This week the Remodelista editors traveled west in search of new interior design ideas. Here are five they found in California.
Moroccan Tiles
Above: In LA’s Studio City, architect Barbara Bestor and DISC Interiors’ David John Dick and Krista Shrock renovated a 1940s ranch house for a family of four. “The bright master bathroom is punctuated with unlacquered brass (that weathers and changes over time) and blue Moroccan tile,” catching Alexa’s eye.
Above: “The LA architect credited with creating the lap pool in the early seventies, Cleo Baldon designed indoor-outdoor furniture that captured the southern California good life,” writes Margot.
Above: Sarah Kersten’s Pasta/Salad Bowl in black. The new “it” bowl? “Something low and wide; with high-enough sides to contain a lot of that rice,” writes Alexa. “A decade ago, this style of bowl was called a pasta or risotto bowl, but in 2018, they’re meant for grains, greens, and things like avocado açai topped with chia seeds and banana slices fanned out around the edge (if you don’t believe me, check Instagram).” See a roundup of her favorite hippie bowls in this week’s 10 Easy Pieces post.
“When architect Richard Clements Jr. designed Timber Cove Lodge on the coast of Sonoma County, California, in 1963, he took inspiration from Frank Lloyd Wright: His hotel would be a tall A-frame, whose height would optimize ocean views, and whose materials—dark wood, stone, and glass—would make the building look at home in its surroundings,” writes Meredith. See the remodeled lodge, including several fire pits in Sixties Ocean Lodge Redux.
Join contributor (and houseplant expert) Jane Perrone for a walk through the Temperate House at Kew Gardens via the latest episode of her “On the Ledge” podcast.
This weekend in LA: Earth Tones, in celebration of botanicals, tinctures, and natural dyes.
Think ahead: It might seem a little early to be thinking about placing your fall bulb order, but not if you want to plant the rarest tulips and fragrant heirloom peonies. Old House Gardens is taking orders now for autumn shipments.
Like most things in your garden, tools need a little loving care to keep them happy. Here are a few easy tips for cleaning and caring for your pruners.
Above: Pruner maintenance depends on which brand you own. A pair of Tobisho Handmade Pruners A-Style is $92 from Hida Tool. They’re made of carbon steel, so they need more care than stainless steel (but we think all pruners enjoy a little attention).
Above: Get in the habit of giving your pruners a good wash after each use. If I make only a few snips I’m sometimes tempted to forgo washing—but cutting even one stem can leave sap and plant residue that will damage pruners in the long run. Above: Usually, warm soapy water is all you need to wash your pruners. Same goes for garden scissors and other metal garden tools. Above: After washing, dry the pruners well to prevent rusting. Above: If you notice rust, remove it with linseed oil and a small wire brush, then wash your pruners well to prevent a sticky film from forming. Linseed oil is also an excellent protectant for wood-handled garden tools.
Above: Even for tools that aren’t prone to rust, it’s a good idea to wipe them down with oil after cleaning them. Some people rely on motor oil or mineral oil, but I use household vegetable oil to keep them lubricated.
This month your houseplants may not be getting as much attention as they did in winter. Nothing personal, but if the weather’s sunny and the garden’s in bloom in May, why focus on indoor plants?
Well, because they’ll love you for it. Like garden plants, many houseplants experience seasonal growth spurts in spring (after all, in their native climates, houseplants are outdoor plants). Others may need a boost of fertilizer or a bath (leaves get dusty in winter months when a furnace blows air and stirs up tiny particles).
Here are 10 ways to show some love to your houseplants this month, to make them healthier and happier.
Have you killed every succulent you’ve tried to grow? Or do you have just one in your collection that just refuses to thrive? Maybe it’s getting too much water, or too much (or too little) sun, or not enough air circulation, or…diagnose the problem and fix it with 9 Secrets to Growing Succulent Plants Indoors, from Flora Grubb Gardens.
Fix a Fiddle-Leaf Fig
Above: What your fiddle-leaf fig tree craves: bright, indirect sun, good air circulation, and well-draining soil.
After a long winter, your fiddle-leaf fig tree may have some yellowing leaves, brown patches, or an overall droopy appearance. Perk it up with some outdoor time on a warm day if you have a covered balcony or shady patio. For more tips, see 7 Secrets: How to Save a Dying Fiddle-Leaf Fig Tree.
Enable an Air Plant
Above: The tillandsia does not ask for much. Your little friend will be happy with humidity, mist, and the occasional dunking.
Air plants don’t need soil, but they do need water—the right amount at the right time. See how to help tillandsias thrive with Gardening 101: How to Water an Air Plant.
Above: Start the plant swap with a display table where everyone can ogle the goods. Photograph courtesy of A Fresh Start.
“Plant swaps are events where plant enthusiasts of all stripes meet in person and trade plants or cuttings and knowledge. Think clothing exchange turned plant party,” writes Margot. See tips to host your own in Plant Swaps: The New Sharing Economy.
Right Plant, Right Place
Above: Tried and tested, here are nine of our favorite houseplants that can survive in low light. Above: Photograph by Mimi Giboin.
Plenty of plants can thrive in a dark apartment. They may not love it, but they will adapt—especially if you coddle them with extra light from time to time (if possible, bring them outdoors to enjoy warm weather in a sheltered, shady spot). Find the best choice for your less-than-sunny spot at Best Houseplants: 9 Indoor Plants for Low Light.
Minuscule black fungus gnats look an awful lot like fruit flies and they’re just as harmless, but no less of a nuisance. If you start to notice the tiny flies buzzing around the top of your rabbit foot fern (or any other houseplant), get rid of them with our tips: Goodbye, Fungus Gnats: Pest-Free Potting Soil.
Take Plants Outdoors
Above: Plants prefer the humidity levels in outdoor air. Photograph by Mimi Giboin.
Trying to get a pothos or other vine to climb a wall? “Unless you grow a self-clinging plant such as ivy, which generally doesn’t thrive indoors, you will need to provide some kind of anchor point for your plant,” writes our contributor Jane Perrone. See her suggestions in 10 Secrets to Successful Houseplants from the Experts.
Every month should be houseplant season, and here’s some help to keep your collection happy all year round:
Interested in other tropical plants for your garden or indoor space? Get more ideas on how to plant, grow, and care for various tropical plants with our Tropical Plants: A Field Guide.
