GardenDesignOnline

Design: The Unexpected

What I like so much about this garden, one that I visited some time ago, is the great sense of the unexpected.  It's what makes a lot of gardens quite unique ... the mystery of what's around the corner, along with a great sense of style in materials.The photo above marks the entry to the garden and a spacious entertaining patio.

Shown above is a "transition" area to the left of the patio, a serene but small lawn area bordered by a walkway of rougher stone, and a stairway at the end of the walk to an upper level shown below.

Again, the patio area is regular flagstone, but this time laid in a diagonal pattern, leading the eye to the the natural pond right next to it and across it to the profusion of evergreens and perennials on lower levels, reached by descending a natural stone stairway (below). The swimming pool is cleverly sited at the bottom of the property, and plantings on the far side of the pool disguise the sharp drop-off just beyond.

  

 

One big surprise in the pool area is the lovely deck at one end of the pool. Backed by a fence, it offers privacy and seclusion in a great spot for reading or just lazing about on a sunny afternoon.

Design is by landscape architect Yunghi Choi, formerly of the Washington DC area, now practicing near Tuscon, Arizona.

Geraniums that Kill Japanese Beetles

Japanese beetles, the scourge of gardeners across the country, could soon be on the verge of extinction, thanks to the common ornamental geranium, Pelargonium zonale.  Researchers at the USDA's Agricultural Research Service have found that if Japanese beetles consume geranium flowers, they are paralyzed within 30 minutes, and the condition lasts for several hours.  Although the beetles eventually recover, under field conditions they usually die because predators spot them and devour them readily.

Although scientists have known for decades about the effect of geranium petals on Japanese beetles, researchers are now working to isolate the geranium compounds that paralyze the beetles ... and they're pursuing patent rights on a possible new pesticide that could be used in Japanese beetle control, which costs the ornamental plant industry nearly $500 million in damage a year.  Gardeners, of course, would far prefer a natural spray that worked to picking them off by hand!

(photo: Stephen Ausmus, USDA:ARS)

Happenings April 2010

Thru April 11 Cuba in Flower, Bronx, NY
Orchid Show, NY Botanical Garden; Exhibits, Lectures, Demos & More 718-817-8700
Thru April 11, Orchids! A Cultural Odyssey, Washington DC
Orchid Show, US Botanic Garden, 202-225-8333
April 10-Nov.  Making Scents: The Art & Passion of Fragrance, Kennett Square, PA
Exhibition, Longwood Gardens, 610-388-1000

April 1, Projects in Time, Philadelphia, PA
6PM, Lecture, Landscape Architect João Nunes, Penn Design, Meyerson Hall
April 3, Divas of Design: Celebrating Women Landscape Architects, Salem, OR
9AM-3PM, Symposium, Willamette Univ, The Cultural Landscape Foundation, 202-483-0553
April 6, Spotlight on Design, Washington DC
6:30PM, Lecture, Landscape Architect Mia Lehrer, National Building Museum, 202-272-2448
April 10, Garden Conservancy Open Days, Las Vegas, NV
10AM-4PM, four gardens open

April 11, Growing Edibles in Small Spaces, Brooklyn, NY
10:30AM-1PM, Workshop, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, 718-623-7200
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 12, 13, 15, 20  "Harmony between House & Garden," Philadelphia, PA (and more)
6PM, Lecture, British Garden Designer Xa Tollemache; NYC April 13, 6PM; Lake Forest, IL April 15 11AM; Woodside, CA April 20, 2PM
April 13, Restoration of Nemours (Dupont Estate nr. Wilmington), Baltimore, MD
7:30 PM, Lecture, Hort Society of MD, 410-821-5561
April 14, Lawn Alternatives, Los Altos, CA
7PM. Lecture by designer Deva Luna, Western Hort Society
April 14, Visionary Landscapes, Seattle, WA
7:15PM, Lecture, Designer Paul Miskovsky, NW Hort Society
April 16-18 Antiques & Garden Fair, Glencoe, IL
Chicago Botanic Garden, 847-835-5440
April 17, Cape Cod Horticultural Conference, Hyannis, MA
8AM-4PM, authors Rick Darke, CL Fornari & more, 508-375-6692
April 17-25 Historic Garden Week , Virginia
Garden Tours & other events all over the state 804-643-4137
April 17-25 Cincinnati Flower Show, Cincinnati, OH
Symmes Township Park

