Los Angeles, for me, is a constellation of remarkable places, separated by a spider web of terrible, soul-killing traffic. The Huntington Library is an oasis well worth the drive. Gardens? Check. Art? Check. Books? Check. I loved it. We began with the gardens. There are 12 of them. My favorite (in, admittedly, dull, uneventful March) was the Garden of … Continue reading
Los Angeles behind us, we headed to Las Vegas and its neon. But, first, a detour: a brief eyeful of Death Valley National Park. One spring, I mean to return and better explore its 3.4 million acres–this is, after all, the largest park in the contiguous United States. On this trip, I fell in love with the … Continue reading
After soaring over lava, our afternoon in Hilo was a bit of a blur. I remember the rows of colorful, two-story buildings, frayed, but cheerful, many dating back to the sugar boom of the 1920s; the smell of rain over the pavement; and lots and lots of leaves, primordial in their size and hues. Next … Continue reading
Dumbarton Oaks is one of Georgetown’s crown jewels, a grand home, a museum of Pre-Colombian and Byzantine art, and a symphony of gardens perched atop the old neighborhood’s highest point. This spring, I came to see the wisterias. The gardens are spectacular in any season, but mid-spring, I think, is my favorite. The aromas are tantalizing, but not yet … Continue reading
And just like that, at long last, my gardening season begins in earnest. I love the newness of it all: Everything is crisp, fresh, and, for the moment, somewhat in order. Each day, I begin with my spring color survey. Here’s this week’s palette. My greens: Maroons: Purples and blues: A blaze of yellows: All … Continue reading
They budded, they bloomed, they floated to the ground. Here’s what the Tidal Basin looks like covered in a snowfall of petals, a charming farewell. More about cherry blossoms: Waiting for Cherry Blossoms The Cherry Blossoms in DC Wisteria season (late April): Dumbarton Oaks: That “Chambered Nautilus of Gardens” Waterlilies and lotus blooms (June/July): Water … Continue reading
Life is short like the three-day glory of the cherry blossom These are the glory days. There are over 3,700 cherry trees around DC’s Tidal Basin. Most of them are Yoshino cherries (Prunus x yedoensis), renown for their tangles of single, white flowers, each one a simple star of five petals. On peak bloom dates, … Continue reading
Thwarted! Our excellent Sunday plan was to wake up early and greet the sunrise at the Tidal Basin, followed by a “walk in the clouds,” an early-bird stroll among DC’s famous Yoshino cherry trees, all abloom. We came, the Sun lazily obliged–but the cherry trees? After days of delay, they are still taking a rain … Continue reading
An an oasis of wildflowers, suspended over the buzz and industry of Chelsea and its meatpacking district, The High Line is my New York City favorite. A mile of abandoned freight rails transformed into a garden path of native blooms, urban art, and peaceful nooks, it is a public space extraordinaire, enchanting even in early spring, when … Continue reading
I did not have to travel far for my contribution to this week’s Travel Challenge: Pale. Spring is taking its time to reach the garden this year. But, at long last, one of my woodland favorites is here: Jeffersonia dyphilla is venturing its first white blooms. This lovely native wildflower was named after Thomas Jefferson … Continue reading
I’ve been aching for some aliveness, something bright, and fragrant, and growing, so this Washington Post love letter to Orchids of Latin America, an exhibit at the National Museum of Natural History, cemented my weekend plans. A stroll through a tropical rainforest abloom–a fleeting visit to “the jungles of Costa Rica, the vanilla farms of Mexico, the conservation forests of … Continue reading
This week’s photo challenge is Home: “share a picture that evokes HOME for you.“ Apart from my family–the one I was born to, and the one that grew around me over the years–my home is the garden that embraces our house. When I garden, I imagine myself the Little Prince, tending his planet against the catastrophe of … Continue reading
After a couple of days in Orlando, we wanted to take a break from amusement park lines and steep entrance fees. Gatorland (Alligator Capital of the World) did not sound entirely like our cup of tea, but, at $26.99 for adults/$18.99 for kids 3-12 (and a $2.50 discount available online), it seemed at least try-worthy. To my … Continue reading
“The air is wild with voices, avian dialects are being spoken from every direction. The sky vibrates with wings.” (Terry Tempest Williams, Refuge) One of the things I love about going to Utah is the inevitable early mornings: I wake up before dawn, otherwise a painful procedure. Last week, such early morning happened to be … Continue reading
“My treasures do not click together or glitter. They gleam in the sun and neigh in the night.” (Bedouin proverb) A trip to Assateague, where wild horses graze and shore birds fly over dunes, marshes, shrublands, and forests, all within a 37-mile island shared by Virginia and Maryland, is an early-October tradition. Goldenrods are in … Continue reading
Transplanted Tatar 