Courtyard gardens, enclosed on all sides by walls or fences, can transform a cramped space into an oasis. They preserve privacy while welcoming sunlight. They make even the smallest home feel larger. We’ve collected 10 of our favorites.
Color Code
Above: By putting colorful patchwork tile on nearly every inch of the walls and floors of a tiny house’s open-air kitchen and courtyard garden, Vietnam-based architects a21studio transformed the minuscule into something magnificent. For more of this garden, see Saigon Story: Crazy Quilt Tile in a Courtyard Garden. Photograph courtesy of a21studio.
Balcony Views
When garden designer Brook Klausing first saw his clients’ townhouse backyard in Brooklyn’s Flatbush neighborhood, it looked bleak: a chain-link fence, an old concrete patio, and a patch of hard-packed dirt. No more. For more of this garden, see Garden Designer Visit: Brook Klausing Elevates a Brooklyn Backyard. Photograph courtesy of Brook Landscape.
Privacy, Please
Above: In Manhattan, an airy hedge of bamboo provides screening at the garden’s perimeter while a pared-down palette of green and white focuses the eye on the center of the space. “The white limestone is like a canvas. When the sun is directly overhead, you can see the shadows of the bamboo and other plants starkly against it,” says designer Julie Farris. Photograph by Matthew Williams.
Above: A high-low mix of luxury and restraint (and clipped boxwood balls) lend a European air to Kristin Meidell’s Brooklyn courtyard garden. Photograph by Matthew Williams for Gardenista. For more of this garden, see our book Gardenista: The Definitive Guide to Stylish Outdoor Spaces.
Above: A feature of larger English country gardens is the outdoor room, away from the house: It helps to structure a space and to provide shelter. Here in a small London garden, shelter is a given, with frost almost unknown, making it possible to throw open the connecting doors to the courtyard. Photograph courtesy of The Modern House.
Above: UK-based designer Jinny Blom’s own garden on a hill in London. She had the back wall lowered to frame the trees and has not smothered the brick in climbers. For more, see Required Reading: The Thoughtful Gardener by Jinny Blom. Photograph by Andrew Montgomery.
Above: Says Christine, “One of our all-time favorite remodels in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood is architect Julian King’s thoughtful update of a Victorian townhouse, which uncovered character-filled historical details and created a sunny back garden.”
Designing a new outdoor space? Start with our tips for designing Decks & Patios in our curated guide to Hardscapes 101. For more of our favorite courtyard gardens, see:
My mother’s grandmother, Nettie Bailey of Dividing Creek, New Jersey, died when I was a very young child. My memories of her are sketchy and few. They mainly consist of a few vague images of a visit my parents and I made to her tiny rural cabin where she lived alone, and apparently quite happily, without indoor plumbing or electricity until she was well into her nineties. She is still, however, vividly alive to me because I own a small coverlet she made for me. It is a miniature crazy quilt composed of brightly colored scraps of fabric that she put together by hand. The scraps are a hodgepodge of many colors and textures. Taken individually they don’t seem to harmonize but Nettie was not only skilled with a needle, she had an artist’s eye and the elements of the quilt are quite pleasing together.
My great grandmother’s talent came to mind recently when I was reading A Tapestry Garden: The Art of Weaving Plants and Place by Marietta and Ernie O’Byrne ($24.67 on Amazon). This is the fascinating story of a tireless and simpatico couple, a pair of gardeners who have spent more than 40 years assembling a mind-boggling collection of plants and installing them in unexpected, sometimes truly revolutionary, combinations. Their one and a half acre garden in Eugene, Oregon, is an over-the-top creation where several types of landscapes have been re-created, tweaked, stuffed to bursting with plants, and woven together into a crazy quilt of surprising yet compatible styles.
Photography by Doreen Wynja, unless otherwise noted.
Above: Spring blooms of Mount Fuji cherry (Prunus ‘Shirotae’) and Rhododendron pseudochrysanthum.
Although both the O’Byrnes are credited as writers of this book, we seem to be seeing the garden from Marietta’s point of view. In an early chapter on their shade garden, Marietta alludes to their distinctive style of placing plants tightly together, “In our garden every inch counts. This gardener abhors a vacuum [bare soil].”
Above: A bridge leads from the driveway into the shade garden.
Indeed it seems that the O’Byrnes anticipated the current landscape design trend of eschewing mulch for plants. Open space under a shrub? Get out the trowel and install a ground cover or two. Marietta and Ernie were doing it long before today’s forward-thinking designers such as Thomas Rainer and Claudia West began writing books such as Planting in a Post-Wild World, advising us to discard the idea of the solitary specimen plant and design our gardens in layers to mimic native landscapes.
In a chatty style, Marietta takes us through the garden’s various areas: shade garden, woods, shady border, chaparral, rock garden, heath, vegetable garden, and perennial borders. There are plenty of details about the evolution of the property, which she purchased with her first husband in 1972 as a 70-acre farm with a ramshackle circa 1918 farmhouse.
Above: A wisteria-covered bridge leads to and from the long shady border.
Over the years the garden has been painstakingly carved out of the meadows, derelict orchards, and forest of the original homestead. We learn about false starts and mistakes, plants that didn’t make it, trees that succumbed to natural disasters and other whims of Mother Nature. Marietta is quick to acknowledge a certain hard-hearted attitude about plants that disappoint: “I realize now that perfection can never be achieved, and plants can be pruned, moved, or even discarded to the compost heap with the help of a wheelbarrow.”
The section on hellebores is particularly interesting. The O’Byrnes were running a landscaping business when they began their garden. Wishing to spend more time working on their own property instead of in the gardens of others, they opened a nursery to sell unusual plants. In time the business grew into a specialized wholesale operation for the breeding and limited selling of hellebores. The chapter on this plant is filled with details on how hybrid crosses are made, best practices of care and vivid descriptions of rare varieties.
Throughout the book we are offered useful tidbits and advice. In discussing shade gardening, for instance, we are told that seabird guano is a favored fertilizer and that plants with silver-colored leaves “glow more silvery in deep shade.”
Above: A view of the patio, past an attractively contorted filbert tree in the shade garden.
The book concludes with “Caring for the Garden,” a chapter on how the O’Byrnes manage the intensive care they give their creation. But even after you know that they employ a small staff and make use of machines, such as leaf blowers and wood chippers, their dedication and energy are still mightily impressive.
Above: The entrance to the garden in spring.
