GardenDesignOnline

New Plants 2011 - III

New from Spring Meadow Nursery in Michigan, plants for small garden design.

'Little Lime' Hydrangea
(Hydrangea paniculata 'Jane')

If you loved 'Limelight' hydrangea, you'll love this one even more --- it fits into very small gardens. It has the same lovely flowers and colors, but it only gets three to five feet high, and spacing is four to six feet on center. It's a reliable bloomer, with upright flowers that are pure white fading to greens and pinks.  You can't beat its versatility in a bouquet. It's also drought-tolerant and does fine in city conditions.  Blooms on new wood, so cut it back in late winter/early spring.  Prefers full sun in the north, afternoon shade in the south and west.
Zones 3-8. 

'Double Take Pink Storm Quince'
(Chaenomeles speciosa 'Pink Storm')

Check out the size of that quince bloom next to the quarter!  This is another plant suitable for small gardens, just three to four feet high, planted four to five feet on center.  Imagine it in February-March massed in the border of a patio garden.  Salmon/coral blooms, drought-tolerant, thornless as well and deer resistant.
Zones 5-8.

Even better, it comes in two other colors: Double Take Orange Storm and Double Take Scarlet Storm.  Quinces are among the lovliest of early bloomers, but they tend to get big and rangy, so these new plants might just be the answer.

 

'American Pillar' Arborvitae
(Thuja occidentalis 'American Pillar')

Finally, an arborvitae that's narrow enough for almost any garden design ... only three to five feet wide.  At 25 to 30 feet tall, a hedge of it would be perfect to screen out unwelcome views (and neighbors) in very small gardens.  Around that swimming pool deck, maybe?

It's also fast growing, disease resistant, deer resistant, takes full sun to part shade and has very rich green foliage.  Georgia plantsman John Houser found the sport in his nursery one day, and the rest is history. "I've never found a sport as spectaular or as potentially useful as one that spontaneously appeared in my nursery a few years ago," he said.
Zones 3-7.

 

'Pink Home Run'® Rose

It's just like the red Home Run rose, but this one is pink.  Developed by Weeks Roses, it's immune to black spot and powdery mildew and it blooms from spring to frost, but don't deadhead it, or you risk snipping off the flowers.

It's a shrub rose about four feet high and five feet wide, and heat tolerant too.  The foliage may be trimmed back after flowering.
Zones 4-9.

 

(photos: Spring Meadow Nursery)

 

 

Happenings Feb 2011

 Selected Events Around the Country:

thru Feb 27: A Caribbean Garden, Bronx, NY
Exhibition, NY Botanical Garden.
thru March 27, Orchid Show, St. Louis, MO
Missouri Botanical Garden, 314-577-5100
thru April 24:  Orchids: A View from the East, Washington DC
Annual Orchid Exhibition, National Museum of Natural History.

Feb 4-5, 6th Annual Sustainability Symposium, Cleveland, OH
11AM-5PM, "Healing Spaces," with landscape architect David Kamp of Dirtworks. Cleveland Botanical Garden 216-721-1600 x 100.  CEU's avail.
Feb 5, Perennial Plant Symposium, Atlanta, GA
9AM-3:30PM, "The Pleasure Garden," Atlanta Botanical Garden, 404-876-5859 

Feb 8, Webinar, Winning Outdoor Kitchen Design
noon-1:15PM EST; sponsor: Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet, 800-868-1699 CEU's avail.
Feb 10, "The Search for the Ideal Perennial," Indianapolis, IN
8:15AM-5PM, Symposium, Indianapolis Museum of Art, sponsor: Perennial Plant Assn, 614-876-5328
Feb 10-13, Maymont Flower & Garden Show, Richmond, VA
Greater Richmond Convention Center, 804-358-7166
Feb 11-13  21st Antiques & Garden Show, Nashville, TN
Nashville Convention Center, 615-352-9064
Feb 12-20 Colorado Garden & Home Show, Denver, CO
Colorado Convention Center, 303-932-8100

