tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-68133310574429591672024-02-07T06:32:22.957-05:00dirty horticultureErika Hansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00058011955993716711noreply@blogger.comBlogger29125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6813331057442959167.post-7428549641792953692013-01-03T14:13:00.000-05:002013-01-03T14:13:23.783-05:00Becky Heath quells my bulb-planting qualms"Springtime turned slooow-ly into aut-ummmmn" according to Bob Dylan. For me, here in the Hudson Valley, it was summer that turned unknowingly into winter.<br />
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And that's just great! Why? Because I didn't order my bulbs till about three weeks ago (not really that great).<a href="http://brentandbeckysbulbs.com/"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ffe599;">Brent and Becky's Bulbs</span></a> had a killer 50% off sale, and while I was too late to get any <i>Cyclamen coum</i>, or <i>Arum italicum</i>, I did, however, get a couple thousand dollars worth of <i>ah</i>-mazing bulbs without spending a couple thousand dollars (really great). And, I got them all in before the first major snowfall.<br />
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Oh, not that I had that strategy all worked out or anything. I thought there was time--I really did! In my defense, I believe I was duped by the short-sleeves I was wearing throughout most of the bulb planting season. I know a few others who were duped as well . . . the many daffodils who got the wrong memo and started peeking their leaf points up out of the mulch. I am not the only one who responds to the weather.<br />
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What I saw in the garden was the result of silent communication from a darkened world: the bulbs--planted last year--were responding to unseasonably warm soil temperatures. Cells sent chemical messages to other cells to initiate the process that ends in a flower's seed head. I felt sorry, I did, that there was no way to wind back that growth, knowing that those energetic leaf tips would be purposeless once winter really set in.<br />
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The hundreds (and hundreds) of <i>Scilla</i>, <i>Allium</i>, species tulips, <i>Narcissus,</i> <i>Hyacinthoides</i>, <i>Crocus</i> I planted a few weeks ago are colloquially called bulbs. More specifically, and botanically, they are geophytes. These types of plants have enlarged underground storage units of modified stem and leaf tissue that could take the shape of a rhizome (banana), a tuber (potato), a corm (crocus), a bulb (tulip), and all have the same purpose: to store nutrients and energy to push vegetative growth once soil temperature indicates it is hospitable to do so. For this reason, bigger is <i>always</i> better. And, for this reason too, global warming is not.<br />
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Instead of delving into the murky why's of a warming climate, I am more interested in questioning the common culture of fall bulb planting. When, <i>exactly</i>, is the best time to do so? Did I send the wrong message to all the bulbs that I hastily plunged into the earth a week before temperatures dropped? Did I plant them too late?<br />
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The minute we plant our bulbs in the fall, the bulb is immediately triggered to begin root growth to seek, uptake and store nutrients, and water. Bulbs have the energy to perform this first function post-planting thanks to the storage of carbohydrates from the previous seasons' photosynthesis of sunlight into sugar. Even if the top inches of soil are frozen, roots are alive and will continue to function--this is true for all plants, and is the same reason planting trees in the fall gives them a precious head start come spring.</div>
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So did I plant too late? The big chill is settling in, and even though we had some good rains after the bulbs were planted, was that enough time for them to grow roots, or does it really matter?</div>
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Because I wasn't sure, I did what any of you can do: reach out to someone who knows more. I called on Becky Heath, <i>the </i>Becky of <a href="http://brentandbeckysbulbs.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f1c232;">Brent and Becky's Bulbs</span></a>. While she is not on a road trip visiting family, or keeping up with her nine grandchildren, she always has time to talk bulbs, and for this I thank her!</div>
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WHY THE FALL? </div>
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Resting bulbs are dug and transported, with enough time to package and ship to you, or your local retailer for the "planting season". Is it inspired marketing, or proper horticulture to have bulbs offered for sale in September, like you see at mass-market outlets like Home Depot or Wal-Mart? Well, it is true that the earlier you get your hands on freshly available bulbs the better--bulbs will start to deteriorate if not stored in a cool, well-ventilated area. The little green sprout you might see (even from your bulb of garlic at home) indicates it is too warm, the stores of carbs are depleting, and that little bulb is doing everything it knows to survive, even at its own demise.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">bellewood-gardens.com</span></div>
WHEN TO PLANT?<br />
Well, certainly not too early! If bulbs go in when the soil is too warm, combined with autumn rain, you are headed for rot. Not a happy circumstance. However, there is a sweet spot, and a way to know just when that is. Becky explains the ideal soil temperature to plant bulbs is about 60℉. Don't have a fancy soil temperature gauge? Neither do I. When the nighttime mercury hovers at 50℉, and/or when you've noticed the first killing frost, you're good to go. The first frost helps to cool the soil, and it is these optimal conditions that trigger geophytes to grow roots. <br />
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WAS I TOO LATE?<br />
Maybe. And that is the plain, painful truth of it.<br />
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Becky revealed that the very reason why we plant bulbs when we do is to allow those bulbs to develop a vigorous root system. From the time you raise your hand from that last pat of covering soil, your bulbs need a minimum of three weeks to develop great legs, and by legs I mean roots (roots do all the legwork). Once those roots have developed, they need to remain at a consistent temperature. How do I ensure that when it was 40℉ yesterday and 20℉ today? The soil remains at a constant temperature below the frost line, one thing in my favor. A consistent temperature is also ensured by planting your bulbs at their recommended depths so that they do not freeze, and can sustain their life. If that recommendation is six inches, make sure it's six inches! Clearly, now, this is not an arbitrary admonition.<br />
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Did I plant too late? I might be just on the cusp. I calculate <i>maybe</i> two weeks of solid growth, with some good, deep rain before the tundra we have now. I'll have to report an update in spring. Becky counseled that my mistake will be revealed if my bulbs emerge much later than expected, and when they do, they will be much shorter than normal.<br />
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I will say, miracles happen, and plants are surprisingly resilient. The image below is from a client's garden, fully accessible to the herds of deer, and squirrels in her suburban neighborhood. Understanding culture, and how to manipulate it, will yield great results, great lessons, or both!<br />
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<i>Many thanks to Becky Heath for her enthusiasm for her work, her intimate knowledge of the subject, and her cheerfulness in her communication. I am grateful to have you, and Brent and Becky's Bulbs, as a valued resource.</i><br />
<br />Erika Hansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00058011955993716711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6813331057442959167.post-4367640650297387382012-12-27T14:49:00.001-05:002012-12-27T14:57:34.710-05:00The shape of things to come . . .<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4IAWujRwRtVtM0GZVNtGETdlD_33XlCYg0nMOG8coM1Sc0C80qsE6sXWNzO47F8IQsdtTFgsLDJO473STodo077iS9ZKFTjWI4bh8vT4g7N_IGy5Q-IBTXMPRli-EVNaAek97YBhsvL4G/s1600-h/IMG_4356.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"></a><br />
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"<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">To appreciate and find pleasure in curiously curved potted trees is to love deformity.</span>"</div>
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-excerpt from a Japanese scroll, Kamakura period, 1185-1333</div>
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Who <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">doesn't</span> appreciate the art of bonsai? It's mysterious, it's funky, and it employs a kind of intention that not many other endeavors have these days; not just in its training, but in its endurance. In a world where many strive for elusive perfection and immediate gratification, the art of bonsai allows its practitioners to revel in the freedom of imperfection, to achieve an enduring intimacy with the essence of nature.</div>
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Originating in China over 1,000 years ago, it was the Japanese who adopted and elevated the art of bonsai with admirable patience and meticulous horticultural skill. But for the past 20 years, it is in Stamford, Connecticut that the practice of bonsai is alive and well.<br />
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<img alt="" border="0" height="480" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5334744371547430722" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN3HyKPebVUQREkAO7WDERUZ_HkzKiDvM6XsQwqDKTrmF2oAbc2Yt3Le4trMFOrO-fhvCEwOKs6dykeQ7cJFRLY3LIQJiJgWi0BKB9lSiBT_puOaqyhAYgsSKy1nWrov0kCKhSLlvqr8Xu/s640/IMG_4338.JPG" style="display: block; height: 300px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" width="640" /></div>
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At <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ff9900;"><a href="http://www.shantibithi.com/">Shanti Bithi Nursery</a></span>, Saeko Oshiro is the bonsai specialist who trains, and maintains the impressive collection of bonsai specimens "behind the fence" of the white country house that serves as the Shanti Bithi office.</div>
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This one? Over 100 years old. </div>
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Weather-worn tables display pot after pot of individuals of all sorts of character:</div>
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Maples </div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span">Chamaecyparis</span></div>
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Boxwood </div>
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Pines</div>
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Saeko is currently in Japan, and will return in March. Upon her return, I will speak with Saeko at Shanti Bithi Nursery about what it takes to turn a humble beginning into a personal masterpiece. </div>
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"<i>To develop a fine bonsai collection, make one hundred and keep two or three." - </i>Nobu Kajiwara </div>
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Erika Hansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00058011955993716711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6813331057442959167.post-59615336025050307192011-01-14T10:28:00.003-05:002011-01-14T22:28:55.146-05:00Beyond Organic, Beyond Brooklyn . . .My sister said I had to.<div><br /></div><div>Tell this story, that is.</div><div><br /></div><div>She visited us over the past holiday. She's not in NY that often, so when she is we usually go into Williamsburg, Brooklyn to visit our friend Greg. </div><div><br /></div><div>After a cozy morning of lounging with coffee and Scandinavian deliciousness from <a href="http://www.bakeribrooklyn.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF9900;">Bakeri</span></a>, I asked Greg about a good local butcher. Without hesitation, he suggests the <a href="http://the-meathook.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF9900;">Meat Hook</span></a>, located within <a href="http://www.thebrooklynkitchen.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF9900;">The Brooklyn Kitchen</span></a> just off of Meeker. Love the name. Before I get too excited, I must remind myself that in typical hipster demeanor, reactions to all things clever must be carefully stowed beneath a cool countenance because, as any self-respecting hipster knows, BK is nothing less than immensely clever. Because it <i>is</i> just that, immensely clever.</div><div><br /></div><div>So off to the Meat Hook for a Frenched rack of lamb that I would be serving to a very intimate gathering at our home in the woods. Well. That was the plan, anyway. </div><div><br /></div><div>A letter to the Meat Hook days after my purchase:</div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><div>"<span style=" border-collapse: collapse; font-family:arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Hi! </span></span></div><span style=" border-collapse: collapse; font-family:arial, sans-serif;font-size:13px;"><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Went to the Meat Hook on a suggestion from a friend in the neighborhood, and was really happy to find you guys. Around every corner was wave after wave of the next gadget, pan, spice, utensil which was exactly what I wanted to explore.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">My mission that day was lamb as I was prepping a holiday dinner for friends and family. After discussing the option of a Frenched rack, I decided on the loin chop. The butcher cradled a carcass from the cooler and showed me exactly the spot where my meal was coming from. Honest. Respectful. Honorable. Then the whole butchering crew stopped and did the </span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnPJmDc0b_M"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF9900;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Dougie</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">. Only in BK. Awesome.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">ZZZZZzzzzzzuuuuuuoooooo went the blade, chop chop chop went the loin. Wrapped in brown paper, and $125 later, I was off to my kitchen. Now, here allow me to insert this: 10 chops @$16.+/lb.... $125? </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">OK. At home I unwrapped the chops to find a shocking amount of FAT around each loin. I paid for all that FAT! I am no expert, but I certainly expected the butcher to TRIM the fat from the chops. I also expected the butcher to trim the chops in a presentable way (this hanging floppy, fatty piece was flailing from the ends of each cut). After speaking to him about the Frenched rack, he should have certainly surmised that presentation was important to me. Why didn't the butcher think to trim off all this excess? No joke, at least one half of what I bought was fat. I am really disappointed that this is what I bought, and brought home. The quality of the meat was fantastic, but the butchering skills, well, I can't say the loin was butchered, but rather, not butchered enough. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">So what did I do? I said to self, "Self--relax, the butcher's there must know what they are doing, just throw these bitches on the grill, and let's eat". Well, short of burning down my porch because all that crazy fat caused a serious 5-alarm "flare-up" (a tame euphemism), I had to drag the grill off the porch, onto the driveway, and rescue the now propane-blackened lamb loin. You can't make this shit up. Ironically, they were grilled perfectly MR, but hardly edible, and certainly carcinogenic. $125 of lamb. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">If I was an 80 year old woman, I'd go in there, and wave my ancient purse at you guys, and raise bloody hell. So here is my summoning the future 80-year old in me: What are you going to do to ensure that you did not just lose me as a customer? Do I never again trust a butcher with a mustachio? Do I become a meat hawk and inspect and insult the experience of every butcher I now engage? I'd love to come back for the quality, experience, and destination that The BK Kitchen/The Meat Hook is, and I want you you ensure that I do. How will you do this?</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Cheers, </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Erika</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The 31-yr-old 80-yr old</span><span style="border-collapse: separate; font-family:Georgia, serif;font-size:16px;">"</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia, serif;font-size:130%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; font-size:16px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="border-collapse: separate; font-family:Georgia, serif;font-size:16px;">The response:</span></div><div><span style="border-collapse: separate; font-family:Georgia, serif;font-size:16px;">"</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Hi, Erika! This is ---- from The Meat Hook. I'm one of the partners here and also one of the two mustaches. I just got your email and I wanted to take the time to apologize. I'm very sorry this happened to you in our shop and even more sorry it happened around the holidays. It's the policy of the shop to show you everything you buy before we wrap it up to make sure you're happy. Obviously that didn't happen this time and it's regrettable. </span></div><div><span style="border-collapse: separate; font-family:Georgia, serif;"><span style=" border-collapse: collapse; font-family:arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br />I'm also very grateful that you took the time to write to us. We always want to know if something goes wrong or if someone isn't happy. We always want to make it right and do right by our customers. With that in mind, I'd like to give you a $125 credit at the shop. I hope this will go </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">some </span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">way into making up for our mistake and making things right again. Alternately, you can pass on the credit and flog the person responsible for 2 minutes with a piece of bamboo. I leave the choice to you. If you would like the credit, would you mind emailing me your full name? I don't want to be hooking up any old Erika from the block.<br /><br />In answer to your inner-80 year old woman--you should never trust a man with a mustache; especially accountants. You should also always insult your butcher. They're meddlesome by nature and need to be put in their place.<br /><br />Once again, I'm sorry this happened. Let me know if there's anything else I can do to make this right.<br /><br />The 30 year old 14 year old,<br /></span><span style="color:#888888;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">----</span></span></span></span><span style="border-collapse: separate; font-family:Georgia, serif;font-size:16px;">"</span></div><div><span style="border-collapse: separate; font-family:Georgia, serif;font-size:16px;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left; "><span style="font-family:Georgia, serif;font-size:130%;"><span style="border-collapse: separate; font-size:16px;">How 'bout that?! I am so impressed with not only the quality and sourcing of meat (my lamb came from Milan, NY not that far from where I live), but the quality of interaction of this local biz dude who wants to make sure to get it right with his local peeps. Cheers to YOU, mustachioed hero. Me? Customer for life. Seriously. If you are in/near Williamsburg, this should be your one stop to get Fleur de Sel, roasted grains for your home-brewed beer, merguez sausage, <a href="http://www.ranchogordo.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF9900;">Rancho Gordo beans</span></a>, and the essential Mexican hot cocoa frother. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: center; "><span style="font-family:Georgia, serif;font-size:130%;"><span style="border-collapse: separate; font-size:16px;"></span></span><span style="border-collapse: separate; font-family:Georgia, serif;font-size:16px;"><img src="http://s10.thisnext.com/media/largest_dimension/987FE480.jpg" height="450" width="450" style="padding-right: 8px; padding-top: 8px; padding-bottom: 8px; " /></span></div><div style="text-align: left; "><span style="border-collapse: separate; font-family:Georgia, serif;font-size:16px;">Obviously, I have one of these. Who doesn't? Every girl should. </span></div><div style="text-align: left; "><span style="border-collapse: separate; font-family:Georgia, serif;font-size:16px;">Thank you, Meat Hook. I ♥ you.</span></div></span></span></div>Erika Hansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00058011955993716711noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6813331057442959167.post-91434043162151339442011-01-14T06:57:00.005-05:002011-01-14T09:58:27.912-05:00Beyond OrganicI recently sent out, what I called, 'A Little Manifesto' to some of my closest friends via email. My Manifesto was NOT regarding Miley Cyrus smoking <i><a href="http://www.sagewisdom.org/usersguide.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF9900;">Salvia divinorum</span></a> </i>out of a bong (Party in the USA?), NOT commentary on Tom Delay's conviction, NOT praising this season's prodigal return of the wide leg trouser. <div><br /></div><div>No. </div><div><br /></div><div>Rather, I outlined my intentions for the New Year within the parameters of, something we all can't do without, FOOD.</div><div><br /></div><div>I just re-read Michael Pollan's groundbreaker, <i><a href="http://michaelpollan.com/books/the-omnivores-dilemma/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF9900;">The Omnivore's Dilemma;</span></a> </i>a consciousness-changing book, it is <i>The Jungle </i>of our time. </div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">If you eat food on a daily basis, you MUST read this book. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1192945129l/3109.jpg" id="il_fi" height="500" width="329" style="padding-right: 8px; padding-top: 8px; padding-bottom: 8px; " /></div><div><br /></div><div>In a feat of sincere, well-reasoned (dare I say, beautiful) prose, Pollan traces the journey of four different <i>kinds </i>of meals from to their origins to his mouth. He pushes aside the curtain to reveal: the industrial network that invented and supplies our current food chain; the capitalization of the organic movement, and raises the question is "commercial organic" a contradiction in terms, and/or a lesser of two evils; what happens to man and beast when it is nature that is deferred to in the management of food animals; the ethics of eating animals and the varied philosophies of that topic; lastly, what it takes to be solely responsible for the food one intakes. If you are more the book-on-tape type, here he is arguing the sustainability of our current food system at UC Davis:<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF9900;"> </span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFpjskn3_Pc"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF9900;">YouTube - Michael Pollan: The Omnivore's Dilemma</span></a>. </div><div><br /></div><div>It made me think. A lot. Not only about committing myself to eating home and locally grown produce, but also about the meat that I eat. I have long had a conflict between my head:mouth when it comes to eating animals. I was a vegetarian for years. Then, one fateful afternoon, my friend John and I walked into Gold's Delicatessen in Westport, CT.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><img class="logo img" src="http://profile.ak.fbcdn.net/hprofile-ak-snc4/hs446.snc4/50315_265277569562_1236597_n.jpg" alt="Gold's Delicatessen, Westport" id="profile_pic" /></div><div><br /></div><div>He orders the pastrami on rye, with a celery soda. Me? </div><div><br /></div><div>"Oh, I'll have a potato knish."</div><div> </div><div>"Sorry, hun," the waitress returns. "We're all out". </div><div><br /></div><div>While I take a moment to restrategize, John's pastrami comes out. All it took was the smell. The browned edges of the cured meat dangling excessively between the slices of rye. The dish of rich, spicy brown mustard just a dollop away.