Summing up the extraordinary amount of work expended over the years, Marietta is remarkably cheery and philosophical. Going through some old photos of the garden, she is inspired to muse, “Gardening is not like painting a picture. When a painting is finished, it stays as is, but a garden canvas gets repainted with every growing season.”
Here’s an air plant with such curly leaves that its nickname is “Shirley Temple.” Tillandsia streptophylla, you’re irresistible.
Above: A Curly Air Plant(Tillandsia streptophylla) is currently available in two sizes—two to three inches high and four to five inches high; $9 and $16 at Spyloh via Etsy. Native to warm climates in the Caribbean, Central America, and Mexico, Tillandsia streptophylla has leaves that curl up as it dries out. For tips on how to take care of an air plant, see Air Plants: A Field Guide to Planting, Care & Design.
Above: “These are very interestingly shaped little plants—when you water them more they grow wavy, and when you water them less, they get very curly,” notes seller Spyloh. “When they bloom, they blush a bright pink and have giant bloom spikes.”
Despite being a garden designer and certified plant enthusiast (read: borderline obsessed), I don’t grow many indoor plants. Most people think my interior space would match my exterior space: verdant, jungly, crammed with cascading and climbing greenery, and spotted with stately potted centerpieces. But most indoor plants I have tried to grow simply demand too much attention and too much fussing. That being said, of the three houseplants I grow, pothos is one.
Please keep reading to learn why you should grow this easy houseplant.
Above: Pothos vines are members of the Araceae plant family. At center is ‘Marble Queen’ and at bottom left is ‘Satin’.
A tropical forest plant, in colder climates pothos lives indoors so happily that I’d put it in the running for winning the Easiest Houseplant Ever award. With a trailing, vine-like habit, attractive heart-shaped leaves, an ability to help purify the air and to thrive in low light and humidity while withstanding for long periods of time, pothos is the perfect plant for people too busy for houseplants (but who really want the beauty of houseplants).
Above: Satin pothos (Scindapsus pictus ‘Argyraeus’) is a cousin to Epipremnum aureum.
Pothos has numerous common names, including: golden pothos, hunter’s robe, ivy arum, money plant, and taro vine. The curious other name: devil’s ivy is because it’s nearly impossible to kill and stays alive even when kept in the dark.
Above: Pothos ‘Marble Queen’ has white variegation and is slower growing. It looks excellent in a white pot. A rooted cutting of Marble Queen Devil’s Ivy is $6 from Spyloh via Etsy. In tropical forests pothos can grow incredibly large and climb and clamber over the landscape. The ones we grow indoors are tamer versions. If you happen to live in USDA zones 10 and 11, you may be able to grow pothos outside in a shady location as a ground cover or scrambling vine.
Above: To propagate a new pothos from your existing plant, start with a six-inch piece of stem that has several leaves.
Both indoors and outdoors, if your pothos gets too leggy give it a prune to control the shape and corral the length. Discover yellowing and withering older leaves with dry edges? You probably let it dry out too much for too long. Solution? Give your struggling plant friend a good soak of water.
N.B.: All parts of this plant are poisonous if ingested by humans or animals.
Above: To propagate, trim a stem so that a growth node (the spot from which a leaf sprouts) is a half-inch from the bottom. Pot the stem into water and wait for roots to sprout from the growth nodes.
Cheat Sheet
Grow pothos in a container that rests on a bookshelf or ledge, or in a hanging container so that it’s superior cascading habit can be appreciated. Can grow to about six to 10 feet over time.
Because it helps clean the air of toxins, especially formaldehyde and benzene fumes, which are often found in recently painted or furnished rooms, pothos is perfect for offices and living rooms, and because it also helps remove carbon monoxide from the air, consider putting this plant in your bedroom to ensure enough oxygen while sleeping.
Consider repotting your pothos if the roots have consumed the pot. Choose a container one size larger than what you are taking it out of and add fresh potting soil.
Propagating pothos is also easy from cuttings. Simply place a cut stem that has a node on it in a glass of water and wait for it to root. Then plant in a small container.
Varieties such as ‘Neon’, with chartreuse leaves will brighten a dark corner.
Above: Variegation is a mutation that can be genetic or random (if only a few variegated leaves appear on an otherwise green plant, it may revert over time to a plant that has solid green foliage).
Keep It Alive
Grow pothos indoors, preferably with bright, not direct light, although it also will tolerate low-light conditions. Tip: Pale leaves means too much sun, and loss of variegation means too little.
Pothos likes to have its soil dry out between waterings and therefore accepts erratic watering care. It definitely dislikes soggy roots. Tip: The leaves droop when the plant is thirsty and needs a drink. But don’t let this wilt-y stage go for too long or you will start to see leaf drop.
Grow in any well-draining potting soil.
Pothos is a light feeder, but you can give it a monthly snack with a balanced fertilizer formulated for houseplants.
For showing if not growing, the Chelsea Flower Show in London is the pinnacle of the garden year. To join the happy throng this week or mingle with unexpected celebrities on Press Day is to give meaning to the idea of a “pleasure garden.” What could be nicer than promenading through the tree-filled avenues of the Royal Hospital grounds in London SW3, gossiping about people and plants? Come and join in.
Above: Nettles, buttercups, and shaggy grass at the Welcome to Yorkshire Garden, Chelsea 2018.
The first thing to get used to is overhead noise in the form of whirring drones and screeching parakeets (escaped birds that have made themselves at home in the tall trees of London parks). Making one’s way down toward the main show gardens, a sound of sheep takes over, accompanied by native bird calls of curlew and snape. It’s calming, if a little surreal, as it’s only a recording. Even more peculiar is the sight of sheep’s wool sticking to thorn bushes, unmown grass, and a tangled mass of country flowers that are also known as weeds. It’s the Welcome to Yorkshire garden, and it boasts a rugged trickling stream and proper Yorkshire stone walls.
Seedlip Garden
Above: The Seedlip Garden is based on members of the pea family, including lupine and crimson clover.
Of course, nothing is considered truly surreal at Chelsea; the more theatrical and outrageous the better in a pleasure garden. This year, however, anyone hoping to titter over taste lapses might be disappointed. Certain blameless plants are repeated again and again around the show gardens: these include thyme, crimson clover Trifolium incarnatum (shown), fennel, and simple poppies.
Mediterranean Garden
Above: The impeccably tasteful Mediterranean garden designed by Sarah Price for M&G Investments.
