A Dahlia Sentry Watches Over Vintage Water Cans

Just like that, exciting August summer rolled into reflective September fall and we have fall fortune to look forward to. What is your fall fortune? An abundance of vegetables from the garden. Savory new recipes using figs, root vegetables, persimmons, pumpkins, and squash. Beautiful jeweled golden, amber, and rust colors to wear and decorate your home. A subtle intensity change in sunlight. A tarte tatin baking in the oven. Your first sip of warm spiced cider. Crunching of leaves on your morning walk.

Take advantage of all the simple everyday riches that make up your fall. Fall is here, but for a few short weeks, and then gone for another year. That is one of the reasons that makes it so special.

Bon Appétit et Bon Weekend…Bonnie

The Little Lion At Domaine de Manion

This little stone lion and pedestal has been in our family for at least 50 years. My parents were in their forties, I was in high school, and my brothers were in middle school. For about six years then, we lived in a little village outside of Brussels, Belgium, in a little Flemish house my parents rented. My family would frequently travel around Europe on weekends and vacations.

During one vacation, visiting and driving around Italy, my parents bought this stone lion statuary and pedestal. Exactly in Italy, they can’t remember. I was not with them on this particular trip. They drove it back to Belgium. Placed it in a perfect spot to greet everyone in front of their little white Flemish house.

When it came time to move back to the United States, of course, the lion and pedestal came with them. My parents eventually retired and built their dream home on Table Rock Lake, about 20 miles outside of Branson, Missouri. This little lion then graced the front of their home, and greeted family and friends for over three decades.

Every time I visit my parents, my dad always asks me if there is anything I want from their house. He will gladly ship it to me. Last summer visiting them, helping my mom water her garden, the thought of asking for the little lion and pedestal came to me. The answer was “yes, of course.” With luck, my cousins from Denver were visiting my parents at the same time. They drove the lion and pedestal to Denver, and then to Golden, Colorado, where we have long time friends who often drive to San Diego. With the help of family and friends, the lion and pedestal made it to Domaine de Manion a year later.

I had the perfect spot in mind. A special location that is close to the bocce ball court, the garden, and the vineyard. It can be seen from afar and close up. It is away from the garden irrigation. Very visible, yet protected.

A little about this lion and pedestal. He is quite small. Most lion statuaries I have seen are large. He has a bit of a smile, so is friendly. There is an actual shell you can see embedded in his front, which makes me believe he was made with materials that were close to the sea. He is very heavy, and also his pedestal.

This little lion is very symbolic to me, representing so much to me, across many facets of my life. I also see him as a guardian over the garden. He certainly has a history, and I only know the last 50 years or so. He is very special to me, and I am thrilled to have him here, and see him often.

I share all this history with you as garden ornaments are very important in our gardens. Garden ornaments pause your eye in the garden, and sometimes create a welcome surprise. Garden ornaments can allow you to create a distinctive style and ambience to complement your garden. Garden ornaments can be sentimental, and stir happy emotions, as this lion does for me.

Please share if you have a favorite garden ornament in your garden.

Related Past Posts:

Jewels Of The Garden

Welcome To My Garden

Bon Appétit et Bon Weekend…Bonnie

“Simple French Comfort Food” Cooking Class

March 2024 started off with a bang, with a full class for the “Simple French Comfort Food” cooking class. The blustery day started out with a little rain, so a nice warm fire and a comforting menu was perfect. Everyone rolled up their sleeves and made delicious recipes that culminated in a relaxing lunch, à table. All my students were an inspiration for me. Merci!

À Table For A Relaxing Lunch With Recipes Completed

Winter Storms Brought Spectacular Sunsets

Welcome winter rains brought spectacular sunsets. The mature trees have been trimmed. The garden pathways replenished with fresh mulch. The flowerbeds manicured. The vineyard and roses pruned and poised for another growing season. The potager has been planted.

The garden and vineyard are waiting for longer days and warmer temperatures. I am hopeful all this wonderful winter rain will promise a spectacular showing in spring.

Olivenhain Garden Club Visiting March 2024. Thank You For The Photo By Olivenhain Garden Club

In mid-March, The Olivenhain Garden Club came for a garden tour and a glimpse of spring emerging. Just like your favorite perennial, this club, and many other lovely garden clubs have been here before for a visit, and have seen the garden and Domaine de Manion evolve over the years.

The Olivenhain Garden Club comments and compliments were so nice. They didn’t go hungry, I prepared a few different charcuterie boards and platters for them.

