Announcing my new book...

Filming the pilot episode of "Peace by Design"

My friends know I am a PRINT person – I love magazines, newspapers and books. I’m kind of okay with the Internet, because blog posts and web sites still involve using letters to compose words and words to create sentences . . . all of which are ultimately read as the printed word.

So this week has been one of those out-of-the-comfort-zone experiences as I “played” at being a television host. Robert Schauf, my amazing and intuitive producer, keeps telling me that talking to the camera is just like talking to a friend (a conversation!). . . and I’m starting to believe him. I just have to imagine all my friends hiding behind the HUGE black lens held by the cute camera guy, John. And then, just talk. Naturally.

Okay, I need to back up. I met Robert Schauf in 2006. It was one of those Kismet moments. It will sound so cliche, but we met on an airplane flying on business class from Burbank to Newark (a Jet Blue flight). I’m pretty unfamiliar with business class, but somehow I was bumped up to that rarefied section because it was the last seat on an overbooked flight. I was on my way to speak to a garden club in New Jersey and absolutely had to make that flight or I would miss the lecture entirely.

Robert, who hops comfortably back and forth between NYC and LA, was returning from a business trip. How do I describe him? He’s tall and slender, he wears the kind of clothing that my teenage son might wear (hip jeans, long-sleeved t-shirts, lace-up Keds) and his shocking white-platinum hair kind of sticks out all over his head. Robert has that Rocker-dude look and frankly I didn’t know what to think of him at first. But we talked nonstop for something like 5-1/2 hours. I was so fascinated with his stories of producing television specials and working on the Grammys. I told him about my new project – about garden sheds! – and described my plans to scout sheds in the Hamptons and NYC after I finished my New Jersey lecture. We exchanged business cards and subsequently swapped a few emails. That was it. (more…)

The tan envelope arrives in today’s mail. I open it up, hardly able to focus on the letter from Denise Cowie, chair of the 2009 Garden Writers Association Media Awards program.

But, yes, it seems I read this right. “Your entry has received a Silver Award of Achievement,” the letter explains.

The work: Stylish Sheds and Elegant Hideaways

The category: Writing, book

After whooping it up with my husband, Bruce, I call Jennifer Gilbert at the GWA headquarters to ask whether a letter was sent to Clarkson Potter regarding the “Overall Product” category (which encompasses writing, photography, design and production).

Yes, she assures me, Stylish Sheds has also won a Silver Award for Overall Product. The letter went to our editor, Doris Cooper.

Then I call Bill Wright in Seattle. “Did you open your mail yet?” I ask. “Do you mean my e-mail?” he replies.

“No, your regular mail.”

“It hasn’t come yet today.”

“Oh, well, guess what? We won a Silver Award from Garden Writers for Overall Book Product and I won a Silver for Writing.”

His reply? “Yeah, I got the letter on Saturday saying I won a Silver for Photography.”

What? How could he not be as excited as I am?! He’s known for two days and he didn’t call to tell me!!!

Maybe I’m putting too much emphasis on this, but I love to win – and I love accolades. (Sorry, I know that statement reveals my desire for human affirmation. It often puts me in a bad position because sometimes my motivation to write is more for the accolades than a paycheck!)

Stylish Sheds and Elegant Hideaways, this labor of love, has been positively recognized by many reviewers, purchased by book buyers, and supported by our patient family and friends. That should be reward enough.

But just this once, it’s nice to win something. Even if it’s merely a “certificate” that you can take home and frame.

P.S. We’re eligible in all three categories (Writing, Photography and Overall Product) to be judged for a Gold Award. But we have to wait until the 2009 annual symposium in Raleigh, North Carolina (in September) to know the results.

Read "The West at its Best," pages 20-21

The April 2009 issue of Sunset magazine features my friend Erin Benzakein of floret flowers. Erin is a young organic flower farmer and talented floral designer who values seasonal ingredients for her bouquets and uses sustainable practices to raise a wide array of flowers, blooming shrubs and attractive foliage.