This consensus of planting may be due in part to a lack of nurseries who are prepared to supply on the grand scale to show gardens. It cannot be a coincidence that one well-known grower has had a hand in 32 gardens this year and that there are an awful lot of yellow lupines and orange geums. The luxuriance of pink poppies (known as “Beth’s Poppy” after the late, great Beth Chatto) may be due to something in the air.
Above: Popping up everywhere, Papaver dubium subsp. Lecoqii ‘Albiflorum’ with crimson clover.
Hospitality Garden
Above: Our annual portrait of Mr. Kazuyuki Ishihara, landscape artist.
One designer who demands special notice every year is Kazuyuki Ishihara. His planting palette invariably features small acers, water irises, mossy mounds, and exquisite little buildings. He never lets us down with his 360-degree vision, adding a wilder, shaggier rendition of a Japanese woodland garden at the back of his 2018 installation “O-me-te-na-shi no NIWA” (an homage to omotenashi, the Japanese tradition of hospitality) nestling under English yews. The only surprise would be if he failed to surprise us with his brilliance.
Above: Pumpkin snippers (available to order at £58) are spoon-shaped so the sharp edges don’t damage a pumpkin when its stalk is cut.
Shopping Alley regulars Suwada London tell us that many people buy their higher-priced clippers for display purposes. With handsome pumpkin orange handles and a spoon that opens in half to reveal two very sharp blades, the pumpkin cutter is a new product for the 2018 show. Garden style icon Alys Fowler, who pointed them out, says: “Everyone who is serious about pumpkin growing should have a pair.”
BBC Garden Host Monty Don
Above: BBC television presenter Monty Don with royal wedding florist Philippa Craddock, who created the arrangements and bouquets to celebrate Prince Harry’s marriage to Meghan Markle on Saturday.
The Chelsea show gardens, including Best in Show, are awarded medals on Tuesday morning. Follow our Chelsea posts this week for a behind-the-ropes look at the most-talked-about gardens.
Cable railings, also known as tension wire railings, are useful to install on balconies, decks, and stairways where you don’t want to block a view.
Instead of bulky spindles or pickets, cable railings are ultra-thin, see-though barriers. Made of stainless steel or aluminum, cable railings are strong and can stand up to the elements.
We’ve rounded up 11 options for cable railings, including bespoke designs and DIY cable railing kits (the Ultra-Tec hardware kit shown above is designed for use with either metal or wood railings).
Above: The components. A stainless steel Cable Railing Kit for wood posts includes 100 feet of polished stainless steel cable, a 10-pack of stainless steel tensioners, a 10-pack of stainless steel swageless fittings, a 20-pack of eye terminals with wood screws, and an eight-inch pair of cable cutters; $235 from Aress Corp. via Etsy. Above: A side-mounted post and aluminum handrail is included in Prova’s 6.5-Ft Stainless Steel Cable Rail Kit. If you are assembling a longer railing, note that this kit does not include anchor bolts, end caps, or multi-kit connections; $479.75 at Lowe’s. Above: Madden Industries marine-grade Cable Railing Kit for use with wood or steel posts comes with 500 feet of eighth-inch cable, 13 hand swage threaded studs, 13 hand swage threaded studs with turnbuckles, 26 protective sleeves, 26 hex nuts, 26 acorn nuts, and 26 flat washers; $656.15 from Aluminum Handrail. Above: A DIY Cable Railing Kit with a tubular mounting system is available with three to 50 feet of cable. For more information and prices, see S3i.
Above: A pack of 11 Stainless Steel Jakob Cables, each measuring 30 feet and suitable for use with wood or metal rails, comes with a cable cutter and is $400.26 from Home Depot. Above: From Keuka Studios, a custom Ithaca Cable Railing Kit includes railings made of double powder-coated steel, hot dip galvanized steel, clear anodized aluminum, or brushed stainless steel which can be either fascia- or surface-mounted. “Many railing kits look like an afterthought. We will make sure yours looks like it was designed to be there from the beginning,” the manufacturer says. For more information and pricing, see Keuka Studios. Above: A custom option, a Rainier Stainless Steel Cable Railing suitable for use outdoors or in is fabricated to your dimensions and “shipped for on-site installation direct from the AGS Stainless factory located in the Pacific Northwest to ensure prompt delivery and attentive service,” notes the manufacturer. For more information and prices, see AGS Stainless. Above: A Full-Deck Cable Railing Kit includes 1,000 feet of stainless steel cable, end fittings, and tools; $1,492.88 from Stainless Cable & Railing. Above: A Stainless Steel Cable Assembly Kit by Feeney comes with a 30-foot length of cable and is designed for use with wooden railings; it is $53.44 at Home Depot. Above: An X-Tend Stainless Steel Cable Mesh System from Carl Stahl Architecture is made of flexible materials and can be ordered in custom lengths and widths. For more information and prices, see Carl Stahl. Above: A DIY Cable Railing Kit comes with five to 35 feet of cable railing plus hardware; $52 to $62.25 from Cable Loft.
If you’re designing a railing system for a balcony, deck, or stairway, see our Hardscape 101 design guides for Exterior Hardware and Decks & Patios. Read more:
The Gardenista Considered Design Awards are back—and we’re inviting all readers, professional designers and amateur gardeners alike, to submit your best efforts to this year’s contest. The awards are open to all kinds of gardeners: Homeowners, apartment dwellers, landscape architects, and garden designers are all welcome to submit (as are architects, interior designers, and design novices in Remodelista’s contest). Finalists will be selected by a panel of judges (to be announced soon), and winners will be chosen by public vote.
Submission Period
Submissions will be accepted Friday, June 1, through Friday, June 22.
Contest Categories
Best Edible Garden
Best Curb Appeal Project
Best Hardscape Project
Best Outdoor Living Space
Best Amateur Garden
Best Professional Landscape
Prizes
Winning projects will receive a full feature post on Gardenista, and each winner will get a $500 gift card to shop our prize sponsor Schoolhouse, based in Portland, Oregon. In addition, professional winners will receive automatic entry into the Remodelista/Gardenista Architect/Designer Directory.
Who Can Enter?
We’ll publish our complete Terms & Conditions with the launch of the contest, but readers in the United States and Canada (excluding Quebec) are welcome to enter. You may submit multiple entries per category, and each entry may include up to 10 photos (minimum 1,000 pixels wide). Please do not submit projects that have already been featured on Gardenista. You’ll be required to submit a short paragraph describing your project and a brief caption for each photo.
