GardenDesignOnline

Happenings June 2021

SELECTED EVENTS AROUND THE COUNTRY:

Exhibitions:

thru October 10, Origami in the Garden
Sculpture Show, Missouri Botanical Garden, 314-577-5100
thru October 31, KUSAMA: Cosmic Nature
NY Botanical Garden, 718-817-8700
June 26-Jan 9, Rich Soil: Sculptures by Kristine Mays
Hillwood Museum & Gardens, Washington DC 202-686-5807

Events:

JUNE 5-13, Philadelphia Flower Show, Philadelphia, PA
June 5-6 Garden Conservancy Open Days Tours: CT, MA, NY, SC

June 5, 12, 19  Terrace Gardening Workshop ONLINE
9:30-11:30am EDT, NY Botanical Garden 718-817-8700
June 12, Southeastern Plant Symposium, ONLINE
10am-5pm EDT, JC Raulston Arboretum/Juniper Level Botanic Garden
June 12-13 Garden Conservancy Open Days Tours: CA, CT, MA, NY, RI

June 18-20, Newport Flower Show, Newport RI
June 19-20, Garden Conservancy Open Days Tours, CA, RI, NY, PA, WA
June 19, 21st century Arts & Crafts Ideals, Bristol, RI
1-3pm, Blithewold Mansion Walking Tour, Garden Conservancy
June 19, Making Gardens into Works of Art, Albany, CA
1-3pm workshop with Keeyla Meadows, Garden Conservancy

June 24, Using Plants to Reveal the Past, ONLINE
1-2:30pm EDT, Lecture, MIchael Gage, NDAL, 510-518-0430
June 24, Native Design in the Residential Landscape, ONLINE
1-2:30pm EDT, Lecture, Larry Weaner, NDAL, 510-518-0430

June 26-27 Garden Conservancy Open Days Tours: CT, MA, ME, NJ, NY
June 26, Small Space, Big Feel, E. Falmouth, MA
10:30-12:30 Walking Tour, Garden Conservancy
June 26-27 Mary Lou Heard Annual Garden Tour, CA
10am-5pm PDT, Various locations, self-guided tour

June 29, Using Native Plants for Fire-Resistant Landscapes, ONLINE
1-2:30pm EDT, Lecture, Greg Rubin, NDAL, 510-518-0430
June 30 Hidden Gardens of Beacon Hill GardenTour - Boston, MA
This year, a virtual tour.

LOOKAHEAD:

July 6,13,20,27 & Aug 18: Ecology-Based Landcape Design, ONLINE
New Directions in the American Landscape, NDAL 510-518-0430
Full Series or Individual Classes

July 15, Woody Plant Conference, ONLINE
July 27-29, Perennial Plant Symposium, ONLINE

Sept 21-26 Chelsea Flower Show, London, UK
Oct 6-9 APLD International Design Conference, ONLINE

Books: Plants & Gardening

I've never had the courage to try tropical plants in my gardens, but if you, like me, think it's too much trouble to think about them, this book will change your mind. In Tropical Plants and How to Love Them: Building a Relationship with Heat-Loving Plants When You Don't Live In The Tropics - Angel’s Trumpets – ... – Gingers – Hibiscus – Canna Lilies and More! (Cool Springs Press, 2021), author and blogger Marianne Wilburn takes you through the easy way to grow stunners like elephant ears, palms, Brazilian plume flower and many, many more. She'll convince you that not only can you enjoy them in the height of summer outdoors, but you can convert them into houseplants during the winter months or overwinter them without a greenhouse or warm-ish garage. As she says in the introduction, "If I would not spend fifteen bucks on a flat of pretty pansies, I wasn't going to blow it on one, tired-looking tropical plant that would perish at the end of the season.  And then I fell in love. It's difficult to describe what happened any better."  It's the only book you'll need on bringing some great pizazz to your landscape.

If you're a professional gardener or designer, you might want to think about this book as a gift for a client or friend who's just starting out with gardening. In The First-Time Gardener: Growing Plants and Flowers: All the know-how you need to plant and tend outdoor areas using eco-friendly methods (The First-Time Gardener's Guides, 2) (Cool Springs Press, 2021), authors Sean and Allison McManus take you through all the basics -- selecting, plants, pruning your plants -- plus tips on tools, weeding, and of course designing. They show you way to approach your garden, to care for it, and to enjoy it through the seasons.

 

I used to have a rather productive vegetable garden in my rather small suburban yard, that is, until the squirrels kept getting all of my tomatoes and figs.  However, it's always a dream to grow your own, so you might want to take a look at How to Grow Your Own Food: An Illustrated Beginner's Guide to Container Gardening (Adams Media, 2021) by Angela Judd. This book profiles 50 plants that can be grown in containers, from potatoes, peas, and peppers to lemongrass, celery and carrots, among others. I'm new to gardening in containers, as all I now have is an apartment balcony (safe from squirrels!), so I'm going to give it another go with Judd's advice and tips to show me the way.

