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Philly Flower Show 2010

Passport to the World is this year's theme at the Philadelphia Flower Show, and it is one of the top shows there I've seen (and I've seen many).

It's a passport to the end of winter and those many snowstorms ... and it's inspiration for the coming year in the garden.

This Australian tree fern was my favorite plant of this year's show ... although I also admired the New Zealand flax (Phormium 'Maori Queen').

As you enter the show, you encounter the Explorer's Garden, featuring some of the "exotic" plants that appeared at the first flower show back in 1829.  Among them are poinsettias, peonies, magnolias, and even the lowly impatiens. But the Explorer's Garden also has giant water-platters grown at Longwood Gardens and other real rarities.  One is a vessel fern (Angiopteris evecta) from the US Botanic Garden in Washington DC, a direct descendant of a plant brought back on the Wilkes expedition, an around-the-world trip in 1838-42 led by US Navy Lt. Charles Wilkes that collected 50 thousand plant and bird specimens and more than 250 live plants.  "Having living plants from the Wilkes Expedition thriving in our collections gives us a great sense of the history of horticulture and botany in North America," said US Botanic Garden Executive Director Holly Shimizu.

Happenings March 2010

Selected Events Around the Country

Feb 27-April 11 Cuba in Flower, Bronx, NY
Orchid Show, NY Botanical Garden; Exhibits, Lectures, Demos & More 718-817-8700
Feb 27-March 28 Orchid Mania 2010, Cleveland, OH
Cleveland Botanical Garden. 216-721-1600
Feb 28-March 7, Philadelphia Flower Show, Philadelphia, PA
"Passport to the World," PA Convention Center, 215-988-8800
Thru April 11, Orchids! A Cultural Odyssey, Washington DC
Orchid Show, US Botanic Garden, 202-225-8333
Thru March 28, Orchid Show, St. Louis, MO
Missouri Botanical Garden, 314-577-5100
Thru March 31, Orchid Extravaganza, Kennett Square, PA
Longwood Gardens, Show, Sale, Lectures & More 610-388-1000

March 2, 26th Davidson Horticultural Symposium, Davidson, NC
8AM-5PM, Davidson College, "A Southern Garden's Journey," 704-604-6618
March 3-7 Wichita Garden Show, Wichita, KS
"Gardens of the World," Century II Civic Center 316-946-0883
March 3-7 Southern Spring Home & Garden Show, Charlotte, NC
"Celebrate!" The Park (previously the Charlotte Merchandise Mart), 704-376-4085
March 5-7 Southwest Flower & Garden Show, Phoenix, AZ
University of Phoenix Stadium, 602-485-1691
March 6-14 Chicago Flower & Garden Show, Chicago, IL
Navy Pier, Exhibits, Seminars, Demos, More. 773-868-3010
March 6-7 & 12-14 Maryland Home & Garden Show, Timonium, MD
Maryland State Fairgrounds, "Wine & Dine Al Fresco," 410-863-1180
March 6-21, Spring Bulb Show, Northampton, MA
Botanic Garden of Smith College, 413-585-2740
March 6-April 11 Dallas Blooms, Dallas, TX
Dallas Arboretum, 214-515-6500
March 4-7 Nashville Lawn & Garden Show, Nashville, TN
Tennessee State Fair Grounds, "Artistic by Nature"

March 9, 16, 23 Swimming Pool Design, Bronx, NY
10AM-1PM, Workshops on latest pool trends, NY Botanical Garden, 718-817-8700
March 11-12, Natural Design Symposium, Haverford, PA
9AM-5PM, Haverford College Arboretum, "Environmental Landscape Design," 215-247-5777 x 156
March 12-14, Washington DC Home & Garden Show, Washington DC
50th annual show, Washington Convention Center, 703-823-7960
March 13-21 Flower & Patio Show, Indianapolis, IN
52nd annual show, Indiana State Fairgrounds 317-576-9933

March 16-17, Natural Design Symposium , New London, CT
9AM-5PM, Connecticut College, "Environmental Landscape Design," 860-4395020
March 15, 22, Designing Water Features, Phoenix, AZ
6-9PM, Workshop, Desert Botanical Garden, 480-941-1225
March 18-April 17 Festival of Houses & Gardens, Charleston, SC
Garden Tours March 18,25; April 1, 8, 15; 843-723-1623
March 20, Spring Garden Symposium, Seattle, WA
8:30AM-4PM, American Garden Design from Dumbarton Oaks to Living Roofs, sponsor Northwest Hort Society, 206-780-8172

