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A kaleidoscope of colors at the Aix-en-Provence flower market. April 2011. French markets overflow with colorful goods and good people. Visiting villages on market day is often high on the list of priorities for many travelers. You can easily build a "market-a-day" travel itinerary. I've been to many markets in Paris, Provence and the French Riviera. Indeed, it is great fun and the fresh foods, flowers and handmade crafts are especially appealing. The interaction with the vendors is both educational and entertaining. After spending nine days in Paris in April, I looked forward to a week in the village of Aix-en-Provence. Aix is a convenient base for accessing the surrounding area—the Provence countryside and Luberon villages, the Mediterranean coast, the western French Riviera and the Camargue—no more than a two hour drive in any direction. One of the most famous and popular markets in the region of Provence takes place in the lovely village of L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue. ...

Gaillardia 'Burgundy' self-sows; Achillea 'Moonshine' grows rapidly; Annual Nigella 'Miss Jekyll' self-sows. Welcome to my "lazy gardener garden" in late spring! In my attempt to minimize how much work that I have to put into all the different gardens, I am relinquishing some of the design control to Mother Nature. This large section of garden is on the east side of the house where the light has changed as trees have matured over the last five years. Rather than agonize over what to plant in a section where the sunlight and shade ratio is still changing, I'm allowing self-sowing and rapidly growing annuals, biennials and perennials "do their own thing." I used to call this section the "butterfly garden" but since all of my different gardens attract butterflies, that's not as descriptive as it could be. I've relocated some of my stellar sun-loving perennials, such as coreopsis and agastache, from this section to the front...

Thank you to the 773 unique visitors and 360 subscription visitors who read about the new BHG.com website and contest here on my blog. The blog readers who entered the contest were (in numbered order): Bloominganne FlowerLady Alison Pam/Digging Jen Tina Sue Ellen perennialgardenlover Southern Lady Meems Joey Molly The FIVE winners of a 1-year subscription to Better Homes and Gardens® were determined by a random number generator : Winning numbers were computer selected using RANDOM.ORG Congratulations to: (2) FlowerLady (1) Bloominganne (9) Southern Lady (4) Pam/Digging (12) Molly To claim your subscription prize through a secure, private message, please use the "Drop Me A Note" link on the left sidebar of my blog (beneath my Facebook photo). Include the following information: Name Address Email Address The contest prizes are awarded by Better Homes and Gardens®, Meredith Publishing. The writer did not receive payment for the article or contest. Words by Freda Cameron , Defin...

The fresh, clean look of the new BHG homepage. (click image to enlarge) THIS CONTEST HAS ENDED, EXPIRED. HERE IS THE LIST OF WINNERS. Gardens. Home. Food. Aren't we all hungry for gardening, decorating and cooking ideas—not to mention gorgeous photos with all the details? When the staff at Better Homes and Gardens® asked me to preview their newly designed website, I happily agreed. As a former marketing strategist for a software company, I know that when it comes to using a website, it is all about a great customer experience. Plus, they offered to give FIVE of my readers a 1-year subscription! The top five new features of the redesigned BHG.com include: a fresh, clean design new slideshow formats easy-to-use navigation bigger, beautiful images daily updates The new slideshow format impressed me with the ability to easily advance through the slides. There is also an option to select a slide by clicking on a "see all" thumbnail view of the slideshow gallery. See a garden ...

Nigella damascena (Love-in-a-Mist) is a prolific self-sowing annual. Do you love the idea of drifts of jewel-box flowers in shades of blue to purple? Start with a few seeds from nigella damascena  'Miss Jekyll Blue' and just let them go, let them sow! A year later, you're likely to have a thick, mass planting of this sweet flowers. Want proof? Take a look at the nigella in my garden in May 2010. Nigella mixed with poppies May 2010. The self-sown nigella area just beginning to bloom in May 2011. Same nigella, different view showing a Knock Out® Rose at the end. In addition to letting this group self-sow, I collected pods and scattered seeds in other areas to see what combinations work together. While the 2010 nigella were restricted to the cottage garden, the flowers are now growing with achillea, salvia and agastache in the deer resistant garden. So far, no nibbling from deer or rabbits. As I often do, I start taking photos before the peak bloom! I love these little flowe...

This is the year for upgrading the paths and driveway around our garden and home. We recently integrated our driveway, guest parking area and garden into one continuous gravel garden . We like the clean simplicity of the gravel garden as well as the easy maintenance. The cottage garden path by our front door looked a bit sad when compared to the fresh gravel garden. We decided to dress up the cottage garden and solve a few problems in this area as well. BEFORE: The beige, Chapel Hill grit needed dressing up. Metal edging was added in preparation for the new rock. The path material used for rose section of the cottage garden has been "Chapel Hill grit" from a local quarry. We've been using this beige gravel since 2005. It requires a refresh every year or two and is a good surface for walking. The downside of Chapel Hill grit has to do with weeds. It is the perfect medium for germinating weed seeds and we are tired of digging out spurge! We decided to copy the medium-sized ...

Callirhoe involucrata (Poppy Mallow or Wine Cups) blooms resemble California Poppies. A cascading perennial that blooms all summer is a delight indeed. Add low-maintenance, full sun and drought-tolerance and the "got to try it" score is even higher. Dainty, delicate wine-red cups of callirhoe involucrata (Poppy Mallow or Wine Cups)   opening on lacy foliage give little indication that this plant that can take on hot conditions in zones 3-9. With a long taproot, try to plant this perennial in a permanent location. The seeds can self-sow in the garden, so watch out if the behavior is unwanted or your garden will runneth over with the wine cups! I've yet to have this problem because... I've got rabbits! Added in summer 2010, I first planted the wine cups on the path side of the stream-side garden bed. However, the rabbits munched it down to almost nothing! Disappointed, I moved the plant so that it tumbles toward the water—a precarious place for rabbits unless they hav...

Not all of my garden is growing on dry land. Within the cottage garden flows our manmade stream that receives full sun. A small section was created to grow water garden plants. With the water constantly in motion, I grow sturdy plants that can take the currents, or can be sunk (pot and all) into the stream. The motion of the currents makes it difficult to grow water lilies. The color scheme for the flowering water plants is blue and white, to coordinate with the surrounding land-lubbers on the banks of the stream and in the background. A small, but deep bend in the stream is suitable for growing sturdy water and marginal plants such as Louisiana Iris, calla lily, white butterfly ginger and the native Great Blue Lobelia. There are two early bloomers in my stream—Louisiana iris (blue) and calla lily (white). In summer, a pot of Great Blue Lobelia will bloom, followed by the white butterfly ginger in August. While the blooms aren't going to be shop-stopping, the foliage alone provides...

I was a Grape Nehi addict at an early age. I'd hunt for grape popsicles in my grandmother's big freezer. I'd run out to buy a grape snow cone from the "ice cream man" driving around the neighborhood. Purple treats tasted so good! The color purple represents happiness to me, so when a variety of purple flowers blooms in sweet synchronization, I'm in gardening heaven. Grape spires of salvia nemorosa 'Caradonna' For springtime purple, the spires of  s. nemorosa  'Caradonna' mix and mingle with a number of other purple companions. Although not as popular as salvia 'May Night', 'Caradonna' is a more economical selection as she naturalizes wherever her seeds land, stretching gardening dollars for years and years. It is quite common for the little starts to bloom the first year with the true color and form of the mother plant. This salvia is also easy to transplant (or pull and discard, if you must) as the seedlings are shallow-rooted...