The Golden Gate from Baker Beach

The Transamerica Pyramid and The Sentinel Building

Fire escape and copper-green windows of the Sentinel Building

Lanterns in Chinatown; Restaurant in North Beach

Lanterns in Chinatown

Chinatown

Victorian Building, North Beach

Ranunculus at San Francisco Flower Market; Cable Car

Gelato and sidewalk cafes in North Beach

The Painted Ladies, Alamo Square

Victorian Houses, Alamo Square Historic District

Cherry blossom time in San Francisco

Hello everyone! I hope your month of May has been merry!

For your weekend viewing, I’m bringing you a colorful tour from our recent adventure in San Francisco. The weather was gorgeous, clear and sunny, with a very strong wind that threatened to blow us over a few times while navigating the steep streets and sidewalks (especially when carrying 30 pounds of gear!)

Our trip was a mix of business, family visits and a little getaway. D used to live in the North Beach area and I’m quite familiar with the city, so we very much enjoyed visiting favorite spots and indulging in perhaps too much Italian food and gelato (but is there such a thing as too much gelato? I think not). Experiencing other environments is so rejuvenating, isn’t it? Even a drive to a neighboring area for lunch or sightseeing can be such a lift to the spirits and also make you appreciate where you live even more. An adventure near to home is an adventure just the same. I’d love to hear what adventures you’ve  been on recently or are looking forward to.

(In other news, this week I completed a huge and important project which had been my main focus for the last six weeks, so my shameful blogging neglect will be soon rectified. Thank you for continuing to visit through it all.)

Thinking of you and sending wishes for a lovely weekend. I hope these photos bring a bit of joy and adventure.

much love,

G

Hello, dear friends!

I hope this finds you very well. I’ve been on location and traveling so blogging time has been a bit limited. But I’m back and thought you’d like to see a bit of what is growing in the woodland garden.

Every year here I do a feature on our amazing hellebores, also known as Lenten Rose, which thrive in our cool and damp climate. When we purchased our property six years ago, I discovered three hellebore plants in one of the beds near the entrance to the house and became entranced with them, although I didn’t know what they were! Since then, I’ve added dozens of them to the garden, mostly in the woodland area, where they bloom from January to May or June. And they leaves are evergreen so they are beautiful throughout the year.

They tend to nod their heads rather shyly, and on flat ground you need to bend over and tip the faces of the flowers up to appreciate their beauty. Since our property is very hilly, I planted them on the upward slope of the woodland garden where we can look up at them from our kitchen window and see all the details inside the blooms. They are among our favorite plants and I highly recommend them if you have the climate that is favorable to them. They can be expensive so I watch for sales and pamper them when planting but otherwise they thrive without much attention and reward us year after year with charm and grace.

I know many of you are finally coming out of a long and harsh winter. I’m so glad to see the signs of spring that you are sharing and look forward to visiting you to catch up on your news.

Wishing you a beautiful week!

much love,

G

p. s. Delighted to have contributed an article and photos to this wonderful magazine, Beyond the Camera, published by my friend Sarah Gardner, a creator of gorgeous, romantic images. Do treat yourself to a read of this absolutely lovely publication!

Hello, my friends! Today’s post is a celebration in pinks and grey-blue of one of our favorite spring joys: the blossoms of our Blireina plum trees.

If you’ve visited here in past years, you might recall that every March I go a bit crazy during the brief appearance of these magical, fragrant flowers. So much loveliness to capture! And this year, with a sudden spell of unseasonably warm weather, the blossoms opened literally overnight and soon will be falling like fairy dust or like the snow that many of you have been experiencing.

Our Easter weekend was blue sky, billowing clouds springing across it like new lambs and summer temps which brought forth an explosion of pink and white beauty citywide. Perfect weather for a summer day and astonishing for March. All the more panic-inducing than usual because the window for photographing it all will be swift – the rains return in a few days. And so, my studio has been filled with bucket loads and arm loads and table loads of blossoms – not only plum but cherry, quince and magnolia. Not to mention the bounty from the woodland garden of narcissus, hyacinth, bleeding heart, hellebores, vinca and so much more.

But of all the pink blossoms floating around us, these from our plum trees are most special. Growing in our own garden, with the loveliest ruffly petals and sweet smell, they bring smiles and joyful thoughts of Spring’s arrival and a reminder to embrace and cherish her fleeting treasures.

Wishing each of you much beauty and grace this week.

love,

G

Spring Snowflake, Leucojum vernum, photographed by Georgianna Lane, flowers by Floret Flower Farm

Leucojum, spring snowflake, in woodland garden in spring

Hello friends and Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Celebrating in green and white, and since many of you are experiencing unexpected (and perhaps un-wished for) snowflakes this week, here is a sweet flowering bulb called just that – Spring Snowflake (Leucojum vernum). Along with its variant, Summer Snowflake (Leucojum aestivum), it is sometimes mistaken for a snowdrop, but flowers a week or two later. So, although you may not appreciate winter hanging on as it seems to be in many areas, this shows that some spring snowflakes can be most welcome.

Our woodland garden is awake and blooming with daffodils, hellebores, early rhododendrons, hyacinth and periwinkle! The first robins and winter wrens are singing with gusto at dawn and, a sure sign of spring: D is preparing the lawns for new seeding. The office is filled at this moment with the heady scent of a luxurious bouquet of deep purple hyacinth, harvested yesterday by Erin from her greenhouse at Floret. (I do know I am very lucky!)

