As a follow up to last week’s blog I thought I would share where I get my gardening inspiration and hopefully give you some ideas in the process. One of my favorite things to do when it comes to gardening is to COPY. I’ll go to high-end stores or look on their websites and get ideas and then shop around for something similar for far less. It’s kind of fun to see how I can pull off the high end look for bargain prices – trust me, it can be done, so don’t let what you think will cost a fortune deter you from trying.
Great places to scout out some ideas are hotels. I have gone to some of my favorite hotels like, The Carnaros Inn in Napa Valley or San Yasidro Ranch (right) in Santa Barbara to get garden ideas. I’ll snap photographs and keep them on my computer until just the right time when I’m feeling inspired. I also look through magazines and make a file of ‚tear sheets‛ for …some day. It’s easier to keep a file and reference back than scouring your house for the magazine that you think you saw a great idea in once. Martha Stewart’s magazine serves as some great inspiration. My creations are certainly not as perfect as hers but they are my own and they look good.
People often ask how I pull my house and garden together…well this is it. I look around me…I look at friend’s houses or other houses in my neighborhood. I look at nurseries, ect. ect. There is inspiration everywhere.
One of my recent creations was so simple and beautiful that anyone can do it. On a shopping trip to Lowes I had seen these little inexpensive succulents. I immediately remembered that I had photographed some cool pots with succulents at a nursery in Newport Beach called Rogers Gardens. I went back to my computer and looked up the photos and made my own version. I had three wooden boxes that I got from a floral supply store that have been sitting in my shed for years – just perfect for this project! It’s was so easy and they take VERY little water and even less care. I put some outside and the three boxes I put inside and they look like art. I’ve included some step by step photos so you can see how you too can do it. Feel free to use this as a ‚tear sheet‛ of your own and use it when you are inspired!
Give it a try…Rogers Garden’s succulents on the left and my version on the right:
