a sunday spent in the garden

Sunday’s the perfect day to take a little hunk of time and reserve it to spend in the garden. Whether it’s 20 minutes or all day, time spent outdoors enjoying a garden is beneficial to the mind and body.

Earlier this year, I discovered two Netflix shows that kind of changed my life. The first one is English gardening master "Monty Don’s Big Dreams, Small Spaces".

Believe it or not, watching folks in London or in smaller British towns transform their small gardens into fantastic spaces got me soooo motivated to dig and totally enhance my own backyard.

Now that summer’s here, I can actually go out to the garden and gather hydrangeas, old-fashioned roses, lavender, herbs and even some vegetables from my garden.

Just like everyone on Monty’s show, I had a “Big Dream” of what I wanted my garden to look like, and it’s literally come to fruition! My vision was to have a relaxed English cottage garden or French potager that incorporates pretty flowers intermixed with vegetables.

Now I’ve got my tomatoes and flowering sage growing under my apricot tree. I’ve got beautiful eggplant growing amongst the roses and hollyhock. My garden has truly been transformed and it’s so rewarding!  

So, in honor of “time spent in the garden”, I’ve gathered a few pretty garden snapshots from pinterest and combined them with some of my favorite inspirational garden quotes.  

“A garden is a grand teacher. It teaches patience and careful watchfulness; it teaches industry and thrift; above all it teaches entire trust.” –Gertrude Jekyll

“There is no real need for decorations when throwing a barbecue party - let the summer garden, in all its vibrant and luscious splendour, speak for itself.” –Pippa Middleton

“I have an organic garden and love being able to say, 'I'm going to see what I can pick to throw in my salad.'” –Christie Brinkley

“It gives you a good feeling. Each year, you rediscover in a garden the magic of life. A flower arrives, and it is a miracle. The leaves fall in the autumn, and it looks fantastic. There is a tenderness about a garden, and you can't help but be sensitive to that.” –Hubert de Givenchy

“To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow.”― Audrey Hepburn

“If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden.”  ― Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden

“Gardening adds years to your life and life to your years.” – Unknown

“If you have a garden in your library, everything will be complete.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero

“Life begins the day you start a garden.” – Chinese proverb

I have yet to photograph the favorite parts of my garden but I’d love to share them with you soon. You may have caught a little glimpse of it during my magazine photo shoot with Cottages and Bungalows. Check it out here.

And if you’re wondering what the second Netflix show that changed my life is, it’s “The Paleo Way” with Australian Pete Evans. The amazing recipes are what got me hooked, and yes, I’ve been eating Paleo since February 1. More on that later!

ciao! fabiana

photos:  pinterest

Here are some of my favorite new garden books...

      

hydrangeas and roses from the garden

Happy Saturday! Today I’m sharing a little on my garden, which I know for some of you may be a little bit of a snooze fest, but, believe me, the outcome will be enjoyed by most of you, haha!

Beautiful garden flowers brought into the house create simple impromptu arrangements. I spent so much money last year on flowers every time I went to Trader Joe’s, that the practical side of me got to thinking, “why not plant more hydrangeas and roses in my own garden?”

Hydrangeas from the garden in a cane wrapped vase

Wouldn’t it be just fabulous to go out into the garden and just cut a few pretty blooms to bring into the house? 

Well, it just so happens that last fall we had to replace a large stretch of our back yard fence, which meant tearing out tons of overgrown and weedy honeysuckle vines and other meaningless plants. 

We now had a blank canvas of prime garden space that instantly became sunnier with the removal of all those invasive vines. I knew I wanted to plant roses, herbs and another small lemon tree as the focal point of the space.

I helped design this curved garden gate with a custom wrought iron peeping window and interesting round black iron handle. The iron window piece is a vintage little goody that I found at the Tustin Flea Market months earlier.

The paint I used was a hodgepodge of leftover blue paint from Farrow & Ball, a lime wash that I was experimenting with and then a little accent of wisteria paint for good measure! 

The color scheme, like the rest of my garden became purple, blue, pink and white with a little yellow accent from the lemons when they’re fruiting.

This is one of my favorite ornaments in the garden, a dainty little lady embellished with a seashell necklace, all found while thrifting, of course! She's surrounded by white begonias and succulents.

Tons of foxgloves were necessary for that cottage look I had in mind. They’re so cute and do make fun cut flowers too!

Here’s a simple little arrangement I made for my friend Heather. All I used was a variety of roses in that simple color palette of white, pinks and purple.

In fact the purple rose is one of my favorites. It’s a Downton Abbey rose, of all things! And this one’s named “Violet’s Pride” after Maggie Smith’s hilarious character.

All the roses I planted were old-fashioned English garden roses, and most of them have that cabbage rose look, that I absolutely love!

These roses are just starting to bloom and will open up to that full cabbage look that’s so charming.

