Happy Chinese New Year! It’s the year of the Golden Boar (or Fire Pig, which just doesn’t sound as catchy). It’s supposed to be an extra lucky year. Chinese New Year in Vancouver is huge. Because of our large Asian population, there are events and celebrations everywhere you go – even the Safeway had a […]
Miscellaneous
Book review: Tulipomania by Mike Dash
To call me a bookworm would be a pretty accurate statement. My heart races when I enter a library or bookstore; I have more books than I have space to house them; I was an English major in university. Reading pretty much rivals gardening in my world (rather, they compliment each other very well as […]
Old friends, old gardens
An unexpected e-mail from an old friend and former roommate (hi Tara!) has brought back memories of one of my first gardens. I was living in Victoria at the time, just across the Georgia Straight on Vancouver Island (and, Nelumbo, an incredible Zone 9 because Victoria is further south than Vancouver). Tara and I had […]
Power equipment lust
Not only do I have no real use for the Garden Groom Rotary Blade Hedge Trimmer, it also goes against all my basic gardening principles. You know, environmental sensitivity, sustainability – little things like that. I mean, I use a push reel mower – why on earth would I need this? But despite all that, […]
Mobilier à jardiner
In the what-will-they-think-of-next department, Mobilier à jardiner by 5.5 Designers for bton design is an outdoor furniture collection that, like the Topo Table and grass chair, incorporates the plant kingdom into its design. Products include a bench and chair in which you plant your seatback – with shrubs or other plants – and a coffee […]
There is a Season
At one point, I suggested I might start a list of books gardeners might like. I’ve found a book worthy to add to that list in There is a Season by Patrick Lane – a beautiful, moving, and sometimes disturbing book. Part memoir, part naturalist’s notebook, part love letter to a garden, There is a […]
The grass is always greener
I stumbled upon Greener Grass Design today, and while it’s not strictly garden-related, the Houston-based design and decor site carries lines by some fabulous designers. I love the idea behind this Shadylace Parasol by Chris Kabel for Droog Design. It’s a waterproof lace parasol with a leaf motif, casting shadows of branches and leaves. In […]
Take your vitamins
Check out the wonderfully bizarre Vitamin Living, a London-based design studio that makes “extra-ordinary products that make their owners’ lives a little less ordinary.” Like these bone china gnomes with their bold graphics; “the “must-have” gnome for the modern consumer.” ! Or how about the IV Plant Pot, a self-watering container with a medical drip […]