I met Erin in the spring of 2006 through her father David Perry, a gifted photographer (that was the first day I met Dave, too, when we teamed up on a garden scouting excursion after being introduced by a mutual colleague). That meeting, at Waverly Jaegel’s antique rose-filled garden in Skagit Valley (Washington State), was the beginning of two inspiring and invigorating friendships for me.

The three of us talked about our mutual passion for locally-grown blooms. Erin and I discovered our love of floral design that’s “in the moment,” depending on what’s in bloom in one’s own garden, or what you can find at the farmer’s market, from a friend’s flowering shrubs, or even foraged in the wild. That’s the essence of seasonal and sustainable floral design. It begins with the farmer who raises those blooms with care for the land and agricultural workers alike.

Over time, Erin, David and I realized we all hold a dream of some day creating a book about this topic. We hope it will be filled with stories that I write, photographs that David captures through his lens, and – of course – flowers that Erin grows and arranges. Whether it happens and in what form, time will tell. In the meantime, we are beginning to document the best stories of growers and designers with organic values. You can see some pretty exciting photographs on A Photographer’s Garden Blog, David’s visually alluring online journal.

Erin and Jasper, mother-and-son organic farmers

The Western pioneer: Budding ambition

Erin Benzakein has turned her two Washington acres into a sustainable flower farm

By Debra Prinzing | Photography by David Perry

Erin Benzakein became captivated with fresh-from-the-border flowers while working on a Seattle estate’s garden crew. “I never before thought you could go into your yard and cut so many flowers. They looked like the Dutch paintings – perennials, berries, vines, floppy roses – all spilling out of a huge vase.”

Inspired, Benzakein planted two rows of sweet peas to create a fragrant “tunnel” (“I wanted to walk down it, just for the experience,” she confides). Suddenly, the 29-year-old mother-of-two became a flower farmer. “It was a done deal. All the vegetables got ripped out and were replaced with flowers.”  Since 2007, with her husband Chris Benzakein and their “bunch runners” (9-year-old daughter Elora and 6-year-old son Jasper), Benzakein has operated Floret, a 2-acre certified organic flower farm in Mt. Vernon, about 90 minutes north of Seattle.

Why are sustainable flowers important?

Eighty percent of the cut flowers we buy in the U.S. are imported from countries that do not have worker safety or pesticide regulations. I don’t think we should sacrifice the health of our earth, or that of the farmers, their children and animals, just to have a bunch of pretty blooms on our kitchen tables. If you buy your flowers locally – at a farmer’s market, from a roadside stand, or a grocery store that sources bouquets from local growers – they’re probably sustainably grown. You’ll help eliminate the use of jet fuel that flies flowers to America, keep money in your local economy and enjoy healthier and fresher blooms. (more…)

Cindy Dole is LA’s home improvement and design go-to gal on the AM dial. You can hear her “Home Wizards” show each Saturday morning for a full hour on KRLA 870-AM. Cindy chooses all of her music openers and transitions – each number is whimsical and creative. The morning I appeared, she opened the show with the Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young song “Our house is a very, very, very fine house . . . .” - A perfect segue into a conversation about home, haven, design and interiors.

I appeared on the March 14, 2009 edition of "Home Wizards" radio in LA

Cindy invited me to be a guest on last Saturday’s show to talk all about my favorite subject: personal backyard escapes (aka SHEDS).  We’d been waiting several weeks to do the program, mainly because at this time of year I have too many Saturday lectures or trips. What a treat to finally arrive at her studio in Glendale early last week and meet Cindy in person. She is vivacious and knowledgeable, serving as both executive producer and host of her long-running show.

We found an instant rapport, along with my fellow studio guest, a Los Angeles floral and garden designer George Woods. George and his partner and wife Evonne Woods own The Woods Exquisite Flowers in Culver City.

When Cindy introduced my segment, she promised that we’d talk about “Man Caves” and “Gal Palaces.” I’ve heard lots about the man-cave movement, both here in the U.S. and also in the U.K. But I really love the gal-palace correlary. Looking forward to using those distinctions in my upcoming talks – it’s often not too hard to tell the difference between the styles.

