My Very First Garden Conservancy Open Days Tour!

True confessions: Last Sunday was the first time I attended a Garden Conservancy Open Days tour.

It was all Lin’s idea. After reading an eye-catching article in the Los Angeles Times, my spousal support unit suggested we spend the a next Sunday in Pasadena, strolling other people’s gardens (without fear of getting arrested for trespassing). No way I could turn down an offer like that.

That’s what’s learned was so cool about Open Days, a program that, since 1995, has allowed folks like you and me – and about a million others – to wander through more than 3,000 private gardens around the country. It’s the perfect marriage: Visitors pick up ideas for their own gardens, meet lots of like-minded garden enthusiasts and talk to designers.

And the Conservancy benefits by raising money and increasing public awareness of their primary mission: “…preserving exceptional American gardens for the education and enjoyment of the public. We seek to develop and deepen public appreciation of gardens as integral elements of our national artistic and cultural heritage.”

One thing I like about garden tours is the opportunity to take a pazillion digital pictures and write blog posts about all the fun I had.

Here's the scoop on the rest of the tour at my Fine Gardening blog...click

Wastewater No. 5 or Eau de Toilette?

What possessed Chanel and all the other tres continental Parisienne companies to think that splashing water from the potty behind your ears will get you laid? "Eau de toilette" translates to toilet water, plain and simple, but if you say it in French, maybe it sounds romantic.

But I'm not concerned with the $800 per ounce kind they sell at Neiman-Marcus. This week, I'm writing about wastewater, wee-wee, piddle, poopie or whatever euphemism soothes your sensibilities.

Here's the rest of it...read on

Dinosaur Garden By Bay Area Kids

On my second day in the cavernous halls of the San Francisco Flower and Garden Show, I discovered Sproutopia in a generous side room. The folks at the show thoughtfully created a space where the darling munchkins could learn while blowing off a little steam. There were kids jumping on beanbag chairs, a too-cool collection of carnivorous plants, and tables loaded with miniature gardens. It was those little tabletop worlds, created by students around the Bay Area, that lured me in.

Come join the fun! Read on...

Did You Make It To The San Francisco Flower & Garden Show?

What a week I had at the San Francisco Flower and Garden Show last month. Aside from the Tweet-ups with friends I've never met and the side-trips to some of the finest gardens in the country, I got to poke around the show for four days!

If you've never been to a full-fledged garden show before, you'll enjoy reading about the exhibits, products and very cool, actively green people I met along the way.

Read the real deal at my Cool Green Gardens blog at Fine Gardening!