GardenDesignOnline

Happenings February 2015

Selected Events Around the Country:

Exhibitions:

thru March 8, Orchid Mania, Cleveland, OH
Cleveland Botanical Garden, 216-721-1600
thru March 15, Orchid Show, Glencoe, IL
Chicago Botanic Garden, 847-835-5440
thru March 22, Orchid Show, St. Louis, MO
Missouri Botanical Garden, 314-577-5100
thru March 29, Orchid Extravaganza, Kennett Square, PA
Longwood Gardens, 610-388-1000
thru April 12, Orchid Daze: Pop!, Atlanta, GA
Atlanta Botanical Garden, 404-876-5859
thru April 26, Orchid Show, Washington DC
US National Museum of Natural History, US Botanic Garden, 202-225-8333

Jan 30-Feb1  Nashville Antiques & Garden Show, Nashville, TN
Music City Center, 888-405-7350
Feb 3, "The Self-Proliferating Landscape," Bronx, NY
1PM-3PM, Lecture by Larry Weaner, NY Botanical Garden, 718-817-8700
Feb 4, Humans & Wildlife: The New Imbalance, Cambridge, MA
7PM, Lecture, Cambridge Public Library, 781-790-8921
Feb 4-6 New England Grows, Boston, MA
Boston Convention Center.  Trade show: lectures, exhibits, more 508-653-3009
Feb 5, Landscape Architect Laurie Olin, Philadelphia, PA
6PM, Penn Design, Annual Ian McHarg Lecture, 215-898-6591
Feb 6, Today's Horticulture Symposium, Kennett Square, PA or ONLINE
8AM-4PM, Longwood Gardens, 610-388-1000
Feb 6-15, Great Big Home & Garden Show, Cleveland, OH
Cleveland IX Center, 216-676-6000

Feb 11, "New Urban Natures," Philadelphia, PA
6:30 PM, Lecture, Penn Design, 215-898-6591
Feb 11-15, Northwest Flower & Garden Show, Seattle, WA
"Romance Blossoms," Washington State Convention Center, 253-238-3807
Feb 12, Landscape Lecture: Landscape Architect Kathryn Gustafson, Boston, MA
7PM, Lecture, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 617-278-5156
Feb 12, An Australian View of Native Plant Design, San Merino, CA
2:30 PM, Lecture, The Huntington, 626-405-2100
Feb 12-15 New Jersey Flower & Garden Show, Edison, NJ
NJ Convention Center, 732-449-4004
Feb 13-15 Indiana Home & Garden Show, Indianapolis, IN
Indiana Convention Center.
Feb 13-16 Great Backyard Bird Count
Help Audubon and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology keep track of our birds.

Feb 19, "Le Notre to Today," Bronx, NY
10AM-11:30AM, 15th Annual Lecture Series, NY Botanical Garden, 718-817-8700
Feb 19-22 Connecticut Flower & Garden Show, Hartford, CT
CT Convention Center: Lectures, exhibits, demos, more  860-844-8461
Feb 19-22 Rhode Island Spring Flower & Garden Show, Providence, RI
RI Convention Center: "Garden Adventures," 401-272-0980
Feb 20-22, Arkansas Flower & Garden Show, Little Rock, AR
Statehouse Convention Center, "Carolina Calling," 501-821-4000
Feb 20-22 & 27-Mar 1, Southern Spring Home & Garden Show, Charlotte, NC
Park Expo & Conference Center, 704-376-6594

Feb 24 Native Alternatives to Problem Plants, Framingham, MA
2PM, Lecture, New England Wildflower Society, 508-877-7630
Feb 24, "Designing With Green and a Little White, Bronx, NY
1PM-3PM, Lecture, NY Botanical Garden, 718-817-8700
Feb 25-26, Ecological Landscape Alliance Conference, Springfield, MA
Annual Conference, "Sustaining the Living Landscape," 617-436-5838
Feb 27, Green Matters Symposium, Silver Spring, MD
8:30AM-4PM, "Protecting Our Pollinators," Silver Spring Civic Center, 301-962-1451
Feb 27-Mar 1, Vermont Flower Show, Essex Junction, VT
"Spring Reflections," Champlain Valley Expo, 888-518-6484
Feb 28-March 8, Philadelphia Flower Show, Philadelphia, PA
"Celebrate the Movies," PA Convention Center, 215-988-8899
Feb 28-April 19, Orchid Show, Bronx, NY
NY Botanical Garden, 718-817-8700

 LOOKAHEAD:

