I have start with apologies, I have meant to write so much more often than I have been able to, since being here in So Cal.  I don’t know if you have missed Studio ‘g’, but I have.  Wanting to write and have my peaceful time to revel in garden design and not getting it can make me a bit claustrophobic.  We have been visiting family, and up until today, both sides of our family have been here so I have had less time to myself.  We don’t leave for a couple more days, so I hope that I can spend some time here online as well as around the area checking out the nooks and crannies of LA that I have never turned up before.

Being here in southern California, is so inspiring, it is still warm, things are green, and I have all the optimism of a spring gardener.  The cycles of the seasons, being so much more subtle here, are fooling my mind into thinking about all things lush and lovely rather than what I know will greet me on my return to Boston (Snow??).  I have a few more days to revel in it, and revel I plan to do….

Joseph Marek is a local designer whose gardens are really inspiring me at the moment.  What I am loving about his style is the layered in details.  Color threads really flow through; plants and flowers match walls and furniture fabrics; containers and accessories tell cohesive stories.  There is no lack of places for your eyes to peacefully settle on something lovely.

These portfolio images also have me thinking a lot about something else.  The fact that they are so beautiful is not natural.  Gardens never look this perfect in real life, and like most all magazine photography, these are images that took a lot of time and work to create, probably by professional stylists.  They are a bit of an aspirational illusion that are difficult to achieve and maintain, but I think worth the effort to try.

It has me wondering how many people out there are not just stylists, but specifically garden stylists? -  Professionals that work hard to prepare a garden or landscape for this type of photography.  Are you one? Do you know anyone? I would love to interview a few of these people for some professional pointers.

In the interim, I will continue to study these lovely gardens, admire Joseph’s work, and learn from a master.

I think I forgot to mention yesterday, that I am Southern California on vacation – though I am still blogging between trips to the pool, walks on the beach, trips to Disneyland (tomorrow) and whatever else we end up doing.  My in-laws (where we are staying) live in Palos Verdes, which I have to say, is a really nice place.  They have lovely views and this peninsula is so naturally pretty, I always somehow forget how nice it is between visits.

Obviously, everything looks different here (Rochelle, you are not in New England anymore) – and I find it so inspiring to see all the different plants and trees, the lovely (overly?) manicured gardens that surround every house, and the beautiful ocean views.

I think I am going to probably go on about all things Southern Californian until I leave. (Bear with me).  I thought I would share with you (over the next few days) the portfolios of some super talented southern Californian designers and design teams.

All of these lovely gardens were designed by Dry Design under the principals Sasha Tarnopolsky and John Jennings.   I love them because they are so appropriate to the desert — I have to admit the abundance of green lawns is a little much.

I have some more to share with you tomorrow….but in the mean time, click on over to Dry Design, they have such an inspiring portfolio beyong just these images, and well worth the visit.

I completely love this idea.  I want one (or 5).  They are not readily available as they were produced in original quantities, by Swedish designer Fredrik Paulsen, of 20.  But really this isn’t so complicated.  Having a whole bunch of them would make for a wonderful cocktail party in the garden.

or perhaps you might prefer this application…for an inpromptu gathering in the middle of a roundabout.   It’s Thanksgiving week….and it just struck me how powerful a table is….we just naturally all want to gather around it.

Fredrik Paulsen can be reached through his website.

p.s. — I am still working on my google earth letters….thanks for those of you have sent me something…keep ‘em coming…I can’t spell anything yet!

I have been looking for inspiration for christmas card designs for my family and for my business.  I have not yet honed in on what I want to do (I feel I have to change up every year and, of course, strive to be ever so different….).   These caught my eye…(They were put together by thomas from places in the Netherlands). I am thinking of perhaps a Boston/ New England based version…that spells out ‘happy holidays’…or perhaps a shorter greeting as I am finding it not so easy to find letters.

