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Two Houses, part 2

January 03, 2012 by Kathy Purdy

Filed under Garden Blogs

In the Oakland hills near the Berkeley border is Chapel of the Chimes, a columbarium. Renovated and expanded by Julia Morgan, the architect of Hearst Castle in San Simeon, it is a melding of Spanish and Gothic styles with arches, latticing and copious stained glass. I’ve been visiting since I was very young and it [...] read more

Two Houses, part 1

January 02, 2012 by Kathy Purdy

Filed under Garden Blogs

The street I grew up on was lined with Sycamore trees. Their leafy masses were a delight in summer and always produced some good-natured grumbling during fall raking. These were small city lots and as time moved on problems developed. Blocked sewer lines became common and sidewalks started to lift and shift, making walking difficult [...] read more

New Year’s pix

January 02, 2012 by Craig Cramer

Filed under Garden Blogs

Winter is finally supposed to hit tonight. (Low's ~10F, 6 to 10 inches of snow, high ~15F tomorrow.) But New Year's was sunny and pushing 50F. I even harvested a little lettuce. Grasses look good. Pulmonaria is still green (mostly). Bittersweet wreath by the driveway. The stiff breezes got the seedheads all pointing the same [...] read more

Influence: my mother’s windowsill

December 30, 2011 by Lynn

Filed under Garden Blogs

My mother always had something rooting in little jelly jars on the kitchen windowsill or in the sunny back windows. She still does. Filed under: inspiration, Out West Tagged: home, inspiration, winter read more

In frosty days

December 26, 2011 by Lynn

Filed under Garden Blogs

We dream of happy coneflowers… Photo by Piet Oudolf, from his Hummelo garden. For more see http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2011/02/10/garden/20110210-garden.html Filed under: Uncategorized read more

First snow, Chicago

December 19, 2011 by Lynn

Filed under Garden Blogs

Saturday. Fortunately it melted so that on Sunday I could plant the 20-odd Iris histrioides bulbs that I relocated here and that did not desiccate on the kitchen counter. ‘Katharine Hodgkin’ will be a welcome taste of NY home come March or April. Filed under: a seasonal shift, Hyde Park Tagged: snow read more

December bloom day scans

December 18, 2011 by Craig Cramer

Filed under Garden Blogs

Late to the party, as usual. (And after totally blowing off November.) Thanks, as usual, for Carol for hosting at May Dreams. More scans here. Flower scanning directions are here. Click on image for larger view. And some bonus poinsettias (dry brushed): read more

Dragon Wing Red Begonia: Garden Bloggers Bloom Day December 2011

December 15, 2011 by Kathy Purdy

Filed under Garden Blogs

This spring, Ball Horticultural sent me some Dragon Wing Red Begonias to trial in my garden. My sister-in-law had told me that she dug up and potted her wax begonias, wintered them over as houseplants, and replanted them every spring, and this gave me the idea to try the same thing with these larger begonias. [...] read more

Happy Monday in the Sonic Arboretum

December 12, 2011 by Lynn

Filed under Garden Blogs

“A collection of horned speakers, made from compressed recycled newsprint and dryer lint, created by sculptor and instrument-maker Ian Schneller and composer/violinist Andrew Bird, are installed in the MCA’s atrium to create a unique sound garden. Bird records the initial compositions on-site at the MCA and sends musical information to different groups of horns via [...] read more

if they can do it…

December 07, 2011 by Lynn

Filed under Garden Blogs

so can I. Bloom that is, now. Right as the frost is getting serious, when the ratio of gray to sunny feels 20 to 1. What the heck is this tree and why does it have the temerity to bloom its head off now? Filed under: a seasonal shift, the trees read more

Late fall grasses

December 02, 2011 by Craig Cramer

Filed under Garden Blogs

Finally posting a few pix from over Thanksgiving holiday. Grasses and blue bottles. More bottles. Mollinia. read more

Shards of fall

November 27, 2011 by Lynn

Filed under Garden Blogs

The radiators in this 115-year-old house are cranking, the drizzle is drizzling, weatherman says it feels like 27 F outside, and temps are trending downward into December. It feels like we just got here, but on a sunny walk through this usually leafy city neighborhood the other day it was obvious: fall is losing its [...] read more

Pepper spraying cop

November 23, 2011 by Craig Cramer

Filed under Garden Blogs

If you missed the pepper-spraying cop at UC Davis, it's risen to 'internet meme' status. I felt obligated to contribute to the pepper spraying cop site at tumblr. Some think of pepper spray as a food ingredient. But if you'd like to know where the pepper spray in question ranks on the Scoville scale, see [...] read more

Bloom day scans

November 20, 2011 by Craig Cramer

Filed under Garden Blogs

Late to the party, as usual. (In fact, I've broken my record for late.) These geraniums (err pelargoniums) were supposed to be in flower in August for my daughter's wedding. (They would have complemented the bridesmaids'colors.) Instead, they've waited until I put them in a cool room to remain in suspended animation for the winter [...] read more

Mulch Can Kill Trees

November 14, 2011 by Kathy Purdy

Filed under Garden Blogs

Mulch can kill trees–that sounds kind of extreme, doesn’t it? But it caught your attention, right? I suppose it would be more accurate to say improper mulching can kill trees, but as I look around me, improper mulching of trees seems to be the standard practice, the only kind of mulching around trees that’s being [...] read more

Dryden Beautification Brigade

November 12, 2011 by Craig Cramer

Filed under Garden Blogs

I had the distinct honor of giving a presentation at the season-end celebration of the Dryden Beautification Brigade. These volunteers do a great job planting and maintaining planters and public gardens around the village. After viewing a slideshow of them in action, I told them that if any local government had to pay full retail [...] read more

Matt Wolford

November 12, 2011 by Craig Cramer

Filed under Garden Blogs

Via Delphine at ParadisExpress, photographer and digital artist Matt Wolford. Creative collages, lots of scanning, great blog. read more

Acoustic Gogol Bordello

November 12, 2011 by Craig Cramer

Filed under Garden Blogs

Playlist for a great acoustic Gogol Bordello set on Interface. A sample below. read more

Happy Monday: Rolling On

October 31, 2011 by Lynn

Filed under Garden Blogs

I didn’t forget about you. How to rekindle things here has been on my mind often, but how do we catch up after 6 months, especially after so much has happened? You can’t all just come over for coffee and cake. I’ve got an ever-closing baby nap window to work with, a short sunny day, [...] read more

Science: What’s It Up To?

October 27, 2011 by Craig Cramer

Filed under Garden Blogs

Bound to be a classic from Aasif Mandvi on the Daily Show: The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c Weathering Fights - Science: What's It Up To? www.thedailyshow.com Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog The Daily Show on Facebook I do think he hugs the kids after [...] read more