Above: Andrew Tatreau of Omaha, Nebraska, built a DIY cabana in his shadeless backyard to provide a respite from the sun for both people and plants; he won our 2017 Best Amateur Landscape award for the project. Above: For her residential homestead in Kalona, Iowa, amateur gardener Kayla Haupt won 2017’s Best Edible Garden. Above: Studio 29 Architects won Best UK Professional Landscape last year for this African-inspired garden in London. Photograph by Andrew Beasley. Above: The 2017 Best Professional Landscape award went to Campion Walker Landscapes and JacobsChang Architecture, for this private, minimalist dry garden in a busy Los Angeles neighborhood. Photograph by Michael Wells.
N.B.: Featured photograph by Shannon Greer, courtesy of Edible Petals, from our 2017 winning Outdoor Living Space project.
For more winning projects from Gardenista’s previous contests, see:
Designer Sarah Price makes gardens that garden editors adore. She is an artist who sculpts with aggregate and tough plants and she never looks ruffled. Her gardens hum with energy and authenticity yet, like her, they are—serene.
Show garden judges like her gardens too; having won a gold medal at her last Chelsea Flower Show appearance in 2012, Sarah Price decided to “use color in a different way” with this year’s entry at Chelsea, winning another gold medal.
Plants aside, there is no getting away from earth red: It’s on the walls, the ground, the seats, and under the water. Let’s take a closer look.
Above: Sarah Price in her gold-medal-winning Mediterranean garden for M&G, Chelsea 2018.
For this designer, saturated color has a useful effect on other strong colors: “They sing and clash, creating harmonies or discord,” she says. Being an artist, Sarah’s palette has an overall unity. Look at the colors in Monet’s paintings of his Giverny garden and there is this lively color effect. In fact, a rare showing of Monet’s Agapanthus Triptych at the Royal Academy a couple of years ago gave Sarah the germ of an idea for a show garden.
Above: British Impressionism, featuring succulents and poppies.
The garden art made by Sarah resonates with sensitive souls as well as cynical journalists. Christopher Woodward, director of the Garden Museum, describes the effect that particularly memorable Chelsea gardens can have over the years: “These unique intensities blur and seep into your consciousness of what gardens can be.” Sarah is able to do this.
Above: Rammed earth walls, screens, and pillars were put together on-site during the show build.
Even the tree trunk (Lagerstroemia indica) is red-brown. Like an Impressionist painting, the soft blur is woken up with shots of glowing color.
Above: A Corten steel rill leads to the edge of one of several pools that reflect trees along with the sky.
Sarah is (probably) pestered to do more show gardens than she is keen to do; her offering, to use corporate language, is attractive to risk-averse sponsors. Winning gold again this year, she is a safe bet without being safe in her choices. In a textural mix of herbs and at least seven different euphorbias, there is green in all its variations and acid yellow with amethyst and pink.
Above: Trend alert—glaucous Euphorbia rigida with its coral flowers, is a standout shrub in this garden. Above: Dark poppy (Papaver rhoeas) with pink and green Euphorbia rigida and young giant fennel.
A red clay base note could seem rather heavy in the British climate, especially if the weather happened to be the usual festival wind and rain. A couple of minutes spent watching the sponsor’s video from earlier in the year is unconsciously revealing about this hue. As Sarah puts together her “material palette” of aggregates and plant samples, she adds paint in the red-brown spectrum to mounds of pebbles. She is standing in a lean-to conservatory facing on to a wintery walled garden and the walls happen to be plaster pink, with glaucous green succulents hanging from shelves. Harmony is all around.
Above: Water trickles on to a bed of carefully selected hardcore, with a rusty plate to even out the flow. Mudflats ease into green planting, with shots of orange Isoplexis canariensis closer to the walls. Above: Insect-friendly umbels of sea carrot (Daucus gingidium) with rangy mauves and pinks and a shot of euphorbia yellow.
Price uses plants that might clash in a formal border but that rub together here. This is drought-tolerant, Mediterranean planting: Everything goes together because it is culturally cohesive, whether it’s acid yellow or bright pink.
Above: Shadows and reflections will accentuate the pomegranate tree shape later in the day. Above: Roses indicate that this might be an English person’s garden in the Mediterranean.
For anyone perplexed by the matrix of walls, there is another way. In the words of our own Clare Coulson: “Just look at the plants.”
Above: A profusion of texture and mainly delicate color, with fluffy mauve phacelia next to fennel, tufty grass, and euphorbia.
No wonder it sounds like scissors. With “seven hardened, sharp cutting blades on a ball-bearing shaft,” a manually operated lawnmower (shown above) from the 100-year-old American Lawn Mower Company doesn’t take a backseat to any electric, gasoline-powered, or robotic lawn mower on the market. Plus, it’s environmentally friendly.
The blades on reel lawn mowers give grass a cleaner cut than the rotary blades on electric or gas mowers (which tear instead of trim turf). Add that to the benefits of operating a noiseless, energy-saving low-maintenance, cutting machine and you may wonder why you haven’t already adopted this friendly, low-tech way to mow your lawn. We’ve rounded up 10 reel lawn mowers to consider.
Above: Made of powder-coated steel, a Manually Operated Lawnmower has rubber-coated treads and measures about 44.5 inches high. It is €273 at Manufactum. Above: A Manual Walk Behind Non-Electric Reel Mower with an attached bag has an ergonomic handle and can adjust to different heights; $96.25 at Home Depot. Above: An Ozito Push Reel Lawn Mower has adjustable, self-sharpening blades and slip-resistant wheels. It is $69.97 NZD at Bunnings. Above: A six-blade Mascot Reel Lawn Mower is 18 inches wide for easy use in tight spaces; $319.99 (add $59.99 for an optional grass catcher) at Clean Air Gardening. Above: Scott’s 16-inch rust-resistant Walk-Behind Push Reel Lawn Mower is designed for smaller lawns and is $123.38 at Amazon. Above: Suitable for medium-size gardens, a Greenworks 18-Inch Manual Reel Mower comes with a bag to catch grass; $129.99. Above: From Fiskars, an easy-to-push Stay Sharp Max Reel Mower has a “reversible grass chute which can be positioned to direct clippings forward, away from your feet, or backward and downward,” the manufacturer notes. It is $174.99 from Amazon. Above: From American Lawn Mower, a 16-inch Reel Mower comes with a sharpening kit; $109.99 from Ace Hardware. Above: From Sun Joe, a Mow Joe Manual Push Walk Behind Reel Mower (with grass catcher included) is 16 inches wide; $74.25 at Home Depot. Above: Brill’s 20-inch Classic Push Reel Lawn Mower has 10-inch dual tracking wheels and rugged radial tires; $327.74 at Sears. For more environmentally friendly ways to live with a lawn, see:
“Now that’s a good plant,” knowledgeable gardeners will say, on seeing a shapely huddle of epimedium’s heart-shaped leaves in a well-planned woodland garden. They know that it is one of the best ground covers, staying put, tolerating dry shade, with handsome leaves that are briefly outshone by small but interesting flowers in spring. It’s not the first shade-tolerant plant that comes to mind, but it might as well be.
