GardenDesignOnline

Books: Climate-sensitive plants

If your area of the country has at all been hit by unusual weather changes in recent years, then you'll want to consult this invaluable book on preserving water for your plants.  In Waterwise Gardening (Rizzoli International Publications, Inc, 2025) author Richard Restuccia offers suggestions for plants that will do well in any part of the USA.

As he notes in the introduction to the book, commercial agriculture is taking most of our water, but individuals can preserve the rest for use in home gardens.  As Retuccia puts it, "By making conscious choices and implementing water-saving measures in our gardens, lawns, and outdoor spaces, we contribute directly to the larger effort of preserving a precious resource."

He'll take you through all of the facts about a plant's water requirements and how to efficiently use them.  Best of all, there's a list of water-wise plants for Northern and Southern California; the Pacific Northeast and the Desert Southwest; the Rockies; Texas; and the Southeast and Northeast.  Each entry includes a photo of the plant, it's common and scientific names, and a chart of its water requirements. There are also tips on irrigatio systems, and how to determine if you're under- or over-watering.  In short, it's a book you need now or that you will need in the future.

 

This book from British author David Domoney profiles 75 plants with what he calls "superpowers," -- from plants that cool towns and cities to plants that fight erosion and bad air quality, to plants used for food, medicine, and in modern garden design.

In Plants with Superpowers (Frances Lincoln, 2025), Domoney's entries include a photo of each plant, along with a description of each, appearance and uses, growing tips and interesting facts.  You'll find snowdrops with an anti-freeze superpower; gas plant, spontaneous combustion; scots pine, weather predictor; peace lily, air purifier, and many many more surprising plants and characteristics.  A fun read for any gardener you know.

 

Happenings April 2025

Selected Events Around the Country:

Orchid Shows:

Thru April 13, Orchid Show, Atlanta, GA
"Orchid Daze," Atlanta Botanical Garden
Thru April 27, Orchid Show, Washington DC
"Masters of Deception," US Botanic Garden & Smithsonian Gardens
Thru April 27, Bronx, NY
The Orchid Show: Mexican Modernism
NY Botanical Garden

Events:

April 1-30, California
April 1, Lecture, LA Thomas Wolz, , ONLINE
2-3pm EST, "The Land is Full." Garden Conservancy
April 3, Garden Symposium, Newport, RI
8:30am-4pm, "Italian Influence in Newport," TCLF
April 5, Garden Dialogues, Phoenix, AZ
10am-1pm, Garden Tours & Talks, TCLF
April 5 & 26, Garden Conservancy Open Day, Nutley, NJ

April 9, Evenings with Experts, "Cultivated Places," ONLINE
7-8:30pm, Author & Broadcaster Jennifer Jewell, GROW NATIVE M
April 9, Botanical Talk & Tour, Boston, MA
12:30-2pm, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
April 10-12, 78th Colonial Williamsburg Garden Symposium, Williamsburg, VA
"The Influence of Great English Gardens,"  Also ONLINE
April 10, "Gardening Year-Round," AHS LIVE, ONLINE
7-8 pm ET, Lecture, Liz Reyes, Asst. Director, Heronswood
April 10, Lecture, "Gertrude Jekyll's Munstead Wood, ONLINE
2-3pm, "The Next 100 Years," Garden Conservancy
April 12, Garden Conservancy Open Day, Campobello, SC

April 16, Lecture, LA Thomas Woltz, Washington DC
6:30-8:30pm, National Building Museum, "The Land is Full."
April 17, "Saving Nature with Your Yard," AHS LIVE, ONLINE
2-3 pm ET, Lecture, author & professor Dr. Douglas Tallamy
April 19, Garden Conservancy Open Day, East Hampton, NY

April 24, "Native Plant Groundcovers," AHS LIVE, ONLINE
2-3 pm ET, Lecture, Designer Kathy Connolly
April 24, Lecture, Sleepy Cat Farm, Part I, ONLINE
2-3pm, Garden Conservancy
April 25, Univ. N. Carolina Garden Tour, Charlotte, NC
10:30am-noon ET, Charlotte Botanical Gardens, with Director Jeff Gillman

