la granada

I'm crazy for this extraordinary pomegranate by David Wiseman

 and there's a great article about his installation work in T

jungle room

in love with this image-work by the brothers Geoffrey and Bevis Bawa:

via Garden Design

la belle bell

what sweet bells from Mt. Washington Pottery.  They'd make really special gifts.

Design star

Legendary LA-based landscape architect Jay Griffith is one of my heroes.  He is a true artist and philanthropist, as the founder of the annual Venice Garden Tour.

This iron door elevates the architecture and landscape of this space, and the limited palette of plants and materials is so effective.  It looks like a Richard Serra piece just landed from space into the middle of this property!

I love his use of vessels (an obsession of mine) and color-blocking, both in architectural and botanical elements.  The restrained simplicity of his choices makes the play of natural light and shadow almost a design feature.

Images at here, here and here

Brooklyn Garden

One of the places I miss most in my old neighborhood in Brooklyn is GRDN, a lovely little floral/garden/home shop in Boerum Hill.  I didn't have a garden, but I did avail myself of some very pretty pots for my windowsill with some pretty saturated Coleus plants.  What I miss most was how oxygenated I felt upon entering the store! Check it out:

(Images via GRDN's Facebook page)

more treehouse love

To satisfy my childhood Swiss Family Robinson fantasies--these images of Pete Nelson's Saltspring Treehouse (which I believe is in British Columbia) are from the charming Treehouse Book:

get in the kitchen

Although I feel a little itchy at the word "houseplant", I think a bit of green can always make a room feel good.  Finding the perfect thing can be tricky if you don't get direct light, as is the case with my kitchen sink window.  I would've loved a pot or two of mint, but with no sun, herbs are out.   But I think I finally have a winner--Fern Moss--as you see below.  Indirect sun, nice bright (happy!) green foliage, and non-toxic to pets (my cats often feel the need to taste plants or flowers I bring home).   What do you think?