GardenDesignOnline

Gifts for Gardeners 08

  The NY Botanical Garden this year has quite a collection of stunning ornaments, featuring some very striking plants.

The zinnia ornament, shown here, would make a great gift for the perennial or annual lover.

Select from sunflowers, poppies, ferns, maple trees, hollies, dogwood, and many more. Most in in the vicinity of $30.  Ornament collection here.

Mint Pillows is featuring a series of outdoor collections that are botanically inspired and quite different from the ordinary.  The pillow shown here is called Blue Hibiscus ... there's are also a couple featuring designs from a tropical forest.  I loved the series on the Tokyo Freeway, and although the Japanese-inspired pillows have nothing to do with gardening subjects, they are definitely cool. All pillows are made from a fade-resistant outdoor fabric (Outdura canvas) which can be cleaned with a mild soap & water solution. Each pillow is also numbered and dated.

Animal Sculptures
from the shop at the Missouri Botanical Garden are made from "found" materials by Kentucky artist Richard Kolb.  This peacock -- made of bare metal materials -- is intended to rust naturally, but it can be preserved with a clear acrylic spray.  Each sculpture is slightly different, since each is made from recycled materials.  It measures 6.5" x 14" x 11". 

There's also a snail, an owl, a monkey, and a cat with a lot of personality.  Peacock $58.

Gardening for Birds

From the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, a great gift for children ... a poster and kit that recommends container plants to attract birds, as well as garden ideas, a poster, sunflower seeds, a data sheet to fill out, and more.

$10 at the Cornell Shop.  And they also have available a card game, more books, and a gift membership in Project Feederwatch.

For the fall enthusiast:
Chrysanthemum placemats from the NY Botanical Garden shop ... the images on the placemats are from rare nursery catalog published in the late 19th century that was illustrated with woodcuts by Kanezumi Imai.  The placemats are backed with cork and can be cleaned with a damp cloth.  $48 for a set of 4.
Coasters also available, $18 for a set of 6.

(images from respective shops)

Offbeat Holiday Gifts 08

Hats

There are pictures in some of our old family albums of young women back in the 1920's wearing hats shaped much like these.  So if you know a gardener with whimsical leanings, someone who might have been a flapper in a previous life, this might be the perfect gift.  Hand-crafted tweed with crocheted flowers, imported from Italy. $118 from the NY Botanical Garden gift shop.  There are several styles available at different prices.

Bambisitter
Can you think of child who wouldn't want one of these in the garden?  And this one won't eat your plants!

Pre-aged pine wood, it's 55" long, about 13" high.  It also comes in a "high" version that's a bit shorter in length, but about 30" high.  Either version is $390.  From the Conran Shop.

Thimble Planters

These planters come in sets of three -- with three different sizes.  As a trio, they certainly make a statement, just because of the unusual shape.  Planted with innovative choices, the three would look great at the corner of a patio or deck.  $72 for the set. 

Available from H. Potter, whose online catalogue has a wide variety of garden gifts that well worth perusing.

Stocking Stuffers 08

My top gift for gardeners is always the same every year:  a membership to your favorite local botanical garden, arboretum, public park, horticultural society, or the like.  Not only does it help support these important green spaces, most offer a wealth of educational opportunities and of course the gift of free admission whenever you like.

Eco Pots
These little eco-pots measure just 5 1/2" x 6 1/4" -- and the wide variety of colors make them extremely attractive.  They're made from grain husks and are said to last up to five years under normal use.  Resistant to freezing and thawing, pre-drilled drainage holes, and the matching saucers are included.
Only $8 each, less for members, and other designs available.
New York Botanical Garden Shop. (NYBG Shop)

Paving Weeder
Know anyone with a patio?  Or a brick walkway or driveway?
How handy would this little tool be? 
It's made of stainless steel with a beveled blade and plastic handle, and the blade is ground on both sides so that weeds and grass can easily be removed.
Sounds like a real winner to me, and I haven't seen anything like this before. (Beats the old kitchen knife or swiss army knife).
Only $6.95 from Kinsman Company.

Color Wheel
Also from Kinsman, a good-sized gardener's color wheel.  This one is printed on plastic, so you can take it outdoors without risk that it's going to fall apart if it's left out in bad weather.  There's an eight-page booklet that explains how to use it to create smashing color combos, and it has colors and tints on both sides, allowing you up to 252 color combo choices, probably more than you could ever imagine.  One of these belongs on every gardener's potting bench or in the tool shed. $10.95

Garden Titles (III) for Christmas

New Books on Plants - Older Books for Xmas

It's always hard to find exactly what you want in plant identification books. Not enough detailed photos, no mention of common problems, not enough emphasis on the best cultivars or plant sizes.  The Homeowner's Complete Tree & Shrub Handbook: The Essential Guide to Choosing, Planting, and Maintaining Perfect Landscape Plants by Penelope O'Sullivan (Storey Publishing, 2007) solves a lot of those problems.  The introductory section discusses how to use plants in the landscape, then moves on to choosing the right plant for the right place, with excellent lists of trees and shrubs for sun & shade, wet & dry soils, etc.  In addition, the author has lists you seldom see elsewhere: top choices for standout barks, colorful evergreens, unusual textures, striking silhoutettes.