</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img class="rg_hi" id="rg_hi" width="259" height="194" style="width:259px;height:194px" src="http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTDGygTGXWO1LoKS9SJ9M1Tid1XH0gcErcCbzJhkSP2-ToZFhHoEw" /></div><div><br /></div><div>The waitress clanked his plate down in front of him, and before she could flip the paper of her little pad, I explode, "I'll have what he's having". And that was it. Oh, I also had a cheeseburger later that evening for dinner.</div><div><br /></div><div>John laughs at me all the time; whenever we have lunch I am either on or off the meat-eating wagon, and it results in an obligatory status update. John was a successful chef in his past life, now a fellow horticulturist, so we are always talking about food. I'm not sure you could really be a gardener without being in love with food. Fresh, bountiful harvests of produce that either you nurtured yourself, or know what it takes to be produced, is something you end up deeply appreciating.</div><div><br /></div><div>It is because I deeply appreciate food, that reading Pollan's book a second time helped me realize where my convictions lie, and just where on that meat-eating wagon I sit. And sit on that wagon I do. Unless, tomorrow I don't . . . </div><div><br /></div><div>I attempt to understand, and do all I can to align myself with, nature's complex processes when working in a garden. Being connected to the natural world, I cannot help but be consumed with how I fit into the cycle of consumption. As far as eating meat goes, I feel I've found a way that makes sense to me. </div><div><br /></div><div>The animal husbandry equivalent to my garden philosophy is grass-fed, pasture-rotated animals. Pasture-raising poultry, pork, lamb, and beef ensures that the animals are fully engaged in their domesticated surroundings, fully capable of living out their numbered days grazing as their natural inclinations demand, and free from the artificial and unethical trappings of the massive commercial industry that otherwise supplies our meat and dairy. Check it: cattle graze in a biologically and nutritionally diverse "grass" pasture. They eat, they excrete. Cattle is moved on to another pasture allowing the grass to regenerate. Chickens are rotated into the pasture where they peck through and <i>spread out</i> the cow pies in search of larvae, grubs, that are high in protein resulting in amazing eggs and high-quality flesh. Chickens are effectively spreading manure as a result of searching for their natural food source. An effective model of symbiosis, and certainly, the lesser of the alternate evils.</div><div><br /></div><div>Did I mention grass-fed beef is far superior in nutrients than corn-fed? Yes, it costs more. As Pollan argues, what costs more to our health and our environment is cheap, industrial meat. I want to see more than just the price tag. I want to know where these animals came from, how they were raised, visit the farm, be connected and conscious towards my choices. So if I have to eat less meat that is of higher quality and more conscientious, I am willing and wanting to. </div><div><br /></div><div>Since humans long ago domesticated these animals, they are already, and have been for centuries, living an unnatural life. My conviction to my self is to consume animals who have been given the respect and consideration for their comfort and well-being in exchange for my meal. For me, this pasture-raised meat is a way for me to reason my carnivory. Perhaps not for you, and I welcome you to reason out your convictions for yourself.</div><div><br /></div><div><div>Check out <a href="http://www.eatwild.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF9900;">Eat Wild</span></a>. There you can find a local farm near you that is committed to closing the gap between you and your food source.</div><div><br /></div><div>For me, 'Beyond Organic' means to look beyond the packaging, the marketing, beyond the idyll of the romanticized farm. In 2011 I will connect to my local resources, and align myself and my purchasing power with new standards and responsibilities. Ask yourself, how do you live in support of your convictions? As our world spins wildly beyond our control, how will you make the wobbling stop in your world?</div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF9900;"></span></div></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Erika Hansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00058011955993716711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6813331057442959167.post-76629714186210166382011-01-13T08:50:00.004-05:002011-01-13T09:21:04.992-05:00A ResurrectionAnd . . . . it's been almost 2 years since my last post. (Wh-<i>aaaa</i>-t?)<div><br /></div><div>Shame on me.</div><div><br /></div><div>It is winter, yet again, in the Northeast, and I find myself in the same frame of mind as when I started this blog in the first place: reflective, energized, in touch. </div><div><br /></div><div>The very reasons I started writing this blog was to channel my energy after I stopped working for Martha. There was no reason why my enthusiasm and creativity for horticulture had to end just because I was no longer working for Her. I took all that I learned from her--the delight in daily discoveries, the value of documentation, and the want for the world to know what could be seen in a heightened way--and made it my own. I am appreciative for having observed those good qualities in action during my tenure there.</div><div><br /></div><div>Since the start of this blog, so much has been seen, noticed, recorded, unrecorded, and accomplished, that I am happy to share again with renewed focus and energy. </div><div><br /></div><div>So where the HELL have I been?</div><div><br /></div><div>I have had the distinct pleasure of building and being one half of<a href="http://anthropek.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FFCC66;"> </span></a><a href="http://anthropek.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FFCC66;">ANTHROPEK Gardens Inc.</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FFCC66;"> </span>This is the landscape and garden design firm that I started with Kim, my business partner, co-coworker, and fellow colleague at Martha's. We started by creating those very cool hypertufa troughs I've previously posted about, and have since been pushing and expanding our way into who we are as a business, and what we offer to the world. It has been in this endeavor that my head and heart has been devoted the past two years. The process of taking a creative lust for what one does, and directing it into a business model has been quite the education. February 2011 will mark the beginning of year 3 that we have been working, collaborating, relying, and growing with each other as business partners. Cheers to us, Kim!</div><div><br /></div><div>So there you have that. I've also missed writing! It's another craft that I really love and enjoy. Never having been much of a physical crafter (oh, sure I've set up my sewing machine, but there are so many possibilities: napkins, bags, pillows, vintage patterns... ugh. I just can't start), I find words so effusive and exact that I can easily and comfortably patchwork anything to my heart's specifications. </div><div><br /></div><div>I look forward to sharing with you all again, and know that this coming season will be full of interesting ideas, and plants, and places, and observations to inspire many latent posts.</div><div><br /></div><div>Happy New Year, New Beginnings!</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Erika Hansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00058011955993716711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6813331057442959167.post-22959902068141746832009-04-26T13:29:00.011-04:002009-04-27T00:14:43.612-04:00Stonecrop Gardens and the Pinnacle Posse<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxnzh-QghDboescdk3QbfNjAfdquOIpw_8zecelqphkzM0vaPmaetP8U0J6cfseCN5SpU0IzvbD4GyQfS-FmPuLpp2CJJjB9aHTJFJPIVGyxm3xuT6r4X0qupxXjL8ZT1h0UodPyeYYNcJ/s1600-h/IMG_4190.JPG"></a><div style="text-align: justify;">What brought us out to Stonecrop Gardens on Saturday morning? It was the garden's annual spring sale of all things alpine: charming and diminutive plants, hypertufa troughs, and tufa rock for sale. And of course, all this was decorated by the obsessive niche group who love this kind of gardening.<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Kim, John and his friend Neil met me at the Foundry for breakfast in the little riverfront town of Cold Spring before heading out on route 301 to the garden. You'd pass the entrance unless you were intent on finding it. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Stonecrop is garden/home of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Cabot"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Frank Cabot</span></a>, founder of the <a href="http://www.gardenconservancy.org/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Garden Conservancy</span></a>. To grossly understate Cabot's many contributions to horticulture, he his perhaps most known for his work to protect America's stellar private gardens. Stonecrop Gardens is the model for what the Conservancy's goal is. Through the Conservancy, special gardens have been made accessible to the public through the <a href="http://www.gardenconservancy.org/opendays/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Open Days</span></a> program. Wherever you live in the United States, thanks to Frank, there is a private garden open near you.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Well, thankfully, <a href="http://www.stonecrop.org/index_cal_view.php"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Stonecrop</span></a> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="">is</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"> </span>near me. I've been to the garden one and a half times before (do your self a favor and call ahead to check garden hours!), but never to attend the alpine plant sale they host there annually. Since being introduced to the underworld of alpines and their devotees (the Pinnacle Posse?), this was the first time I've seen so many of these little plants in person. My eyes were as big as the biggest <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Gentian</span> I saw, but nowhere near as blue.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIRJkfUtmtYEzzLu6ieW0CsCcHHhhUI-0mHNGd_OrnAwqOINlqOgX4Z4XsWVxz-qk_VlEOaqbOC57fA5dh_T8EEjhmyUu_mUWPoerBevY_dKsgkuJPQsg0EAgOJ2SfWSvARfIrLErnHZ9E/s400/IMG_4158.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5329076735133986658" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I was so overwhelmed by the names! So many genus I'd never heard of before, or had any clue what they would do once I planted them in my troughs. All I could do was allow my curiosity and reactions to guide my choices. How was I supposed to know which ones would naturally grow beside one another? In what kind of location? Crevasse? Scree? Do I treat a trough like a garden and attempt to achieve a long season of bloom, or stick to the spring explosion? Oy. You can see what was running through my head. John has been into this for some time now, and is much more knowledgeable than me; he encouraged me to just choose what I am attracted to. Great advice. I am psyched with what I chose, and I can't wait to get them situated! Kim got some plants that looked <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; ">really</span> nice together; can't wait to see how she arranges them. I am really excited to dig into these exciting new plants!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The troughs were amazing. Check it out:</div><div style="text-align: justify;">This is a really interesting twist on planting rockery plants: plant them in rocks!<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaZ24CbT1jdt3YVqNyw0B_51rWPJbrrR9__MnbppQ38vbbhaP6iTyC79eJAjoeQk4KeMkPxCxx5GrU_c_9xupnhr2HQ-_DV8VV9Dx7EE59WMwGs82H6YQ4zNDF96h4rty-t1S8ZwYj6Dcx/s400/IMG_4156.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5329076744115139826" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;">What about the textures that the Stonecrop trough builders were able to achieve?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaa3VZ_nXDsBMPqTZNSPAgK0i5oHUfRrLtQFNq9a0pU3Y1yURgzIoCGHVVYSpPbanWCprfvR8UxQQpGZlI_S3fsjcPtAKEbHHt_NOSNeOq0gaiKzVBeUs9xPe52K6DtlsESe1wNeSb08Z7/s400/IMG_4164.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5329079347781734994" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This was my favorite; I just don't know how they did it! Doesn't it look like coral?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFxNet2EHdrdtYI4LzjYvChF0DpMEm5NbsEXJo2tlFbebO3Vi_scab3wAjdwfrBgh3c4jcvd9z3gkgRLYHqljrx1qpcYi60kHEBdu4SMPLXEvMNo3JlB3PS-xc6_kitjeNxC2X97WzNwBa/s400/IMG_4166.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5329079353519893746" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px; " /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Tufa rock, already planted. This can be placed right into your trough as is. Insta-garden!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgLGK2EPas483h8infLaazzsOQpPQNu7UePXG_yeOfVT1fwfJAHE5jo3Gm_8Muv9HleC7mPo_9MtDtBXUZy4D3oc28GATFFaGlziBa3iBFTzRpdSj0Ymi7Zg4aUFOEKYFCQR8MkK9Sbxs6/s400/IMG_4157.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5329086568924956034" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A little planting vignette:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc4cV2qfBIA-mElxV1qvq_N67QdkvYDUtBE5crsU4eNqz4-U9z_14ivaqvf-L6KBPatRSxnC3n1sbKeTRkDF8qu4v-FXn5iCl3Vdyzd4a30akFhk0Q4VsLSpVHX-ep5dH-DWMNjHn4cwbt/s400/IMG_4165.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5329086569959854674" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px; " /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;">These pieces of tufa are very porous and are basically more air than rock. Alpine plants grow exceptionally well in this media as their specialized roots find their way into these air pockets and adhere. How else is a teeny plant supposed to stay put on a windswept slope towering high above sea levels? </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOVYi7YpchkYYJ4-OWJM4gPGEXAx6vyZgvnekzO23jNphhoKorZFuwVD0yHtGlMlm4ALPLET5Tlty9cUcvPc7nc7fqMe9j4V-cSIcmJjneNOnAMXFfMJKTWs8uye57gzYjUgBYD0ga1GgW/s400/IMG_4167.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5329086575297457586" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;">So after I put my little ones in the car, I went back out into the garden. The last time I was here it was late summer and raining. Today it was 80˚F, pure blue skies, and I'm armed with a bottle of water and my camera on this sunny spring day . . .</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I walked up to a trough-making demo, and stopped to ask some questions. Steve, the superintendent of the garden, was packing Stonecrop's hypertufa mix into molds. He let me in on some of his experiences making troughs over the past 20 years.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxnzh-QghDboescdk3QbfNjAfdquOIpw_8zecelqphkzM0vaPmaetP8U0J6cfseCN5SpU0IzvbD4GyQfS-FmPuLpp2CJJjB9aHTJFJPIVGyxm3xuT6r4X0qupxXjL8ZT1h0UodPyeYYNcJ/s400/IMG_4190.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5329092422088860978" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px; " /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Steve dyes his mix because the sun bleaches the troughs so quickly, that they end up looking like what they are: cement. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBoXaQhDUlIP9ThNF_k1IiAmJzh3AzQ_moroTrofhsjC12Lm1unU6ZofQPsicMKFQ3MzYrbObupgnHvr1yqNlLH99k1tG_8DSt6l_TZ91BW8OCzHSWaMHt5srJYkJ-L6Tq6OalrciJD_lz/s400/IMG_4189.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5329092416907275186" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">He uses a foam core to pack the mix around. His method is easier than what I've done, but is best suited for smaller troughs. The stick he uses to pack the mix eliminates any air pockets that may lead to cracking. <br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXG3QcYZP6ZdEBiRmOuGY7Xt-fW7DjoiPNFIF1IZEuS54VeA34SQFiyG3X0JDHFkpISV_M92ReX92udvhM6vIwu_qDJ91nCP5JZtCJRVUhp4a3_QhqUk46sL6aR8__2HTV3-wcnyU5mcqL/s400/IMG_4188.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5329092412789353378" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I love speaking with fellow gardeners: there are so many ways to do the same thing, each method more ingenious than the next. Thanks for taking the time, Steve! </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Steve suggested I follow the path to the ledge garden by the pond. This was good advice.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Consider this good advice for anyone who is in and around the Hudson Valley. Go visit this garden gem! Not just a garden for alpines, Stonecrop encompasses a conservatory, alpine houses, perennial garden, woodland garden, and many charming elements are there to be experienced! Cheers!</div>Erika Hansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00058011955993716711noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6813331057442959167.post-83388878886421313722009-04-25T14:09:00.005-04:002009-04-26T07:32:51.890-04:00PLEASE, people . . . it's 2009, part 3<div style="text-align: justify;">Problems need solutions.<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">So now that Earth Day is over, Arbor Day has passed, what can you do to keep the momentum going? </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">To illustrate, a sidenote: this past Earth Day I listened to Majora Carter of <a href="http://www.ssbx.org/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Sustainable South Bronx</span></a> speak with, among others, Robert Redford in an interview on <a href="http://www.wnyc.org/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0); ">WNYC</span></a>. Of all the things they spoke about, Redford said something that totally resonated with me. To paraphrase, 'green' is a word that has lost its meaning. We are bombarded by it and now it has lost its power. What 'green' now means for Redford, and for me, is <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; ">the future</span>. 'Green' is a state of being, of living, of responsibility that will guide our actions from now on. Living responsibly is the tao, the new way, that we are beginning to live, and will continue to live.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A simple, yet powerful message.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">What is the tao of the garden? The new way is one that is thoughtful, responsible, harmless, and harmonious. It means taking into consideration that <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">all</span> life forms that a gardener deals with has a purpose (cue The Byrds' "Turn, turn, turn"). </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">When taking a deeper look into our environment, we see that it is a beautiful choreography of life and function. To destroy that complexity with force and chemical is to deeply disrespect what exists around us. Rather, we should join the dance, and lead what occurs in in our gardens like a strong partner. Many ways abound to kindly and gently achieve the gardens and landscapes of our dreams without bitch-slapping Mother Nature. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">To carry the theme of the other posts in this <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">PLEASE, people . . .</span> series, we'll look at the three main topics that gardeners preoccupy themselves with: unwanted plants, troublesome pests, and encouraging growth.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">PLANTS</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The cutesy "weeds are plants with bad press" is not enough to make you love them. Here's how to get rid of them:</div><div><ul><li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Get out there and pull them out</span>. So many observations and quiet moments are had when engaged in the seemingly mindless task of weeding. With the right tools, it doesn't take much effort, and being regular about the task reduces weeds, and keeps you up-to-the-minute of the many moments in your garden.</li><li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Mulch</span>. There is great benefit to using good quality mulch. First, it keeps weed seeds in the soil from germinating, and it prevents surface weed seeds from penetrating the soil. Secondly, it will break down and add loads of nutrients and beneficial microbial life to your soil. Third, mulch retains soil moisture, thus reducing your watering needs.</li><li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Cover the ground</span>. If wisely chosen, plants will help you<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">!</span> Covering the ground with either traditional ground covering plants, or by a densely planted garden means no exposed soil. No exposed soil leaves very little space for a weed seed to germinate, let alone survive.</li><li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Reduce compaction, apply compost</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; ">, and overseed; mow high</span>. This is for the lawn-lovers. Some weeds thrive in compacted soil (um, isn't the lawn for running, playing, and all kinds of compacting activities?), so the natural alternative is to reduce that compaction. Aerating the soil allows for air, and water to penetrate, thus creating favorable conditions for the turf grass species to thrive in. Spreading compost over the aerated lawn puts those nutrients directly in contact with the soil and roots, virtually injecting that turf with nutrients and microlife. Overseeding is the same concept as covering the ground: leave no space for weed seeds to get light and moisture. Follow that with a high mowing height (3-4") and now you're shading out any possible chance for weed seeds to thrive.</li></ul><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">PESTS*</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;">With over 1 million insect species in the world, it is a losing battle for you. What you should realize is that 99% of the insects you see in your garden are <a href="http://www.ext.vt.edu/departments/entomology/ornamentals/beneficials.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">BENEFICIAL</span></a>. They are your friends. Kinda like the people at the bank: you don't really care to <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">know</span> them, but they help you out, you know they work for you, and generally, you are glad that they are there. I happen to love my bankers. And I love insects. Get to know them, encourage their existence, and they will silently reward you, <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">I</span> promise</span>. Pests can also mean disease, and there is a better way around that too.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Identify your "pest"</span>. Chances are, what you are seeing is a beneficial insect that is eating the things that you didn't even know were causing you grief. Why mindlessly destroy a benevolent creature? You may not kill an insect unless you know if it is doing you and your crop harm. A great book to get your hands on: <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Photographic-Atlas-Entomology-Insect-Identification/dp/0962515043/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1240686901&sr=1-1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Photographic Atlas of Entomology</span></a></span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Photographic-Atlas-Entomology-Insect-Identification/dp/0962515043/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1240686901&sr=1-1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">,</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">James L. Castner</span></a>, and <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Garden-Insects-North-America-Princeton/dp/0691095612"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Garden Insects of North America</span></a></span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Garden-Insects-North-America-Princeton/dp/0691095612"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Whitney Cranshaw</span></a>. If it IS a pest like aphids, whitefly, imported cabbage looper, or leaf hoppers, there are beneficial insects that prefer to dine on these nuisances. <a href="http://www.bugladyconsulting.com/Suppliers%20of%20beneficial%20insects.htm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Introduce</span></a> these insects, and watch the problem go away. Anecdote: last spring I was monitoring my crop of fava beans. The previous year's crop was bunk as the plants were COVERED in black nasty aphids. But this year, I noticed the aphids were back, but there was something else . . . lady beetle larvae were deee-vouring the aphids. I even saw some adults in on the smörgosbord<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">!