Plant Talk: Little and Lewis

June 17, 2009

Little and Lewis Garden Art Show

I can't believe it's been four years since Bainbridge Island artists Little and Lewis staged a major exhibition of their garden art....they have a fresh new show opening on July 3, running through August 5, at Bainbridge Arts and Crafts Gallery, 151 Winslow Way East. On Saturday, July 11 you can join David and George in the gallery for a discussion of their work.

The new show is entitled "Transitions". And no wonder - in the last couple of years the pair sold their renowned garden gallery, remodeled the next door house and garden, and have taken to spending months of the year at their home in San Miguel de Allende. The new works are still their signature color-washed concrete, but the pieces are smaller and more intimate in response to the quiet, more private turn their lives have taken....

Top photo is George at work; the bottom is of one of the new pieces in the show....

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New Book: Petal & Twig

The first reviews on the new book are in! From Publisher's Weekly:
"Open your eyes and keep it simple: those are two lessons Easton (The New Low Maintenance Garden), a garden writer and Huffington Post columnist, passes on from her own 40 years in the garden. When selecting and arranging flowers for bouquets, you needn’t spend a bundle buying a bundle of imported flowers.....Easton offers guidelines and principles....as well as a journal of possibilities through the seasons. The result....will be unique, local, imaginative, and inexpensive. Color photos throughout illustrate and inspire."
Petal & Twig will be in bookstores on January 31, and will be available for the iPad, Kindle, and all those kinds of devices...

Featured Events

Portland Yard, Garden and Patio Show Talk on February 17
I'm the first up speaker on Friday morning, 11 a.m. at the Portland Convention Center for the Oregon Association of Nurseries big event. I'll show plenty of photos and talk about how to turn your entire garden (and neighborhood) into a cutting garden for uncomplicated little handheld bouquets in every month of the year...it's all about the simple joy of bringing nature indoors...

In the News

Pacific Northwest Magazine's 2012 Garden Issue
An entire issue devoted to shelter in the garden... Read here about David Smith's modernist garden on Vashon, centered by a joglo; Ron Chew's backyard cabin on Beacon Hill, John and Toni Christianson's charming garden with greenhouse and outbuildings you've probably seen in their award-winning F&G Show gardens, and a personal little summerhouse on Whidbey Island that's a hand-hewn original, complete with king-size bed and pizza oven.
Planting art
Check out this interview in the Chicago Tribune on using art in the garden...
Tour the Gardens at the UW President's Mansion with Head Gardener Ray Larson
The gardens at Hill Crest in the Madison Park neighborhood, home of the University of Washington president, have been transformed over the past few years. Voiced by head gardener Ray Larson, this UW-made video features the art and seasonal beauty of this updated landscape.
Root Cellar and Recycling - The Swanson Garden on Whidbey Island
From a stylish root cellar, sheep dairy, and thriving vegetable gardens, the Swansons expansive property on Whidbey Island is both innovative and historic.
Sylvia Matlock's Cool Indispensables
Vashon Island's DIG Nursery is known for its cool and unusual plants - check out this list of plants that proprietress Sylvia Matlock wouldn't consider gardening without....

The New Low Maintenance Garden

Reviews Are In....
"Over the years, countless books have espoused a low-maintenance approach to gardening. None have been as engaging, practical, or inspiring as this latest of Easton's contributions to the gardener's bookshelf,"
- Pacific Horticulture magazine, Jan/Feb/Mar 2010
"A handy guide to a garden you can raise without a corresponding increase in your blood pressure..handsome and informative...."
- Metropolitan Home, Dec. 2009
"A garden can be a consuming passion—at least until you feel it consuming you. When Val Easton found herself in that spot, she knew it was time to move on, this time to a gem of a low-maintenance garden she made for herself. It kept her passion for gardening alive and spawned a terrific book, The New Low-Maintenance Garden."
- Sunset's "Fresh Dirt" blog
"This book is an invaluable addition to the garden library – destined to be a classic for many years to come."
- Garden Design Online
Paperback copies of "The New Low Maintenance Garden" are in bookstores for $19.95, Timber Press is out of hardback copies ($29.95) but you can buy them on online at HomeStyle Book Club; more hardbacks will hopefully be available in bookstores early in 2010.