GardenDesignOnline

Goods News for Native Orchids

photos: Donald J. Leopold, ESF

An amazing story ... millions of native orchids, including the grass pink, rose pogonia and hooded ladies' tresses, along with other rare plants, are flourishing on the site of an iron ore mine in the northern Adirondacks that closed in 1978. 

Grete Bader, a graduate student at SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF) did research at the site and said the plants are growing on a 100-acre wetland that emerged naturally on iron mine tailings -- the waste left over from separating ore from rock.  Bader says six types of native orchids are growing on the site, along with pink wintergreen or pink shinleaf, a threatened plant in New York state.  "The fact that this site restored itself from bare mine tailings to a diverse wetland plant community over the past 60 years is incredible, and the populations of orchids and pink shinleaf notably enhance its conservation value," said Bader.

Professor Donald Leopold of ESF said the number of orchids at the site is "extraordinary," unlike anything he's seen in more than 40 years of research in orchid-rich habitats in the United States.  "..I had thought that there were hundreds of thousands of individuals of these orchid species here, but Grete's more careful assessment suggests that there are actually a million or more of some species."

In New York state, there are about 60 distinct species of terrestrial orchids, all of them protected, and many of them quite rare.  They have three-petal flowers and come in hues ranging from yellow to rich purple. 

In addition to the orchids, the site of the former Benson Mines now has extensive mats of cranberries and acres of lowbush blueberries.  Professor Leopold says it would be beneficial to add properties like Benson Mines to the Adirondack Forest Preserve., 2.6 million acres within Adirondack Park.  "Everyone thinks about adding the beautiful, pristine land," he said.  "but sometimes properties like this one can be more beneficial for the state to purchase.  They have great value, both immediate and long term, for conservation and recreation purposes."

 

 

 

Happenings May 2016

 Selected Events Around the Country:

Exhibitions:
May 14-Sept 11, Impressionism: American Gardens on Canvas, Bronx, NY
NY Botanical Garden, 718-817-8700

April 30-May 1, Mary Lou Heard Memorial Garden Tour, CA
10AM-5PM, 36 gardens, self-guided tour, various locations.
May 1, Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour, CA
10AM-5PM, 32 gardens, self-guided, Alameda & Contra Costa Ctys, 510-236-9558
May 1 Garden Conservancy Open Days Tours: CA, CT, NY
CA: Arcadia, Pasadena; CT: Greenwich, Wilton; NY: Red Hook 888-842-2442
May 3, Landscape designer Nancy Goslee Power, San Marino, CA
7PM, Lecture, The Huntington, 626-405-2100
May 4, Planting in a Post Wild World, Cambridge, MA
7PM, Lecture, Cambridge Public Library, 781-790-8921
May 6, National Public Gardens Day, USA
Special Events at Public Gardens Throughout the Country.
May 7, Georgetown Garden Tour, Washington DC
10AM-5PM, 88th annual tour, nine gardens, 202-965-1950
May 7, Venice Garden & Home Tour, Venice, CA
2-5PM, 22nd Annual Tour, 310-650-6805
May 7-8 Garden Conservancy Open Days Tours: CA, NJ, NY
CA: Los Angeles, Santa Monica; NJ: East Orange, Short Hills, Glen Gardner, Convent Station, Far Hills; NY: East Hampton, Chappaqua, Ossining, Cold Spring. 888-842-2442
May 7, All About Containers Saturday, NY, NY
10AM-5PM, NY Botanical Garden Midtown Center, 718-817-8700

May 11, Conservation in Cuba, Seattle, WA
6:45PM, Lecture, NW Hort Society, 206-780-8172
May 13, Impressionists: Painting the American Garden, Bronx, NY
10:30AM-12:30PM, Lecture, NY Botanical Garden, 718-817-8700
May 14-15 Trade Secrets Show & Garden Tour, Northwest CT
Garden antiques, rare plants, private garden tours, 860-364-1080
May 14, Garden Dialogues, San Francisco
Special tours of private gardens with landscape architects TCLF, 202-483-0553

May 15, Garden Conservancy Open Days Tours: NY
NY: Mt. Sinai, Old Field,Stony Brook 888-842-2442
May 18, The Golden Age of American Impressionism, Bronx, NY
6:30-7:30PM, Lecture, NY Botanical Garden, 718-817-8700

May 19, Hidden Gardens of Beacon Hill Tour, Boston, MA
9AM-5PM, 87th annual tour, 10+ gardens 617-227-4392
May 20, Alexander Humboldt: History of Ecology, Bronx, NY
10:30AM-12:30PM, Symposium, NY Botanical Garden, 718-817-8700
May 20, Where are the Wildflowers Going?, Washington DC
Noon, Lecture, US Botanic Garden, 202-225-8333
May 21-22, Garden Conservancy Open Days Tours: CA:CT, NJ, NY, RI
CA: Kentfield, Ross; CT: Stonington; NJ: Allendale, Wyckoff, East Orange; NY: Amenia, Dover Plains, Millbrook, Wappingers Falls, Cutchogue, Flanders, Remsenberg; RI: Little Compton. 888-842-2442