March 3, Davidson Horticultural Symposium, Davidson, NC
"Planting Outside the Lines," 206-979-6483
March 6-7, 7th Ithaca Native Landscape Symposium, Ithaca, NY
8AM-5:30PM, Cinemapolis, 607-533-7193
March 11-15 Boston Flower & Garden Show, Boston, MA
Seaport World Trade Center, 617-385-5000
March 12, 15th Land Ethics Symposium, Doylestown, PA
8AM-4PM, "Creative Approaches for Ecological Landscaping," Bowman's Hill Wildflower Preserve, 215-862-2924
March 21, Northwest Hort Society Spring Symposium, Kenmore, WA
"Foliage, Flair & Fresh Design Ideas," with British designer Andy Sturgeon & others, 206-780-8172

April 9, Landscape Architect Claude Cormier, Boston, MA
7PM, Lecture, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 617-278-5156
May 19-23, Chelsea Flower Show, London, UK
June 11, Landscape Architect Ken Smith in Conversation, Boston, MA
7PM, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 617-278-5156

New Roses 2015 - II

Don't want to miss the new offerings this year from Star Roses:

Best Kept Secret™
(Rosa 'Meisaliza')
This is a hybrid tea with dark green folige and pink flowers that have a strong citrus scent.  Excellent resistance to rust and mildew.  It has a bushy habit, up to four feet tall.  To zone 6, hybridized by Meilland International. 

Like other hybrid teas, it makes a great specimen.

Look A Likes® Apple Dapple
(Rosa 'Meiplumty')

If you haven't seen the Look a Likes series from Star, do look them up.  The blooms on the latest, shown here, look like apple blossoms.  It's three feet tall by four wide, a great groundcover rose for the front of borders. Flowers in early spring, and repeat blooms through the season. Very resistant to rust and mildew. To Zone 5. HYbridized by Meilland International.

 

 

Peachy Keen™
(Rosa 'Radgor')
This is a shrub rose with shell pink flowers, and there's a hint of yellow in the middle of the bloom.  It's said to be exceptionally disease resistant, and it blooms from spring until frost, so it would be great as a hedge or massed in the border.

Three feet tall, three to four wide, with a mounding habit, to zone 5. hybridized by Will Radler.

Look for other new roses from Star on their website.

Garden Art: New Sculptures

photos: Terra Sculpture - click to enlarge

This sculpture is called Egress -- one of four new limited edition offerings from Terra Sculpture in California.  All of their works are a welcome departure from the fake lions and angels and greek maidens that adorn so many gardens, but you need a rather modern garden style to go with them.

Egress is fashioned from weathered and stainless steel and stands 75 inches tall and 30 inches in diameter, so you need a nice tall backdrop and some room to make it a noticeable focal point.

Gravity is a bit more funky, in stainless as well ... it almost looks like vertical pick up sticks. It's a bit taller, at 80 inches, and a bit narrower, too, only 28 inches wide.  So it could easily fit into a garden corner, or perhaps be placed at the end of a long allee.  Depending on the surrounding landscape, it would also be a standout with the sky as a backdrop.

Figure -- well, with a little imagination it could be the figure of a person -- is also fashioned from stainless steel and it's 73 inches tall by 24 wide.  It's a see-through sculpture, so you'd need to carefully consider its background -- imagine this one against deep blue, red, or brightly-colored fence or wall. Perfect for the modern garden.

Joy. This sculpture has an exuberant feeling to it, and you can order this one in either weathered or powder-coated steel.  It's 73 inches high and three feet in diameter, with a base of 24 inches. 

All of these sculptures are hand-crafted by landscape designer Jennifer Gilbert Asher and architect Mario Lopez.

An American Chestnut We Can Believe In?

Catching up again on some previous news ....

Scientists at the SUNY College of Environmental Science & Forestry (ESF) are growing American chestnut trees that apparently survive the blight that wiped out most of them in the early part of the 20th century.  The blight was introduced in the early 1900's, and within a few decades, the trees, once a prominent feature in the American landscape, were gone.

The photo shows two SUNY scientists in a plot with young, healthy chestnut trees.  Dr. William Powell, an ESF professor, says he's convinced the new trees will survive.  "Our goal was to develop an American chestnut tree that has blight resistance equal to that of a Chinese chestnut, and we are there.  We've done it," he said.

If the new trees are approved by the USDA, the EPA, and the FDA, they could be available to the public in approximately five years.  In the meantime, the ESF scientists may plant about 10 thousand seedlings so that they'll be ready for planting when the approval comes through.  Dr. Powell said the trees they are growing are close to the original trees that were found in Eastern forests, and they have only a couple of additional genes.  Recent studies also show that blight-resistant chestnut trees pass on that characteristic to the next generation.

