GardenDesignOnline

Happenings July 2018

Selected Events Around the Country:

Exhibitions:

thru Oct 28: Georgia O'Keeffe: Visions of Hawaii, Bronx, NY
NY Botanical Garden, 718-817-8700
thru August 31, 2018, "Cultivating America's Gardens," Washington DC
National Museum of American History, sponsor: Smithsonian Gardens & Smithsonian Libraries, 202-633-1522

Events:

Garden Conservancy Special Programs throughout the month

July 6-15, Cape Cod Hydrangea Festival, various locations
Garden tours, workshops, lectures, more.  4th Annual Festival.
July 6-15, Crested Butte Wildflower Festival, Crested Butte, CO
Hikes, Workshops, Garden Tours, More.
July 7, Garden Conservancy Open Days Tours: NY, OR
NY: Dutchess County; OR: Eugene
July 7-8 Gardenwalk, Cleveland, OH
Self-guided tours of scores of gardens.

July 11-14, AHS National Children & Youth Gardening Symposium, Ithaca, NY
Educational sessions, field trips, keynote speakers 703-768-5700
July 12, Rensselaer County, NY Garden Tour, Rensselaer, NY
4pm-7pm, 10 gardens, drive-yourself tour. Cornell Cooperative Extension 518-272-4210
July 12, Garden Conservancy Open Days Tours, Nantucket, MA
July 14-15, Garden Conservancy Open Days Tours: CO, CT, NH, NJ, NY, OR, PA
CO: Pitkin Cty; CT: Litchfield, New London; NH: Hillsborough, Merrimack; NJ: Hunterdon, MOrris; NY: Suffolk; OR: Multnomah; PA: Bucks

July 15, Dearborn Garden Walk, Chicago, IL
60th annual self-guided garden tour 20+ garden
July15, Gardens in the Watershed Tour, Rockland, ME
10am-4:30pm, Self-guided garden tours 207-594-5166
July 18-21, Cullowhee Native Plant Conference, Cullowhee, NC
Western Carolina University, 800-928-4968
July 20, Woody Plant Conference, Scott Arboretum, Swarthmore, PA
July 21, Garden Dialogues, Lake Forest, IL
Garden tours with landscape architects, TCLF, 202-483-0553
July 21-22, Garden Conservancy Open Days Tours: CT, IL, MA, NJ, NY
CT: Litchfield, Hartford, New Haven; IL: Lake; MA: Berkshire; NJ: Monmouth; NY: Cutchess, Jefferson, Westchester

July 28-29, Gardenwalk, Buffalo, NY
10am-4pm, Self-guided tours of almost 400 urban gardens.
July 29, Garden Conservancy Open Days Tours: NY
Columbia, Westchester Counties
July 30-Aug 3, Perennial Plant Symposium, Raleigh, NC

LOOKAHEAD:

Aug 13-16 Gardenwriters 70th Annual Conference, Chicago, IL

Sept 8, Hollister House Garden Study Weekend VIII, Southbury, CT
9am, Heritage Hotel, "A Passion for Plants," Garden Conservancy, 845-424-6500
Sept 13-17, APLD International Design Conference, Toronto, ON
Sept 24-28, Cities Alive Annual Green Roof & Wall Conference, Brooklyn, NY

Oct 19-22, ASLA Annual Meeting & Expo, Philadelphia, PA

Books: Weaving together Plants & Place

This book is the story of two people following a life-long dream:  to live in the natural world and earn a living from it, to create landscapes of impossible beauty.   In A Tapestry Garden: The Art of Weaving Plants and Place (Timber Press, 2018), Marietta and Ernie O'Byrne explain how, over the years, they developed an extraordinary garden on one and a half acres in Eugene, Oregon, home to their business, the Northwest Garden Nursery.

Their advice is filled with lessons for every designer, every home gardener.  As Marietta says in an introductory essay, "What are now our perennial borders had their start as meadow, then a well-enriched vegetable garden, which eventually morphed into a flower paradise of mainly giant dahlias and roses....I often meet people who would love to beautify their surroundings by starting a garden, yet they feel intimidated by the possibility of making mistakes.  Be of good courage:  we all start that way.  Even the most sophisticated garden was once an empty lot or meadow."

In these pages, you'll encounter scores of plants you didn't know, and yet you'll learn how to mingle them for amazing effect:  Podophyllums with Dicentra spectabilis 'Gold Heart'; Eranthis hyemalis planted among black mondo grass; Anemone nemorosa 'Bracteata' sport with Epimedium ecalcaratum. And too many more to mention, all accompanied by gorgeous photos

Whether it's the vegetable garden, the shady borders, The Chaparral Garden, The Rockeries or the Winter Garden, there is something in this book for everyone, and it's one of the most inspiring garden stories you'll ever read.

 

2018 APLD Designer of the Year

photos: APLD/Grace Design Associates

Margie Grace of Grace Design Associates in Santa Barbara, CA, is this year's APLD Design of the Year.  Grace won a gold award for her "Sycamore Canyon" design ... right across the street from Lotusland.

As Grace notes on her website, "...OF COURSE we like to think of our little garden as Lotusland South. To me, that means distinct gardens, each organized around a theme, with a little whimsy and a lot of personality."

From a landscape of asphalt and majestic mature trees, Grace terraced the landscape, added contours, and used broad stone steps throughout the garden to unify the spaces.

A Purple Rain Garden and a  pink palette pay homage to Lotusland and Grace says "I like to think that Madame Walska would have delighted in its aubergine hoops and the light dancing across the garden off the strings of tiny mirrors."

Retention of existing trees and perimeter screening contributes to what Grace calls "a park-like" feeling.  In all, there are two dining areas, a pond lined with sandstone, and pots with dramatic plantings placed throughout the yard.

"Bringing the outside in was a top priority," she says, "and purposeful design features make it seamless."

 

 

 

In the Magazines June 2018

Landscape Architecture June

*Designing Playgrounds for Kids who have trouble with sensory processing.
*#MeToo in the Design Workplace
*Oehme, Van Sweden of Washington DC designs a huge art complex in Montana

The American Gardener May-June

*All the new Magnolia Cultivars
*Designing Containers with the focus on Foliage
*Design: Bench Solutions

 

Sunset June

*A Portland gardener installs a desert landscape front yard and back (thedangergarden.com)
*Easy backyard entertainment solutions
*Lawn alternatives
*New Buddleia 'Ultra Violet' (sunsetwesterngardencollection.com)

Better Homes & Gardens June

*Homeowner in Oregon transforms half-acre backyard into a garden inspired by trips to Japan

 

Books: Gardening In

There are lots of reasons people hate or simply can't garden outdoors: too hot, too cold, apartment living, yards too small, physical incapacity.

If your landscape is one of those, then this is the book for you.  Horticulturist and indoor plant expert Leslie Halleck, in Gardening Under Lights: The Complete Guide for Indoor Growers (Timber Press, 2018) explains all you need to know to grow almost anything indoors under lights.

From edible plants of almost kind, (including cannabis) to orchids, succulents, and ornamentals of almost any kind, Halleck will tell you what you need to be successful at indoor gardening.  You might not have a basement with room for lots of lights, but almost anyone can find a windowsill, a shelf, a planter box or other space that would accommodate plants and overhead lights.  And it doesn't have to be industrial-looking and unattractive.

Halleck shows you how to create perfect growing conditions, how to manage (if necessary) common pests and diseases, how to propagate plants and grow almost anything you want. A good book for the real homebody.