Shown above, Epimedium x versicolor ‘Sulphureum’ is a classic, with delicate-looking flowers on a very hardy plant. Read on to learn more about this versatile perennial, commonly known in the US as barrenwort.
Underneath the covering foliage, barrenwort seems to be constructed on wire. Wiry stems support each leaf, with flowers shooting off on long, wiry stems.
Above: Epimedium ‘Jenny Pym’.
Red-flowered varieties resemble ecclesiastical headgear, although epimedium’s nickname—bishop’s hat—refers to the miter-shaped leaves. In early spring, older leaves can be sheared to reveal the lower layer of flowers. New foliage will soon take over.
Above: Epimedium x rubrum.
A medieval-sounding (and less-used in the UK) common name for epimedium is barrenwort, as well as horny goat weed, and yes, they are connected. A quick trawl of these nicknames reveals that epimedium’s horticultural value is overshadowed by its medicinal worth as a libido-enhancer. It has been valued in China for thousands of years and is named after a “licentious” goat.
Epimedium x rubrum (shown) is one of the most popular varieties, with vibrant flowers and leaf color that develops over the seasons, from bronze to green to red.
Above: Epimedium x perralchicum ‘Frohnleiten’, a natural partner for wood anemones, also shown.
Cheat Sheet
Slow-growing and long-lived, this mainly evergreen ground cover is distinguished by glorious leaves and subtle flowers.
Barrenwort’s veined, bronze-tinted foliage is worthy of pride of place in a smaller garden. Less vigorous forms of epimediums include E. x ‘Rubrum’ and E. x perralchicum ‘Frohnleiten’, shown here.
A retaining wall would be a good site for epimediums, so that the flowers, which rarely reach more than a foot high, can be better seen.
Above: Columbine-like flowers of Epimedium grandiflorum.
Keep It Alive
Epimedium does best in cool, moist, well-drained soil. However, it is also drought-tolerant and can take full sun, depending on the variety.
Adding liberal doses of leaf mold or humus will help to keep barrenwort happy, retaining moisture and opening up soil structure.
In a similar way to hellebore management, cut off old leaves, not just to flatter the flowers but to show emerging new leaves at their best.
Above: While Epimedium pubigerum is not evergreen, it does put up with a mix of shade and full sun.
Gardening is an imaginative response to a crisis and the Lemon Tree Trust garden on Main Avenue at this year’s Chelsea Flower Show is full of good ideas.
The trust’s Texan founders believe that a container of herbs and a lemon tree are good for the soul—not just for us, but more specifically for the 26,000 refugees at Domiz camp in northern Iraq. Lemon Tree has planted 11,000 trees and plants in the region since 2015, the year that this garden’s designer, Tom Massey, graduated from the London College of Garden Design. His debut at Chelsea highlights the remarkable beauty hidden in the camp and is an homage to its resourceful gardeners. It is a show garden with heart and soul.
Above: Designer Tom Massey for the Lemon Tree Trust, Chelsea garden 2018.
Rather than a movie set mockup of a refugee camp, the aesthetic is chic, and this works. Camps are made up of people from all walks of life; creative and engineering skills are put to use. In this vein, elegant lattice panels for screening out the sun are topped by intricate fretwork, in turn topped by a pavilion roof that supports tiers of edible plants.
Not only does this garden feature a fire escape ladder but also its screens revolve on pivots, which were opened for the visit of Prime Minister Theresa May on Monday morning. May talked to the trust about their work with absolute transparency.
Above: An end-of-terrace garden on Main Avenue, with pomegranates forming the perimeter at the side.
In front of a couple of low pomegranate trees, gravel ,and crushed rock, is tough, sun-loving plants that have been made at home. These include cardoon, salvia, poppies, verbascum, and herbs.
It is worth taking a look at the Festival of Gardens section on the Lemon Tree website. Displaced people in Syria and Iraq arrive at the camps with seeds and plants. Herbs are the foundation of cooking as well as a psychic connection with home, and this impulse to grow is strengthened by the garden competitions organized by Lemon Tree, with every participant receiving a lemon tree.
Above: Tom Massey’s pomegranates produce some red blossoms in time for the show. Above: Assured geometry, from the rill to the screen of untreated pine, via an asymmetrical fountain.
Style elements in this garden (poured concrete, corrugated planters) are based on utility. Steel and concrete are the building materials of Domiz Camp; the fountain shown here is pumped with graywater, a vital commodity for hydrating plants. Above the lattice-work screens, water is collected from the roof garden where it runs along a channel and down a chain into the garden below.
Above: Salvia x sylvestris ‘Mainacht’. This is a garden of details, with immaculate hard landscaping.
Above: Plastic bottles and drainpipes support herbs and edibles (including Tagetes, thyme, and lettuce), just as they do at Domiz.
Now for the takeaway: With no permanence, refugee gardens are made for expedience. These are beautiful shelves but they are simple, held together with nuts and bolts. Plastic bottles never looked so good.
Above: Appreciating breeze block. Set at an angle, concrete units contain thyme, catmint, fennel, and chives.
It is difficult to talk about an excellent show garden like this one without mentioning medals. The Lemon Tree Trust garden won a silver-gilt. For designers and sponsors, a nongold can be like an elephant in the room on the morning of the first public day, but visitors don’t seem to care. Should the gardens at Chelsea be judged at all?
Above: Cans of wild strawberries, parsley, and mint (Mentha spicata).
A change of rules would probably require a change of name, since “show” with all its village show connotations implies a serious competition. But it has been argued before that with show garden sponsors (investment bankers, travel agents, wine merchants, and so on) breathing down one’s neck, gold medals must be won. Undoubtedly, this stifles creativity.
Above: Tom Massey’s Main Avenue lemon tree, Chelsea Flower Show 2018.
