Located on the grounds of a 19th century Dutch water tower, Villa Augustus offers a year-round bounty of color, in its vibrant flowers, lush gardens, and lively decor. This spring finds the Dordrecht hotel, and its restaurant and market, in full swing as it gears up for another season in bloom.

When she is not conjuring her own vibrant Wood and Wool creations, Dutch artist Ingrid Jansen is lucky enough to work at Villa Augustus. Here she lends her creative talents, conceiving many of the ever-changing bouquets as well as festive seasonal decor, pausing now and then to capture this inspiring place in her lens.

Photographs by Ingrid Jansen, unless otherwise noted.

Above: Surrounding the old 19th century water tower which now serves the 37-room hotel, the gardens of Villa Augustus offer up many of the flowers and vegetables for the restaurant and market. Image by Hetty.

Above: Here decked out for Easter, the dramatic chandelier in the dining room changes seasonally.

Above: On the Villa's grand terrace, pastel cafe chairs provide plenty of outdoor seating.

Above: Welcoming spring, hyacinth bulbs nest in an Easter basket.

Above: Villa Augustus' signature style: whimsical, jewel-tone accents enliven the interior as well as the grounds.

Above: One of Ingrid's arrangements provides a burst of color for the Villa's flower day.

Above: An arrangement by Ingrid (L) brightens a grand passage. Above: Forget-Me-Nots from the Villa's greenhouses (R) are on sale in the market.

Above: Golden Easter bunnies on offer in the market.

Above: Happily at work, Ingrid Jansen applies the finishing touches to one of her extemporaneous arrangements.

Above: Harvested from the Villa's own gardens, a bevy of bouquets await placement on the dining tables.

Above: A bounty of Villa Augustus produce in the market.

Above: In the market, spring bulbs await a new garden home.

Above L: Viewed from the tower, the patchwork landscape of the Villa Augustus cafe and garden. Above R: Overlooking the Wantij River on one side and the greenhouse and gardens on the other, the former water tower houses the Villa's accommodations.

Above: A quiet place to sit alongside a blue garden path. Image by Hetty.

N.B. Looking for more fresh Easter decor? Actress Diane Keaton keeps her Easter table simple but lovely on Remodelista.

This is an update of a post that originally ran on March, 25, 2013 as part of our Belgium and Beyond issue.

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In the hierarchy of pastimes that have a low-impact on the environment, we tend to think that gardening ranks pretty firmly near the top of the list. But there are some gardens that are greener than others, and we're not just talking about the color. This week, we're taking a look at sustainable garden and floral design, learning how scientists have been tracking climate change with the help of Thoreau, and giving plenty of inspiration for additions you might make to your own spring garden. Here's a preview of what's on the lineup:

Monday

Above: Meredith explores a stunning cabin on stilts designed by Olson Kundig in this week's Architect Visit. Photograph by Benjamin Benschneider.

Tuesday

Cynthia gets an exclusive tour of the living roof at the Academy of Sciences in San Francisco for this week's Garden Visit. Photograph by Liesa Johannssen.

Wednesday

It's no secret that gardening can take its toll on the knees. In this week's 10 Easy Pieces, Janet rounds up 10 planters that take bending out of the equation.

Thursday

Stumped by stoops? Ellen tackles the subject in this week's Hardscaping 101.

Friday

The must-have plant for spring? We're calling it scented geranium and Justine is giving us the all the details.

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• 5 Favorites: Petal Colored Planters
• Trending on Remodelista: It's the Little Things

No leaking roofs, broken windows, or flooded basements here: this is a cabin for people who don't like surprises. 

Seattle-based Olson Kundig Architects designed a "virtually indestructible" cabin in the woods of Washington state's Olympic Peninsula for a couple who wanted a simple place to stay while fishing for steelhead. They required that it be a low-cost, no-maintenance cabin that could be left unattended—sometimes in harsh weather—for weeks at a time. The final product is a 350-square-foot timber box clad in unfinished mild steel standing on steel stilts. It exists in harmony with the wilderness—its small footprint is light on the land—while also functioning as a reinforced stalwart against it.

Photographs by Benjamin Benschneider.  

Above: The cabin's steel stilts allow for a truly minimal footprint on the land, while protecting the cabin from occasional flooding of the nearby river. The architects had most of the cabin prefabricated offsite, reducing the disruption to the cabin site by construction.

Above: The cabin is "open" when a series of steel shutters are rolled back to reveal a wall of windows, operated via a hand wheel that sets into motion a mechanical system of gears and cables. When closed, the steel shutters cover the cabin's windows, effectively sealing it off from the elements.  

Above: A balcony with a mesh floor juts out from the cabin on the side facing the river. Inside, the double-height cabin interior is lined with wood panels. The living, dining, kitchen, and bathroom areas are on the main floor, and a sleeping loft with storage shelving is overhead.

In the interest of frugality—fiscal and environmental—the architects used the client's stock of leftover lumber to build the sleeping loft: they stacked, glued, and bolted 2-by-4-inch lumber together to create a nontraditional hardwood floor.

Above: The cantilevered roof hangs over the edge of the cabin to provide shade and protection from coastal storms. 

We're fans of Olson Kundig. See more in Garage Envy: 10 Sleekly Styled Garages and on Remodelista, A Master Architect Builds a Tiny Cabin in the Pacific Northwest.

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Australian-born Anna Macoboy has a love affair with plants, gardening, and in recent years the versatile material of concrete. After relocating from Perth to Brooklyn she decided to open Tasi Masi, an online store stocked with handmade concrete planters, kokedama, gilded leaf prints, and vintage ceramic jugs, among other treasures that Macoboy refers to as "nature art." The shop is inspired by the Japanese concept of wabi-sabi: "the appreciation of the imperfections of nature and the transience of natural beauty."

Among all of the shop's offerings, we're particularly taken by the concrete planters. Macaboy explained her fondness for concrete in a recent interview by Homemade Modern: "I am obsessed with concrete and think it is such a fantastically beautiful, natural and sustainable material. I particularly love the way it weathers over time and develops its own beautiful patina." Macaboy went on to say that she loves the materials because it's "affordable, accessible and customizable."

Maybe that's where our own love affair with her planters stems from, too.

See examples from Macaboy's collection of concrete planters below:

Above: The Tiny Concrete Planter—just 1.5 inches by 3 inches—comes painted in white, pink, or gold. All of the Tasi Masi concrete planters are finished in a water-based sealant to avoid leakage and can be purchased empty or planted with a cacti or similar indoor plant that will thrive without drainage. The Tiny Concrete Planter is $18 for an empty planter and $22 for a planter with a plant.

Above: Larger round planters in the collection measure 7.5 inches in diameter and 3 inches tall. The Dipped Concrete Planter has been hand-dipped in white, pink, or gold paint. The planter can be ordered unplanted for $55, or planted for $65.

Above: The Striped Concrete Planter gets its color from a modern triangle painted down the side of the pot. Available in white, pink and gold, the planter can also be ordered unplanted for $55, or planted for $65.

Above: The Plain Concrete Planter doesn't have a colorful swatch, but  textured top studded with tiny pebbles makes it stand out from the crowd; available unplanted for $55 or planted for $65.

Above: Anna Macoboy, owner of Tasi Masi, holding on of her concrete planters. To learn more, visit Tasi Masi.

