pick wallpaper? To match their exterior trim? The worst gardens are those that aim to be merely decorative. No, we pick plants to live with us because they give us pleasure. I was recently re-acquainted with the idea of pleasure gardens when I re-read one of my favorite garden books, Rose Standish Nichols’ English Pleasure Gardens. It is a book I often pick up, read a chapter, and then put it away for a while. This century-old book is a compelling story of the English garden as viewed through three centuries of garden history. Throughout the book, one theme keeps emerging throughout the millennia: gardens exist for our pleasure. Christopher Lloyd’s writings have also been an inspiration of late. Perhaps I’ve spent too many years designing gardens, too many years of balancing client’s desires with safe plant selections. I love the almost garish quality of Dixter’s Long Border. The way it thumbs its nose at “tasteful” gray, pink, and blue color harmonies. The way it mixes tropicals, shrubs, perennials into one boisterous expression. Like Dixter, I would love a garden dedicated to nothing but horticultural craftsmanship. ''Beware of harboring too many plants in your garden of which the adjectives graceful and charming perpetually spring to your besotted lips,'' Lloyd warns as he clutches a black-leafed Canna. I love that. Dixter’s great triumph (and perhaps its downfall) is that it employs every tool in the planter’s toolkit all at once. The result is a hot mess, but one of the purest expressions of horticultural exuberance I’ve ever known. And what a joy that is. Cotinus 'Royal Purple' center (coppiced yearly), Savlia sclarea, Miscanthus 'Morning Light' and Alliums Perhaps all gardening is an attempt to re-create Eden, but our garden has absolutely no paradisiacal qualities. As a result of its placement next to an ugly house and an ugly road, we’ve adopted a more postlapsarian style. In the border, we have an ecumenical selection of wetland plants, desert grasses, South African bulbs, native forbs, and color foliage shrubs. Anything goes as long as it goes. The other side of our yard, we are beginning another more restrained garden evocative of a woodland edge. But in the border, there is no room for restraint, only more and more plants. Nasella tenuissima, Salvia 'Caradonna' and Allium 'Purple Sensation' In this blog, I am often guilty of heaping too much meaning on gardens, burying a simple act under too many metaphors. Perhaps it is an effort to justify my own profession, to add more significance to my calling than actually exists. If a garden exists simply for our own pleasure, what then? Perhaps that is enough. All I know is that gardening is hard work that reveals many agonies and few ecstasies. So despite the garden’s many flaws and failings, when the afternoon sun hits a patch of Feather grass and silhouettes the violet stems of Salvia ‘Caradonna’, it is enough for me. For now, I am pleased. Phlomis tuberosa and Hibiscus 'Fantasia' The ever ubiquitious, but entirely useful Spiraea 'Goldflamme' with Zahara Zinnias Our native-ish garden, planted this srping.
Growing Mimosa Pudica can be fun as you can watch its leaves react to your touch! Here's all about How to Grow Touch me Not Plant!
Abundant across the globe, many don't know that spruce trees are a valuable wild edible and a vital vitamin C source in survival situations.
Why won't a reluctant wisteria bloom? There are lots of possible reasons. Bad attitude, for one. This is a vine that wants its way in the garden. Show it w
Explore Sean‧GA's 291 photos on Flickr!
Rock Cress, or aubrieta is a must-have in any Alpine perennial garden. Perfect for rock gardens and easy-to-grow. Here are some growing tips:
Lavender is a fantastic plant to have around - it looks good, it smells amazing, and it can be harvested for use in cooking and making sachets. It's also extremely easy to care for, as long as you kno
Get to know this selection of spilling and draping plants. - by Roger Fox
Oeuvre d'un architecte inconnu, en 1900, le Jardin d'Hiver des Ursulines est une petite merveille Art Nouveau cachée dans un village de Belgique. Pour les Belges qui ne connaîtraient pas encore et les voyageurs de passage, c'est ici : "The winter garden in art nouveau" Bosstraat 9, Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-Waver (près d'Anvers) Tél : 015.30.50.00 - Voir d'autres photos - Plus d'informations - Source : Paradis Express
Εσύ γνωρίζεις τι είναι το ντεκουπάζ σε γυαλί; Μάθε τα βασικά της διακοσμητικής αυτής τεχνικής και 12 φοβερές ιδέες για diy!
Learn how to identify, harvest, and prepare the most delicious, abundant, and nourishing plants around—edible wild weeds and invasives. These wild herbs pack a medicinal punch and make for tasty, sustainable nutrient-dense dishes.
How to make your garden grow for you.
Do cats get attached to their owners? We know dogs do. Here's an experiment that shows what some suspect – cats are just not that attached!