Medals are based on points, a bit like college exams: Admiring a submitted piece has nothing to do with anything. “The gardens need more horticultural scope,” says one of our favorite outspoken landscape designers, Jinny Blom. “‘We need a standard, rather than a judgment.” That standard, she suggests, is one of horticultural excellence. No more judging: What do you think?
Plan B is the looming question for fashion models. Rather than joining her confreres in acting class or hoping to launch her own fashion label, Kristel van Valkenhoef of Wilhelmina New York and Elite Paris is setting her sights on a sugarcoated future.
Raised in Utrecht, in the center of Holland, she’s been modeling since she was 16 (discovered at 14, when her sister submitted her snaps to a contest, she was told to come back after high school graduation). That was more than a decade ago, and Kristel is still traveling the world—currently working for Céline and Helmut Lang, among others. But recently she’s also been moonlighting as a baker and candy maker who uses botanicals as her signature embellishment.
Kristel tells us she learned to make meringues from her mother: “She was the creative mom; baking was our way to relax together, and still is.” As for her love of growing things: “My dad comes from a long line of farmers, and I have green fingers; I think it’s a little bit in my genetics and a lot in the way I was raised.” On modeling jobs, Kristel shared her kitchen experiments, and her new venture Botanic Bakery was born. Here’s a sampling of her creations (and read on for a recipe for her floral meringues).
Above: For champagne brand Dom Pérignon, Kristel created a batch of champagne-and-elderflower-infused lollipops that “frame” edible violas and gold leaf.
So far she takes on large orders only and has received a slew of commissions from the fashion world, including Jill Stuart, Prada, The Row, and Wilhelmina Models, but Kristel says she’s happy to field all queries: “To be honest, I’m still surprised by how well my concept has been received. To be able to dedicate myself to both careers, I pretty much never sleep.” She works out of her kitchen in Brooklyn and in the commercial studio at Brooklyn Floral Delight in NYC’s East Village, a kindred-spirit operation specializing in succulent cakes and cupcakes.
Above: Candy popsicles with pansies and gold leaf. “A fun first way of experimenting with sugar is to get a Silpat mat and some sucker sticks,” says Kristel. “Boil up some sugar syrup to hard crack, pour it onto the Silpat, and add an edible flower on top.”
Pansies, violas, and roses are Kristel’s favorite culinary flowers. She grows her own indoors (hydroponically) and out—”without a doubt, violas are the easiest”—and off-season works with an organic supplier.
Above: Crystals by Kristel. For Alejandra Alonso Rojas’s spring 2018 ready-to-wear show, van Valkenhoef came up with astonishingly real-looking geode candy in the colors of the collection.
She uses a butane torch, sculpting tools, tweezers, and brushes to make her creations. (Peruse YouTube for instructional videos—there are many on edible flower lollipops and even several on agate candy.) For sourcing tools, molds, and extracts, Kristel recommends online site Craftsy, and says she loves browsing the baking supply shops on Paris’s Rue de Montmartre, such as Déco Relief and Mora. Her go-to for last-minute necessities is NY Cake.
Above: If these stone confections look familiar, perhaps that’s because you’ve seen them in another guise: They were inspired by Anthropologie’s gold-edged Agate Coasters. Above: Kristel is as inventive with her flavorings as she is with her presentation: marshmallow rose is shown here, and two other favorite combinations are blueberry bourbon and raspberry rosé. Above: Kristel says her Italian-style macaroons are the trickiest item in her repertoire—made even more difficult with a chocolate-dipped and gilded cherry balanced on top. Above: Pansy, viola, and rose confetti cookies. Above: The confectioner with some of her key ingredients. “My dream is to have whimsical stores in places such as SoHo and Place Vendôme where people can discover my candy world.”
Feeling inspired? Below is a recipe from Kristel, and see her latest creations at @botanicbakery.
Floral Meringues
Yields 20 to 30 large meringues and up to 200 minis
These are super cute on top of cakes and cupcakes or by themselves. I usually have a batch around because they always come in handy.
Ingredients
5 large egg whites
1 cup and 2 tablespoons sugar
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon floral extract, such as orange blossom, elderflower, lavender, or rose
Food coloring (optional—use only gel or powdered varieties; liquid-based will throw the meringue off balance)
Preheat oven to 175 degrees and line baking sheets with Silpat mats or parchment paper.
Add eggs and sugar to a clean, 100-percent-grease-free bowl in a bain-marie, and gently whisk. When sugar is dissolved, start mixing at medium speed and gradually increase to high until stiff-peak stage (you can hold your bowl upside down at this point and the meringue will not fall out).
Add in the vanilla and floral essence, and coloring if you’d like. Be careful at this stage not to over-whip!
Place the meringue in a piping bag (a Wilton M1 piping tip is ideal), and pipe on a baking sheet on top of dried violas or sprinkle on some crushed edible petals.
Dehydrate in the oven for an hour and a half to three hours (depending on the size). To prevent from cracking, let the oven cool completely before taking them out.
Here are some more straight-from-the garden recipes:
Alchemilla mollis is ubiquitous in English cottage gardens for good reason. Lady’s mantle is an unfussy, low-maintenance plant that looks fabulous at the front of borders from early spring, when foliage starts to appear, through late autumn.
This herbaceous perennial, which is semi-evergreen, produces a neat mound of lush scallop-shaped leaves that are finely serrated at the edges. From June to September, the plant also produces frothy sprays of vivid chartreuse flowers. These well-behaved mounds look wonderful in and around paving and paths, and the color works particularly well with rusty-toned brickwork and terracotta.
Photography by Britt Willoughby Dyer for Gardenista.
Above: Lady’s mantle mingles with daisies (Erigeron karvinskianus) at the front of a border. A nine-by-six-centimeter pot of Alchemilla mollis is £14.97 for UK readers, at Crocus. Alchemilla looks particularly stunning after rain or first thing in the morning when iridescent water droplets sit like jewels on top of the leaves; these beads of water were said to be used by alchemists, hence their Latin name Alchemilla. Mollis is taken from the Latin for “gentle.”
The plant’s common name is said to have come from an ancient legend of it being used to adorn the Virgin Mary, as her cloak was thought to resemble its scalloped leaves.
Above: For US readers, Alchemilla Mollis is $10 at the Monticello Shop.
Cheat Sheet
As a front-of-the-border plant, lady’s mantle is an excellent foil to blues and purples, pairing particularly well with other garden stalwarts such as the cranesbill geranium ‘Rozanne’.