Looking for more planters? Here are all our Gardenista Planter posts. Also, make sure to check out our Gallery for more inspiration. Remodelista has you covered when it comes to Colorful Concrete Planters. 

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Alyssum, Lobularia maritima: "Flower Carpet"

Don’t be fooled by sweet alyssum’s dainty appearance. While this petite flower—often found in cottage gardens—looks delicate and charming, it was once thought powerful enough to treat bites from rabid animals. And in the world of magic and witchcraft, it is used to calm anger and to inspire peace and emotional balance.

Which is easy enough to believe.  A whiff of its soft, honey-like scent can be instantly soothing, and you can’t help but feel cheered up by the tiny, ground-hugging mounds that will bloom for months at a time with practically no effort on your end.

Above: For more, see our Gardenista Gallery for images of Alyssum.

Whether in the ground or in pots, sweet alyssum is as at home when planted between herbs and around vegetable beds as it is when grown alongside other bloomers like catmint, lavender, salvia, and roses. Beneficial insects (the good bugs that eat the bad bugs) love it, and a lesser known fact is that it’s edible too. A relative of mustard, it has flowers and leaves with a spicy, pungent taste that are a delicious addition to salads. 

Cheat Sheet:

• A ground cover that's particularly charming between dry-laid pavers.
• Its fragrance will attract beneficial insects.
• A good companion to lavender, herbs, low growing salvias, catmint, bulbs, and vegetables.

Keep It Alive:

• Thrives in full or part sun.
• Needs regular water.
• An annual, it's happy to re-seed itself; leave spent blooms in place.

Above: A packet of Dwarf White Alyssum seeds will germinate in from seven to 14 days; $2.99 from Grow Organic.

And it’s one of the easiest plants to grow—all it wants from you is a spot in sun or part sun, and regular water (though some are quite drought tolerant once they’ve settled in). After frost has passed in spring, you can start from seed or seedlings; plant it in full or part sun, spacing plants 6 to 8 inches apart. Water regularly. 

Above: Photograph by Sherry Yoder.

Some varieties can reach a foot wide and as tall, though most remain shorter. In most regions, sweet alyssum blooms mainly in spring and fall, though it will continue flowering through summer in cooler areas and during winter in warm climates. After flowers fade, shear them off to bring on another flush of blooms.

Read More:

Above: See more stories about Alyssum. 

Have another plant query? Visit our ever-expanding Gardenista Field Guide.

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No groomed garden is this. In San Francisco, the California Academy of Sciences' living rooftop is suffused with the beauty of the natural world. Planted strictly with natives, it feels almost like a wilderness, like a resting spot found during a hike on California’s coast. Generally, one's view of the garden is limited to the observation deck, during the museum’s open hours. We were allowed to tread—as lightly as we could—between the hills, on a special tour.

Photographs by Liesa Johannssen for Gardenista.

Above: The hill of Grandview Park, as seen from the garden deck, served as inspiration for the rooftop. Architect Renzo Piano, who designed the garden, wanted the space to blend seamlessly with the landscape, as if a piece of land had been lifted and the building with its technologically advanced solar panels and round windows inserted beneath it. 

Above: The rooftop was originally planted with California natives that can take drought, foggy days, and wind. The hills trap cool air, and the windows open to ventilate and cool the building. The rooftop lowers the building temperatures by ten degrees. 

Above: The arrangement of plants is influenced more by wind, rain, and watering than meticulous pruning and plantings. In areas of the garden with the strongest wind, perennial low-lying wild strawberries (Fragraria chiloensis) do best. The fruit feeds the birds. 

Above: Self-heal (Prunella vulgaris), amid a tangle of yarrow and strawberry, can dominate when the garden is abundantly watered and fed. Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) and strawberry are some of the best plants for rooftop gardens, and for drought-tolerant gardens in general.

Above: Branches and logs are left purposefully for wood-nesting native bees. 

Above: A native bee perches on purple Phacelia, about to bloom.

Above: A more bizarre sight is the bones of a beached whale, left to dry. The museum cleans and dries skulls for its collection on the roof.

Above: Although 30 species of birds find food and water in the garden, pigeons don’t. The solar panels, such as the ones behind this bee house, are too hot for their feet, and they prefer pavement to grasses.

Above: Sometimes established plants are removed as an experiment to see what new plant will take advantage of the open soil. The red and white pebbles are volcanic rock, which makes up 45 percent of the soil’s content and lightens the garden’s weight on the roof. 

Above: To keep soil from sliding down the slopes, BioTrays made of coconut coir from design firm Rana Creek line the rooftop’s floor. The plants’ roots lace through and interlock the trays over time. For more information, see Rana Creek.

Perhaps because the rooftop is a quiet place, birds have chosen it as a place to nest. Last March, a nest of a killdeer with four eggs in it was found on the roof. The area surrounding the nest was closed off, to leave the birds in peace. 

Above: The Academy of Sciences is at 55 Music Concourse Drive, San Francisco, CA. Museum hours are from 9:30 am to 5 pm from Monday to Saturday, and from 11 am to 5 pm on Sundays.

For a green roof on a residential scale, see Roof Garden: Cottages in the Mill Valley Forest and Architect Visit: Green Roof Design by Goode Green in New York on Remodelista.

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At Gardenista, we appreciate spaces that manage to be both beautiful and basic at the same time. This one-room cabin on Salt Spring Island in British Columbia achieves the balance perfectly.

We're especially partial to the kitchen—though we're not even sure we can call it that—for being both supremely simple and stylishly kitted out. For the whole project, see A Master Architect Builds a Tiny Cabin in the Pacific Northwest on Remodelista. (And for more from Olson Kundig, see yesterday's post Architect Visit: Olson Kundig Cabin on Stilts.)

Above: The spare but well-equipped cabin kitchen. Photograph by Tim Bies courtesy of Olson Kundig.

In this tiny house the kitchen, bedroom, and bathroom (well, toilet) are all in one room. Below, I've taken on the task of finding the elements that tie all three spaces together.

Above: Tucked into the corner, the freestanding stove looks like it's the Pina wood burning stove by Denmark-based Rais which can be installed to rotate 360 degrees. For more, see 10 Easy Pieces: Freestanding Wood Stoves. Photograph by Narayan Mahon courtesy of Dwell.

Above: I love the black metal tool chest in the middle of the room, presumably not storing tools. Several companies make a basic black metal tool chest, but I'm partial to the Husky 27-Inch 5-Drawer Cabinet; $109 at The Home Depot. (For the full story on how I came to love it, see Remodeling Project: The Storage Closet Reinvented on Remodelista.)

Above (L): On top of the tool chest, I spotted the white enamel Sockerart Vase from Ikea; $19.99 for the 12-inch size. (We've featured this vase—one of our all-time favorites—on Remodelista before. See Steal This Look: English Writing Shed for one of many examples.) (R): And in the kitchen, I see a thermos for keeping soup or coffee hot. For a similar option (and office favorite), the 100th Anniversary Stanley Vacuum Bottle in vintage green is $42.

Above: The cabin is outfitted with a diminutive vintage-style refrigerator. The Summit Appliance 1.8 Cubic Foot Mini Refrigerator in white is a similarly sized option; $219 at The Home Depot.

Above: The core of the kitchen is a stainless commercial work table with an integrated sink. This Work Table with Sink from John Boos (the same company that makes ever-reliable Boos butcher blocks) is $813.75 at The RD Store.