March 24-28 Boston Flower & Garden Show, Boston, MA
Seaport World Trade Center, "A Feast for the Senses" 617 933-4900
March 24-28 San Francisco Flower & Garden Show, San Mateo, CA
"Gardens for the Future," San Mateo Event Center.
March 25, Gardens Re-imagined: Edible Estates, Bronx, NY
10AM-noon, Lecture by artist & architect Fritz Haeg, 718-817-8700
March 27, Lahr Native Plant Symposium, Washington DC
8:30AM-4PM, US National Arboretum, 202 245-5898

LOOKAHEAD:
April 11-12 64th Annual Garden Symposium, Williamsburg, VA
8:30AM-5PM, "Timeless Lessons from Historic Gardens," DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum, speakers include designers Gordon Hayward & Jennifer Bartley, author Ken Druse, many others 1-800-603-0948

April 17-25 Historic Garden Week , Virginia
Garden Tours & other events all over the state 804-643-4137

Cuban Orchids in NY

The 8th annual orchid show at the NY Botanical Garden opens on Saturday, this year's focus on Cuba. The Orchid Show: Cuba in Flower features thousands of tropical orchids ... with vignettes of Old Havana and the Cuban countryside.

The show was designed by Cuban-born landscape architect Jorge Sánchez of the award-winning Palm Beach firm, Sanchez & Maddux. The trunks of the sabal palms, shown here, will be covered with orchids (being readied for installation, below) when the show opens.

 NYBG scientists have been visiting Cuba for more than a century to collect specimens for the garden's Herbarium. The most recent expedition took place last year, when three NYBG scientists and five Cuban colleagues explored the eastern end of the island and collected over 500 specimens, a number of them species new to science.  Research data from the new collections and old ones will be used to assess the threat to Cuban plants from habitat destruction, invasive species, tourism, agriculture and climate change.  

In the meantime, enjoy the show, along with special demonstrations, lectures, tours and more.

(images: Ivo Vermeulen)

Very Cool Recycled Containers

I'm quite taken with the line of recycled aluminum and steel garden accoutrements from Ore Inc. in Salt Lake City. According to Ore, owner Shane Larson was working as a NYC fashion designer & then decided to return home and use his artistic talents in another way. Now, he's designing and manufacturing garden containers, benches, firebowls and much more .... all from recycled materials. 

There are containers of almost every shape and size, all modern designs, and they come in steel or aluminum with a natural rust finish, a power coated finish, or a zinc oxidized finish.  And Ore will also custom-match the finish to any color you desire.

Larson also designs contemporary garden sculptures.  Check out all the items at the Ore website here.

(images: Ore Inc)

Restoration Chestnuts

American Chestnut - Castanea dentata

As most of you already know, the American Chestnut, one of our magnificent and important native trees,  was literally wiped out after a blight was imported from Asia very early in the 20th century.

Scientists have been trying for years to cross-breed remaining native trees with Asian species in order to come up with a hybrid that will look almost exactly like the old American chestnut ... but have excellent resistance to the blight.

In the winter issue of American Forests magazine, there's an article on recent chestnut research ... and it says there's now the best hope in more than a century to restore these great American trees.

You can read the full article here.

(image: USDA PLANTS Database)

New PHS Director

The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society has announced the appointment of Drew Becher as the organization's new president.  Becher, Executive Director of the NY Restoration Project, was in charge of the city's Million Trees NYC Greening project.  He replaces Jane Pepper who has been leader of the PHS since 1981. 

To date, the Million Trees project has planted more than 310,000 trees in NYC, and Becher raised millions for capital projects.  He previously served as Deputy Director of DC's Office of Planning and Chief of Staff for the Chicago Park District.

"PHS is top of the game in my field," said Becher, "and I couldn't be more excited to be coming to Philadelphia and to such a dynamic organization. Many of the practices implemented in the cities where I've worked were modeled after Philadelphia Green."

PHS is the oldest horticultural society in the United States, founded in 1827. It is best known for the annual Philadelphia Flower Show (this year Feb 28-March 7) and for Philadelphia Green, the largest urban "greening" program in the country.

Garden Blizzard!

  There is a blizzard raging outside ... my herb garden is totaly buried ... at least the dwarf cryptomeria in the center is still standing (this tree -- at bottom left --  is about 10-12' tall). We've had such a battering in the past week I just can't get in the garden mood ... so will return soon.