April 26-May 3, Historic Garden Week, various sites, Virginia
April 26, Liberty Hall Museum, Union, NJ
10am-noon, Tour & Talk, Garden Conservancy
April 26-27 Garden Conservancy Open Days: MA, NJ, NY, TX
MA: Hampshire Cty; NJ: Essex, Hunterdon Ctys; NY: Westchester Cty; TX: Harris Cty

LOOKAHEAD:

May 9-10 Dumbarton Oaks Landscape Symposium, Washington, DC
"The Land Has More to Tell Us," Dumbarton Oaks
May 20-24, Chelsea Flower Show, London, UK

June 2-5, Am. Public Gardens Association Annual Conference, Denver, CO
July 11-20, Cape Cod Hydrangea Festival, Cape Cod, MA

Flower Cascades

Gardner Museum, photo Siena Scarff

If you've never been to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, April is the time to go, as you'll be able to enjoy one of the great flower displays in the country: the annual show of hanging nasturtiums.

The nasturtium show only lasts for about three weeks; it's an annual tradition that starts each year around Easter time.

photo Siena Scarff

According to the museum's blog, Isabella started growing the flowers at her home in Brookline by 1913 and placed them on the courtyard balconies in honor of her birthday.  She sold the property in 1919, but museum trustees bought new hothouses in 1926 and revived the tradition, which has goes on today.

photo: Gardner museum

The vines are started from seed every June, planted in late summer, and trained in greenhouses throughout the winter.  The nasturtiums require continuous care to ensure they reach their dramatic length of approximately 20 feet in time for their museum debut. 

 

 

Philly Flower Show 2025

Click to enlarge images

As you enter this year's show, you're instantly transported to the future, fitting perfectly with this year's theme, "Gardens of Tomorrow."  The entrance garden, "Future Florentia," was designed by PHS artists, and as Flower Show creative director Seth Pearsoll explains, the show "is a celebration of innovation, resilience, and creativity in gardening."

Some of my favorites from the show:

Tomorrow's Eden is a collaboration between Japanese garden designers Kazuyuki Ishihara and Iftikhar Ahmed of Treeline Designz. It's a two-tiered garden with waterfall and other natural features, and the designers say it's a landscape that "embodies two powerful truths: the boundless resilience of nature and the fragile responsibility humanity holds in preserving it." You'll definitely want to take a good look at this garden from both the front and the back to appreciate all of its elements.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the most popular exhibits, Welcoming Wildlife Home by Jennifer Designs, explores the role of wildlife in a thriving ecosystem.  The animals seated at the table represent human interaction with nature, and the surrounding plants are those that particularly support various species. 

I was also struck by the Signature of Time by Mark Cook Landscaping, whose exhibit represents "a life of journeys and experiences shared through architecture, color, texture, and plants from multiple time zones.

There is, of course, much more to the show than landscape exhibits, so head over to Philadelphia for an experience you won't want to miss.

Happenings March 2025

Selected Events Around the Country:

Orchid Shows:

Thru March 9, Orchid Show, St. Louis, MO
Missouri Botanical Garden
Thru March 23, Orchid Show, Boylston, MA
"Pixels & Petals," New England Botanic Garden
Thru March 23, Orchid Show, Glencoe, IL
"India Blooms," Chicago Botanic Garden
Thru March 30, Orchid Show, Cleveland, OH
Orchids: Love in Bloom, Cleveland Botanical Garden

Thru April 13, Orchid Show, Atlanta, GA
"Orchid Daze," Atlanta Botanical Garden
Thru April 27, Orchid Show, Washington DC
"Masters of Deception," US Botanic Garden & Smithsonian Gardens
Thru April 27, Bronx, NY
The Orchid Show: Mexican Modernism
NY Botanical Garden

Events:
March 1-9, Philadelphia Flower Show, Philadelphia, PA
"Gardens of Tomorrow," Philadelphia Convention Center
March 1, Garden Conservancy Open Days Tours, CA
Cathedral City, Palm Springs
March 5, "Roses in the Garden," West Palm Beach, FL
3-5pm, lecture, photographer Ngoc Minh Ngo,
Norton Museum of Art, Garden Conservancy
Repeats at other locations
March 7-9, Vermont Flower Show, Essex Junction, VT
Champlain Valley Expo
March 7-9 Santa Barbara International Orchid Show, Santa Barbara, CA
"Exotic Gardens," Earl Warren Showgrounds
March 8, US Production Facility Open House, Washington DC
10am-2:30pm, US Botanic Garden Production Facility