Above: Up high on a kitchen shelf I spy a cabin must-have, a tea kettle. (L): This similar vintage Green Enamelware Teapot was made in Poland and has a lid affixed with an aging but functioning chain; $24 from Objects of Matter on Etsy. (R): For a contemporary version, the Stansport Back Pack Kettle in black is $24.64 at Walmart. 

Above: The toilet is somewhat oddly close to the kitchen, so the two might share the set of towels stashed below the kitchen sink. Target sells a 3-Piece Towel Set in super orange for $11.97.

Above: A cowhide rug spanning the cabin floor gives a sense of scale. For a similar look, search for an unbleached cowhide rug. A Brazilian Off-White Cowhide Rug is $419 from Jersey Road. 

Above: Over the tool chest, a nautical map of Salt Spring Island. Similar antique maps are well-stocked on Etsy. We like this 1904 Map of the Gulf of Finland; $16.95 from Cabinet of Treasures.

Have cabin fever? See Into the Woods: A Cabin on Flathead Lake; Outbuilding of the Week: An Island Cabin, Sauna Included; and on Remodelista, A Tiny Garden Cabin in the Netherlands. 

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When was the last time you walked into a bar and were greeted not with the odor of stale beer, but instead with the sweet fragrance of cut flowers? If the answer is "never," I suggest you take a trip to the Sycamore Bar in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Ditmas Park. It's a serious drinkers' establishment offering an international selection of 75 premium bourbons and whiskeys, but you'll know it's not an ordinary bar when you see the sign for the $10 "Beer and Bouquet" special.

The flowers you get with your beer come from Stems, the teeny flower shop located just inside Sycamore's front door. For a few hours six days a week, Stems and the Sycamore Bar overlap business hours. You can come in, order a custom arrangement, proceed to the bar (or its spacious garden), and enjoy a drink. When you are ready to leave, you can pick up your flowers on the way out. The Sycamore website sums up the philosophy behind the unlikely combination of flora and alcohol: "Booze and flowers, what could be better?!" 

Photographs by Nicole Franzen for Gardenista.

 
Above: Patrons entering the Sycamore in the afternoon get to peruse the floral merchandise. 

Above: Bar stools at the ready in the Sycamore.

Stems owner Suzanna Cameron, a former dental technician and television production assistant, describes her business as a pop-up shop, one that is taken down each evening and assembled anew each morning. Bar patrons who come in at night when Stems is closed might easily be unaware the shop even exists. However, Susanna says there are advantages to sharing her space with the bar. She can leave arrangements with the bartender when customers are unable to pick up their orders before the shop closes. Empty whiskey bottles make for interesting vases and the Sycamore produces an unlimited supply.

Above: Because the shop gets set up every day, Cameron enjoys experimenting with rearranging the stock.

Above: Flowers are removed to a refrigerator in the basement each night, but Cameron is hoping to add a small display refrigerator in the shop, if she can just find the room.

Above: Making maximum use of limited space.  

Cameron has been the proprietor of Stems for just over a year. The original business was known as the flower shop at the Sycamore and opened in 2008. She discovered it when she moved to the neighborhood and, just barely of drinking age, became a patron of the bar. Flowers were not really on her radar then, but she was struck by the unusual blooms and naturalistic style at the Sycamore. When the owners offered her a job and training in flower arranging, she accepted. Later when they wanted to turn the shop over to a new owner, Cameron decided to take a chance on running her own business. 

Above: Airplant terrariums are popular with people who don't have time for conventional house plants.

Cameron opened just before Valentine's Day in 2013 and was swamped with holiday business. It's now a year later and Cameron believes she has found her creative niche with the unusual flowers she buys from such local sources such as the Brooklyn Grange rooftop farm and Strawhill Farms in the Catskills. In winter, cold weather reduces what she can buy locally, but she tries to limit her purchasing to the U.S., frequently bringing in flowers from California.

Above: Cameron advises patrons to trim the stems of cut flowers every day and keep them out of direct sun.

Above: Stems does floral arranging for weddings and other special events and offers one day workshops in flower arranging and related activities such as floral crown making and terrarium building. In case you had any doubt, the fees for the workshops include botanically inspired cocktails and a guaranteed party atmosphere.

Want to read about other shops that sell naturalistic arrangements? Check out Wild Beauty: Fowlers Flowers in Melbourne, Australia on Remodelista. Prefer to sip coffee while you shop for flowers? See Caffé Spina in Greenpoint Brooklyn.

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It's about time someone created a beautiful website dedicated to supporting the local flower movement.  The goal of Field to Vase, which has a fast-growing directory of flower farms all over the United States, is "to bring like-minded people in the local flower movement together to share their expertise."

"We believe very strongly that it's going to take all of us working together to disrupt the current state of the industry," writes Field to Vase's founder, Christina Stembel, a florist who owns Farmgirl Flowers. 

The new website has a blog to spotlight florists and growers and to offer advice to flower farmers. Wondering how to stretch a 120-day growing season into six months? Field to Vase has the answer. The blog currently features farms across the country, from Pennsylvania to California. 

An online digits page dishes out important—and sometimes unbelievable—facts about the flower industry. Did you know that 80 percent of flowers sold in the U.S. are imported from other countries? Or that of all flowers grown domestically, 77 percent are from California?

A resource page shares books, websites, and articles for interested growers hoping to learn more. As a florist, I am very excited to see what farms Field to Vase will discover and feature next. 

Above: Daffodils from Floret Flower Farm's Erin Benzakein, a Field to Vase featured grower in Washington's fertile Skagit Valley. Photograph by Erin Benzakein. Read more about Erin in our story: 7 Tips to Grow Cut Flowers in a Tiny Garden.

Above: Garden roses grown by Dawn Severin on her wholesale flower farm, All My Thyme, also in Northwest Washington's Skagit Valley. Dawn's work is dedicated to hand-tending English garden roses and other flowers, as well. You can read her grower spotlight on Field to Vase. Photograph by Dawn Severin.

Above: Unopened peonies from All My Thyme. Photograph by Dawn Severin.

Above: Roses from Windmill Farm in Northern California. Paula and Frank, the husband and wife owners of the farm, sell fruits, vegetables, and flowers. Their plan in 2014 is to set up a flower CSA membership and to deliver weekly bouquets. They sell wholesale and directly to customers. Read their grower spotlight on Field to Vase to learn more about their farm.

Above: A beautiful dahlia arrangement from Emily Daniel, owner of Basil and Bergamot Flower Farm in Franklin, Tennessee. Daniel is a featured Field to Vase Grower. Photograph by Emily Daniel.

Above: A dahlia closeup from Basil and Bergamot. Photograph by Emily Daniel.

For more on flower farmers, see Urban Flower Farm: Love 'n Fresh Flowers in Philadelphia and 12 Tips For Growing Cutting Flowers from Barberry Hill Farm.

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Bring your gardening to new heights with an elevated planter box. "Why," you ask, "a garden box on legs?" 

There are several benefits to an elevated planter:

• Offers "no-bend" gardening, reducing strain on the gardener's knees and back.
• Great for gardens where dirt space is scarce.
• Puts your garden within close reach.
• Enables urban dwellers without a dirt patch a way to get garden bounty on a balcony or any spot where four legs and a box will fit.
• Gets delicate crops off the ground and out of reach of pets and pests (take that, slugs).
• Gives more control over soil and water conditions for edible gardens.
• Portability enables you to chase the seasonal sun or move the planter to various light conditions depending on what you are growing.