This is the center of my town (Harvard, MA)  – a passable ‘A’ right?  What letters do you have near you? check it out on Google Earth and let me know….maybe together we can spell out a decent holiday greeting.

image by Sea Moon

Are you going to the movies this weekend?  I really want to see the Fabulous Mr. Fox with my family, but there is another movie just out that has my attention (if only for a few minutes)  – 2012.   I suspect that seeing this movie is not actually going to make my calendar unless some family force over takes me.  I am not given to seeking out high action movies and the 2012 phenomenon in whatever form you might believe in it, is not something I give any credence to beyond simply the far fetched premise of a big budget blockbuster flick.  I tend to be skeptical.  But….it does make me think about something…seed saving.  Should their be catastrophic (not likely) or more likely, considerable climatic changes, or (already happened) commercial culling, that causes the slow demise and obscurement of horticultural species, it is comforting to know that there are seed saving resources around the world like the International Seed Saving Institute and others.

image by Dragan*

Seed saving is fascinating to me.  As a farmers market manager, I have had the opportunity to know some local seed savers that through their efforts have been able to create a new life in a new country (USA).  Hmong Farms which is local to me (and one of my market vendors) is part of a greater cooperative of immigrant farmers who use some local land to grow food.  Many of the foods that people grow there are varieties of vegetables that they brought with them from their original lands (Somalia, Brazil, Laos, Vietnam to name a few).  The cooperative gives immigrants an opportunity to continue to grow their own food, as they did in their native homes, as well as potentially ramp up production to enable them to move beyond feeding their own families and begin to sell their produce at local venues as a means of income.  I love the Hmong products as I am always delighted with varieties that I could never find in my large corporate grocery.  For example,  I have discovered that a variety of asian green pumpkin that they grow makes pie that naturally tastes like a super rich pumpkin pie cheese cake.  Their stand always smells so especially fresh and delicious with their huge Asian scallions, Thai basil, mint and dill.  (I am longing for next summer’s harvest already…)

image by Oh Lenna

Anyway back to my original thought…seed saving.  In past years I have half heartedly tried to save seeds from plants that I enjoyed in my vegetable garden –  to little success.  I ended up with a moldy mess and seeds that didn’t grow. (In my defense, I didn’t actually try very hard).  I may have been trying to save hybrids – who knows.   I am not one to pay much attention to these details.  Nor do I pay a lot of attention to expiration dates, I prefer to throw something in the ground rather than in the trash – it’s an optimistic approach.

There are some pretty extensive seed saving efforts going on around the world including the Svalbard International Seed Vault which is built inside a mountain in a man-made tunnel on the frozen Norwegian island of Spitsbergen. It is designed to survive catastrophes such as nuclear war  and is operated by the Global Crop Diversity Trust.  The Millennium Seed Bank Project located at Wakehurst Place in West Sussex also provides space for the storage of thousands of seed samples in an underground vault.  And if you really want to take he subject seriously, consider Nikolai Vavilov a Russian geneticist and botanist who collected seeds from all over the world, and set up one of the first seedbanks, in Leningrad (now St Petersburg).  During WWII’s seige of Leningrad, several botanists starved to death rather than eating the collected seeds. It is now known as the Vavilov Institute of Plant Industry.

Are you a 2012 enthusiast (is that possible? can one think it’s all coming to an end in 2012 AND be enthusiastic?)  Interestingly, you have some packaged options for seed emergencies.   Hometown seeds offers canned garden seeds for emergency seed production and similarly (but more expensive and you must weed through a website laced with lots of scare tactics) you can also buy a nice looking collection of non-hybrid high production seeds from the survival seed bank.

It’s the perfect gift for the 2012 enthusiast.

A picture can inpsire so many thoughts.  Here is what this one, by photographer Jacqui Hurst, makes me think about:  Maybe the best way to to get rid of a lawn is to not get rid of it at all, but rather, add to it…underplant it with bulbs, introduce other plants (like clover, moss and other tiny flowers)  and then mow just a simple path.  It would save on maintainece and the labor of ripping it out, be more horticulturally diverse and in my opinion, a whole lot prettier.   What do you think?