Bunny Williams' Garden Tour, great solar lanterns, and a new garden hack
Plus, the battle of wits to defend my dahlias!
I'm writing this at 11 pm. The rest of the household is long asleep. Even my Westie Argus, who often stays up with me when I work late, has curled up for the night. It's raining, pretty hard actually, and the sound on our tin roof makes me feel cozy and at peace. I'm the good kind of tired; I worked hard this week with a new group of collaborators, and it felt right. Then, this weekend, my mother-in-law is here to see us and attend Trade Secrets. We spent the morning touring Bunny Williams' enchanting garden in Falls Village, CT. This is our third visit; I notice new layers and ways of putting plants together each time. My favorite dramatic moment is the enormous tree cutting she displays in her office.
Time spent in other people's gardens always teaches me something. It’s a good reminder of the kind of learning that happens outside of books and clicking around online. Speaking of the garden, the week's major accomplishment was planting my dahlias. Now, the battle of wits can truly begin between me and the adorable rabbit population that likes to eat the tender dahlia sprouts.
A. An exhaustive search in person and online led me to these, which have worked better than the old window screens I used initially.
B. This lil weird candle holder caught my eye. I think it's supposed to be a sea urchin, but something about it is just interesting and different. I'm not an ocean lover; the movie The Abyss freaked me out so completely as a child that for years I wouldn't get in the ocean at all.
C. These are great outdoor solar lights that aren't fugly! I like these hooks to go with them. They are the “right” Goldilocks height - not too high, not too low. I placed these lanterns along our driveway, front walk, and backyard to ensure guests could get to their cars safely (country life is quite dark once the sun goes down!). The first group of four we bought is a year old (I now have a total of 12), and they have held up well despite being outside all winter!
D. This is my best gardening hack: I repurpose a tool apron as a place for gloves, my phone, airpod case and hair ties.
E. I've tried many magnesium supplements, but with these, I'm no longer waking up at 3:30 am. I've been taking them for over a year, and any time I run out, I start to wake up in the early hours.
F. Excellent inserts for when I can't stand pulling on socks.
G. I love a mesh bag for organizing bigger bags. I like to put my laptop charger in one of these—the cords aren't making me crazy octapus style and I can find it in an instant.
H. A fun take on camo print.
If you enjoyed this newsletter, consider clicking the ❤️ button — it really does help other like-minded readers discover my writing (oh, algorithms!).
I put a few bonus finds here for subscribers as a tiny thank-you.
These dahlias are all 35% off - and dahlias are not cheap!
These candles would be a cute hostess gift!
Ahh, that garden—I miss it! And I miss you; hope we get a garden walk someday soon.
Magnesium solved my 3:30 am wake ups too! I was shocked at how well it works and now am shocked at how I functioned with a 3:30 wake up every night.
Those solar lights are so good looking and some day I’ll get my act together to do the whole Trade Secrets tours and shopping. It sounds like a dream