Anthropologie is having a very, very generous sale on great stuff!

Anthropologie is usually out of my price range, but I still can't help but look from time to time. I often check the sale section of their website, and boy do they have some deep discounts on some yummmmmy stuff. Here are some of my favs.



Wouldn't these make the cutest outfit? I love the shoes especially, and they're on sale for $59.95!!






Embroidered lamp shades for $39.95...sweet


I adore this hairpin wallpaper. It's usually $168 per roll, but now it's $69.96!

HGTV Winner Update - New drawing on 01/01/09

Hi Folks -
It's been two weeks and Cheryl Ng has yet to claim her prize. So I will be redrawing a winner for the HGTV Home and Landscape Platinum Suite software. You can read about the contest here. I will be drawing from the same group that originally entered, so check back tomorrow to see if you won! Also, if Cheryl Ng happens to read this, you have until midnight tonight to email me.

Top Ten Signs That You Are A Plant-Obsessed Gardener

10. You hide your new plant purchases from your spouse.


9. You still have plant catalogs from 1995.


8. You read gardening blogs instead of newspapers.


7. You give your plants pet names.


6. You move nine plants for every one you buy.


5. You chase down squirrels to get your tulip bulbs back.


4. You hope that "PPAF" on the plant label means "propagate plant after flowering."


3. You buy flower seeds so that you can participate in a free seed swap.


2. You are miffed when fast-food restaurants use your favorite plant in their landscape.


1. You know exactly how many plants will fit inside your car.

Photo and Top Ten List by Freda Cameron

Does anyone know where to find something like these in the states?

In the beginning of December, I posted some storage ideas - you can read the post here. Reader Jeffrey asked me to source these crates, which I originally saw on Creature Comforts. Turns out the crates are from Baileys Home and Garden in the UK. You can see more of their awesome products in a post from last week, A Simple, Beautiful, Natural Home. Anyway, does anyone know where similar crates can be bought in the US? Thanks for any leads!

The Garden through 2008

With 2008 drawing to a close, I have looked back over the changes in the gardens this year. While there were many beautiful blooms in the garden, it is the transitions through the year that seem most significant to me. The transitions provided by nature.

January 2008 brought just a slight dusting of snow. Just enough for a pretty scene, but not enough to cause any problems. At the end of January, we cut back the ornamental grasses, the butterfly bushes and chaste tree.

By mid-April the garden was very colorful. The roses along the fence had new foliage and buds. The Japanese Maple was brilliant and the dianthus provided a spicy fragrance.

By June, it was beginning to feel like summer as we experienced several days in a row of 100°F heat. The Japanese irises were in bloom all along the rain garden path and the dry stream bed.

The corner willow tree provides the dividing corner where the cool colors of the front outer garden give way to the hot colors in the butterfly garden.

The little garden bench provides a perfect place to sit in the shade to take a welcome break from gardening and watch the hummingbirds in both gardens.

The willow tree is a favorite hangout place for all the birds who visit the garden.


Salvia uliginosa (bog sage) and perennial ageratum bloomed beautifully in August. The coneflowers had been in bloom since June and were still going.

In September, my husband and I pulled out three abelia and a weeping cherry tree in the cottage garden. The shrubs and tree were too large for the space. The cherry tree was always a target of the Japanese beetles, making it unattractive throughout the summer. Rather than fight nature, we decided to change the garden to be more suitable to the environment.

I amended the soil and planted a mix of agastache, salvia, echinacea, sedum and verbena for the full sun space. These perennials will take the heat, remain a size suitable for the space and will not attract the beetles.

I left space to sow poppies and other annuals since this garden space is by the front porch. The poppies have already emerged as seedlings, having been planted in October.

Ornamental grasses started the fall showing of plumes and some perennials continued to bloom into October. The salvias put on the biggest fall show, especially the greggii variety. The Knock Out® Roses bloomed through several frosts.


When I reflect on the garden this year, I think about what worked well and where I can make improvements. I'm making a list of things I learned this year so that I won't forget... to partner with nature.

Photos and story by Freda Cameron

A Variety of Garden Paths

What's the best material to use for a garden path? A lot depends upon your preferences and the style of your house and gardens. Brick, stone, gravel, mulch, grass and other materials are used for garden paths.