Wherever you are, we wish you a week of happy adventures and joy in the simple beauties of life.

with love,

G

(Flowers by Floret Flower Farm, styled and photographed by Georgianna Lane)

Hello, dear friends! I couldn’t wait any longer! Now that the calendar says March and so much life is pushing up in the garden, I could delay not a minute more in sharing these images of the sweetest, cheeriest flowers of all (in my view).

When I was growing up, we spent several years on a little farm in Oregon that faced an enormous field of daffodils. I so well remember the glorious fragrance of the rows of brave, yellow soldiers – among the first beacons of spring.

Although I grow many varieties of narcissus myself, this particular shoot from last year features the dizzying array grown by Erin at Floret. When she dropped off several buckets of blooms last March, I couldn’t resist styling them this way and that way to show them off.

We are a few weeks away from this abundance being a reality this year but isn’t the anticipation of spring a delightful part of its magic? So much to look forward to, days of bursting beauty and new growth.

And bursting is what we are doing here with new plans, adventures and projects. I know it’s been a bit quiet here so far this year due to other things needing my attention but now we’re gearing up for some amazing endeavors. It’s a good challenge to spring clean the clutter and streamline the way for the best year of creativity yet, isn’t it?

It’s time!

Thinking of you and wishing each of you a weekend filled with beauty.

much love,

G

p. s. Erin doing a little survey over at her blog and would love your input!

Happy Valentine’s Day, my friends – I’ve brought you roses from Paris!

This week I’ve been working on gathering up the images from my most recent trip to Paris into little themed collections, available in the shop, called Paris Vignettes.

As these all had roses of various hue, I’m presenting them to you on this day of romance. I think it’s lovely to send Valentines and Valentine’s greetings to anyone you feel affection for. Not everyone has a special someone to celebrate with (D for instance is in Chile) but everyone should be able to celebrate in knowing they are loved by friends, family and co-workers. So, with that, I send each of you love, hearts and roses. And leave you with some links to bring beauty and romance to your day:

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I’ve just gotten a new post up at Paris By Two, inspired by the fairly cold and gloomy weather there right now.

My friend Nicole in South Africa has just released the latest and most gorgeous issue of her online magazine, Vintage Lifestyle. You can view the whole issue here.

For all things floral, I do hope you read Rona’s blog, Flowerona. If you’re not a regular reader, you are in for a daily treat.

And finally, take a tour of the most amazing rose farm in Australia at Blooming Lovely. Thanks to Erin for sharing it.

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Happy Valentine’s Day!

much love,

G

Hello, my friends. I do hope you are well.

This year has gotten off to a high-velocity, head-long, full-tilt charge into a number of major projects. I have felt a bit like these wild ranunculus, turning in many directions, each full of promise and interest. I know many of us feel it often enough and I found it beneficial to begin crossing projects, ideas, plans and activities off the list until I had only the ones that were THE most important, the ones that, if I really got them done, I would feel that sometimes elusive sense of accomplishment and also know that I’d taken the right strategic steps for the future, for me, loved ones and family. It was a very good exercise and gave me some stable points to focus on and yank myself back to when the daydreaming and imagining of new and tantalizing projects sets in. :)

A very special one that absolutely stayed on the list is nearly complete. Recently I had the great pleasure of helping Erin of Floret Flowers update her blog and website. We’re still tweaking but are pretty tickled with the result so do stop by and indulge your senses in the abundant beauty of her life and floral creations. She has such an amazing year ahead, you are going to love coming along for the ride!

As for these images, I’m a bit ashamed to say I’ve been tweaking and playing around with them for nearly two years. Who can afford such an indulgence of time? Let’s grab our best and favorite projects, get them done and get them out! The world is waiting to benefit from what each of us are creating. And I myself can’t wait to see what you have been up to, so expect me popping in this coming week – I can’t wait!

Hope you are cozy or cool, whichever your weather requires.

much love,

G

Hello, my friends! Thank you for all your lovely New Year’s wishes and I send mine manyfold back to each of you.

As we plan and dream to shape our destinies for the coming days, with anticipated joy for all the happy times, we will inevitably find at some points in the year that we are not in fact the ultimate arbiters of our fate, that other influences redirect or even completely detour our carefully laid out course. But how we adjust and carry on is what truly matters.

I’ve chosen the images for this post with a good measure of thought. From a shoot I did last summer (with Erin of Floret who created the amazing arrangements), I admit I’ve been “saving” them as they are quite special to me. They embody new directions and new levels of creative endeavor. I’ve saved them, but now release them – my gift out to the universe, a little offering saying “this is what I’m up to” and what I’m dreaming of. Breathtaking beauty to celebrate the coming triumphs, gentle grace to soothe and calm the stormy days that will no doubt come.

And so, this first post of the new year is filled with hopes and wishes and optimism. In twelve months time, I’ll see if these images will join in a complete circle of accomplishments, the ends tying rather neatly together the threads of flowers, travel and photographs.

And you? What are your dearest dreams for your new year? Whatever they are, you have my wishes right along side yours that they all come true.

much love,

G

To our dear friends far and near: We wish for each of you and your loved ones great health, boundless joy, prosperity, compassion, love and your most precious dreams come true.

The Happiest of New Years to you!

Much love,

Georgianna and David

May your holidays be filled with love, magic and the joy of simple pleasures!

Sending warmest wishes to each of you.

See you next week!

much love,

G