Chestnut trees were valued for their rot-resistant wood and the abundant nuts produced by the trees were a valuable source of food for wildlife.  And of course for roasting over those Christmas fires.

photo: SUNY - ESF

Urban Tree of the Year 2015

photo: Emily Hamilton - SMA

The Society of Municipal Arborists has selected the Yellowwood (Cladastris kentukea or C. lutea) as its Urban Tree of the Year for 2015. 

It is certainly one of the greatest trees and should be used far more often by designers. It's becoming more popular as a street tree, likely because it's relatively pest free and does well in city conditions as long as it gets enough water. 

photo: SMA

This tree can also be used as a specimen in residential settings, as long as the yard is big enough.  Yellowwood can reach heights of 50 feet or so with a similar spread.  Best of all, it has lovely foliage and sweet-scented, pure white pea-like flowers that appear in long panicles in spring -- a spectacular show in any setting.  The leaves turn a nice yellow in fall, and the smooth gray bark is similar to that of a beech tree.   A cultivar to consider is 'Perkins Pink', with panicles of pink flowers.

The tree is also native to eastern North America, so it's a good choice for those who favor sustainable gardening.  According to the SMA, judicious pruning may be necessary when the tree is young to contain what they call "a maddening branching habit," but they say the tree's favorable attributes far outweigh that one idiosyncracy.   I surely agree.

New Plants 2015 IV - Trees

New Trees from Frank Schmidt & Son, Boring, Oregon:

Firestarter™ Tupelo
(Nyssa sylvatica 'JFS-red')

These trees, of course, should be used far more often than they are -- there is simply nothing like them in the fall.  This one is rather narrow, just 18 feet wide, and a height of about 35 feet.  It has intense, bright red leaves in the fall that turn from dark green earlier than most other cultivars -- and it simply can't be missed from a distance.

It also has a strong central leader, with symmetrical, upsweeping branches and an upright oval form.  To Zone 5.

Pink Cascade™ Cherry
(Prunus 'NCPH1')

This tree is similar to Snow Fountains -- but it has bright pink flowers and dark green, fine textured leaves that turn orange in autumn.  A great focal point, it grows to just 12 feet high and wide.  Developed at North Carolina State University, it's said to be easy to grow.  To Zone 5.

Urban Sunset™ Maple
(Acer truncatum x platanoides 'JFS-KW187)

How about the deep red color of these fall leaves?  This maple has a compact. narrow pyramidal shape, 35 feet high and 20 feet wide, and it develops a uniform canopy that requires very little pruning, if any.  It's said to be relatively problem free, especially as it casts off few seeds.  Ideal as a street tree.  To Zone 4b.

And new from JLPN Inc in Salem, Oregon:

Marley's Pink™ Japanese Snowbell
(Styrax japonica 'JLWeeping')

Another great ornamental weeper -- a  showcase specimen for a prominent garden area -- just eight to 10 feet tall and four to five feet wide. The light pink flowers in spring have a light fragrance that said to remind one of cotton candy. (? Haven't heard that one before). 

Good pest and disease resistance, to Zone 5.

Persian Spire™ Ironwood
(Parrotia persica 'JL Columnar')

Unlike most other Persian parrotias, this one has a distinct, upright form at a young age , and wow! -- look at the foliage.  The leaves in spring emerge with a strong purple hue that matures into green with a purple margin.  In fall the leaves turn hues of yellow, orange, burgundy and red.   The tree reaches a height of 25 feet and 10 feet wide.  To Zone 5.  A real showstopper.

Great European Garden Tours - Summer 2015

Join landscape architect Robert McDuffie, associate professor in the Dept of Horticulture at Virginia Tech for a couple of fabulous garden tours this coming summer.

Gardens of the Riviera is a two-week trip to gardens in Spain, France, and Italy (May 20-June 2, 2015) -- with stops in Barcelona, Collioure, Carcassonne and Nice in the south of France -- the on to Monaco and Portofino, Genoa & more in Italy.  Along the way, of course, you'll visit some of the areas fabulous gardens and botanical sites.

Later in the summer, join McDuffie for his Gardens of Southern England tour June 30-July 15th.  You'll start with the RHS garden at Wisley, then on to gardens at Scotney, Hever, and Leeds Castles -- and you'll be there for the Hampton Court Flower Show, which some aficionados prefer over Chelsea.  Before the trip ends, you'll  also visit Winchester, Exeter and Falmouth (in Cornwall), seeing special private gardens along the way.  And what better than visiting gardens with a landscape architect who can inform you about design and plantings?