One Of The Charcuterie Boards. A Little Something For Everyone

“Meet The Masters” Check-In And Book Signing For Gabriela Salazar

Mid-March was The Village Garden Club of La Jolla’s “Meet the Masters” 2024 event with program speaker, fabulous Gabriela Salazar, an internationally recognized floral artist and grower out of Mexico. She wowed us with her flower philosophy and technique in flower arranging.

It was a huge, fun, successful event. I helped, along with many dutiful ladies checking guests in, and giving them their table seating. It was a pleasure to be on this committee with my fellow members. Hats off to The Village Garden Club of La Jolla!

As March continued to unfold, spring was emerging, slowly but surely. First, narcissus bulbs appeared in the lawn, next Cherokee rose started to bloom, and then wisteria came to life in purple pendulum display. Early spring was here!

Naturalized Narcissus Bulbs Transition Winter Into Spring

Cherokee Rose Beginning To Bloom White

Wisteria Over the Shed Heralds In Spring

March 2024 started off with a bang, and is ending with a bang, Easter! March has had momentum with a nice energy, perhaps it will continue throughout the year. I wish all of you a beautiful spring!

Vintage Hen And Chick Remind Us Easter Is Here

Bon Appétit, Bon Weekend, and Happy Easter…Bonnie

Every year I bring out this vintage sleigh to decorate and place by my front door. Year to year the vignette and decorations vary. My holiday decorations and style are generally simple and rustic, and often using greens from my garden.

Making This Vignette:

Find an interesting piece for a base, such as this weather-worn sleigh. Choose a piece that is novel, whimsical, and might bring on a smile.

Use a focal piece or showstopper. I chose a 10” beautiful red poinsettia plant inspired from a recent tour at Weidner’s Gardens, organized by one of my garden clubs, The Village Garden Club of La Jolla.

Wrap the plant in simple burlap.

Cut Blue Juniper greens and Little Gem Magnolia pieces from my garden, arranging them on the sleigh. Look for greens, foliage, berries, pine cones in your garden, or possibly from a neighbor or friend.

Add another smaller interesting piece. In this vignette, an interesting pine cone from another part of California.

Add a colorful bow, if your vignette needs a pop. I didn’t want to take away from the color and beauty of the poinsettia, so I didn’t add a bow.

Make sure everything in your vignette can tolerate being outdoor for a period of time.

Enjoy what you have created. If you make a vignette, I would love to hear about it!

Bon Appétit et Bon Weekend…Bonnie

Woodland Girl Garden Ornament

I could write a book on garden ornaments, so containing it to this short post could be challenging. In the midst of grocery and holiday shopping I found a lovely garden statuary, a vintage woodland girl at Consignment Classics Decor Store. I wasn’t actually going to the consignment shop, but parked nearby, and thought to pop in for a moment.

When I speak to groups, I always mention to keep your eyes open for unique pieces. If it calls to you, buy it, and ponder later where you will put it. Usually these unique finds come out of nowhere, maybe off your beaten path, and at the most unexpected times. It almost presents itself as a challenge. Where will I put it? How will I get it home? Will I be sorry if I don’t buy it? Will it be beautiful as well as functional? What is the history of this piece?

We all have our unique property and garden style, color palette, and ambience that we create. There are garden ornaments, and actually garden jewels, that punctuate, elevate, and enhance your garden simply by their presence and where they are located. They can tell a story, or create a feeling for your garden, with one glance.

I have a Mediterranean European garden, and so keep to this style. Stone is one common medium, in water features, statuary, furniture, and materials for walls, pathways and driveways.

This vintage woodland girl, and I am going to have to aptly name her, is solid concrete, showing a bit of patina exposure, is perfect scale, and blends beautifully in her new shaded home under the Torrey Pine tree surrounded by acanthus mollis and camellias. She exudes contentment and serenity. What was once a nice shaded garden, now has a bit of interest and intrigue to draw your eye.

Beauty in the Shade Garden

Where to find your garden jewels? Some sources where you might find your treasures are favorite garden centers and shops, nurseries, friends, consignment stores, flea markets, garage sales, antique shops, home decor stores, retailers, and more. I have gotten some nice pieces from HomeGoods in late winter when they stock their spring garden items. Just keep your eyes open when you shop. It is different for everyone.

Please share a story about finding one of your favorite pieces for your garden.

Bon Appétit et Bon Weekend…Bonnie

For some time I have wanted an urn in my garden, an urn that was simple but gave a nice touch to the garden. Urns are easy, as they can be planted, take the weather, moisture, and look great just where they are placed.

So in my mind, I began the hunt for the perfect white urn. Why white, because I have two existing white fountains, white is in my garden color palette, and I have a white stucco home. White is a theme. I have found white urns are a bit harder to find than other colored urns. 

