Zone 9 · San Francisco Bay Area · California

Welcome. I’m a home gardener, slow traveller, and lover of beautiful things based in the San Francisco Bay Area — where I tend a garden full of climbing roses, salvias, succulents, hellebores, and whatever is currently catching my eye at the nursery.
Zone 9 is my climate and my classroom. The long warm summers, mild winters, and extraordinary California light make it one of the finest places in the world to grow things. I’ve been making the most of it for years, learning what thrives, what struggles, and what is genuinely worth seeking out.
The garden teaches patience, attention, and the art of letting go of what isn’t working. It turns out those lessons apply to most things in life.
What you’ll find here
Zone 9 garden guides — What to plant, when to plant it, and how to care for it through our particular California seasons. Everything is tested in my own garden, in real conditions, with real summers and the occasional surprise frost.
Slow travel — Beautiful California escapes for those who travel to linger, not rush. Carmel, Mendocino, Healdsburg, Calistoga, Point Reyes — the places I return to again and again, with honest recommendations for each.
Slow living — Botanical style, the tools and products I actually use, and the kind of life where a morning in the garden counts as a productive day.

A little more about the garden
I garden in USDA Zone 9b in a cottage and botanical style — stone retaining walls, drip irrigation, a mix of California natives and Mediterranean plants that thrive in our dry summers. My favourites right now: David Austin climbing roses, salvia guaranitica, Mexican bush sage, echeveria, hellebores, Hot Lips salvia, jasmine, and Cleveland sage.
Spring is my season. I’m also quietly devoted to fragrant, repeat-blooming roses and to the hummingbirds that find their way into the garden every year.

From the Garden Scroll shop
I make botanical sweatshirts and mugs for the slow-living gardener — the kind of thing you actually want to wear on a cool morning in the garden. You can find them on Etsy:
→ Shop at Etsy

Travel
When I’m not in the garden, I’m usually planning a slow escape somewhere nearby. My travel writing lives over at The Travel Essentials Edit — California destinations for the unhurried traveller.

Thank you for being here. Now go outside and see what’s blooming.
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