• Sunshine Becomes You by Vanessa Young
    Living

    Sunshine Becomes You

    Designed to make you smile, the heartfelt words and original images I’ll be sharing over the next few weeks are intended to deliver moments of lightness. They feature plants to which I’ve tended and messages we all need to hear along the journey. Visit the page every few days to enjoy the new artwork I’ve added – and share the gallery with others to amplify the joy.

  • Fall dried flower arrangement
    Living

    Fall Table Decor with Dried Flowers

    As we head deeper into autumn, now is the perfect time to preserve the beauty of your garden through a dried flower arrangement.  While tending to the garden recently, I decided to snip some blooms to create a table centerpiece that would last through many dinners and remind me of the variety of flowers thriving outside. If you start now, in about two to three weeks, you will have preserved the most gorgeous flowers you have been growing (or ones picked from the market), and be able to turn them into a centerpiece for the dining room table, kitchen island, or any part of your home ready for a touch of…

  • Edible flower salad
    Food,  Living

    Cooking with Edible Flowers

    The nasturtiums I have been tending finally burst into mildly sweet and lightly peppery blooms.  For weeks I watched their leaves pop up like parasols in my edible flower patch, sometimes shading the yellow and deep orange buds about to emerge.  Throughout the spring they formed a showy display of green, the kind that makes you want to take them right into the kitchen, which now I have along with the cheerful flowers. Nasturtiums bloom profusely once they are on a roll, meaning that my salads, pasta, and plant-forward recipes will feature the gorgeous colors for weeks to come.  While edible flowers each have their own culinary charms, these lend…

  • Floral arrangement in a pumpkin
    Living

    Pumpkin and Flower Centerpiece

    Now is the time of year when my garden blooms with the most beautiful autumn flowers, and the pumpkins at the market are irresistible, so I decided to turn gathered stems into this seasonal centerpiece. Overflowing with lavender, snapdragons, marigolds, chrysanthemums, and more, it’s lush enough to make a vibrant Thanksgiving centerpiece, particularly if made in multiples. As we head deeper into fall, my home will be filled with differently colored heirloom pumpkins, particularly those that tend toward blue and gray – though I also have my eyes on a gorgeous pinky-peach Galeux d’Eysines. Traditional varieties like the sugar pumpkin will certainly make their way into the mix as well…