• Books,  Plants & Happiness

    How a Box of Books on my Doorstep Delighted Me

    Leaf Your Troubles Books, How a Box of Books on my Doorstep Delighted Me, Karen Hugg, https://karenhugg.com/2022/06/29/box-of-leaf-your-troubles #plants #books #leafyourtroubles #nonfiction #mentalhealth #happiness #stressrelief #destressing #relaxation

    Hi all, Just a quick note to share that the first box of Leaf Your Troubles Behind landed on my doorstep last week. What a delight! The book looks just as wonderful as I’d hoped with a beautiful layout and illustrations by Kara Fellows. And most importantly, it’s packed with stories, research, and activities about how plants can boost our mental health. I can’t wait to share it with you! To celebrate, I’m giving away copies as early as this weekend. I’ll give newsletter subscribers the first chance with the…

  • Plants & Gardening

    Why You Need to Buy Slow Flowers this Mother’s Day

    Debra Prinzing, Why You Need to Buy Slow Flowers this Mother's Day, Karen Hugg, https://karenhugg.com/2022/05/02/slow-flowers/(opens in a new tab) #slowflowers #flowers #Mother'sDay #gardening #plants #DebraPrinzing #local

    Seattle author and gardener Debra Prinzing knows flowers. In addition to writing books on gardening, Prinzing started the “slow flowers” movement. It encourages people to buy locally grown flowers rather than imported ones from faraway countries. Foreign growers often spray dangerous chemicals on their crops and employ low-wage workers in not-great conditions. Plus, the environmental cost of shipping flowers in chilled containers and planes across thousands of miles is massive. But saying “I love you” is important, especially with a lovely bouquet that relaxes the soul. And Prinzing has found…

  • Books,  Personal

    The Dark Petals of Provence Is Now Available!

    Dark Petals Book, The Dark Petals of Provence Is Now Available! Karen Hugg, https://karenhugg.com/2022/03/01/dark-petals-of-provence/(opens in a new tab) #books #novel #Provence #DarkPetals #France #thriller #mystery #fiction

    Hi everyone, Just a quick note to let you know my new novel, The Dark Petals of Provence, is now available in all formats: paperback, ebook, and even audiobook. As I mentioned in my newsletter, I was terribly disappointed when the physical book was out of stock for a while but it’s now available. Whew! Dark Petals was inspired by the evocative yet sinister books by the French writer Marcel Pagnol. Pagnol grew up in Provence and created stories based on his childhood experiences for both literature and film. One…

  • Plants & Gardening

    The 5 Best Gardening Books by English Experts

    The 5 Best Gardening Books by English Experts, Karen Hugg, https://karenhugg.com/2022/04/08/gardening-books/(opens in a new tab), #gardening #books #british #english #gardendesign #inspiration #garden #plants

    When I peruse my bookshelf, I often gravitate toward the same old cluster of gardening books. They’re by the most prominent British horticulturalists of the 19th and 20th centuries. The designers who built the most spectacular estates in England. They experimented with the concepts of outdoor rooms, mixed borders, and designing with focal points or natural features. While classic European gardens featured the formality of hedges and geometric patterns, these British visionaries broke away from that formality. They created a new, inventive, naturalistic art. The Gardens of Gertrude Jekyll Gertrude…

  • Books,  Inspiration

    When You Take the Stairs, You Find a More Painful but Rewarding Path

    Take the Stairs Book, When You Take the Stairs, You Find a More Painful but Rewarding Path, Karen Hugg, https://karenhugg.com/2022/03/05/take-the-stairs/(opens in a new tab), #book #inspiration #motivation #takethestairs #roryvaden #self-help

    Recently I found an older book with some lasting ideas. Rory Vaden’s Take the Stairs offers great inspiration for those looking to stop procrastinating in all areas of their life. The one aspect though most people won’t want to hear is succeeding in life takes self-discipline. Vaden says you can’t succeed if you take shortcuts, like an escalator. Only if you take the stairs will you build muscle. Similarly, if you take care of the hardest tasks again and again, especiallys when you don’t feel like it, you will accomplish…