A coastal cottage garden, edited with a city girl’s eye
Gardening, design, and the stories that grow alongside them.
I grew up in coastal New England and spent years in the fashion closets of New York working in visual storytelling, learning how proportion, restraint, and seasonal rhythm shape everything we love.
Parsley & Petal is a publication of essays, observations, and practical gardening from one botanical corner lot.
A new story blooms every week.
What Ten Years Taught Me About Life, Chihuahuas, Moms, and Gardening a Corner Lot
The story of how a coastal Rhode Island corner lot became a garden, a publication, and an ongoing experiment in how to Just Observe.
Read More —> The Seasonal Edit
a garden checklist
The Seasonal Edit is a recurring garden checklist of what’s emerging, what can wait, and what deserves attention now.
Practical tasks. Clear structure.
Timed to the season as it unfolds.
Plant Spotlight
Closely observed plant profiles, growing notes, and seasonal favorites.
Tools I Reach For
These aren’t pristine. They’re the ones I reach for.
A short list of what I actually use, with notes.
Some links may be affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Editor’s Picks
From the Garden
Practical guidance, garden lessons and seasonal decisions from life in the garden.
From the Journal
Observations, stories, and rituals that make the garden a home. A collection of family traditions, unexpected connections, and the stories that grow alongside the garden.
Join Parsley & Petal
Receive regular updates, including new stories and The Seasonal Edit.
Explore the Garden
Looking for a specific plant, seasonal task, or garden story?
Wander by Category:
The Test Garden: A Season of Growing from Seed
Every packet promises possibility. Not every seed delivers.
The Seasonal Edit: May — Late Spring Garden Checklist
This checklist is designed for May in the Northeast, where the garden may be ready, but the weather may not always cooperate.
Early Spring, Inside and Out
A quiet shift into early spring, with hellebore containers outdoors and kokedama arrangements inside, two ways of welcoming the season.
A Spring Visit to The Farmer’s Daughter Nursery in Rhode Island
The whole place had a fairytale feeling—artful, a little whimsical, and just loose enough not to feel overdone.
When to Apply Pre-Emergent in Northeast Lawns (Timing Guide)
Pre-emergent works by preventing weed seeds, like crabgrass, from germinating. Timing is what matters.
How I Prune Hydrangeas in My Rhode Island Garden (Mophead & Panicle Guide)
Most hydrangea pruning mistakes start with one simple question: Which hydrangea do you have?
Early Spring Hellebores at Clark Farms
Spring hadn't arrived outside yet. Inside, it already had.
Catmint (Nepeta)
If I could only recommend a handful of perennials, catmint would make the list every time.
Hellebores (Helleborus orientalis)
Long before the rest of the garden awakens, the hellebores are already blooming.
What Deer and Rabbits Eat First (and What They Leave Alone)
These are the plants that have actually survived deer and rabbits, and how I manage stubborn wildlife in my garden.
The Seasonal Edit: March/April — Early Spring Garden Checklist
Every year, I forget how much can change in a single week of March.
The Spring Reset: Lawn and Garden
Mid-March in the Northeast. While the stylist in me wants to edge the beds immediately, the gardener in me says, “Wait. It’s still too wet.”
The Seasonal Edit: A Blizzard Garden Checklist
Heavy snow and blizzard conditions can cause snow damage to shrubs, boxwoods, arborvitae, and other evergreens, but knowing when to intervene can prevent long-term harm.
A Home Run with Color: Designing a Cohesive Garden Palette
I used to be drawn to everything at the nurseries. Whatever caught my eye came home with me. But a garden begins to feel cohesive when you choose a few colors and let them repeat.
The Seasonal Edit: February—Late Winter Garden Checklist
This is not a month for dramatic changes. It’s a month for structure, maintenance, and preparation. What you do now determines how smooth spring will feel.
My Essential Garden Tool Kit: The Tools I Actually Use
A good garden, like a good wardrobe, is built around a few pieces that do their job beautifully.
What I’m Learning by Not Overplanting: A Lesson in Garden Structure
When we first moved into our house, every bare patch of soil looked like a problem to solve. I was a city girl who knew nothing about growing grass, much less a garden.