Another section on plant care covers major diseases, pollution-tolerant plants and also planting, pruning, and rejuvenating shrubs. Each entry in the A to Z list of trees and shrubs has a general plant description, an excellent section on landscape use, followed by "Designer's Choice" -- a listing of the best cultivars on the market. Photographs by Karen Bussolini would be quite helpful in identification.

This book would make a wonderful Christmas present for almost any gardener you know.

 

For Viburnum Lovers

If you don't yet have a viburnum in your garden, you're missing out on one of the greatest versatile shrubs in the plant kingdom.  As is his custom, horticulturist Michael Dirr has strong opinions about plants, and in this volume, Viburnums: Flowering Shrubs for Every Season (Timber Press, 2007) they are most welcome.  He lets you know which viburnums are the best in terms of flowers, berries, fall color, form, and size.  There are extensive lists of cultivars for each entry, and Dirr also lets you know how to use each plant.  Accompanied by gorgeous photos, this book will make gardeners all over the country make room somewhere for several of these spectacular plants.

A Must-Have for Hostas

I can't say enough good things about this series of plant guides, and the latest, the Timber Press Pocket Guide to Hostas (Timber Press Pocket Guides) by Diana Grenfell is no exception.  This handbook, small enough to fit in a medium-sized handbag, is indispensable when you're shopping for hostas. It lists plant size and leaf shape, color and texture for almost 300 of the best hostas on the market, both old cultivars and new ones. Excellent photos help you identify which ones you really want.

(click on image or text link to purchase book)

Garden Gifts (Small Stuff) 07

10 Years of Horticulture

No chance of missed issues with this present ... 10 years of Horticulture Magazine on CD-ROM, 1996-2006, searchable by subject, author, etc. Original text, photos, artwork, you name it.   A lot easier than piles or files filled with old magazines with an article in there somewhere that you'd like to find ...

For the Sun-Challenged

Many of my landscape design clients are bothered by plant requirements for "full sun," "partial sun," and the like.  Now, here's a device from Burpee that'll supposedly take all the guess work out of the equation.

You push the calculator into the ground, let it sit there for awhile, and it'll tell you how much sun that location receives.  Presumably you can move it around the garden and figure out which beds are best for sun, part-sun, etc.  Sounds like it's worth a try... it gets good comments on the Burpee site, although I doubt they'd put up any bad reviews. 

Easy Carry-Alls

I've had one of these flexible carry-alls from Gardener's Supply  for several years, and I highly recommend them for gardening chores.  They're lightweight, washable, stackable, and they won't tip over when you fill them with soil or weeds or cuttings or crops or whatever else.

And now, they come in a variety of cheerful colors.  Believe me, you won't regret having a couple of these containers, and you'll likely end up throwing out all those other useless carry-alls piled up in the garden shed.

(images from respective suppliers)

Garden Titles (II) for Christmas 07

A New Take on Old Ideas

A revolution is taking place these days in garden design. Outdoor designs should be artworks in and of themselves ... not just plants and materials and time-tested design concepts.  In his new book, Making the Modern Garden  (Monacelli Press, 2007), British landscape architect  Christopher Bradley-Hole introduces the landscapes of many practitioners that are in the forefront of modern design.  "Making gardens," he says, "should be a liberation, an opportunity for freedom of thought and expression."

And that's exactly what you get in the simple and serene amphitheatre designed by Stephen Stimson Associates of Falmouth MA.  It's levels are defined by concentric arcs of grass and stone and punctuated by an irregular planting of trees that echo the natural plantings in the adjacent woods.

Bradley-Hole's own striking designs are scattered throughout the book, along with small axonometric drawings that illustrate exactly how these new gardens are put together.  There are stunning photographs of almost unimaginable new design concepts, from the dancing water jets of Andrew Ewing at the Hannah Peschar Sculpture Garden in Surrey, UK to a Texas wildflower meadow planted by Neil Diboll of the Prairie Nursery in Wisconsin to the ultra-modern landscape designed by Andrea Cochran and Topher Delaney for the Portland, OR Art Museum.

In every chapter, Bradley Hole connects the old to the new and demonstrates how any designer can meld the traditional with the bold and new in gardens that are definitely 21st century.