There are pros and cons to all materials, and we use three different styles within our gardens (photo taken from second story window to show examples):

• Flagstone with polymeric joints (main walkway)
• Flagstone stepping stones over mulch (outer garden paths and in cottage garden)
• Gravel (cottage garden along roses)

Since our house is a cottage style, we didn't want a formal walkway.

Our main walk consists of flagstones with polymeric sand in the joints. We didn't want cement in the joints on the walk as we felt it would appear too formal for the style of our house and meadow setting. We considered growing thyme between the stones, but decided to try the sand.

The polymeric sand is used for dry-laid projects. It's a sand product with polymers that make it harden so that you don't have to keep sweeping loose sand or screenings between the stones.

In a nutshell, here's an overview of the steps to use polymeric sand:

• dig and level the ground
• layer of permeable landscape fabric
• layer of screenings
• lay the flagstone
• sweep polymeric sand in the joints in a thin layer
• mist with water
• wait 10 minutes and repeat with layers/misting until sand is level with stones

Since the house was finished in fall 2005, we've had to re-apply the sand once, but it was an easy project. Some weed seeds, like spurge, will find the way into the sand, but that is minimal. I've had petunias reseed into the sand!

The stepping stones are the same Pennsylvania bluestone (lilac heather) as used for our main walkway, front porch floor and patios. These are laid on the ground and dressed with triple-ground hardwood mulch. The stepping stones are almost carefree, with the occasional weeding of the mulch. The mulch is thick enough that weeds aren't too much of a problem.

The gravel used along the roses inside the cottage garden requires the most maintenance in terms of weeding. Weed seeds sprout quite easily in the gravel. I wait until after a rain, then use a trowel or flat shovel to dig and scrape out the weeds, then rake the gravel back into place. Vinegar sprayed directly on the weeds is also useful. There is no weed mat/landscape fabric beneath the gravel. The gravel is locally known as "Chapel Hill grit" or "Chapel Hill gravel" as it comes from a local quarry.

We've not yet had to replenish the gravel, but we are considering using pea gravel. We have a small test section by the guest parking to decided whether or not we will want an entire path made of pea gravel.

An added benefit of all of our paths is that we can maintain these ourselves. In fact, we built a large dining patio ourselves using flagstones and polymeric sand. I like that we have a variety of path materials in different sections of the gardens, rather than using all one material everywhere.

Photos and story by Freda Cameron

Fear not bold and beautiful color...

The inspiration -- this vivid blue velvet jewelry from Lush Bella




left to right: Trine Thorsen, Skona Hem

Love the bedding on bottom right!
left to right: Trine Thorsen, Car Moebel

I love the girly bedroom top left.
Clockwise from top left: Point Click Home, Car Moebel, Trine Thorsen, Marie Claire Maison


Clockwise from top left: Marie Claire Maison, Trine Thorsen, Trine Thorsen, Car Moebel,

In the Beginning: The Deer Resistant Garden

What does it take for a fast-growing flower garden? Good soil, sufficient rainfall and the right plants for the right spot.

When I work with, rather than against, Mother Nature, the garden grows pretty well. In other words, I don't grow anything exotic in my garden!

My garden is in full sun with lots and lots of deer. In 2007, we had a prolonged drought here in zone 7 of North Carolina. That happened to be the same year that I planted 99% of my outer gardens. My "outer" gardens are really just outside the cottage garden fence. I just haven't come up with anything clever to name the whole garden.

There are named sections within the outer gardens... butterfly, rain, fragrance, waterfall, guest parking and driveway island. Not very glamorous, I know. There's a bit of chaos, as I've just plunked some plants in spots within the garden because I don't have a holding bed.

For those who are just getting started with gardening, take heart!

As you can see, the first photo, taken in July 2008, is quite different from the second photo which shows the same garden in May 2007. To understand the vantage point, I have drawn an arrow on the photo to show the same crape myrtle tree. This is a view from east to west, with our driveway and parking areas at the far end of the photos.

Not everything planted in May 2007 survived the drought. I lost coreopsis, deutzia, penstemon and asters and probably a few more perennials that I've since forgotten.