</span> Sweet<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">!</span> So, I did NOTHING<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">!</span> I simply monitored the populations of aphids:lady beetles and satisfactorily allowed them to do their work. Not an extra ounce of work from me for a problem that resolved itself. Nice.</li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Attract beneficial insects</span>. I've written of this topic before. Being sure to plants flowers that are full of nectar will ensure that a bevy of beneficials will be stopping by your watering hole. Umbel flowers are known to be some of the best: fennel, dill, angelica, <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Ammi majus</span>, etc. Providing a shallow source of water is also helpful to keep your bennies happy. </li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">When they just have to die</span>, use non-toxic remedies. My favorite? 1:1 rubbing alcohol and water<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">!</span> Mix in a spray bottle, and you have a serious dehydrating solution for soft-bodied insects. You can see the aphids shrivel before your eyes. Very satisfying. I'm obviously no Buddhist.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "></span></li></ul><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; ">FOLIAR PESTS*</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;">These are definitely a problem for many, but most issues can be solved by the culture you provide. Same as with insects, properly i.d. your plant diseases. Bring <a href="http://plantclinic.cornell.edu/sample_submission_2.htm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">samples</span></a> to a trustworthy garden center, or call up your local county cooperative extension office and have them help. Here are a few common phyto-ailments:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Powdery mildew</span> is the result of poor culture, and one of the most common foliar diseases. <a href="http://plantclinic.cornell.edu/FactSheets/powdery/powdery.htm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">PM</span></a> will only infect plants susceptible to it. The spores of this fungi overwinter on infected leaves left from the previous season -- a good reason for fall clean-up<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">!</span> If you have it, it probably infected your plants during a time of high humidity, excess shade, and poor air circulation. Either way, mix baking soda and water in a spray bottle and treat infected leaves out of midday sun. You may also selectively prune shrubs, roses, even perennials to create a more open network of branches, canes, or stem. This will encourage air to move freely around theses plants. Better yet, research which plants are most susceptible, and avoid them. If you already have some of these plants in your landscape, consider their location and move them as necessary. And, if you can't move your ancient heirloom lilac, then be vigilant about cleanup, foliar spray with compost tea to prevent an infection, and monitor and treat any signs if you see them.</li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">For other common diseases</span>, <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"><a href="http://hgca.com/hgca/wde/Common/FOLIARNDX.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">check this out</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); ">.</span></span></li></ul><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">NUTRIENTS</span></div><div>Every gardener wants to ensure that their plant investments will make floriferous and fruitful returns. For far too long, that insurance was blue and made of salt. The tao of fertilizing uses only compost, compost tea, minerals, sea nutrients, and deep consideration. Seriously, the combination of these nutrient sources will greatly, naturally, and vigorously affect the growth of your plants. </div><div><ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Compost</span>. The rocksteady way for you to build better soil. Build better soil, release more nutrients for your plants. Apply 1/4"-1/2" of compost in early spring as soil microbes are warming up to the idea of eating again. It has been said that you can never add to much compost to your soil. Because the nutrients are not yet fully available from the microbes that live in the compost, this organic material acts as a slow release fertilizer. Its bulk aids in moisture retention in the soil, and acts as a soil conditioner. Too much is just enough.</li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Compost tea </span>works in perfect conjunction with compost. A highly concentrated, biologically-active soil amendment, compost tea puts an exponential amount of beneficial soil microbes right where they need to be: in the soil. These microbes get to work immediately releasing nutrients essential for accelerated growth and disease resistance (not to be confused with treatment) in a form that is immediately available to plant roots. Bi-weekly to monthly applications of well-brewed compost tea will give you vigorous results that will sincerely, and happily, shock you. Think Red Bull for your soil.</li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Minerals</span> make up almost 50% of soil composition. Pretty essential part of soil fertility, no? By adding natural sources of minerals to your soil, you are ensuring a constant stream of slow-release nutrients that will last for <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">years. </span>Rock phosphates, and many other <a href="http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/PDF/altsoil.pdf"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">alternative soil amendments</span></a> will give your soil a deep and powerful fertility.</li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Sea plants and kelp</span> are not naturally available in all climates and environments, but sea plants offer a powerhouse of micronutrients that are pretty hard to beat.</li></ul></div><div>So this 2009, you now know there are so many ways to make amends with our previous sins. Please, people, let's choose the new way. Even if you don't jump on this train now, check out the schedule and know that whenever you are ready, it will be waiting for you in the station with a reserved seat of good conscience.</div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">* A note on insect and disease pests: </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">a stressed plant is a weakened plant</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">. A plant in this predicament actually gives off plant-pheromones equivalent to distress signals. These signals are picked up on by hungry insects who descend and attack. Diseases will only take hold on a plant whose defenses are inadequate to ward off their objectionable overtures. Take care to keep your plants well-placed, well-hydrated, and well-nourished to keep them free of preventable problems</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">!</span></span><br /></div></div></div>Erika Hansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00058011955993716711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6813331057442959167.post-48400616878433551562009-04-18T09:44:00.007-04:002009-04-20T17:03:13.165-04:00PLEASE, people . . . it's 2009, part 2<span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Skia;"><div style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 3px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 3px; width: auto; font: normal normal normal 100%/normal Georgia, serif; text-align: left; "><div style="text-align: justify; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';">So, I covered red mulch. Let's not revisit that. I used more CAPS writing that piece than I have ever used in my life.<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';">As we approach this Earth Day, I am proud to observe that as a nation, we are raising up our heads and knocking the sand out of our ears. We are experiencing the long-awaited luxury of a fresh start with this new year, this new spring, and this new direction. So much has been collectively happening: new vegetable gardens, demanding responsibly forested lumber, changing incandescent bulbs to compact fluorescents, saying no to plastic bags at the grocery store . . . but what are we doing to address the necessary changes to our lawn and garden protocol? I'm talking about the smaller environment that we live in everyday, the very environment that we the people have most control over: </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';">our own backyards.</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';">The issue of paramount importance is the triumvirate of chemical pest control, broad spectrum herbicides, and chemical fertilizers. During the past eight long years, we heard</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><a href="http://z.about.com/d/politicalhumor/1/0/-/7/alfredwbush.jpg"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';">Alfred E. Neuman </span></span></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';">speak of the 'axis of evil' . . . if only he was attacking these horticultural chemicals, then maybe it would have garnered him a touch of credibility. Alas, we know that story. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';">Like I referred to in the previous article, major "green industry" companies like Miracle-Gro, Scotts, Monstanto, Ortho, etc. have provided products touted to give you an emerald lawn, to block your lot from trespassing weeds, and to kill every manner of arthropod that dares crawl. Anything but "green", the origin, production, marketing, and gross misuse of these chemicals is a topic that the home gardener must seriously consider. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';">It is no secret that herbicides and nitrogen-based fertilizers are by-products of the military-industrial complex. Since the 1940's, the residential consumer has been encouraged to use these chemical products around their homes. Our great nation used 2, 4,-D, known to the world as Agent Orange, to defoliate the canopy and eliminate the ground layer of vegetation in Vietnam. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';">Here come the CAPS:</span></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxG3qx0ZXsEv1Kpaz4pPY4AWvj4Hf31WW8M1gARfVIQK7dp0tsZbgiJpCrgunoZ-we3zTcZxI47Q1gAKaIpHRo0yZPXtlmKAZ_UZnxus72CHDBSkif9NfXP91CBDxpLqcEyI0LBFTeqPRE/s400/agent-orange-6.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5326223237443628818" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 320px; " /></span></div></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';">20 MILLION GALLONS</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';"> OF DANGEROUS CHEMICALS RAINED DOWN FROM MILITARY AIRCRAFT CAUSING NIGHTMARISH BIRTH DEFECTS THAT ARE </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';">STILL</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';"> BEING REPORTED. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';">I could not bring myself to post images of the children who live with the hideous misfortune of their genetic modification. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';">The power and capacity for destruction of these man-made chemicals is chilling</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';">.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';"> Let this truth resonate as you pause when reaching for that jug of RoundUp. However safely it can be used, just remember where it came from. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';"><br /></span></span></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhth9RZygZwiAGdmci6mVXqoCi9Te8CaJVRlA6l6ynSYCyLvxhHGGAmOSGgfTCTX6T-0tX2LYS1Tav0TcqHBACcQbJMpXpIThA8vn7BQduFRv61URHo338VPbNW9a2-WxqLG6yzIzjNrDYr/s400/0903_pesticide_caution_sign_b1.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5326218126831724914" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 106px; " /></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; "><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';">According to the EPA, 95% of the pesticides used on residential lawns are </span><a href="http://www.cqs.com/elawn.htm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';">probable carcinogens</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';">. If you use pesticides, are you </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';">seriously</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';"> still scratching your head as to why you buried your dog recently? Your children and pets roll all over that green grass, innocent to what serious harm you may ignorantly be putting them in. The fact is this: we are willingly and unwittingly exposing ourselves, our families, and our pets to some really serious chemicals that, for decades, we have taken for granted and blindly accepted as safe. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';">Your neighbor may never take down those idiotic signs: do you see the image? Who are the pests, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';">us</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';">? How f***ed up is it that you can't walk in the space between the street and your house for 24 hours?? How are you supposed to get in?</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';">So, you've given up on the herbicides. Great. You've even stopped spraying your lawn for "pests". Good. But give up on fertilizing? No way.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';">Yes way.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';">This is what happens when you apply the "blue stuff": The macronutrients in the bag are made up of soluble salts. If you live in the Northeast, you know that salt eats cars. You know the funny feeling your lips get after eating movie theater popcorn? All things being equal, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';">s</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';">alts destroy the balance of life in the soil beneath your feet.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';"> You want to protect and encourage that soil biology with every action you take. If the soil biology are at healthy levels, it does 100% of your "fertilizing" for you. The billions of microbes that exist under your feet are obviously out for themselves, but also work with amazing synergy to protect the source of food that keeps the </span><a href="http://tiee.ecoed.net/vol/v3/experiments/soil/img/soil_food_web%5BHR%5D.jpg"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';">soil foodweb</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';"> alive: plant roots and its exudates. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';">This co-dependent symbiosis a beautiful life system that endlessly fascinates me. But it's ruined when an overzealous home gardener sprinkles fertilizer down, then throws a few more handfuls for good measure. No one reads directions, and when they do, they are out there on a regular basis with this stuff. Excuse me, but it's bullshit to have to fertilize your plants every two weeks. The result? Lots of green, succulent growth forced from a shallow-rooted plant. A weak plant attracts insect damage. Insect damage attracts your attention and you reach for the pesticide. The pesticide, well, we covered that. What makes man think that they know better than nature? I have no problem trying to encourage the best potential a plant has, but I am saying there is a better way, through culture. Hence, horticulture.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';">Why are we letting ourselves live like this? Look, we can only change ourselves. Hopefully the ripples of our positive changes will reach the edges of the pond we live in and touch the shores of someone else's. Check out the city of Seattle's page on </span><a href="http://www.seattle.gov/util/Services/Yard/Natural_Lawn_&_Garden_Care/Natural_Yard_Care/index.asp"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';">natural yard care</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';">. It will give you the basics to get started, and links for further info. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';">Look for the 3rd installment of my 2009 wake-up call where I will outline alternative actions for all of the above nasties.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';">Now is the time--like it never has been time before.</span></div></span>Erika Hansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00058011955993716711noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6813331057442959167.post-2325334611048732772009-04-17T18:05:00.004-04:002009-04-17T20:00:49.130-04:00PLEASE, people . . . it's 2009.<div style="text-align: justify;">Now is the time. The mad dash. The gardening season has officially begun.<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">So you know what that means. All of residential America goes through the motions of maintaining their gardens and landscapes. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In droves they arrive like flocks of sheep in the parking lots of big box stores and garden centers. Inside, shelves mesmerize with the dizzying repetition of bottles, bags, and labels. KILL, DIE, PREVENT, TREAT. They leave, armed with their weapons to ensure that<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"> </span>the bugs, weeds, crabgrass, powdery mildew, black spot, etc. LOSE (because this is war, you know). Their cars are filled with rolls of weed barrier, 3 cubic foot bags of mulch, bales of peat moss, and other mindless methods. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Why? Because Miracle-Gro says so, because Scotts told you to, and because some ill-advised employee parrots misinformation. Spread nasty crap all over your plants and recreational areas, and then blanket bare soil with red mulch. Why? Because that's what you are supposed to do. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">America: where red mulch reigns, and the smell of poison floats on a breeze.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It makes me physically ill. Really, really ill.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Let's address the red mulch first. I do not care WHO you are, WHERE you live, or WHAT you like: <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">RED MULCH IS UNACCEPTABLE</span>. Remember when everyone thought that the mullet was a cool hairstyle? An easy, carefree way to have it all when it comes to your hair? Yeah, some people still think that way, as is exemplified at any county fair. RED MULCH is like the mullet of landscapes: ugly, passé, and quite possibly the best way to announce to all who pass that you have HORRIBLE taste. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">PLEASE</span> STOP. IT HURTS MY EYES. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Oh, yeah. I'm being blunt. There is just no other way. If I didn't garden in New York, <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">where the soil is brown</span>, and instead cultivated plants in Alabama, <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">where the soil is red,</span> then MAYBE the ubiquitous red mulch might be acceptable. I'm talking purely aesthetics here, I'm not even GOING into the function of mulches or why mulching allies your plants, soil, and resources.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">RED MULCH IS NOT NICE, IT IS NOT FUN, AND IT MAKES YOUR GARDEN LOOK LIKE A GAS STATION. Do you want your garden to look like a gas station? <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Do</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">you</span>? I am sorry to say, but some of you out there just cannot be trusted to respond with a resounding 'No'. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The horticultural standards of this nation are obviously in its adolescent years. Our amazing landscapes are painfully punctuated by the acne pustules of red mulch mounds. It is disgraceful, and we can do better. YES, WE CAN. While there are so many garden <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; ">faux pas</span> to address, this is the one that needs to be fought the hardest. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">So PLEASE, before you run to your local purveyor of fine garden accoutrements, and <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">definitely </span>before you load red cedar mulch into your vehicle, consider this equation: </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">RED MULCH + UGLY = YOUR HOUSE.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Erika Hansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00058011955993716711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6813331057442959167.post-24572449416319266512009-04-09T00:37:00.011-04:002009-04-10T08:14:39.593-04:00NYBG Orchid Show: a modern makeover<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3tsQrNKX4bU_Enb4fTaV_cBTTrXuMUckFPF8YN1j35ElTZVRynh1AzyIJPXFwLntw8UbxMnNH4L6FDatwaJMiJG1Hn_vdQ51XJ9GKPuP2O87a5enCg0Q9icsGLDK3qBu93nCTgZK0bHPl/s1600-h/IMG_4032.JPG"></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1ozrv1lKMwlPXINqOw4iwSoctPX6Wi84nhy5RDFj3v4xO-9Wlx7iEygRyLxVF515NPSuv0D8obrAlEjlgOJrfL6C7iRSOXaQ1fjPizBR6bF8nSndDsOtDqBmM50aSZpVAqk3dXTvxZmR7/s1600-h/IMG_3999.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1ozrv1lKMwlPXINqOw4iwSoctPX6Wi84nhy5RDFj3v4xO-9Wlx7iEygRyLxVF515NPSuv0D8obrAlEjlgOJrfL6C7iRSOXaQ1fjPizBR6bF8nSndDsOtDqBmM50aSZpVAqk3dXTvxZmR7/s400/IMG_3999.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5322659981745438098" /></a><div style="text-align: justify;">It started with Dale Chihuly's glittering glass sculptures in the Enid A. Haupt glasshouse. This past summer, Henry Moore's heavy metal punctuated turf and framed views. This winter, it was Burle Marx, Brazilian landscape modernist designer, who brought the latest wave of haute art to the epicenter of haute horticulture.<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8-qVwUDzPAK6fmEoWKivyW8ubo62od_qVRNVLvNuOzBehyb9nD6mjSwF8LVj029eiI5foYIAZcGL4jaSUYLDBL34740aF7IVbkT71Odj5fr5aDIvpfrWKSUNQiIIkSk5Th9IzT_86Pbff/s400/IMG_3965.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5322648672408043330" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">My best friend,<a href="http://interiorsbyjanelle.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"> </span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://interiorsbyjanelle.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Janelle Garguilo</span></a></span>, a compelling graphic and interior designer, had the brilliant plan of going to the Bronx Zoo with my mother and my nephew. Me? I invited myself. But today was a wintry slap in the face: it was just too cold to watch the lions freezing on the cement savannah. Instead, we detoured across the rugged safari of Southern Boulevard to the Enid A. Haupt conservatory for a warmer stroll through the last week of the <a href="http://www.nybg.org/tos09/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0); ">NYBG Orchid Show: </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0); ">Brazilian Modern</span></span></a>. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: justify; ">As a lover of art, I find it so progressive that the New York Botanical Garden, that dusty New York institution, has taken these "risks" to allure visitors with a quality blend of plants and art. It only makes sense, and I wish they had done it sooner. </div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">The marriage of art and horticulture has a long history. To really know a garden is to look at it as you would any expression of art. Truth be told, so many horticulturists and landscape designers I've met were previously trained as artists, and that experience is integral to their successful designs: <a href="http://www.publicgardendesign.com/about/index.htm" style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 102, 204); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0); ">Lynden Miller</span></a> as a painter, and <a href="http://www.jmendozagardens.com/index2.asp" style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 102, 204); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0); ">Jeff Mendoza</span></a> as a sculptor, just to name some of NYC's contemporary finest. </div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">As the last reserve of orchids are removed and restrung, a few highlights before this experience fades:</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">How's this for a hanging basket? Wow! </div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijd5_dhynnyHmMDIKlOdEqvaHSlIyzwYZ6tSXzhXrigRc8rRrpgNJ0YyhwlW4_PTojSDXzccxvLZVlEu4o7VLqLTWoKqDaHOwI337RYc5MR3oumeMygluPsLUkNfOCJ4RtokBjuWS9mvG_/s400/IMG_4008.