GardenDesignOnline

Design: Garden Textures

Check out this lovely image of of Hakonechloa macra (Hakone Grass),  Tradescantia 'Concord Grape' (Spiderwort), and Bletilla striata (Hardy Orchid), from the Grounded Design blog of Thomas Rainer.

 Then read Rainer's entire post here on garden textures inspired by musical themes.  Would that we were all so creative!

Garden Design: the Outside Office

There's nothing worse than sitting inside, working away on a computer, on a beautiful, sunny summer day.

So check out the ideas of New York designer Jonathan Olivares.

Through July 5th, his proposals are on display at the Art Insitute of Chicago, but you can see a few of them here in Metropolis Magazine.  There could be a happy collaboration with landscape designers.

Urban Landscape Design: Grand Scale in the City

 

click on images to enlarge

This stately house sits back off the street, in Cambridge, MA, and its grand scale requires a landscape design that's just as striking. The garden has twice won a gold medal from the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, and it's no wonder.

 

The garden changes from year to year, but its major elements give the garden a well-defined structure.

The round cypress fountain, backed by a weeping beech, anchors the undulating stone wall at the rear and the ever-changing herbacious border to the left.

 Aside from this magnificent beech tree, there's a new hedge in the garden comprised of California Incense Cedar, weeping Alaskan Cedar and Hinoki False Cypress.  (How's that for a combo?) The hedge was installed after a fire at the neighbor's house next door destroyed part of the garden.

Happenings July 2012

Selected Events Around the Country:

Thru Oct 21, "The Artist in the Garden," Bronx, NY
Exhibition on Monet's Garden, NY Botanical Garden, 718-817-8700

July 1, Garden Conservancy Open Days Tours: CT, NH, NY, VT
CT: Litchfield County; NH: Cheshire County; NY: Dutchess, Westchester Counties; VT: Windham County
July 4-10 Perennial Plant Symposium, Boston, MA
Lectures, Tours, Exhibitions, More 614-771-8431
July 6-7, Coastal Gardens Tour, Rockport MA
10AM-4PM, 14 gardens, 978-546-2896
July 7-8, Garden Conservancy Open Days Tours: OR, PA
OR: Lane County; PA: Erie County

July 9-15 Crested Butte Wildflower Festival, Crested Butte, CO
Hikes, garden tours, classes & more 970-349-2571
July 14, The Art of Living Walls, Boylston, MA
10:30AM-Noon, Workshop, Tower Hill Botanical Garden, 508-869-6111
July 14-15, Garden Conservancy Open Days Tours: CT, NY, ME, NJ
CT: New London, Tolland Counties; NY: Putnam, Suffolk Counties; ME: York County; NJ: Bergen County
July 14-15, Garden Dialogues, CT, Indianapolis, ME, Newport RI, Portland OR, Seattle WA
Private tours with landscape architects & homeowners, The Cultural Landscape Foundation, 202-483-0553

July 15, Dearborn Garden Walk, Chicago, IL
noon-5PM, 54th annual garden tour on the city's Gold Coast  312-632-1241
July 15, West Seattle Garden Tour, Seattle, WA
9AM-5PM, "The Art of Gardening," 15th annual tour, 206-324-2061
July 15, Gardens in the Watershed Tour, Spruce Head & Rockland, ME
10AM-5PM, 21st annual tour, 207-594-5166
July 19-21, National Children & Youth Garden Symposium, Washington DC Area
Sponsor: American Horticultural Society, 703-768-5700
July 21-22, Garden Conservancy Open Days Tours: CT, NH, CA, IL, MA, NY
CT: Hartford, New Haven Counties; NH: Hillsborough, Merrimack, Rockingham Counties; CA: Alameda, Contra Costa Counties; IL: Lake County; MA: Berkshire County; NY: Columbia County

July 25 Woody Plant Conference, Villanova, PA
8:30AM-4:45PM, 15th annual conference, 610-388-5454
July 28-29, Gardenwalk Buffalo, Buffalo, NY
10AM-4PM, Largest tour in the country, 716-879-0123 
July 28-29, Garden Conservancy Open Days Tours: NY, CT, WA, IL
NY: Dutchess, Westchester Counties; WA: Kitsap County; IL: Du Page County; CT: Litchfield County

LOOKAHEAD:

Aug 23-25, Farwest Show, Portland, OR
Sept 16-22, APLD Annual Design Conference, San Francisco Bay Area
Sept 28-Oct 1, ASLA Annual Meeting & Expo, Phoenix, AZ

 

Plants: Two in Top 10 New Species

Many of us think there's nothing much more out there in the plant world, but two plants made this year's Top 10 List of new species announced by the International Institute for Species Exploration.

The Nepalese autumn poppy (Meconopsis autumnalis) lives at an altitude between 10,827 to 13,780 feet and was found in the high mountain habitat of Nepal.  The vibrant, tall yellow poppy flowers in autumn, and scientists say there is evidence the species was collected in the past, but was not recognized as new until botanists rediscovered it miles from human habitation in heavy monsoon rains.