Here's a roundup of ten of our favorites:

Above: The Raised Teak Trough Planter is 36 inches long and 22.5 inches tall with a 6.5-inch deep bed, and is good for growing herb, lettuces and other plants that don't need deep root space. Made of weather-resistant teak and with slatted base for drainage, it is $348 at Terrain.

Above: Made in the USA of FSC-certified untreated Western Red Cedar, the Farmer D Cedar Bed-on-Legs Kit (2 by 4 feet) is $299.95. A smaller and shorter Farmer D Cedar Bed-on-Legs Kit (2 by 2 feet) is $199.95. Both are at Williams-Sonoma.

Above: The Elevated Larch Wood Garden Box is lined with air- and water-permeable foil to keep soil from drying too quickly, and also from getting water logged. Standing at counter height at 37 inches, it is 53 inches wide and a generous 18 inches deep (roomy enough to grow carrots) and has hooks at the end to hold garden tools; €454 at Manufactum.

Above: Add an instant vegetable garden on your patio or balcony with the VegTrug Elevated Planter. A generous 70 inches long, 30 inches wide, and 30.5 inches tall, it has a V-shape base that enables planting of deep root plants (tomatoes, carrots, etc.) in the center and shallow-rooted growers on the sides. It includes a fitted fabric liner to keep soil contained while letting excess water drain. Shown in charcoal, it is $249 at Gardener's Supply. Have limited space? Consider the Compact VegTrug Elevated Planter, which is 39.4 inches long for $189.

Above: Made of FSC-certified fir, the VegTrug Wall Hugger Planter is flat on one side to fit snugly against walls, fences, and other vertical surfaces. Like the original, it provides a range of soil depths to suit the preferences of both deep- and shallow-rooted edibles. It stands 31 inches tall and is $149.95 for the small (40 inches long as shown) and 199.95 for the medium (72 inches long) at Williams-Sonoma. It comes with a fitted, breathable liner for drainage.

Above: Made in the USA of rot-resistant unfinished Western red cedar, the Gronomics Rustic Elevated Garden Bed is 9 inches deep and measures 48 inches long, 24 inches wide and 30 inches high. It has a slatted bottom to accommodate drainage and includes filter fabric to keep soil in while allowing water out; $199 at Williams-Sonoma. 

Above: Here's a garden with built-in storage. The Long Elevated Planter is made in the USA of premium-grade Western red cedar. Crafted with tongue-and-groove walls set into mortised corner posts for added strength, it measures 45 inches long and 32 inches high and includes a slatted storage shelf underneath; $125.95 at  Jackson & Perkins.

Above: The red cedar Garden Wedge Planter is 18 inches deep in the center for large plants and shallower on the sides for smaller greens and herbs. It is finished with flat boards that act as convenient shelves for resting tools, supplies, and seeds. It includes a soil containing liner and is $299 at Gardener's Supply.

Above: The Elevated Herb Garden Table has a bed depth of 6-5/8 inches, which is appropriate for shallow-root plants such as herbs and greens. Made of cedar, it is 50 inches long, 23.75 inches wide, and 33 inches tall and has a storage shelf; $269.95 at Raised Beds. 

Above: The Large Vegetable Bed Planter is made of pressure treated wood and measures 31.5 inches tall and 78 inches long. Its manger-style construction gives roots ample room; £124.99 at Garden Site in the UK. 

Above: Naturalyards in Ashland, Oregon offers Standing Garden Planter Kits in a variety of size configurations. Choose from three depths, two heights and five lengths (the width is fixed at 2 feet) starting at $109.75 for the smallest. 

Do you favor wooden planters? See our Favorite Square Wooden Planters and A Planter with Pedigree. We also have a soft spot for Galvanized Planters. And over on Remodelista, Julie spotted Colorful Concrete Planters and found a source.

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When it comes to creating seasonal arrangements, New York City floral designer Emily Thompson knows a thing or two. As a member of her team, I have seen her shop brimming with bails and buckets of local materials—wild sweet peas that look as if they've been tie-dyed with color, giant brambles of smilax vine, a very large tree stump that caused a dent in the truck that hauled it, crates of pine cones from the forest floors of the North East Kingdom. She once took a day off, only to come back to the studio with a load of wild thistle from the shore. Working for Emily is a true adventure in learning about seasonal and local materials. 

Emily's arrangements—whether strictly made of local materials or not—evoke landscapes that are of a particular area and time, something I hear her say often. What better season to capitalize on the local bounty than in spring, when local materials are just starting to pour in? With spring comes an abundance of blooms, and and array of flowering branches that we've all been waiting to see and smell. To me, these materials are the quintessential ingredients for an Emily Thompson arrangement—clouds of dogwood, spirea and magnolia, bowlfuls of hellebores, a pitcher of daffodils.  

Photographs by Sophia Moreno-Bunge for Gardenista.

Above: Hellebores, magnolias, and crocuses, among other ingredients for a seasonal spring arrangement.

For this arrangement, Emily chose magnolia, a variety of hellebores and ranunculus from a local grower Hautau and Sons, strawberry leaves from her own garden, and, of course, crocus blooms, with the bulbs attached.

Above: Crocus bulbs and strawberry leaves ready to be arranged.

Above: A brambled vase. Emily chose a vase by Frances Palmer, made specifically for Emily Thompson's new shop. This vase is perfect for arranging because of its tapered shape. A collection of Frances Palmer vases is available at Emily's South Street Seaport shop in downtown Manhattan. For information, email info@emilythompsonflowers.com

Emily often starts her arrangements by creating a nest or bramble of branches in the vase. The bramble helps keep stems in the right place. When starting your own arrangement, make sure you strip a branch of its leaves before creating the nest, so the leaves do not rot in the water. Next, create a tape grid across the top of the vase. You'll want to tape along the entire outer edge of the vase as well, to keep the edges of the tape grid from coming off with water that might slosh over the lip.

Above: Building a base of branches.

Next, think of a shape you wish to create with your arrangement—in this case, Emily decided on a crescent—and then arrange a base with branches to reflect that shape. Try using branches of different heights, and use the branches' natural shape to create the desired shape. Think not only about the shape that the branches themselves create, but also about the negative space around the branches.

Above: The finished magnolia base.

Make sure you cut stems at a diagonal, and make sure they reach the bottom of the vase whenever possible (this way they'll be fully submerged as the water levels go down). Turn the vase as you go, making sure it looks good from every angle, adding branches where necessary.

Above: The next step is to add a second element. Emily loves for her arrangements to have concentrated areas of singular materials. Here, a cascade of dark hellebores creates depth and contrast.

Above: These two-toned hellebores extend the shape of the crescent a bit. Hellebores love to drink water, so cut their stems at a diagonal, and give them a second cut, splitting the bottom inch of the stem into two.

Above: A river of ranunculus that runs from the back to spill over the front lip grounds the arrangement, and adds a rich contrast in color.

Above: Next come the finishing touches—patches of crocus and strawberry leaves. Spray the crocus roots with water to keep them hydrated, and place them where they'll rest comfortably. Emily prefers that the roots be as visible as possible. The crocus's spiky leaves create a nice contrast to the rest of the textures that are much softer and more dense.

Above: A patch of green, and crocus bloom. 

Emily's arrangements often have patches where your eye can take a rest from flower and color. These areas of foliage make her arrangements feel as if they are alive. Emily says she likes for "the proportion of flora to foliage to be like it is in nature." 