And this book is perfect for anyone with a tiny apartment -- or anyone who wants to grow some lovely plants on top of a table, as my grandmother used to do.  (Her African violets. were to die for).

Tiny Plants: Discover the joys of growing and collecting itty-bitty houseplants (Cool Springs Press, 2021), by professional horticulturist and author Leslie Halleck, shows you how to collect, care for, and display tiny plants.  Yes, there are tiny plants for the windowsill, tiny plants to display under glass, and tiny carnivorous plants that will capture insects!  You'll learn about tiny begonias and orchids, ferns and figs, and tiny aquatic plants, too.  It's the book to go to when you'd like to garden, but think you have no space. A real treasure.

 

Philly Flower Show 2021

Philadelphia Flower Show June 5-13, 2021

image: PHS - click to enlarge

If you haven't already bought your tickets for this year's show and made plans to travel to Philly, do so right away! This is one show you won't want to miss.

For starters, it's outdoors this year, which means you won't have to deal with forced plants inside the Convention Center and lighting that makes it extremely difficult to capture decent photos. Because of the pandemic, show organizers decided to move everything outside ... to FDR Park in South Philly.  SO ... this 193rd Flower Show will cover 15 acres, nearly 50% more space than former inside shows. The theme of this year's show is "Habitat: Nature's Masterpiece," and PHS Chief of Show & Events Sam Lemheney told reporters that the horticultural displays will emphasize "the newest and hottest plants ... for the plant geek in all of us."

The show's landscape will be divided into three separate districts: The Plant District, featuring the best in plants and plant care; The Design District -- with exhibitions by acclaimed designers; and the Garden District, where attendees can attend lectures and educational sessions on gardening at home.

Among this year's design exhibitors is Balmori-Associates of NYC, a studio that practices a philosophy that invites community interaction with landscapes.  Their design will highlight "the edge effect," a concept that brings together greater biodiversity at the boundary between two or more different habitats.

Treeline Designz, with offices on the West Coast, anchors its exhibit with a bamboo forest that rises through natural vegetation surrounding reflection ponds. The outer landscape leads visitors into an inner sanctum, a peace garden in a relaxed setting that fosters meditation and socializing and provides space for insects and birds.

Other noted designers in this year's show include floral designer Jeff Leatham, landscape designers Patrick Cullina and Wambui Ippolito of Jane Gil Gardens, Donald Pell and the Nomad Studio.

Lemheney noted that the PHS is thrilled this year "to celebrate the outdoors and offer joy and beauty after a year that has been marked by so many challenges."  The show, he said, "is a wonderful example of the enduring and combined power of green space, plants, and gardeners to create impact and inspiration."

FDR Park, a 348 acre site, was carved out of tidal marshes and designed by the Olmsted Brothers in 1914, with curving roads and paths, a series of tidal lakes, and 126 acres of woodlands. The park hosted the nation's Sesquicentennial Exhibition in 1926, and its iconic Boathouse opened for that event.  The park is also the site of American Swedish Historical Museum, also built for the Sesquicentennial. The park is on Philadelphia's Register of Historic Places.

 

Books: Modern Miracle

It's not always easy to find modern gardens to visit, so if you're into contemporary design (or would like to be) ... then you simply must get a copy of Contemporary Gardens of the Hamptons: LaGuardia Design Group 1990-2020 (Monacelli Press, 2021). In a foreword to the book, award-winning author Alastair Gordon notes that Christopher LaGuardia, founder of the LaGuardia Design Group (LDG), has been working on Long Island since the mid-1980's and has been influenced by architect Norman Jaffe, but also by several modern landscape architects, including Dan Kiley, Roberto Burle Marx and Luis Romero Barragán.

In the 21 landscapes featured in the book, there are echoes of the above-mentioned masters. As Gordon explains, LaGuardia's approach has always been "to extend the geometric volumes of architecture in sympathetic contrast to the natural contours of the land." Each entry includes sketches and plans, gorgeous photos, and a brief description of the challenges the design team faced, along with the main highlights of the landscape.

For a nondescript property in Sagaponack, LDG was asked to create compelling views from every room in the house.  The result included a parking court, tennis court and swimming pool, cutting gardens and spaces where family and visitors could gather.  Existing trees were left in place when possible, but a mature European beech was moved 50 feet to open a view from the back of the residence to a sculpture beyond. Flowering perennials and ornamental grasses soften the edges of hard surfaces.  Wherever your eye rests, it's a pure delight.

Featured properties include former potato farms to dunes abutting ocean beach, to traditional country-like settings. The book is a true inspiration for any designer who thinks outside the traditional box