GardenDesignOnline

Orchids, Brazilian Mod, Jungles & Burle Marx

NYBG Orchid Show Feb 28-April 12

When the NY Botanical Garden decided on a "Brazilian Modern" theme for the 7th annual Orchid Show, there was only one designer to call.

Not only is landscape architect Raymond Jungles a master of modernity, he is also steeped in contemporary Brazilian design.  He studied and worked with the late architect, designer and artist Roberto Burle Marx, celebrated as one of the 20th century's foremost modern landscape architects. As Jungles put it in an interview with Garden Design Online,  "To me, Brazilian modern is Burle Marx."

As you walk into the NYBG show, you'll encounter this towering Burle Marx mosaic, circa 1991 (being installed in the show, left).  The work is one of many owned by Jungles, and it was last displayed some years ago at the Sala Mendoza Gallery in Caracas, Venezuela.  It's headed for an eventual home at the Naples Botanical Garden in Naples, Florida.

Jungles said the design for the orchid show includes "strong, bold gestures," akin to something that Burle Marx might have done. He explained that Burle Marx often did shows for Carnival and theater settings.  "He was a master of the theatrical," said Jungles, and the orchid show "is my interpretation of what he might have done in a similar situation."

From the entrance gallery, you pass through a long corridor filled with walls of living orchids, epiphytic orchid sculptures, and signature tropical plants native to Brazil, including bromeliads, staghorn ferns, philodendrons, and many palms. Along the way, you'll encounter thousands of orchids, including Cymbidium (Asian corsage), Phalaenopsis (moth), Oncidium (dancing lady) and many other species.

Finally you enter another gallery at the opposite end of the corridor, with explosions of orchids above and below.  Orchid "chandeliers" (left) are suspended above a 20 x 20' pool, where they are reflected on the water's surface, giving you "a double whammy of color," said Jungles.

A garden designed by Raymond Jungles is one that contains a lot of strength without a lot of busy elements. "I'm not happy," he says, "until I sense there's going to be a peaceful quality, even though it may be a bold space."

When Jungles designed the orchid show, he was well aware that the glass houses would be filled with people.  "I tried to build nooks and crannies," he said, "where people can tuck out of the turbulence into these eddies, look around and enjoy the space, enjoy the sight lines that connect one place to another, and experience a scene that ... gives the entire space a sense of cohesion."

If this design does one thing, it produces a sense of excitement; only a rare few could make it produce a feeling of harmony as well.

Jungles will be at orchid show on Saturday, February 28,and will give a lecture at 1PM in the Arthur & Janet Ross lecture hall, where he'll also sign copies of his new book,
The Colors of Nature: Subtropical Gardens by Raymond Jungles (Monacelli Press, 2008)

(images: NY Botanical Garden - click on images for larger view)

Botanical Sculptures

For a bit of whimsy in the garden, you almost couldn't do better than this bright red chili pepper, a creation of landscape designer and artist Jan Kirsh, whose studio is located in Bozman, on the eastern shore of Maryland.

Kirsh began experimenting some time ago with materials and shapes that would capture the sensuality and beauty of fruits and vegetables.  The result is a series of striking sculptures, which can be custom-ordered by size and finish.

Ten of Kirsh's sculptures will be exhibited at the Architectural Digest Show in New York City March 26-29 on Pier 94.  The sculptures range in size from seven inches to seven feet & more, cast in a variety of materials -- bronze, resin, concrete and carved marble.  According to Kirsh, the finishes are all hand applied and are inspired by the texture and sheen of each individual fruit or veg.  There'll be an artichoke, an onion, a pear, and the chili pepper shown above, among others.  "Each piece," says Hirsh, " is a marriage of my love of horticulture and three-dimenstional shapes, and like any good marriage, the pieces seems, to my eye, to be more than the sum of their parts."

The chili would certainly look great near a good-sized veg garden, which of course are booming in popularity.  For more information, see Kirsh's website .. or visit the show.