March 11, 39th Davidson Horticultural Symposium, Davidson, NC
9am - 4:30pm, Davidson College, "The Unusual, Unexpected & Unfamiliar"
March 12, "Lawn to Meadow Conversion," ONLINE
7pm, Lecture, Evenings with Experts, Grow Native Massachusettts

March 21, Ithaca Native Landcape Symposium, Ithaca, NY
8:30am-4:45pm, Cinemapolis Theater
March 27, "Three Coastal Maine Gardens," Bronx, NY
11am, Lecture, NY Botanical Garden
March 29, Lahr Native Plant Symposium, Washington DC
9:15am-3:45pm, US National  Arboretum
March 29, Northwest Hort Society Spring Symposium, Kenmore, WA
8:30am-4pm, "Futurescapes," Bastyr University Auditorium

Lookahead:

April 10-12, 78th Colonial Williamsburg Garden Symposium, Williamsburg, VA
"The Influence of Great English Gardens,"  Also ONLINE
April 26-May 3, Historic Garden Week, various sites, Virginia

May 20-24, Chelsea Flower Show, London, UK

Books: Fernando Wong Landscapes

   You don't have to live in the tropics to be inspired by Fernando Wong's landscape designs.  This new book, The Young Man and the Tree, (Vendome Press, 2024) is written by Wong's partner, Tim Johnson, and it features more than 20 contemporary gardens located in tropical areas, including Miami, Palm Beach, and Lyford Cay in the Bahamas.

The team is renowned for saving large trees, and all designers should be cognizant of that when fashioning plans and hiring contractors.  As Martha Stewart notes in the introduction to the book, "Fernando Wong is also extremely respectful of historic plantings around the older homes he has been entrusted with enhancing.  Magnificent trees and lush hedges are retained, and beautiful antique and vintage walls and outbuildings are restored or rebuilt.  The result?  A cohesive and meaningful whole where once there was none or where what had been there had disappeared."

Wong, trained in architecture and interior design in his native Panama, came to the United States in 2001, met Johnson in Miami, and the two opened their firm in 2005.  Their work has been featured in Elle Decor, The Wall Street Journal, Architectural Digest, The New York Times, and many other publications.

Each garden in the book includes a brief description of the project, a "plan" of the landscape, and gorgeous photos by Carmel Brantley.  Designs range from the classical style to contemporary landscapes, and although the gardens in this book feature many tropical plants, the hardscapes that include pools, outdoor kitchens, fountains and sculpture gardens could be found almost anywhere.  You will not fail to be inspired by all of these designs, and I'm sure you'll look forward to the firm's next book that we hope will feature gardens across the United States and elsewhere around the globe.

*Commisions earned on book sales.

NYBG Orchid Show: Mexico

NYBG - Click to enlarge

The Orchid Show: Mexican Modernism
February 15-April 27, 2025
NY Botanical Garden

Take a trip to Mexico -- where you'll see traditional floral displays in a contemporary artistic setting, all inspired by the bold designs of Mexican modernist architect Luis Barragan. Thousands of orchids and other tropical plants will be on display.  Barragan was a leading proponent of modern Mexican architecture, and he used plants native to Mexico, bright, bold colors and organic textures.

Visitors to the show will also learn about NYBG's ongoing orchid research in locations around the globe and orchids that grow in the wild.  The exhibition will also feature Orchid Nights and special classes about orchid species.

Philadelphia Flower Show 2025

PHS - click on images to enlarge

Gardens of Tomorrow March 1-9
Pennnsylvania Convention Center

This year's entrance garden, "Future Florentia" captures the idea that flowers are a symbol of the future, representing growth, beauty and vitality in a natural, poetic style.

Seth Pearsoll, the show's VP and Creative Director, says this year's theme "invokes a sense of optimism, highlighting how planting something today is a small gesture that promotes a brighter future."  He adds that the exhibitors' designs showcase sustainability and the re-use of materials to create gardens of "breathtaking artistic expression."

