We are grateful to Trish Brock for inviting us to paint in her garden as we work the kinks out of this new focus on gardens instead of capillas. Can we convey the qualities of each garden through simple watercolor sketches and a few paragraphs of text? Will this be of interest to a subset of readers? Please let us know.

As we sat down to chat with Trish about her garden, her first comment was, “This is my dream garden!”

This garden is a place where she has been able to incorporate many long-held wishes into one space. She explained that as a small child she often spent time in Tampa, Florida, with her grandparents where she fondly remembers climbing the numerous orange trees in their yard, picking oranges, and eating them warm and juicy from the tree. At some point she promised herself that when she grew up she would have a garden with orange trees. Fast forward a few decades and Trish has created her dream garden that includes orange trees as well as fig, tangerine, lime, olive, and lemon trees.

The garden design has been a collaborative project with San Miguel landscape designer, Alfonso Alarcon, and was finished just a few months ago. Her new house sits on a sloping hillside and was designed so that all larger rooms capture the view. Most gardens on a level site are to be viewed (in San Miguel) with the walls as the backdrop, but this garden along the lowest part of the property serves as a frame for a spectacular view of San Miguel.

Trish has capitalized on the indoor/outdoor lifestyle of San Miguel with the garden used as extended living space. Her childhood home was on Lake Michigan with an endless view of the horizon, sky, and evolving weather patterns. Her sloping site has a similar atmospheric feel with a view of the city, the backdrop of the mountains beyond, and the unencumbered big sky view.

I was drawn to the central water feature with its monumental sculptural cantera fish from Michoacan with koi swimming below, the distant view that includes La Parroquia, Las Monjas, and the lavishly blooming lavender Jacarandas planted throughout San Miguel now in bloom.

Both Linda and I, without discussion, included in our paintings the old garambullo cactus which has been growing on site for many years and is now thriving as a pampered garden plant. Linda’s interior view along the garden wall captured some of the brilliant bougainvillea already shouting out color in this new garden.

The grass in this garden was planted just for Trish’s pack of pampered dogs to romp and run. And romp and run around the fish pond and across the grass they did the entire time we were chatting with Trish. It’s a garden to be in and to be enjoyed, not simply to view.

Since Trish is a friend and lives nearby, we look forward to views of her garden as it matures.