Roses

Getting out of my head and into the beds…

~ queenofthedirt ~ 3 Comments

What a strange spring and early summer this has been. Typically April, May and early June are packed with both activity in my own garden and road trips to a whole litany of garden tours throughout California plus wherever else I can manage to get myself to. The Garden Conservancy Open Days have been a staple for me along with the Gamble Garden and Theodore Payne Foundation’s annual rambles in the Bay Area and Southern California respectively. For the last few years the Garden Bloggers Fling meetup has been a much anticipated few days touring beautiful gardens across the US and talking gardening with the eclectic group of folks who attend. I’ve taken my readers along on all these trips and scrolling back through my previous years’ posts you can see at least the highlights of these adventures. With the COVID-19 pandemic calling this year’s shots, we are all “gardening in place” to protect ourselves all those whose lives we touch in both small and large ways.

All this free time AND a new-to-me house and garden has kept me semi-permanently gardening in my head, surveying my new space and formulating one plan after another for changes I want to make. Longtime readers may remember we had JUST finished a multi-year turf removal and garden renovation project only months before we handed that garden over to a lovely young couple who may come to hate us mid-summer when the West Coast whack (see Doing the West Coast whack…) comes due. For the first time in our lives we are going to enlist some professional design help with our new garden, mostly in the hope that we can see our (my?) dreams come true in a little more timely fashion than we are able to make happen with our DIY efforts–the goal being to work a little less and enjoy a little more.

I’ve added a few bits and pieces to the existing tiny back garden to keep my trowel from getting rusty and just could not let the summer pass without taking a shovel to the small weed and clover infested strip of grass between our double driveway and our neighbors’ front garden.

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I spent several days of just past dawn hours digging out the weeds and what remained of once viable turf. My neighbor advised he has been fighting an invasion of bermuda grass for several years and so I am sure I’ll need to be a vigilant digger for quite a while–I am well-versed in this task having just left a home with common bermuda lawns. My new best friends at now close-by Sierra View Nursery recommended their signature mix of river bottom sand and organic humus as an amendment. After lifting the existing drip lines, I dug about 1/2 cubic yard in to raise the grade and add a little lightness and organic matter.

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Most of the plants I planned to add were divisions I had potted up and brought from the old house. The little bed is anchored by Prunus cerasifera ‘Purple Pony’, a dwarf ornamental purple leafed plum. This petite charmer performed really well for us in the Spruce back garden and I thought it’s dwarf nature would make it a good screening for the side fence and gate without overwhelmed the space. The burgundy tinged green foliage of Penstemon ‘Blackbird’ will play off the tree’s leaf color.

Roses will be few and far between in this new house as I have tired of the needed care to keep them looking their best but I fell for a shrub rose called Eyeconic™ Mango Lemonade from Star Roses, seen below in this photo taken before planting.

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The softer orange tones–peach, apricot–seem to work really well with house’s stucco color. The house color–not for the faint of heart– is more pumpkin than it appears in the photos and is the basis for a garden palette of soft oranges, medium blues and burgundy I’m focused on.

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Also included are Agapanthus ‘Sapphire Storm’ and Salvia jamensis ‘Sierra San Antonio’, the last being a twiggy little salvia with bi-color pale peach and golden yellow blooms.

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Garden center photo of Sapphire Storm

Both white and dark blue bearded iris division have been healed in. They are from a group that seemingly lost their labels in the move. Their home may be temporary  should they turn out to not be the colors I think they are!

Lastly, three each Agastache ‘Orange Sunrise’ and Hemerocallis ‘Primal Scream’ will add a little explosion of color–the Agastache, below,  is one of the smaller ones and very attractive to hummingbirds.

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Oakes Daylilies catalog photo of ‘Primal Scream’–a wee step out of the soft orange range!

June would never be my choice of timing to plant a new bed in Central California and from day to day things have looked a little peaked but at least I feel as though my gardening itch has been scratched a bit. Fingers crossed that all will make it through the heat of July and August!

A visit to the Rose Parade float barn…

~ queenofthedirt ~ 9 Comments

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We kicked off 2020 with an overnight trip to Pasadena–one of my favorite SoCal cities full of historic homes and beautiful gardens–to take in the iconic New Year’s Day Rose Bowl Parade. A number of Rose Bowl related events lead up to the parade so the stadium and its surrounds are flush with RVs, buses, cars and people clutching their various tickets and of course, the Official Rose Parade program! One of the large float building barns is open to the public, allowing those of us who have only seen these marvelous melds of engineering and botanicals on our TV screens to get a close up view of what it takes to get them on the road for their 5.5 mile slow crawl on January 1st.