So my journey began to find a white urn that would work well in my garden. In my travels and every day life, I came across fabulous urns and began to have "urn envy."

Recently, I stumbled across an urn that I thought would look great in my garden. I should say "urns" as I found three, and made a little vignette. Where did I placed these urns? In a perfect spot, the olive grove. Interestingly, these urns are almost a collage of the fabulous urns I had seen and been admiring, only better, because they seem perfect for my garden in color, form and size. Their white color draws your eye to their heavenly spot, in a most simple and natural way.

Urns in My Olive Grove

I found urns for my garden, at the most surprising place, HomeGoods. These urns are very reasonable and beautifully handcrafted in Mexico by local artisans. Suggestions to find urns for sale are nurseries, garden shops, flea markets, and home decor stores. Know what you are looking for, and keep your eyes open!

Carolyne Roehm Signing Books After Her Presentation

The Prado at Balboa Park was the perfect setting for a rare San Diego visit last week by one of America’s most important tastemakers, Carolyne Roehm.  Roehm has been a part of American design culture for decades with career chapters in fashion, gardening, entertaining, publishing, and decorative arts.

Currently traveling the country promoting her latest book, Carolyne Roehm at Home in the Garden, The Village Garden Club of La Jolla was pleased to present Carolyne Roehm as this year’s “Meet the Master” grand event.  

“Meet the Masters” was inspired by one of the club’s founders, Adrienne Green, and is held yearly in her honor. Each year The Village Garden Club of La Jolla brings world-class floral designers to San Diego to speak and demonstrate their master floral creations. This educational event is a gift to the club’s members, the greater San Diego Community, and beyond.

Beautiful, stunningly statuesque, and dressed in a bone-colored monochromatic pant suit, Roehm spoke to over 230 devoted luncheon attendees in a warm and charming manner about her 33 years of personally creating and refining the pastoral lands, gardens, and ponds on her historic 1765 property in Connecticut called Weatherstone.

Roehm shared her incredible life’s ups and downs, paralleling her Weatherstone property’s ups and downs, often using metaphors between life and a garden.  One common thread throughout her life has been her love affair with flowers, and “a garden is a canvas for making colors, textures, and shapes.” Her passion for flowers is what drives her garden philosophy. She carries her garden palette, what she is planting, tying it through to her table, dishes, and what works best with what.

Roehm ended her presentation with one of her favorite quotes from Frank Lloyd Wright, “Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature.  It will never fail you.”

A timely article from One King's Lane visits Carolyne Roehm at her Weatherstone home. For more information, visit Carolyne Roehm.

Entrance to The Prado, Balboa Park

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Inspired by my trip to Provence, France in the fall of 2014, I finally finished a part of my garden which had been vacant for five years. I had been waiting for the design to come to me in my head. Mind you, I had played with the design on paper too. I had to consider several things, 1) it had to work seamlessly with my existing boxwood garden, 2) it had to be drought-tolerant, 3) it had to have pathways and access, 4) it had to have year-round interest, 5) it had to draw you into the garden as our west deck and home overlooks it--and it is part of our ocean view and horizon, and last 5) it had to call to my soul. That is a tall order!

My mind was fresh from visiting some of the best "earthy and elegant" world-class gardens Provence has to offer. It was a chance page-turning moment however, in Louisa Jones' Gardens in Provence where I saw a small 2-3/4" x 2" color photo of a garden similar to what I had envisioned in my head. I had my design, and could move forward.

The design is simple. It consists of four African boxwood parterres created by pathways. Within each parterre is a "Tiny Tower" Cypress, Goodwin Creek Lavender, and Irene rosemary. Goodwin Creek Lavender is an excellent landscape lavender as it blooms nearly year-round and has great gray foliage against purple blooming spikes. Irene rosemary also blooms profusely, with a low-mounding shape. The inside parterre hedging is flowering dwarf myrtle.

Soon after that, luck was on my side when I found this beautiful "Venus de Milo-esque" fountain at my favorite consignment shop. She was a "lady" with a presence, and the centerpiece for my new garden. She stands on a pedestal and a large basin. A small quiet stream of water arches out of a dolphins mouth at her base. She provides a cooling effect for the garden and a soft gurgle noise to tweak your senses.

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Here she is on the first day in our garden when everything was still a vision. As the garden continues to grow, I think this fountain needs a name, Lady Who? Obvious ladies to name her after are Lady Di, Lady Gaga, Lady Antebellum--you get the picture. Please comment and share, if you think you have a great name for her.