Happy New Year!
I’m giving our nutcrackers a well deserved night off to party! As I celebrate the coming New Year with my family tonight, …
I’m giving our nutcrackers a well deserved night off to party!
As I celebrate the coming New Year with my family tonight, I also share my best wishes to all for more love, laughter, and good health in 2021!
Here’s to more gardening and another trip around the sun with flowers and grapes! Cheers! Maya : )
If you are looking for something different to do this Halloween weekend in wine country, swing by Florence Avenue in Sebastopol to see the whimsical sculptures of the local junk artists Patrick Amiot and Bridget Laurent. Gnomes, pirates, witches, majestic owls, comic heroes, and fantastical animals will greet you. These quirky sculptures that inhabit the front yards of this residential street will bring a smile to your face.
At the intersection of East Washington and Adobe Road in Petaluma, California, one can feel the new vibrations emanating from the thousands of colorful dahlias that grow in the field at The Happy Dahlia Flower Farm. Among the playful kaleidoscope of colorful blooms, visitors are immersed in a sensorial state of being filled with beauty, life energy, and nature. While well-known for producing exquisite dahlias in their many varieties, the farm has blossomed into a sanctuary for the spirit, soul, and connection. The Happy Dahlia Flower Farm has become a place to experience the sacred seasonal rhythms of the farm, landscape, and community.
This week we’re taking in the fall colors at the orchard of Hale Apple Farm in Sebastopol, California. Foodies, farm enthusiasts, and fans of this radiant season will find this to be the perfect autumn outing in wine country.
Popsicles are a refreshing treat as temperatures rise on hot summer days. Try combining fresh organic summer fruit, edible flowers, and your favorite sparkling wine, champagne, or prosecco to make the most cool and beautiful hand-crafted ”poptails.”
If you can’t make it to Italy this summer, a trip to Ferrari-Carano Winery is a wonderful substitute. The beautiful Dry Creek Valley is home to Ferrari-Carano’s Estate winery and Villa Fiore Wine Hospitality Center. This Italianate winery has incredible sweeping views of the vineyards, elegant gardens, and sparkling fountains. Ferrari-Carano has been producing world-class wines that delight and attract visitors from all over the world.
Last Saturday, we spent our morning literally walking in circles mesmerized by the many fragrant varieties of blooms that form the lavender labyrinth at Bees N’ Blooms farm in Santa Rosa. Lavender fans, flower lovers, and farm enthusiasts will find this to be the perfect summer outing. The lavender labyrinth and farm are nestled at the foot of Mount Taylor on the Santa Rosa Plain and are home to thousands of honeybees, and native bees, cut flowers, and farm animals.
Erin Benzakein shares her passion and the rich diversity for her favorite flower that grows on her farm in Washington State’s Skagit Valley. “These treasures are one of the most well-loved and widely grown flowers for cutting because the come in a dazzling rainbow of colors, they produce an abundance of flowers from midsummer into autumn, and the range of shapes and sizes available is staggering.” In Floret Farm’s Discovering Dahlias (Chronicle Books, 2021), the celebrated farmer-florist and New York Times bestselling author shares all the secrets readers will need for cultivating
Renowned artist Michael Schwab has created a stunning new graphic to help WildCare remind people everywhere to Respect the Nest!
On a brisk and sunny morning in February, Debbie and Herb Rowland graciously invited Flowers and Grapes into Pacheco Ranch Winery (PRW), their family’s private historic 70-acre vineyard and winery in eastern Marin County. PRW has produced complex cabernet wines at this historic site for generations, and winemaking is still a family affair. However, while we were there to capture the fleeting beauty of their blooming vineyard this spring, we also discovered the property’s stately historical elegance and learned about their family’s rich legacy as vintners in the celebrated wine country of Northern California.
May Easter bring your life color, brightness, joy and, of course, lots of chocolate eggs and bunnies!
Flowers and Grapes was inspired as a blog a year ago when our daily lives went into lockdown at the start of the Covid19 pandemic. That first scary and unnerving week when all were asked to shelter in place (SIP), I took a picture of some zinnia seeds that sprouted on that fateful week. When I saw them I hoped that, by the time they bloomed in June, this nightmare would be over. My zinnias bloomed despite everything, and in them I knew that life would continue. It just was more difficult than I would have expected. This context was the catalyst to inspire my blog, and now a year later, my first indie magazine Flowers & Grapes. As we all move forward together this spring when life is begging to open up for all, look for the poetry in your garden, natural environment, and in daily life. Celebrate it with more Flowers and Grapes!
Mustard bloom is one of the most exciting times to visit the wine country. For a few short weeks, this seasonal show makes a stunning backdrop drawing many visitors from afar to capture the spectacular seasonal moment in portraits and photos. However, mustard also has a rich beneficial history rooted in wine country.
While mid-February is just a bit early to capture the festive early spring blooming of bright yellow mustard flowers in the vineyards throughout the wine country, I did see a few eager mustard sprouts ready to announce the coming of spring on my recent visit to the historic Sonoma Mission Vineyard in located Sonoma, California. What I didn’t expect on this visit was to have my focus shift from the sleepy dormant grapevines of winter to the vibrant surrounding native and drought-tolerant plants growing in this charming historic vineyard.
What I love most is celebrating the many types of love on Valentine's Day. Like the many different flowers in my garden, there are many types of relationships to celebrate the love in them. You are never too young or old to exchange a Valentine.
Anyone can turn simple garden or store-bought flowers into a special Valentine bouquet. Flowers become Valentines when they express an aesthetic that is evocative of love and romance. Give your Valentine flowers that will be a unique expression of love through the rich sensory experience of seasonal flowers. It is so easy to make your Valentines bloom. All you need are an inspiration, flowers, and a little romance.
Winter is a perfect time for gardeners to bundle up and go outside to explore new gardens. Inspired by a bout of cabin fever brought on by recent rain storms, I ventured out to Sonoma Garden Park to find a charming working farm and so much more!
I’m giving our nutcrackers a well deserved night off to party! As I celebrate the coming New Year with my family tonight, …
Wishing you love, light, and the warmest holiday wishes on this solstice from my home. Here’s to a brighter New Year filled with abundance in our lives, gardens, and with everything flowers and grapes in 2021!
Wherever you are this holiday season your winter garden and natural environment will offer inspiration and floral elements for your foraged winter bouquet. Foraging is fun! Connect to your natural world and celebrate the season! Learn how to forage and a make foraged winter bouquets in 5 easy steps!
Wishing our nation a spark love and inspiration this 4th of July. Let’s raise a glass to togetherness and celebrating safely with family, friends, and community.