The plants didn't have a chance to get established since it was difficult to keep the garden watered during the drought as there is no irrigation on the slope. There is drip irrigation along the bottom for the rain garden plants. Even though we have our own private well, we didn't feel inclined to risk watering the large area after months and months of prolonged drought.

In spring 2008, I filled in those gaps with salvia, agastache, perennial ageratum, echinops, spirea, monarda, perennial heliotrope, herbs and buddleia.

This area was bare ground on a slope. We first tried sowing grass, but with every rain, the seeds washed down to the bottom of the slope. This is full sun, on the south side, front of the house.

To turn this into a garden, we brought in several double dump truck loads of really great gardening soil. I spent September of 2006 spreading the soil by hand, with a depth of 6-8 inches, over the entire area. It was quite a workout! I planted a few Japanese and Siberian iris that fall along the bottom of the slope to begin creating a rain garden.

As you can see in comparing the two photos, the driveway and parking area are no longer visible. I used buddleia, illicium, amsonia, ginger, and itea beside the large crape myrtle to help define the far end of this garden section.

All of the plants selected are full sun, zone 7, deer resistant plants. No deer repellants have ever been used, but I may resort to rabbit repellants! For just a few months, I did surround the garden with a 32" high wire edging fence to just keep the deer from trampling and sampling the newly planted perennials.

The reason that I think this garden has been so successful is that I started with good soil and selected plants that are drought-tolerant for the top of the slope. At the bottom of the slope, I use plants that like the occasional wet soil. The plants in the middle of the slope like average moisture and rich soil.

There's still a lot of tweaking to be done as I improve the design by increasing the number of hardy plants and removing the ones that aren't good performers.

Photos and story by Freda Cameron

Pretty Perennial Foliage (After the Flowers)

We all want flowers. We want lots and lots of flowers in our gardens. I often struggle with decisions on bloom time. Should I go for "one big show" in spring and another in summer? What happens with the perennials when the blooms are gone?

The problem with trying to achieve colorful bloom with large mass plantings of the same plant is that when the blooms are gone the foliage may look pretty bad. Since my gardens are in front of the house, I'm trying to avoid large spaces of dying or wilted foliage that even annuals interspersed cannot hide. My garden is in full sun in zone 7b.

Winter is a great time to review photos of the garden to see which perennials provided good foliage after the bloom times. This summer, I intentionally went around my garden to photograph the ugly spots where the flowers had played out and detracted from the late blooming flowers.

There's still improvement to be done, so I have a strategy of expanding the perennials with beautiful flowers that continue to provide beautiful foliage. I'm also incorporating more annuals next spring and have already sown larkspur and poppies. I will sow cleome, nicotiana, zinnias, cosmos and other annuals to fill in the gaps.

My favorite perennials with beautiful foliage after the blooms include Japanese or Siberian irises, monarda, and salvia. I'll use the irises and monarda as the main players in my examples.

Even though it is December, the monarda foliage is still showing green to burgundy colors close to the ground like a ground cover. The iris leaves have finally turned brown and are ready to be cut back with the ornamental grasses in January.

This is how the combination looked back in early June 2008 with the irises in bloom and the monarda (right) not yet in bloom:


When the Japanese Irises are not in bloom, the foliage continues to look great. The foliage of some irises doesn't impress after the blooms, but the foliage of these provides a beautiful, tall, lush spike form.

The monarda blooms for several weeks, then I deadhead it for repeat blooms. Once the second flush of blooms is finished, I deadhead again back to leaf joints to keep the foliage looking good. Another thing to note about monarda is to continue to provide watering if there isn't sufficient rainfall. Monarda will get powdery mildew if it gets too dry.

The next view is from the top of a slope looking down into a different grouping of irises, monarda and amsonia hubrichtii. There is a nandina 'alba' providing additional foliage interest in the upper left of the photo. The monarda is barely in bloom, and the Japanese and Siberian irises are providing foliage after the blooms are gone.



In another grouping, there is also white ginger on the left (will bloom in September) and a buddleia at the back. The yellow blooms of the buddleia don't show up in this view, but the monarda blooms are apparent among all the other foliage.