Above: The finished arrangement.

For more floral inspiration, see all of our Spring Floral Arrangements posts. For more from Frances Palmer, see For Valentine's Day: Frances Palmer's Bud Vases.

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Barring unforeseen advancements in time travel, collaborative studies between 19th and 21st century intellectuals aren’t something that we’re likely to see. But thanks to extensive record-keeping by the environmentally minded Henry David Thoreau, climate researchers at Boston University have come to regard the 19th century naturalist as a colleague. And according to Thoreau's notes, plants are blooming and leafing out much earlier now than during his lifetime.

Photographs by Caroline Polgar.

Above: Lilac leaf buds photographed in Concord.

Most people are familiar with the idea that Thoreau took off for the woods around Walden Pond with the intention to “live deliberately.” And it’s not a secret that his subsequent book, Walden, has earned him the title of America’s first environmentalist. But if you’re like me, you might be unaware that Thoreau also spent considerable time on a more precisely scientific mission.

Above: Pink apple blossoms at Walden Pond. 

Spurred by a desire to write a book about the seasons, beginning in 1851 Thoreau kept extensive records of the flowering and leafing out dates of plants around Concord, Massachusetts. On daily walks he scribbled notes about nearby plant life before returning home in the evening to transcribe his findings into ledgers and to press botanical specimens. Today, many of these records remain. Since 2003, Boston University biologist Richard Primack and his crew of graduate students have been using Thoreau’s 19th century data, coupled with their own observations, to draw 21st century conclusions about climate change and its effect on plant life.

After transcribing Thoreau’s extensive notes into spreadsheets, Primack and his graduate students replicated Thoreau's on-the-ground work: walking around Concord and looking for the first flower that was open for each species of plant. They wanted to look at the timing around such springtime activities as plant flowering (that's phenology for you science buffs) to see if there's been a change. Temperatures around Concord have risen around 5 degrees in the past 160 years from a combination of climate change and the phenomenon known as urban heat island effect. Because plants are extremely responsive to temperature, they’re the perfect subject for this kind of study (though Primack and his lab also have looked into bird and insect behavior in Concord).

Above: Highbush blueberry bushes in bloom in Concord. On May 11, 1853, Thoreau recorded this early-blooming species flowering for the first time that season, but observant visitors to the area will find it blooming an average of three weeks earlier today.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Primack discovered that plants are blooming and leaves are coming out much earlier now than they did in Thoreau’s time. Of the 43 different species of plants whose leaf out dates Thoreau recorded, for instance, all leaf out earlier today than in Thoreau’s time. Sadly, scientists weren't able to find evidence of some other specimens—especially varieties of native wildflowers—that used to grow in and around Concord in Thoreau's day.

Above: Another view of lilac buds.

Primack believes citizen scientists can help by taking Thoreau-like notes in their own communities. Stay tuned for our upcoming roundup of science apps that you can use to collect valuable data for researchers.

For more on the subject, see the online version of last spring's exhibit at the Concord Museum: Early Spring: Henry David Thoreau and Climate Change and head to the Primack Lab Blog.

Can’t wait to get your hands on those citizen science apps? Amuse yourself in the meantime with our favorite app to Identify Leaves and Flowers.

Prefer to make like Thoreau and keep your records the old-fashioned way? See DIY: Pressing Violets to Make Botanical Art and Dear Diary: A Gardener’s Journal.

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• Scents and Sensibility: The Scented Geranium is Spring's Must-Have Plant
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Most of us want the entrance to our homes to let visitors know we're glad to see them. But how do we achieve that? One way is by paying close attention to the design of the front stoop.

The word stoop refers to the steps and landing before an entry door. Stoops came to America by way of New Amsterdam's Dutch settlers, who insisted on building row houses that pressed against each other, because that was what they were used to back home. The iconic city stoop has over the past centuries spawned country and suburban imitators, from stone slab thresholds to wide, gracious landings that feel more like front porches. No matter what the design, all stoops have one thing in common: they make the first impression.

A stoop sets the stage for a home's interior, and also helps keep out rain, dirt and pests. Whether it's wide or narrow, tall or low, the design should complement the style of your home. And the stoop should feel welcoming. I've learned a lot about that from Ivy, my Australian sheep dog who's getting on in years. The front stoop at my present rental has steep stairs, and Ivy much prefers the back stairs. So that's what we use, of course.

Wondering where to start? Here's everything you need to know about designing a front stoop:

Above: Before O'Neill Rose Architects restored this 19th-century townhouse in New York City, the front stoop had been removed. They built a new one to connect the parlor floor to the street. Photograph by Michael Moran.

What is the history of the front stoop?

American stoops were first built in New Amsterdam (now New York City) and the Hudson River Valley. The word comes from the Dutch stoep, and buildings in New Amsterdam were based on Dutch architecture: tall, narrow, and close together. New Amsterdam had no alleyways to make buildings accessible from the rear, so separate staircases were built for the servants' quarters and kitchens, below street level. The owner's living quarters started a half story above—conveniently removed from the horse manure typically scattered about the street.

As houses sprang up in New York and in other cities like Philadelphia, Boston, and Chicago, the streets became lined with ordered rows of urban stoops. These created a common space for neighbors to trade gossip, play games, and keep an eye on what the kids next door were up to. The style soon spread to small towns and the rest of the country.

Above: A classic Brooklyn brownstone stoop. Photograph by Erin Boyle.

How do you design a stoop?

If you're starting from scratch, an architect's advice can be invaluable. The style of your house will impact your decisions, as will the character of the neighborhood. If you live in a historic building, you'll want a stoop that's consistent in design with the original structure. For example, wooden steps and landings wouldn't fit with a stucco house, but painted wood may be just right for a wood-sided Victorian. 

The best choice for a stoop's surface material is often a hardscape material that also appears elsewhere outside your home. If you have a limestone, bluestone, or concrete patio out back, for example, you might want to repeat the same material in front. Even though the two areas are far apart, using the same material creates a feeling of cohesion. For the front steps of my new house, we chose 6-inch-thick bluestone slabs that match the bluestone patio in back. (They were pretty expensive at $400 a slab, but luckily we only needed two.) 

Depending on site conditions, you'll want the landing and steps to be wider than your door by at least six inches on both sides. Twelve inches on both sides seems to be a good rule of thumb, since you want the landing to have room for several people to stand comfortably.

Above: The front stoop of a Park Slope townhouse restored by Drew Lang of Lang Architecture.

What materials are good for a front stoop?

Brick, stone, wood, and concrete are the most common choices for stoops. Here are some things to consider for each type of material:

• Wood: The best choices are ipe (also called Brazilian walnut), redwood, or Alaskan yellow cedar. Ipe is excellent, because it's long-lasting and rot-resistant, but it does not take paint. If you're using painted wood, scatter some sand called Skid-Tex onto the wet paint, then paint over it; that makes the surface less slippery when wet. Ground walnut shells do the same thing; both are available at the paint store. Be aware that spreading salt to prevent people from slipping on snow and ice will do damage to wood and masonry.
• Stone: Bluestone, limestone, granite, and slate are good stoop materials, though they're pricier than brick, wood, or concrete.
• Concrete or brick: Both are economical and-long lasting.

Tip: Make sure your contractor compacts the area well before installing a heavy new stoop to prevent it from settling and pulling away from the house.

