GardenDesignOnline

Happenings July 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
thru Jan 9, Rich Soil: Sculptures by Kristine Mays
Hillwood Museum & Gardens, Washington DC 202-686-58

EVENTS:

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 7-9 National Children & Youth Garden Symposium, ONLINE
American Horticultural Society
July 9-18 Cape Cod Hydrangea Festival - Cape Cod, MA
Various locations: garden tours, lectures, demos, more.
July 9-18 Crested Butte Wildflower Festival, Crested Butte, CO
Hikes, garden tours, workshops, more.

July 10-11, Garden Conservancy Open Days:  Garden Tours: CT, MA NH, NY, VT
CT: Litchfield Cty; MA: Edgartown; NH: Cheshire, Monadnock Cty; NY: Suffolk, Tompkins Cty; VT: Windham, Windsor Cty
July 10-11, Gardenwalk Cleveland, Cleveland, OH
10am-5pm, Tours of private & community gardens, self-guided
July 11, 18, 25 All About Containers ONLINE
9:30-11:30am, EDT, NY Botanical Garden 718-817-8700
July 15, Woody Plant Conference, ONLINE
July 16-17, Cullowhee Native Plant Conference, ONLINE
July 17, Garden Conservancy Open Days Garden Tours: NJ, PA
NJ: Hunterdon Cty; PA: Bucks Cty

July 18, Gardens in the Watershed Tour, Rockland, ME
10am-4pm, Self-guided garden tours
July 17, Garden Dialogues, Napa Valley, CA
10am-1pm, Garden tours & talks, Brasswood Estates Winery
St. Helena; Lee Garden, Calistoga sponsor: TCLF 202-483-0553
July 19, Organic Landscapes: A different way of thinking, ONLINE
1-2:30pm EDT, Lecture, NDAL, 510-518-0430
July 22, Art & Music in the Designed Landscape, ONLINE
1-4:30pm EDT, Lecture, NDAL 510-518-0430
July 24-25: Garden Conservancy Open Days Garden Tours: MA, NY
MA: Bristol, Essex Cty; NY: Ulster Cty, Westchester Cty
July 24-25 Gardenwalk, Buffalo, NY
10am-4pm, Hundreds of urban gardens, self-guided tour

July 26, Nature in the City Landscape, ONLINE
1-4:30pm EDT, Lecture, NDAL, 510-518-0430
July 27-29, Perennial Plant Symposium, ONLINE
July 31, Garden Masters: Crowe & Gardens at 900: Lake Forest, IL
3-6:30pm, Tours & Lectures, Garden Conservancy 845-424-6500
July 31, Garden Conservancy Open Days Garden Tours: NY, WI
NY: Suffolk Cty; WI: MiIkwaukee Cty

LOOKAHEAD:

Aug 11-14 Garden Comm (Garden writers) annual conference, ONLINE
Aug 13-14 Speaking of Gardening Symposium, Asheville, NC
Aug 18-20 FARWEST Trade Show, Portland, OR

Sept 21-26 Chelsea Flower Show, London, UK

Oct 6-9 APLD International Design Conference, ONLINE
Oct 15, Perennial Plant Conference, Swarthmore, PA

Nov 19-22, ASLA Annual Conference, Nashville, TN

Books: Western Gardens

Living in the East, I've always coveted gardens in the West:  different landscapes, different styles, and of course all those wonderful plants that we can't grow a lot of places in the East. So the answer for designers like me is Under Western Skies: Visionary Gardens from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Coast. (Timber Press, 2021), by Jennifer Jewell with photos by Caitlin Atkinson.

Jewell profiles 36 gardens from the Southwest to the Pacific Northwest with a simple formula.  The description of each garden is divided into three parts:  the place, an outline of the general landscape; the person, which describes the professional background of the designer; and the plants, which paints a detailed picture of the garden space.

Some places and people will be familiar:  landscape architects Christy Ten Eyck, Mia Lehrer, Bernard Trainor; gardens, including the Desert and Idaho Botanical Gardens, Heronswood, Land's End Lookout at Golden Gate Park.

While the gardens and photos in this book are spectacular, I was particularly struck by the biographies of the designers.  It's not often you find out how designers came to their profession.  Some were enchanted by plants as children; others studied biology, soil science, cultural history and others came from many other disciplines.  But all of them ended up as terrific designers, and this book is a testament to their artistic sensibilities and their love of this land.

Philly Flower Show 2021 - GO

You just can't go wrong at the Philadelphia Flower Show, even when it's outside in 90 degree weather -- along with the occasional downpour.  And this year's theme -- Habitat: Nature's Masterpiece, of course was perfect for the location at FDR Park, a 348-acre site in South Philly designed by the Olmsted Brothers in 1914.

Top prize in design this year went to horticulturist and landscape designer Wambui Ippolito, who fell in love with plants back in her native Kenya.  The design, called "Etherea," is inspired by her mother and her early childhood years. "Nature is home," she says, "a place to be nurtured and to be at peace." 

The design includes winding paths and some of her favorite plants, among them viburnum, roses, hydrangea, delphinium, and lots of rosemary.

 

You will not want to miss "Habitat" by Laura Santin of Nomad Studio in New York City.  It's a micro-woodland surrounded by 1300 kokedama (which means "mossball" in Japanese) orbs planted with a variety of tree seedlings.  It's all inside an intricate metal frame that provides drama, indeed, to the installation.

Kokedama is an adaptation from an old Nearai Bonsai method, which has existed for centuries in gardening.  As Santin explains, it's a "visual reflection on the hidden importance of the dwellers within the soil and their partnership with plants to create a suitable habitat for all of us."

And ... gardeners always like to see unusual plants, so make sure to visit "The Reinvention of Nature" by Patrick Cullina of NYC.  Taxodium ascendens, pond cypress, is a beautiful native conifer with upright foliage that you'll likely encounter only in botanical gardens ... and although many of us love magnolias, how many gardeners are familiar with Magnolia ashei, another native with huge leaves and fragrant, creamy white flowers that open flat as they mature.

I'm only scratching the surface of this year's flower show, -- which includes all of the normal flower show exhibits -- miniatures, botanical drawings, specimen plants -- but the outdoor setting makes it something special this year, so surely try to see it before it closes next weekend.