A Home's First Welcoming Gesture

I was searching for garden photos the other day and came across this beautiful website for the design firm, Landscape East in Virginia Beach. The stunning photos were mesmerizing and allowed me to imagine the same beautiful spaces in my backyard.

This is such a great example of how your website can set the tone for the rest of your company. Instantly I visualized romantic gardens, air-filled flowery scents, and sounds of trickling water.

It was even more fun reading about the owner, Roy Cutler, and how he went from banker to self-taught designer and horticulturist. He definitely has an eye for good design on several levels.

His designs are based on beauty and function...a man after my own heart. Roy also describes a garden as your home's first welcoming gesture for friends and family. Awe. I just love that.

Fabulous Fireflies

I found this stunning photo today by Kristian Cvecek and just couldn't contain my adoration. Kristian used slow shutter speeds to capture these lovely fireflies in flight. Absolutely amazing.

Cocktails in the Garden

I was attending a conference at the Desert Botanical Garden last week (which was lovely, by the way) and ran into my good friend and fabulous designer Tres Fromme. I love showing his garden ink drawings. He whipped this up for me while there (I'm sure it wasn't mad doodling during an intense presentation...cough).

For some reason we had a lot of discussion about enjoying cocktails in a beautiful garden setting (not such a bad thing). You can find Tres at studioOutside.

My Childhood Garden: The Woods

Yes, my parents left our yard empty, but we did indeed have a lot of fun playing organized games across that open lawn. Openness isn't a bad thing. It does provide a venue for lots of running...and a lot of opportunity to grow tomatoes.

Photo courtesy of Jessica Hill Photography

But something happened...as children we still sought out that special place filled with trees, water, wildlife and the opportunity for manipulation. What we (the neighborhood kids) all discovered was a woodland. A place where suburban houses had yet to grow. It was a block long and about two blocks deep.

Photo courtesy of Jude McConkey

"The woods" as we called it, provided that sense of adventure, discovery and connection to living things. When we were not playing baseball in our backyard, we were in the woods creating forts, blazing trails, and swinging across creeks.

My Childhood Garden: Tomato Plants

I've been thinking about this a lot lately...why am I drawn to beautiful gardens, wispy woodlands, and pristine farmsteads?

You may wonder too when I reveal my childhood landscape...basically, one devoid of anything but lawn, tomato plants and the mulberry tree out front.

Photo courtesy of Stig Rossby Photographs

I love my parents, but they were not gardeners. My mom had a slightly green thumb when she grew her favorite food...the tomato (but do you really need any gardening knowledge for that?). She plopped them in the only exposed soil between the concrete walk and house foundation.

Photo courtesy of Krystle Reeves Photography

To make matters worse, I didn't even like tomatoes (I'll eat some now). Basically, our yard was empty...perfect for baseball, kick the bucket and mulberry collecting (all very good childhood memories).

Does not having a glamorous landscape make a child yearn for one?

Beautiful Botanicals

It's no surprise that I enjoy natural object collections. I am especially thrilled when I come across a lovely collection of historical botanical drawings...then what tops that? A stunning collection of botanical photographs...like the ones below.

This incredible group of work is from Ice Age Prints. These plant materials are lovingly collected from the backyard of the artist's Chicago home. Please enjoy and don't forget to pop over to the shop of Ice Age Prints to explore more magic.

The Sky Plane

Once you've established the ground and vertical garden planes, think about how you can add sparkle to the ceiling.

Photo via Garden Rooms

In most cases your garden room will simply open to the sky. Though, if you'd like more enclosure to provide shade, shelter or added comfort think about how a third plane above can provide that special touch.

Photo courtesy of SKnights Art Photography

Some typical sky planes include tree canopies, arbors, pergolas, tents, and umbrellas.

Photo courtesy of 3Lambs Design

How can you add extra touches to these ceilings? Think about dangling lights, weaving fabric through wood structures, and criss-crossing brightly colored banners.

Photo via of loving.living.small.