So yesterday morning when I woke up, I went out to the garden for a look and ended up cutting these pink Gertrude Jekyll roses and some more of the violet ones for a simple little arrangement in the breakfast room.

Not only do they brighten the whole room, but they smell amazing too! 

Oh, and the hydrangeas, well I went a little crazy planting those this past spring too. You can never have too many hydrangeas in my book! 

Dugan 

And for my recent photo shoot with Cottages and Bungalows I ended up buying five more Hydrangea plants, two blue ones and three white ones. 

I probably have to plant them this weekend! I know Dugan will help me. Here he is on the stenciled floor near the shed that I painted last year and surrounded by lavender, another great flower for cutting. 

ciao! fabiana

Shopping information:

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inspiration: blue and white in the garden

It’s been so nice out,

that I’ve spent the last two days out in the garden.

I’m so happy it’s spring…

because my garden's really calling out to me!

After a stop at Roger’s Gardens to pick up some lavender,

I was super inspired by their centerpiece display of 

blue and white porcelain in their front garden bed.

It’s such an elegant and timeless look.

I have several of these ceramic jardinières

and four of them are currently unspoken for…

so I plan on incorporating them into

my heavenly lavender garden plan!

I especially love how they look with

blue, pink, and white flowers.

Of course this look isn’t new.

Carolyne Roehm has been doing it for years.

And so has Mary McDonald...

Wow!  And so iconic!

Well, my garden is currently a work in progress.

I just finished plated a dozen new lavender plants

all around my garden shed.

inspiration 

Mostly I planted several tall and wispy English lavender,
but Roger’s also had the most amazing Spanish lavender 
called The Princess Lavender.

It’s a stunning a pinky-purple color that I couldn’t resist. It's smaller and I found just the right spot for it, so I'll share photos of my garden soon, after I mulch and clean up a bit!

 ciao! fabiana

other photos courtesy of  The Quintessence Blog, 

Carolyne Roehm & Mary McDonald

how to host a garden party

 

Let’s talk easy Garden Party vibes… 

Every garden party must have flowers and cake! My favorite way to dress up an alfresco soiree is to set the table with pretty floaty linens that can rustle gently in the breeze.

Stop and take a peek at this gorgeous new Garden Pink Tablecloth and Napkins from August Table. This is a super easy way to instantly set a beautiful table when you start with pretty table linens like this and then simply add your everyday tableware and a big bouquet of flowers.

 

A lovely bouquet of cottage garden flowers always helps to brighten the table. The theme of this bouquet is “what’s blooming today in the garden.” 

I’ve recently been watching Sarah Raven floral how-to videos on YouTube, and she inspired me for this floral creation!  

All of these flowers were all grown in our cottage garden and are just loosely arranged in an antique Majolica pitcher that belonged to my husband's great grandmother. 

 

The look of these table linens is so cozy thanks to the fact that these are all 100% linen. The darling little stylized floral pattern is a classic.

 

A store-bought apple bundt cake from Irvine Ranch Market is perfect for adding adorable garden flowers to the top.

Here’s what’s blooming in my garden right now and what is topping the cake:

💗Roses
💗Dahlias
💗Geranium
💗Yarrow
💗Mint

💗Sweet Williams
💗Verbena

💗Borage

  

Creating a cozy and welcoming ambiance is all about paying attention to the little details and making your guests feel comfortable.

 

This year I’m growing fewer vegetables in this garden, and I’ve been focusing more on cut flowers, especially dahlias, with a few zinnias and cosmos sprinkled in.

 

This delicate bloom is a "collarette dahlia", and the variety is Hartenaas. It's one of my favorites!!

Raspberry pie is such a perfect summer treat, especially when topped with fresh whipped cream and berries from the garden. I grow Boysenberries and Jewel Black Raspberries, and we also have a few strawberries and blueberries in pots near this garden. 

There's nothing quite like home-grown fruit for quality and taste!

 

June in the garden is the most magical time of the year, and I couldn't resist setting an impromptu little table to share with all of you and with my friends Cindy, Mary Ann, Annie, Juliet and Kim.

 

They also know a thing or two about styling beautiful outdoor tables and are queens of entertaining! Check out their newest posts here:

 

CINDY HATTERSLEY DESIGN 🌸 Cindy

CLASSIC CASUAL HOME 🌸 Mary Ann

MOST LOVELY THINGS 🌸 Annie

MAKE MINE A SPRITZER 🌸 Juliet

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA STYLE 🌸 Kim

In case you haven’t heard, I started a new Instagram page in October and named it Claudia Fabiana Home. My former page is still up, but after getting a new phone, I was no longer able to log into this account, so the new profile was born!

 

I hope you’ll follow along with me on Instagram for all the latest projects and décor I will be sharing in 2025.

 

 

 

ciao fabiana

You can check out some of my favorites here at “Tablescaping Essentials” 

 

 

 

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