botany factory terrariums: kate goldman macdonald

Botany Factory is a San Francisco based studio whose mission is to bring greenery to small, indoor spaces. Much like creating a ship in a bottle, terrarium building takes a small, dexterous hand, a collection of minute tools and a keen interest in petite plant life and clever composition.

A plant enthusiast from the start, Katie Goldman Macdonald began her early days accompanying her banjo playing, botanist father on wildflower classification walks through the woods. Ever after, she has nurtured a growing desire to have dirt on her hands and flowers in her hair. She is the creator, designer and owner of Botany Factory. She works with Oakland based glass artist, Evan Kolker, to have her designs brought to life. All of her hand blown forms are organically shaped, playful and one of a kind.

Katie is obsessed with succulents and has turned her apartment into a living, breathing life sized terrarium. She likes nothing better than to pore over her succulent and cactus encyclopedia researching which specimens she will next seek out. Straight from her little Mission based studio to you, her creations are the perfect way to bring a little of the great outdoors inside.

scout regalia: garden furniture

Scout Regalia debuted two new outdoor products for 2010, their SR Outdoor Table Set & SR Patio Garden. The table is made from FSC certified redwood and enameled aluminum (choose your color). The raised garden frame is made from FSC certified redwood and powder-coated heavy gauge steel brackets.

chanticleer garden: wayne pennsylvania

I had the pleasure of going to Chanticleer Garden today in Wayne Pennsylvania. Magnolia trees are bursting with vibrant rose colored flowers, daffodils are in full swing and tiny fern fronds and tree leaves are poking forth. It was a lovely walk around the 47 acre property with sun shining.

Some history about the garden:
'Chanticleer was the estate of Christine and Adolph Rosengarten, Sr. Mr. Rosengarten was head of the pharmaceutical company Rosengarten and Sons. Their son Adolph, Jr., left the property to be enjoyed as a public garden. The garden opened to visitors in 1993.

Originally, the estate was known for its majestic trees and verdant lawns. Today, the trees and lawns remain, but the focus is on plant combinations, containers, textures, and colors, often relying on foliage more than flowers.

Tens of thousands of bulbs clothe the ground in spring, followed by orchards of flowering trees with native wildflowers blooming in the woods. A vegetable garden complements a cut-flower garden. Courtyards are a framework for unusual combinations of hardy and tropical plants. Vines grow in nooks and crannies, trailing and twining. A serpentine of cedars, boulders, and agronomic crops undulates through a mown hillside.

A woodland garden carpeted with Asian groundcovers and full of rarities leads to a water garden surrounded by exuberant perennials. A ruin plays with indoor/outdoor relationships and contrasts the light and dark sides of gardens. Sculptural, homemade seats, benches, wrought iron fences, and bridges highlight the uniqueness and personal nature of the garden.'

frederik roije: breed retreat: henhouse

Frederik Roije's new 'Breed Retreat' architectural wooden hen house, Netherlands. This makes me want backyard urban chickens!

denver urban homesteading: year round farmers market

I only recently became aware that Denver has a year round indoor farmers market. They sell only organic or other high-quality foods from local farmers and food producers. Some of the wares that you will find at the Denver Urban Homesteading Market are: goat cheese and milk, raw honey, dried apples, applesauce, jams, high-quality beef, granola, energy bars, lamb & goat meat, goat milk, sauerkraut, pickles, juices and ciders, organic chicken feed & additives, free-range heritage turkeys, chickens, natural botanical skin care products, farmed tilapia and trout, knife & tool sharpening, vegetables, all natural milk, all natural ice cream & gelato, goat soaps, wool for knitting, eggs, cheese, raw cow milk, pies with local fruit fillings, eggs, grass-fed buffalo meat, bread, glutin-free sweetbreads, organic spices, home made pasta and ravioli, organic pancake & biscuit mixes, organic baby food, dried soups, dips and mixes and biodynamic wine!!! Click on the link and get yourself down there!

tofino botanical garden: sculpture art

RonGrn

spring time gardening: colorado

The days are getting warmer and warmer here, its so exciting to see all of the flower buds bursting from the earth. It is almost daffodil season! It is also just about time for me to get out into the garden again, in treasured moment I anticipate all winter long. Under the hoop house and insulated fabric in my garden, arugula, onions, thyme, mint, sorrel and chard are already re-emerging.