If you want to listen to the interview, Cindy has it posted on her web site in two parts, about 15 minutes total. Enjoy and let me know what you think! Part One and Part Two.

When I saw George Woods’ beautiful floral arrangement that he and Evonne brought to the studio, I knew they were kindred spirits – people who appreciate flowers in season and who are far from traditional in their design approach.

Cindy Dole with George and Evonne Woods - and their gorgeous arrangement of spring blooms

Displayed in a low, square glass vase, combining a palette of greens and vibrant oranges, reds, and purples, George’s design drew from a wonderful mix of flowers and foliage. 

His fresh, new “happy” spring green came mostly from a surprise ingredient: ephemeral Maidenhair Ferns; plus, Algerian variegated ivy, pale green viburnums and hydrangea blooms. Parrot tulips, ranunculus, roses, anemones and some pretty awesome dark purple and fuchsia-colored sweet peas comprised the brighter hues. So breathtaking. Plus, all the stems of these cut flowers and foliage were hidden in a woven “nest” of just-sprouting willow that George used to line the vase.

A lucky listener won the arrangement, but I certainly lusted after it, too. I can’t wait to see what else George has designed (he promised to take me to a certain garden on a Malibu hillside very soon!).

Duane Kelly, owner of the popular Northwest Flower & Garden Show and the San Francisco Flower & Garden Show, dropped a big surprise gift into our laps last night at the SF Flower Show’s garden media reception in San Mateo, Calif.

While making remarks about the show’s history he announced that a deal was reached on Tuesday, March 17th with an investor group that will purchase the San Francisco Flower & Garden Show.

That means the show will go on! At least here in Northern California.

The 2010 San Francisco Flower & Garden Show will be staged by the new owners, a group of horticultural enthusiasts who recently joined forces to acquire and continue the wonderful spring event.  SF Garden Show LLC will be led by a new steering committee comprised of well-known landscape gardeners and growers including Davis Dalbok of Living Green, Mike Boss of Rock & Rose Landscapes, Robin Stockwell of Succulent Gardens, and led by Chairman Tim O’Shea of Greenworks Design.

The new team wants to ensure that the show will celebrate its 25th anniversary next year.

Congratulations to Duane Kelly and his awesome team of garden creators – the magical people who bring springtime to our gray, wet, cold days. Their legacy will continue in an exciting new way!

More details to follow. I filmed videotaped the announcement and remarks made by two of the new owners but I won’t be able to post my video clip until this weekend.

San Francisco's hottest garden and plant emporium, Flora Grubb

A great gathering of Shed-Fanatics joined me at Flora's

After my exhausting trip to the wintry Philadelphia Flower Show, I returned to LA for a quick overnight to recharge my batteries with my family.

Then, last Thursday, I returned to Burbank to fly north to Oakland.

My friends at the Garden Conservancy invited me to share my fascination with sheds and hideaways at an evening benefit lecture.

Hosted by horticultural celebrity Flora Grubb at her eponymous urban emporium, the after-hours event included cocktails and hors d’oeuvres among Flora’s awesome collection of palms, succulents, Mediterranean and drought-tolerant plants – and more.

Flora and Debra, smiling in this great garden setting

She curates this environment with an eye for design, style and presentation. Furniture selections, displayed among plant groupings really “pop” – from avant-garde concrete chaises to retro-salvaged circle lawn chairs (see below for specifics).

The playfulness with which Flora and her staff have created this plant-centric lifestyle just puts a smile on my face. I’ve heard and read about this cool SF destination nursery for a few years and am thrilled to have been given a great excuse to travel and speak there.

Thanks for the experience begins with my friend Margo Sheffner, who is Flora Grubb’s book buyer extraordinaire. Margo, who is also the business manager for the Pacific Horticultural Foundation (a nonprofit of which I am board member), was an early fan and supporter of Stylish Sheds and Elegant Hideaways. She brought it to Flora Grubb’s and continues to update me about how Flora’s customers “get” the notion of backyard sanctuary, habitat and haven. And that translates into book sales (which is so reassuring in this non-print phase we’re in). Yeah! It makes me happy to see our book in this cool environment.