April 19, Trash to Treasure, San Francisco, CA
7:15PM, Lecture, Designer Mary Te Selle, SF Botanical Garden
April 20, Getting the Most Out of Your Garden, Atlanta, GA
7:30PM. Lecture by author & horticulturist Erica Glasener, Atlanta History Center, GA Perennial Plant Assn
April 21, Lessons in Urban Horticulture from the High Line, NY, NY
6PM, Lecture, NYBG Midtown Center, 718-817-8700
April 24, Vegetable Saturday, Bronx, NY
Various classes, all day, NY Botanical Garden, 718-817-8700
April 24, Garden Conservancy Open Days Tours, Nutley, NJ
10AM-4PM, one garden open

April 25, Garden Conservancy Open Days Tours: CA, CT, NY
10AM-4PM; Pasadena, CA; Weston, CT; Lewisboro, NY
April 25, Spring Garden Tour, Boylston, MA
10AM-4PM, Tower Hill Botanic Garden, Self-Guided Tour508-869-6111
April 29, Luther Burbank: Creating CA Native Plants, Fort Bragg, CA
5:30 PM, Lecture, College of the Redwoods, Mendocino Coast Botanical Gdns, 707-964-4352
April 30-May 1  Native Garden Design Symposium,Picayune, MS
Two day symposium, sponsors Crosby Arboretum & New Directions in the American Landscape, 215-886-1492
April 30-May 2  Garden Show, Arcadia, CA
"Living Green: Essentials for the Home Gardener," LA County Arboretum 626-821-3222

April 30-June 15 Emily Dickinson's Garden: The Poetry of Flowers, Bronx, NY
Exhibition, NY Botanical Garden, 718-817-8700

LOOKAHEAD:

May 5, Garden Design School Open House, Boylston, MA
10AM-3:30 PM, Tower Hill Botanic Garden With British designers Robin Templar Williams and Moira Farnham 513-867-0437
May 6-8 Landscapes for Living: Post War Years in Texas, Dallas-Ft.Worth, TX
Symposium, Postwar Legacy of Public & Private Landscapes, The Cultural Landscape Foundation, 202-483-0553
May 7 National Public Gardens Day.
June 2-5 Annual Millersville Native Plant Conference, Millersville, PA
Millersville University.  Author William Cullina, Landscape Architect Larry Weaner & others. 717-871-2189

Peonies to Die For

I have never been a great fan of peonies (maybe too fleeting?), but I might be about to change my mind.

E-mails from a place called Peonys Envy started arriving awhile back in my "in" box, and I had a client who was looking for unusual tree peonies.  And so ...

What a story this is!  Kathleen Gagan, a linguist and international communications expert, lived abroad for many years (including Asia) and is fluent in Mandarin Chinese.  She returned home to New Jersey, eventually bought a farm, and settled upon the idea of importing and growing peonies.

Many of her peonies are imported from China, and, as she modestly puts it, "I try to carry what no one else has."

Garnet Lamp (top), is just one of nearly one of hundreds of cultivars that you won't find at your local garden center.  According to Gagan, Golden Wheel, (center) with pale yellow blooms and deep green foliage, is quite rare.  It's a herbacious peony and a true lactiflora. 

I also liked another herbacious cultivar shown left, Pink Beads on a Plate.

You'll find almost every color imaginable ... some tree peonies, some herbacious ... ranging from pure white to deep burgundies, oranges, pale yellows, lavenders, reds and pinks.

My client settled on some Budding Beauty tree peonies, and we're going to try the woodland peony as a ground cover.  Gagan says she's waiting to see if the woodland peony will remain a standout choice for shady spots ... or maybe spread a bit too much. The jury's still out on that.

Peonys Envy, located in Bernardsville, NJ, also has extensive display gardens ... open May 1st to June 15th.  If you live in the area, don't miss the blooming season.

(photos: Peonys Envy)

Longwood: The Garden As Museum

In the event you missed it, the NY Times of Thursday, March 18th had a special Museums supplement, including an article on plans to update the long range plan for Longwood Gardens, located in the Brandywine Valley of Pennsylvania not far from Philadelphia. 