PHS President Matt Radar said the show offers "a glimpse into the future of the industry while advancing our mission to create a greener, healthier, and more equitable world through gardening." Several new designers will be exhibiting this year, including the landscape and urban design firm OLIN.  OLIN, in partnership with Remark Glass, will install a garden called "Don't Call it Dirt, Don't Call it Trash" to emphasize the importance of repurposing items that are often thrown away, such as glass bottles, woody debris, and food waste.

Japanese garden designer Kazuyuki Ishibara is working with Treeline Designz on a garden of two tiers that celebrates interconnected landscapes.  It's called "Tomorrow's Eden -- Gardens for a Changing World."

As always, the show will feature educational sessions, a butterfly kiosk, a play space for children, floral crowns available for purchase, potting parties, and early-morning tours and photography sessions.

For  a full schedule of activities, visit the website Philadelphia Flower Show.

 

Happenings February 2025

Selected Events Around the Country:

Orchid Shows:

Feb 1-March 9, Orchid Show, St. Louis, MO
Missouri Botanical Garden
Feb 6, Lecture, LA Michelle Delk, Philadelphia, PA
6:30pm, Penn Design, "Snohetta Landscapes"
Feb 8-March 23, Orchid Show, Boylston, MA
"Pixels & Petals," New England Botanic Garden
Feb 8-March 23, Orchid Show, Glencoe, IL
"India Blooms," Chicago Botanic Garden
Feb 8-April 13, Orchid Show, Atlanta, GA
"Orchid Daze," Atlanta Botanical Garden

Feb 14-March 30, Orchid Show, Cleveland, OH
Orchids: Love in Bloom, Cleveland Botanical Garden
Feb 14-April 27, Orchid Show, Washington DC
"Masters of Deception," US Botanic Garden & Smithsonian Gardens
Feb 15-April 27, Bronx, NY
The Orchid Show: Mexican Modernism
NY Botanical Garden

Events:

NOTE: US Production Facility Open House March 8th (see LOOKAHEAD below)
Tickets go very fast.

Jan 31-Feb 2, Nashville Antiques & Garden Show, Nashville, TN
Music City Center
Jan 31-Feb 9, Great Big Home & Garden Show, Cleveland, OH
I-X Center

Feb 7, Urban Tree Symposium, Boylston, MA & ONLINE
9am-4:30pm, "Urban Oasis," New England Botanic Garden
Feb 7, Today's Horticulture Symposium, Kennett Square, PA & ONLINE
8am-4pm, Longwood Gardens

Feb 10, Lecture, LA Thomas Rainer, Charleston, SC
5:30 pm, "Functional Planting," Charleston Hort Society
Feb 11, Lecture, Morris Arboretum Director William Cullina, ONLINE
7pm, Native Shrubs & Small Trees for Perennial Companions, Hort Society of MD
Feb 11, Lecture, "Designing Biodiversity," Cambridge, MA
7pm, LA Evan Abramson, Cambridge Public Library
Feb 13, "The Art of Bulbs", Bronx, NY
11am-noon, Lecture, designer Jacqueline van der Kloet, NYBG
Feb 14, Greenscapes Symposium, ONLINE
9am-4pm Eastern, "Designing Resilient Landscapes," Brookside Gardens
Feb 14-17, Great Backyard Bird Count, USA
Help Audubon and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology Keep Track of Our Birds

Feb 19-23, Northwest Flower & Garden Festival, Seattle, WA
Seattle Convention Center
Feb 20-23, Connecticut Flower & Garden Show, Hartford, CT.
Connecticut Convention Center

Feb 26-28, ELA Annual Conference & Marketplace, ONLINE & MA, PA locations
Feb 28: Boylston, MA; Brewster, MA; Villanova, PA
Feb 27, "Black Flora," Floriculture's New Vanguard, Bronx, NY
11am-noon, Lecture, author Teresa Speight, NY Botanical Garden
Feb 28-March 2, New Jersey Home & Garden Show, Edison, NJ
NJ Convention & Exposition Center

LOOKAHEAD:

March 1-9, Philadelphia Flower Show, Philadelphia, PA
"Gardens of Tomorrow," Philadelphia Convention Center
March 8, US Production Facility Open House, Washington DC
10am-2:30pm, US Botanic Garden Production Facility
March 11, 39th Davidson Horticultural Symposium, Davidson, NC
9am - 4:30pm, Davidson College, "The Unusual, Unexpected & Unfamiliar"
March 29, Lahr Native Plant Symposium, Washington DC
9:15am-3:45pm, US National  Arboretum