 Feb 16-18, Natural Landscape Design: Meadows & Woods, Boylston, MA
3-day Symposium, Tower Hill Botanic Garden, sponsor: New Directions in the American Landscape 203-834-0174
Feb 17, 11th Land Ethics Symposium, Langhorne, PA
8AM-4PM, "Creative Approaches for Ecological Landscaping," Bowman's Hill Wildflower Preserve 215-862-2924
Feb 17-20, New Jersey Flower & Garden Show, Edison, NJ
"Gardens on Broadway," NJ Convention Center, 732-449-4004
Feb 17, "Insightful Garden Making," San Francisco, CA
6:15PM, Lecture, British designer Dan Pearson, Walt Disney Family Museum, sponsor: The Garden Conservancy 415-441-4300
Feb 18-21, Great Backyard Bird Count, Nationwide
sponsors: Audubon, Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Feb 19, Annual Winter Lecture, Great Barrington, MA
2PM-4PM, "At Home in the 365-Day Garden," Margaret Roach; sponsor Berkshire Botanical Garden 413-298-3926
Feb 19, "The Edible Revolution," St. Louis, MO
8AM-3PM, Symposium, Missouri Botanical Garden, 314-577-5100

Feb 23-27 Northwest Flower & Garden Show, Seattle, WA
Washington State Convention Center, 253-756-6898
Feb 23-25, Natural Landscape Design: Meadows & Woods, Chadds Ford, PA
3-day Symposium, Brandywine Conservancy, sponsor: New Directions in the American Landscape, 203-834-0174
Feb 24-27 19th Rhode Island Flower & Garden Show, Providence, RI
"Gardening with Heart," RI Convention Center, 401-272-0980
Feb 24-27, 30th Connecticut Flower & Garden Show, Hartford, CT
Connecticut Convention Center, 860-844-8461
Feb 25, Green Matters Symposium Wheaton, MD
8:30AM-4PM, "Real Food Renaissance," Brookside Gardens, 301-962-1451
Feb 25 Landscape Design Symposium, Glencoe, IL
9AM-3PM, "A Sense of Place," Chicago Botanic Garden, 847-835-5440 

Feb 25-27 Southeastern Flower Show, Atlanta, GA
"In Tune with Blooms," Cobb Galleria Centre, 404-351-1074
Feb 25-27 All Texas Garden Show, Arlington, TX
Arlington Convention Center, 817-459-5000
Feb 25-27 20th Arkansas Flower & Garden Show, Little Rock, AR
Statehouse Convention Center, 501-821-4000
Feb 26, "From Seed to Skillet," Los Angeles, CA
11:30AM, Workshop, LA  County Arboretum & Botanic Garden, sponsor: The Garden Conservancy 415-441-4300
Feb 26, Design with Nature Conference, St. Paul, MN
8AM-5PM, Univ of MN Conference Center, sponsor: Wild Ones 612-293-3833
Feb 26-March 27 Orchid Mania, Cleveland, OH
"Purple Reign," Cleveland Botanical Garden, 216-721-1600
Feb 28, An Ecological Focus for your Landscape Firm, Ann Arbor, MI
9AM-5PM, Symposium, Matthaei Botanical Gardens, sponsor: New Directions in the American Landscape, 203-834-0174

 

LOOKAHEAD:

March 1, Davidson Horticultural Symposium, Davidson, NC
"Rediscovering Home," Davidson College, 704-604-6618 
March 3, 17th Annual Ecological Landscaping Assn Conference, Springfield, MA
8AM-8:30PM, "Staying Ahead of the Curve," 617-436-5838
March 6-15 Philadelphia Flower Show, Philadelphia, PA
"Springtime in Paris," PA Convention Center, 215-988-8899
March 19 Water-Wise Landscape Design, Dallas, TX
March 26, Spring Gardening Symposium, Seattle, WA
NW Hort Society, "Inspired Gardening within the Environment," 206-780-8172
May 24-28 Chelsea Flower Show, London, UK

Garden Exhibit: Gardens in Scotland

Garden Design in Scotland

A marvelous exhibit on landscape design in Scotland has just opened at the US Botanic Garden in Washington DC.  Running through June 2nd, the show displays large-format photos by Allan Pollok-Morris showcasing the work of  top landscape designers:  Andy Goldsworthy, Arabella Lennox-Boyd, Charles Jencks, Ian Hamilton Finlay and others.

All of the photos are from Pollok-Morris' recent book, Close Landscape Design and Land Art in Scotland. 

Don't miss it if you're in the DC area.

