Category Archives: design

windows on the world

Thank you, Paris Review, for continuing Windows on the World, a wonderful “series on what writers from around the world see from their windows,” as drawn by Matteo Pericoli, first commissioned by The New York Times. My introduction to this … Continue reading

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front porches

The front porch, that shaded darling of New Urbanism. Decompression chamber and threshold between the kick-you-in-the-shins workaday world and the sanctity of home. Preferred lookout post for hard-working dogs. “The porch – as an intermediate space, even a sphere of … Continue reading

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hellebores in the rear-view mirror

To write that hellebores are a much-desired plant for winter gardens is stating the obvious. I grow nothing but H. argutifolius, the Corsican hellebore, and have become a repetitive bore in constantly blogging my adoration for it, but I do … Continue reading

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things to do in the Bay Area after a garden show

or any other preposition that fits your schedule — before the show, between visits to the show. Of course, you don’t have to wait until the next garden show in 2013 for a visit. Building REsources, discussed before here and … Continue reading

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2012 San Francisco Flower & Garden Show

Before last week’s show in San Mateo, California, “Gardens For a Green Earth,” recedes into the dim past, just a few photos, not at all a comprehensive account. All photos taken by MB Maher at the preview on Tuesday, 3/20/12. … Continue reading

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the most salient landscape feature of Los Angeles

has to be the parking lot. “It’s estimated that there are three nonresidential parking spaces for every car in the United States. That adds up to almost 800 million parking spaces, covering about 4,360 square miles, an area larger than … Continue reading

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Preview: San Francisco Flower & Garden Show 2012

Only the first day of spring, yet garden show season has already arrived in many parts of the country. MB Maher was in attendance today at the preview to this year’s San Francisco Flower & Garden Show. Just a couple … Continue reading

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blue/yellow/green

Where were we? I’ve been working at the day job like a navvy, trying to clear some time for spring garden visits, shows and whatnot. But the garden in March initiates a measured sequence of distractions, which can really mess … Continue reading

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poppies, a minor obsession

Newt is taking time out of her busy day to helpfully point out where the poppies will be blooming this year. Last year’s runnel of poppies was in the crevice along the back porch, but this year they’ve jumped a … Continue reading

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Hazel White: Aesthetics of Inundation

UC Berkeley Botanical Garden’s symposium “Natural Discourse” held February 10, 2012, has been constantly in my thoughts this past week, whether riding the train, driving freeways, staring at the garden. I’d never visited UCBG before and found the physical location … Continue reading

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