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On June 11, my tour group and I visited the spectacular Chateau de Villandry. Chances are you’ve seen photos of the gardens here and put it on your bucket list. Well, this was my second visit to the chateau and gardens and it was even more magnificent than I remembered! Chateau de Villandry history This chateau was built next to […]
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One of the stops during the France tour I led was Chateau de Valmer in the Loire Valley. What a beautiful garden! We also were treated to a wine tasting and a tour of their impressive wine cellar. There garden is comprised of 8 terraces and a moat. The terraced gardens are in the Renaissance style and very enjoyable to […]
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One of the most enjoyable things a gardener can do during the summer months is go on garden tours. It’s a great way to get inspired, learn new things and meet other like-minded folks. Next Sunday, July 14, the Coeur d’Alene Garden Tour will take place. That’s the topic of my garden column in today’s edition of The Spokesman-Review: For […]
Read moreOn Wednesday, I wrote a blog post about our travel group’s visit to the beautiful Chateau du Rivau and garden. I saw something really cute in their children’s garden: creative sculptures made from clay pots. They definitely caught my eye because they were so delightful. I’d never seen anything made like this before. I thought you might get a kick […]
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During the France tour I led last month, we visited the lovely Chateau du Rivau. It features a delightful garden plus we also got to tour part of the chateau as an added bonus. The garden was created by Patricia Laigneau. We hoped to meet up with her during our visit but our schedules didn’t quite mesh. The garden is […]
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For this week’s garden column, I decided to focus on flowers. I mean, they’re pretty wonderful, aren’t they? You can read my column by going to today’s edition of The Spokesman-Review: Flowers for season-long bloom. Or you can read my column below (don’t miss this week’s video underneath it!). Why did I choose this topic? Well, aside from the obvious […]
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After leaving Jardin Plume (see previous blog post), our group headed north to visit Jardin de Sericourt. I had learned of this amazing garden by watching Monty Don’s video series, “The Gardens of France.” I am so glad I included this in our itinerary. This garden has received France’s “Remarkable garden” status. It also was voted best garden of 2012 […]
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Of all of the gardens we visited during the France tour that I led, Le Jardin Plume was truly one of our favorites. I first learned of this unique Normandy garden while watching “The Gardens of France” which were produced and hosted by British gardening personality Monty Don. I knew it will be well worth our time! This garden was […]
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I get a lot of questions about how I use my hoop house and greenhouse. Because of that, I felt it should be the topic for one of my garden columns. Well, today’s the day! Here’s a link to it in The Spokesman-Review: Hoop houses and greenhouses help extend garden season. (you can read my column lower in this post) […]
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I’ve just returned from the France tour that I led. What an awesome trip it was! Twenty-four wonderful folks joined me and we saw so many beautiful gardens and chateaus. Today is the first in a series of posts about the France tour and we’re starting with the first garden we visited, Claude Monet’s beautiful garden in Giverny. Experiencing Monet’s […]
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