This adaptable plant will grow in almost any position from dry shade to full sun, although in the latter it will need watering. In shade it looks wonderful paired with lacy ferns and velvety hostas. It’s also rabbit- and deer-proof.
This plant will self-seed, which for many gardeners is a welcome addition. (Cut down the flowering stems before they set seed if you want to keep it in check.)
The acid flowers are popular for cutting and can be used fresh or dried.
Above: A gravel path’s edge is softened by plantings that spill over into the walkway: ferns, euphorbia, and Alchemilla mollis. See more of this garden bed at Old-Lands: A Modern Welsh Garden from a Bygone Age. Photograph by Britt Willoughby Dyer.
Keep It Alive
Cut any remaining foliage to the ground in early spring and it will quickly start to regrow. After the first flush of flowers, cut the stems back and the plant may produce another wave of flowers.
Give these plants space to grow, allowing at least a foot around them for growth and good air circulation. To produce new plants you can divide established mounds in spring or autumn and replant.
Thinking of embarking on a remodel this spring (or anytime for that matter)? We want to help. Our mission has always been to provide remodeling inspiration, ideas, and advice, and now we’ve partnered with our friends at Fireclay Tile to give away $20,000,plus $5,000 to use toward tile from Fireclay Tile.
Reminder: There’s just one week left to enter to win. To enter, follow the instructions on the giveaway page by Thursday, May 31, 4 p.m. EDT, for a chance to win $20,000, plus $5,000 to use toward tile from Fireclay Tile.
N.B.: Need remodeling inspiration? Browse the Kitchens and Bathrooms pages on Remodelista for all kitchen and bathroom remodeling projects from the archives. Plus, take a look at our posts:
The Spring Remodel Sweepstakes starts 5/1/2018 and ends 5/31/2018. Open to residents age 21 or older of the 50 States and D.C. Void where prohibited. No purchase necessary. Prize awarded per random drawing: $20,000, plus purchase credit of $5,000. For how to enter, odds of winning and important dates, restrictions, requirements and other details, see Official Rules. Sponsor: Remodelista® division of Move Sales, Inc., 1211 Avenue of Americas, Floor 4, BB23, NY, NY 10036.
Trees can bring height, structure, and drama to borders, not to mention some precious winter interest. But planting around them can be daunting: Will they suck up all the water? Will trees eventually shade out their planting companions? Or will they outgrow their space entirely?
To get the lowdown on these pressing horticultural matters we consulted Sarah Jarman, one half of one of our favorite up-and-coming British design duos, Jarman Murphy, on how to landscape with trees to create the best design for your garden.
Photography courtesy of Jarman Murphy except where noted.
Multi-Stem Trees
Above: Choosing the right tree is crucial. Multi-stem trees will often be less vigorous and add a more interesting structure than a single stem tree.
“We use multi-stem trees as much as possible as they add a natural feel to the planting and have stems which intertwine and add interest. Clients really fall in love with them,” says Sarah Jarman, whose own garden has a multi-stem Amelanchier lamarckii, a small tree with gorgeous white blossoms in spring, verdant summer foliage, and beautiful fall color. “I enjoy it every day of the year. Even in winter the stems and branches create beautiful shapes.”
She suggests going to a specialist nursery (her own favorite is New Wood Trees in South Devon) but multi-stems are now sold by most garden centers and plant nurseries. Acer griseum and Prunus serrula also work brilliantly as multi-stem trees with year-round appeal.
Many smaller crabapples also work well in borders with their manageable size and beautiful spring blossom and autumn fruits. “Malus ‘Evereste’ has featured in a recent design for clients and it was repeated through a large planting area near a terrace,” says Jarman. “It is a real performer but, still has a wild and natural feel. As a small to medium tree, it needs minimum maintenance and will not outgrow a garden.”
Understory Plants
Above: Deschampsia grasses beneath a birch tree.
Just as important as the tree is what goes underneath, says Jarman, so consider drought-tolerant plants that are also not adverse to some shade. “The multi-stem trees cast some shadow around their base, so we always add some Gallium odoratum to froth out over the base of the tree,” says Jarman, who then carefully adds additional perennials and bulbs that won’t compete with the tree for water.
Protective Mulch
Above: All newly planted trees need attention for the first couple of years and in borders it’s even more crucial.
Mulch really well around the base of the tree (avoiding the stem) and reapply after the first season. This will not only help to feed the tree but will help keep the ground moist too.
Drip Irrigation
Above: A newly planted tree, says Sarah, needs about 20 liters of water (or about 5.25 gallons) each day in summer.
“We advise clients to drip-irrigate their trees or to water the tree with a trickling slow hose pipe so that the water seeps through to the root ball. Water when first planted, and then for the first spring and then the following two summers is a good guide to ensure your tree does not become stressed,” says Jarman.
Look at a room through new eyes, and who knows what you’ll see? This week the Remodelista editors discovered new creative designs to make a home feel brand new.
Your First Sofa
Above: Founded by Nidhi Kapur, Maiden Home offers nontoxic furniture handmade in North Carolina. Cutting out the middleman, Maiden Home’s four sofas start around $2,000 (shown here is The Ludlow).
“Like the mattress, bedding, and flat-pack furniture disruptors who have arrived on the scene, a new crop of sofa companies is co-opting the direct-to-consumer model to offer affordability and, in some cases, new and improved designs,” writes Alexa. See her eight favorites in Your First Sofa: 8 Upstarts With Style.
Compact Refrigerators
Above: Big Chill of Boulder, Colorado, creates modern appliances with retro appeal. The Under Counter Mini Fridge comes in eight colors—and more than 200 custom shades.
Stacey rounds up her favorite energy- and space-saving compact refrigerators for tight budgets and small kitchens in this week’s 10 Easy Pieces post.
The Cuban Mop
Above: Meet “the Cuban mop. Its genius lies in the simplicity of its design—no bells and whistles, just two sticks that screw together into a T. It’s inexpensive, lightweight, easy to use, and a cinch to clean,” writes Justine. Photograph by Justine Hand.
In this week’s Steal This Look: Kitchen post, “acolorful palette has plenty of genius ideas to replicate,” writes Alexa.
Chef-Made Ceramics
Cracked Black Plates by Dan Cox
“There are parallels to draw between clay and dough, the tactility of cooking and pottery,” writes Annie, which may explain a new breed of Chef-Ceramists Who Make Their Own Tableware.
