Blog – Page 3 – Janet Mavec

We Love Lucy's Garden Life

Romantic and colorful aren’t words that typically describe a sustainable garden: a humus-generating, native-growing, non-pesticidal retreat. The gardens that Lucy Berkoff designs, however, paint a different picture. And it’s...

Inside Out Q & A: Raun Thorp

Like most Southern Californians, Raun Thorp makes little distinction between outdoors space and indoors, reflected in the title of the recent book “Outside In: The Gardens and Houses of Tichenor & Thorp”(2017) that she c...

Q&A: A Tale of Two Women Gardeners, Lisa Stamm and daughter Vanessa

I can relate to Lisa Stamm. I bet there are many of you out there who will too. The story is familiar: Woman meets land, falls in love with it, dreams of taming it in the right places, so despite the flaws (overgrown acre...

Caretaker of a Magical NY Hamptons Garden: Q&A Alejandro Saralegui

Despite the fact that many public gardens are still closed, Alejandro Saralegui busily works within the provocative and artsy landscape that is Madoo, the garden of late artist Robert Dash. Alejandro is the executive directo...

Sofia Barroso’s Picks: The Fairytale Gardens of Spain

It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that Sofia Barroso’s earlier life resembled that of a botanical fairytale, complete with a castle. In Toledo, the 11th-century Palace of Galiana is owned by her grandmother. Also, as a daughte...

Q&A: A Garden Romantic, Page Dickey

The path Page Dickey has consistently followed is the one that winds through her garden. A romantic gardener, Page carves out paths in gardens so that walking through them feels like an escape, a journey to another place. Lu...

SOS: Save Your Sanity with Our TV & Book Picks

With shelter in place orders across cities, time seems abundant. That may be a gift or a nightmare depending on your personal situation. For those who are looking for an escape into other places and eras, we’ve got a few offb...

Q&A: Famed British Landscape Gardener Jinny Blom

Jinny Blom is what in plant speak we’d call a successful hybrid: born in the U.K. to French and Danish parents. In human speak, Blom’s would most likely be categorized as the multipotentialite variety: a landscape architect b...

A Curious Garden Designer: Nancy Goslee Power

When Nancy Goslee Power enters a garden, she leaves behind a big impression. That's because the 76-year-old is an icon in the world of landscape design. Her aesthetic, which blankets Southern California, is as recognizable to...

Open House Tour: The Houses of Columbidae

The dove is a favorite bird of ours here at Janet Mavec. The Peace Dove Necklace, the first I made, sold so well that it catapulted me into a career as a full-time jewelry designer (after a career as a vintage and estate jewe...

Are You Being Bugged In the Garden?

It’s official: You are being bugged. Insect season has descended upon us. All the new tender growth that comes in spring and early summer brings out the troops of crawlies. Although entomology is not my passion, I have immor...

Favorite Planetarian: Q&A with filmmaker Ann Lupo

You may not know the name Ann Lupo ... yet. But I predict you will soon. Ann is about to release her first feature film In Reality in New York in March. While I may be biased because I’ve known Ann for a while and know wh...