The floats are viewed via a sort of boardwalk which winds around and through the barn. Think of those moving walkways in large airports with folks pretty much shoulder to shoulder but it is your legs actually doing the moving. Volunteers are everywhere. The white suited ones with official name tags are directing traffic and talking to passers by about each float and literally hundreds of others, many in sweatshirts due to the barn’s cool temperature, are snipping flowers, scaling scaffolding, and whatever other tasks are needed to get their assigned work of art perfect to the last petal and seed. Everything that covers the float’s mechanics must be natural material–flowers, petals, fronds, grains grasses, seeds, fruit or vegetable.

First up are the floats proudly depicting the school name and team colors of the two outstanding football teams that will compete in the 106th Rose Bowl Game–Oregon State University (Ducks) and University of Wisconsin (Badgers).

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Oregon State University
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University of Wisconsin Badgers
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Roses were the stars of each team’s float

I loved seeing the up-close detail on the beautifully restored antique cars and carriages that will transport the parade’s Grand Marshals, dignitaries and honored guests on the parade route.

The Parade’s three Grand Marshals will ride in two Pope-Hartford Touring cars and a Pope-Hartford Model T, all dating from 1910-1911 and wearing dazzling floral arrangements in warm fall colors.

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The 2019 inductees into the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame must look forward to their venture down Colorado Avenue in a 1916 Seagrave Fire Engine, the first engine purchased by the Monterey Fire Department. This engine earned the nickname “The Old Gray Mare” when in 1924 when lightening struck oil tanks on Cannery Row and it pumped water continuously for 72 hours! As it turned out, The Old Gray Mare would end up being towed most of the route but that made its floral finery none the less beautiful.

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float barn 12As much as I adore colorful floral displays I can never get enough of the classic whites and greens! Wouldn’t this be a fun way for a bride to arrive at the church on her big day?

The Tournament of Roses President and the Mayor of Pasadena each had their own spectacular ride.

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The President’s Rolls Royce Silver Ghost was actually blue! The Mayor and his family will pile into this replica of an 1880 Abbott Downing Hotel Coach (background of photo) pulled by the Express Clydesdales, an eight horse hitch of rare black and white Clydesdales.

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All the vintage vehicles had this great signage with lots of interesting historical details

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Finishing touches are added to an 1880s sleigh which will transport stars of the Broadway show Frozen after their mid-parade show. The sleigh will be pulled by a team of Percheron horses.

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In the background you can see yet another color palette of florals–this one adorning a 1915 Pierce-Arrow 48-7-Passenger Touring model. Until 1928 there was a Pierce-Arrow Motor Car Company dealership on Colorado Blvd. in Pasadena.

I know I promised you floats! This barn had a half dozen more floats in progress with volunteers doing all manner of things. I learned that the Tournament of Roses manages almost a thousand volunteers each year to cover the events. This year’s theme The Power of Hope is reflected throughout the entries.

China Airlines presents “Dreams of Flying, Wings of Hope”

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Elements representing Taiwan including these butterflies and spinning tops expresses the good hopes of its people and welcomes visitors to the island nation. The decks of the float are filled with thousands of roses, orchids and lilies.

Pasadena Celebrates 2020: Celebrating the 100th Year Anniversary of the Passage of the 19th Amendment presents “Years of Hope, Years of Courage”

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The purple, gold and white flowers throughout the float represent the colors of the suffrage era, along with a band of red, white and blue representing the American flag. Notice that Lady Liberty is missing her top half as it will have to be attached after the float leaves the barn.

Amazon Studios presents “Troop Zero”

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Not all float participants are cities or charitable organizations. Mega-business Amazon’s entry celebrates an upcoming 2020 film release in which a girl dreams of outer space and organizes a group of scouts to make her dream come true. There are over 15,000 flowers on this float.

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Really behind the scenes at Troop Zero–notice the fire extinguisher camouflaged by the red roses. To the left of the pole you can see that big baking potatoes are used as rocks on the hillside!

