Growing up with parents who were both avid gardeners, in idyllic Lake Como in Italy in the 60s, being outside in the garden was a way of life.

My parents and grandparents were all about being outside in the environment, and my memories of my childhood are mostly about being outside in nature. I remember picking raspberries till I couldn't fit anymore in the large bowl I was carrying, and climbing the cherry tree and plum tree to eat those delicious fruit.

In summers, both my grandmothers would come to stay, and I remember the steps we took to clip the giant lavender bushes, then dry them, and how we used to gather around in a circle, strip the flowers off the stalks, and make sachets to put between our clothes. I still have some of those! And you know what? When I squeeze and massage them, the lavender still smells strong. That’s about 50 years ago!

I guess what I am trying to say is that garden equals life, love, creativity, vitality to me. It took me a few years to figure that out.

When we moved to England in my teens, I experienced a wetter, cooler garden environment, where my mom immersed herself in caring for plants in the greenhouse as well as in the large farmhouse property garden. I learned via osmosis, helping, watching, planting, and eating of course.

There were no pesticides, and I don’t remember much about “pests” but over the years, I learned a whole lot more.

My gardens took me to the warm seasons of Los Angeles, California, including a year in dry Topanga Canyon, where I made the most beautiful, delicious smelling compost in a year just by tossing ingredients down the hill. Easy!
When we moved to Portland Oregon, where we spent 18 years, I tried the compost thing, and it was a miserable failure in the wet, damp and under the trees conditions (no sun). But Portland is a haven for gardeners of all kinds, and I gathered so much experience and knowledge there.

After Portland there was a short stay of 4 years in dry high desert, mountainous eastern Washington, a stunning and very unforgiving environment, with hardly any rain and high winds in spring and summer, which create havoc with buds, young plants and pretty much anything that grows.

Moving to Deer Isle in Maine I found the heaven I didn’t know I was looking for. A coastal area with challenges, yes, due to the cold wild in winter and the constant weather changes, but also a lush environment with typically abundant rain and a good season to enjoy the fruits of our gardens.

My husband and I are both enjoying being in the garden of our old farmhouse and are immersing ourselves in its care with much enthusiasm, learning about the plants here on the east coast, and all the non-natives we have on this property! Oh dear.

This was a stunning garden deck, overlooking the hills in Topanga CA, where we lived. We created a water garden with the plants needed to make a small watery environment and it was a huge success, and the beginning of many water features in all the homes we lived in consequently.