GardenDesignOnline

An Unusual Maple

Hornbeam Maple - Acer carpinifolium

I have to admit that this tree stumped me the first time I saw it -- I had to go back home and look it up in Dirr. (ie, Manual of Woody Landscape Plants: Their Identification, Ornamental Characteristics, Culture, Propagation and Uses by Michael Dirr).

It turned out to be the hornbeam maple, totally unknown to me. I'd walked by it many times, but I didn't notice it was a maple until the samaras appeared recently -- and my first thought was "How can these be maple leaves?"  And according to Dirr, it may have "the most appropriate common name of any maple."  Because indeed, the leaves do resemble those of the hornbeam.  They apparently change to rich gold and brown in autumn, and the samaras have that nice pinkish cast in spring.

These maples normally grow to about 25 feet max, and they have a lovely vase shape.  I sure hope to see more of them in my neighborhood soon, where scores of new trees have been planted in recent years -- many of them redbuds and cherries small enough to  fit underneath the electric wires so that the electric company won't have to come along twice a year and butcher them.

It's all part of a program started in 2001 by Casey Trees, an organization that is working to restore DC's tree canopy.   DC was once known as the "City of Trees," but it suffered a dramatic loss of tree canopy due to neglect, budget shortfalls and diseases such as Dutch elm disease.  Casey was established with a donation by philanthropist Betty Brown Casey, and since 2003, the organization has planted over 5000 trees, some of them seedlings, but 3500-plus large ones. I like the cherries on my own street and the redbuds on the next street over, but the hornbeam maples are truly spectacular.  It's a small tree that would be great in almost any urban setting, and it's a little gem.

(click on photos to enlarge)

Happenings July 08

Through Oct 13, "One Planet, Ours!", Washington DC
Exhibit on Sustainability for the 22nd Century, US Botanic Garden 202 225-8333
Through Nov 2, Moore in America, Bronx, NY
Monumental Sculptures of Henry Moore, NY Botanical Garden 718-817-8700
July 6 Garden Conservancy Open Days Tours, NJ
10AM-4PM, Summit NJ
July 9, 16, 23 Indian Paradise Gardens, Glencoe, IL.
6:30-8:30PM, Lecture Series on Indian Mughal Gardens (1526-1858) Chicago Botanic Garden,Regenstein Center 847-835-6874
July 10, Stylish Sheds and Elegant Hideaways, San Marino, CA.
2:30 PM, Lecture & Book Signing, author Debra Prinzing, The Huntington 626-405-2100

July 11-13 Bainbridge in Bloom 20th Annual Garden Tour, Bainbridge Island, WA
10AM-5PM, Six gardens, including the Lewis & Little Garden, Demos, lectures, 206-842-7901 (photo left)
July 12, House & Garden Tour, Great Barrington, MA
10AM-4PM, six gardens, "Hidden Treasures of the Berkshires," 413-298-3089
July 12 Garden Conservancy Open Days Tours, NJ, PA, NY
Union Cty, NJ; Bucks Cty, PA; Dutchess, Suffolk, Tompkins, Ulster Counties, NY

