Courtyard Vignette at Domaine de Manion

There are many vignette definitions, noun and verb, but for my writing here, a vignette is simply a grouping of objects. Interesting objects I might add. A vignette can be anywhere there is a special spot, on a table, a buffet, inside your home, or out in the garden. The beauty is you can create it with any number of objects, pieces, and things to make a person’s eye pause to catch the totality of the objects assembled.

Some things to think about when creating a vignette:

Is there something of interest or unusual? Like this French cart.

Is there symmetry and balance? Like the two pots of geranium, sweet peas, and mums.

Does color play into this? Like the delicate pink blooms of the geranium and verbena.

Is there simplicity here? Like a gathering of random potted pots.

Row of Confit Jars at Domaine de Manion

Now is a great time to create vignettes for the spring!

Bon Appétit et Bon Weekend…Bonnie

When my husband and I remodeled a year ago, I carved out a perfect office and workshop area in a single car garage. With the addition of our new master bedroom wing, it created this small, private, very intimate garden room which I can look out and access from my office and workshop. I planted a Podocarpus hedge along the north fence on one side, a row of espaliered Silver Wave Camellias along the stucco wing on the south side, and the third side was my very old working garden shed to the west.

In the middle of this garden room, I created a pea gravel square edged with dwarf Euonymus and placed my vintage garden baby fountain smack in the middle. My garden baby fountain, see Everyone Loves a "Garden Baby"  finally had a permanent home, after years of transit traveling around my garden.

The reason I'm describing all of this in detail is because I had an unappealing open door and side of my garden shed which desperately needed some sprucing up. The answer was burlap, the reasonable landscape burlap which has incredible texture, durability, and vintage-like appeal. This is another idea for garden economizing--reasonable landscape burlap as a material. If you don't know about it, you must look for it at your garden and landscape centers. I find my burlap locally at Grangetto's. You can also be creative and re-purpose coffee burlap bags.

I created a small vignette with an old warped wood table, matching symmetrical pots, a pair of young cypress trees for height, and blue-gray shutters for interest and color repetition.  I pulled out my "dusty but trusty" sewing machine, and loosely measured my spaces as everything was uneven. Presto, a working burlap curtain door, and a sweet table skirt for my table. I secured hidden dowels to hang the burlap for my shed opening and table. I also dug out one of my old hooks, and placed it on the side of my shed for a quick way to hold up the burlap curtain door when I needed the large opening.

What a difference, and what beauty in this burlap. Think of this landscape burlap material when you have a project where it might conveniently lend itself. Please share if you use this burlap material already in your garden. Please comment on creative ways you have worked with this burlap.