April 10-12, 78th Colonial Williamsburg Garden Symposium, Williamsburg, VA
"The Influence of Great English Gardens,"  Also ONLINE
April 26-May 3, Historic Garden Week, various sites, Virginia

May 20-24, Chelsea Flower Show, London, UK

 

AHS Live Winter Series

Happenings January 2025

Selected Events Around the Country:

Events:

Jan 8-10, MANTS, Mid-Atlantic Trade Show, Baltimore, MD
Baltimore Convention Center
Jan 9-10, NDAL Annual Design Symposium, Ambler PA & ONLINE
5pm, Temple University Ambler Campus
REPEATS: Jan 16-17, Connecticut College Arboretum, New London, CT

Jan 9, Cocktails & Conversations, Washington, DC
6:30-8:30pm, "Warming Climate, Wilder  Weeds," US Botanic Garden
Jan 10-12, Maricopa County Home & Garden Show, Phoenix, AZ
Arizona State Fairgrounds

Jan 13-17, Green & Growin' Trade Show, Greensboro, NC
Lectures: Sheraton Greensboro at Four Seasons; Trade Show: Greensboro Coliseum

Jan 23, "LIfe in the Garden," Bronx, NY
11-noon, Lecture, Designer Bunny Williams, NY Botanical Garden

Jan 28, Plant-O-Rama 2025, Brooklyn, NY
9am-4pm, Trade Show, Lectures, Career Fair, Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Jan 29, Longwood Reimagined Lecture, Kennett Square PA or ONLINE
6:30-8:15pm, LA Doug Reed & others, Longwood Gardens
Jan 31-Feb2, Nashville Antiques & Garden Show, Nashville, TN
Music City Center
Jan 31-Feb 9, Great Big Home & Garden Show, Cleveland, OH
I-X Center, Cleveland

Light Shows:

thru Jan 4, "Garden Glow," St. Louis, MO
Missouri Botanical Garden

thru Jan 5, "Lightscape," Glencoe, IL
Chicago Botanic Garden
thru Jan 5, "Lightscape," Encinitas, CA
San Diego Botanic Garden
thru Jan 5, "Enchanted Forest of Light," La Canada Flintridge, CA
Descanco Gardens
thru Jan 5, "Lightscape," Brooklyn, NY
Brooklyn Botanic Garden
thru Jan 5, "A Longwood Christmas," Kennett Square, PA
Longwood Botanical Gardens
thru Jan 5, New England Botanic Garden, Boylston, MA
"Night Lights: Color Cascade"
thru Jan 5, "Frost," Cleveland, OH
Cleveland Botanical Garden
thru Jan 5, "Season's Greenings," Washington DC
US Botanic Garden

thru Jan 12, "Garden Lights, Holiday Nights," Atlanta, GA
Atlanta Botanical Garden
thru Jan 20, "Holiday Train Show," Bronx, NY
NY Botanical Garden

Lookahead:

Feb 7, Urban Tree Symposium, Boylston, MA & ONLINE
9am-4:30pm, "Urban Oasis," New England Botanic Garden
Feb 7, Today's Horticulture Symposium, Kennett Square, PA & ONLINE
8am-4pm, Longwood Gardens

Feb 13, "The Art of Bulbs", Bronx, NY
11am-noon, Lecture, designer Jacqueline van der Kloet, NYBG
Feb 14, Greenscapes Symposium, ONLINE
9am-4pm Eastern, "Designing Resilient Landscapes," Brookside Gardens

Feb 26-28, ELA Annual Conference & Marketplace

March 1-9, Philadelphia Flower Show, Philadelphia, PA
"Gardens of Tomorrow," Philadelphia Convention Center
March 11, 39th Davidson Horticultural Symposium, Davidson, NC
9am - 4:30pm, Davidson College, "The Unusual, Unexpected & Unfamiliar"

April 10-12, 78th Colonial Williamsburg Garden Symposium, Williamsburg, VA
"The Influence of Great English Gardens,"  Also ONLINE
April 26-May 3, Historic Garden Week, various sites, Virginia

May 20-24, Chelsea Flower Show, London, UK