bwisegardening

Cultivating a Culture of Gardening™

Monday, November 19, 2012

Win a Williamsburg Christmas Wreath!

One of the greatest treats I had this spring was the opportunity to see first hand the wonderfully creative work that P Allen Smith has in the works from his Mountain Home Retreat. And to introduce you to his delightful Holiday collection I'll be giving away the Williamsburg Christmas Wreath!


THE NEW WILLIAMSBURG COLLECTION

The Williamsburg Collection celebrates American history and tradition. Southern fare is symbolized by golden pears decorating the fresh, fragrant greenery of Noble Fir and Western Red Cedar bedecked with pinecones and a shimmery earth-toned satin bow.

I love the natural look and fragrance of this wreath and its simple elegance.

Here's a little more about Allen and his new digital magazine coming out this month!

Little Rock, AR— November 11, 2012 - Award-winning designer, gardening and lifestyle expert P. Allen Smith announces the release of the first edition of his new digital magazine, P. Allen Smith’s Garden Home Style.
The online lifestyle publication highlights home and garden design and style ideas and will be released quarterly. Serving as an idea book for its readers, Garden Home Style focuses on themes of design, cook, create, shop and travel.
Smith says “I am thrilled to publish a magazine that offers readers ideas for creating a garden home lifestyle through decorating, gardening, cooking and entertaining. It’s equally exciting to offer Garden Home Style in the digital arena; users can access the magazine from desktops, smart phones and tablets. Inspiration at your fingertips. I love it!”
The first edition will be released Tuesday, November 6th and will focus on holiday celebrations. With recipes, holiday decorating and gift ideas, and a section on social responsibility, the magazine fully embraces the holidays by using ideas from Smith’s own family holiday traditions.
“There is something so enchanting about this time of year that I thought it would be the perfect time to launch this new endeavor!” Smith said. “Christmas reminds me of home and family and of holiday traditions. The holidays are a time for festive parties filled with lots of fun, glittering decorations and fragrant aromas that waft from my kitchen and fill my home.”
Future editions will continue to serve as a lifestyle idea book, and they will be seasonally themed. Garden Home Style will be published on the company website, www.pallensmith.com.

*  *  *
About P. Allen Smith
P. Allen Smith is an award-winning designer, gardening and lifestyle expert and host of two public television programs, P. Allen Smith's Garden Home, P. Allen Smith’s Garden to Table and the syndicated 30-minute show P. Allen Smith Gardens. Smith is one of America's most recognized and respected design experts, providing ideas and inspiration through multiple media venues. He is the author of the best-selling Garden Home series of books published by Clarkson Potter/Random House, including Bringing the Garden Indoors: Container, Crafts and Bouquets for Every Room and Seasonal Recipes from the Garden. Allen is also very active on social media such as Twitter, Facebook, Allen’s Blog and YouTube as well as on the new eHow Home channel. His design and lifestyle advice is featured in several national magazines. Learn more at http://www.pallensmith.com.

Using fresh greenery is a tradition in my family and I often look at what I'm planting in my garden to see how I could use it during the holiday season.
 A winner will be chosen at random and the wreath will be sent directly from Berry Family of Nurseries. To win this wreath, just click on the link below and follow the instructions: 

a Rafflecopter giveaway



Read more »

Labels: , , , ,

Sunday, November 18, 2012

What I Focus On Will Change My Perspective

 Today I had fun playing with my camera and seeing what different perspective I could get on this pretty view out the window and the cool shadows from the light coming in the window.
 With each shot I focused on a different aspect of the view I was looking at.
 On this one, I focused on the view outside the window
 Here I focused on the small basket of fruit on the window seal.
Here I focus on the light that hit the island top inside the kitchen.

I love how photography is a reminder that what I focus on in my daily life effects my whole life perspective.

Labels: , ,

Saturday, November 3, 2012

Sometimes What I Say Doesn't Always Come Out What I Mean...

Borrowed from my funny friend, Jan Bills

Labels: , ,

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Signs of the Season


 I'm loving sitting here listening to the CMA Awards  - it's a great excuse to just wander through all my photo graphs and see what inspires me. I ran across these photos from the Dallas Arboretum that just put me in the mood for cooking pumpkin pies and celebrating autumn! 




 Love the seed heads of purple fountain grass Pennisetum setaceum 




 Musa (banana trees) and Castor bean

 Fireworks gomphrena


 Love the blooms of this canna

 More fireworks gomphrena










 this sweet potato vine looks perfect for autumn









 who said hot pink and orange don't mix!


 New life for dried grasses
























I'm crazy about Manihot!! (variegated tapioca plant)




Labels: , , , , ,