Happenings March 09

Selected events around the country:

Through March 31  Orchid Extravaganza, Kennett Square, PA
Longwood Gardens 610-388-1000
Feb 28-April 12, "Brazilian Modern," Bronx, NY
Annual Orchid Show, NY Botanical Garden, 718-817-8700
Through April 27, Orchids through Darwin's Eyes, Washington DC
15th Annual Orchid Exhibit, National Museum of Natural History 202-225-8333

March 1-8  Philadelphia Flower Show, Philadelphia, PA
"Bella Italia," Pennsylvania Convention Center, 215-988-8800
March 2-3 Gardens for Our Time, Davidson, NC
25th Davidson Horticultural Symposium, 704-655-0294
March 4-8  42nd Wichita Garden Show, Wichita, KN
"The Giving Garden," Century II Civic Center, 316 946-0883
March 4-8 Southern Spring Home & Garden Show, Charlotte, NC
"Imagine Spring," Charlotte Merchandise Mart, 704-376-6594
March 5-8 Nashville Lawn & Garden Show, Nashville, TN
"Yards of Flavour," TN State Fairgrounds, 615-876-7680
March 6-8  Southwest Flower Show, Phoenix, AZ
University of Phoenix Stadium, 602-485-1691
March 6 & 13, Desert Gardening: Environmental Challenges, Phoenix, AZ
6-9PM, Workshop, Desert Botanical Garden, 480-941-1225
March 6, Creating Green Roofs: The Next Steps, Bronx, NY
10AM-5:15PM, Seminar, NY Botanical Garden, 718-817-8747
March 6-8, March 13-15 Home & Garden Show, Timonium, MD
MD State Fairgrounds, "The Joy of Color," 410-863-1180
March 7-15 Chicago Flower & Garden Show, Chicago, IL
"Spring is Blooming," Navy Pier 773-435-1250
March 7-April 12 Dallas Blooms, Dallas, TX
25th annual festival, "A Classic," Dallas Arboretum 214-515-6500
March 7-22  Spring Bulb Show, Northampton, MA
Botanic Garden of Smith College, 413-585-2740

March 9 Websavvy for Landscape Designers
Free online seminar re building a web presence
March 12-15 Gardenscape, Henrietta, NY
18th Rochester Flower Show, The Dome Center, 585-455-4562
March 14, "Our LIfe in Gardens," Boylston, MA
1PM, Lecture by designers Joe Eck & Wayne Winterrowd, Tower Hill Botanical Garden, 508-869-6111
March 14-22 Flower & Patio Show, Indianapolis, IN
49th Annual Show, Indiana State Fairgrounds 317-576-9933

March 16-19, Solar installation workshop, Washington DC
9AM-3PM, US National Arboretum, Learn how to build a solar system to run your irrigation system. 202 245-5898
March 17, Ecological Restoration, Bronx, NY
10AM-3:30 PM, Workshop, NY Botanical Garden 718-817-8747
March 17 "The Homestead Border," Atlanta, GA
7:30PM, Lecture by author & designer Laura Colt of Martha's Vineyard, GA Perennial Plant Assn
March 18 Making a Wildflower Meadow, Wilmington, DE
7PM, Lecture, DE Center for Horticulture, 302-658-6262
March 18-22 San Francisco Flower & Garden Show, San Mateo, CA.
San Mateo Event Center, 415-771-6909
March 16-20, Changing Southwest Landscapes, Salt Lake City, UT
5th Annual Southwest Rare Plant Conference, University of Utah 801-377-5918
March 18-22 Flower Show, San Francisco, CA
San Francisco Flower & Garden Show, San Mateo Event Cener
March 19-22   Home & Garden Show, Washington DC
49th annual show, Washington Convention Center 703-823-7960
March 21, "Design for Sustainability, Habitat & Diversity," Seattle, WA
8:30AM-4PM, Symposium, NW Horticultural Society, Bastyr University Auditorium, 206-780-8172

March 23, "Designing Women: Farrand & Shipman," Wellesley, MA
10AM, Lecture Wellesley College Botanic Gardens, Science Center 617-524-1718
March 24 & 31, Design & Mgt of Eastern Meadows, Bronx, NY
9:30AM-5PM, Workshop, NY Botanical Garden, 718-817-8747
March 25, Green Roof Tour, Swarthmore, PA
noon-1:30PM, Scott Arboretum, 610-328-8025
March 28, 23rd Annual Lahr Symposium, Washington DC
8:30Am-3:30PM, "Native Plants in Design," US National Arboretum 202-245-5898
March 27-28, House and Garden Tour, Charleston, SC
74th Annual Walking Tour 843-530-5164