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5322655963145533234" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px; " /><div style="text-align: justify; ">I really love seeing horticulture pushed to an extreme like this! The monotone <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Phalenopsis</span> dangle just as they should, and the bright green pitchers of the <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Nepenthes</span> that are tucked in add some serious interest. And what about that unknown aroid spreading it's HUGE leaves like it would below the canopy of a tropical rainforest? I'm woozy. </div><div style="text-align: justify; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGVf5Er7k6MhJ7NjDF-kzgmF3AN4V6cGhCOgry6Kqmz5su_B0Ed2knZSHSDtTgN6mFmNBkVl7H8V5qhyakCoCsXBuikpdqzR-SjwhlrBPypZA9m8jIRoN5cmnqpWr_XfkCgu5HD67nDHcZ/s400/IMG_4004.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5322648675716626066" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">This gives the container-planting philopsophy of "thrillers, fillers, and spillers" whole new perspective!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">My nephew, Nick, . . .</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioQsbXq8FtpW_WaqUyw3vE9RXeKPEx8gjofurlDk-mSGOUZaYepAQej5mu4OKvqgVE5_D4JuHT8LIqOjyCOpVtZ1FDviuRxckGr98bYkzUWsNj3Lsafa6JYptW_9aAKK_oDw6N7_oBMzQP/s400/IMG_4019.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5322655968104993394" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px; " /> . . . was pretty impressed by the wall of pure white <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; ">Phalenopsis</span>.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpwSodsOsFXctD72aYj9Onw9QD22MLLfSWESLimnQktCofmGmDPJ_U9hjzJV9Bq9Z_YyXjxQ-J-s1VN2T94IDn_KN7xDKW1sEnEx1XPZNF5gzDcQeuM1xiSAgdCWuRA0lr0eZfEuevOte4/s400/IMG_4021.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5322659966984966674" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">I have to admit, so was I. The is something to be said about seeing plants <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">en masse -- </span>it is candy that only your eyes can devour and taste.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I am always inspired by the color combinations that Fran and Marc mastermind. Again, true artistry must exist for a successful planting display. My eyes always zero in on the subtleties of the tones and ranges of colors that are combined. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIMsG7b0V6zD0kVPfSRorSn8VbC6LOyJKSm2ycbuMOB1Bg05lM7qC1OGck-6wk8Y9E7c5rNx6Zfu0NsippzfIwLbU3qVNn9OIkB-scjYAGf7vcJqnyQ7kqkTS-okvNFZewQE9DS_7c1r92/s400/IMG_4013.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5322659974064316338" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px; " /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Don't think you need a degree to put together a great combo. All you need is a personal aesthetic that will guide your visceral responses as you create a floral or textural vignette. Play time! To start playing with great color combos, all you need is to observe the palette and pull those colors out. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Look here: the inflorescences of the bromeliad in the lower right are long gone, but the bright green ovaries and the orange stems and pedicels are a natural nod to the Pollock-splashes on the leaves of the <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Croton</span> (a member of the <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Euphorbiaceae</span>, my favorite!). It just feels right!</div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPyTfl8y2nwfVZ65deWg4VpTwm9swJ7v3dYBTQtraALSJf1AOIL_oZL-L1JyV6djihG8iDsgm30cv3tSfy8sc93mY8c51p1VbwsV8n7H8Zr6T07CPsINZjWRGjVxxBjuSItifv4tp3m4EP/s400/IMG_4016.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5322666611838333762" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /><div style="text-align: justify;">People may live in flats, but flowers? </div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijceUWymbxPAnVPOEAMW48uVU29B1f4xFY17bHI2m8LlefvshrNq-EmoddPC6iLuMYBpjMB51v5-WsqEr1zPDQRrTxt2frn8qRgkaSNrR-DNX_zjhUy3Ca6WhdLHdv9T92gFe_f7gkmBk-/s400/IMG_4023.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5322666627028421202" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /><div style="text-align: justify;">When I saw these plant apartments, I thought, hmmm, with eyebrow raised. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIDvwGTNuEFHylFf0zDosqrgPtmokgCjz7E6_MAxyyuhJzj3yUmwGA1Wh18tqd2-EjhUXgYhv9rMsSsHKBwNf9RWJIQaGZudE7b3dBNSErt_gBMrmEGO-jMy0omA1d_aK3kHP0fZOq4DEN/s400/IMG_4024.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5322666628334243266" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Didn't love it, but liked it. Definitely a different way of adding height, using undervalued vertical space, and simply causing surprise.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Leave it to me to be shocked and moved by anything other than an orchid at an orchid show:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia12DdMXXOkdJF21ij9zAY3Zddd2NKxtzun6bVEfmv7d9Dvv4AK7Mgo-IsinqKFQLqhx_hqZOcoWrU-C7vfpUqBvYVgt730rka9sOGuwPdTNpdf_ZlZPixPLJo0RPFXkv9oWd8XWVjQPFQ/s400/IMG_4028.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5322666633660178066" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px; " /></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><div style="text-align: justify;">Look at this color! I practically warmed by hands by it! As fire-red as your imagination can allow, I was so in love with the origami lobster claw cascade. This is one hot <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Tillandsia</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="">!</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3tsQrNKX4bU_Enb4fTaV_cBTTrXuMUckFPF8YN1j35ElTZVRynh1AzyIJPXFwLntw8UbxMnNH4L6FDatwaJMiJG1Hn_vdQ51XJ9GKPuP2O87a5enCg0Q9icsGLDK3qBu93nCTgZK0bHPl/s400/IMG_4032.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5322814562815746962" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px; " /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The clean lines, sharp architecture, and Art Deco repetition of <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Tillandsia dyeriana</span> is just my style. It just might be my newest obsession. Although, bromeliads have always been high up on my list.</div></div></div><div><br /></div><div>So, <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">parabéns</span>, NYBG! Another successful blend of art and plants. Who's next? I dare you to give me Gaudi!</div>Erika Hansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00058011955993716711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6813331057442959167.post-47971765433941213002009-04-08T22:55:00.011-04:002009-04-09T00:36:32.619-04:00Winter blue is now spring green!<div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';">I think I am in denial.<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';">Is it really spring? </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';">It took Herculean survival skills for this gardener to get through our Northeast winter. I just might be over it for good; I say it every year: I want warmer weather for longer, I don't want my car to engage me in a snowy striptease every time I need to go someplace, and I definitely could do with out the tundra. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';">But all that winter weariness wanders away as soon as my body and mind connect with the evolution of spring. Regardless of the freak warm weather we get these days, I love the moments of disbelief that, there I stand, raking spring garden beds, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';">in a t-shirt! </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"> Feeling that warm sun on my skin makes me drunk and sleepy on it's vitamins; I lay on the grass hoping to feel it grow. What else can make me feel </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';">that kind</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"> of great? I challenge you to tell me. (I'm really glad I'm not a rabbit, or this kind of elation might manifest very differently.) </span><a href="http://landscapedesignweb.com/duncan-brine/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0); "></span></span></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://landscapedesignweb.com/duncan-brine/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';">Duncan Brine,</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"> fellow Pawlingian (read: those from Pawling) and mastermind behind his concept '</span><a href="http://landscapedesignweb.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';">Garden Large</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';">' (check the </span><a href="http://www.gardenconservancy.org/opendays/events.pl?ID=238&SortBy=Location&State=New%20York"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';">Open Days</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';">, and GO!), wisely quotes on his webpage, </span></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><blockquote></blockquote></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';">"Every time I talk to a savant I feel quite sure that happiness is no longer a possibility. Yet when I talk with my gardener, I'm convinced of the opposite."</span></blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre; "></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"> -Bertrand Russel, philosopher, mathematician, and author (1872-1970)</span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';">What a time! Spring! The heightened awareness I have during this time is uncanny. Witnessing the progressive resurrection of those I tenderly laid to rest makes my heart swell and my head just a little dizzy with love. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';">Doesn't everyone feel this way? </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';">(Hmmm . . . ) </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';">Well, then </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';">shouldn't </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';">everyone feel this way?</span></div>Erika Hansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00058011955993716711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6813331057442959167.post-40472935100711725382009-03-25T04:24:00.007-04:002009-04-02T09:11:51.583-04:00Compost: the second coming<div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">People may argue why our present day is called </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">Anno Domini</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"> (Did He come, did you miss it? Is He coming, do you look busy?). Whatever calendar you hang, you can't argue that it is spring and it really has arrived. So for me, that means compost--not Christ.<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">Compost saves! </span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">Save garden cuttings, weeds, grass clippings, autumn leaves, veg and fruit peelings and other appropriate kitchen scraps ('forbidden fruit' is allowed), and compost will happen. Compost will save you from buying costly soil amendments that won't do the job as effectively. Making compost saves all the natural resources from a garden and recycles them right back to the very plants that produced them. Pretty tight, huh?</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">Compost is coming!</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">Many methods abound for creating compost. Hot vs. cold piles, C:N ratios and the science of layering your "greens" and "browns". Do you pile or do you bin? Do you turn or do you spin? It shouldn't be overwhelming, but it definitely can be. Just remember that whatever method fits your time, energy, and compost needs, if you do it, it will come.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">No compost, no peace--know compost know peace!</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">Compost is the great unifier. Compost comprises so many positive elements that together create a one-pot meal satisfying many a garden hunger. From building better soil structure, balancing pH, and increasing soil-moisture to inoculating soil with vital bacteria, fungi, and beneficial nematodes, compost redeems all previous garden sins. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">As an educator, I encourage gardeners to familiarize themselves with the organisms that make compost (and great soil) what it is. Reading </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; "><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Teaming-Microbes-Gardeners-Guide-Soil/dp/0881927775"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">Teaming with Microbes: A Gardener's Guide to the Soil Food Web </span></span></a></span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Teaming-Microbes-Gardeners-Guide-Soil/dp/0881927775"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">by Jeff Lowenfels</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"> is a great start for any gardener curious about what happens beneath their feet. Billions of beneficial fungi and bacteria break down organic matter above and below the soil level. Increasing these populations in the soil has tremendously positive effects. These beneficial organisms "guard" roots, fight pathogens, release plant-available nutrients, and can help extend a plant's root zone increasing the ability of said plant to retrieve water and nutrients up to 3 meters away! There is so much more to it, of course. The specifics are fascinating, and the <a href="http://www.alaskahumus.com/JeffsLectureNotes.htm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">soil food web</span></a> is really a phenomenal underworld.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">We all have one: a favorite meal, drink, or snack, that is just </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">sooooo</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"> tasty, you ingest in disbelief that it is so <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">good</span> for you. Mine is carrot-beet-orange-apple-celery-ginger juice straight from my juicer. Yum. That is just what compost is to your garden: guilt-free goodness for the garden's soul. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">So to get your soil out of garden hell, spread a 1/4-1/2" layer of compost on your beds in early spring. A smart plan is to get in on the ground before bulbs are really going. Personally, I prefer to compost the gardens when the soil is warming up and those winterized organisms are now awake and ready to work. It's a great idea to gently scratch, or as Fergus says 'tickle' it into the garden soil to incorporate it. If you know you'll be planting spring annuals you'll be turning enough soil then. Some people prefer to get the composting done in the fall if they have the time. There is merit to this practice as well: decomposition will continue to take place until the deep freeze sets in. Through the winter and spring the soil will freeze and heave, and together with seasonal snow and rain, the compost will work it's way into the soil where its got to be. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">Whatever works, I say, just as long as it gets done. </span></div>Erika Hansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00058011955993716711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6813331057442959167.post-14211594527173799342009-03-14T22:29:00.013-04:002009-03-21T22:20:38.460-04:00Sympathy is for suckers.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSTZcAqhTulRoxT2u185qyk9568UxkXFLw3bjr-NB3IJ1e5ImVwQp7zw9xOK7RjjivXy-G2R_cGhPD38CN3TPyBdSCqiDimi5G3atL7l7JD7erUHmUUGnb5tUsQ_XHH4_cPnrwYQuvFdjV/s1600-h/IMG_3761.JPG"></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYEAbj_nmR_6LnrEst2cQkqcVAjf0zUaUoDc0s74lnp2GPTQ5OwaIYJjuAUUmGVORKTLnCFl1Ysw33wFfT7zv6O45cuPUqp9LXrDFi4t4dQh1NzY8gBPnwoeE2CEf6i2_YNUfcqd8bDm4W/s1600-h/IMG_3760.JPG" style="text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br /></span><img style="text-decoration: underline;display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px; " src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYEAbj_nmR_6LnrEst2cQkqcVAjf0zUaUoDc0s74lnp2GPTQ5OwaIYJjuAUUmGVORKTLnCFl1Ysw33wFfT7zv6O45cuPUqp9LXrDFi4t4dQh1NzY8gBPnwoeE2CEf6i2_YNUfcqd8bDm4W/s400/IMG_3760.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313405811251433010" /></a><div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: justify; "><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">I am <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; ">pissed</span>. And the last thing I want is a pat on the back or a pathetic, compassionate gaze.<br /></div><div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">I need to vent, and on top of it all, you are not even my captive audience. You've got that convenient little 'X' above this window to escape my rant. But as for me, this is my life.<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">My roses are DEAD. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; ">Rosa</span> 'Night Owl' and <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; ">R.</span> Long Tall Sally' are laying on my walk as still as the corpses they are.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Uuuuggh!</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">So this is what happened. After searching for my misplaced pruners, I started in on getting my climbers in shape. They are really the only roses I bother with. They are up and out of my way, and do double duty in covering up a wall, a fence, whatever. I love pruning these roses: I love the way the canes will look after I've finished, like the tail of a <a href="http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.emerson.k12.nj.us/staff/rmkelly/custom/DinosaurWQ/Images/Stegosaurus/StegosaurusNEN.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.emerson.k12.nj.us/staff/rmkelly/custom/DinosaurWQ/StegPix.html&usg=__oTh4Tb_bdQez9tStt2Y1nIps6l8=&h=272&w=488&sz=45&hl=en&start=29&sig2=TFTbHqLKG-a28qPBi7EJfg&um=1&tbnid=HEMG9qeI695X4M:&tbnh=72&tbnw=130&ei=5AS9SbHRC8Kltgf4tpD7Cw&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dstegosaurus%26ndsp%3D18%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26rls%3Den-us%26sa%3DN%26start%3D18%26um%3D1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 102);">Stegosaurus</span></a> with spiky side shoots.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">So, *snip* there goes a brown branch back to that essential outward facing bud. But it looked all wrong. It was brown inside where it should have been green, especially just above a decent-looking bud. Hmmmm. So I get in a little closer and notice that the whole plant is wobbling at the soil level.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">"What the <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">F---?!</span>"</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">The WHOLE THING comes right out of the ground and THIS is what the "root system" looked like, gnaw marks included:</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSTZcAqhTulRoxT2u185qyk9568UxkXFLw3bjr-NB3IJ1e5ImVwQp7zw9xOK7RjjivXy-G2R_cGhPD38CN3TPyBdSCqiDimi5G3atL7l7JD7erUHmUUGnb5tUsQ_XHH4_cPnrwYQuvFdjV/s400/IMG_3761.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313405825124784834" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px; " /></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Can you BELIEVE that? Ooh, I am so angry. </div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">So then I go over to 'Long Tall Sally' and give her a wiggle. Out she comes. Again with the profanity. </div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJlVXpfkrfCrLIG1cSc7A-pfJS2gf6O2WpBPLWutQQePs-PLVRDzxLNiQ9XPt6FB5Fx1WDuKudX5LdWbB-HEQgA3C_oBc8u1_jE8Ltj_INZogKdMkTfc5rNFFq5zNVgVSWCyfWeghuYLbc/s400/IMG_3763.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313405816781907218" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px; " /></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Instantly I know. Bloody bastard vermin. See, last year we had a mouse issue. But that was fine because all they wanted to do was hang out in the laundry room, shit on our clean towels, and drag dryer lint around. But we smartened up, crushed a couple skulls, and Keith (being dramatic) left one or two of them in the traps as a "warning" to others. Sweet, ain't he? During the spring, summer, and fall, I guess they had time to plot their revenge. So they thought it might be all mousey-cute to sharpen their teeth on my rose roots? What kind of vindictive rodents ARE they? </div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-GiiiK7Hve-m2kiJGM4yY8SVlvK_-Ozvj8YTC-mKrmEM-vQZsOLgyXjsOxjOQUZ1gnrwiNflMyZTMLMW6x_kPqIfNHgOPqkhObNN5JKYoVPeqqvYMzAbx2XrrJqcnf5bBTc6vuo8_zBxr/s400/IMG_3764.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313405820549618658" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px; " /></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">I just hate this. Not the mice, not the lost roses, but this: for years, I would be the back patter and give the compassionate eye contact in response to garden annihilation. People who work slavishly only to have their results ruined by rabbits, woodchucks, deer, etc. See, I didn't have any of that. I lived in a shiny garden bubble. But now? I am one of YOU. </div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Now, to reminisce after the loss . . . </div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; ">R. </span>'Long Tall Sally' was a share from my friend and former classmate, Peggy of <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 102); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 102); "><a href="http://www.westchesterenvironmentaltree.com/index.html" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 102);">Westchester Environmental Tree Service</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); "> <span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 102, 204);">who gave me this rose when we were back in school at the NYBG. I nearly killed it, resuscitated it, then planted it safely in my garden. Tall as its name suggests, its canes climbed high, and its flowers were a very pretty pale peachy pinky yellow.</span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 102, 204);"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">The 'Night Owl' was a cultivar I was SUPER excited about. I even had a really funky clematis planted in anticipation for the color combo. This is a very fragrant and deep dark plum-wine colored rose with shocking yellow stamens--ooh, I am getting delirious thinking about it. Also a climber, this one promised to re-bloom and re-bloom, if only those BLEEP/noun BLEEPING/verb BLEEPers/noun (Mad Libs, anyone?) didn't play God with my garden. Maybe God was playing with me? I'll throw one back His way that's even better: your <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">R.</span> 'Night Owl' looks like the color of <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.rose-roses.com/rosepages/climbers/DrHuey.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 102);">R.</span></a></span><a href="http://www.rose-roses.com/rosepages/climbers/DrHuey.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 102);"> 'Dr. Huey'</span></a>, the crutch of all grafted roses! Ha! Wouldn't want that mistake in MY garden. Oh, listen to me. I'm not bitter.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">So enough. It's over, it's done. I hate mice, rats, voles, whatever resists my will to do garden-goodness. Lesson for this gardener: I will never look with pity upon anyone with a garden story of rodent victimization. It's too painful to experience it, forget being patronized. </div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Instead of the insufficient back pat, maybe I should just hand out mousetraps to lighten the mood.</div></div></div>Erika Hansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00058011955993716711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6813331057442959167.post-34489140347921312532009-03-13T18:05:00.012-04:002012-12-27T13:18:18.937-05:00Tony Avent: the Howard Stern of horticulture?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnzlMs4Eq1Er4UrN5FtkHy5OwYo5x9QVAgmZk316jPtZPWAkNzruRXCnGqhMbQZ-deT_vtzNzfBMMQgjl0X3E-D9-DY3L7hc2JusrVGokOFrmDkpw63b1l6H-W9KBlXNUd87zvt97zQe8-/s1600-h/SPRING2009cover_300.gif" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"></a><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';">This past week I had the absolute pleasure of meeting Tony Avent, founder of </span><a href="http://www.plantdelights.