28th Street Flowers

I visited the wholesale flower district this morning, in a very bleary eyed state.
—

And I bought A LOT of flowers.  Here I have (from left) cockscomb celosia, variegated “watermelon” lemons, clematis, geranium leaves, dahlias, and mint.

Monday Morning Links–one day late

Michael Miller reviews Stephen Elliot’s new book at the Fanzine–I’m dying to read it.  (The Fanzine)
It’s August and all those tomato plants you’ve been watching all summer are finally bearing fruit.  Preserve some for the winter with this pickling recipe from Home and Oats.  (Home and Oats)
I never get tired of ogling the baroque beauty [...]

On the Subject of Flowering Vegetables and Fruits

I have a raised bed in the back yard for vegetables.  Last year it was mostly lettuces, and this year it’s all tomatoes and corn.  While I was gone this summer tons of arugula (the most resilient of lettuces and lettuce-like plants?) sprouted up in the bed amongst the tomatoes and corn.  By the time [...]

Mother’s Eggplant

Everyone’s talking about eggplant these days.  It’s eggplant season!  Chef Canales has them all over the menu at Oliveto from antipasti to secondi (watch Chef Canales shop the Berkeley Farmers Market for tomatoes and eggplant here).  Meanwhile in Pasadena, mother’s eggplant is nearing maturity.  Isn’t she a beaut?

those leaves!

those flowers!

that color!

Nils-Udo

I discovered Nils-Udo through the July issue of the Air France Magazine (leave it to the French to have a great airline magazine).  Nils-Udo is a Bavarian artist who left painting to work directly in and with nature in the early 1970’s and has continued to do so ever since.  Photographs of his site-specific work [...]

New Arrangement

After battling some garden roses the other day I really thought I had forgotten how to arrange flowers over my vacation.  But garden roses never were easy to work with–all those little thorns get stuck on every little thing as you try to push a stem down into a vase.  So I gathered my strength [...]

Perhaps My Favorite Souvenir

I’m not entirely over my vacation.  I miss it–a little.  I bought very little, but I did manage to get myself a few little souvenirs.  This book is one of my favorite things.  It combines flowers and food–what else could be more perfect for me?

Behold, the introduction of Gourmandises en Fleurs (Delicacies in Flowers) (translated [...]

Love Lies Bleeding And Other Flowers From My Mother’s Garden

Thankfully my mother is pinch-hitting for me since I have totally lost all arranging skills after a month on vacation.  The container is from her jar collection–it’s slightly violet-tinted.  All flowers from her garden.

Bonnieux: Flora

One afternoon I decided to take a small mysterious-looking trail up to this ruin on the hill behind town.

I’m still not sure what the ruin is of, perhaps I should have asked some of my friends at Les Terrasses that, but it never came up.  Some sort of fortification against invasion from the middle ages?  [...]

The Hortensias of Biarritz

When I left Rockridge I was only a little sad to be leaving behind my beloved hydrangeas just as the season was getting started in earnest.  To my great surprise and delight the southwestern coast of France and the north coast of Spain are virtually covered in them–and in every size, shape, and color imaginable [...]