Above: At this house in Philadelphia's Powelton neighborhood, the stoop is bordered by an elevated garden. Photograph courtesy of Jamie Montgomery. 

When designing stairs, what dimensions work best for risers and treads?

Stair design can be a mathematical puzzle. You have to take into account the area available for the staircase, and the change in elevation between the start and end point. And then there's the building code, which stipulates that exterior stairs must be of uniform height and depth (to avoid tripping) and that each tread (that's the horizontal part) may be no less than 4 inches deep. While the most common height for the riser (the vertical part) is 7 inches, I've found the ideal to be 6 inches. (I know this because the stairs my dog Ivy doesn't like are 7 inches, and the ones she prefers are 6.)

Above: Graphic by Dalilah Arja.

As far as tread is concerned, the minimum depth for front steps is 11 inches. The maximum is 18 inches, which obviously provides more room for people to sit. Usually, the deeper the treads, the lower the risers (it's a question of walking cadence); for a more gradual incline, you'll need plenty of space. 

A word about railings:

If you're wondering whether you need a railing, the answer is yes—if you have more than three steps or if the top of the landing is 30 inches higher than the finished grade. But I recommend a railing even if there are only two steps. The front stairs at my former house, which was more than a century old, had an ineffective low wall in place of a railing. I found myself constantly warning visitors, especially the elderly, to be careful. Halloween was especially nerve-wracking. 

Stoop Recap:

• Best if wider than the door.
• Ideal riser height is 6 inches, ideal tread depth is 12 inches or more.
• Stone or concrete are lowest-maintenance materials.

Above: A granite kitchen stoop is flanked by boxwood and myrtle. Photograph courtesy of Michael Leva. For more of this garden, see Spring Comes to Connecticut.

Planning an indoor project? See Remodeling 101 posts on Remodelista. And if you're in the throes of picking a stoop material, see our Hardscaping 101 posts on Bluestone and Limestone.

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A family-run farm in Australia's New South Wales is a blueprint for sustainable pig farming: rare breed Berkshires roam around 100 acres of pasture, eating—among other things—grass and dirt. In return they fertilize and rotovate, repairing the earth as they go.

Photographs by Gary Radler, except where noted.

Above: The Berkshire pig is an English rare breed, noted for flavor. It is a gentle and hardy breed. Supporting rare breeds helps to keep them relevant: eat them and they will survive, strange as that may sound.

Lauren and Lachlan Mather, the couple behind Bundarra Berkshires, are keen on the idea of choosing meat more carefully. Their motto? Eat a little less; pay a little more.

Above: Waste not, want not, is part of the appeal of pigs and their diet is supplemented from outside sources including a vegetable farm, wholesale market, foodbank, citrus plants and, rather glamorously, with seconds from a local avocado grower.

Pigs naturally improve the land, fertilizing it in their own way and lightly turning it over through rooting. While aiming to improve the soil structure, the Mathers keep the pigs on the move, never staying in one paddock for too long. While they feed on grass and grains, the nutrients gleaned from munching pasture are an important part of their diet. This in turn impacts their own flavor, as the clay-based soil is high in minerals.

Above: The Bundarra Berkshires live in a low-stress environment. Expectant mothers are given requisite shots but otherwise drugs are avoided. Antibiotics have not been administered for several years, a record of which the Mathers are proud. Photograph by Cassandra Jade.

Above: Pork is sent out vacuum-packed and boxed, with a myriad of options. For most of us, ignorant of butcher's cuts, a photo gallery on the online shop eases the decision-making process. Bundarra is particularly well-known for its nitrate-free dry cured bacon and pork and fennel sausages. Both are available in the Spring Pig Pack, which also includes a roast and a surprise cut for $80 AU. A quarter, half, or whole pig can also be ordered by filling out the online Order Form. Photograph by Jayme Collins.

Above: Bundarra Berkshires also sells direct from the farm, at local farmers' markets and at a retail outlet in Melbourne, Pope Joan. As there are no preservatives used, Lauren advises quick consumption after a vacuum pack is opened to prevent spoiling, "because real food is meant to spoil." Photograph by Cassandra Jade.

Above: When it comes to dealing with food waste, pigs are a very sensible idea. A high proportion of our leftovers go to the landfill, increasing the emission of methane into the atmosphere. And yet it is not unheard of in some countries including the UK to import pig food from overseas. Start small: get a pig.

Or chickens, especially if you live in town. See Are You the Only Person Not Raising Chickens in the City?

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The footprints were there, waiting for architects Bohlin Cywinski Jackson. There were two small buildings sitting—in disrepair and despair—on the banks of Dry Creek in Sonoma, California. The structures were rickety, their design inefficient, and their future uncertain. The solution? Two tiny glass cottages were built as replacements to welcome visitors to the property.

Sited at the edge of the property, the new cottages—which serve as office and guest quarters—are go-betweens that connect "the public world of the entry drive and the secluded forested creek," the architects say.

Photographs via Architizer.

Above: With walls of windows overlooking the creek, the cabins were sided in western red cedar "with the precision and thoughtfulness of a cabinet," the architects say.

Above: Ribbon windows offer selective views while maintaining privacy on the driveway side of the cottages.

Above: Glass walls open the indoor space to nature, and Douglas fir siding reinforces the connection.

Above: The architects' rendering. The glass walls face "tangled oaks and moss-covered rocks" in the creek.

Above: "In the evening hours, the spaces glow," the architects say.

Above: A small grove of fruit trees flowers in early spring.

For more from Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, see A Historic Farm, Ocean Views Included. And on Remodelista, see our post Required Reading: Wood Architecture Now!  

For more of our favorite tiny spaces, browse our Outbuilding of the Week archives.

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By now the staff at the Lyman Estate Greenhouses in Waltham, MA, is pretty familiar with that lady from Gardenista, who keeps showing up to photograph their botanicals. Luckily Lynne, Julie, and Francesca share my passion for plants, and are happy to humor me as I pepper them with endless questions about all their rare varieties. The latest Lyman specimen that I'm geeking out over? Scented geraniums. 

I first noticed several lush scented geraniums, or Pelargoniums as they are more accurately called, during my initial visit to the historic Lyman Greenhouses (you can see my tour at Living History: One of America's Oldest Greenhouses), and I was surprised to learn just how varied and exotic their fragrances could be. After hearing that their uses went beyond the garden, I was hooked. "You should come back for our annual herb sale in May," Lynne remarked. "We'll have many more then." Yes, please!

Photographs by Justine Hand for Gardenista.

Above: Flanked by the small, variegated leaves of a French lace (Back) and a velvety peppermint (Fore), the demure lilac bloom of an orange-scented geranium welcomes spring at the Lyman Estate. Similar Pelargonium "Orange" is available through Goodwin Creek Gardens; $5.50.

Above: Available at the Lyman Estate's upcoming annual herb sale (May 2-4), this assortment of scented geraniums includes (clockwise from top L): citronella, skeleton rose, variegated nutmeg, lemon, finger bowl lemon, lemon balm, French lace, rose, lime, citrosa, and apple. If you can't make the Lyman Estate annual herb sale to choose your own assortment, Goodwin Creek Gardens will assemble a Scented Pelargonium Collection of six; $23.95.

