#comingalive

-Howard Thurman

think about it

what makes you jump out of bed

if your just continuously hitting snooze every morning how are you coming alive

Coming Alive in Spring! Read at

“I went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown. For going out, I found, was really going in.” ~ John Muir

Walking around my property, I am in awe of how quickly my landscape has come to life. Within just a couple of weeks, the garden has awoken from its deep sleep blanketing the hillside with lush green grasses and fantastic flowers. The frogs are croaking, the birds are chirping, and the bees are buzzing. Despite the continuing rain, nature is waking up from its soggy slumber.

My garden is a living laboratory where I design borders to include a diverse mix of plants including bulbs, perennials, annuals, shrubs, trees, and vines. Originally my color palette was strictly pinks, purples, blues, and whites, but over the years I have acknowledged the beauty of all color combinations. Daring forms and textures are welcome as I attempt to create a naturalistic style. Taking cues from Mother Nature, I encourage self-sowing specimens (thank you calendula and nigella) and I prefer my landscape to be full, a bit crowded, and wild.  Rocks, stones, and gravel are incorporated into the scheme while vintage used bricks delineate the paths.

If you’d like to create a garden that respects the natural world, here are a few tips that may help.

1. Don’t be afraid to mix and match. Shrubs and trees provide structure. Bulbs pop up as surprises, especially at this time of year. Perennials are the main attraction with annuals affording the colors you desire throughout the year.

2. Always plant in swaths or groups. Repeating the groups coalesces and unifies the look.

3. Invite specimens that you like to self-sow. Allow plants to grow as they would in nature without your assistance. Don’t fret when stray flowers appear in an area where you didn’t plan to have them grow. Whimsical is fun.

4. When it comes to coordinating colors, be open to the bold and beautiful. I never thought I’d like so much orange and yellow in my landscape, but the combination of daffodils, calendula, and poppies has changed my mind.

5. Strive for balance. A clipped hedge is wonderful surrounding a formal rose garden, or outlining a driveway, yet when a garden is too heavily manicured it appears almost fake. Allow for some spillers, fillers, and thrillers. Add elements of awe.

6. Use containers for a variety of plants, including small trees. I have an Italian white peach growing in a container that boasts beautiful bright pink blossoms with fluorescent yellow oxalis underplanted. It is quite the unexpected showstopper. As a bonus, when the peaches are ripe, they are easy to harvest.

7. Orchestrate seasonal displays with plenty of colorful and textural annuals, perennials, grasses, and bulbs. Natives and carefully chosen non-natives will thrive happily together. With a plentiful variety of plants, pollinators will call your garden home and become your trusted helpers.

What’s Blooming Now?

*Bradford pear, plum, and peach trees

*Azaleas and camellias

*Daffodils

*Tulips

*Calla lilies

*Bergenia

*Calendula

*Cyclamen

*Muscari

*Iris

*Primrose

*Lilies of the Valley

*Christmas cactus

*Periwinkle

*Oxalis

*Freesia

*Viburnum

*Hellebore

*Jade

*Salvia Hot Lips

*Potato Vine

*Chinese Fringe

*Mustard

Numerous other plants are budding and will be gracing our gardens soon. Stay tuned!

The Goddess Gardener’s March Garden Guide

For more gardening advice for all seasons, check out Growing with the Goddess Gardenerat https://www.CynthiaBrian.com/books. Raised in the vineyards of Napa County, Cynthia Brian is a New York Times best-selling author, actor, radio personality, speaker, media and writing coach as well as the Founder and Executive Director of Be the Star You Are!® 501 c3, celebrating its 25th year of serving the world. 

Tune into Cynthia’s StarStyle® Radio Broadcast at www.StarStyleRadio.com. 

Her newest children’s picture book, Family Forever, from the series, Stella Bella’s Barnyard Adventures is available now at https://www.CynthiaBrian.com/online-store.

Check out Cynthia’s inspirational, motivational, and uplifting books. https://www.cynthiabrian.com/books

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Hire Cynthia for writing projects, garden consults, and inspirational lectures. [email protected]  https://www.CynthiaBrian.com

read on Substack:

“I went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown. For going out, I found, was really going in.” ~ John Muir Walking around my property, I am in awe of how quickly my landscape has come to life. Within just a couple of weeks, the garden has awoken from its deep sleep blanketing the hillside with lush green grasses and fantastic flowers. The frogs are croaking, the birds are…

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Tune in LIVE weekly to the upbeat, positive lifestyle broadcast where producer and host Cynthia Brian showcases strategies for success on StarStyle®-Be the Star You Are!®. Available wherever you listen to your favorite programs! Within just a couple of weeks, Cynthia Brian’s garden as awoken from its deep sleep blanketing the hillside with lush green grasses and fantastic flowers. Find out what…

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Tune in LIVE weekly to the upbeat, positive lifestyle broadcast where producer and host Cynthia Brian showcases strategies for success on StarStyle®-Be the Star You Are!®. Available wherever you listen to your favorite programs!

Within just a couple of weeks, Cynthia Brian’s garden as awoken from its deep sleep blanketing the hillside with lush green grasses and fantastic flowers. Find out what to expect in the landscape soon.

In Why Am I Eating This?registered nurse and former corporate and hospital wellness program manager Sandy Robertson shares steps in which readers can transform their relationship with food, making space for self-care as a form of nourishment. Cynthia Brian interviews Sandy.

Being aware of our mental health has become a popular conversation piece lately with athletes to movie stars weighing in on the importance of pausing to find peace. You don’t need to go to therapy to reap the benefits of improvement. Find ways to mind your mental health more carefully.

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Bio: Sandy Robertson

For more than twenty-five years, Sandy Robertson, RN, MSN, PH-CNS, Board Certified Holistic Nurse (HN-BC), Certified Medical Intuitive (CMIP), and Certified Healing Touch Practitioner (CHTP), has deftly woven the traditional art and science of medicine with mind-body approaches to well-being. She is a highly sought healing guide in private practice and a notable corporate healthcare systems leader/educator in the forefront of integrative, complementary and holistic approaches to health and wellness.  

Sandy Robertson, RN, MSN, PH-CNS, is an author, Board Certified Holistic Nurse (HN-BC). For the past 25 years she has been a notable corporate and healthcare systems manager/leader/educator of wellness and obesity programs and she has been in the forefront of integrative, complementary and mind/body approaches to behavior change. She is also a Certified Medical Intuitive (CMIP), and Certified Healing Touch Practitioner (CHTP) who weaves the traditional art and science of medicine with mind-body approaches to well-being. More recently, seeking personal, deeper mind-body wisdom, Medical Intuition captured her attention as an insightful tool to better understand health issues and help focus healing approaches. 

In her private practice, Sandy delights in providing guidance and healing support to her clients with intuitive energy assessments, energy balancing, and mind-body-spirit energy coaching services that are grounded in her extraordinary depth of training and experience. 

To contact Sandy, visit www.energyworkswisdom.com

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RECENTLY PUBLISHED BOOK: Family Forever: https://cynthiabrian.suhttps://www.voiceamerica.com/episode/148814/love-day-liking-lichens-world-democracy-colds-and-flusbstack.com/p/family-forever Available at www.CynthiaBrian.com/online-store or  www.StarStyleStore.net

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