In the Magazines Jan-Feb 2015

Landscape Architecture January 2015
* Plant failure -- as important as success on a green roof at the Chicago Botanic Garden
* It's good for kids to be scared at new playgrounds By Taylor Cullity Lethlean and James Mather Delaney.
*New garden by Mia Lehrer at the LA County Natural History Museum pays tribute to nature the city has lost.

Horticulture Jan-Feb 2015
* Profile of Hakone Gardens in Saratoga, CA -- a historic Japanese Garden dating to 1918.
* The fight to save native orchids
* Gardening with dogs -- (an oxymoron?)
* A stone garden in Montana
* Tips & favorite plants from some of the country's top public gardens

Fine Gardening Feb 2015
* Design: the secrets of matrix planting
* Design: the power of balance in garden design 
* Trees with real impact: best blooms, foliage, texture
* Designing a veg garden for visual impact


Sunset January 2015

* Designer Molly Wood of Costa Mesa, CA, creates a series of mini planting beds that are "pocket gardens" of varying design.
* Checklist of gardening tasks for January
* New fruit trees for backyard planting, along with guides on how to grow, espalier, and prune : pluots, nectaplums, and pluerry, a plum-cherry hybrid.

 

Better Homes & Gardens Jan 2015
* Baylor Chapman of Lila B. Design in San Francisco shows how to achieve "organic elegance" with local seasonal plants and unusual, re-purposed planting containers:  fillers for seasonal flowers, using knickknacks for accent, surprises -- like daffodils poking through the top of a lantern.  More in Chapman's The Plant Recipe Book: 100 Living Arrangements for Any Home in Any Season  (Artisan Books, 2014).

 

Books: The Ultimate Guide to Southern Gardening

What I'd say first is that you don't have to live south of the Mason-Dixon line to find this book useful, whether you're a designer or a homeowner interested in gardeing and garden design.

It's the updated edition of what's become known as the bible of Southern gardening: The New Southern Living Garden Book: The Ultimate Guide to Gardening (Oxmoor House, 2015).  It's big and filled with beautiful photos, and as editor Steve Bender notes in the introduction, "This revised book is bigger and showier than its predecessors, but its aim hasn't wavered -- to serve a wide range of both beginning and experienced gardeners."

It serves gardeners as well far outside the south.  After all, here on Cape Cod, Southern magnolias are thriving -- camellias are growing in the Monk's Garden at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, and the winter-blooming jasmine that I brought up from Washington DC three years ago is still alive and spreading like mad.  If the planet continues to warm, maybe the next edition of the Southern Living Garden Book will simply morph into the Southern & Northern Living Garden Book. 

But back to the book.  It explains the Southern preference for formal design, along with a "funky cottage garden look," regimentation, color and whimsy. The book's plant finder is divided into categories such as annuals, perennials, trees, plants with showy flowers, plants that tolerate drought, attract wildlife etc., with symbols that depict growing conditions and climate zones. This is folowed by an A to Z encyclopedia of the best plants for the south, with brief descriptions of each one, along with notable cultivars. There are also sections on general gardening -- soil, watering, pruning -- and special guides to growing annuals, perennials, bulbs, lawns, herbs, native plants, palms, trees and vegetables, vines.

Finally, you'll want to check out the final sections on pests and disease, controlling weeds, and the seasonal checklists. 

It's very comprehensive, and even if you're farther north, you'll turn to it again and again as perhaps you're go-to all-around gardening resource.

Bad News for Fringe Trees

photo: Pennsylvania Horticultural Society

Catching up on some news from before the Christmas season ....

Researchers at Wright State University in Ohio believe the emerald ash borer, which has killed millions of our native ash trees, is now attacking our native fringe trees (Chionanthus virginicus).  The fringe tree is prized for its airy white flowers that appear in spring, and it won a Gold Medal Award from the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society just last year.

Professor Don Cippollini of Wright, who has studied the ash borer for the past 10 years, found larvae of the insect on fringe trees near his home in southwestern Ohio. He said that the ash borer may have a wider host range than originally thought, or else it may be adapting to new hosts.  "This biological invasion," he said, "is really something to worry about.  It's having drastic ecological and economic consequences, and you can't always predict what's going to happen."

Although efforts are underway to control the insect with pesticides and parasitoid wasps, Cippolini says it is hard to stop because it has now reached such high densities.   It's believe the ash borer was introduced into the United States in shipping crates from Asia in 2002.

Fringe trees grow in the wild from New Jersey south to Florida and west to Oklahoma and Texas, and it's also a popular ornamental tree, at just around 12-20 feet tall at maturity and not generally subject to pests or disease.  If you notice a borer exit hole -- a "D" shape in the bark of a fringe tree -- please report it immediately.