Our basement is filled with next Spring's evergreen shrubs for our continuing Romantic Landscaping Project >.  Last Fall semester and this Spring, it is/was exciting teaching Sketchup (3D modeling software), Web Design along with all ages in Art Appreciation.  For garden therapy, I am tending to the greenhouse and many succulents and tropical plants in preparations to make terrariums! Terrariums not only beautify spaces but also serve as a therapeutic outlet, promoting mental health and well-being. 

When time ran out due to an early winter season, we scurried to prepare the evergreen Monrovia: Tiny Tower® Dwarf Alberta Spruces for the greenhouse that has new tables and grow lights.  We have yet to add the remaining Pathway Solar Lights. We planted two of four dogwoods and now we still want to get our new variegated, evergreen (yellow) Southern Living Touch of Gold® Holly shrubs planted; see the video!  They will have color POP all year, especially complimenting the prolific Hot Pink ‘McDaniel’s Cushion’ – Creeping Phlox! We have more Stagreen Tree & Shrub Garden Soil to spread and will lay Vevor Premium Weed Barrier.  

Fall semester 2025, I have been teaching Art Appreciation, Internet Publishing and Intro to Interior Design. In between, we are continuing to work on our Romantic Landscaping Project > and time is running out!  Since I taught an intense summer design course, I did not have as much time to plant but we made progress filling containers, rebuilding a retaining wall and removing and replacing 5'x10' Alberta spruces with more manageable (2'x6') Monrovia: Tiny Tower® Dwarf Alberta Spruces.  We laid pavers and added a few Pathway Solar Lights. We have planted dogwoods and now we want to get our new variegated, evergreen (yellow) Southern Living Touch of Gold® Holly shrubs planted; see the video!  They will have color POP all year, especially complimenting the few Encore: Autumn Empress™ Hot Pink Azaleas and prolific Hot Pink ‘McDaniel’s Cushion’ – Creeping Phlox! Recently we've spread more Stagreen Tree & Shrub Garden Soil and are preparing to lay Vevor Premium Weed Barrier over it so we can propagate more.  The plants are temporarily in the basement which often becomes a greenhouse in times of need.  I am looking for LED grow lights.  Either way, I am so excited to watch them grow wherever they are!

I have been teaching new courses and developing new sites (including this one as a portfolio example), and 100% attention has been on students and family.  I also created a google blog and opened professional Instagram and LinkedIn accounts to help students create their own to help them market their skills after graduation.  Now, I am in the process of collecting course data and teaching an intense five-week summer II course in "Design Thinking".  In between, it is garden and landscape therapy, with dreams of R&R sitting on the porch enjoying coffee and my community, but only after more hard work with hopefully beautiful outcomes. 

C'est La Vie!

My Landscaping Project > is inspired by both formal and informal gardens worldwide. To evoke a mood, I set the stage with a few of my favorite things to create a vintage Victorian "Romantic Mood Board" featuring the sun and the moon, my luscious peonies with fragrant petals, my soft ferns, elegant pearls and glimmering reflections everywhere. I was kind of thinking the lighting would be the warm glow of a Tuscan Sun. I have worked on color schemes and aerial maps to add here soon.  The winter blast, deep snow, and deer destroyed all of the triple blooming Encore: Autumn Empress™ Hot Pink Azaleas so I must figure something out!  Several Monrovia:Tiny Tower® Dwarf Alberta Spruces have been planted with almost 20 more on the way! 

For global news, open the "G News" page. 

My page is small comparatively, so I was stunned, but as I always say, "quality content over quantity".  I am there to enjoy a community of like-minded people sharing beauty and knowledge, not for money nor attention.  A lot of discouraging platform changes continue to happen in social media and sometimes you have to take mindful breaks!

Zamek Królewski w Warszawie: "Welcome! The Royal Castle in Warsaw is one of the most important royal residences in Europe. However, it is not the beauty of the architecture, the dazzling interior design or the rank of the works of art gathered in the castle walls that determine the unique significance of the building, but the symbolic charge contained in it.

The Royal Castle is a monument to Polish independence – like it, dying over turbulent times and reborn like a Phoenix from the ashes. As the historical seat of kings, the Sejm, and the President of the Second Polish Republic, it is a kind of bridge connecting Polish monarchical and republican traditions.

Razed to the ground by order of Adolf Hitler in 1944, the Castle did not exist for nearly three decades, only to be erected again in the years 1971–1984 on the wave of a great social upheaval. The process of rebuilding the body and meticulous reconstruction of the interior, based on elements of decoration and equipment saved from the war, culminated in the building being entered on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Architecturally, the Royal Castle in Warsaw combines the styles of early and late Baroque, although it also contains relics of earlier eras. The early-Baroque, austere and restrained facade can be admired from the side of Zamkowy Square, while the wing from the Vistula side represents the style typical of the first half of the 18th century - sumptuous, rich in sculptural decorations and chiaroscuro effects. The decor of most of the castle interiors is maintained in the classicist style - appropriate to the reign of the last king of Poland, Stanisław August, in the years 1764-1795.

The Royal Castle in Warsaw is not only a museum of interiors, but also an art gallery, a center of science and education, and a place that performs representative functions at the state and international level. The institution is constantly developing, gradually expanding its collection - recovering long-lost works of art and acquiring new ones. Every lover of history and beauty will surely find a place for themselves here. We invite you to visit!" —The Royal Castle in Warsaw

Image: Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun's painting "Portrait of Stanisław August in the costume of Henry IV" at the exhibition "Cabinet of European Art" at the Royal Castle Museum in Warsaw Zamek-Krolewski w Warszawie.

Follow a variety of social media options and "Follow Monrovia's pursuit of beauty: from plant-hunting expeditions in far-reaching forests, to our growing fields at home, and even down to the soil and roots within, we are always in search of excellence. In our newest video, craftsmen, collaborators, and designers all share how they connect through plants to bring beauty to the world around us. Go behind the scenes with Monrovia craftsmen as we describe our extensive plant trialing process, advanced growing techniques, custom soil mixes, and the hand-finished care that goes into every green Monrovia container. — Monrovia.  Follow their social media accounts. See my "Romantic Landscaping" project.