July 13 Garden Conservancy Open Days Tours: CT, NJ, NY
New Haven Cty, CT; Bergen Cty, NJ; Madison, Putnam, Suffolk Counties, NY
July 13, Secret Garden Tour, Provincetown, MA
10AM-3PM, 11th annual tour, 10 gardens 508-487-1750
July 14, Drought Tolerant Plants, Glencoe, IL.6:30 - 8:30 PM Lecture, Chicago Botanic Garden, 847-835-8261
July 15, Create Space & Scale with a Small Tree, Atlanta, GA
7:30PM, Lecture, GA Perennial Plant Assn, McElreath Hall, Atlanta History Center. Speaker: Fred Spicer, Landscape architect & Exec Director, Birmingham Botanical Garden.
July 17, Garden Tour, Cotuit, MA
Tour of Private Cape Cod gardens, sponsor: Heritage Museum & Gardens 508 888 3300 x 111
July 17, Garden Tour, Camden, ME
9:30AM-4PM, 61st Annual Tour 207-236-8946
July 17, July 24 Math for Gardeners, Glencoe, IL.
6:30 - 8:30 PM. Class on garden calculation, including areas, volumes, plants per square foot, etc.  Chicago Botanic Garden 847 835-8261
July 18  12th annual Woody Plant Conference, Swarthmore, PA
8:30AM-5PM, Scott Arboretum (610) 388-1000 x 507
July 18, Green Roofs Tour & Lecture, Washington DC
11AM-1PM, US Botanic Garden,  Nancy Somerville, Am. Socy of Landscape Architects & Kate O'Mara, EPA 202 225-1116
July 18, Why Use Native Plants, Washington DC
2PM-3PM, Lecture, US Botanic Garden, Andrea DeLong-Amaya of the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center 202 225-1116
July 19, 14th annual Private Garden Tour, Kennebunk, ME
10AM-4PM, "Private Gardens of the Kennebunks," eight gardens 207-985-5975
July 19, Garden Conservancy Open Days Tours, CT, MA
Fairfield Cty, CT; Plymouth Cty,
July 20, Garden Tour , West Seattle, WA
9AM-5PM, 14th annual tour, nine gardens,"The Art of Gardens."
July 20, Garden Conservancy Open Days Tours, CT, MA, NY
Hartford Cty, CT; Berkshire Cty, MA; Columbia, Westchester Counties, NY
July 20-26 Perennial Plant Assn Annual Mtg, Philadelphia, PA
Lectures, garden tours, trade show & more 614-771-8431
July 23, Creating a Native Woodland Garden, Bronx, NY
10AM-2:30 PM, Workshop, NY Botanical Garden, Watson Bldg, Native plant expert Larry Weaner 718-817-8747
July 24 Natural Alternatives to Lawns, Glencoe, IL.
6:30 - 9 PM Learn how to get rid of the lawn in an attractive way. Chicago Botanic Garden, 847-835-8261
July 24-26 Children & Youth Garden Symposium, Greater Philadelphia, PA
Annual AHS Conference.  Lectures, tours, workshops & more. 703-768-5700 x 132
July 25, Sustainable Schoolyards, Washington DC
1PM-2:30PM, US Botanic Garden, Panel Discussion with Susan Boyd of Concern Inc. 202 225-1116
July 26-27 Gardenwalk, Buffalo, NY
10AM-4PM Annual self-guided tour of more than 300 private gardens, one of the largest (if not the largest) garden tours in the US. 716-879-0123
July 26, Garden Tour, Mount Desert Island, ME
10AM-4PM, "Open Garden Day," six gardens.
July 26, Garden Conservancy Open Days Tours, NY, WA
Dutchess Cty, NY, Kitsap Cty, WA
July 27, Garden Conservancy Open Days Tours, CA, CT, IL, MA
Sonoma Cty, CA; Litchfield Cty, CT: Cook & Lake Counties, IL; Berkshire Cty, MA

Lookahead:

Aug 10-14, Annual Conference, Assn of Professional Landscape Designers, Tarrytown, NY
Sept 19-22, Annual Conference, Garden Writers Assn, Portland, OR
Oct 3-7, Annual Conference, Am. Socy of Landscape Architects, Philadelphia, PA
Nov 13-15,  2nd Wave of Modernism in Landscape Architecture, Chicago, IL
Conference on modernist trends in current landscape architecture.  The Cultural Landscape Foundation, 202-483-0553.  Space limited.

(photo: Bainbridge in Bloom)

Adirondack with a Twist

An Updated Classic

Wish I had known about Archie's Island before I bought my own Adirondack chairs for the back yard. When the catalog showed up in my mailbox last week, I wondered why everyone else is sticking to the same old boring shapes and colors. If you like creativity, Archie's is what you want. The fan back Adirondack, shown here -- wow! -- comes in 28 colors, from mango to kiwi and blue grotto to tumbleweed.

There's also an Adirondack with a round back, and a table to match, and a loveseat, too.  As it says in the catalog, "it's 50% Adirondack, 50% fun."

The Swedish country bench, shown here, is just off beat enough to make a statement wherever you might want to put it.  Any of this furniture would look great in an urban setting -- or in any garden with a casual air, and who wants anything else these days?

Archie's is owned by Archie McIntyre, who gets his wood -- a mahogany known as Merpau -- from Malaysia.  Archie says all the wood "is sustainably harvested and carefully controlled by the Malaysian government to insure the long term biodiversity of its rain forests while providing an economic resource for its industries and people."  Archie personally visited the forest where his company's timber is harvested and said he made the trip to ensure that his company's activities "are not harming the environment." 

The company also donates one percent of its "top-line" profits to the Massachusetts Chapter of The Nature Conservancy through a program called One Percent for the Planet.  Everyone in the business should be encouraged to do the same.