Lookahead:

April 18-25 Historic Garden Week in Virginia
Garden tours, lectures & other events, various locations 804-643-4137

Philadelphia Flower Show Preview

Bella Italia (March 1-8, PA Convention Center)

As you can see, this year's flower show theme is Italy, and it covers the entire landscape, from the formal gardens of ancient Rome to Tuscan landscapes, the canals of Venice, the art of Florence, and much more.

If you like formal gardens, this is the place to be:  walls of boxwood, fountains and statues, arches and columns, along with bougainvilla and wisteria vines, cypress and olive trees.

A modern touch will be provided by the American Institute of Floral Designers, who are sponsoring a Milan boutique filled with high fashion couture, handbags, shoes and other accessories -- all made of flowers.

Among the  main reasons to visit the show are to see the new plant varieties you may not have encountered before, and to admire the hard work and ingenuity that go into the annual competitions, the work of true experts and dedicated die-hards.

Trees for President's Day

Happy President's Day

Well, the credit goes to President Andrew Jackson... he planted this southern magnolia on the White House grounds back in 1828, and every other president since then has followed his lead, planting a tree of their own choice.

And you can own a piece of White House or presidential history and support the historic trees program of American Forests, too.

The non-profit organization has a historic tree nursery, and all trees they offer for sale are direct descendants of trees associated with presidents, other famous people or famous events in American history.

So, for this president's day, you could order the Jackson White House magnolia, or other trees associated with George Washington, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Jimmy Carter, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Ulysses S. Grant, Abraham Lincoln or James Madison.  There's a tree to fit almost anyone's political persuasion.  Historic Tree Nursery here, and it's for a good cause, too.

Hinkley Plants Redux

OK, I admit it ... I still re-read some of my old Heronswood catalogues because well, there was simply nothing else like them.  Things have never been the same since Dan Hinkley, who started Heronswood, sold the nursery in Kingston, WA back in 2000.  The buyer, Burpee, eventually closed it and moved the catalogue operations to Pennsylvania.(Read that sad story here).

But now, Hinkley -- horticulturist, author, and one of this era's great plant explorers -- is sort of back in business in a new partnership with Monrovia. This summer, Monrovia releases the first seven plants in its new Dan Hinkley collection, including this spectacular fuchsia -- Fuchsia genii 'Aurea' -- which is not only frost-hardy (Zone 7-9), but has chartreuse-colored foliage on red stems!  and deep reddish-purple flowers.

Monrovia is working with Hinkley to bring his new discoveries into production and get them out to the public.  The director of the nursery's New Plants Team, Nicholas Staddon said Monrovia's nursery in Oregon is "teeming with row upon row of the 250 new cultivars we are trialing ... each a Dan Hinkley discovery."

So ... we all have something to look forward to, as Hinkley continues his travels abroad in search of exciting new cultivars.

In the new collection, there are four fuschias, an Abutilon that will tolerate frost, as well as Sichuan Jade Solomon's Seal (Disporopsis pernyi 'Sichuan Jade') that is winter-hardy with dark green leaves and white flowers on 15-inch arching shoots. (zone 7-9)

I LOVE the ground-cover Red-leafed Mukdenia (Mukdenia rosii 'Crimson Fans'), at left.  Zones 4-9, it has fan-shaped leaves that emerge bright green and fade to crimson and white bell-shaped flowers in summer. It's a slow-growing clumper that will reach a height of around 12 inches.  I planted another mukdenia in my own garden a couple of years ago, and it's definitely a winner.

Look for the following other plants in your local nursery this summer, or check the Monrovia website to find out where you can get them.

Fuchsia 'Hawkshead'
Fuchsia magellanica 'Windcliff Flurry'
Fuchsia excorticata 'Kiwi Sheen'
Abutilon x hybridum 'Cascade Dawn'

More on Monrovia-Hinkley partnership here.

Hinkley's own website here.