(click on image or text link to purchase book)

Garden Gift Suggestions (II) 07

Gifts for Outdoor Spaces

I really like the idea of this garden pole lantern containing a generous-sized candle from H. Potter, where you'll find a lot of unusual items for your patio, your pool, your outdoor dining terrace.  Birdfeeders are often quite unattractive, but the one shown here would look great viewed from any inside window (although the birds might not appreciate the mod design).

I also liked many of H. Potter's copper urns, window boxes and planters, in particular the Zen planter shown here, a great addition in any garden that features a lot of bamboo or other asian-style plantings.

H.  Potter also carries garden furniture, arbors and trellises,  outdoor  garden screens, and many good-looking outdoor lighting fixtures. A lot to choose from for the discerning gardener.

(images: H.Potter)

Great Container Sale

Saturday Dec 1st - 10AM-3PM Somerset, NJ

Seibert-Rice Annual Container Sale

Seibert & Rice markets hand-made terracotta Italian containers, and they are frost-proof to minus 20 degrees.  These are some of the finest looking containers you'll ever encounter, and styles range from the very traditional to quite modern, like the cone vase shown here.

So if you're anywhere within driving range of Somerset, NJ, (near Edison, not far from the intersection of the NJ Tpke and 287) head on down to Atlock Farm, 545 Weston Canal Road, for the super sale of urns, containers of all sorts, stautuary and accessories.  For example, the cone vase shown here usually retails for $1300, but on Saturday it'll be $715, quite a discount.  Seibert-Rice will also be selling its striking topiaries, holiday orchids, and offering food and drink as well. For more information, check their website or call 973-467-8266.

Garden Gift Suggestions 07 (I)

I can't think of a better gift for a gardener or designer than a gift membership to one of your local gardens. I belong to gardens that aren't even in the area where I live, just in order to take advantage of the great info in their newsletters and/or publications, advance notice on upcoming events, plant sales, and other special offerings.  And public gardens need our support, too, so put those memberships way up on your Christmas lists.

And, speaking of public gardens, some of their gift shops offer pretty cool items for gardeners.
At the NY Botanical Garden's online shop, you can order a christmas tree ornament in the shape of the garden's conservatory (pictured here); beautiful notepads and note cards and lovely mugs with various botanical designs. They offer plants, as well.  I particularly liked the collection of four small ornamental grasses -- Carex 'Amazon Mist,' Festuca ovina 'Glauca,' Carex flagellifera 'Bronzita,' and Carex 'Red Rooster.'  Surely you could keep them going inside until early spring, when they could be planted out in the garden.  This online shop has a very wide selection of attractive items for sale -- including many for children -- so do check it out.

At the the Brooklyn Botanic Garden's online shop, there is also a wide array of items.  Tools for the gardener, items for the home, plus books, calendars, knockout gift cards and journals, tiles of various design (the dragonfly tile is shown here), jewelry, botanical prints to die for, and for children:  a grow-your-own carniverous plant set.

Finally, at the Winterthur shop, you can order a Chinese lantern and berry wreath, christmas cards, jewelry, wondrous miniatures for the dollhouse, beautiful garden ornaments and urns (lovebird cachepots shown here), and garden stakes reminiscent of what you might see in the Winterthur gardens.  And if you haven't been there, make sure you plan a future trip to Delaware.

(click on images -- from each garden shop -- for larger view).

Mod Wicker, Danish Modern Remade

I Can't Believe It's Wicker!

The difference is, this wicker is made of synthetic materials that can withstand sunlight and bad weather to make it a perfect outdoor choice.  But it's the design -- Italian and imported -- that make Emu Wicker so outstanding.  The frame is aluminum, the feet are plastic,
and the chairs are made to stack one on top of the other.

Emu was founded in Italy in 1951, and offers a variety of great looking contemporary outdoor furniture by some of the country's top designers.  The small hourglass shaped table was designed by Italian Alfredo Chiaramonte and Australian Mark Marin.  The wicker table with tempered glass top is just one of the Emu designs that this duo has produced, all available in the United States from Spacify, a source for contemporary European furniture based in Redwood City, CA.  There are many more designs available in wicker, including chairs, tables, and even chaise lounges for poolside.

I also liked Spacify's Ocean dining chair from Denmark --which looks like it would be right at home on one of those large private yachts that ply the upscale marinas, but it would also go very well under a shaded pergola on a dining patio for a stylish, unconventional home.  It's got a stainless steel frame and a plastic back and seat, and it comes in white, olive green, and black.

Danish modern updated for the 21st century.

While we're at it, how about another Danish garden innovation, the Clipper garden bench? It seats three (obviously), and has a stainless steel frame to support the slatted teak back and seat. It's simple and elegant, and could be at home on almost any style garden or patio.

Luytens bench, move over!

And check out dozens of other modern outdoor designs on Spacify's website. You won't be disappointed.

(images courtesy Spacify)

(click on images for larger view)