• About

Renee Writes Now!

~ Observations from a Writer-in-Residence

Renee Writes Now!

Tag Archives: Gardens

Giving birth to a book

05 Thursday Dec 2013

Posted by ReneeWritesNow! in Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Architecture, author, book, Construction, Design, Family, Gardens, Home, Houses, Housewarming, Humor, kitchen, Memories

FrontCover

Working with a graphic artist to design a cover for your book is a bit like giving birth to a child: After months of effort, you hope it will be reasonably attractive when it‘s delivered.
I’m a writer (not an artist) who recognizes her design limitations. Trying to convey a sense of contentment, encouragement and happiness at home on an 8-by-5 inch book isn’t easy. The cover has to speak to potential readers…beg them to pick it up and look inside.
I’m delighted to say my new book does just that. After a flurry of emails – both photographs and text – graphic artist Kristin Johnson did an amazing job of selecting just the right image and type font. (Don’t you love finding the authors’ names hiding under the bed?!)
I hope this book and its cover will speak to you, too. “Pick me up…look inside.”

Sweet Beams: Inspiring everyone who lives under a new roof! also is available on amazon.com.

Dig this!

30 Sunday Jun 2013

Posted by ReneeWritesNow! in Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Build, environment, Family, Florida, Gardens, Home, Homeowner, Houses, Residence

147313 CONTAINERS

When they bought their Hyde Park home 34 years ago, Flip and Rick Miller began transforming the backyard. The result is an outdoor refuge where they can rest and recharge in privacy and comfort.
“He’s passionate about trimming,” Flip says with a smile. “He gets his aggressions out.”
“It’s tropical – you have to trim or the plants take over,“ explains Rick, a broker with Smith & Associates Real Estate.
The Millers recall listening to a speech several years ago by the award-winning garden and floral designer Rebecca Cole at the University of Tampa’s GREENFEST luncheon, which raises money for Plant Park.
“She kept referring to ‘vistas’ and ‘sight lines,’ Rick says. “When you stand in any spot in a garden and look in one direction, your eye should be drawn to something.”
Heeding her advice, Rick divided the yard into distinct sections, creating visual vignettes with plants in containers. The double lot which surrounds his home now showcases a series of “outdoor rooms,” featuring large pots packed with his favorite tropical plants and succulents.
“During the summer rains I run home from the office to cover the succulents with our vinyl grill cover,” he says. “They need such little water that a week of afternoon showers will cause them to rot.”
Admittedly “manic about clay pots,” Rick believes every yard needs to have a consistency of design.
“Too many different pots takes the focus away from the plants inside them,” he says.
His meticulous attention to detail paid off: The Miller yard currently is featured in the 2013 edition of Container Gardens magazine.
What is the secret of his success? A dolly large enough to move a refrigerator.
“During hurricanes or freezes we say to hell with the cars and move 50 pots into the garage,” Rick says, grinning.
In addition, gardening in containers makes it easy for him to control the soil type needed for specific plants.
Their backyard is not only a relaxing private oasis, but an exciting entertainment space: The Millers hosted soirees for Las Damas de Arte, The Tampa Museum of Art, Rose Garden Circle, and MOSI – as well as 250 people for a neighborhood picnic.
A playhouse built in 1922 – and enjoyed by three Miller children – was converted to a charming tool shed.
“When our children grew up and moved away, Flip wouldn’t let me take the play equipment down,” Rick says. “I said ‘I’ll show her, I’ll landscape around it.’ I planted beach sunflower which is a tough native perennial. And now we have three grandchildren, who love the swings and the slide.”

Photo by Cliff McBride

A garden’s distress signal

25 Monday Jun 2012

Posted by ReneeWritesNow! in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Gardens, Homeowner, insects, landscaping, nature

 

When insects can’t live, a garden is sending out a distress call.`

    However formally laid out, a garden is still the spot where we must confront our limitations in controlling the forces of nature. We fight our daily battles with slugs and caterpillars but discover that when insects can’t live, our garden is sending out a distress signal. Simply by being sensitive to the needs of the natural world, we will be successful gardeners.

  Remember, a few insects are a sign of a good garden — they feed the birds and butterflies.

 

  • Place a sundial in your yard. Go back to a place where time was considered part of nature.

     

  • Plant landscaping that uses no water.

 

  • Install outdoor lighting that makes you want to be outside.

 

  • Remember that brief moments in the garden will chase away the blues.

 

Home: Celebrating the Spaces of Your Heart

Start a compost pile

19 Monday Mar 2012

Posted by ReneeWritesNow! in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Gardens, Growth, Homes, Houses, New Home, Writer

The inevitabilities of life are never more evident than in a compost pile.  Throw in a few decaying leaves, your coffee grounds, a little manure and some plant clippings and voila! They are slowly transformed into something that fosters new growth.

Image

Today, why not start an emotional compost pile too? Throw in your discarded hopes and dreams, a little life experience and slowly you’ll grow to discover a rebirth… a new outlook.

   A garden is as much a state of mind as an actual place. It exists because you discover a place of beauty that feels apart from the outer edges of the frantic world. At the center of the garden is a personal refuge and a source of pleasant thoughts. So, along with your hoes and rakes and shovels remember: The most essential piece of garden equipment is a hammock.

The Author

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 658 other subscribers

The Award-Winning Book

Recent Posts

  • The Land of Lost Luggage
  • All is calm, all is bright
  • A not-so-happy holiday
  • It’s a little like Thanksgiving
  • Reading Aloud to Children

Archives

  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • February 2017
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • May 2015
  • March 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012

Favorite Things

aging Architecture artistic pieces arts author Awards book Book Expo. author books Build business children Christmas clothing Community Construction Conversation cooking creativity Design Dreams dress code entertainment environment Family fashion Florida Florida architecture food Gardens Health history Holiday Home Homeowner Homes Houses Housewarming Humor inspiration kitchen Life lifestyle literature love Memorial Day Memories mood Mother Mother's Day motherhood Moving nature New Home Preservation publishers read real-estate relationships Religion Residence school Sept. 11 Shelter style Support teenagers Thanksgiving transportation travel vacation wardrobe wedding Writer writing

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.com

Categories

  • Dementia
  • Teens Read
  • Uncategorized

Blog at WordPress.com.

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Follow Following
    • Renee Writes Now!
    • Join 294 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Renee Writes Now!
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...