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ff9900;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';">Plant Delights Nurser</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ff9900;">y</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"> in Raleigh, North Carolina. Tony is a renowned and dedicated plantsman who, like many of us plant geeks, is fueled and fascinated by the odd, the dangerous, the bizarre, and the gorgeous. Relentless and unapologetic in the garden, Tony waves his hand at hardiness zones, adventurously daring to plant, and grow, the unthinkable. With 18,000 plants and counting in his collection, Tony's botanic garden in Raleigh is the 4th largest in the nation, and is neighbored by some of the best gardens in the country: <a href="http://www.ncsu.edu/jcraulstonarboretum/index.php"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ff9900;">JC Raulston Arboretum</span></a>, <a href="http://www.hr.duke.edu/dukegardens/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ff9900;">Duke Gardens</span></a>, and the <a href="http://www.ncbg.unc.edu/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ff9900;">UNC garden at Chapel Hill</span></a>. Tony's sweet tea timbre only enhances the enthusiasm he has for the plants he loves. And his humor? Who hasn't seen the provocative and hysterical covers of his famous mail-order catalogs? Well, for those of you who haven't, take a look at the latest:</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';">Oh, and there's more!!! Instead of wasting time on YouTube and Facebook, scroll through the <a href="http://www.plantdelights.com/New/bad.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ff9900;">hate mail</span></a> that Tony receives regarding his catalog, and that he unashamedly shares. Now that's a guy with character. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';">So how did this happen? My friend <a href="http://www.greenwichcitizen.com/localnews/ci_11845295"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ff9900;">Darrin Duling</span></a> organized two lectures at the <a href="http://www.gecgreenwich.org/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ff9900;">Garden Education Center</span></a> of Greenwich, CT where this event was graciously hosted. We heard Tony advocate his most notable plants suited for Connecticut gardens on Tuesday evening, and vicariously journeyed with him on his plant explorations on Wednesday, where Tony explained the process of how plants go from the wild into your hands.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';">Oh it sounds just lovely doesn't it? Let me break the still water with this:</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';">We horticulturists are dirty, there's no other way to say it. We gladly live in a world dominated by loose and promiscuous pollen, where flowers seduce insects making them drunk on their juices, and where plants engage in <a href="http://www.sarracenia.com/faq/faq1365.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ff9900;">acts of bondage</span></a> then slowly swallow their partners, where ovaries swell with the seed of another, and . . . </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ff99ff;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';">Ana</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ff99ff;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';">ï</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ff99ff;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';">s</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ff99ff;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"> Nin or Nature? Maybe a little of both. Either way, Tony Avent is one of us. Just as Howard Stern is a pundit on pornography, Tony turns up the heat describing new plants and hybrids in such a way that plant sex has never sounded so good, so natural, so </span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ff99ff;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';">right</span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ff99ff;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';">.</span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';">I think after spending a few hours with Tony, the crisply coiffed chatelaine's of Connecticut have been deflowered of the gentility of gardening. While they may never admit that they furtively look at plants online, or that they might keep a few catalogs in their nightstand drawer, the facade has been breached!</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';">What could be better than hearing Tony burst about 'late night rendezvous under the cover of darkness', and the morning-after shock of a night of 'wild plant sex'? If you're into hardcore plant sex as much as I am, you'll know that </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.plantdelights.com/Catalog/Current/Detail/02190.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ff9900;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';">Baptisia</span></span></a></span><a href="http://www.plantdelights.com/Catalog/Current/Detail/02190.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ff9900;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"> 'Purple Smoke'</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"> was </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';">soooo</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"> worth it (and she's disease-free)! </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';">It wasn't all hanky-panky, though. Tony brought to light some poignant perspectives on plants, gardening, and the world as we know it.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';">Let's begin at the end. Tony let out a few great closing remarks that I thought were important to share:</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>"If you are not killing plants, you are not growing as a gardener."- Tony, quoting <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ff9900;"><a href="http://www.ncsu.edu/jcraulstonarboretum/about/j_c_raulston/j_c_raulston.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ff9900;">J.C. Raulston</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ff99ff;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span">Tony says he won't give up on growing a plant unless he has killed it at least three times. The lesson here is don't be discouraged by your garden failures. The epiphanies learned in a garden cannot be taught in a book. So go, kill your plants; find out what works to keep them alive and thriving. </span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>"Plants don't always grow best where they are found in the wild". This next example is a bit of a shocker. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.botany.org/carnivorous_plants/sarracenia.php"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ff9900;">Sarracenia sp.</span></a>/</span>pitcher plant. Typically pigeon-holed as a "bog" plant, Tony has somehow realized that they flourish in his mixed borders, even under his peach trees. WHAT? Yeah. Peach trees. Basically, just because a plant is found growing happily in a ditch (or a bog), doesn't mean that it won't reward you for moving it and providing it with a few different variables. Don't think (I don't commonly suggest this): just DO. Throw the plant tag away, and experiment! If you lose the plant, refer to the above quote.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>"You do not learn duplicating what you already know." Priceless. This is permission to be creative, try the absurd, challenge the book-logic, and GROW: as a gardener, as a person, as a creative force. For further clarification, refer to the above two quotes.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>"Gardens are about anticipation." This I relate to 100%. Every day now I go outside and silently beg my<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"> <a href="https://store.brentandbeckysbulbs.com/spring/productview/index.php?sku=13-0145"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ff9900;">Crocus</span></a></span><a href="https://store.brentandbeckysbulbs.com/spring/productview/index.php?sku=13-0145"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ff9900;"> 'Jeanne d'Arc' </span></a>to hurry up. Classical music calls them 'movements', and the garden equivalent is something I call 'moments'. A garden is a relentless crescendo of moments that is planned and planted for in anticipation of the unfolding drama in the season to come.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';">A theme through both lectures was plant origin. Whether a natural hybrid, a selection from an intensive breeding program, a chance seedling, or a cutting from a foreign plant, the question that Tony invariably knows the answer to is: who's your Daddy? Origin in terms of "how did this this plant get into my car", Tony uncovered some interesting criteria a plant must meet to survive in the nursery industry. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';">Overall, I was privileged to listen to Tony's adventures, and to be introduced to some of his favorite plants. I was fascinated by his extensive knowledge of breeding and plant parentage, and his experience in this industry that spans many, many years. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';">Please visit the <a href="http://www.plantdelights.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ff9900;">Plant Delights Nursery</span></a> page to read up on Tony's many plant collecting <a href="http://www.plantdelights.com/Tony/exploration.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ff9900;">excursions</span></a>, and <a href="http://www.plantdelights.com/Tony/articles.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ff9900;">articles</span></a>. Also, while you're there, sign up for the email updates. Oh! And of course, lose yourself in the pages, pictures, and descriptions of the odd, the bizarre, the dangerous, and the gorgeous.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';">Darrin, thanks so much for giving me the head's up about Tony coming into town. And to Tony, I genuinely look forward to seeing your garden soon.</span></div>
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Erika Hansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00058011955993716711noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6813331057442959167.post-9425655363663426722009-02-23T15:41:00.025-05:002009-03-06T07:55:00.891-05:00Heale House: welcome for the winter-weary<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXSwn5oke3uPdrueBwUrTF0adSjZ_Pv41OBR8p8zlNyCx2fPFD8L_pvLOuDNNRByOMa3Tud9Kxki5BoKP5QFt0GlgE8EDi_wXlqzh3FRsxmT2YfArEfWqk-fhTJt4JpMBHcQ2cZGnbiGYB/s1600-h/IMG_3304.JPG"></a><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeyaeHWnE5nXON7V3a2TL2ohvJ-IbckjKnj2uhmz-QUGkgm3YSzJOgPqsxUjSYYA5_oYjvV2wqnhks84vBVoj28IK6i4X0YW6fGSGvJqB2hSctlQAJjExv-nkjr-pnbehutO1g6amgfShC/s1600-h/IMG_3326.JPG"></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4oloeN9Jpp7Bbbu9D46aSGvP0g0fFnIfz5G8AWUZFEotZmPKKd0cUqYhS3jATYRrgGhzLAUcsmWQVKDbELR9sRK9z_Yxauk5nRi05wKiJqLX1OgseTyS60_s_9BK1CdjF2XA2VccRUMml/s1600-h/IMG_3304.JPG"></a><img style="text-align: justify;display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFt2TLLF1N0c2izZC_nN21wMItjT15LM2T5Ru_jPX8UK9bP13cmCTvbMN3BG7c3Aq3HDw5QAOFjZuhEsRao3i4iIMOURq22JhFn0ESs3JeFd5gH6u8637i-dCB-HzQJYyhX9maZtPYN_hm/s400/IMG_3341.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5306108641532920482" /><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Before I arrived in England, Sarah told me that we would visit a little-known garden gem on our way to Dixter: <a href="http://www.healegarden.co.uk/index.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Heale</span></span></a><a href="http://www.healegarden.co.uk/index.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"> House</span></span></a>.<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Of course," I said. I am always up for anything, especially when a (now) local is suggesting it.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">After passing the sublime megaliths of <a href="http://www.britannia.com/history/h7.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Stonehenge</span></span></span></a>, morosely cordoned off by the macadam of the A344 and the A303, we drove on to Heale House. Located off one of the many quaint and charming roads of Wiltshire, only a little sign indicated we'd arrived.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Heale House has been around for a while: due to some major military blunder in 1651, King Charles II crept clandestinely across the countryside in an effort to escape to France. He arrived at Heale House, and while hoping to evade recognition, the lady of the House distinguished who he was and made arrangements for his protected stay. Not too shabby of a hideout.</div><div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipen-rPEhBsN4ONmU4FyPpyd800bGHZi_P4NeRyAaL-aV2z5E_ePe1rKwmR3Cuw3Zmml1r2kcUTC3IkDbDddFS7B6PHIuHb0kntW2_aHyqVGmWB3vO5F-8XDkBgKT724g-fXNOgZmKsG-H/s400/heale-front-temp.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5306103882733905698" style="text-align: justify;display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px; " /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In early spring now, there are millions, no BILLIONS of little stowaways haunting the grounds of Heale House. Small and forgotten until they demand your attention, the season of snowdrops and winter aconite bring them all out in full and glowing spectacle.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiohyphenhyphenKSr7nnEeVpEhE-zUIJWmHSwbzaoFdHNQvw5jmr5nOzKbblvW9yLeSZzhYhT0KGQbobp5iSJSzEhPONBi-K0aqn6FTZN5UDzuag2Zl190_lGmrU-Q_fC1otWRt4vHsNaI5aBDbVspe/s400/IMG_3334.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5306758937357110002" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 204, 0);"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowdrop"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Galanthus</span></span></span></a>. </span>Commonly known as snowdrops, the lovelies of this genus are the very earliest of spring geophytes to brave their will against a reluctant winter. Cheery hope, these little flowers are. Forget the<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"> </span><a href="http://www.groundhog.org/about/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">groundhog</span></span></span></a>: if I was hibernating for months, I would want to poke my head up and take a look around as well. His shadow is neither prophesy nor gospel; it's nature. Get over it, PA. Although, through some stroke of coincidence, there is a correlation between America's Groundhog's Day and <a href="http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/year/february.htm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Candlemas day</span></a>, both celebrated on February 2nd. An old folk name for <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Galanthus </span>is <a href="http://www.rhs.org.uk/WhatsOn/Gardens/wisley/archive/wisleypomfeb.asp"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Candlemas bells</span></span></a>, signifying the peak of the bloom season. (I am still eye-rolling the groundhog.)</div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjeEefdeNoV-tryz_mUq4jsdnQpG38HdSx4AvAUI6lSPubVwEIiiWt-5nBOQmunL6Q-UdF3nLiOM6Q0VN08hO5t7lv8wemB0FE2hj3_4V4acf0m0MBG5PlHA2AswF5qE_KePPFdRSNJO9o/s400/IMG_3285.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5306757243555309554" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px; " /><div style="text-align: justify;">Now THAT is telltale spring. Call me a plant snob; I am more willing to accept <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Galanthus </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="">as a harbinger of spring, however long the season actually takes to arrive.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Others like me, well, <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">more</span> obsessed than me, take <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Galanthus</span> very seriously. Within the 19 species that represent the genus, there are innumerable natural hybrids and named cultivars. The real challenge is telling them apart or tracing parentage. Regardless, each species, hybrid and cultivar are exceedingly charming in their own ways, even though they may all look just like pretty and dainty white flowers. Maybe that's all we really need to know. Here are two varieties that stuck out to Sarah to and me:</div><div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisKrO6Cc3jInbYdoqJlFpMXBeuTimKd_pefRFQDBpibeEA8beD3KGNNDCWf7OdGcTitymkTRZRqPMAc7D5m6sM35y-owsrtdckmykWzxdpUowDSw1vdmPEhqC3j6w3mR7foXspjEa8R6MV/s400/IMG_3293.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5306934049985299266" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px; " /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Galanthus </span>'Dionysus' </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKhEPdTFDtEgump7o0rxjmqF-4sVevrQbL-wE28u80Fnuc4mvFO8zsD216qJisEzGF526FUDQ9S6k111u2ZVxnsRslpYi2uKIJXG-h9s3-I06XfweECLd268DQBNcgNwcqiCOAAdkQDdHo/s400/IMG_3283.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5306934039959815474" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px; " /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The second little beauty of the late winter landscape is <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/PlantFinder/Plant.asp?Code=A446"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Eranthis hyemalis</span></span></span></a> </span>winter aconite. A minor bulb with a discerning fashion sense, its cup of sunshine is collared by a very distinctive ring of green bracts.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIupLmHGbytuboyMBBuzWvqZaC3Qps3k_oBjoejz45wMS8K_AEBn1ohbAAf4RbwRKjMJ4BqF926RhXLVI2p-2CftjWqYBrGUzMxKfUXoTRqFzjeBvLgAejXazf_V8yfSBvrgsBPdecnlRy/s400/IMG_3339.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5306938207270962290" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px; " /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Now just imagine standing in this pool of light . . . I asked Sarah how long it would take to establish a self-sown population like this. Apparently, <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Eranthis</span> take many years to flower from seed, so I could only imagine how many years this stand has been slowly increasing in size.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD1dlXVRnoNBWYSWgyCwXIrR0IaKJS4y4XGFCz0Qw11iLln2lCYgyBUMzgNwxp87_sKdSdF_k5OGjDZ49CKqfBGJero-jaSJEiUctTF4-PNv-xJYcslhMIZ6gF7bFHMfrRf84lhBIgjoDT/s400/IMG_3313.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5306938211467200050" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It certainly was my pleasure to see it now, however long ago the first bulbs were sunk into the soil. It was so charming to see the drifts of white and yellow intermingling along the paths and hilsides . . .</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAg3EVvXdN7bzz-K0IbS134ZkQcwaDh_wx_2uVVcHEQIS3gJqmRf5UzrnMxiyAgXRilLlrAXAb2FrzBvWHV9sOEX5W7RsoI2QfnYoScuQiHlPuwZ2DO80yXElbloGUAUYIeq7LKYy6en7s/s400/IMG_3311.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5306941318762841442" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Besides this spring display, there were many more features about this garden that had no other choice than to stand out. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeF4EOU_uKAcP_HZQknw0tB_j8SJAseMBzNz0S9I6F5TSuiiOKZl6Db6Ye_DnbIMaQ8H14oQ8RqyMzsH7b5qESuGV16pq7hyc8TUbAuCOGkm_7KOpGArnY_DQd0G4-D_81M6-xakpNcinO/s400/IMG_3307.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307117013050957538" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></div><div style="text-align: center;">These raspberry-veined <a href="http://www.hellebores.org/hellebores.html" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Hellebrous</span></span></span></a> stopped us both in our tracks. There are so many color variations in the new hybrids, but sometimes, just one will be enough to make you look twice. The fact that the open flower is somewhat upwardly angled is also a bonus.<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnUMoU4dqdORwNZVc77byCdWaireAYKC3rx4Z0oGfE7ZQM2L2tSxp8QNBXd2Os2TrgkoHgX-ejGAJQw34o8uOg-9wgVjoy-A_gm2FEuuoYNERbgUmG4NofAp6xI7hUkiQcbUS2-1gcTzFM/s400/IMG_3333.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5306941326871452786" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;">The river Avon has been divided into 3 channels coursing through this property.<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg64w6U9lhq5IYBV-vCUxZW_uKkga-Ep_3AUxF-PqVrHWi9DnKoFlj7poezsn9YcG6CLa1JqtzmqkTkjTqYYXcNY1T_5rop9dnWkOdzOr-Gkemu1GZcDaAAYwunizuhH4dBmS0LT-eZGLsx/s400/IMG_3300.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307117011656602274" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px; " /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Oh, what a parade of the Victorian age to have a peacock loitering on the stoop. By the way, those are not sheets that blew off the line; those are used to protect tender plants from any damaging environmental conditions of late winter/early spring.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSoKZL6XggiZAb1YeqZiUuNqdKuG-MuCG1UAEqvH3vJ5dvGml_2l9h4SlN8KqJrpALRbe9Tg6e1WdXNJur1epJrIevKBOZ1dXc0cLiVdr-N_obGFS_7scLQuYTPNImFBBWf6-ib3RGaScY/s400/IMG_3310.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307117020741830482" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /><div style="text-align: center;">As we made our way out, I literally drew in a deep breath as I saw this <a href="http://www.conifers.org/pi/ce/libani.htm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Cedrus libani</span></span></span></span></a>/Lebanon cedar. How majestic is this tree? Pruned to keep this shape, its umbrella canopy swallows that VW Rabbit. Then again, from firsthand experience, anything is bigger than a VW Rabbit. I do love those Euro headlamps!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A perennial garden designed by on of England's well-known designers, a charming (everything in England is so charming; it's kind of annoying!) vegetable, fruit, and herb garden, and an authentic Japanese tea house also grace this estate.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuIqcZ5mC32A7roitu_mSa0iNmFcDlu8f5xvbZPerGGGhdqyuomfBmmmhro5aM7y6Igb7aFieqWrBqJLmSVYaAXN5GrIVDcwcIbJXkvxmh9QNy_Nltdv2zY63yXpBfyLJIZzG6uU-3agJz/s400/IMG_3288.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307117000668894898" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Thanks, Sarah, for taking me to Heale House to see that amazing display of minor bulbs. It was a perfect start to what may have been the longest (definitely memorable) day of my life!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXSwn5oke3uPdrueBwUrTF0adSjZ_Pv41OBR8p8zlNyCx2fPFD8L_pvLOuDNNRByOMa3Tud9Kxki5BoKP5QFt0GlgE8EDi_wXlqzh3FRsxmT2YfArEfWqk-fhTJt4JpMBHcQ2cZGnbiGYB/s400/IMG_3304.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307117490108105170" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></div></div>Erika Hansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00058011955993716711noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6813331057442959167.post-83592630527302926282009-02-18T14:52:00.026-05:002009-02-26T13:59:20.714-05:00Pruning: the slowest of the performing arts?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2Xc3JmyscN0b9kL1boBUN68QbZKh_VpwASRc9Riu9GrzhgeKs_CvSC6NztElhe-pwRuXbKuU_BhyphenhyphenDAfosHgTrorRb0uErS9qyVoc9Sr92zjBeg3vlBecPPhw8GX-dOs2-RgD8S4TZXhlA/s1600-h/IMG_3358.JPG"></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJmD79QlYw1isvPjXRPKS9lBN2HjbC-9G8rrhAzV5TYZggJzxRV3oEKwk86YA3x3s3p5yAwNwXABpskEhdLt9Em3IUZrpW4klmNL5szkTUL7td2TDpr6vapBv01gD2CKzAVRptAUMIfi6o/s1600-h/IMG_3404.JPG" style="text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br /></span><img style="text-decoration: underline;display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJmD79QlYw1isvPjXRPKS9lBN2HjbC-9G8rrhAzV5TYZggJzxRV3oEKwk86YA3x3s3p5yAwNwXABpskEhdLt9Em3IUZrpW4klmNL5szkTUL7td2TDpr6vapBv01gD2CKzAVRptAUMIfi6o/s400/IMG_3404.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5304237688773370946" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">It is early spring, and despite the damp and the chill that characterizes an English winter, I have returned to Great Dixter. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It was mid-spring when I first arrived last May. Blue skies were the backdrop to the thrill of my experiencing Dixter for the first time. Here I am now in early spring where the skies, a bit cloudier, suspend the damp air within my expanding curls. I haven't had one good hair day since I've arrived!