Here’s a little gallery of Flora Grubb’s Garden. You will love every image:

Credit for my lecture title, “A POD in the Garden,” goes to Garden Conservancy west coast program manager and all-around horticultural go-to gal, Betsy Flack. She came up with the idea of using the acronym P-O-D (as a personal-outdoor-dwelling). I love it! This is my new buzzword. Stylish Sheds includes a chapter about Loretta Fisher’s “Mod Pod” in Austin, so Betsy’s title is apropos. Betsy and her assistant Maria Martinez (along with several Garden Conservancy staff, friends and volunteers) put on a lovely evening. I felt welcomed among so many kindred spirits.

The following morning, I stopped by Dwell's editorial offices to say hello to Miyoko

Before I started my talk, Betsy invited Miyoko Ohtake, associate editor at Dwell magazine, to share a few words. Miyoko is a talented young architect-journalist who joined Dwell last summer after impressive gigs at Wired and Business Week.

She contacted me in August to ask if I could serve as Dwell’s guest expert for a review of prefabricated sheds (February 2009 issue). It was great to finally meet her in person and to also have the audience meet Miyoko and hear her enthusiasm for modern outdoor design. Dwell supported the event and Miyoko blogged about my talk in advance of the evening.

Then, Flora invited her architect-friend Seth Boor, AIA, of SF’s Boor Bridges Architecture, to comment on the city’s zoning issues relating to shed construction.

It was a stroke of brilliance to include Seth on the program. He and Flora (and her partner Kevin Smith) recently collaborated on a very cool planted-wall installation at a hip, new Napa Valley hotel called Bardessono. The project was recently documented by Stephen Orr in the New York Times. So we were in excellent company (oh, and how cool is this? Stephen was in the audience – what a sweet guy to come hear my talk).

Among other remarks, Seth touched on the permit and installation parameters for anyone wanting to add a backyard shed in San Francisco:

• No permit is required if you build an outdoor structure under 100 square feet in size and no taller than 8 feet high.
• The configurations can vary. For example, the structure can be 10-by-10 feet or 8-by-12 feet in size.
• As for height, as Seth pointed out, “Eight-feet-tall is a little short” but you can work with it.
• Working without a permit “frees you up to do anything within that size,” he says
• Also, if the structure isn’t permitted, the typical setback rules do not apply. However, there is the “good neighbor” rule and Seth recommended that shed-builders think about how a 100-sf structure will appear to a neighboring property.

Debra’s note: Creative shed-owners are already aware of this issue. I’ve seen shedistas carefully paint, embellish and artfully adorn the side of their structure that faces a neighbor’s lot. Good shed policy!

Shoes for a flower fairy with twigs, moss and petals

I spent a few days last week at the spectacular Philadelphia Flower Show. It was my second time traveling to this Grand Dame of indoor flower shows to give a garden talk. When I first presented there in 2006, I was blown away by the over-the-top displays and ambitious floral designs. This year’s theme, “Bella Italia,” inspired show designers to highlight Italian- and Mediterranean-themed gardens.

Debra (left) and Mary-Kate Mackey (right). We posed in front of a lavish rose-filled urn at the entrance to the Philadelphia Flower Show.

With my roommate, Mary-Kate Mackey, I managed to squeeze in lots of adventures in my 36 hours on Pennsylvania soil (I spent more time trying to fly there and back than I was actually on the ground, due to a doozy of an East Coast snow storm that stranded me in Dallas overnight and then marooned me for five hours in Milwaukee). Unfortunately, I missed seeing all of my fellow Garden Writer members because I was sitting in the Milwaukee Airport at the exact time the regional meeting took place. Oh well.

But – finally – when down to my last option of continuing eastward or returning home to LA, I grabbed a seat on the only flight to Philly that day. I arrived late last Monday and met up with Mary-Kate, who was in town to teach a one-day writing class for Garden Writers, and to see the show.

After my lecture on Tuesday afternoon, we strolled out to the show. With M-K as my tour guide (all-knowing, she had been there for several days, including hours spent behind-the-scenes during show set-up). We meandered through “Bella Italia” – kind of like taking a cross-country floral tour – all in a single day.

