In a Vase on Monday: a Hunk a Hunk of Burning Love

Amy Cox remembers the first time she learned she could grow a lawn out of clover. «Where has this been all my life?» she mused. «Why is this a secret?»

Over the past few years, Pamela Anderson has had more time to contemplate life. That is, until things kicked into high gear again—but more on that later. At the start of the pandemic in 2020, she moved from France, sold her house in Malibu, and headed north to the small town on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, where she was born and raised. She hunkered down with her two grown sons, Brandon and Dylan. She bought her grandmother’s old motel, renovated it, and set up her parents there. A lifelong cook, she perfected her baking skills. She reclaimed and expanded her grandfather’s garden on the same land where she had run barefoot as a self-described wild child. It’s the site of both her greatest childhood joys and harrowing traumas, which she describes candidly in her 2023 autobiography, Love, Pamela, and Netflix documentary, Pamela, A Love Story. Almost poetically, for Pamela has journaled and written poetry her whole life, she has reclaimed her true self and her youthful creativity on the exact spot where they were born. When I had the chance to sit with her and talk over Zoom recently, our conversation quickly moved beyond her new cookbook, I Love You (due out in October), to all aspects of life—and her ability to find the deepest of meanings in even the tiniest of seeds.

There is so much material to choose from in the garden and there have been more than a few warming Monday vases of late, but I particularly wanted to include a couple of seed successes whilst the opportunity was still there. I have grown gomphrena from seed before, but with minimal success, so this year’s three plants (right) were par for the course, each bearing a single bloom. Although supposedly mixed colours, the only variety I could find at the time, all three are this fiery orangey-red. Emilia javanica ‘Irish Poet’ (left) is new to me and has been very much an eyecatcher since early June, with its tiny fluffy orange blooms. I shall certainly grow it again.

John Bessler

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When it comes to the South, gardens are a staple of nearly every home's landscape design. If you have a backyard garden that you're trying to spruce up in terms of aesthetics or make easier on your back to tend to, look no further than raised garden beds!

Three weeks ago I posted an ‘Armful For Julie’ on IAVOM, blooms scheduled for my retiring Pilates teacher but, thwarted by her illness, not given. After battling a nasty bout of Covid, her third and worst, she will be calling into our class tomorrow to say a belated goodbye to those who have known her a long time, so I am trying again and have created a slightly smaller armful of blooms to go with the vase that is wrapped and ready for her.

Plants thrive in various conditions in their natural habitat. Some love the occasional misting and won’t mind having wet leaves for some time, as it recreates their native tropical habitat and helps them cope with the dry air indoors.

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If you're looking to elevate your summer experience whether it's for a beach day or an outdoor BBQ, we tapped our editors to share their favorite outdoor essentials—the ones they truly cannot live without—to help you narrow down your own search for the best finds.

Many interior designers are all about shopping secondhand when it comes to sourcing furniture and decor for their client projects.