Japanese Garden, Garden Conservancy, NJ

As this blog seems to be "All Gardens, All the Time," I'm just popping in today to show you the rest of the garden from my previous post. As you can see, it is a shade garden with some Japanese influences -- quite different from the English borders near the house. And it is a beautiful sight on a hot summer's day.

My husband and I spent a wonderful weekend up in Connecticut, and I have some fabulous pictures to show you. In fact, I took so many pictures that my right hand is sore from holding my camera! I will be back on Friday to share my special treat with you all. ;)

Mosaic Monday: More Open Gardens

I have visited so many open gardens this year, and I am way behind on showing you all of them. I visited this particular garden a few weeks ago, as part of The Garden Conservancy's Open Days Program.

This particular garden was attached to a low, mid-century modern type home, surrounded by a woodland garden with a Japanese flavor. However, parts of the garden were much more English in style, as you can see in these photos. Boxwood hedges framed beds in the kitchen garden, and roses and clematis spilled over a central paved pathway.

I will try to show you the woodland and bog gardens later in the week. I will also have a fabulous treat for you, so stay tuned!

Now let's have some mosaic fun! Here are the instructions:
1. Publish your Mosaic Monday post. The post may be about any subject you wish. The only stipulation is that it include a collage, or mosaic of photos.
2. Once it is published, click on the title of the post. This will lead you to the static link for your post. The static link is the page with only that post on it. Copy the url from your browser at the top of the page.
3. Paste the url into the appropriate inlinkz box in this post.
4. Type your name in the appropriate inlinkz box in this post.
5. Click on "Enter."
6. Please link back to this Mosaic Monday post so that your readers can find other wonderful mosaics.

That's all there is to it! It's always a good idea to then check and see if your link is working. If you have any questions, feel free to email me: mrcarroll(at)optonline

And a quick reminder: if you would like to join Mosaic Monday but don't know quite where to start, there is a tutorial on mosaic-making on my sidebar. Just scroll down, and click on the small blue mosaic.

Garden Shed

Last week I went on a local garden tour sponsored by The Historical Society of the Somerset Hills. There were some beautiful gardens to see, which I will probably post about next week, but first I thought I would show you this wonderful garden shed.

Wouldn't you love to sit at this bench and look out the window while potting up some seedlings?

I just love the charming mixture of pretty and practical!

And the outside is just as adorable as the inside. :)

So, next week there will be more gardening posts. Hope you don't mind, but I've been to a lot of open gardens this month, and I've got tons of pictures to share with you.

Mosaic Monday: Happy Father's Day

Please forgive the quality of this last image. It was scanned from an old photo that my sister-in-law took on Block Island, probably the summer of 1992.

For my dear husband, the love of my life, the best father my children could ever have, and the one who always takes point on our hikes ~

Happy Father's Day!

Now let's have some mosaic fun! Here are the instructions:
1. Publish your Mosaic Monday post. The post may be about any subject you wish. The only stipulation is that it include a collage, or mosaic of photos.
2. Once it is published, click on the title of the post. This will lead you to the static link for your post. The static link is the page with only that post on it. Copy the url from your browser at the top of the page.
3. Paste the url into the appropriate inlinkz box in this post.
4. Type your name in the appropriate inlinkz box in this post.
5. Click on "Enter."
6. Please link back to this Mosaic Monday post so that your readers can find other wonderful mosaics.

That's all there is to it! It's always a good idea to then check and see if your link is working. If you have any questions, feel free to email me: mrcarroll(at)optonline

And a quick reminder: if you would like to join Mosaic Monday but don't know quite where to start, there is a tutorial on mosaic-making on my sidebar. Just scroll down, and click on the small blue mosaic.

My Heart is Heavy

How can you miss someone you've never met? How can your heart break when you read of her death?

I'm not sure what led me to visit Char's blog for the first time on my birthday, two years ago, but I do know that it was like an unexpected gift to discover her beautiful images. She inspired me to learn how to add textures to a photo, and she was generous with words of encouragement at my first, horrible attempts.

Occasionally sharp, often introspective, always well-written, hers was an authentic voice chronicling a life that at times seemed very hard. But her posts were larded with humor as well, and leavened with the real joy she found in her friends and family.

If you read Char, you will know that she could make your mouth water with her Southern cooking. She could make your heart sing with joy at the sight of a sunset. She made this Yankee an unofficial daughter of the South on her drives down the back roads of Alabama, in search of something beautiful to photograph. But the images that I will always remember the best are of her windowsill -- a few simple flowers in one of her beloved antique glass bottles.

I will miss her ipod playlists, which often left a song stuck in my head for the rest of the day. Fortunately, it was usually a good song -- her taste in music was extensive and catholic. I will miss her often acerbic wit -- sometimes directed at the foibles of her fellow man, but just as often targeted at her own self-perceived shortcomings. I will miss her laughter. I will miss her honesty. I will miss her voice in my head -- a low, Southern drawl with a hint of steel behind it.

As several bloggers have noted, she is most assuredly now in heaven with her beloved mother. I extend to her family my deepest sympathies. She will be missed by so many.