With gardens devoted to Italy’s major tourist regions, there was lots to admire. But the most surprising and artistic of them all celebrated Milan. Milan is the fashion capital of Italy. The American Institute of Floral Designers (AFID) created a floral fashion show of sorts. Spectacular stuff!

Foliage as soft as velvet creates the bodice of this nature-inspired creation

Against a stark white backdrop of mannequins and props, the designers displyaed imaginative shoes, handbags, hats, jewelry and garments . . . made out of petals, leaves, pods, buds, stems, needles and more. In every hue and texture of flower and foliage. Oh, so beautiful. M-K likened the technique of layering and gluing individual petals and plant parts (to create fields of color) to a small-scale version of Pasadena Rose Bowl Parade’s float production. It is a good explanation of the way these inventive designers rendered fashion “in bloom.”

Bows, buds and pods adorn this pair of stylish heels

More inspiring than the dresses, though, was the footwear. People were standing three- and four-bodies deep to gaze at and try to capture photographs of these dainty delicacies for the toes.

What is it about shoes? We asked each other this question as we, too, tried to get close and peer at the high heels, strappy sandals, little ballet flats, avant-garde boots, and more.

Are shoes magical, like Cinderella’s glass slippers? Or do they just seduce us with those sensual shapes? I know from experience that a gorgeous pair of shoes (comfortable ones would be nice, too) gives many women a feeling of power and confidence.

A whimsical pair of boots (made from chicken wire and moss), spotted in Holland in 2005

Shoes in the garden never fail to charm and delight. Think of those people who love to plant hen-and-chicks in old work boots.

A steel "spring" adorns the toe of this shoe-planter

I love my wacky garden shoes, also known as “Steel Heels.” I discovered them when I lectured at the Boise Flower Show in 2006.

Cut from steel and welded with fanciful heels and swirly toes, these artful shoes were made by Micki Shampang-Voorhies and her husband Gary Voorhies. I love that these perfect Size 8′s are weathered over time to reveal a rusty patina.

These shoes make me smile every time I see them in the garden.

The artists, whose Blue River, Oregon, studio is called Custom Copper & Iron, turn everyday scrap metal and rusted tools into fashionista-worthy shoes.

Castoff springs, drill bits, bolts and even a handle of a garden faucet create the heels of each artistic stiletto. Tuck a few sedums into the toe or heel and I’ve started my own shoe wardrobe in the garden:

"Steel Heels," planted with succulents

 Enjoy this garden gallery of shoes and other fashions for your visual delight:

Our Holland gang, with Tovah front and center (she is the short, grinning gal with a huge camera around her neck). Clockwise, from left: Kathy Renwald, Bianca Helderman, Anne Nieland, Debra Prinzing, Walter Reeves, Mary Robson, Nellie Neal and Tovah Martin

I met Tovah Martin in 2005 when we both participated in a media tour to Holland during spring bulb season. Since I had for years enjoyed and admired Tovah’s garden writing in the original Victoria magazine, you can only imagine how exciting it was to actually meet her.

I think we were both surprised at how quickly our little group of seven (including our wonderful guide Bianca Helderman from the Netherlands Board of Tourism & Conventions) bonded as accidental fellow travelers. I have vivid memories of Tovah wearing her knee-high rubber boots to tramp around the bulb fields at Hortus Bulborum  (I actually envied her pragmatism: I mean, who else would pack a pair of waterproof gardening boots to bring on a trip to Europe!?)

Tovah gave me a very important gift that week. I still remember sitting across from each other at an ancient trestle table. We ate lunch and swapped stories about book publishing. Known and loved around the globe for her beautiful Tasha Tudor’s Garden and Tasha Tudor’s Heirloom Crafts and many other books, Tovah graciously shared her advice and guidance as I struggled with how to develop my “garden shed” book (it was just an idea back then). Her suggestions about photography really influenced my decision to partner with Bill Wright on Stylish Sheds and Elegant Hideaways, rather than working with a variety of photographers in every market. She gave me a lot of clarity and I cherish her advice.

