tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-66932353818457738592012-02-16T01:10:24.569-08:00Welcome to The Garden Party, where garden news is shared like Bearded Iris traded over a neighbor’s fence, and where dirt under your fingernails will be graciously overlooked if you arrive with something fresh from your own plot.Melissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17458771300970825783noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6693235381845773859.post-4073407680790090762010-04-30T10:01:00.001-07:002010-05-06T09:45:20.772-07:00

Sort of like one of those tiny earthquakes that you're not sure really even happened... we've shifted some of the furniture around in the back room and have officially moved to http://gardenparty.sanctuarygardens.info/ but I don't mind a bit if you didn't notice. Isn't that a hallmark of great design? "Hmmm, something looks more fabulous than usual, but I just can't put my finger on it..."

Melissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17458771300970825783noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6693235381845773859.post-45962814222247446352009-11-15T18:01:00.000-08:002010-05-04T09:28:58.573-07:00

Last week I attended an event hosted by Armstrong Growers promoting their collaboration with ELT Living Walls to contract grow modular live wall and green roof systems. I had a chance to handle the goods, which I always appreciate, and also had a chance sighting of a fellow designer whose work I admire very much (more on that below).Armstrong is just one of a few wholesale growers offering

Melissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17458771300970825783noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6693235381845773859.post-41548409825318071552009-08-28T09:31:00.000-07:002010-05-04T09:30:00.450-07:00

Although it runs contrary to our ingrained understanding of the seasons, spring and summer are not really the best time to plant in California. While spring generally marks the beginning of longer days, more light and warmer temperatures (conditions that encourage above-ground plant growth) those warmer temperatures can be extreme in California and the rest of the Southwest.In the nursery, even

Melissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17458771300970825783noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6693235381845773859.post-64320818547394658172009-08-07T12:30:00.001-07:002010-05-04T09:30:21.702-07:00

Perhaps you've seen me driving in your neighborhood, slowly weaving down the tree-lined block, breezing through stop signs with Magoo-like bravado. If so, you've surely assumed my cellphone distracts me but, actually, it's the trees. Street trees engross me. Old trees lining the sidewalk with grandeur let me share the vision of planners working over 60 years ago, and newly planted trees tell me

Melissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17458771300970825783noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6693235381845773859.post-89110955197704383182009-07-06T22:05:00.000-07:002010-05-04T09:30:46.971-07:00

While I have been known to stay in the garden long enough to merit a search party, when I do make my way back to the house it's often to stir up delicious trouble in the kitchen. Friends, for your next garden party, you are welcome to use my personal recipe for Banished From the Garden (And Well Worth It) Chocolate Cake. While it's tempting to say that this was a recipe carried close to the

Melissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17458771300970825783noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6693235381845773859.post-12612852171178277472009-06-09T16:03:00.000-07:002010-05-04T09:31:35.012-07:00

Along with my Spring Cleaning inevitably comes Spring Dreaming. It's the time of year I'm superhumanly attuned to any conversation including the words "renovation", "designer", "project" or "groundbreaking." It's the point in the season when whatever potted arrangement I've put together to brighten up the front door in late Winter can no longer draw my eye from the persistently dissatisfying and

Melissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17458771300970825783noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6693235381845773859.post-43058161651707705502009-05-14T14:42:00.000-07:002009-05-14T20:56:26.362-07:00

1. What other plants pair both seafoam green and pink in one tidy, charming package?2. $200 spent on the water bill vs $200 spent at my favorite local boutique...need I say more? 3. I'm a pushover for rosettes of all sizes. 4. I like to make my neighbors look twice. 5. Impatiens only look good in tropical gardens and (hard truth) tropical gardens rarely look great outside of the tropics. [

Melissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17458771300970825783noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6693235381845773859.post-13948450681839421152009-05-05T09:49:00.000-07:002010-05-04T09:32:39.470-07:00

The May/June issue of California Gardener is out and, lo and behold, inside of the back cover is a piece written by none other than yours truly. As you might guess, I'm terribly excited and couldn't be more proud. Click here to check it out!Also in this issue is a brief article about the new Itoh peonies. Yes, it's true, peonies are not terribly easy to grow for those of us who already enjoy the

Melissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17458771300970825783noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6693235381845773859.post-30935093351323634392009-04-27T08:22:00.000-07:002010-05-04T09:33:54.821-07:00

I couldn't be more excited to see the Desert Steel Co. featured in the April issue of Garden Design magazine.I happened to meet steel sculptor Eric Carroll last summer at the annual outdoor arts fair in Hermosa Beach where he was promoting his gorgeous life-sized cactus and agave sculptures. I couldn't take my eyes off of them! The promise of patina, the artist's obvious grasp of the original

Melissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17458771300970825783noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6693235381845773859.post-85932721800894316542009-04-27T07:52:00.000-07:002010-05-04T09:34:15.541-07:00

Imagine my proud surprise when I received this photo from my friend Eric in the Bay Area along with this message: "Your child is blooming again! Perhaps it will have four flowers next year."The Amaryllis in the photo (or Hippeastrum, as they are correctly called) is one I had sprouted from seed over five years ago by pollinating a lovely pair I had on a sunny windowsill one winter. It was great

Melissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17458771300970825783noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6693235381845773859.post-55164630279277856692009-04-19T01:04:00.000-07:002010-05-04T09:34:44.104-07:00

Admittedly, playing hostess for weeks at a time can be exhausting for even the most gracious among us. However, there is a cadre of guests that I welcome back year after year, the more the merrier and, please, stay as long as you like! My garden has the auspicious honor of serving as the local Fairmount to a voracious party of Coccinella septempunctata, or Lady Bugs, as they are known.While I'm

Melissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17458771300970825783noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6693235381845773859.post-87529017802175425772009-04-17T09:52:00.000-07:002010-05-04T09:35:20.416-07:00

Well, let's talk. First, is it considered gossip if it's flattering? Because I have nothing but great things to say about the accomplished Flora Grubb, Belle of the Bay Area (garden) Ball! I love it when the newsletter from Flora Grubb Gardens, her handsome nursery in San Francisco's Hunter's Point area, arrives in my in-box. There's always something fresh and fun in the new offerings she

Melissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17458771300970825783noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6693235381845773859.post-17834155757914472212009-04-07T21:17:00.000-07:002009-04-19T10:15:39.943-07:00

Welcome to The Garden Party, where garden news is shared like Bearded Iris traded over a neighbor's fence, and where dirt under your fingernails will be graciously overlooked if you arrive with something fresh from your own plot.Whether you choose a seat under the Magnolia (dare I say ancient and handsomely branched?) or nearer to the Gardenias (always healthy, always in bloom) there's a place

Melissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17458771300970825783noreply@blogger.com