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdXTULY4F-ECChQ-A9B6GPvAC8YpccEizvK7K8tVgGlBQLtBDYxF0lwOWtc1hf1NKvMmyOpu6W1VuZosPAYDbw8IVQYHRrtPt8wZ-_Z7RH2JsSPclH8BU1-Jju_c47SWHEiBbVBzx7ipmf/s400/IMG_3364.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5304238752570634434" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This visit differs in a very meaningful way. First of all, I got to see my friend, and astute plantswoman, Sarah Carter Roberts. Former Curator of Herbaceous Plants and Outdoor Gardens at the NYBG, she is now living it up in Tidworth, England with her new hubby Giles. Every week she travels to many of the outstanding <a href="http://www.rhs.org.uk/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">RHS</span></span></span></a> gardens within her radius to study and learn what makes English gardens tick. She collected me from the airport (the term 'red eye' doesn't do it justice), and we made many lovely detours on our way to Dixter. After a giddy evening, we enjoyed the luxury of working together in the garden the next day.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">With what time I have at Dixter during this visit, I too, am taking in all that I can. What I am appreciating now is seeing how the garden is setting itself up to unfold for the upcoming season. All throughout the garden beds can be seen the very first layers of bulbs clustered above latent perennials. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5W9yxHq-bYrciPA2Ws6ypdoxHjVFMJzqfClfxS3RE7UNlyXpsNM_jAb8sApAV4jQiOO30GQA3OAs9L2p8jV9e9EGH84v5Zcr_IyfyjRgxaX_sfez1LEx49l8gmi3UD8UqbmsXmi37fKtC/s400/IMG_3355.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5305619799151470754" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Without the perennials and self-sown volunteers disguising their backbone, visibly outstanding are the evergreen plants and shrubs that hold the garden erect. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiONOP_y9do71p1D29Lv8ESxaud0scXmhYtb8kem0mFzzrS_A154SvvZH1Ito5At2MGTnfN7j7B00xWQ6vBlPwkJU1nhiwVHrkGT_7fr-ntdZVD_xN5AUphVrqHxeQxGv16FWboA2NU5tU6/s400/IMG_3360.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5304250207944991218" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px; " /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The real reason I am here is not to muse about the early signs of spring (big perk, though). I am here to learn more about restricting that explosion of new season growth through thoughtful pruning. There is a graceful art to achieving a vigorous, healthy, and well-shaped plant despite its age or character, and this art deserves consideration. As I instinctively knew, and am discovering here, there is so much more to pruning than what the books say.</div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2Xc3JmyscN0b9kL1boBUN68QbZKh_VpwASRc9Riu9GrzhgeKs_CvSC6NztElhe-pwRuXbKuU_BhyphenhyphenDAfosHgTrorRb0uErS9qyVoc9Sr92zjBeg3vlBecPPhw8GX-dOs2-RgD8S4TZXhlA/s400/IMG_3358.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5306447746992235250" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px; " /><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">At its very basic, the practice of pruning involves removing any DDD (dead, diseased, dying) and crossing branches, or following the thumb rule that declares that no more than 1/3 of the plant is to be removed each year (about the latter: "Rubbish," Fergus says). If you are happy with the basics, great. But if you desire to work a little deeper than what the basics will yield you, the reward for your efforts will be a fine specimen tree, shrub, or vine.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiquWvIYFIBx2AKB7Kh7Pr43r5Qb4Q9aNb0Nlq265qj1jfzClhbMGwCz_4Z5P20HI5TFgI4gKJ-gmLqyahsjDDVEccl1ihXuOsZ2M5ULxa9Tcdff2fpcZ_ndL-jrMCHM5XqH_UEpSXB6go1/s400/IMG_3642.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5305603616197721106" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The pruning of woody shrubs is a fascinating endeavor. I will never admit who told me that "horticulture is the slowest of the performing arts", but it has always stuck, and thoughtful pruning is the poster child for that truth. So as you gaze at your shrub, sharpened Felco's or loppers in hand, ask yourself: WHY am I pruning? WHAT am I hoping to accomplish?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">(A word on goals: Unless we are talking about boxwood, "Meatball-ing" is an unacceptable pruning goal. We've all seen it, and some of us might even be guilty. Amnesty is available, though, even to people like my father who would annually bring my mother to hysterics because he insisted on "pruning" the <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; ">Forsythia</span>.) </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Rejuvenation, increased flower or fruit production, specific training (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollarding"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">pollarding</span></span></a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Espalier"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">espalier</span></span></a>, hedging), reduction of size, encourage ornamental foliage . . . these are all specific goals that, when pruned with that goal in mind, your plant will respond to. Before cutting branches without intention, really LOOK at what you are about to do, and before you cut, ask this: What will happen next? And in the season after that? Even 10 years down the road? Every pruning cut illicits a growth response from the plant that you can anticipate, learn to envision, and plan for. Cause and effect matters here. Is that dead horse beaten enough? PETA may agree. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Here are the basic principles that I took home as my souvenirs:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">1.) Fergus was careful to guide my first cuts (this is Great Dixter, not my backyard) by asking me to remove the most obvious and benign material first. This consisted of removing any and all spent flowering stems either completely, or cut back to a new strong shoot. STOP, and look.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">2.) Next, remove any dead, weak, or insignificant twiggy junk that is growing off of the stems and larger branches. This "opens up" the negative space so that you can now more clearly see the inner structure of the stems and branches. STOP, and look.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>2a.) You will notice lots of thick old wood, weak and spindly growth, and you will see strong new growth. It is that vigorous new growth that will keep your plant young, that will flower best, and will produce the growth that will contribute to the following year's framework. You may be tempted to cut all the wild new growth down in favor of the older structure that is already there. I've done it, let me admit it! But that is for the short-sighted, which I am no more. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">3.) Identify all the weaker wood, branch by branch, and cut remove that weak wood to the most vigorous shoot. Clean up the stem or branch of any weak wood/stems to ensure that all the plant's energy goes into the desired growth. This part takes the most time and thought for me. The goal is balance: not just in the actual perception of the shape, but also, a balance of old and new wood. You can easily remove too much new wood sacrificing flowers and/or fruit. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="">About rejuvenation: </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Keeping the old growth encourages an old and weak shrub.</span> When old growth is judiciously removed according to your rejuvenation plan and vital growth is encouraged, that plant will literally be a fountain of youth. Check this out: just <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">guess</span> how old this <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Weigela</span> is?</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihyyhkkDx7qy_JyLx7PZoQyAMsAFSr3Y0SUMvYiZViUPbyLD11x_qPTAUjhkMQAdm9c1_5ntWllMU9KwSAofLOmFcCHCBBLUxyhyITET6J5mNOqcU6HoD4jDF19U9Y4QTJyuyNoHb9Qxby/s400/IMG_3533.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5305601293817893346" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px; " /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I was astonished (and a little scared, as this was one of my pruning assignments) that it is the oldest shrub in the Long Border, and is at least 60 years old. It has form, it has shape, it has vitality. Fergus keeps these enduring gems in a constant state of rejuvenation--the only way to sustain the valued pieces of this garden's history. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The difference below may be subtle, but this Weigela is on the 10-year plan. It will flower well this year, there is a lot of vigorous growth, and the non-productive has been removed. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilBykmCEqOijmx-KTov1NC1X44jPumtFA9YxzdI9EPEu4xgOZ1Bri08lkA__0QZw_yqA0mVFtAdD2U4MVkSlQUbOgQ-1G9NaWFwzDn9MzjzTuUU2kz6Ki_1CBlOWEiNQhWelCpyU6_KDLG/s400/IMG_3537_1.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5305633013538745138" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px; " /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Same principles apply to this Viburnum. The difference is the age and character of this shrub.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhury3YxtKmfh_ZkAginpJiPKRtF1z1OxeV5DJwL6EKi8b8xKk0h21WFsjUOjXbqsFmCkFOM5Aaqg16hI2ofDVPnhzdwB-61IyLPVCK5iiUyvZbnZDetQaiwHyLiJjNHV7o-grDAdSlwnoM/s400/IMG_3520.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5305636547005976210" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px; " /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">After all the flowered, twiggy, and non-productive wood is removed, a much more open an healthy shrub is achieved. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLG4kosU_0cuYNywJ-VOdjqOQhzY5Kyej1TUXZxnv862GT70yRo3Mqnev3ALSfgNEPQwVQdOE8l69hp2WQnENl7BuJ0pA8AS5GAXxONhsw91dXuV_H4wSGSkMUFSEJUIMT56NM2jIhmtCM/s400/IMG_3524.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5305636562271163922" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">What about general maintenance? Let's say you have a vine, such as the <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Lonicera</span> below, and you want to make sure that it flowers as best as it can. How do you even go about unravelling<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"> this</span> puzzle? It can be overwhelming if you are not clear on WHY and HOW.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrAhzUfjc50beQ0M_pBFk5oTy1ohahf86g2tvVXJpETq2RNZQztomwSjvn5PXksbKbXu4kd3YHse9lx1IH7UrwZ590cYWCnv2zDHjs6cVVJT6o2MoLZeQFZb8u7KINqSH8Y1X0V-1R2S8C/s400/IMG_3541.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5305608371827334706" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px; " /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Thankfully, the same principles apply: take out all the spent flowering stems (muddies up the form), little twiggy junk (sucks energy away from flowering), and view what is strong and best (new growth with lots of flowering buds). In the case of this honeysuckle, the growth that is strongest, is also longest.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEQhhevJ8u8QPnGpP0bqlcfbx1bPRur7lmwgpBhV_DvcC-N7ZG5ns8wp1pX-CISHb8fBVg5EfI0bwc_K2OWXtDKUlzWj9_nZoZdEL9lizq1fbjD6bKFqcb2O6hvRFMM_Y9wGV8CpUlAsVH/s400/IMG_3599.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5305608363055572610" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px; " /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">You can see how much material was actually removed by comparing the two photos. Fergus then loosely tied up the outward-reaching stems to the post using tar twine. This keeps the stems trained, and when in bloom a graceful and arching effect is achieved.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I suppose for me, a few key lessons where learned that have successfully changed the way I think about pruning:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">1. Have a plan, and know <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">for </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">what objective</span> you are pruning.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">2. Do not be scared. It will--hopefully--grow back. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">3. You control the plant, the plant does not control you. This is the essence of ANY gardening, for gardens as we know them would not exist without that crucial human element.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">4. Think ahead. Any pruning cut will have a consequence (desired or not) that will be seen next year, and in following years.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">5. Know whether the shrub or vine you are pruning blooms on OLD or NEW wood. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">6. Work slowly--smallest to largest, from the inside out, and in some cases from the bottom up.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">7. Really, work slowly. Resist the urge to get in there and yank out the branch that looks like its "in the way".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">8. Do not fight the character of the shrub. If it is twiggy, it will always be twiggy. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">9. Feeding goes hand-in-hand with pruning. Ring the base of the newly prunes with a generous amount of compost.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">10. Make sure you ladder is secure.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Early spring is the best time to prune plants that bloom on old wood (last year's growth). To all the meatballers of the world--STOP! Once your nausea subsides, sharpen your pruners, and untangle yourself a renewed, vigorous, and well-shaped plant!</div>Erika Hansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00058011955993716711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6813331057442959167.post-75589267896908078042009-01-12T07:58:00.016-05:002009-02-21T19:37:15.142-05:00Hypertufa: there is no cure<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlhZnkWEnLM_B6PG-GzeTJGwHRZf7gK6wpx4tajmU_iJPWSxjcK3-tooxQ_BK943yuEX1Q_DMit9JGyxn-Og2VBcRm42tkQTLxNUZHErA5WEyY_j6p8MT-UYlQGlCnh1lDHLoKgC_703eT/s1600-h/DSC04921.JPG"></a><div style="text-align: justify;">I've been pretty obsessed lately. I have been introduced to a world of cement, acrylic, and plywood, and I just cannot get enough of it!<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">My friend John Holm, horticulturist, former coworker, and fellow alumnus of <a href="http://www.nybg.org/edu/soph/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 204, 51);">the School of Horticulture,</span></span></a> has taught me and my good friend and co-worker Kim, how to make hypertufa alpine troughs. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Before we talk about the how, let's touch on the what and the why. The trough is a shallow vessel for growing specialized rock garden plants. Being separate from the larger garden bed, a trough allows the grower to customize the soil and create an environment that does its best to replicate natural conditions for particular species. Alpines are remarkable species native to high-altitude conditions requiring very specific soil and growing conditions to survive and thrive. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmGvS5fg601s0d4srcFFRNQn3yt4RXBbThkfl_CeOT7_c1YstoYZx2o-8tNxvB99GF5-OE0D47sLxgUgQK3isCxOWj76Ei2NrZ13lXpzEXJ5MlMtkpi-_0T5DVA6z4rx78pizPnsJNkRM_/s400/jet0034.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5305231680246460514" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 208px; " /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">See, alpines are the little plants that could. Alpine plants survive many challenges with some pretty cool adaptations. They cling precariously to sheer rock despite the vagaries of a windswept cliff. They survive inhuman winters (like this one) without a shiver. How? Go ask <a href="http://www.botanicalgardening.com/rock.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 204, 0);">Carlo Balistrieri</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 204, 102);"> </span>about tight buns. Seriously. Alpine plant morphology is highly specialized. Leaves and stems are reduced into very specific forms enabling them to adapt and survive in harsh conditions: buns (told you), mats, and cushions make it happen. Basically it's a mini plant with HUGELY disproportionate flowers. A big topic for another day. In the meantime, here's an alpine sunflower, <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Hymenoxis grandiflora</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="">, native to the peaks of Colorado</span>: </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil3snQHh3H3WvVAgHkoiO1oaCm3K-3hb52DDvrZgHPCKTYYMsgSNAx_680hyBiFBRyxdnspgOB1A0OvGBZQix1dFOG_m4ck_0PhBW5STklqTWqtNxbg5tUnJDn6SL-x7jynWKXUZDTb-0W/s400/hymgra5.sized.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5305245101138148818" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 225px; " /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">So to grow and display these tenacious gems, the gardeners of yesteryear found a new use for an old thing: the hand-hewn stone watering trough. Left abandoned on old farms and pastures in England, these were the perfect (and very heavy) growing solution for resourceful gardeners. Charming in all the right ways, these containers have been worn, weathered and adorned with lichens and mosses. Finding these originals today is possible, but will require you to either a.) give up your firstborn, or b.) hand over a small fortune, neither of which I have.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix_iHljo1ISsxw5LH7zU38Nmf-3DnVFz1ojJp5JMQXrHkbIZa7Mf5L7qXLGmUhnex9zP4YW8VePGRfG1KOdkpfeNJFmV2UCtXYnQgixBSkTPRuh3v_nl9_t_plNeqX6q9kTHOznLR8sVDH/s400/gritstone-trough.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5305228324379974354" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 257px; " /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">But HYPERTUFA!! Ahhh, hypertufa. Lightweight, frost-resistant, and a deceptively accurate substitution for those lacking progeny or profit. So when John invited us to come over to get our hands dirty, how could I resist? </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It was late December when John showed us how to construct forms, proportion a good mix, and how to prepare, pack, and cure a proper trough. John had set up a very functional work space in the basement of the greenhouse; he is a very neat guy, and this is a very messy process. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">After the work space is ready, make some molds. This is 2" thick insulation board. It's easy to score and cut to whatever dimension you want to make.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhae5GevKmA2WOyZHJ-nes3SEeJ0NHrcqI-9XoInunYRTzqf70q-UOqYbcqgZIfbixXBGzCgCSNRq81eavExIT2vg72ugOOzEa4d6AQyLtONfq-mrve-eVKlWsXgYwKmBTy_CSlkYazd9tV/s400/DSC04920.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5305257232054701570" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Longs nails are pushed into the sides, and duct tape is wrapped around the mold for stability.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlhZnkWEnLM_B6PG-GzeTJGwHRZf7gK6wpx4tajmU_iJPWSxjcK3-tooxQ_BK943yuEX1Q_DMit9JGyxn-Og2VBcRm42tkQTLxNUZHErA5WEyY_j6p8MT-UYlQGlCnh1lDHLoKgC_703eT/s400/DSC04921.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5305260867247615010" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Secure the mold to the table so it doesn't shift while packing in the hypertufa mix.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkRwSM9Gpp1I5pY7qMxtPdR-i6MzOuIB6TyWugWg5isrGumZ2PzME6DrcqVc9PYulXuKnoUA0XsF3kjem-aXlHNioVkEUnISwzjhgRYc_z7PxKSpeE8nCULPRGH1XrJx-983idm7kBSvuC/s400/DSC04926.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5305259895159897282" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Here is one way of making sure drainage holes are present. John uses PVC piping cut to the thickness he wants the bottom to be.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0WTVJnSl11fvVfVozN44O4QKsgfj7w1ON1VRy_WiCgruKV5IBq9TbeXwsp4Z2eh23YuEakcHcsu7wxjsT26h-SlcjZE7zWOwf34r-QGaviMQucWWlnkUgGV8zeYmqNX-5_08Eu1Wv4BSZ/s400/DSC04928.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5305257302132196754" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: justify; "><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Here's the mix: peat moss, perlite,Portland cement and plastic fibers (last two can be located at a masonry shop). The proportions differ from person to person. Like any recipe, really. To make one "batch" John uses 12 parts peat and perlite, 8 parts cement, and a handful of fluffed fibers. Just as in baking, thoroughly mix all the dry ingredients together before adding any liquid.</div><div><br /></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4adUqEb4oYNNIpFuy9mkCP8mbDz_yIFU9fHpTiM0cIr9H8r5u6Vy79UCo0_haxnnhKYK97iq06dA7d5hQhHXn-thZx2lFXTJIR7U7Dm4QWfct_6lNSEkSGLvKM9qbOb2FoeIjbJBSa_Mb/s400/DSC04917.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5305254249948297346" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Add water and liquid acrylic. Use a 1:1 ratio of water to acrylic, then add more water to reach the desired consistency. Think cottage cheese, but a touch drier. Once you have that down, time to pack! Pack in the bottom and corners really well. This stuff has to be very densely packed down, otherwise the integrity of the container can be compromised. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_ogOI7KuLgGvNdeXEKT21rL_V2mdCT43i2RLHc_NjpUkYuvZ8A5kQ1K3q1uQtZRWxuZtSkZOWYjCijoVuOOR6mA6YwIINp0hSyy-OH1Px9_T15Zh6Dl8a6WdcIj3tL2ElT3ErWkBSVIBO/s400/DSC04939.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5305259902559645778" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">And when you are done, it should look like this! My very first hypertufa trough. I was so proud! The walls should be thick; no less than 1.5".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGgD45rjTmNlkntlLc3ArDLdNw9jAow1rOFpmmKDSUQ9EH-2vZDAjY7xlrkc7pdKxtBYXFycVizhGfMEDWZGPdko88ABvCQCSTo9SkkXkLDIt1ah8bDJMQxEsAK8wUIPYh-kzCgzUyOXBy/s400/DSC04947.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5305259910838277698" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px; " /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">So now wrap it in plastic and store it at about 60F for 24 hours. This is the first cure. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">When you return to the trough, you can unwrap it and "finish" it. Literally, put a finish on it. Scratch it, scrape it, abuse it . . . anything that will add to the weathered worn feel that would otherwise take many long seasons to accomplish. When you have finished, spritz the entire container with water, cover it, and let it sit for one month. This is the second cure.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">When you return after a month, unwrap it, and allow it to sit uncovered outside. This allows the alkaline and caustic qualities of the cement to dissipate prior to planting. This can take a couple months. That is the final cure.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It seems tedious, but once you have a system, it all goes quite smoothly.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">How will I use what I learned here? Me being me, I cannot just limit this craft of trough-making to the narrow usage of alpine troughs. Traditionally, the hypertufa container is made for growing alpine plants. But I am always looking for ways to give a fresh face to a familiar facet. </div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">If you'd like more details, check out this book <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; ">Creating and Planting Garden Troughs</span>, by Joyce Fingerhut and Rex Murfitt. Essentially the trough bible. </div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">In the meantime, my troughs are wrapped and waiting. Stay tuned for photos of the finished results!!! </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Erika Hansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00058011955993716711noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6813331057442959167.post-90310227547669159672008-12-22T08:20:00.008-05:002008-12-22T10:27:43.066-05:00To mulch, or not to mulch?<div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 5px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 5px; font-family:Arial;font-size:13px;"><span class="hw" style="font-weight: bold; font-size:12pt;">mulch</span> <object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" codebase="http://fpdownload.