More correctly identified as Pelargoniums, "geraniums" are a species of flowering plants in the family Geraniaceae. (Confusingly, Geranium is actually the correct botanical name for cranesbill, also a member of the family Geraniaceae.) Since they were first brought from South Africa in the 1600s, pelargoniums have been prized not only for their blooms, but also for the fragrance of their oil-rich leaves. There are five general classifications of scented pelargoniums: rose, mint, fruit—which includes citrus, spice—including pepper, apple cider and others, and finally pungent (encompassing all woody smells like pine and oak). Centuries of hybridization within these categories have produced literally hundreds of cultivars, which have been used in perfumes, as folk medicine, and in cooking. 

Above: A container planting at the Lyman Greenhouse includes Goodwin Creek Lavender and a citrosa-scented geranium. Scented geraniums do very well in containers, especially when grouped with other semi-drought tolerant plants and herbs such as sage, rosemary, and lavender.

Pelargonium Citrosa Scented Geranium is available at Mountain Valley Growers; $5.50 for a 3-inch pot.

Above: Low and lush, some pelargoniums such as this citronella-scented geranium (which is surrounded by fallen bougainvillea blooms) look charming when placed along a pathway or garden border. N.B.: It is a myth that citronella-scented geraniums repel mosquitoes. But they do have a lovely citrus scent.

Hardy to zone 10, scented geraniums can be a perennial or an annual, depending on where you live. In-ground plants prefer well-drained, slightly acidic soil with a pH of from 6 to 6.8. Some prefer moist while others dry soil, so check with your nursery before you plant.

Those who live in colder climes may prefer to keep their scented geraniums in pots, so they can be moved indoors as soon as night-time temperatures dip below 45 degrees Fahrenheit. Indoor plants are best placed in the south-facing window which receives at least four hours of sun per day. You can also use an in-gound planter in the garden during the summer and move it inside before the first frost.

Whether in-ground or in a container, most varieties of pelargonium require full sun to thrive, but be careful of scorching by too much afternoon sun. When watering, less is more. Too much water or fertilizer will compromise the bloom and scent of your plant, so be sure to let it dry out in between waterings.

Above: Unlike their "Zonal" and "Fancy-Leaf" cousins cultivated for their colorful leaves and/or vibrant blooms, scented geraniums have more understated flowers. But on some, such as this mint, the blooms can be quite prolific. In colder climes, geraniums can be moved indoors, where they will continue to bloom in the winter.

Above: A hanging coconut-scented geranium at Lyman lends a tropical air. Similar Coconut Scented Geraniums are available through Colonial Creek Farm; $4.50.

Above: One of my favorite specimens at the Lyman Greenhouses was a lush peppermint-scented geranium with soft, velvety leafs. Note that in the right conditions, geraniums can get quite large. 

Above: A mixed planting of French lace, variegated nutmeg, and peppermint, illustrates the variety of pelargonium leaf structures,—from deeply cut lacy leaves to a more rounded grape-leaf shapes—hues, and sizes. These wide variations makes them ideal for adding texture in the garden.

Above: Scented Geraniums, such as this Rober's Lemon Rose, can easily be trained into Standard forms. Similar Rober's Lemon-Rose Scented Pelargornium available at Pernell Gerver; $12 for a 3-inch pot.

Above: Though many scented geraniums are low and bushy, other varieties have a more vertical growth habit. Among its smaller cousins, this tall skeleton rose, resplendent with pink blossoms, provides a striking backdrop.

Above: Part of any complete herb garden, French lace, variegated nutmeg, and peppermint pelargoniums grow next to sage at Lyman Greenhouses. Buy similar Pelargonium Snowy Nutmeg and Pelargonium Staghorn Peppermint at Goodwin Creek Gardens; $5.50.

Besides adding scents and texture to the garden, there are many other uses for your scented geraniums. The Fingerbowl Lemon Pelargonium got its name because it was used by ladies at elegant lunches to clean their hands. In the more modern era, Erin likes to conjure the scent of summer with her Rose Geranium Salt Rub, while Sarah uses rose geranium oil in her Homemade Eau de Cologne.

For the same reasons that scented pelargonium are desired in the garden, they are also great for adding texture and aroma to bouquets. See how with Sophia's Office Flowers with a Scent The Even Co-Workers will Love.

In the kitchen, Stacy uses geranium oil in boiling water to dispel unpleasant cooking smells in The Power of Fragrance: 10 Secrets for Banishing Kitchen Odors. Stay tuned later today for my recipe of olive oil, lemon cake with rose geranium leaves.

Above: A surprising combination with pelargonium and amaryllis, demonstrates how well scented geraniums mix with more ornamental, flowering plants.

True species are hard to propagate from seed, so the preferred method of cultivating pelargoniums is from cuttings. To do this, take a 4-to-6-inch cutting right below the leaf node. Remove any lower leaves and place the node 2 inches deep in a small, sterile pot filled with planting medium. Water thoroughly and place in indirect sun while the roots form, which may take from four to six weeks, keeping them moist the whole time. After roots are established, move to a sunny spot and water only when the soil is dry. Repot in a larger container as necessary.

N.B.: Take a garden tour of another outstanding Lyman collection in Cult of the Wild Camellia. Read more about how the Swedes take pelargoniums to dramatic proportions in Please Don't Call Them Geraniums. Over at Remodelista, one of Julie's 10 Favorites, The Best of Black Soap includes an enticing mix of peppermint, geranium, rose and cedar.

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Nutmeg, apple, peppermint, and French vanilla. Inspired by the delectable aroma of the scented geraniums at the historic Lyman Estate, I decided to create a Victorian tea cake of my own using my new rose-scented geranium to add an old fashioned twist to a modern lemon cake.

See below for ingredients and step-by-step instructions.

Photographs by Justine Hand.

Above: The taste of the Mediterranean and Victorian England all in one: rose geranium, olive oil, and Meyer lemons were the key ingredients in my cake. Buy a similar Pelargonium Attar of Rose Scented Geranium at Mountain Valley Growers; $5.50.

Above: A few rose geraniums leaves, washed and dried, is all you need. I opted for rose, but it would be fun to experiment with other flavors as well.

Above: Fully edible, rose geranium leaves arranged at the bottom of my cake pan made a pretty pattern after the cake was baked.

Above: Zest and minced geranium leaves mixed with sugar bring out even more of the flavorful oils.

Above: Compared to standard lemons, the juice of the Meyer variety is sweeter.

Above: Minced rose geranium leaves. My kitchen was starting to smell really good at this stage.

Above: I added olive oil, then eggs, to moisten the cake.

Above: Dry ingredients.

Above: More Mediterranean flavors: Greek yogurt and lemon juice.

Above: I mixed the batter with a wooden spoon until it was smooth.

Above: Pouring the batter over the leaves so they did not move required a gentle hand.

Above: Golden brown and freshly baked from the oven. (The chick is my daughter Solvi's contribution to the styling.)

Above: To avoid obscuring the pretty geranium leaves on top, I left my decoration simple: just a few more leaves and some powdered sugar.

Above: "Hey, there's plants in here!" Though initially skeptical, my son liked the edible geranium leaves. I thought that the subtle rose flavor gave the cake a layer of complexity that was surprisingly sophisticated. 

Meyer Lemon, Olive Oil Cake with Rose-Scented Geraniums

Adapted from The Noshery.

(Note: I omitted an additional glaze called for in the original recipe because I thought it would overpower the rose flavor.)