Books: Sustainable Design

Sustainability is now all the rage, and a lot of people think it means some very simple things: planting more natives, taking care of water runoff, eliminating lawns and avoiding all use of chemicals in the garden.

In their just-out book Sustainable Site Design: Criteria, Process, and Case Studies for Integrating Site and Region in Landscape Design (John Wiley & Sons Inc 2010) authors Claudia Dinep and Kristin Schwab, ASLA, take readers well beyond simplistic notions about sustainable landscapes. 

Instead, they focus on the essential elements for successful sustainable design: defining the criteria for sustainability and a process to fulfill them. The authors state that landscape design plays a critical role in sustaining the environment ... "in uniting fragmented places, healing degraded systems, and engaging people in healthy relationships with nature." And they note that culture and ecology are important as well, where "a site boundary acts as a filter rather than a wall, and design holds the potential to draw and propel positive influences to and from the site."

In the first section of the book, Schwab and Dinep outline the main principles of sustainable design, and then discuss several case studies that give the reader a thorough understanding of what goes into the best of sustainable designs.  Among the projects in the book are the Menomonee Valley Industrial Center in Milwaukee designed by Wenk Associates Inc of Denver, CO;a residence in Paradise Valley, AZ by landscape architect Steve Martino of Phoenix, AZ; and Tanner Springs Park in Portland, OR by Greenworks PC of Portland.

For each case study, the authors give a short overview of the project, tell readers how it came about, describe the basic design concept along with the philosophy and approach to the site design.  There are photos and "plans" that accompany each one; descriptions of the local landscape, including natural patterns and development over the years; materials used and final outcome.

If some residential landscape designers may think this book a bit technical for their purposes, they should reconsider.  It offers valuable advice and sets out criteria that every designer should be using, no matter how small the project.  Any really successful landscape design incorporates most, if not all of the concepts contained in this book.  It belongs in every designer's library.

Winter to Spring

There's more than a foot of snow on the ground at my house ... still falling ... and 20 to 30 inches predicted before it's over.

And although spring is still six official weeks away, it IS on the way.

This winter blooming jasmine has already started emerging (just barely) ... and I'd never before noticed the purple-pink buds... it actually gave the entire wall a pink cast in daylight.

But there's nothing that says spring like witch hazel ... this one my own 'Jalena,' in full bloom just before it got covered in snow.

So ...  enjoying the (hopefully) last  snow ... hunkering down ...

Veg Gardens: My Rant Against Them

Like so many other gardeners, I got into the design field many years ago by way of my own real veg garden.  Returning to DC from four years in London and two in NYC, we bought a house with a yard big enough to grow vegetables.  I double dug the sunniest corner of the yard by hand, and I was in business. 

That first year, I grew tomatoes, pole beans, cukes, zucchini, lettuce, herbs, peppers of many types, cantaloupes and even small watermelons.  I was in heaven.

Over the next several years, I battled squash borers every year and finally gave up on zucchini.  My blueberry bushes never really took off in DC (really, too hot for them here). Too hot for rhubarb, too.  The lettuce, of course, bolted every late spring (or earlierl) because of the heat. You could have taken bets, almost, on how early the lettuce would take off. 

The cantaloupes never really had time enough to develop fully.  I never had enough room for all the lima beans I wanted.  Ditto the eggplant. Other kinds of squash seemed to take up too much room.  Asparagus was out of the question, and after a year's trial with strawberries, I decided I needed a real farm for a crop like that.  I did enjoy my trials of different tomatoes, and discovered many old heirlooms that I still seek out every summer. 

Then, my big silver maple came down in a storm, so I was forced into re-doing the back yard.  My veg garden ended up in the middle.  It's pictured above, in early spring, just after the leaf mulch was put in place.  I gave up on tomatoes when the neighborhood squirrels decided to take a huge bite out of each one just before it ripened.  I got tired of the lettuce bolting and the sparse numbers of beans and peppers.  

And yes, I did try row covers to keep the critters out.  I hated the look of them, so off they came, and back came the problems.

So now I have an herb garden, with great crops of sorrel (and plenty to make soups and sauces from early spring to late fall). dill, parsley, rosemary, tarragon, mint, oregano, thyme and all the other usual suspects. I still pine sometimes for my tomato plants, but I can buy whatever I want at the local farmer's market, and enough of them to freeze for the winter.  No more veg gardening for me; I leave it to the expert local farmers, who obviously know what they're doing.