Witness Trees Photo Exhibit

US Botanic Garden Exhibit

This majestic white oak, 100 feet high with a crown of 148 feet, has seen a lot of history.  It's believed to be about 200 years old and it resides in Washington DC, at the former home of Frederick Douglass (1818-95), who born a slave and later became a prominent abolitionist, author, educator, statesman and diplomat. Douglass' home sits high on a hill in the Anacostia neighborhood, with a clear view of the US Capitol and much of the city.

Douglass named the property Cedar Hill, and it is now the National Park Service's Frederick Douglass National Historic Site.  Although most of the cedar trees are now gone, the Frederick Douglass White Oak is still intact.  Douglass referred to the tree in his diaries, and scientists say the tree could live another 200 years.  That's a real witness to history.

The current photo exhibition documents 24 trees in the Washington DC area that are historically and biologically significant. Witness trees are silent observers of American history and are identified as such by the National Park Service.

The trees in this exhibit are large and small, old and young, and have either been planted by famous people or established naturally.  This photo depicts an American sycamore captured on film by Civil War photographer Alexander Gardner on the battlefield at Antietam on September 17, 1862.  It was the bloodiest battle day in US history with more than 23 thousand casualties.

The sycamore was just a sapling near Burnside Bridge when photographed by Gardner, but it is now a splendid specimen. Given the heavy fire and the fierce battle on that day, some historians say it is almost a miracle that the tree survived. 

If you're in DC between now and April 19, make sure you see this moving and important exhibition.

(photos courtesy USBG)

The Real Deal about Perennials

There's no author of gardening books who says things better than William Cullina, who is currently at work as plant and garden curator at the Coastal Maine Botanical Garden, the largest in New England.

It's a book you'll treasure not only for the clarity of the writing about what can be a difficult subject, but also for its provocative ideas. In Understanding Perennials: A New Look at an Old Favorite, Cullina smashes many old gardening myths.

In a paragraph entitled "I Want Them All," he politely urges us to abandon the much-favored English garden.

"We have inherited much of our gardening tradition from Victorian England, where gardens were awash in fabulous new plants from every corner of the empire. The name of this gardening game was to assemble and grow as many different plants as you could, regardless of their origin," he says.  Cullina reminds us that a garden of this type requires super-rich soil, a lot of water and fertilizer, greenhouses, cloches, pesticides and other harmful chemicals, plus pruning, staking and pampering.  "It is certainly not a very environmentally sustainable approach," says Cullina, "and it is a heck of a lot of work.  I get tired just thinking about it (remember that the folks who invented this style had gardeners to do the work for them)."  And to that I say "Amen."

You'll learn everything you need to know about perennials in this book -- what they are, how they grow, how to propagate them, care for them, and most of all, how to enjoy them.

African American Gardens of the South

US Botanic Garden Photo Exhibit

Some 20 years ago, photographer Vaughn Sills visited a home in Athens, GA, and noticed the "energy, or magic or spirit" that surrounded her in the garden.  That was the first African American garden she photographed, and she's continued the project every since, traveling throughout the south.  Now, there's a wonderful new exhibit of her garden photos at the US Botanic Garden in Washington DC.

According to Sills, "these gardens speak a certain language, a language, I'm convinced, that is about the earth, about beauty, and about spirit.... It's a language whose sound is so lyrical that, even though I don't know the nuances of all the words, I use it to make these photographs."

Whether she's photographing Pearl Fryer's topiary garden (above) in Bishopville, NC, or Jessie Mae Smith's garden in Thomson, GA (left), Sills says the photos document "a tradition that is a way of using the land that is both historically significant and aesthetically resonant." 

Historians have traced this particular garden style back to West Africa.  Sills says that slaves brought with them both plant seeds and a knowledge of gardening, but they also brought "an aesthetic rich in visual style and ideas, some still in evidence today."

Don't miss this important and unique exhibition ... it runs through April 19th.

(photos: Vaughn Sills courtesy USBG)

Inaugural Crowds Damage Mall Garden

The Smithsonian's Mary Livingston Ripley Garden -- one of the small gems in Washington DC -- was badly trampled by crowds during the recent inaugural.  Read the sad story on The Human Flower Project.  Link is here.

And here's the link to my earlier story about the garden itself.