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,0,0" width="10" height="13" style="margin-top: 3px; margin-right: 3px; margin-left: 3px; margin-bottom: 5px; "></object> <span class="pron" onmouseover="return m_over('Click for pronunciation key')" onmouseout="m_out()" onclick="pron_key()" style="cursor: pointer; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-color: rgb(128, 158, 131); border-bottom-style: dashed; ">(m<img align="absbottom" src="http://img.tfd.com/hm/GIF/ubreve.gif" style="border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; " />lch)</span><div class="pseg"><i>n.</i><div class="ds-single" style="margin-left: 1cm; ">A protective covering, usually of organic matter such as leaves, straw, or peat, placed around plants to prevent the evaporation of moisture, the freezing of roots, and the growth of weeds.</div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; font-family:Georgia;font-size:16px;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';">A Sonnet for Seasons</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';">Naked mounds of summer, exposed and cold,</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';">Their sultry display now a memory.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';">A modest shawl too soon could not be sold</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';">To cover a promise so savory.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';">The weight of winter falls dark upon them.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';">Subterranean now, the stage is set </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';">To keep awake many a gentle gem</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';">With the simple act of a coverlet.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';">A hidden sleep until the sun comes back;</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';">If I could, I would make the clock tick quick.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';">Precious they are kept under the dark black </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';">Until soil swells warm and roots become thick.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';">Before the spring dew can be rolled away</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';">Let those stirring gems see the light of day!<br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';">- Erika Hanson<br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';"> <br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';">Because Shakespeare gardened--I'm convinced all inspired people do--I'll bet he mulched too. <br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';">Here in the New York, we got our first great snow dump. Near 12" which ain't too shabby this time of year. Even though an arctic chill has settled in, I am warm and toasty in the thoughts of my garden beds. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';">Each year in December, I do a little something special for garden function and aesthetics. After cutting back perennials and cleaning up, I place upside-down spruce boughs over my plants, making sure to cover and layer the boughs over the soil as well. The boughs are my winter mulch offering my dormant plants moderate insulation, an effective wind-break, and a very festive winter blanket. When the snow falls, as it did this past weekend, the garden beds are now perfectly insulated from any drop/raise in temperature. A temperature-controlled cocoon is created that keep the bulbs from heaving, or the less-established perennials from freezing, and generally keeps everybody happy. While this practice is just short of epiphany, I find it absolutely essential. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';">Now, the definition of WINTER MULCH: it's a mulch that is applied </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';">after the first frost. </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';">This moderates the soil temperature, and keeps the soil from freezing and thawing. This freeze/thaw is what causes perennials and newly planted bulbs to heave out of their planted spots. The mulch is applied thickly but does not cover the crowns of perennials, nor does it cover the lowest stems of shrubs or the bark of trees. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';">Feel free to use "regular" mulch if you feel a heavy winter mulch is something you need to do. If you planted some marginally hardy bulbs or perennials, this is where a thick, heavy mulch would be appropriate. But here's the catch (and why I use spruce boughs): winter mulch should be removed in very early spring (and spruce boughs are really easy to pick up). Because mulch is so good at keeping the soil at a consistent temperature, if the mulch is not removed, it will keep the soil cooler for a longer time come spring. As a result, bulbs and perennials alike will take much longer to emerge. If you are like me, I can't wait for my gardens to warm up in the spring.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';">If it isn't too late to put down a winter mulch where you garden, I suggest you try it. If anything, the spruce boughs will give you a little lift instead of staring out at a sea of desolate frozen soil. There's nothing more depressing than a garden-turned-tundra. On a lighter note, it's almost January, and spring is not <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">reeeaaallly</span> that far away.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></span></div></span></div>Erika Hansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00058011955993716711noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6813331057442959167.post-23580933686594663402008-12-12T23:53:00.007-05:002008-12-22T10:21:31.564-05:00Farewell Martha . . .<div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 102, 204); ">So much to say . . . aaah, so much I am not legally permitted to say.</span><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 102, 204);"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 102, 204);">But this must be said: it's over. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 102, 204);"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 102, 204);">Working for Martha Stewart over the past 3 years has been the most serendipitous trajectory of my young career. I remember the many hours spent in the student room of the School of Professional Horticulture searching, searching for 6-month internships. I had one set up with the Royal Botanic Garden in Scotland, but then my School's Director slipped me a piece of paper. Martha's head gardener was looking for an intern, and I had been recommended. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 102, 204);"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 102, 204);">So began my time at Martha Stewart's garden-estate in Bedford, NY. Ambitious, energetic, conscientious, and willing to raise my standards beyond her bar, I spent April through September absorbing it all. Greenhouse plant collections, organic vegetable growing, propagation, woody plant collections; it was a veritable botanic garden in the making, and the perfect setting for me to stretch my skills after being cooped up in school. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 102, 204);"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 102, 204);">Eventually I was asked by MS herself to continue working for her beyond the timeframe of my internship. Dry humor intact, I told her I would consider it. Who would have suggested that in the next 3 years I would be featured on 8 television gardening segments, many Sirius 112 radio interviews, the Martha blog, and styling props and floral arrangements for MSL photos shoots? </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 102, 204);">The experiences and lessons learned have been invaluable, and memorable. Best of all are the relationships I have founded on boundless laughter, endless humor, and tireless hard work. My love and thanks to Andrew, John, Jodi, Kim, and George. And Laura, for her cappuccino's.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 102, 204);"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 102, 204);">And what now? I am blessed to have lots of support, blazing ambition, buoyant energy, and white-hot optimism. Kinda like having rocket fuel coursing your veins. My company, Living Colors Landscape and Gardens, has officially launched and is orbiting an atmosphere near you. All I can do is honor my roots, my education, and my experiences and pass that on to the public with services that are horticulturally correct, that support organics and biology, and are </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 102, 204);">über creative.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 102, 204);"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 102, 204);">Carpe diem!</span></span></span></div></div>Erika Hansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00058011955993716711noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6813331057442959167.post-36649914440593982552008-12-09T18:55:00.003-05:002008-12-09T20:10:00.894-05:00If they ain't in by now, just wait till next week!<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';">Well, our weather is wacky, for sure. </span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';">Just as I finished the last of my bulb-planting, and slipped under the deep-freeze in a roll-tuck-007 move, I hear its gonna be lovely and warm, and isn't spring is eternal.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';">Um, thanks. Now this screws up not only me, but my bulbs as well. Overly optimistic leaves push up through the cold-cracked soil, the party in their pants will go from a wild spring burst to a brown and frost-bitten disappointed false start. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';">It's ugly, but not entirely devastating. Don't mind me, it's my Scandinavian genes that are screaming for more sunlight. That's what's responsible for the general malaise in my "voice".</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';">Really though, bulbs are tough jewels. Think diamonds. Can scratch glass and still shine. Bulbs are similar. I have planted </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';">Narcissus</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"> in the depths of December, and they forgave me willingly.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';">I finishing my frenetic planting last Saturday and pondered the kind of obvious euphemism of 'buried treasure'. I thought of how dogs, and squirrels bury their most treasured items underground. We do too: the people we love the most, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';">most</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"> of them, we lay gingerly under soil. Just interesting, that's all. </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';">I used to get very impatient with bulbs. Planting, not knowing exactly how or where they will mix with their neighbors. Ya just wanna clean up the garden and go back inside where the tea kettle is warm. But now, it's different. I love setting these dense promises into the dark, burying them alive. They vibrate with excitement for me, keeping me in suspense, just can't wait to meet the individuals inside.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';">And then of course, the physical geophytes themselves are just fascinating. Their shapes, colors, their clothes, their smells! Oooohh, the scent of </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';">Fritillaria</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"> is enough to make my eyelids shut with the deepest inhale I can muster. Haha, I remember a couple </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';">Fritillaria maxima</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"> rolling around my truck (Hey, Feleppa, can you confirm the status of my vehicle?), and it smelled like a combo of pounds of dank trees and a road-killed skunk. I prefer the smell of skunk.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';">I have so much anticipation for my bulb combo's this spring. I can't wait to see what happens!</span></div>Erika Hansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00058011955993716711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6813331057442959167.post-20280290567560298772008-09-21T13:38:00.001-04:002008-09-21T13:38:45.987-04:00Where are you now?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg6kP7euuaUoaDidauCm0INHQSGLQxy_oSta-1J2oeRpCHo9PkrzI_-EerbBLY4h88dKJJLgnw4Cx74-RRaisPOXgXYqDbbLm01mjNxm9U6wp__riY0m7dhgLtMmKaXTS_MdkrjyecHxJS/s1600-h/IMG_2301.JPG"></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM_gTEmwztjjZhC1XUsgCenDBdV2PQEC_ftYH-jSRgEd5wkIqQa5lmzuKn8ep-ArXoOoYKnNlshuElZbLI_0-_Nq_bC2CIB1Ep99oOS704GMQ49M6THMrB1ch8QzJ0vAqGNqF0YO9e3YnO/s1600-h/IMG_2305.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM_gTEmwztjjZhC1XUsgCenDBdV2PQEC_ftYH-jSRgEd5wkIqQa5lmzuKn8ep-ArXoOoYKnNlshuElZbLI_0-_Nq_bC2CIB1Ep99oOS704GMQ49M6THMrB1ch8QzJ0vAqGNqF0YO9e3YnO/s400/IMG_2305.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5248519838328659474" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I got alotta fennel goin' on. There is a good reason for that.<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Fennel is a relative of a huge plant family, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apiaceae"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 204, 0);">Apiaceae</span></a>, known colloquially as umbellifers. The latter name refers to the morphological form of the flower, the <a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2f/Inflorescences_Umbel_Kwiatostan_Baldach.svg/600px-Inflorescences_Umbel_Kwiatostan_Baldach.svg.png"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 204, 0);">umbel</span></a>. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Whew. Whatever, right? Mmm, no. Since I'm writing about it, you should know about it.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Fennel is lovely for exactly 3 reasons:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><ul><li><a href="http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/BURRATA-CHEESE-WITH-SHAVED-VEGETABLE-SALAD-231426"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">It tastes damn good</span></a></li><li>Those umbel flowers attracts beneficial insects</li><li>Is a primary food source for <a href="http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species?l=1356"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 204, 0);">Black Swallowtail</span></a> larvae!!!</li><li>Oh, yeah, #4: it reads as a fuzzy and airy mass from a distance when planted in beds, the thin foliage can be bright green or bronze, it collects dew on moist mornings, and it smells like the best kind of licorice . . .</li></ul><div>Let's get back to the umbel now that you know more about where I am going with this. The umbel may seem like it is just one big, dome-shaped flower. Go ahead, bend down, check it out, it won't bite. That umbel is a <a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/00/Inflorescences_Umbel_Kwiatostan_BaldachZ%C5%82o%C5%BCony.svg/500px-Inflorescences_Umbel_Kwiatostan_BaldachZ%C5%82o%C5%BCony.svg.png"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 204, 0);">compound flower</span></a> that is made up of hundreds of branched florets. It is those tiny flowers that make up what you are looking at. </div><div><br /></div><div>(Trip into my brain: Did anyone see the Sensation exhibit from the Saatchi Collection at the Brooklyn Museum of Art back in '00? When I first walked into the space, to my immediate right, there hung a huge <a href="http://www.tommyuk.dk/writing/hypeart/images/61_gallery_5_pic16.jpg"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">portrait</span></a> of British child murderer, Myra Hindley. <a href="http://www.whitecube.com/artists/harvey/paintingsone/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">Marcus Harvey</span></a> painted Myra's maniacal monochrome visage from her arrest photo using children's hand prints dipped in black and white paint. Anyway, that reminds me of an umbel. Think about it.)</div><div><br /></div><div>Welcome back. So those miniature flowers are the BEST food for the BEST kind of insects you want in your garden. Teeny parasitoid wasps and other beneficials feed off the nectar that is profusely produced from the umbel flowers. </div><div><br /></div><div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5AxtRKJOmkfSJ-7hFmjDP_ND9jJHWOwcUn0DGh8i1npRDfF3y6yWjE0kbv2PCocPOj7jST8TjY8_r8CCR42NXfvqjMI6LtTj12yS4_EcMKKMJ8kZToZsd8Uaapk1EjfMKdVXL8TLDUEiR/s400/IMG_2327.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5248519848123225602" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; " /></div><div>It is these wasps and flies that will go out an attack the aphids, cabbage loopers, tomato hornworms, and all the other nasties that invade our garden spaces. Have I stressed enough the importance of planting lots of umbel flowers within your vegetable gardens and perennial borders? This is called attracting beneficial insects, a very savvy gardening philosophy. This is the first step in my personal integrated pest management protocol: I get to know my adversaries, and I staunchly promote their enemies. Or, you can just think of it as "plant it and they will come".<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Another benefit of this particular umbel is a benevolent one. This quiet garden visitor means no harm, does no damage, and is truly thrilling to behold in all its stages of life.</div><div><br /></div><div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgghJO7fKuDwuW6LUP1vbjyVkYK4gp_plZ2KRcoglIelhG8rd-4mOVTvg_s2xUZ16YuQWsMju8YIHMvQfKtvbFicdsX_R9Tor0Y0JgR2_lkCQ3zEj6bbwu53-sKxZ9mN0hgwQVAoaeDXuwO/s400/IMG_2297.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5247880566510973298" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; " /></div><div>The larvae of the black swallowtail butterfly also loves the taste of fennel. In early August I found 4!, yes 4! of these stunning larvae on <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">one</span> plant!</div><div><br /></div><div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNypbhxgkeLimxMDd3cPsbp6hBh6A0eRg0bTMn76O2nXrAnrn59FM9h559B18imLLAnEJSOQcoZ-8YBqG-fpL4EWc9zZEtBeeYvhUlIn33S0Vs3xkyTl7nKrzbfv7nCq8o7V9QG2DwRkuM/s400/IMG_2313.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5247880559222985458" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; " /></div><div><br /></div><div> I got a little macro-happy . . .</div><br /><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg6kP7euuaUoaDidauCm0INHQSGLQxy_oSta-1J2oeRpCHo9PkrzI_-EerbBLY4h88dKJJLgnw4Cx74-RRaisPOXgXYqDbbLm01mjNxm9U6wp__riY0m7dhgLtMmKaXTS_MdkrjyecHxJS/s400/IMG_2301.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5248522765804345890" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; " /><div>So I can only wonder where these glow worms are now. </div><div><br /></div><div>Have their wings dried? Are they sipping the late-season nectar of <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.rainyside.com/features/plant_gallery/perennials/Eupatorium_purpureum.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 204, 0);">Eupatorium purpureum</span></a></span><a href="http://www.rainyside.com/features/plant_gallery/perennials/Eupatorium_purpureum.html"> </a>and <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/Plant.asp?code=H170"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 204, 0);">Aster divaricatus</span></a></span>? I am just pleased to have observed them preparing themselves for their reincarnation.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div>Erika Hansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00058011955993716711noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6813331057442959167.post-88651419678913040292008-09-17T11:35:00.000-04:002008-09-17T22:09:51.365-04:00Sissinghurst : The world's synonym for 'English garden'<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaL2NnuuNJB4APY9V-uaixzWmjOdM8FE2bRs0Fbp5bbFmo30pxBqwrT4raoD1KI0oOfoUXDlyLJY5YMOnEYwQfHAD_L1FHASvmNs080T7DO4C2Cr5REoOztWM13QY1kDqqsQYTH3NZIZhq/s1600-h/IMG_1458.JPG"></a><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb-5cGs5LfqUz8U2dUmMJDhyMTHWZInRXPsxFDoR7WtQ3VnxTr_WtpNx6WtQXjw6OEh9C-nxD-8J0G0WHnDa5epiEJc-UJXxXWKdQwj0-nS-zRUtwipw0R50ZuU8yHpsvom1deb6YbdIpF/s1600-h/IMG_1436.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb-5cGs5LfqUz8U2dUmMJDhyMTHWZInRXPsxFDoR7WtQ3VnxTr_WtpNx6WtQXjw6OEh9C-nxD-8J0G0WHnDa5epiEJc-UJXxXWKdQwj0-nS-zRUtwipw0R50ZuU8yHpsvom1deb6YbdIpF/s320/IMG_1436.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5246455365908232370" /></a><div style="text-align: justify;">Designed in 1930 by poet/author Vida Sackville-West and her husband, Sir Harold Nicolson, this <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vita_Sackville-West"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 204, 0);">progressive couple</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 204, 0);"> </span>supported each other in the creation of their home and landscape. In addition to rebuilding the ruined rooms of their castle, Vida guided the building of outdoor rooms that still surround the main residence and the famous tower that served as her study. It is truly the gardens of Sissinghurst that survive the impassioned lives of Vida and Sir Harold, and puts on display the kind of bond that only happens between gardeners.<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It was about 10 a.m. at Great Dixter. I was working in the Sunk Garden deadheading tulips when Aaron whisked me away to visit Sissinghurst with Sarah, Fergus' assistant. It really is so convenient that Vida and Harry chose a ruin just down the street from the Llyods. Aaron navigated the crazy country roads to Sissinghurst like the pro he is. There were busses, full parking lots, and all sorts of proper folk gravitating toward this hexagonal tower. Certain death? Wacky Kool-aid? No, thanks. Maybe some other time.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM2woYu6n5JGf1vLkRKhLGZlyl0ruIO4sCv-SVlEfjXHGH_8no42G7IWXUuWRDmtP6BhyMmgO_83bJ_ehAG1v58ZQqMDPQby8OhPEmWBIDxv2xZZ7mXJXG8ZtTASGtx3LTAci2crlNDC3y/s320/IMG_1449.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5246960099340557570" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; " /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Aaron, who by nature and nurture is not easily impressed, gave me the speediest tour of any garden I have ever been on, well, save for MS on Mount Desert Island . . . but I digress. Basically, he's seen the gardens 174 times and wanted to show us the features of the garden that were most important to see. There was no lolling about or pining over plants. As a result, I have a succinct understanding of the garden as a whole. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjBG5MOAd0_x_rR-BpvX7BwWwrfVePceZxzv79QplxjUPzIzLtCp-Ahli_7Jm9upt3-JOTtwNaKoM7AlB2RtXT8_BTr-BP1ejlqJHhlEGWfBNLF0nUhuLrCggb1yR3fYDRjIo5PejiS_v_/s320/IMG_1465_1.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5246231548461503554" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; " /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Reader's Digest version of Sissinghurst is this: the Lime Walk, the Fall garden, the Hazel coppice, the Azalea and Wall garden, the White Garden, the hedging, the hedging, the hedging, the tower courtyard, and the biggest, fattest, <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Rosmarinus officinalis</span> growing happily in the ground at the foot of Vida's tower. And! <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; ">Ceanothus</span>!, And! . . . Now I understand why Aaron sped through -- this could take all day, and we might miss tea. <br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaL2NnuuNJB4APY9V-uaixzWmjOdM8FE2bRs0Fbp5bbFmo30pxBqwrT4raoD1KI0oOfoUXDlyLJY5YMOnEYwQfHAD_L1FHASvmNs080T7DO4C2Cr5REoOztWM13QY1kDqqsQYTH3NZIZhq/s320/IMG_1458.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5246962111413879554" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; " /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Lime Walk is located to the far right of the gardens, so while it is a destination when it looks fantastic, it is not a focused featured throughout the season. <br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-Ywhz9_7GR9oXbi-2FS2zbs5w-R7b0CTmNJdy7syp-OgBxstGj7EatuKYkIHBskvDrHCf2VjyS_imh31nFyzaRtzADIhXadtWWcCzvVb6Fm_99iV60wLnFcU2OHYx_x30GLiIu5w0mCnL/s320/IMG_1432_1.