This slender orchid was found in Papua New Guinea by scientists from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Leiden University.  They named it Bulbophyllum nocturnum from the Latin word meaning "at night" because its flowers open at about 10PM and close early in the morning.  The scientists believe it is the first recorded night-blooming plant among more than 25 thousand known species of orchids.

Entomologist Quentin Wheeler, who is director of the Institute, said the Top 10 is intended to "bring attention to the biodiversity crisis and the unsung species explorers and museums who continue a 250-year tradition of discovering and describing the millions of kinds of plants, animals and microbes with whom we share this planet."  This the fifth year that the Institute has released a "Top 10" list.  The release on May 23rd coincided with the birth date of Carolus Linnaeus, the Swedish botanist who devised the modern system of plant and animal names and classifications.

(photos: International Institute for Species Exploration)

Design: A Good News Fire

 

click to enlarge images

If you could have a garden like this one in Cambridge, MA, you, too, would wish that your house burned down.  The current homeowners bought the modern house, which went up after the previous owners' traditional style house was destroyed by a fire. 

 Now, the front yard is dominated by a large beech tree that sucked up most of the water and finally persuaded the owners to pull out the rhododendrons, Virginia sweetspire and supposedly dry-shade-loving groundcovers and replace them with a dwarf bamboo (Pleioblastos viridistriatus) or golden bamboo.

As you head into the back yard, you walk through a side yard with needled evergreens on one side, some roses and groundcover on the other.  You can't help but notice the five-trunked enormous beech tree in the distance, which dominates the entire back yard.

A large bed of petasites nicely balances the beech tree, which is to the right and just out of view. Note the tall bamboo (Phyllostachys aureosulcata 'Aureocaulis') on the back border that completely screens out the adjacent house, and the brick paths that wind in back of the petasites.

From the back deck, you can hear the sound of the small waterfall cascading into the pool -- in a location that's totally hidden from the rest of the garden by the giant leaves of the Butterbur. Ferns, epimedium, hostas, hellebores, pachysandra and other shade lovers are planted everywhere, ...

And of course you just can't ignore that magnificent copper beech tree. There arent' many modern houses in Cambridge, but it is perfect for the size of the lot, and the simple planting palette, with many bold textures, is exactly what's called for to complement the style of the residence.

This house was on the recent Cambridge garden tour, which is held every two years by the Friends of the Cambridge Public Library.  Mark your calendars for 2014.

 

 

Design: French-y Furniture

LOVE the woven dune chair, shown here, that comes in 20! colors, total.  It's French-style outdoor furniture from Fermob, and there are various styles of chairs, tables, chaise lounges, and much more.

The stacking Luxembourg chair would be particularly useful for large parties, and of course you can stash the extras almost anywhere -- a shed, a garage, the basement, by the side of the house.

This table is bigger than it looks - a 30x22" rectangle that takes an umbrella, but there are even larger tables to accommodate larger families or more guests.

Check out the entire collection at www.frenchbistrofurniture.com

(photos: frenchbistrofurniture.com)

Design: Tiny Birdbaths

The Cambridge, MA garden tour -- held every two years -- had just too many gardens to visit all in one day, but there were a a number of outstanding features.

There were two tiny ground-level birdbaths that caught my eye -- the first just a simple stone bowl surrounded by shade lovers ...

And the second, really a small water feature, but at ground level, I'm sure the birds would be attracted to it.

Nice concepts to design into any shade border.

Design: Dealing with Contractors

This is the rhododendron that's been growing at my house in New England since way before the mid-80's, when we purchased it.

It was neglected for many years, yet it soldiered on and year after year produced the typical massive blooms that are a true glory in this region every May or June.

SO ... imagine my horror:

The house painter last fall could not imagine that I'd mind if he trimmed back the plant to get at the chimney ... and I couldn't imagine that he'd do such a thing without first asking permission.

It breaks my heart every time I walk down the drive.  And the lesson is, never assume anything, and tell every contractor who's working outside not to touch any of your plants unless they ask first.

 

Top Rose 2013

Francis Meilland™ Rose
2013 AARS Winner

A new hybrid tea rose from Conard Pyle  -- Francis Meilland -- or Rosa 'Meitroni' -- is the 2013 winner selected by All American Rose Selections.

The rose is named in honor of the 100th anniversary of Francis Meilland, the famous French rose breeder. Conard Pyle & Meilland International have been working together for more than 75 years to bring the French roses to the United States.

Steve Hutton, president of Conard-Pyle, said the new rose is special not just because of its "special beauty, fragrance and performance," but also "because it symbolizes our long relationship with Meilland International."

Francis Meilland has a strong fragrance, blooms of a beautiful light pink color, and dark green leaves. It reaches a height of about six feet with a spread of three feet. This rose also has exceptional disease resistance -- it underwent observations for two years in Europe under no-spray conditions.  AARS voted recently to stop spraying all of its test roses with fungicides, so the winners should be able to perform without any need of chemicals.  That's good news for everyone.