May 22, Innisfree, A Modern Icon, Millbrook, NY
3PM, Lecture, The Garden Conservancy 845-424-6502
May 23, "Capability Brown & Belvoir Castle," New York, NY
6PM, Lecture, The Dutchess of Rutland, Bonhams, 800-913-6565
AND, at Philadelphia Union League May 26th, 6:30PM
May 24, Jazzing Up the Garden, Wellesley, MA
1:30-3PM, Workshop with Karen Bussolini, Mass Hort Society, 617-933-4900May 24-28, Chelsea Flower Show, London, UK
May 25, LA Thomas Rainer, 50th Anniversary Lecture, Seattle, WA
7PM, NW Hort Society, 206-780-8172
May 26, Gardens + Landscape Study Tour, New Canaan, CT
10:30AM-1PM, The Glass House, 203-594-9884
May 28, Garden Conservancy Open Days Tours: MA
MA: Chilmark. 888-842-2442 AND:
3PM, Lecture, same garden, Dexter Rhododendrons: A Collector's Garden
May 28, Special Garden Conservancy Open Day, Charleston, SC
10AM-4PM, Private Gardens in Charleston. Pre-registration required..888-842-2442

LOOKAHEAD:

June 29 , Woody Plant Conference, Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, PA

Books: NYBG -- A Celebration

If you missed this book when it was first published 11 years ago, don't miss the new, revised edition -- just released -- with more than 200 new photographs by Larry Lederman, botanical art  from the garden's collections, and fascinating essays by members of  the garden staff.  This revised edition is published to commemorate the garden's 125th anniversary.

In The New York Botanical Garden: Revised and Updated Edition (Abrams, 2016), NYBG's President and CEO Gregory Long presents the garden's long history, it's significance, and its ongoing efforts to conserve, explain, and educate.  In the introduction, Long outlines why the garden is so important.  First, it's a "place of beauty and quiet, an oasis of calm and civility ... a designed landscape where people can enjoy the greatest triumphs of nature."  Second, he notes that the garden conducts scholarly research on plants and shares that knowledge with many others.  Finally, the garden is an educational institution, where children and their teachers can explore plants and their habitats and understand their significance to humankind and their possible status as endangered species.

Many designers have played a role in the garden's design -- from Calvert Vaux, the Olmsted brothers, Beatrix Farrand, and Dan Kiley to present-day designers like Patrick Chassé,  Shavaun Towers and Darrell Morrison.

Designers will most appreciate the Perennial Garden designed by Lynden Miller, the re-design of the Herb Garden by Penelope Hobhouse, the Seasonal Walk along the Enid Haupt Conservatory by Piet Oudolf, and the new Native Plant Garden by Sheila Brady of Oehme van Sweden landscape architects.

Rare botanical drawings are interspersed with the text and photos of each garden section in stunning arrangements that reflect the garden's long-time history as well as its present-day importance.  I can't imagine a designer or serious gardener who wouldn't want to own a copy.

 

Outdoor Furniture: Thos Baker's "Madrone"

Madrone Collection from Thos. Baker

Make this what you like ... it's a versatile collection of chairs, chaises, ottomans, sofas, sectionals, loveseats and more, all with power-coated aluminum frames, rust-proof and a nice calming hue of grey.

Tables and some dining chairs have Tekwood slats -- a high-density polyethylene that of course looks just like teak and comes in two colors -- natural or vintage teakwood. 

The slingback chairs (also chaises) have a fabric called textilene that's easy to keep clean and it comes in wide array of colors, so you can easily match it to other outdoor features on the deck and patio ... or mix and match to your heart's delight.

Cushions for the sofas and loveseats are covered with Sunbrella fabric, in a variety of colors, and it's made particularly for the outdoors.

This sleek and simple collection would look great on almost any terrace or at almost any poolside.

Earth-Friendly Roses for Earth Day

I stumbled across Earth-Kind® Roses the other day, and they are perfect for Earth Day. Based on extensive research, the Texas AgriLife Extension Service awards the Earth-Kind designation to roses that demonstrate superior tolerance to pests, along with excellent landscape performance. The roses also perform well in a variety of soil types and have excellent tolerance to heat and drought. So, here are a few to consider:

Cecile Brunner
This polyantha rose has been around since 1881, and yes, it's still a winner.  The light pink blooms are fragrant, and they flower from spring until frost.  The shrub has a nice size of about four feet high and three feet wide, with an upright, bushy form.  It also tolerates some shade and has average water needs during the growing season.  Zones 5-9.