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5246233100830974466" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; " /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Lime walk had seen it. It is primarily a spring garden profuse with bulbs. No wonder why they hid it behind a <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; ">Taxus </span>hedge to hide the wreckage. Smart. My initial reaction was, "Why isn't it cleaned up, planted, etc, etc." But, Hello! This garden is huge, and I know all about setting garden priorities when time and labor is at a premium. I had to ask, what is the deal with Limes? They aren't hardy, and it certainly was not the tree I was questioning. The answer was <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Tilia platyphyllos.</span> Its flowers have a delicious fragrance similar to -- we're all smart people here -- lime blossoms! Even though my timing was off, I could just imagine walking through this lovely allée viewing whatever fabulous geophyitic display through the open windows of the tree trunks, woven together with the thick sweetness of lime blossoms. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4jIrs5jWOOvMHWTPaJjthf7zTkJejatU8h8jlyPi-fDGY-rDeLVQU7AWccAKT36OHAfDyIfoi8M6OkLhgJ3GvKzsWwBeL5nJRiWSGfCapma4oJyA_NbYw9Jo9ln29jhITqQkMSRAcgnMm/s320/IMG_1440_1.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5246459363944585970" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; " />The Fall room looked great in mid-spring.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX5i-CdzohX-ldem6yrkKP1tCHXm2Ppj9zPHTwuEHvrkWWyQ3i7ooItOJdyEz2WBXSYIKlT6XGLx_3qgWmknavB8M1UEQy3xxXHddIlvlVipd0curpa5ppVqeDJPmS7ifDm0KQqg2MkIRT/s320/IMG_1435.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5246455371707636130" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; " /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The wallflowers boasted about themselves in voices of reds, oranges, and yellows. Such saturated colors were a welcome respite to the Easter-egg gag reflex I usually experience with the spring color palette. I'm out to change all that.<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnL7amfet2quY6qoBuChDP9IclitPiVcKDuHCiJXxcaM260VdSt9VW562u_HyCN0JBp6QxU9Tv1S4GJ-91NMa6y8bGAqP9IYx6afmDTuWjKWdvP3VU1F81_s7xfbQkr-vrEj5tb8j4rMCS/s320/IMG_1437_1.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5246455388417178066" style="text-align: justify;display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; cursor: pointer; " /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">(Pssst! So you see that chunk of chartreuse on the upper right? Oh, my god. The most amazing, luscious stand of <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.joycreek.com/images/169-002.JPG&imgrefurl=http://www.joycreek.com/169-002D4.htm&h=299&w=295&sz=52&hl=en&start=11&sig2=CKA8kSxjkCpy-nZRvFY1qw&um=1&usg=__PLapYxdqCT2760upPeZVvY2Xwmc=&tbnid=moiqnCEXkriCuM:&tbnh=116&tbnw=114&ei=NbLRSIfFCofOefTI0JgK&prev=/images%3Fq%3Deuphorbia%2Bcharacias%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26rls%3Den-us%26sa%3DN"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 204, 0);">Euphobia characias</span></a> </span>I have NEVER seen before. I wanted to stand there all day, screw the tea. Sadly, not hardy in my zone 5b-6, but who says? Just so the world knows, the<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 204, 0);"> </span><a href="http://www.euphorbia-international.org/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 204, 0);">Euphorbiaceae</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 204, 0);"> </span>is my FAVORITE plant family.)</div><div><br /></div><div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS1anex64D-ZDRo2Z5j0cfHjEK6-i4-Xlr7J0i7lyz49Zmq4LKTHuDM4xn6bkn4W4yiNC_jaIbfCSgtPIjTJ4yr74sdd4sm3nzXMLIUHj_p9wIPqi-dx17XHLd5rFuAIKtilJnHOuhspHn/s320/IMG_1442.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5246459371283293986" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; " /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Hazel coppice was a very pretty part of the garden. Not enough to be pretty, it also had a function.<a href="http://www.coppicegroup.org.uk/coppice.htm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 204, 0);"> Coppicing</span></a> is an ancient practice that was very widespread especially in that part of England. Each year, branches were cut down for firewood, fencing, etc. As a response, the tree/shrub sends up long shoots from latent buds. Talk about sustainability: each year a new and reliable source of fuel and raw materials was available. En route to the garden, we actually drove right through old coppiced woods with the clubby wounds as proof of the repeated cuts. <br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlSVsVAR-vEnpbUyeJydfi0q5WZMODlx-tWaa-HiwLf_yXLJr-qMCtE-12yc_w5JgMdH8sct001caMCGB_j4bAWR757zlnjJJrpzXyvUG1H3Q27PWt7fK-7Zb9wUW4lBXU_H7iubRXwVaY/s320/IMG_1444_1.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5246459379071014402" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; " /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Peering through the coppice, a statuary is sentinel. What struck me as sheer brilliance are the shadowed and glowing ferns all framed under the canopy of <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Corylus</span>. Sir Harry designed this part, and how stellar the result. Garden design 101 here: repetition propels the eye forward. Now, 101 does not mean elementary; it means fundamental.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyvxQ4LzDN4B611oHjlOyBw4z44y9nQvK6tMFP1Ahne_UzvKNdFsn4aQPQROfCJF0pZWtrFTBW7UAreoRxF1Yk1HCGheo9i1UGV6fP_885jdcit-QpvwR6mMa7x9HyMlijNsQHMYzbkocP/s320/IMG_1438.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5246479987948400322" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; " /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The azaleas were just on fire! Why does spring have to be a washed out introduction to a lively new season? No. After the bleak ick of winter neutrals, I want some eye candy!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHvU_adoKT-e71ziOqE_9DqTKRjL9tB8_pFOHoVtD2QlZZc-sjUGmhM1cTIElluq-7PujTqLDwNS-iLcm2p53NW6dxT3cfN0pQraomY6fsEQJPedwdGNqYKO4wLWMf7ujbrLkkfwIDkWuX/s320/IMG_1446.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5246479991989350082" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; " /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Huge specimens of orange and yellow azaleas proved that this flamboyant couple were nothing if not inspired.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc_OGp_gr7ddDUeMrOwXTSm4ZeEfbRbYVv6Ti9OxnM5ZWGFe8VQ0g5tqtGiu80A_7iY43q-rffz6YjkAAblV4s6UqGYXrS40OTAQiiksOUatv7yZ2OOYmN6JwSITr5wyfJ5qtdHN2QZiHo/s320/IMG_1447_1.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5246479997828140498" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; " /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The wall was interesting; little hunks of mortar had been removed to accommodate plants that seemed to clutch you into them. Think <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Labyrinth</span> circa David Bowie (aaahh).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdXXCSbo-_2NI2g0gNMDgCVxpuN8o2OBbCmjPNMUojdug0_ASdSnsCLz2nfFIq5CcOZSJvvlLm1v3rLMBUbqgLBnMva0sMduc4yZMysQm9ZpU4nls3CWS2zEgY-8QPI-gdKf74cYImboQ6/s320/IMG_1451_1.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5246953438169757010" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; " /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Sissinghurst is famous for its White Garden. While I was not impressed with the early season show of white-flowered and silver-leaved perennials, I did fall in love with the structural elements of the layout. The meticulously trained and trimmed boxwood followed a slim serpentine pattern. The yew hedge behind it created planting areas in the bulges of the design. Who am I, but if I had a garden styled similarly, I would keep one type of plant growing in each enclosure. Cold? Maybe. Bold? Definitely. Thats the beauty of seeing other gardens and taking them one step further for yourself. You can't argue with inspiration.<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8Xi2Cz-V0DIKOCwLVelW4onfuaHlvOSlg0vGT_FLCZtSyg8Osip54oB990sqwcMi6HHPX6Ylv4zdBpd8LXoqYRLeHvMQGMPRShpwitjzm-s3Vn3e4_RmTqgny_jF2OUTi1JZ_fucoCMzT/s320/IMG_1450.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5246953428817733858" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; " /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Don't try to tell me you can't see the humor in this. Well, I suppose the incredible geometry should stand out more.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH422-nWTjo3Cqe1VHhoysWOMfznUCR0RWrfxcwixPTsfcFlid9LL-7INvTvkOgC8uUME7z5NQwsmosDA788wCUavJC-sd8_SSOUfEBUmd5aVkOjT-YssFQU-kW8kH81dktYztmxA9jmjl/s320/IMG_1457_1.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5246230314369431618" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; " /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The strict hedging gave the garden a kind of precision. It felt official, stately, and well, proper. The lines were just <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">so</span> clean that it was the perfect visual element to balance the romanticism felt throughout the garden. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYNHbZKNSbYeyddHLzTe3Upfnvcbz-xYMFfQCADVzqIU-hyNZt2K_APVseMkpQ-EUj8TvtjRNP6ZRAUrnpTymEwwCLxCkGcv_YNvveip5C47qBckKsaeXtSMoO1agafbQFjUia1hTqbHHV/s320/IMG_1456_1.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5246960903736339106" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; " /><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: justify; ">In this garden, I imagine the dark corridors commence at dull heartache past openings of hope, to a destination at the warmth and light of a new love. </div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKY2e7BFEJ4jhF1lpu8SzovVbErxB6pE4bHNtUP3jgvqCnXIK0AUntJOcU_LIiKwRUF6AW5MiDgKYhdCbvOjASY499PtnQhMWKuyXK_re6h04vqBqruqKpu3Zv_Vm4Fm8BeM7DJ1K2dg1r/s320/IMG_1468.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5246961346650956562" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; " /></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In her own words, her garden is "profusion within the confines of uttermost linear severity". Well, Vida <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; ">was</span> a poet.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div>Erika Hansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00058011955993716711noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6813331057442959167.post-34847644460819154322008-09-16T01:25:00.000-04:002008-09-16T01:48:39.668-04:00Seed pods, unite!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwjBwGO9GVRm9iO8KjTNklEXcF8Adanbqs6FN6RPVl_7zv1umKnezxorl9fXhVCvdmPdO7KDwHqrsPsSCjbsQSTfZAcM1W47aaOUQwj4m_rpDUcmWylA6p4AKZuev64qF7ZDXK-aHk_uiX/s1600-h/IMG_2532.JPG"></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgunvyDrZlALbIHJSpA107k2orQ2EBIaZ4cW80c0uCTevQXV2rzwCHVl1NrCWczCrDFanZa4aCYAxosz5W_tED2_Znf86VYAVpdMDzpnOUMI_B8qnPGZAyj_FTo8CMXeYSZqveLiyZRnR5L/s1600-h/IMG_2534.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgunvyDrZlALbIHJSpA107k2orQ2EBIaZ4cW80c0uCTevQXV2rzwCHVl1NrCWczCrDFanZa4aCYAxosz5W_tED2_Znf86VYAVpdMDzpnOUMI_B8qnPGZAyj_FTo8CMXeYSZqveLiyZRnR5L/s320/IMG_2534.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5246489391183744578" /></a><div><br /></div>Now is the time . . . all those dried out remnants of summer love are stuck like beheaded cannibals atop the varying heights of flower stalks. You could just look at them, but what fun is that? Snap 'em off, do a little reading, and figure out how to save, start, and grow them on for next year!<div><br /></div><div>It never ceases to amaze me how ONE, just one, flower will make enough seeds to litter your garden like a ticker tape parade after the Yankees win the World Series. Considering their winning streak, ahem, I'm just glad that life has rhythms that do not depend on major league baseball.</div><div><br /></div><div>Those gorgeous pods are from <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.mobot.org/gardinghelp/plantfinder/plant.asp?code=B660"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 204, 0);">Baptisia australis</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">, </span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">a fantastic US native. Even if you don't care to grow on the seeds that are ripening now, cut them and use them in fall floral arrangements, or for other decorations for the season.</span></span></div><div><br /></div><div>If you really are serious about collecting seeds, its very simple. You'll just need some envelopes, a pen, and something to cut the seed head off (sometimes you try to break it off and, well, you know Murphy's Law).</div><div><br /></div><div>Label your envelope with the name of the plant (duh), the date, and where it was collected. Then go ahead and harvest those seeds! Do not be selfish; leave some seeds for others, as well as for that precious plant that worked so hard attracting pollinators in order to procreate itself. Next, seal the envelope and put in the fridge until you know what you are doing with them.</div><div><br /></div><div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwjBwGO9GVRm9iO8KjTNklEXcF8Adanbqs6FN6RPVl_7zv1umKnezxorl9fXhVCvdmPdO7KDwHqrsPsSCjbsQSTfZAcM1W47aaOUQwj4m_rpDUcmWylA6p4AKZuev64qF7ZDXK-aHk_uiX/s320/IMG_2532.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5246491390953420050" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; " /></div><div>Don't forget to marvel at the unique shapes, textures, and scents of those seeds. Have fun!<br /></div>Erika Hansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00058011955993716711noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6813331057442959167.post-81747612409810898532008-07-08T00:03:00.001-04:002008-12-14T09:28:41.662-05:00Let go of your INHIBITIONS . . .<img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJLzaLxUXWR9LkkhoikPELcuKS-merZLJQFRlJ-Us3ZmVTNRsgK0DA3gZKuK9K1qKxawoPSQdW8trGVVIwNvb2ksXteFLU8mPXm_Y4kfDZhgnkeEQKVyZpaemFFDFntsY2RW8kiui96VUQ/s400/IMG_2215.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5220469215269186930" style="text-align: right;display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; cursor: pointer; " /><div style="text-align: justify; ">This photo represents a thousand words of a fascinating story. A story of Inhibitions, Ultimate Patience, The Right Moment, and Grand Scheme. </div><div style="text-align: justify; ">(Where <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; ">are</span> we?? Some kind of hedonistic S&M plant dungeon?) <br /></div><div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: justify; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; ">No. No leather, no whips. We are talking hormones and chemicals.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; ">(Okay, now its getting REALLY weird)</span><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; ">Aaan-ti-ci-paaaaay-shun.</span> </div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Carly Simon had it right, but she didn't know she was singin' a tune about botany.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Let me drag you out of the dark recesses of my brain and back into the light. The photo that heads this post was taken in front of my home. Last spring I dragged home a HUGE <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; "><a href="http://www.na.fs.fed.us/spfo/pubs/silvics_manual/Volume_2/platanus/occidentalis.htm" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 204, 0);">Platanus occidentalis</span></a></span> American sycamore branch that had been cut down from one of the properties that I work on. I thought, Hey, let me lean this up against my chimney as a vertical element and grow some cool vines on it. The bark is just so incredible, especially againt the tall white chimney.</div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMIjWnH2YnyHRqFTpg2ljYdc_AlxHZ9QlcneqIv3wwzSrxrMieZXtZ6rIegakQie8MLJMSH9cptfV2-UxJ0vdg-xJ7r5Z7h1sindC08zJJxaCWMOeGMWcAR6elpXji7YRnyELWz9BcwF2_/s400/IMG_2213.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5220469223472187810" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; " /><div style="text-align: justify; ">The previous fall, I planted the darkest lily known to man, <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; "><a href="http://www.brentandbeckysbulbs.com/summer/productview/index.php?sku=84-91" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 204, 0);">Lilium</span></a></span><a href="http://www.brentandbeckysbulbs.com/summer/productview/index.php?sku=84-91" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 204, 0);"> 'Landini'</span></a> as a contrast against the white, white chimney. So late last spring, at the base of the branch, I threw in some pre-soaked sweet pea seeds. They grew, but didn't really deliver. So even later, I pushed into the soil the pink and black mottled skins of the scarlet runner bean, a giveaway from my friend <a href="http://www.botanicalgardening.com/whoiam.html" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 204, 0);">Carlo Balistrieri</span></a>. Alas, nothing. </div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">UNTIL! The Great Awakening! </div><div style="text-align: justify; ">(Remember all that jazz about Inhibitions, Ultimate Patience, Right Moments, and Grand Schemes?? Here is where it may make a bit more sense . . . )<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">What have I noticed, just now, snaking its way up the sycamore branch? Those loooong forgotten scarlet runner beans that I sowed LAST year! Mysterious. Odd. Why now?</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJwuscwhAH5KySYTCl_DjS-pT6R4RVwbZ6Zp-V7qtx5U27IAO-TJ8RhoC1CLCJBdItKHdVAd5tpf8Haff7kU-_3mgj9ytr6G8_oe_ypP68Yo1JRi1NN0C2vDgWoK4NacLZ-5tUE3QTLMNk/s320/IMG_2214.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5220481941491719986" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; " /></div><div style="text-align: justify; "> </div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Inhibitions, or more scientifically, <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; ">inhibitors</span>. Plants have the most uncanny way of sensing The Right Moment. While waiting for the right light, temperature, and moisture level a seed can exercise Ultimate Patience. Be it a week, to sufficiently imbibe enough moisture from the surrounding media to trigger seed germination, or a year, until the soil temperature is cool enough for a particular seed to open up, that seed will waaaaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiittttttttt. It is all a part of the Grand Scheme of things that guides the sublime tempo that nature keeps.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Many of us know the story of how the giant sequoia trees release the seeds from their cones. The cones "wait" months, years, whatever it takes, until a forest fire rips through the area. The heat will then trigger the cone to open its scales and the seed is then dispersed. The forest fire, and subsequent dispersal of the sequoia seed, is an essential part of maintaining healthy and growing forest ecosystems in the Pacific northwest. Without the fire, no new sequoia seeds. Grand Scheme intact and perfectly functioning.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Even the diminutive sweet pea has an inhibitor that I attempted to break. I mentioned before that I "pre-soaked" those seeds. That was to speed up the germination process (many, many seeds benefit from this treatment). That seed will not begin to grow until it is sufficiently swelled with water.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Now, the mystery of the scarlet runner bean (Nancy Drew #147). Another germination inhibitor is soil temperature. My contention is that when I pushed those seeds into the ground last summer, the soil was simply too warm to initiate germination! But since those seeds were not removed, spent winter outside, and warmed with the early spring soil, that Right Moment occured that woke up the little life that slept inside. </div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Deviant references aside, that is just mind-blowing. </div><div style="text-align: justify; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7-5g14FpF1Ss7bG324ieopfgSzUzcixaeMLJHv7Qa-7RXGMNBClYJhjzrA88q73I12NO7KElsu7bzYqGIXFGyYirBvFFTaoveadUfTuxu9kBVc36M1zERoKpxTYhvVPEAH16TUzMLTllE/s320/IMG_2209.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5220485646745887058" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; " /></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Really.</div></div></div>Erika Hansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00058011955993716711noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6813331057442959167.post-29813228626262496042008-06-24T22:49:00.001-04:002008-12-19T12:42:05.600-05:00PLANT OF MY WEEK: Cape fuchsia<div><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="">Say 'Hi' to </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; ">Phygelius</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; "> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">a.k.a. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; ">Cape fuchsia. An exotic tender perennial native to South Africa, this plant sports some for-real funk (as do most of S. African plant life). </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This plant stands out to me this week for a couple of reasons. First of all . . . HOW COOL! I really love the architecture of the <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; ">panicle</span> (define: simply put, a branched inflorescence in which the basal or lateral flowers open first). Delicate, yet oddly sturdy, the thick petals dangle airily at almost 90º from their candelabra structure. Sun? Part shade? No problem!<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"> </span>Super-versatile<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"> Phygelius</span> will show off in either setting. Continually blooming all summer, this tender perennial will push out new panicles all summer. Just be sure to keep these plants well-groomed; the plants will slow down if the spent flowers are not removed.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Then there are the interestingly oddball colors. Glossy, dark green basal foliage contrasts with the intriguing palette of floral colors. You'll have to see it for yourself, but the colors are "off": brick red, orange salmon, ice yellow, fuchsia, white. For some varieties, the inside of the tubular flowers offer a subtle surprise: bright red, clear yellow tantalize the ants and worms (the only creatures low enough to look up) as they pass.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div><div><div style="text-align: justify;">The pendulous and airy blossoms are irresistible to hummingbirds which makes this fascinating plant gorgeous <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; ">and</span> useful. One of my clients just LOVES hummingbirds. So, last year <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; ">I used <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; ">P</span>. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; ">aequalis</span> 'Trewidden Pink' in her container plantings. I combined it with <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; ">Talinum paniculatum</span> Jewels of Opar; a pretty dynamite combo. This year, I found TWO varieties that I love: dark fuchsia 'New Sensation', and pale orange 'Salmon Leap'. I planted these directly into the garden beds to fill in gaps. Photos to come! </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Want more? Read these articles about <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; ">Phygelius</span>, its species, hybrids and cultivars: <a href="http://www.bbg.org/gar2/topics/plants/2003su_capefuchsias.html"></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><ul><li><a href="http://www.bbg.org/gar2/topics/plants/2003su_capefuchsias.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 102);">BBG Perennials with Punch</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 102);"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 102);"><a href="http://www.npr.org/programs/talkingplants/profiles/phygelius.html"></a></span></li><li><a href="http://www.npr.org/programs/talkingplants/profiles/phygelius.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 102);">NPR Talking Plants</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 102);"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 102);"><a href="http://hort.ifas.ufl.edu/floriculture/Crops/Phygelius%20production%2004%20GPN.pdf"></a></span></li><li><a href="http://hort.ifas.ufl.edu/floriculture/Crops/Phygelius%20production%2004%20GPN.pdf"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 102);">Phygelius Possibilities</span></a><br /></li></ul></div></div></div>Erika Hansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00058011955993716711noreply@blogger.com0