By Cynthia Brian “I’m grateful for the opportunity to live on this beautiful and astonishing Planet Earth. In the morning, I woke up with a sense of gratitude.” –Earl Nightingale In California, May reigns as one of the most colorful months of the year. Mother Nature has fully awakened from lingering winter doldrums to burst into bloom. The radiant combination of lush green lawns against cheerful vignettes of glowing, flowing flowers, trees, and shrubs is mesmerizing. Beauty,

https://blog.voiceamerica.com/2022/04/28/april-showers-bring-may-flowers/ By Cynthia Brian “April hath put a spirit of youth in everything.” William Shakespeare If experiencing rain in a dry season doesn’t put a spring in our step, what will? After months of no precipitation, finally, in April we experienced a few showers. A critical ingredient of California’s water supply, the Sierra snowpack is less than 40% from its peak. The drought will be with us this summer and fall b

By Cynthia Brian “I love to prune my roses. That’s the one thing I really feel I do pretty well!” Julie Andrews My roses are still blooming, and the bushes are filled with leaves. Yet, it is February and time to do the heavy pruning. My grapevines are already pruned, but I’ve been waiting for my roses to remember it is winter before I cut them back. Towards the middle to end of January used to be the optimum weeks to prune roses. Last year, I didn’t prune until late February

presspass: https://blog.voiceamerica.com/2022/01/19/housemates-with-houseplants/ Digging Deep with Goddess Gardener, Cynthia Brian By Cynthia Brian “Having plants in your house is a natural way to continuously clear yourself!” Doreen Virtue Forty-five! That’s the number of houseplants that filled my tiny dorm room on the 7th floor of Hedrick’s Hall during my freshman year at U.C.L.A. Every shelf, box, windowsill, wall hook, desk, and floor space were filled with a container s

https://www.lamorindaweekly.com/archive/issue1523/Digging-Deep-with-Goddess-Gardener-Cynthia-Brian-A-green-themed-New-Year.html By Cynthia Brian “In seed time learn, in harvest teach, in winter enjoy.” – William Blake The rainy days and nights have been a welcome respite to our dry, drought-driven California. What a delight to witness hills of green and listen to the rushing waters in our creeks. In the past few weeks, seeds and weeds have germinated providing a lush look to

Press Pass: https://blog.voiceamerica.com/2021/12/22/a-berry-merry-bird-christmas/ Digging Deep with Goddess Gardener, Cynthia Brian By Cynthia Brian *To me, the garden is a doorway to other worlds; one of them, of course, is the world of birds. The garden is their dinner table, bursting with bugs and worms and succulent berries.” Anne Raver Birdy, it’s cold outside. Deciduous trees are barren of leaves, autumn perennials have finished their blooming cycle, and few flowers ad

“Fall, leaves, fall; die, flowers, away; Lengthen night and shorten day! Every leaf speaks bliss to me Fluttering from the autumn tree.” Emily Brontë Without a doubt, autumn is a beautiful time of the year with cooler weather and spectacular, ever-changing foliage. What I can’t get used to is the early setting sun and the dark skies at 5 p.m. as we enter December. My circadian rhythm is out of sync. My preference is to work in the garden as late as possible every day and in t

Filled with amazing stories, step-by-step exercises, and thought-provoking discussions, Lynn McKenzie’s book, Bark, Neigh, Meow shows how animal companions help you transform your life and fulfill your purpose. You'll find greater passion, elevate your spirit, deepen your connection to the unseen realm, and much more. This heartwarming collection of Lynn's personal and client stories, reveals the power of animals to become your partners, teachers, guides, healers, and catalys

“May your thoughts be as glad as the shamrocks May your heart be as light as a song. May each day bring you bright Happy hours that stay with you all the year long.” Irish blessing. My first introduction to the Emerald Isles arrived when I was seven. First grade was the beginning of my education since pre-school and kindergarten did not exist in our neck of the woods. A new school had been constructed with young teachers dressed from head to toe in black with white collars wh

