These pages are not chronological and are taken from several of my Garden Journals. 

They tell the story of many years spent gardening in the Desert Southwest.

Some days in the garden there’s a story to be told and the day the gate fell apart was a big one.

Subjects for garden journaling are more scarce in the Winter season, but the bare twigs left over tell the story of the growth patterns of the plant and will make for knowing 

the plant better in the Spring.

I fell madly in love with these linen-wrap pots when I found them at the Terrain Store in Palo Alto, CA. Perfect for my Orchids!

Even though I now have a greenhouse and can keep some plants with me over the Winter, the day of the first freeze is still a little sad for me, so I tried to cheer up 

with some bright color and humor on this page.

I just couldn’t get this one right. It is hard to make dead plants beautiful. So, I kept going back with layers of gouache until it looked like an acrylic painting instead of a watercolor sketch!

This sculpture is one of my favorite things in the garden. The wind causes the balance beam to spin and birds sitting on it make a fun difference in its “balance”. 

I could stare at it for hours as a meditation practice - and I do.

Sharon Lovejoy’s book, Trowel and Error, is one of my all time favorite gardening books. 

Instead of just taking notes as I read it I created a couple sketchbook pages and 

substituted my own illustrations for hers.

A Plant Page.  Scattered through my garden journals, these plant pages are in-depth studies of all the parts of my favorite garden flowers. Every Spring I get huge red Zinnia from a nursery in California and bring them back to Santa Fe where they are happy enough to flower all Summer as long I am keep up with deadheading.

It’s a blessing to have an “artist’s eye”. You notice things that have unexpected beauty. These terra cotta pieces were really just in the way while I was cleaning up a flower bed for Spring planting. But something about the relationship struck my fancy so I sketched a still life. 

I cleaned things up in the sketch - as if they spiffed up for a portrait.

Salvia Splendens (also called Scarlet Sage) is a big favorite. Flowers like crazy all season and is actually a tender perennial so you can Winter it over in a garage or greenhouse.

Every Spring the birds show up at my Bird Home Depot to get nest building supplies. It is great to watch them shop - because they are picky and throw things around until they find just what they want.. Twigs, string, old nest materials, and Siberian Husky fur are always popular. A bird with a beak full of white fur is a sight to see.

My failed Morning Glory experiments are legendary. This time I thought the vines would climb the basket chain to the trellis and spread, but they went up into the wild rose bush and got lost instead. Not enough sun in there to make many blossoms. That is a garden chair pillow on top to protect them from hail, a threat now with every thunderstorm.

Each year, when I start the garden over, I am full of questions about 

what it will be this time around.