 (photo: courtesy USBG)

New Plants 2011 - II

All new from Monrovia:

Pink Yuletide Camellia
(Camellia sasanqua 'MonDel' PPAF) 

This is a sport of the Red Yuletide camellia, but this one has a bright pink color with yellow stamens.  It's fragrant as well, and can be used as a hedge, a screen, and it can also be espalied.  Eight to ten feet tall and wide, it blooms in mid season and prefers filtered sun.
Zones 7-10.

Blue Balloon® Bluebeard
(Caryopteris x clandonensis 'Korball' Blue Balloon®)

Well, how about a globular bluebeard? Round in form, deep blue flowers with a lavender-like fragrance, and dark green leaves.  Prefers full sun, cut back in early spring.
Zones 6-9

 

Mountain Pepper
(Drimys lanceolata)

This plant is from the Dan Hinkley collection, and it looks like a real winner.  A medium sized evergreen reaching 10-15' tall and 10 feet wide, it features creamy green fragrant flowers that give way to black fruits in autumn.  The foliage is held on stems that are brilliant red when young, so it's a real standout in the garden. Prefers full sun to part shade and a sheltered place away from cold winds.
Zones 9-10.

Smith Opus 1 Peony
(Paeonia (Itoh) 'Smith Opus 1' PPAF

Although I don't usually write about perennials, you should check out the two new Itoh peonies. This one emerges orange, then fades to a peach-yellow color in full sun with a red center.  Vigorous growth and heavy flowering, with disease resistant foliage.
Zones 3-8

The other new one, 'Smith Opus 2', is pink that fades to pale white with a burgundy center.  Same zones.

 

 

Books: Walls

As the title indicates, this is everything you always wanted to know about walls. Written by German architect Günther Mader and landscape gardening engineer Elke Zimmermann, Walls: Elements of Garden and Landscape Architecture (W.W.Norton & Company, 2011) is a comprehensive guide to wall-making.

 As the authors state in the introduction, "We aim to help raise a new awareness of the design potential of walls in garden and landscape architecture, to inspire and provide you with models and criteria for quality."

 Mader and Zimmermann first take you through the cultural history of walls and design fundamentals, including a section on how to plan walls.

In the next several chapters, they discuss different types of walls, from stone masonry walls to concrete, brick and stucco walls, to walls faced with various types of materials, and there are separate chapters on gabions, rammed earth walls, and walls made of recycled materials.

Each section is accompanied by text on design principles, photographs and drawings that clearly illustrate how the walls are constructed, and more importantly, what they look like.  The projects depicted in the book are all in Europe, but the detail and materials used are perfectly compatible with what anyone would find in the US or other parts of the world.  If you're interested in beautiful walls that make a difference in a landscape -- a wall that really is an artful statement in and of itself, then this is the book for you.

Sculpture Exhibition: Meijer Gardens

Jim Dine Sculptures Jan 28-May11

Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids, MI is hosting the first major retrospective of works by Pop Art sculptor Jim Dine.  The exhibition includes some of Dine's early work from the 1950's and early 60s through recently-completed sculptures.  Some of Dine's major themes include the Venus figure and the heart -- and more recently, Pinocchio.

Sculpture curator Joseph Becherer says Dine has "a vast creativity and willingness to turn to a variety of images, many derived from found objects and popular or consumer culture. His sensitivity for textures and surfaces coupled with his mastery of materials allows him to create works in a range of materials from cloth to bronze, straw to wood."

The exhibition will include more than 20 of Dine's sculptures, the largest show of his works to date. Dine himself will speak at the garden on April 14th at 7PM.  SO -- a great excuse to visit western Michigan and take in one of the country's great gardens and see terrific artworks as well.

(photo: Walla Walla Foundry Inc)

Leaving the Garden Behind

(Click on photos to enlarge).

Can I move on from that garden? Do I really miss anything? Since I moved around Thanksgiving week, leaving my garden in DC, I can't decide, really, whether I regret leaving anything.  Among my favorite plants is the dwarf cryptomeria in the middle of the herb garden (center bottom in the photo). It was a gift from the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, about 4 inches high when I first planted it.  At its November height, it was about 12 feet tall or so, one of the wondrous plants in that garden.

The quiet tranquility of the back yard always gave me great pleasure ... and althought I'm not a fan of lawn, I have to admit that a small patch of it somewhere soothes the soul like nothing else.

