Sending love to all my Vermont friends who are restoring home and hearth after the flood, with the belief that united you are the strongest community I know. xxoo 

From backyards to front gardens, park landscapes and sky scapes, all over Santa Monica one can find an array of beautiful blooms. For me, and perhaps you, summer is synonymous with flowers. What a treat to see everything blooming, from drought resistant cactus to delicate lilies, brightening up one’s view in every direction.

Hydrangea is a nostalgic plant from my younger days summering on Long Island. The rich lavender, pink and blue clusters always make me smile.  Oscar Wilde wrote, “A flower blossoms for its own joy,” but this bushy plant overwhelms me with happy and unites both coasts in each and every colorful petal. What a bouquet!

Succulents thrive everywhere, from cracks in the foundations to raised beds, they are massive and sturdy and survivors.

“I must have flowers, always, and always,” wrote Claude Monet, and I have to agree. Arranged in a vase on the table or sprawling across a low fence, flowers are an easy joy.

Cascading blossoms draw bees and butterflies, who herald our walk to the beach.

Jacarandas bring your eyes up to the bluest of skies. Reward enough on any day.

“Flowers always make people better, happier, and more helpful; they are sunshine, food and medicine to the mind.” Who other than Luther Burbank, an American Botanist credited with creating more varieties of fruit and veggies and flowers than I can list, would understand the healing power of even the smallest garden? Our lives are far yummier thanks to his decades of pioneering work. 

Jasmine. How to tell the tale of this one that lends a fragrance which seers through the whole of Los Angeles, sweet yet sultry, absolutely intoxicating. We stop our stroll to smell each delicate flower every other block. The rewards are that great.

Hibiscus and lemon, growing side by side, two trees that draw hummingbirds and butterflies and even playful sparrows fill this yard with life. All adding to our own.