Archie's furniture is weather resistant and can be left outside year-round, although they do suggest a little extra care if you live near the ocean -- and of course it'll last longer if you bring it in during the winter.  It's a great new take on outdoor garden furniture, and I can even imagine designing a garden around it.

(photos: Archie's Island)

Chicago Botanic Dwarf Conifer Garden

The Chicago Botanic Garden's Dwarf Conifer Garden is now open again after its closure last fall for a major renovation. The new garden design, by Hoerr Schaudt Landscape Architects, features a new staircase entry sequence, with pocket planting beds and new terrace overlooks that offer stunning views of the surrounding gardens. 

Walls of evergreens enclose the garden, while "windows" allow visitors to look out to the Japanese Garden, the Great Basin, and other areas below.  Stone troughs contain miniature conifers, and rock outcroppings are placed throughout the site.  The collection includes more than 150 different kinds of dwarf conifers, and it's considered one of the best in the United States. 

Many of the garden's mature specimens were relocated and placed in the new garden to emphasize shape and color -- globes, pyramids, and columnar specimens in blues, golds, emerald greens, and chartreuse.

Some of the rare species in the collection include one of the largest weeping Norway spruces in the Midwest; a thread-leaf false cypress that is 30 years old; and a Horstmann's Silberlocke Korean fir. These plants stayed in their original locations, and the garden was designed around them.

(photos: Robin Carson © Chicago Botanic Garden)

Two Regional Garden Books

Gardens of Maine

In a repeat performance, author and Maine resident Rebecca Sawyer-Fay brings us volume two on great Maine gardens -- this book focusing on the drama that occurs each year in a climate that's sometimes hard on plants.

Gardens Maine Style, Act II (Down East Books, 2008) begins with Opening Acts -- Maine gardens that awaken in April with snow-covered tulips, ferns unfolding, and ubiquitous forsythia and daffodils bursting into bloom.

Star Performers are plants that perform beautifully in the northern climate, but Sawyer-Fay also pays homage to the people who are hybridizing Siberian Irises, pays a visit to the garden of Susan Shaw, who breeds new kinds of daylilies, and pays homage to the lilacs, peonies, roses and other plants that do particularly well in Maine.

There are other chapters on design & designers; the state's edible delights (and pictures of simply gorgeous vegetable gardens!); rugged and rocky landscapes with beautiful stone work; and secluded retreats in gardens all over the state.  Beautiful photographs by Lynn Karlin will inspire almost anyone to make the trek north.

At the end of the book, there's a very useful section called "Behind the Scenes" that lists landscape designers and architects, nurseries and garden shops, plants societies and helpful websites, seed and garden product suppliers, and local artists.

A great present for anyone you know who has or aspires to have a summer place in Maine -- or for anyone who gardens in the northern part of the country.

Central Park Plan on View

Original Central Park Map on View

It's not every day that you get to see an original landscape plan by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux.  Their original three by eight foot map of "Greensward" -- the drawing that won the contest in 1858 for the design of Central Park -- is now on view at the Arsenal in NYC -- but only through June 19th.   According to David Dunlap's NYT article on the exhibit, this may be only the third time the original plan has ever been on exhibit.

The Arsenal is located at 5th Avenue & 64th St -- and it's third floor gallery, which is closed on weekends, will be open June 14th & 15th from 9AM-5PM.  The gallery is open weekdays the same hours.

Definitely worth a trip to the city to see this extraordinary 150-year-old plan.

 

In the Magazines June-Aug 08

Garden Design July-Aug

• Edibles make a comeback: veggies that make a design statement
• The eco-friendly garden of architect David Hertz in Venice, CA
• A brief interview with Brooklyn garden designer Mac Carbonell and photos of his design for the Flowerbox Building on NY's Lower East Side.
• New outdoor furniture by French designer Philippe Starck

Sunset June 2008

• Landscape designer Nancy Goslee Power transforms her tiny Santa Monica backyard into a romantic private retreat, complete with fireplace, a pond-spa, and loads of fragrant plants.
• Some famous Californians, including Isabel Allende, Alice Waters, LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa & others speak out about their favorite parks that are threatened by budget cuts. Tomales Bay State Park in Inverness; Annadel  State Park in Santa Rosa; Mount Tamalpais State Park in Mill Valley; San Onofre State Beach in San Clemente; Malibu Creek State Park in Calabasas; Rio de Los Angeles State Park in LA, Samuel P. Taylor State Park in Lagunitas and Angel Island State Park in SF Bay

Fine Gardening Aug

• Designer Tom Peace explains how to design and plant a front yard that'll look terrific after just one year.
• Shrubs for summer color: Vitex agnus-castus, Caryopteris, Cotinus, Physocarpus & more.
• Tips for connecting the house & garden.
• And new:  regional reports on summer blooming shrubs

Outdoor Fabric Source

Dupione Papaya (Sunbrella)

I stumbled across a site the other day for outdoor fabrics, and it's one of the most comprehensive I've yet encountered.  Outside Fabric seems to have it all:  hundreds of fabrics from Sunbrella and Robert Allen that are water resistant, and also resist mold.  Many are reversible, and they're also resistant to fading.