“The heart is like a garden. What seeds will you plant there?” Buddha The first vista I witness every morning as I traipse downstairs in my pink fluffy slippers to grab a cup of java invigorates my day. Outside my stairwell window, a tall crimson camellia tree sways in the breeze flanked by a shimmering evergreen flowering pear. Rounding the corner, I look to my right. Through the hand-made stained-glass arch, winter and spring co-mingle. The bright cerise flowers of the peac

https://www.lamorindaweekly.com/archive/issue1426/Digging-Deep-with-Goddess-Gardener-Cynthia-Brian-Let-the-sun-shine-in.html Digging Deep with Cynthia Brian, the Goddess Gardener By Cynthia Brian “When the moon is in the Seventh House And Jupiter aligns with Mars Then peace will guide the planets And love will steer the stars. This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius.” Lyrics to Age of Aquarius by The 5th Dimension Astrologers don’t agree that it is the dawning of the Ag

“A man travels the world over in search of what he needs and returns home to find it.” ~ George Moore Like most of us who have been sheltering at home for the past eleven months, traveling to foreign lands has not been part of my normal activities. At first, I was immensely disappointed to cancel my 2020 exotic trips, especially the one that would have reunited me with my European pen pal with whom I’ve been corresponding regularly since I was nine years old. That’s a long ti

“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever” – Mahatma Gandhi I popped the crunchy pods of my just-picked sugar snap peas into my mouth as I uttered a prayer of gratitude for the food I grow to nourish my family and the gardens I cultivate to nourish my soul. The past few weeks have brought the fragility of life into focus amidst the mounting death toll from the pandemic and the anxiety aroused by the political rampages. We need to return to our

Digging Deep with Goddess Gardener, Cynthia Brian Garden Trends for 2021 By Cynthia Brian “Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right!” Oprah Winfrey HELLOOOOOOO 2021! We have been holding our collective breaths for the past ten months desperately anticipating a new beginning with a new year. Are you feeling a renewed enthusiasm for living? Are you ready to dig in? Every year the Garden Media Group releases information on what trends are formulating for th

By Cynthia Brian “I will honor Christmas in my heart and try to keep it all year!” Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol One sentiment was universal this season in the holiday cards and emails…hope for a safe, healthy, prosperous future. 2020 has been a year of enormous challenges, chaos, and crisis amid a frightening pandemic that rendered many people feeling hopeless and helpless. Even with shelter-in-place mandates and Zooming taking the place of “being there”, resilience wil

By Cynthia Brian “The lesson I have thoroughly learnt, and wish to pass on to others, is to know the enduring happiness that the love of a garden gives. I rejoice when I see anyone, and especially children, inquiring about flowers, and wanting gardens of their own, and carefully working in them. For love of gardening is a seed that once sown never dies, but always grows and grows to an enduring and ever-increasing source of happiness.” Gertrude Jekyll Watching the wide-eyed w

Fall Fireworks By Cynthia Brian “Let the beauty we love be what we do.” ~Rumi Sitting on my balcony, watching the ginger orb of the sun shoot sparkles and glitter throughout the dusky sky, I am besotted with the fireworks of fall foliage on the horizon. The colors and intensities change daily as I attempt to capture the essence of their beauty in my camera lens. A red-branched Japanese maple is glimmering gold one day. Four days later it is pumpkin spice orange. My liquid amb

Digging Deep with Goddess Gardener, Cynthia Brian As the Leaves Turn By Cynthia Brian “A friend may well be reckoned the masterpiece of nature.” Ralph Waldo Emerson It’s only five in the evening and the darkness of night has arrived. I’ve been out in the garden prepping the soil as the sun sets and the moon rises. Normally by this time of the year, I would have had all my spring bulbs and perennials planted and my lawn re-seeded. But we have had no rain and the daytime temper

“Listen to them–the children of the night. What music they make!” Bram Stoker During this season, life is about the kids. This is a time of magic, wonder, and things that go bump in the night. Halloween has always been a favorite holiday for most children in the United States but this year, Halloween, the way it has been celebrated for decades, is canceled. No random trick or treating, no gatherings, no haunted parties. Since school has been online, kids yearn to get together

Digging Deep with Goddess Gardener, Cynthia Brian “Too blessed to be stressed!” Bumper sticker By Cynthia Brian Are you feeling more in touch with Mother Earth as we near the beginning of eight months of stay-at-home mandates because of Covid-19? Or are you feeling antsy, stressed, and out-of-sorts? Retreating to our landscapes was initially a salve to the pain of the corona virus, social unrest, and political nastiness as we encountered improved air quality, quieter skies, a