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The trees at the float’s rear are hinged to clear the ceiling!
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I’d give almost anything to have roses and tulips grow under MY redwood trees
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Each of the barn floats has an artist’s rendering

Honda presents “Our Hope for the Future”

The flagship sponsor’s float entry celebrates the optimism created by the spirit and vitality of children. Six children are pursing their dreams through a variety of activities. This float leads the parade after the opening spectacular and as we saw it only about 18 hours before parade time it looked pretty undone–my though was that they would need that spirit of optimism before the day was out.

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Except for the gentleman on the phone who I’m sure was taking a much needed break, all these sitting and standing volunteers are laboriously scissor cutting off the dried blossom ends of buckets upon buckets of purple statice. The mandate was purple only–no green stem.

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Then the power tools came out in the form of multiple blenders and spice grinders, in which all those cut off flowers were ground down to a coarse powder and offloaded into bins to be applied to the float–almost like painting with flowers.

Cal Poly Universities present “Aquatic Aspirations”

An optimistic submarine sets out to discover fortune and riches but finds a breathtaking underwater home thriving amongst an old sunken ship instead. This self built float earned a Certified California Grown designation by sourcing at least 85% of its flowers from California farms.

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Yes–this is an actual sea of blue dutch iris!

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It seemed fitting to exit the barn at this homegrown float. It was my favorite of those featured in the barn. It is my understanding that there are a number of barns in various Pasadena locations, each with as much float activity as its space can handle. It is no mean feat to round all the floats up from their disparate locations and get them lined up for the parade’s start.

Several years ago a few of our Orange County friends spent a few day in Pasadena working on the floats. I’m not sure how you get that opportunity but I think I’ll investigate it. The volunteers were having a great time and there has to be a huge satisfaction in knowing you were part for making this immense endeavor a success!

We have a New Year’s Day crack of dawn wake up call to travel from our hotel to the Colorado Avenue parade route where we need to be in our grandstand seats before 8 am to not miss USAF B-2 Spirit (Stealth) flyover. Parade photos may take another few days to post!

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The Badger Marching Band is on the move!

 

 

A hot minute at the The Huntington…

~ queenofthedirt ~ 3 Comments

In the many years I lived in Southern California I never visited The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens in San Marino just north of Los Angeles. An overnight road trip to attend two educational lectures in the LA area, one at Rothenburg Hall on the grounds of this sprawling 120 acres of specialized botanical gardens, offered me a very brief window to view a small part of the gardens. The Huntington Library is a collection-based educational and research institution established by Henry E. and Arabella Huntington. The institution also has an extensive art collection focused on 18th and 19th century European art and 17th to mid-20th century American art. When I say hot minute, I mean just that. I arrived at 1 pm, about 45 minutes before the lecture was to begin, and it was 92°! Fortunately I had checked the weather forecast before leaving my Central Valley home where temps have been comfortably in the 60s and 70s–which is pretty warm for us in mid-November.

Knowing I would not be able to do the world renown Japanese and Chinese gardens justice and that the Australian and Desert Gardens were a pretty good walk away, I stayed close to the Education & Visitor Center and took in what I could. To experience all the themed gardens and see the art and science exhibits to boot, I think all but the most casual visitor probably needs 2 full days and then to visit again at different times of the year as the scenery is ever changing.

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Rose Hills Foundation Garden Court

The 6.5 acre Brody California Garden fills an allée central to the Education & Visitors Center. My map tells me that my lecture hall is reached through the Rose Hills Foundation Garden Court so I locate that first to get both my bearings and my time frame available for wandering in perspective. The California Garden is home to 50,000 California native and dry climate plants, reflecting the area’s Mediterranean climate. The purple emerging foliage on the silvery Acacia baileyana ‘Purpurea” is reflected in its name.

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Hedge sitting rooms on either side of the wide walk offer a little shady seating and a quiet place to enjoy the surroundings
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Rosemary used as a lush groundcover

At the end of the olive allée, the garden transitions to the historic core of The Huntington property.

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The Celebration Garden greets visitors with a shallow stream of recirculated water that empties into a rectangular pool. Plantings here, including those in pots, negate the common belief that drought tolerance equals dry and dull. Vibrant salvias and lavenders plus the varied hues of succulents, large and small, offer a riot of color.

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The Orbit Pavilion

Just beyond the Celebration Lawn is an outdoor installation which inaugurates the new /five initiative at The Huntington focusing on creative collaborations with other organizations. NASA/Jet Propulsion Labs is the first of five partners (over 5 years) and the project’s them was drawn from The Huntington Library’s aerospace history collection.