Seville Seaside (Sunbrella)

Outside carries a wide range of fabrics, from those suitable for furniture cushions to others that will hold up in marine conditions. They also carry sheer fabrics for curtains, mesh for sling chairs, awning fabrics and specialty weaves. Solids, stripes, prints and more -- there's something here for everybody.

Gibson Chocolate (Sunbrella)

One of the nice things about Ouside is that they'll send you free fabric swatches, and they also can fabricate custom-made cushions to fit your furniture.  With all the attention these days on outdoor living, you can certainly plan for an outdoor living or family room that'll withstand the elements -- and one that looks just like your indoor living spaces.

(images: Outdoor Fabrics.com)

Winning Roses 08

This is rose month in most places around the country, and if you haven't already gotten the news, here are the winners of this year's All America Rose Selections.

Dream Come True

This rose is a medium-tall grandiflora, upright and bushy, with matte green leaves and abundant blooms of a distinct color -- yellow tinged with ruby red.  I'm not sure I like the color, but it is said to have excellent disease resistance and a mild tea fragrance.  Hardy to zone 5, and to zone 4 with winter protection, so it would be a good choice for northern climates.  The flowers are large, up to 5 inches in diameter, with a full-ish petal count of about 40.  Hybridized by Dr. John Pottschmidt for Weeks Roses.

Mardi Gras

This floribunda also has yellow-ish blooms, but these are tinged with pink. It reaches a height of about four feet, and it's an upright grower than can be planted as a hedge.  The leaves are glossy dark green, hardy to zone 5.  The flowers, about four inches in diameter, have a moderate peppery scent with a petal count of about 20.   Hybridized by Keith Zary of Jackson & Perkins.  The parentage is an un-named seedling crossed with Rosa 'Singin' in the Rain.'

You never quite know with new roses if they are actually going to perform as billed, so if you decide to give these a try, let us know how they do in your area.

(images: top: © Gene Sasse, Weeks Roses; bottom: Jackson & Perkins courtesy AAS)

Garden Sheds & Hideaways

Out with the Tool Shed!

Once you've taken a quick look at this book, you'll never again recommend a lean-to potting or tool shed or one of those abominations that they sell in the big-time lumber and hardware stores.

In Stylish Sheds and Elegant Hideaways: Big Ideas for Small Backyard Destinations (Clarkson Potter 2008), author Debra Prinzing demonstrates that yesterday's garden shed has been converted into ... well,take your pick:  a yoga or writing studio, a guest-house, a playroom, a glass conservatory, a a tea room, a solitary retreat, an entertaining nook -- you name it.

"Today's shed," says Prinzing, "is a small structure designed and built for one's personal enjoyment."  The new shed is a free-standing structure with architectural charm and style that can transform any garden, from a tiny townhouse to a huge suburban estate.

Prinzing profiles more than 30 garden hideaways around the country, each with its own story and personality, from the 50 square foot garden shed in Santa Cruz, California that is now the office of a Pulitzer Prize winning reporter to a Southampton, NY garage that has morphed into a serene and spacious guest-house.  For each project, Prinzing notes the designer and construction company, and she also lists the major materials used in the structure, which gives everyone a good idea about the costs.

Sunni Rudd, a greeting card illustrator in Seattle, has a 10 x 20 foot garden shed with character.  "Here's where I keep everything I want to save and love.  This is my little comfort zone, my quiet place," she says.   On Long Island, John Barham reproduced a  turn-of-the-century fisherman's house in tiny scale to fit his two acre garden. Now, he says, "There are moments in my garden when I am overwhelmed by happiness."

Prinzing paves the way for an entirely new way to think about garden structures --  to make them very special places that fit the owner's personality and add a touch in the garden that no one else can duplicate.

This book belongs on every designer's bookshelf for inspiration ... easily gained from the scores of photos by William Wright that illustrate every project.  And for more on sheds, see Prinzing's blog, Shed Style.

(click on image or link to purchase book)