Garden Conservancy Open Days, NJ

I thought I would share some more photos of the beautiful garden that I visited this past Saturday, as a part of The Garden Conservancy's Open Days Program. I love the mixture of formal garden rooms and more natural areas.

There was a wonderful potager which was enclosed by a white picket fence and included raised beds, a rose-covered trellis, and a central water feature. Tomatoes were trained on a pair of white trellises, and the garden included plants that are both ornamental and edible, such as chives and artichokes.

Overlooking the potager, tucked into a small clearing in the trees, was a sweet little table and chairs, surrounded by some lovely potted specimens. It was the perfect place to enjoy dinner on a cool evening.

I loved the use of garden ornaments here, such as the beautiful stone and iron central feature in one of the formal garden rooms, and the charming porcelain birdhouse hanging from a tree outside the potager. I think that the inclusion of these ornaments helps to give the formal bones of the garden a human touch.

I hope you are enjoying the virtual garden visits. I still have to share photos of the second garden I visited last weekend. I guess it's Garden Week here at Little Red House. :)

Mosaic Monday: The Garden Conservancy

On Saturday, I visited two gardens close to my home that were opened as part of the Garden Conservancy Open Days Program. This is a wonderful program that opens private gardens across the country for a small fee, gaining funds to use towards the preservation of "exceptional American gardens for the education and enjoyment of the public."

This is the first of the gardens I visited. It is set on a steep hillside, with a formal knot garden near the back of the house, a white-fenced potager, and beautiful naturalized plantings following the curve of the hill. The owner first became interested in gardening when she retired. She is now a Master Gardener, and active on the board of a local arboretum. Her garden is filled with beautiful plant combinations, using colors, textures and leaves to create wonderful vistas.

If you are interested in visiting gardens in your area, do check out the Garden Conservancy's Open Days Program.

Now let's have some mosaic fun! Here are the instructions:
1. Publish your Mosaic Monday post. The post may be about any subject you wish. The only stipulation is that it include a collage, or mosaic of photos.
2. Once it is published, click on the title of the post. This will lead you to the static link for your post. The static link is the page with only that post on it. Copy the url from your browser at the top of the page.
3. Paste the url into the appropriate inlinkz box in this post.
4. Type your name in the appropriate inlinkz box in this post.
5. Click on "Enter."
6. Please link back to this Mosaic Monday post so that your readers can find other wonderful mosaics.

That's all there is to it! It's always a good idea to then check and see if your link is working. If you have any questions, feel free to email me: mrcarroll(at)optonline

And a quick reminder: if you would like to join Mosaic Monday but don't know quite where to start, there is a tutorial on mosaic-making on my sidebar. Just scroll down, and click on the small blue mosaic.

Heat Wave

Beautiful chartreuse Lady's Mantle,

plus a rummage sale find,

and a little romance...

creates a cool tableau...

on a very hot day. :)

It's in the 90's here. How's the weather where you live?

Mosaic Monday: Chinese Dogwood

"To see a hillside white with dogwood bloom is to know a particular ecstasy of beauty..."

~Hal Borland

I have had such a difficult time with writer's block lately. Actually, writing has always been secondary to the pictures for me. But lately, I am totally blocked -- nothing to write about, and often, nothing to post about, period.

I feel like the most boring person on earth.

So, I apologize profusely, but here are some pictures of the Chinese dogwood blossoms from our front yard here at Little Red House. I've styled them with a small silver-plated creamer from the thrift store and some of my favorite antique books. Somehow, books and flowers seem to go together, if only because they are two of my most favorite things.

(Can you tell I'm reaching here?) ;)

Have a wonderful week, dear bloggers!

Now let's have some mosaic fun! Here are the instructions:
1. Publish your Mosaic Monday post. The post may be about any subject you wish. The only stipulation is that it include a collage, or mosaic of photos.
2. Once it is published, click on the title of the post. This will lead you to the static link for your post. The static link is the page with only that post on it. Copy the url from your browser at the top of the page.
3. Paste the url into the appropriate inlinkz box in this post.
4. Type your name in the appropriate inlinkz box in this post.
5. Click on "Enter."
6. Please link back to this Mosaic Monday post so that your readers can find other wonderful mosaics.

That's all there is to it! It's always a good idea to then check and see if your link is working. If you have any questions, feel free to email me: mrcarroll(at)optonline

And a quick reminder: if you would like to join Mosaic Monday but don't know quite where to start, there is a tutorial on mosaic-making on my sidebar. Just scroll down, and click on the small blue mosaic.

En Plein Air

After one of the harshest winters on record, we have been practically living on the deck this spring. I love to drag out all the pillows and linens and crystal, and take our meals amid the flowers.

Even the simplest of meals becomes special when you make up a pretty tray and sit in the fresh air.

And oh, how I love these cute little purple pansies. I know they will soon wilt in the heat we are getting here, but I will enjoy them while I can.

A Waterford jam jar, linen napkin, monogrammed silver spoon and beautiful hand-painted plate are all served up on a green tole tray.

And a small bouquet of peonies, baptisia, spirea and foxglove from my garden make the meal special. Breakfast, en plein air. :)