When I was a student in France, I was struck by the simplicity of life, by the fact that people didn't need to have lots of appliances and equipment to cook or to garden. French women shopped for food twice a day, once for lunch and again for dinner, or went to the potager. I've lived in Provence now off and on for more than 20 years, and it's still this way. Meals are leisurely, occasions for good conversation.

Lots of the gardens I saw then and still see now are vegetable gardens-- potagers--in all kinds of locations, along railroad tracks, front yards, abandoned lots, everywhere. The gardens in France seem more personal, more there for a reason--to have fresh food to eat - rather than to impress the neighbors. I liked the connection of being close to what was real--growing food to eat--shopping at the beautiful open markets, the marche's. I see a much greater interest in ideas and the acceptance of eccentricity in France than I do in the States. This interest is expressed in the kitchen and in the potager as well.

I increasingly see elements of French lifestyle being integrated into American food and garden culture. People are becoming more interested in having quality cooking ingredients that are fresh, seasonal, and often prepared simply. A gratin of Belgian endive in winter, topped with proscuitto, is every bit as wonderful as a fresh tomato and basil salad in summer. It's about the season, and the ingredients, and this is what the French have known for a long time.

Presentation is also important to French style. If a dish is worth serving, it is worth presenting it thoughtfully, but that doesn't mean elaborately. It can be a well-worn plate with a baguette sandwich on it, accompanied by a paper napkin, but the napkin will be nicely folded, and the table will have a small bouquet of flowers on it, even if they are only a few stems of wildflowers. I see more attention paid to this kind of casual, yet thoughtful style, I call it "real people" style. Most of us don't have matching sets of fine China or expensive crystal ware. Most French people don't either, but it's not about how much or what you have but the thought you put into it, the flair and confidence with which you do it.

I would like to see a more leisurely pace of life integrated into American culture. The daily ritual for my neighbors in Provence revolves around fire for the wood stove, shopping and preparing the meals, and sharing them. They work as masons, school teachers, nurses, farmers, politicians, artists, but the quality of life is more important to everyone than what work they do.

In both Potager and Backyard Bouquets you provide information on how to create a garden that will enhance one's senses, whether it be through sight, smell, taste, or a combination of all three. Many urbanites think of a garden as something only those fortunate enough to live in the country can enjoy. Both books however, also cater to those who live in small spaces. What caused you to focus your attention on the issue of small-space gardening?

I think many people today don't have or want a large garden unless there is a hired person to take care of it. Gardening is about maintenance and without it you rarely have a garden. If you want to have flowers blooming all the time or if you want to pick vegetables when they are buds (like artichokes) or when pods (like beans and peas) then plants need to be interfered with by the hand of man. That means watering, fertilizing, weeding, cutting, harvesting, pruning--in short, a lot of upkeep is required and it has to be on the plant's schedule, not yours. So, if you have a gardener or if you have large amounts of free time, you can have a large garden and landscaped spaces, all looking wonderful and being productive. If, like most of us, you work and have more to do than you feel you can accomplish, keeping your garden small makes sense.

And going back to the French influence, a garden can be very rewarding and satisfying when you think of it as a means for food or flowers for your home. A large terra cotta pot can be planted with 75 tulip bulbs to bloom all at the same time. It makes the most incredible display, plus you can cut flowers to bring inside. And, it only took about 20 minutes to pot up the tulips, and a few minutes a week to maintain them. Or a short hedge or clump of dahlias will supply flowers for your house all summer long, into fall, and you need only plant about 12 tubers in a small space to achieve this. A potager garden to give you fresh ingredients for your kitchen year-round can be planted in a 9 x 12 foot space and requires limited maintenance because you are planting and harvesting a little at a time, unlike traditional American harvest gardens.

I think everybody wants to have beauty in their life that they have some small part in creating. Gardening, whether vegetable, herb, or flower, can meet this desire. In Backyard Bouquets, virtually all of the flowers, from tulips to zinnias, can be successfully grown in containers or in small spaces of ground, along a driveway or in a corner of a yard, as long as there is at least three-quarters of sunlight a day.

You have worked on several books with your daughter, Ethel, including Backyard Bouquets. Obviously your love for gardening and cooking is something that you have passed on to your family. When did you discover your love for gardening and cooking? Was it something your mother passed on to you?

My grandmother cooked, sewed, and gardened. She lived in El Monte, California in a little cottage and we used to go and visit. She had all kinds of fruit trees, and I climbed them to pick fruit for her. She grew sweet peas, red and yellow calla lilies, lettuce, tomatoes--all kinds of things. When I'd go visit, I'd make her rounds with her. My mother too loved to cook, and was quite adventuresome and creative. My father loved her cooking and always praised her.

My mother also loved to garden and she could make anything grow. We usually had fresh cut flowers in the house. When I was a child whenever we were out walking and she saw a particularly nice geranium, she would break off a bit, put it in a glass of water until it grew roots and then plant it. Shortly we'd have big bushes. Until she died a few years ago, she was still planting things and taking care of her various plants from roses to ivy, no matter where she lived. But gardening was a simple, natural activity that was a part of life. I never remember her going out and buying huge loads of plants and 'putting in a garden'.

Between your garden in California and your garden in Provence have you created your dream garden?

I don't really see gardens as 'dream gardens' . For me, gardens are always in the process of becoming, never a finished object, as a dream garden implies. I loved every garden I ever had, down to the tiny herb garden I had when I lived in the desert in El Centro, California. It was in the shade of one side of the house and I had bought 5 or 6 packets of seeds, planted them and kept them covered with wet burlap. I was so thrilled to see them sprouting and growing and I was filled with the vision of having my own herbs; a very exotic notion in that time and place. I have planted hyacinth in brick planters behind rented houses, and delighted in them every day just as much as I do with the potager garden I have now, filled with dozens of artichoke plants, rows of leeks, patches of fennel, etc. For me, every garden, no matter how small or simple delivers the pleasure and satisfaction and sense of awe that is the essence of gardening for me. No matter how many times I have done it, I still can't truly believe that a few tomato seeds will really grow into huge vines and supply me with luscious tomatoes for my kitchen all summer long, nor that a packet of cosmos or zinnia seeds will grow into beautiful flowering plants that I can cut flowers from, as many as I want, to make bouquets.