Garden Journal

The rest of the house is actually clean again; the kitchen has a bit more to go. But I wanted to be sure to take a photo of this garland as it’s my favorite bit of party decor this year — I love the wild drapiness of the top. It makes me want to belt […]

Surprisingly warm yesterday, so I took a break from writing and packing to sweep the leaves off the porch — in the process, discovered this beauty. November 25 — the garden isn’t done blooming quite yet!   #serendibgarden

Autumn cheer, a mix of colorful faux and dried plants. Most of the faux plants here I cut into segments from what was originally one bigger plant, and were end-of-summer clearance. I know tomatoes aren’t exactly autumn harvest, but the colors were appropriate! The bright green dried artichokes I just picked up when I was

I keep thinking I’m over this cold and I start doing stuff and nope, not over it yet, hello another evening of exhausted couch-sitting. Just driving home from teaching made me want to fall down when I walked in the door. Bah, humbug. I’ve just given up on any hopes that I’ll be able to

I used to be reluctant to have faux plants; the gardener in me thought they weren’t nearly as good as living plants. Also, the ones I liked usually cost more than I wanted to pay. But then I figured out that if I picked carefully (thin stems are key), I could cut some faux plants

Fun home decor project from Friday — that spot seemed to want something, and I had this planter stand from the front porch. Brought it in, but a) the plants were pretty close to dead, given the Chicago winter fast approaching, and b) those coconut husk and metal baskets just looked wrong. I swapped them

I stopped at City Escape on the way home, and they were serving wine and all these people started arriving and taking photos, and I asked what was up, and apparently they do an annual soiree and invite select customers and some of them are home design people.   I admit, I was a little

Autumn composition with Aryabhata. I like all the pops of orange. 🙂 #serendibhome

Can I officially get the title of weirdo garden lady if I pull on a coat and garden gloves to go out at 9 p.m. in 35 degrees F to dig up my dahlias in the dark? In my defense, it’s supposed to get super cold for the next few days, and I started fretting