5-10-06 Mother’s Day and Venice
In This Issue:
- From Venice to Venice
- The Stork is coming
- Gardenerd Tip of the Month: Grow Organic
1. From Venice to Venice
In lieu of an April newsletter, I took a little trip to Venice, Italy for my “official” honeymoon. What a glorious place it is! Words cannot describe the splendor of its intoxicating beauty. The history, the buildings, the bridges, the people – all so perfect in some otherworldly way. Between my fluent-Italian-speaking-husband and a copy of Frances Mayes’ sequel to Under the Tuscan Sun – Bella Tuscany – I felt fully immersed in all that is Italy. While her first book focuses on renovating the house, Bella Tuscany depicts the trials and tribulations of setting up – and finally enjoying – the gardens of her newly renovated property, Bramasole. After multitudes of repairs, and a lot of help from locals, Frances and her companion Ed watch their first full-fledged spring garden blossom to life. As I traveled through Northern Italy witnessing the birth of buds forming on trees and watching the locals begin to set up their own gardens for spring, I was wishing more than anything that I could stay to see spring unfold in this majestic place.
But alas, we had to return to our sunny California. Venice Beach, California. What better way to follow up a trip to Italy than to partake of the yearly event affectionately known as the Venice Garden Tour? Each year, selected Venetians open their homes and gardens to gawkers like me. If ever there is a place where people think outside the box, it is in Venice Beach, let me tell you. You can find modern, drought-tolerant gardens right next to lush, English country gardens, next to eccentric, colorfully painted, art and sculpture-based gardens. Clearly, these folks believe that if you can dream it, do it… and you will probably be asked to be on next year’s tour. So even if you can’t get to Italy, perhaps you can find a local garden event or a great book that will transport you to lofty ideas where you can fill your imagination and take your gardening in new directions.
2. Gardenerd Product of the Month: The Stork is coming
No – I’m not pregnant… but my sister-in-law is! So now that I’m going to be an aunt, I have chosen to celebrate Mother’s Day by introducing a new Gardenerd product: the Gardenerd Infant Creeper. Picture your sweet, little bundle of joy swaddled in this cute Gardenerd onezie. They’ll be the talk of the town as they stroll around the garden, exploring all the things you’d rather they didn’t: snails, soil, more snails. Just click on the link and you’ll be jettisoned to Cafe Press for a buying frenzy for all the little people in your life. Enjoy!
3. Gardenerd Tip of the Month: Grow Organic
Unbeknownst to myself, I have wandered onto the mailing list of what is quite possibly the most comprehensive organic gardening supply catalog of all time. Plants, seeds, cover crops, propagating supplies, irrigation systems, fertilizers, soil analysis services and kits, composting and gardening tools, and organic pest control – I am dizzy from all the options! The publication is in black and white newsprint, but what it lacks in showmanship, it more than makes up for it in selection. Run, don’t walk, to this website to get on their mailing list for a deliriously decadent catalog shopping experience.
Link: http://www.groworganic.com
Stay tuned for more gardening tips and tidbits from the Gardenerd. Happy Spring Gardening!