This rose was hybridized in France by Joseph Pernet-Ducher ... a cross between Mignonette and the tea rose Madame de Tartas.  It was named after the daughter of Swiss rosarian Ulrich Brunner.

Mutabilis
This medium-sized shrub was introduced in China some time before 1894.  An old garden rose, it has single blooms that emerge yellow, then change to pink and finally crimson.  It's also known as "The Butterfly Rose" because its flowers sometimes resemble butterflies.  It has great heat tolerance, and a rounded form, about six feet high and wide.  It blooms in summer and fall and is hardy in Zones 6-9.

Sea Foam
A rambling rose that can also be used as a short climber, 'Sea Foam' was hybridized  in 1964 by breeder E.W. Schwartz and introduced by Conrad Pyle of Star Roses in 1963.  If you visit Washington DC, you may see it in the White House Rose Garden.  It grows to a height of eight feet, has creamy white flowers, and blooms in spring, summer and fall.  Its parents are 'White Dawn' x 'Pinocchio'.  Hardy in zones 4-9. 

You'll recognize many other roses on the Earth-Kind website -- The Fairy, Carefree Beauty, Knockout and New Dawn, among others.  You can see all of the roses here.

photos: Earth-Kind Roses

 

 

Books: Tropical Treasures

Yes, this is a book that could persuade a designer to move or retire to south Florida.  In his latest book, Private Gardens of South Florida (Gibbs Smith, 2016), author Jack Staub (owner of the historic Hortulus Farm in Wrightstown, Pennsylvania) profiles 22 stunning landscapes from Palm Beach to Naples and Jupiter to the Keys.

As Staub notes in the preface, the aim of the book is to document the diversity of design in the region, but also to tell the stories of property owners who discovered "both the joy possible in a creative partnership with nature and, also, some inspiration for the creation of your own tropical paradise."

In Naples, a couple with a property on a deep canal hired landscape architect Raymond Jungles on the advice of their architect, who was a fan of the late Brazilian designer Roberto Burle Marx.  Jungles, said the couple, "took us to places we never dreamed of."  Staub calls the garden "refined jungle," with drifts of bromeliads and cordylines, a bamboo grove and palms, plus flowers, fragrance and vivid color.

In Palm Beach, a former president of the Garden Club of Palm Beach has crafted a tropical paradise in a classic European design tradition.,  Majestic old trees tower above a series of garden "rooms" with formal spaces, white picket fencing, classic statuary, and lovely, refined bursts of tropical color.

In Key West, an art gallery owner purchased a plantation-style home on a quarter-acre lot overlooking a canal and a protected mangrove habitat at the rear of the property.  Eventually, she purchased the lot next door and worked with a series of gardeners to create her own vision of a tropical retreat. There's now an orchid house, fruit trees (Meyer lemon, key lime, avocado, tamarind), and brilliant color.  As the owner puts it, "The incredibly sculptural lines and forms of the plants along with their carnival colors in the subtropical light appeal to me as much my first box of Crayola crayons did when I was a child." 

Images by award-winning garden photographer Rob Cardillo are simply stunning and bring these gardens alive, and the text by Staub would convince any gardener considering a move to go ahead and take the plunge into a wondrous new gardening adventure.

 

Paloform Firepits

photos: click to enlarge

Robata Corten Firepit
Love this firepit from Paloform, made of corten steel which weathers with time and seasons. This linear firepits comes in lengths of 4.5 or six feet by two feet wide. It also has a cover, so it can be used as a coffee table as well.  The burner can handle either natural gas or propane.  A classy winner for the modern (or not so modern) garden. 

Caldera Firepit
This square firepit is also of corten steel, 45x45 inches.  It can be ordered for wood burning, or with the standard burners listed above.  The design of this one was inspired by the crater that was left by a sunken volcano, according to the website.  Nice shape for any garden style.

Fold Fire Table
And finally the Fold Fire Table is a minimalist design for modern gardens.  From above, it just looks like a rectangular table that surrounds a gas fire.  But aluminum planes touch the ground at each corner, almost tricking the eye with dynamic shadows that make it seem much lighter than it actually is.  Fold is made of powder-coated aluminum and comes in either rectangular or square shapes.

To see more firepits and other items from Paloform, visit their website.

 

New Roses 2016 - III

From Jackson & Perkins:

Sriracha™ Floribunda
(Rosa JAChabsee')
Wow!  What's not to like about this rose?  Copper-orange to coral flowers, good disease resistance, a spicy fragrance and dark green glossy leaves.  Bred from 'Habitat for Humanity', it blooms from early to late summer, has an upright habit and a size of 3-4 feet high and wide.  Recommended for beds, borders, and cut flowers.  Zones 5-10. 