For March in our Zone 5a it is now alright to plant seeds of: Beets, Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, Cabbage, Carrots, Cauliflower, Chard, Kale, Kohlrabi, Leeks, Lettuce, Onions, Parsnips, Peas, Radishes, Rutabaga, Spinach, Turnips. It is also time to plant root clumps and tubers of: Asparagus roots, Onion sets, Potatoes, Rhubarb burls, Shallots & strawberry plants.

the garden gallery: morro bay

The Garden Gallery is a wonderful store located in Morro Bay California. The proprietor, studied as an ornamental horitculturalist before opening this family run gem 30 years ago.

evolve living: natural housewares

stone bowls/planters

garden design: landscape contest

edible yards

heartbeet

shira golding

urbanwild

seedbom: recycled materials

Must get these!

steampunk birdhouses: fowl dwellings

Fowl Dwellings

grass mirror: h20 architects

MMmmm the Grass Mirror by H2O Architects is serious wish list material!!
viaDesign Boom

bob verschueren: ecological landscape art

Bob Verschueren from the exhibition 'Jardins improbables' in the park of the Chateau de Seneffe.

via Art Design Kitsch

teracrea: landscape & garden

Teracrea garden products from Italy.

haute nature: staghorn trophy: sean & stacy kelley

True garden brilliance in these mounted elkhorn & staghorn ferns by California based artists Sean & Stacy Kelley! Their project is meant to illustrate our disconnection with nature. I completely love antlers, so this version is an animal friendly must for my living room!!

geodesic, spherical treehouses: ecological backyard retreats

Arboreal architects Tom Chudleigh, Jayson Fann & Dustin Feider all produce environmentally sensitive treehouse structures from wood. Any of these men can be commissioned to make you your very own treetop canopy dream space.

Chudleigh based on Vancouver Island, creates his handcrafted Free Spirit Spheres and suspends them gracefully with a web of rope, use for leisure or meditation.

Jayson Fann of Big Sur California carefully assembles his giant nests from branches, his work can be found at the Big Sur Spirit Garden and Treebones.

Dustin Feider of LA had been commissioned by many California residents as well as the LA County Museum of Art for his geodesic constructions, averaging $20,000 and 1,500 pounds. The wooden polygons distribute stress across the entire structure using a cable suspension system to hang the orbs without drilling a single hole in the trunk or branches. “The house moves with the tree,” he explains, “like a boat in water.” His O2 Sustainability Treehouses are inspired by Buckminster Fuller’s infamous geodesic domes. These stable structures with their new pleasing aesthetic are all sensitive options for the ‘traditional’ treehouse retreat.

saving the bed-stuy urban farm: brooklyn

In one Brooklyn community, neighborhood residents are fighting to keep their farm. Bed-Stuy Farm, once a neighborhood garbage dump, was transformed into an urban oasis that produces 7,000-14,000 lbs of fresh food every year, helping feed more than 4,000 people a month through the Brooklyn Rescue Mission.

The Farm is a source of community pride, an opportunity for healthier nutrition & inspires more neighborhood greening and backyard farming. The project is now threatened by development.

Learn more here and help save the Bed-Stuy Farm by signing this petition.

eco source: sustainable fiber containers

Eco Source manufacturers sustainable fiber containers named: GreenPots, Coir & Grēnware. Grēnware for everday tableware is made primarily with renewable plant fibers of bamboo, straw and rice hulls. The gorgeous earthy colors would look fabulous in any table setting. GreenPots are environmentally friendly garden containers made from rice hulls (a sustainable by product from edible crops). GreenPots break down naturally in landfills, but while in use are strong, durable and lightweight. The pots come in a range of colors from bright pinks to earth tones. Coir pots are larger profile gardening containers made from coconut fibers. Coir depletes no natural resources and have an amazing spongey texture which aids in water drainage.