What’s Growin’ On

Near the end of our tour of Ireland, we made a stop at Strokestown House and Gardens.  This was quite possibly the most influential part of the tour, historically speaking.  Strokestown House is where you will find the Famine Museum.  Now, most everyone knows that there was a potato famine that swept Ireland in the 1840's, but what I didn't know was the horrific treatment of farmers that came with it.  Here's a short summary:

Irish farmers had their land taken away from them by British rulers. British landlords who were put in place would then rent the...

There is much to be said for opulence.  Whether you admire wealth or despise it, you've got to hand it to the creators of the Powerscourt Estate for a job well done.  I won't go into a history lesson, but I will tell you that this site is one of Ireland's most important and most famous pieces of property.  You might recognize it from the film of recent years, The Count of Monte Cristo, in which the big-bash, "I'm richer than all of you" party scene was filmed.  My jaw dropped open upon walking through the double doors overlooking ...

Our trip to Ireland during its "dry" season promised to be one filled with green, green, green. I photographed many gardens, but I'll start with something cute, since this is most likely the kind of garden I would have expected to see in Ireland.

The small town of Adair provided the perfect backdrop for thatched-roof houses with cozy cottage gardens all in a row. It seems that the people of this little town made the best of the short summer by going gang-busters on flowers and vegetables, with copious amounts of hanging plants (usually impatiens) to liven ...

I recently sprained my ankle while dancing.  I'm swollen, black and blue, the whole nine yards.  I've been told I'm out of commission for at least twelve weeks.  While hobbling around the garden, trying not to get dirt under my toes in flip flops (the only shoes I can wear right now), I realize how fortunate I am to ordinarily have the use of all my fingers and toes, arms, legs and other body parts.  Everything takes so much longer to…

I recently published an article out there in cyberspace.  It's part one of a series on heirloom vegetables.  Here's a little excerpt for you: When I think of heirloom vegetables, romantic notions of windswept hillsides and fields of sunflowers come to mind. I picture a sturdy wooden table arranged with rustic linens and slender glasses of wine, each one catching a ray of sunlight and reflecting onto the summer palate of oranges, reds and yellows that make up a bowl of…

Happy first day of summer, everyone!  Today is the longest day of the year.  Glorious sunlight will stream in on us, plants will be happy, shorts and flip-flops will be dusted off, glaringly pale legs will see the light of day for quite possibly the first time all year.  Break open the watermelon, catch some fire files, run through the sprinklers and mix up some lemonade - summer is her to stay (at least for the next 3 months). As…

Today I treated myself to a trip to one of my favorite nurseries, The Marina Garden Center, and bought a few more herbs to add to my culinary herb garden in the backyard.  In fact, it has turned from being just a culinary herb garden into a combination medicinal / culinary/ it-smells-good herb garden.  The new additions include: Tuscan Upright Blue Rosemary Sweet Lavender Bergamot English Thyme Purple Sage Variegated Sage (it has yellow edges around the gray-green leaves) and French Tarragon I…

Last Sunday was one of the most perfect days this Gardenerd has ever had.  Why, you ask?  Simply put, I transplanted.  I took cuttings (some with roots, some without) from my community garden plot and brought them home to my back yard and transplanted them.  This is the start of something big - an herb garden that is steps away from my kitchen instead of a 10 minute drive.  Here's what I brought home: Oregano Chives Mexican Sage Lime Geranium Munstead…

My husband and I ventured out this past weekend to the Santa Monica Sustainable Garden Tour.  Given that we are finishing up the house renovation and will shortly be starting to focus on the front and back yards, we wanted to learn as much as possible about responsible landscaping. Now admittedly, when I think of xeriscape (defined as a landscaping method developed especially for arid and semiarid climates that utilizes water-conserving techniques (as the use of drought-tolerant plants, mulch, and…