GardenDesignOnline

Happenings April 2020

MOST GARDENS AND GARDEN EVENTS ARE CANCELLED THIS MONTH DUE TO CORONOVIRUS ...

SO STAY SAFE, SPEND TIME IN YOUR OWN GARDEN ... PLANTS SEEDS ... CELEBRATE THE OUTDOORS WHEREVER AND WHENEVER YOU CAN.

STAY TUNED FOR MAY EVENTS ... HOPE THAT AT LEAST SOME WILL BE GOING FORWARD BY THEN, BUT IF THE CHELSEA FLOWER SHOW IS CANCELLED (IT IS) ... MAY EVENTS MAY NOT BE GOING FORWARD EITHER.

IN THE MEANTIME:

WEBINARS:
APRIL 8, NOON, STRANGE AND NOTEWORTHY NATIVE PLANTS, ELA.

APRIL 15, NOON, POLLINATOR ECOLOGY, ELA

 

Books: Inspiration from an Expert

If you ever get a chance to visit Brandywine Cottage in Downington, PA, make sure you don't miss the tour.  I once saw it in pouring rain, and believe me, it was worth getting soaked through to the bone. But now, no matter what the season or weather, you can tour Brandywine Cottage through David Culp's latest book, A Year at Brandywine Cottage: Six Seasons of Beauty, Bounty, and Blooms (Timber Press, 2020).

Culp, a horticulturist, author, designer, and VP of Sunny Border Nurseries in Connecticut, has spent 30+ years creating his own spectacular garden in Pennsylvania.

The book is divided into seasons, and it features scores of beautiful photos, a plan of the garden in the frontispiece, and recipes scattered throughout.  In Culp's garden, there are six seasons:  early and late spring, summer, followed by early and late fall and winter. 

And just to give you a hint of what you'll find, in early spring there's a discussion of snowdrops, including three species (of the 20) and myriad cultivars.  As Culp says, "Once you can see the differences among them, chances are you'll want to start a collection of  your own -- perfect for those with obsessive tendencies." Beautiful photos of his favorites will get your orders going.

He tells you how to get the best from your hellebores, why you should grow a silverbell tree -- for the magical carpet of petals -- and the delight of moveable containers, where you can "create looks that you may not be able to replicate" in the the garden. In early fall, Culp delights in the plants that self-seed everywhere, including Corydalis lutea, a small geranium (Geranium robertianum), Pulmonaria and violets, just to mention a few.

In winter, he brings in branches with berries and evergreens, and delights in the plants that look good covered with frost or snow.

And how about trying some of his favorite recipes:  persimmon pudding, leek and cheese tart, black walnut cookies, summer squash pizza, cream of sorrel soup.

The photos in the book are simply spectacular,and will start you searching for that garden tour that takes you to Brandywine Cottage.

 

 

Books: Shrubs & Hedges

This latest book from professor and author Eva Monheim is a primer on how to grow, care for, and design with shrubs.  In Shrubs and Hedges: Discover, Grow, and Care for the World's Most Popular Plants  (Cool Springs Press, 2020), Monheim gives you a short history of shrubs, then shows you how to identify them, along with all of their parts, and also how they're named.

There's a chapter on dependable classic shrubs and rising stars, and a terrific list of all the different kinds of hydrangeas and their cultivars. That's followed by chapters on designing with shrubs, and how best to prune and propagate them.

She then moves on to hedges and hedgerows, and how to use them to delineate property lines and enclose spaces; and of course how to prune them and keep them in shape. And if you're worried about wildlife, Monheim tells you which plants will attract pollinators and provide habitat for birds and other animals.  So if you're wondering which shrub in which place, this is the book for you.

2020 Philadelphia Flower Show - Other Items

click on photos to enlarge

There's so much more to see at the Flower Show than the large landscape exhibits ... and it's these smaller exhibits that show off the real expertise and imagination of those who create them. .... like this miniature Le Mans racing flag -- of course made from plant parts -- which took a blue ribbon at the show. 

The Ikebana display is always one of my favorites ... it's not judged, but the arrangements are always fascinating ... and the exhibition always makes you want to learn what Ikebana is all about and how to put them together.  The colors in this one are particularly striking, and I love the vessel as well.

In the "garden rooms" category, this one took a blue ribbon ... the exhibitors actually created a flower shop, complete with an arrangement, accessories and lots of plants for sale.

And you can't miss the awards for individual specimens ... from small topiaries to cacti, flowers, and almost any other plant that you can imagine.  This display is well worth a couple of hours of your time ... just to appreciate the skill that's gone into growing each one.

And of course, there's much, much more not covered in this post ... so go and see for yourself.  If you love plants, you'll want to visit the show every year.