London designer Rose Uniacke transformed an unloved gallery in her 19th-century mansion into a light-filled indoor conservatory where exotic orchids bloom.
Meet Arthur Parkinson - a man with a passion for chickens, gardens and growing, flowers and Joanna Lumley.
Ginkgo Biloba - "Presidential Gold" Ginkgo Tree "Presidential Gold" Ginkgo Tree Ginkgo biloba Plant Type: Deciduous, broadleaf, large tree Habit: Upright, dense oval crown Mature Size: 45’-50’ tall; 35’-40’ wide Growth Rate: Fast Zones: 4-9 Foliage: Fan shaped; medium green leaves; bright yellow in fall Requirements: Tolerates most soils, full sun Landscape Characteristics: Large specimen tree, great in residential lawns or commercial landscapes. Highly adaptable to a variety of conditions including urban pollutants and coastal salt. Moderate to high tolerance for drought and moderate salt tolerance.
Although she has resided in France for most of her adulthood, British-born author and entrepreneur Sharon Santoni remains enthralled with the culture of her adopted land. “I love the quality of our life here—the attention to detail, the beautiful architecture and countryside,” she says. Launching her popular blog, My French Country Home, ushered in more - Page 2
Explore mariluzpicado's 1864 photos on Flickr!
These are what you need to be planting for sunny spots
Noted for its long blooming season, Baptisia 'Midnight' is an upright perennial bearing a profusion of extremely long inflorescences, 24 in. (60 cm), bearing deep blue-violet flowers. Unlike most False Indigos, this plant has two bloom cycles within its blooming season. The first cycle produces long flower spikes up to 24 in. long in late spring. It is quickly followed by a second cycle, which produces blooms on secondary branches with inflorescences up to 5 in. long (12 cm), further extending its flowering season.
We don't know what it is about tree stumps that we love so much - maybe the natural texture, the joy of reusing materials, or the fact that they're completely f…
Måste tipsa om detta sätt att driva upp små ekplantor. Det är min kompis Cecilia som gjort en så kallad ekollon lasagne och det sättet verkar både vara så mycket enklare men också effektivare än att
The International Garden Photographer of the Year is one of the world’s premier competitions
Rivaling the best Japanese maples, award-winning Liquidambar styraciflua 'Worplesdon' (Sweet Gum) is a magnificent, deciduous tree adorned with a straight trunk and a broadly conical crown at maturity. Its foliage of large, star-shaped, deeply lobed, glossy green leaves turns fiery red, orange, and yellow in fall before falling, revealing the attractive branching pattern, furrowed bark, and corky wings on twigs.
These tall shade perennials will fill the gap between ground covers and bushes in your shade garden with beautiful flowers and foliage
Suffer from allergies? Find out what houseplants are best for improving our indoor air quality and alleviating allergy symptoms!
Stained glass window, Parliament Building (Hôtel du Parlement), Quebec City, Canada
Find Chinese Fringetree (Chionanthus retusus) in Greensboro High Point Winston-Salem Summerfield North Carolina NC at New Garden Landscaping & Nursery (Fringe Tree)
With this natural rooting hormone guide, you'll be able to grow healthier crops and keep critters away easily.
Here's how to get rid of slugs in your garden and yard. 3 ingredients make this homemade chemical free slug tonic. Beer, Yeast and Sugar!
Panting roses in a mixed border is one of the easiest ways of enjoying roses in your garden. Combine shrub roses, other shrubs, perennials and annuals to create a tapestry of different colours and textures - find inspiration in our image gallery and tips and tricks for planning a rose border.
Ogród - Tajemniczy ogród
Explore Bill Higham's 852 photos on Flickr!
Find practical gardening advice, tips, and information on how to grow and care for beautiful, flowering camellia shrubs in the South.
If you’re looking for a fruit tree that can be potted on your patio, consider the bonanza patio peach tree, a dwarf peach tree that still produces edible fruit.
The Shepherd’s Brace Hut is a pair of Quercus (oak) huts joined together with a hand-crafted kitchen with copper worktop, induction hob, brushed nickel tap, sink & integrated fridge, luxurious seating area, wardrobe, shower room with brushed nickel shower & bespoke copper shower surround, basin & a wood burning stove.
It'll make your garden to look and grow better.
Whether your thumb is green or black, whether you have one plant or a jungle's worth, here are some plant-care and gardening tips that can help keep your greenery not only alive, but lush.
Décorez et aménagez vous-même votre extérieur grâce à cette compilation de 10 courtes vidéos DIY: récup, peinture, palette... Vous trouverez de nombreuses idées pour créer un jardin qui vous ressemble.