Posts by Karen Chapman
Pears & Parrots in Paradise
Tucked away down a dusty rural lane in the Franschhoek Valley, South Africa is one of the hidden gems we visited on our recent tour. In all fairness, we arrived shortly after unseasonably heavy rains had caused devastating landslides so visitors would normally have a much less adventurous arrival! Le Poirier is a small farm…
Read MoreSouth Africa Highlights: Part 1 of many!
Where do I start?! This was truly the trip of a lifetime. The gardens, the people, the wildlife, the wines…..how can I possibly recap all of that in just a post or two? Hopefully you were able to follow along through my Facebook posts because thanks to my husband Andy there are some remarkable photos…
Read MoreDeer-Resistant Bloomin' Easy Favorites
It's always exciting to visit nurseries where great plants are grown so it was a special treat to be invited to the 50th Celebration of Van Belle Nursery, the home of Bloomin' Easy plants in Abbotsford, British Columbia recently. I first visited as a consultant in 2014 when I taught a container design workshop to…
Read MoreUnexpected Color Echoes
Repetition of color in a garden is an easy way to bring a sense of cohesion to a design and is often called a 'color echo'. When designing 'foliage first' this color echo may be between a leaf and a flower or even between two or more different leaves, yet there are many more adventurous…
Read MoreSnapshots from Hampton Court Festival
I now understand why many visitors say they prefer the Hampton Court Flower Festival over the Chelsea Flower Show: it seems more familiar, more attainable, more like a community event than a Grand Show. Yet it still offers an abundance of gardening ideas, shopping opportunities, and unlike Chelsea includes a number of educational workshops and…
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