Ingredients:

Cake

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 5 Meyer lemons
• 7 or 8 leaves from a rose scented geranium (pelargonium)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup mild olive oil
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup plain yogurt
• powdered sugar

Syrup

• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1/3 cup juice from Meyer lemons

Instructions:

Cake

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a heavy metal cake pan. Wash and dry your rose geranium leaves, and arrange them on the bottom of your cake pan with the top side facing you. Zest two lemons, then juice all lemons.

In a large bowl use your fingers to combine 2 tablespoons lemon zest and 3 minced rose geranium leaves with sugar. (This releases the oils in both the zest and leaves.) Whisk in olive oil and then eggs, one at a time.

In another bowl combine dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. 

In a third bowl combine yogurt with 2 tablespoons lemon juice. Add this mixture, along with the olive oil and sugar mix to the dry ingredients. Mix until smooth and carefully pour over the leaves in the cake pan.

Bake for 45 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes, then turn onto a cookie sheet to finish cooling.

Syrup

In a small pan, combine 2 tablespoons sugar and 1/3 cup lemon juice, and cook over low until the sugar dissolves. Poke holes in your cake (I avoided the geranium leaves) and brush the entire cake with syrup. Finish with a light dusting of powdered sugar, transfer to a pretty plate, and garnish.

N.B.: To experience the vast array of exotic scented geraniums, see my tour of the Lyman Estate Scented Geranium Collection earlier this week. Want more clever uses for scented pelargoniums? Sarah uses Rose Geranium oil in her Homemade Eau de Cologne. And in the kitchen, Stacy uses geranium oil in boiling water to dispel unpleasant cooking smells in The Power of Fragrance: 10 Secrets for Banishing Kitchen Odors.

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Fancying ourselves friends of the environment, we admit to going googly-eyed over interior design that takes a minimal toll on our precious resources. This week on Remodelista, the editors proved that high style can be achieved with a low impact on the world around us. Here are a few of our favorite stories from this week:

Above: As gardeners, we're always thinking about the effect of our cleaning supplies on our local watersheds. Thanks to Alexa's 12 Natural Garment Washes and Detergents, we now have a slew of eco-friendly options. 

Above: Plastic soda bottles turned into pendant lights? We'll take two for the patio. Read the full story in Fantastic Plastic: Lamps Made from Recycled Soda Bottles.

Above: We read Meredith's Remodeling 101: All You You Need to Know About VOCs in Paint with our breath held. Especially considering all the black paint we've been admiring lately.

Above: Finding it hard to get into the recycling groove? Perhaps a snappy looking recycling system is the encouragement you need. We admired the selection in Margot's 10 Easy Pieces: Recycling Bins.

Above: 10 Shops and Restaurants Made From Shipping Containers? Sounds like our kind of re-use. We especially love the the bright green container at Evergreen Brickworks in Toronto (an organization founded in part by our very own Lindsey Taylor). Stay tuned for more from Canada next week.

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• Shopper's Diary: Rare (and Delicious) Pigs from Australia's Bundarra Berkshires
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• Table of Contents: Going Green

We celebrated Mother Nature this week with our Going Green issue. We got an exclusive tour of the living rooftop at The Academy of Sciences and worked with magnolias and crocuses for a seasonal bouquet.

Join us next week while we explore Canada's gardens and landscapes and until then take a look at a few links we've loved.

• Above: A backyard upgrade from Hither & Thither. 
• A front door, transformed. 
  
• Proper prep for hyacinths. 

• Above: Small space strawberries. 
• The 411 on worm bins. 
• Rooted in water. 

• Above: A countertop garden.
• A garden that's 271 years young. 

• Above: A quaint corner in BC via Bliss. Photograph by Gilian Stevens. 
• A tote for flower finds.  

• Above: A good reason to hit the farmers' market. Photograph by Joy the Baker. 
• Go wild.
  

Did you miss this week on Gardenista? Don't fret, check out all of our posts here. And take a look at Remodelista's Going Green issue. 

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• Current Obsessions: Spring Palette
• Current Obsessions: Living Simply

Arranging a wedding for more than 150 guests is never easy, but Brooklyn gardener and floral designer Tara Douglass, owner of Brooklyn Plant Studio, raised the bar when she decided to grow her own wedding flowers. The wedding will be in Columbia, Missouri in the historic home where three previous generations of her family also got married. Last November she traveled there to plant 4,325 bulbs. (You can read about that trip in Tara Getting Married: DIY Wedding Flowers.) Will they bloom on schedule?

Now the wedding is just a week away—scheduled for May 3. Recently Tara went home to see what sort of progress her bulbs had made through the long, hard winter and the delayed spring. Her dad and aunt had been giving her reassuring updates, but she still didn't know exactly what she would find. Imagine her relief when she got to the old vegetable garden where she had planted 500 tulip bulbs and found them standing tall and on the verge of blooming.

Photographs by Scott Patrick Myers.

Above: Tara inspects her tulips, which she interplanted with garlic to discourage deer.

To keep the tulips from coming into bloom too soon, Tara's Aunt Tina will work with Tim, who works at the farm, to move the tulips (cleverly planted in pots) into the shelter of a tobacco barn on the property. 

A "woodsy romantic feel" is how Tara describes her plan for her wedding flowers. Beside the tulips, other bulbs that were emerging and may be in bloom are Spanish bluebells and Actaea (Pheasant's Eye daffodil).  

Above: Frittilaria and muscari are already in bloom, Tara says she will use their seed pods if the flowers are finished before the wedding.

Tara plans to arrive in Missouri five days before the wedding and says she is comfortable waiting to finalize her designs until she knows exactly what materials she will have to work with. Her friend Kelli Galloway, a floral designer, will come along to help as will various friends and family members.

Above: Daffodils greeted Tara when she went home recently.

Above: Arrangements will be filled out with fronds of wild ferns, cedar branches, iris foliage, and perhaps even antique lilacs, all to be foraged from the property.  

Above: Tara's dad is having the family home repainted for the wedding.

Tara and her fiance, Wells Crandall, a lawyer and physics researcher who sometimes moonlights as a weekend wedding DJ, will be married outside on a brick path in front of the house.  Guests will be seated during the traditional ceremony, which will be conducted by an Episcopal priest. Cocktails on the patio will follow, with dinner served in a tent. Of course Mother Nature has been misbehaving lately and there is the matter of a not-so-great forecast in the Farmer's Almanac, so Tara has reluctantly come up with a rain plan.

Above: Magnolias in bloom at the house where Tara will be married on Saturday.

Above: The planned location of Tara's wedding ceremony.

Will it rain?  Will the bulbs bloom in time? Check back in May for a full report.  In the meantime, if you are curious about what bulbs Tara planted and who her suppliers were, here's her list:

Netherland: 

• 200 Tulip 'Queen of the Night'
• 300 Tulip 'Maureen'
• 200 Allium Azureum caruleum 
• 300 Nectaroscodum siculum

Color Blends:

• 200 Winter Aconite ("This is a winter teaser for my father and aunt, winter aconite is a cheery yellow in the doldrums of winter," says Tara) 
• 500 Spanish Bluebells
• 225 Actaea
• 200 Allium Christophii
• 800 Muscari
• 600 Fritillaria megalis 

Brent and Becky's: 

• 300 Frittilaria uva vulpus 
• 500 Tritelia hyacinthia 

You can read about another springtime outdoor celebration in Remodelista's In the Garden with Diane Keaton. For tips on following in Tara's footsteps, see Secrets of Growing Your Own Wedding Flowers.

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