So now, I’m the lucky recipient of newest Tovah Martin book, by all counts, her 13^th title. The New Terrarium: Creating Beautiful Displays for Plants and Nature, was published on March 3^rd by Clarkson Potter/Publishers. [Full disclosure: Clarkson Potter also published our book - we love everything they produce!]

Captured on film by photographer Kindra Clineff, The New Terrarium is a magical tome filled with small, planted scenes, landscapes, still-life’s and collections under glass.

Tovah brings a perfect combination of talent to this dreamy book. She is a gifted storyteller, both visually and with words (Tovah art-directs and produces many of her magazine articles for Country Gardens and other publications); she has a long history as an expert with indoor and greenhouse plants from her past career at Logee’s Greenhouses; and she is a visionary who understands how to get others excited about her passion.

The idea of creating a book about gardening under glass (on a small scale) struck a chord with this avid plants woman. Here is an excerpt of my recent conversation with Tovah:

Q. How did The New Terrarium come about?

A. Kindra and I started working on magazine projects together, and when Clarkson Potter came to me with this idea, I thought of Kindra. She is a cross between a garden photographer and an interior photographer.

This ode to spring under glass includes white wood hyacinth (right) and lily-of-the-valley with glory-of-the-snow (left). Kindra Clineff photograph

Q. What enchants you about gardens under glass?

A. Way back when I was at Logee’s, I originally lived in the upstairs of the house that overlooked all the greenhouses. Why I find (terrariums) so quaint, and why I can really get into them, is that I’ve never lost that feeling of loving things encased in glass. I loved looking down on the glass greenhouses. I even used to produce little booklets on how to plant terrariums for people who wanted to make or sell them.

Q. Terrariums are a tradition that dates back more than a century. What makes this technique, this idea, suddenly “new”?

A. I can’t think of a modern terrarium book. What I’m hoping is that people in office buildings, people with no access to gardening for a major part of their day, will think of this as a low-maintenance way to bring nature into their lives.

Q. You really believe that plants can be transformative?

A. I kept calling up Kindra and saying, “This is really big. We’re going to change the world.” I saw that this whole mode of gardening has the potential to rescue people from terminal office life.

Q. Tell me about the glass containers you used to create your projects. There is such an incredible variety – many surprised me.

A. Almost anything can be used. You can just start looking at glass this new way.

[Debra's note: The New Terrarium is packed with inspiring ideas of the types of containers suitable for planting - from traditional cloches, Wardian cases and lantern cloches to more contemporary vessels, including recycled aquariums, hurricane lanterns, vases and repurposed glass domes used to cover cakes or cheese platters.]

“]

A Wardian case with a deep base simplifies planting directly in the case. Kindra Clineff photograph

Q. What do you hope to teach gardeners and non-gardeners about growing plants under glass?

A. It’s an easy way for people to enjoy plants. Basically you don’t need to water very often. You don’t even need to fertilize.

[Debra's note: Tovah has included a comprehensive plant encyclopedia that recommends a surprising array of plants for glass gardens, including: orchids, ferns, heucheras, begonias, mosses, African violets, bromeliads, ivies, ornamental grasses and more.]

Q. I love the photos! How did you and Kindra produce the shots?

A. This book was the challenge of the century because everything reflects in glass. We now understand why no one’s done this book before. Kindra had to surround herself in a black piece of velvet (so she wouldn’t be reflected in the shot). We kept joking that we should do the author and photographer’s portraits reflected in glass.

Q. Did you photograph at your Connecticut farmhouse?

A. We shot at four different houses, one of them being mine. I have a converted barn with big, huge windows and a little cobbler shop from 1790. A greenhouse connects these two buildings. We used the windows of these houses (for a backdrop). But most terrariums should be displayed away from the sun or windows.

Q. Tovah, how do you describe your writing philosophy?

A. This has been a lifelong mission for me: To write for (publications) that aren’t necessarily reaching gardening audiences in order to expand the whole realm.

Thank you! What a great conversation and a spectacular book.