Romantic Bathroom Retreat

This bathroom becomes a soothing sanctuary with dreamy aqua walls.

Read more...

Planning to plant

Seed catalogs are a great source of inspiration, especially in the grey days of winter. Here in the South, we often have mild days punctuated by colder weather, so we have plenty of opportunities to spend time outside evaluating new projects and doing prep for late winter and spring planting.

Perusing the stack of seed catalogs, making orders, and considering planting plans are evening and cold day activities, and being someone who loves to buy seeds -- this is a wonderful antidote to cold, dark days inside.

Some of the things I enjoy ordering are beautiful lettuces, unusual squashes, purple pole beans, small striped eggplants, specialty sweet peppers, edible flowers, potato sets in rainbow hues, teeny round carrots, yard-long beans ...

Some of my favorite vegetable and seed catalogs are:

The Cook's Garden
www.cooksgarden.com
Johnny's Seeds
www.johnnyseeds.com
Nichols Garden Nursery
www.nicholsgardennursery.com
Pinetree Garden Seeds
www.superseeds.com
Park Seed
www.parkseed.com
Seeds of Change
www.seedsofchange.com
Territorial Seed Company
www.territorialseed.com
Abundant Life Seed Co
www.abundantlifeseeds.com
Renee’s Garden
www.reneesgarden.com
Burpee
www.burpee.com

Read more...

Contemporary Living

Design a room that's perfect for relaxing and entertaining guests. In this room, a contemporary blue armchair from The Conran Shop and a brown leather sofa are grouped around a coffee table to make a welcoming, stylish seating area. The TV is hidden in a wooden cabinet. Blue patterned walls, curtains and a print over the fireplace all complement the centrepiece chair. Invest in a pouffe as extra seating and opt for laminate flooring which is easy to clean.

Read more...

On the naming of plants

If there's a plant which I find easy to grow, it's Epipremnum aureum, commonly known as Hunter's Robe. That's the plant in the photo.

If that last paragraph had you reaching for the comment button to tell me I got it wrong - hold on. How about Scindapsus aureus, Pothos aureus and Raphidophora aurea? Oh, and as a common name, Devil's Ivy, Taro Vine or Silver Vine. Or Golden Pothos. Or Ceylon Ivy. Or my favourite - Centipede Tongavine. Yep, all the same plant.

I don't have a problem with the common names - it's fairly obvious that each region will decide its own name for a plant and more than one may filter through to common use. But why four official botanical names?

Well, according to the Royal Horticultural Society they're not actually all official, only one is. The others are referred to as "synonyms". And the reason for the alternatives is much the same as the reason for the difference in common names - before the era of global communication, botanists working in different parts of the world would often give "official" names to plants, unaware the plant had already been classified and named by someone else. Occasionally two different people might even manage to give the same name to two different plants.

So someone has to decide which name to use. The rule used to be that whichever name was given earliest won. But that occasionally meant that a name which had become more generally used lost out. So common sense now sometimes prevails and a later, but more widely used name is given official status.

The other reason that alternative names may exist is that sometimes they've just got it wrong, classifying a species under the wrong genus, so that the name has later been changed. Forget Coleus, for instance. It's now Solenostemon.

Again, common sense will sometimes prevail and the taxonomists (the people responsible for classifying plants) will sometimes let us keep the more common name, even when a change of genus is concerned. We were saved from Freesia becoming Anomatheca, for instance. Phew!

And then there was the case of chrysanthemums. In 1989 it was decided that the genus name should be changed to --- umm, er, what was it again? Doesn't matter. It didn't catch on, and at a recent International Botanical Congress (which is where they decide these things), they gave in and changed it back again.

Now personally, it took me a couple of minutes to get my brain around Solenostemon. I typed solestemon, solestenum and a couple of other variants before I just gave up and copied it out letter by letter. I think I may just stick with Coleus ...

Read more...

Art-Inspired Living Room

To achieve a look like this gorgeous brown and turquoise living room, take a favorite picture as inspiration, then achieve a cohesive effect with a few pieces in a similar color. Add some surprises to stop the look becoming too contrived.

Read more...

Mediterranean-Inspired Living Room

A turquoise feature wall offsets paintings and glass ornaments in shades of blue in this Mediterranean-inspired living room. A contemporary wrought-iron sofa, chair, console and coffee table add to the outdoor feel, while a traditional painted chair provides colour and contrast. Limestone tiles and a soft rug add brightness and texture.

Read more...

Prettiest Painted Room in America

A narrow stripe done in shades of turquoise and pale green, this room has a look that’s decidedly “pretty." Or so it was judged in the Rohm and Haas Paint Quality Institute's "Prettiest Painted Room in America Competition."

Read more...