     Will I ever have another Mme Alfred Carriere climber?  It was one of my favorite roses, and impossible to dig up and bring along.  I ordered it years ago from Wayside Gardens, dug it up and moved it at least once, but it is now huge, and covered with glorious blooms in spring and sporadically thereafter until frost. Can I even find another one?

Neighbors often stopped to chat whenever the Lord Neville clematis started to bloom, and the photo, of course, doesn't begin to capture its electric deep blue-purple color. 

Did I bring anything along?  Well, several years ago I divided some daylilies, and they now reside on the hillside in back of my Massachusetts house, along with a few black eyed susans and a brilliant red Japanese maple that I dug up from my neighbor's house.

I was afraid to bring along the Spigelia marilandica -- I wasn't sure it would survive the winters up here, and they also don't like to be moved. So better left in place for the new owners to admire.

I did manage to bring along my 'Easy Does It' rose, and this rose is one very tough plant.  I dug it up in August, re-planted it in Massachusetts, and watched in horror as most of the leaves dropped off.  I poured gallons of water on it, crossed my fingers and went back to DC for the final move.  When I returned Thanksgiving week, the leaves were full again and it looked like it had always been there.  It's now covered in burlap (not sure about the winter winds up here), but I'm hoping it'll survive the cold and be around for a good long time to remind me of some of my favorite plants and scenes.

 

Tropics in the Bronx

Caribbean Garden, Jan 15-Feb 27

That big blast of winter won't look so bad if you head up to the NY Botanical Garden this weekend for Caribbean Garden, opening this weekend in the Enid A Haupt Conservatory.  The big glass house is now open again after last year's renovations ... so enjoy this show before the next big ones come along.  There's a new, expanded display of palms, including 50 new species.  Among them are the red sealing wax palm, Cyrotostachys renda, and the Seychelles stilt palm Verschaffeltia splendida.

In the rain forest area, you'll find a new display that explains how traditional healers use plants for medicinal purposes, and on the skywalk, you can experience the taller plants through an enveloping mist.  Other exotic specimens are in the upland rain forest: orchids, bromeliads, ferns, bamboos and more.

Tickets are half off for a limited time; and visitors with cameras might like to enter the special photo contest.

A cold winter winner.

 (photos: NYBG)

Garden Art

My friend Melissa Clark over at Garden Shoots alerted me to the gorgeous garden art of Liz Reed, composed, believe it or not, on a scanner. Reed's photos, and I particularly liked the one above, would be great for any garden lover, and wouldn't they look terrific in a garden room? Check out the article about Reed on Garden Shoots here.

And see more of Liz Reed's fabulous art at her website. And you can purchase photos online.

In the Magazines Jan-Mar 2011

Horticulture Feb/Mar

*Read about several GREAT American public gardens: Quarryhill Botanical Garden in Glen Ellen, CA, a sanctuary for rare plants from China; the gardens at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC, ranging from the high Victorian to native American Indian to classic rose garden, & more; the elevated High Line in NYC, an old freight train track converted to a public walkway overflowing with native plants.

*A new column by landscape designers Susan Cohan and Rebecca Sweet.

*Profile of Gordon Bailey, Jr, of the wholesaler Bailey Nurseries.

Sunset January

* And how cool is this?:  a firepit with an upright screen around it (made of rusted steel).  The screen rotates on a track around the firepit so that you can protect the flame, no matter which way the wind is blowing.

*Tips for getting the garden started in January

*And a garden make-over in Berkeley that includes a front-yard vegetable garden; a raised bed in the back yard for herbs and more veg; a spacious patio with potting area; and even a patch of eco-lawn. (Is there really such a thing???)

Fine Gardening Jan-February

*Eight plants that can give structure to the garden, including (not terribly surprising) .. crape myrtle, doublefile viburnum, kousa dogwood, Sky Pencil holly, etc.

*A useful article on how to fix pruning mistakes (which we all see many times in clients' gardens).

*8 plants that can be used to create privacy

Garden Design Jan-February

The all-new magazine: a complete makeover, from editors to "look."

*It includes an essay "The Meditative Gardener," by novelist Francine Prose.
*A new monthly feature on edible gardening.
*A new feature section -- this month's subject is Victorian gardens and five gardeners who have revived that spirit in their own landscapes.

*Plains gardens of Marfa, Texas

*And what do YOU think of the new magazine?