While standing in the middle of the pavilion, visitors hear sounds which represent the location of 19 NASA satellites orbiting and observing Earth’s surface, biosphere, atmosphere and oceans. NASA satellites say “hello” as they move across the sky by pairing the live trajectory data of each spacecraft to artistically created sounds. You can find extensive information about this unique installation and the initiative at http://www.huntington.org/orbit.

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From a distance The Orbit looks a little like a spaceship crashed on an alien world
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Amazing agave spike
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These agaves glow in semi-shade
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The outskirts of the Palm Garden and Jungle Garden

At this crossroads I elected to see the more European inspired gardens surrounding the original mansion, leaving the palms and their friends for another trip.

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The Huntington residence, now home to the European art collection, peaks out from behind a pocket garden anchored by mature trees

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A fanciful fountain anchors the little garden which is filled with an assortment of unusual, international plant material

Native to the dry regions of Argentina, the trunk of the white silk floss tree (Chorisia insignis) stores water in its bulbous, spiny trunk. At first I wasn’t sure that the flowers were actually part of this tree rather than a vine which had scrambled up it willy nilly.

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Otherworldly cones of the south African cycad, Encephalartos arenarius, planted at the tree’s base
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The North Vista from the mansion/museum to the San Gabriel Mountains–many tree sized camellias line either side of the lawn

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As you would expect of a home from this era, plantings of mature mixed shrubbery wind among broad expanses of lawn.

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The Bard himself, shaded by a rambling ‘Snow Goose’ rose welcomes visitors to his namesake garden
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The Shakespeare Garden features plants grown in the author’s time in addition to those mentioned in his literary works

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The 3 acre Rose Garden was originally created in 1908 for the private enjoyment of Mr. and Mrs. Huntington. It now contains more than 3,000 plants and 1,200+ different cultivated varieties. This arbor covered pathway leads to the Japanese Garden.

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Spectacular vista from the Rose Garden

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Rounding the house through the Rose Garden the expansive raised back terrace comes into view. The floribunda rose seen in the lower left is ‘Huntington’s 100’, named in honor of The Huntington’s Century celebration being held throughout 2019.

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Rosa ‘Huntington’s 100’

Huge hibiscus shrubs were tucked up against the house and still sporting their bright tropical blooms a month before Christmas.

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View from the back terrace

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Back almost full circle from the little garden where I started (you can glimpse it through the columns on the left) is this lovely covered area with a panoramic view of the grounds on two sides. Closing my eyes, I can see this exquisite space at dusk bathed in candlelight with gracious ladies in long gowns and men in tuxedoes milling about with brandies in hand, enjoying the coolish night air.

With the lecture time drawing near, I quick walk back to the glass domed garden court. It is fabulous inside with the air somewhat cooler and many places to sit for a bit.

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The program begins only moments after I get settled into my seat in the adjacent auditorium.

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James Brayton Hall, Chairman & CEO of the Garden Conservancy is speaking on America’s Outstanding Gardens as part of a quarterly lecture series sponsored by the California Garden & Landscape History Society. Although this organization is new to me, I have been a member of the Garden Conservancy for many years and attend as many of their California Open Days as I can fit in each year. Look back at my post A little Mendocino madness… for a look into the work of the Garden Conservancy or go directly to their website http://www.gardenconservancy.org for information on their mission and programs.

Mr. Hall’s slideshow featured photos of and commentary on many of the gardens that the Conservancy has helped to preserve for the benefit of the public, as well as his thoughts on what makes a garden outstanding and how the Conservancy goes about its preservation efforts. Of special interest to me were the historical perspectives on two of Garden Conservancy’s ongoing projects: the Gardens of Alcatraz and the Gardens at Palmdale in Fremont, CA–both on my road trip wish list. We also got a video introduction to a new project they are calling the Garden Film Documentation program. Short films are being produced telling the stories of gardens which have been the focus of the Conservancy’s preservation efforts. So far two have been produced and you can see a trailer for the film on the John P. Humes Japanese Stroll Garden in Short Hills, NJ on the website. Check it out!

So much more to be seen at The Huntington than the small part I toured today–I always like to find out about the people behind these fabulous properties enjoyed by the public on a daily basis and I’ll try to do that before I return. I can see that each of the major themed gardens will be deserving of its own post. Reading about them beforehand helps me to not miss any of the high points because I’m caught up in the wonder of each new plant combination or fanciful garden structure.