A few more of my favorite blooming perennials that work double-time to provide beautiful foliage include:

1. baptisia
2. crocosmia
3. dianthus
4. hypericum
5. perennial geranium
6. lavender (multiple varieties)
7. nepeta
8. salvia guaranitica and greggii
9. scabiosa
10. sedum (multiple varieties)
11. stacys hummelo

For variety, my perennial garden also includes a mix of flowering shrubs such as buddleia, itea, and spirea as well as ornamental grasses, sedges and ground covers.

Photos and story by Freda Cameron

A Simple, Beautiful, and Natural Home

I love the products of Baileys Home and Garden. The accessories and tools are eco-friendly or recycled, and I love the focus on utilitarian- but still beautiful- tools that work. Oh, the simple life.

Foliage Combinations in the Perennial Garden

When the flowers aren't in bloom, there are several foliage plants that I use to help carry color and texture in the perennial garden. I use a combination of perennials, shrubs and ornamental grasses to divide the dry stream garden from the front garden. Since this area is right beside our front path, I selected plants that would provide nice foliage from spring through fall and included a few for winter interest.

Amsonia hubrichtii is a southern native perennial that produces tiny blue flowers in the spring. While the flowers are nice, the threadlike, lacy foliage provides a nice texture when mixed with other foliage shapes. This perennial also provides a pretty background for flowering perennials since it quickly reaches a nice 3 x 3 foot size in the garden. The foliage turns a brilliant gold in the fall and is rated for zones 5-9, planted in full sun.

Miscanthus sinensis 'Little Zebra' PP 13,008 is a dwarf ornamental grass that fits in well with a perennial border. The fountain-shaped blades have horizontal gold bands. In the fall, the plumes shoot up straight in my full sun garden, making this grass easy to use when it is planted closely with perennials and shrubs. This grass is also rated for full sun in zones 5-9, making it a nice texture combination with the amsonia.


Illicium is an evergreen shrub that is also a southern native. I can't tell you exactly which one I have as this was originally planted next to our foundation by our landscaper. I moved it to this area because it enjoys moist soil in full sun and provides foliage year round. That is, until the deer are hungry enough to strip the leaves off of this shrub. The shrub does recover fully by summer and is left alone. For this reason, I put a little 32" high wire edging fence around this shrub in the winter months to prevent deer damage. This shrub can grow quite tall and wide and does have fragrant blooms, but mine has been pruned back a few times by the deer. If I were to substitute another shrub for this one, it would be osmanthus fragrans.

Itea virginica 'Little Henry' is a deciduous shrub that likes full sun to shade and moist soil. This shrub is an adaptation of the native itea virginica. This little fellow has blooms of white spirals in the early summer. The fall foliage is a brilliant red, a great contrasting companion, with the amsonia foliage in the fall. The small scale of 'Little Henry' makes it easy to tuck this 3 x 3 foot plant into the perennial border in zones 5-9.

Each of these four plants adds a different leaf shape and texture to use in a grouping as companion plants. Since they like the same growing conditions, there's no stress on any of these plants in the same setting. Only the illicium grows large, so the smaller companions are easy to fit into a mixed border.

While all are planted in my rain garden, these plants can be grown in less wet conditions. The rain garden is the lowest point along the path in my front garden.

With the exception of winter browsing of the illicium, all of these plants are deer resistant and rabbit resistant.

Photo and story by Freda Cameron

Happy Holiday pics and thank you all!

I really hope everyone has a wonderful holiday, and gets to spend it with loved ones. I'm honored to be a part of such an amazing and supportive community. As some of you know, this has been a very hard couple of months for me with my dog passing, and I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for all your kind words and sentiments. They are immensely helpful during this most devastating time.



via Ideal Home


via House Beautiful

via Country Living

via Sunset Magazine



via Martha Stewart

In the Kitchen: Scones for a Brunch or a Tea

I started making lavender scones this summer after a visit to Sunshine Lavender Farm.

My new tin of Provence Culinary Lavender arrived just in time for holiday baking!

This popular recipe was first featured on my blog a few months ago. Since I'm ready to bake more scones, I decided to publish the recipe again for the holidays.

I adapted a tried-and-true scone recipe to create these lavender scones. The original recipe for cranberry scones came from my best friend, Betsy Livak.

