Dry Stream

Never a stream, below, simply a low spot in the woods with drainage issues. River rocks & plantings solving drainage issues beautifully.
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This was the 1st dry stream bed I ever saw, over 2 decades ago. Since then it's become MORE gorgeous while functioning without problem.
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A French drain would have been ridiculously expensive, clogged up by now, dotted with water pockets & breeding mosquitoes.
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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara
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Pic taken at the Atlanta History Center a few weeks ago.

Blogs Feeding the Muse

7 Blogs feeding my creative muse; helpers in my garden ! Velvet & Linen, interiors & gardens. Brooke makes it look easy.
Cote de Texas, mostly interiors. Joni goes in depth & with great pics.
Color Me Happy, fabulous color. Maria shows & tells the why's of color with great business advice too.
A Bloomsbury Life, the title says it all.
Things That Inspire, architecture & interiors & art. Always inspiring & educational.
From the House of Edward, art & words. Beautiful words. Storytelling.
It's About Time, pictures & history with a sure hand. Sometimes the pics are the entire story.
To all of the above I pass along The Beautiful Blogger Award.


Yes, you've guessed I was given a blog award, "Beautiful Blogger Award". Thank you, It's About Time.

The award asks for 7 things you may not know about me:

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* I adore geology.

* Crash Test Dummies has been playing in my car for over 2 years. Zero variation.

* Camping in the dunes of Edisto Island is my happy place.

* I thought Venice would be a wasted day on my garden tour. WRONG.

* When wonderful things happen I still want to tell my grandmother. She died in 1983.

* The life I'm living is better than the life I planned.

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Designing landscapes, writing books about landscapes, putting together powerpoints about landscapes, lecturing about landscapes each give me something rare on this earth. A sense of timelessness. Moments of pure joy. The eternity now that Joseph Campbell speaks of.

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Decades of this work & I can't get enough, still learning, still excited.

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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

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Pics from Susanne Hudson's greenhouse a few weeks ago.

Do You Have the Eye?

Lovely rose arbor, below, yes? It came from a dumpster.
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Susanne Hudson saw a commercial awning tossed into a dumpster. She called the building's owner immediately, asking if she could have the discarded awning.
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Next, she called a fence company to place 8' fence posts.
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The awning was placed forming a complete 1/2 round instead of its intended 1/4 round.
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Voila...rose arbor with hanging lanterns.
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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara
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Pic taken 2 weekends ago. I've been in Monet's garden and know Susanne's rose arbor is little different from his in drama. What could be better? Do you have the eye?

Dogs in the Landscape

Come inside, below, to see adorable signs of a dog.

Our landscapes are stories of ourselves.

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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

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Pics taken a couple of weekends ago at Susanne Hudson's garden, she has adorable Jack Russells.

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When I design a landscape I'm hired to tell the right story. Perhaps the landscape story belongs to a previous owner. Or the story from a past chapter of my client's life.

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What story is your landscape telling? Is it your story?

Landscape Design: Pollinators

Vanishing Threshold increases pollinator habitat. 1 in 3 mouthfuls of food are the result of insect pollination.
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Circa 1996, the USDA wrote, "...impending pollination crisis."
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Ha, not in my garden!! Why? Mix of plants, mix of heights, mix of density, ponds, composting, no chemicals, no fertilizer, . Everything pollinators need.
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Major cause of pollinator decline? Loss of habitat. Subdivisions across USA with traditional lawn/foundation plantings & their maintenance. Not opinion, scientific fact.
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Testosterone On Wheels Landscaping vs. Matriarchal Landscaping.
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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara
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Huge topic, more info at POLLINATOR.org

Jackie Kennedy & Martina Navratilova

COLONNADE has a new home, below, 10 acres, 3 children & is new to gardening. Asked what she liked, COLONNADE produced pics & ideas of Rosemary Verey's. COLONNADE is an intuitively wise gardener. Verey was one of the greats.

COLONNADE, a Jackie Kennedy/Martina Navratilova combo, acquired 3 brothers to help with the gardening.

3 baby goats, above, nibbled my clothes as I designed.

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Channeling Rosemary Verey is a delight but most importantly I'm an advocate of COLONNADE's time. COLONNADE will be the one on the tractor, riding mower & etc. She's sourcing equipment now.

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Young children are the focal point and her landscape must be pleasure not stress.

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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

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Pics taken last week. Did you know baby goats have soft fur? And they want lots of petting & attention. Their little voices sweet.

Frames in the Landscape

A bit small for framing, below, in person. But with

your camera this armillary sundial

is an interesting frame in the landscape.

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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

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Shots taken recently in Susanne Hudson's garden. Hydrangeas, bottom pic. A friend visiting my garden last week saw my armillary sundial laying unused on the potting table. She suggested I use it as a chandelier for the new conservatory. Hmm, delightful !

Garden Overlook

Taken years ago, below, in England. Who wouldn't want their desk overlooking the garden? Amazing, lovely, delightful (hearing Cole Porter yet?) when life conspires to, indeed, give you one of your desires. Unbidden.
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I forgot about this pic; stumbling upon it only last week.
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Must get the azaleas pruned to show you my desk-with-garden-overlook. Why tell you about it now, without the pic? Because, dahlings, it's the ANTICIPATION.
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These little excitements of anticipation in the garden are a sweetness of life.
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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

Lucy

Today my friend and contractor will put down his beloved Lucy. He kept me informed, over a decade ago, as he looked for a breeder.

He had just moved into his historic Crafstman bungalow near Zoo Atlanta. "Will Lucy sleep in your bed?", I asked. "Never." Ha, you know where she slept from the beginning.

Whether Lucy was on the job, having play dates with friends, or romping at Carter Center I could count on pictures of Lucy arriving in my inbox.

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He and Lucy partnered to create a beautiful garden around their Craftsman bungalow.

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Within that garden, in their home, Lucy & James will say goodbye.

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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

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Pic taken in Susanne Hudson's garden. Gardens & pets are inseparable. Not surprising I've been asked to landscape design many pet burial grounds.

A Favorite Landscape Book

5 bookcases line the walls of my office. One of my favorite books, below, Garden Magic by Roy Biles.
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Several editions of this book are on my shelves; of my top 10 go-t0 books this is one.
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Seeing it displayed in Susanne Hudson's conservatory, above, made me smile in complete understanding.
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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara
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Pic taken last Sunday.

Draperies in the Landscape

Last Sunday, below. Considered draperies for your landscape?
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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara
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Took the pic in Susanne Hudson's garden.

The Sacred & Profane of the Best Landscapes

The best landscapes have elements, below, of the Sacred

and elements, below, of the Profane.

Landscape design is about contrasts.

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The Sacred & the Profane. Got both?

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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

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(Big leaves with small leaves, blue foliage next to burgundy foliage, pyramid forms next to horizontal forms, blowsy hydrangeas bursting over neat green hedging, spikey flowers by round flowers, & etc.)

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Top pic taken last week at Stone Mountain Park, bottom pic England.