The garden's new director, Paul Redman, told the newspaper that the plan -- not yet complete -- is focused on "bringing Longwood into the 21st century." He hired Lord Cultural Resources of Toronto to help out. 

Already, the staff at Longwood has been urged to think of the gardens as a museum and of themselves as curators of the institution.  So, for a new exhibit opening April 10th on scent, visitors will see and experience much more than fragrant plants.  Link to the entire article here.  And obviously, there's much more to come.

(image: Longwood Gardens)

More In the Magazines March-April

The American Gardener March-April 2010

• Evergreen ground covers, including quite a few that you probably don't know about.
• Dynamic plant combinations for shade, including regional recommendations and solutions for problem sites.
• New Baptisia cultivars
• Agaves for small gardens, along with tips for growing them in colder climates.

The American Gardener comes with a membership in the American Horticultural Society (www.AHS.org)

Horticulture April 2010

• Plants that are deer resistant
• The Colorado Springs garden of designer Jim Lamphear
• A "Chakra" garden of holistic healing herbs
• Tips for growing roses.

Landscape Design in NYC

Beginning next month, the NY Botanical Garden opens its midtown Manhattan Education Center, conveniently located just a couple of blocks from Grand Central.  Daytime and evening classes will take place during the week and on weekends as well.  The curriculum includes gardening, landscape and floral design and botanical illustration.

Jeff Downing, the garden's VP for education, said the new center (at 20 W. 44th between 5th & 6th Aves) "will help busy professionals explore courses in rewarding green careers" and also "pursue personal interests."

A free open house will be held on Saturday, April 10th, from 10:30AM to 3:30PM.

Highlights of special classes and lectures include:

The Lynden B. Miller Lecture Series: April 21:  Up in the Air, Lessons in Urban Horticulture from the High Line with the trail's VP of Horticulture Patrick Cullina; May 19: Our Future, Our Food, The Role of Community Gardens in Urban Agriculture with community activist Karen Gardener; June 9: Battery Park City, Maintaining a Public Garden with Organic Methods with Eric Fleisher, Hort Director at the Battery Park City Parks Conservancy.

Also, great landscape design lectures:

May 17 Landscape Architect Ken Smith
June 7 Landscape designer Nancy Goslee Power
June 21 Peter Kukielski, curator of the NYBG Rose Garden

And ... much more to come. Wish I lived in NYC again.

US Botanic Garden - R & R for Plants

Finally, after several years, I managed to snag tickets to the  open house at the US Botanic Garden Production Facility, which happens only one day a year.

The greenhouse complex, covering 85,000 square feet under glass, is the largest support facility for a US botanic garden in the United States, in a very out-of-the way location in Washington DC. Shown above is the alleé of Phoenix sylvestris from India & Nepal.

It houses collections that are not on display at the US Botanic Garden complex at the foot of Capitol Hill.  Seasonal plants are grown here for the Capitol grounds, the Supreme Court, and the Library of Congress -- about 100,000 mums, pansies, cabbage, kale and other annuals and perennials.

Foliage plants are grown here for supply to Senate offices; palm trees are available to rent for special Capitol Hill events; and interior display plants like poinsettias and Easter lilies are grown for special seasonal displays.

Container Succulents

Debra Lee Baldwin, the expert on succulents, has a new book out on gardening with succulents in containers.

It's  Succulent Container Gardens: Design Eye-Catching Displays with 350 Easy-Care Plants (Timber Press, 2009).

I haven't seen the book, but I have seen the video, and you certainly should watch the do-it-yourself demonstration on YouTube.

Here's the link: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yj8vvZQAlDU

Her previous books on succulents were terrific, and I presume this one is, too.

I-Park Design Residency

Doesn't this look delilghtful?  I-Park, a 450 acre rural woodland retreat in East Haddam, CT, has announced a new residency program for landscape architects and designers.  The four-week session (there are also a few two and eight-week programs) are to be utilized for work on a professional project -- or it could be used to design a landscape project within I-park itself.  Each participant selected for the program will have a private studio as well as workshop space, and other artists, including writers and composers, will also be taking part in other residency programs at the park.

For more information on the program, call 860 873-2468. East Haddam is just up the Connecticut River a ways from Old Lyme and Old Saybrook.

(image: I-Park)