Garden Art

Color in the Garden – without the plants

by Rebecca Sweet
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You can always tell when people are sick and tired of winter when flashy accessories start popping up throughout the garden! This past week, while visiting Sunset Magazine’s test gardens and those of the San Francisco Garden Show, I was struck by the amount of vibrant colors everywhere. And also, interestingly enough, how the color [...]

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The heartbeat of my garden – my transformed shed

by Rebecca Sweet
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This month my office is being featured in Sunset Magazine (my copy just came in the mail yesterday and I’m so excited I can hardly breathe!!)  I’ve literally grown up with Sunset in the house, whether it was magazines, how-to or garden books lying around my mother’s and grandmother’s house.  So imagine the pride that [...]

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A Colorful Garden in Tucson

by Rebecca Sweet
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While visiting Arizona last month I couldn’t wait to tour a few private gardens to see first-hand how these determined and creative gardeners deal with All. That. Heat. Driving through Tucson’s wide suburban streets, where the homes and landscaping tend to blend together, my heart skipped a beat when I noticed this garden’s ‘fence’. Not your [...]

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A White Cloud on Wordless Wednesday

by Rebecca Sweet
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Earlier this week I wrote about my visit to Cornerstone Gardens and showed you the Red Lantern garden created by the amazing duo Andy Cao and Xavier Perrot. Today I wanted to introduce you to their other installation titled ‘White Cloud’.  You would be correct in saying I’ve found my new favorite contemporary artists.

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Garden Designers Roundtable: Sculpture in the Garden

by Rebecca Sweet
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As a landscape designer and garden writer I see lots and lots of gardens. And while I’m a huge fan of personalizing your garden with whatever art captures your heart, lately I seem to be drawn to selectively placed, oversized sculptures. I think this is because my own life is so hectic right now, and [...]

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My Hollywood Home Away from Home

by Rebecca Sweet
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For the next few weeks I’d like to invite you to join me on my adventure in Los Angeles.  West Hollywood, to be exact.  Why am I here?  My daughter and I are touring colleges and getting to know the town she’ll call home in a year. What’s that have to do with gardening, you [...]

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Really? Anyone can be an artist?

by Rebecca Sweet
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Last month I visited the beautiful garden of Debra Lee Baldwin, and while inside her home I couldn’t help sneaking a photo of her charming desk.  It’s at this sweet little corner where she creates her stunning succulent and cactus watercolor paintings. I’m always impressed by anyone who can draw anything beyond a stick figure [...]

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Debra Lee Baldwin’s Succulent Garden

by Rebecca Sweet
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A few weeks ago I was a lucky, lucky girl and had the distinct honor of touring Debra Lee Baldwin’s own garden – and what a garden it was! Debra is known by many as the ‘Queen of Succulents’, thanks to her amazing books, Succulent Container Gardens and Designing with Succulents and the many talks and [...]

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Recycling in the Garden

by Rebecca Sweet

  I absolutely love re-purposed items in the garden. Things that may be broken or have lost their usefulness are all too often headed to the dump.  But hold up!  Sometimes all that’s needed is a coat of paint, a little sprucing up and a healthy dose of creativity to use that item in a [...]

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A Fireplace Mantle gets a new home

by Rebecca Sweet

While driving around in the rain a few months ago, I spotted this old fireplace mantle leaning behind a dumpster with a bunch of junk piled on top of it.  The dumpster was behind a furniture staging company – you know, the kind that stages homes when they go on the market?  But this had [...]

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Garden art revisited

by Rebecca Sweet

We all try our best to recycle and repurpose whenever we can, right?  When this robin’s nest blew down last year my mother couldn’t stand to throw it away so she gave it to me to keep it in a protected spot and re-use it in my garden. Imagine my joy when I discovered this treasured [...]

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Valentines in the Garden

by Rebecca Sweet

I’ve always, always, always loved hearts. As I look around my garden, I can’t help but notice I definitely have a lot of hearts and cherubs tucked in here and there. So, from my heart to yours….Happy Valentine’s Day!

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