On several of my visits with Betsy (many years ago), she made her scones for me. In fact, those were the first scones that I'd ever tried! I have fond memories of our chats over scones and tea. We've been best friends for almost thirty years. Since Betsy is in California and I'm in North Carolina, we don't get to visit each other very often. When we have a rare opportunity to visit, we pick up right where we left off!

To make these lavender scones, I just substituted lavender and omitted the cranberries. That said, I highly recommend making these scones with cranberries, too. Either way, you will not be disappointed!


Lavender Scones

Makes 1 dozen scones
Preheat oven to 400°F

3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (substitute whole wheat if desired)
1/2 cup sugar (I use turbinado sugar or organic cane instead of refined white)
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 tablespoons culinary lavender

3/4 teaspoon salt (I use Kosher or sea salt)
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
1 teaspoon grated orange zest (I use a microplane)

1 cup buttermilk (lowfat is okay)

1. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and lavender in a large bowl.


2. Add butter and beat with an electric mixer (or pastry blender) until well blended.


3. Stir in zest *.


4. Pour in buttermilk and mix until blended.


5. Gather dough into a ball and divide in half (I use a knife).


6. On lightly floured surface, roll each half into a circle.


7. Cut into wedges.
   
   I make mine thick so that I get 6 scones (pie shaped wedges) out of each half. I use parchment paper to reduce the amount of flour needed. I also tend to hand shape, rather than roll the circle. I cut the wedges with a sharp knife. I gently tap the 3 sides of the scones on the parchment to make smooth edges.
   
   
8. Place scones on lightly greased cookie sheet.


9. Bake in preheated 400° F oven for 12-15 minutes or until golden.


10. Serve warm or cooled.

*Original recipe: You can omit the lavender and use 3/4 cup dried (or fresh) cranberries.

If using the fruit, add it with the orange zest, just before the buttermilk.

Serving suggestion: Serve with preserves or lemon curd. If you live in the United Kingdom, you have real clotted cream!

Left-overs: Wrap a scone in a slightly damp paper towel and microwave for 15 seconds if you like scones warm. Most scones are served at room temperature.

Reduced recipe: I have made 1/2 recipe and it worked out just fine.


Photos and scones by Freda Cameron. Lavender from Sunshine Lavender Farm. Recipe adapted from Betsy Livak's Cranberry Scone Recipe

In the Kitchen: Savory Gouda Bites

When you need a quick and easy hors d'œuvre for a party, this recipe is really fun to make. Since these savory bites resemble cookies, you'll have to tell your guests that these aren't sweet!

You can make these the day before serving. Using gouda, these savory bites are very light and mild tasting. You can decide whether or not to garnish with whole roasted cashews or other nuts.

One of our favorite places in North Carolina is the Biltmore Estate™ in Asheville. There are several great restaurants at the Estate and I've found them to be quite willing to share recipes, upon request, when dining there. They also hand out recipes during cooking demonstrations in the store beside the winery.

This recipe is adapted from a similar recipe in one of my favorite cookbooks, Bounty of Biltmore Cookbook, that is no longer offered online by the Biltmore Estate™. I purchased my cookbook at the Estate store several years ago.

Savory Gouda Bites

Preheat oven to 375°F
Makes 36

1/2 pound (8 ounces) gouda cheese, shredded (I use the food processor shredding blade)
1/2 cup butter, softened (not melted)

1 1/2 cups of plain flour
1 teaspoon DRY mustard
1/8 teaspoon salt

1. Mix the gouda and butter together in a large bowl until well-blended and smooth.


2. In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients.


3. Add the dry ingredients, a little a time, to the gouda mixture and continue to mix.


4. Continue to mix until the ingredients bind together into a soft dough. (This may seem like it will never happen, but keep mixing. The appetizers will not be toughened by the mixing)


5. Roll the dough into 1 inch balls and place on a lightly greased baking sheet.


6. If not using nuts*, press the ball to flatten slightly.


7. Bake at 375°F for about 18 minutes (slightly brown).


8. Let cool completely on a wire rack.


9. Store in an airtight container.

*Optional Garnish:

36 cashews, roasted, whole, lightly salted

Press one whole nut into the top of each ball of dough before baking.

Photo by Freda Cameron. Recipe adapted from Bounty of Biltmore Cookbook, by Biltmore Estate™