Sugar Plum™ Hybrid Tea
(Rosa 'JACgemo')
Love the color of the blooms on this rose -- lavender with traces of pink and purple.  Add the strong aroma of sweet pea and good disease resistance, and you have a real winner for the garden.  Flowers appear in early to late summer, and the rose gets 4-5 feet high and 3-3.5 feet wide.  Sugar Plum was bred by J&P  from Gemini and Moon Shadow.  Use it in beds, borders, and for cut flowers.  Zones 5-10.

April Moon™ Hybrid Tea
(Rosa 'JACelbel')
Big, deep pink blooms characterize this new hybrid tea, and it's name comes from Native Americans, who described the moon in April as the Pink Moon, when wild grouind phlox bloomed in bright pink hues. This rose has a light aroma of clove, gets 4-5 feet high, 3-3.5 feet wide, and is also disease resistant.  It's derived from 'Elegant Lady' and 'Beloved.'  Zones 5-10.

And these lovely new plant from Weeks Roses:

Watercolors Home Run® Shrub Rose
(Rosa 'WEKsolcibarko')
Seems like there's always another Home Run rose, and the flowers on this new one are yellow gold with a pink blush, perfect for many a garden color scheme. There's a moderate spicy cinnamon fragrance and this medium sized shrub, like other Home Runs, has great disease resistance.  Bred by Tom Carruth from {[Zorina x (Rosa soulieana x Europeana)] x Trumpeter] x [(Playboy x Olympiad) x Love]} x Rainbow Knock Out.  Wonder how long that took?

Pretty Lady™ Hybrid Tea
(Rosa 'WEKdadoda)
This is a medium-sized, upright, bushy rose with dark pink blooms that smell like strong peonies.  It was inspired by Lady Rose of Downton Abbey, niece and goddaughter of the Dowager Countess Violet.  Flower are long lasting, and the plant has very good disease resistance.  Bred Christian Bédard from Grande Dame x Doris Day.

Cutie Pie™ Miniature
(Rosa 'WEKruruwel')
This rose is more or less a miniature hybrid tea with peachy-yellow flowers only 2-3 inches across.  It's a low shrub, rounded and bushy, and the blooms have a slight fruity scent.  Bred by Tom Carruth from Ruby Ruby x seedling.

 

 

More in the Magazines March-April 2016

Landscape Architecture April
*Article by yours truly on the Phipps Conservatory's Center for Sustainable Landscapes -- one of greenest buildings and landscapes in the country...design by Andropogon Associates.
*The 700 square foot Brooklyn garden by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates ... if you want to see creative design, look no further.
*Amazing drawings by Lawrence Halprin
* Dog parks, anyone?
*And in celebration of World Landscape Architecture Month, you can get a free digital copy of this month's issue here.

Sunset April
*Tiny tropical garden in LA by landscape architect David Godshall.
*Nandina domestica 'Lemon Lime' -- just 3-4 feet tall & wide.
*Backyard beehive by Bee Thinking in Portland
*Tea farming outside Salem, OR

 

The American Gardener March-April
*Ancient trees for modern gardens
*Great supports for garden vines
*All about companion plantings
*Hatcher Garden & Woodland Preserve in Greenville, SC

 

Fine Gardening May-June
*Drought-tolerant container plantings
*Welcoming outdoor rooms
*Design small spaces for impact
*The best of the salvias

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Books: Make your Garden Natural & Wild

OK, we're all sold on the latest trend in garden design:  naturalistic planting, native plants, meadows, Piet-Oudolf style.  But how to do it? Now, British author Ian Hodgson, former editor of The Garden magazine, has a new book out -- New Wild Garden: Natural-style planting and practicalities (Frances Lincoln, 2016) that unravels the mysteries of natural planting styles.

The book's chapters on various plantings styles will inspire you to try some of his methods in a client's garden, or in your own.  As Hodgson notes in the introduction, the current trend is to "re-engage with nature and work with it, rather than against it." The result is gardens that "tread lightly on the earth" and provide valuable habitat for wildlife.

He guides you through the principles of naturalistic planting design, whether the gardens are large or small.  He explains how to plant native shrubs, trees, perennials, bulbs, and vines; how to seed meadows; and the advantages of annuals, grasses, wildflowers and more. In all, Hodgson outlines 15 projects, each with a different naturalistic style and with elements that can be incorporated into your own design style.  

In the back of the book, there's a useful list of plants you may want to consider; and the book is filled with gorgeous photographs by Neil Hepworth that beautifully illustrate the major concepts. A great inspiration for anyone who's sold on natural planting styles or wants to learn more about the subject.