Tomorrow I’m off to see the Virginia Robinson Gardens in Beverly Hills and hear Tim Lindsey speak on Re-Wilding Your Garden–focusing on creating a garden with plants for wildlife, pollinators and people. This is a garden I’ve been trying see for years and have no idea what to expect from this 6 acre property in the heart of the city. See you soon!

Is is fall yet?

~ queenofthedirt ~ 3 Comments
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A late summer Lilium speciosum album in the front garden

Fall can be sort of a moving target in California’s Central Valley. Some years we pull out our hoodies in mid-October and others find us Christmas tree shopping in shorts. We are not without seasons–just not sure when to expect them to change throughout the year!

Whenever it gets here, fall is my favorite season in the garden. It is certainly not the most attractive as many plants, even those not naturally winding down their seasons due to shorter days and longer nights, look pretty peaked from the ravages of the hot and dry summer. Fall is the season symbolizing another year of work well done in the garden with a little time for reflection, planning and rest on the horizon. Our short, relatively mild winters make attention to the garden in fall even more critical.

This year our spring was cooler, longer and wetter than average and the summer days in the triple digits were fewer than many years–all in all a summer worthy of rejoicing. That being said, as I write this post temps for the next few days range from 89° to 98° with a definite cooling trend into the 70s at week’s end. The last couple of weeks we have had cooler early mornings well suited to getting going on fall garden tasks and some light winds which seem to have made the mosquitoes less active–always a plus.

Last year every available gardening minute from September through the end of the year was devoted to the last phase of the front garden’s lawn removal/bed replanting effort. The back garden was left to fend for itself–roses were never pruned, perennials not cut back, winter annual weed pre-emergent never scattered, and humsy mulch never refreshed. I think you get the picture…

Like the 5 year old who feels neglected amidst the excitement of a new baby in the house, my back garden has both pouted and gone wild. It’s time to get back to a more normal rhythm for both gardens and see what can be refreshed (or just plain salvaged) in hopes that after a little winter’s nap it will reward me with another year of fresh foliage or bright blooms.

First on my hit list are the vigorous clumps of Viola ‘Royal Robe’ which have all but taken over the shade bed adjacent the back patio. Below you see some of the smaller clumps nestled up against Helleborus x hybridus ‘Double Queen’ and Geranium ‘Brookside’

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The hellebores can hold their own against this thug but many of the bed’s less substantial ground covers like the lime green foliaged Campanula ‘Dickson’s Gold’ are all but lost. Don’t get me wrong–I love the violets. I generally thin them drastically in the early fall as they are ready to reseed with the goal of keeping enough in the bed to enjoy the flowers without them turning into the playground bully. Without last year’s thinning, they reseeded prolifically and just about every open space in the long bed looked just like the above photo.

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It took me about 9 hours spread over several days to dig out every clump, large and small, figuring there was enough seed already dropped to have gracious plenty come back next year. Each one of the seed pods forming at the base of the plant contains dozens of seeds and I swear every single one germinates in this bed which stays relatively cool and moist. The clumps, even with the dirt shaken off the roots, filled almost four trash cans.

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Shade bed cleaned of violets!

I also trimmed back the sun scorched maidenhair ferns, cleaned up the iris foliage, trimmed off any hellebore foliage with snail damage and pulled off all but the freshest foliage from all the hardy geraniums. All that turned up soil resulting from the violet digging begged for a layer of enriching humus to be dug in. A light dusting of granular pre-emergent seemed warranted to minimize germination of any seeds churned up to the surface.

Dave did the heavy digging and lifting to remove two huge clumps of Dianella tasmanica ‘Variegata’ from behind the rocks of the pool waterfall. They had originally been planted flanking the rock work in 2011 but quickly proved to be incompatible with that full southern sun location. Absent any other place to put them I dug them in behind the waterfall where they got a little shade from the boulders. When I later added some climbing roses to the fence they provided a nice foliage contrast at the base of the climbers–even though I was really the only one who even knew they were there! Fast forward to 2019 and the clumps are so large I have lost all ability to even stand at the base of the roses (wedged up against the back of the waterfall!) to do routine maintenance…and the dianellas, commonly called flax lilies, are still in too much sun to have pretty foliage. The plan was to dig them out, divide and replant in shadier locations.

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No easy feat to lift this clump out over the rocks and other mature plants

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Dave moved the first one into the shade of the pavilion for me and I set to pulling it apart! This one yield over 60 divisions–plenty for me to replant in my yard and pass along to gardening friends. Much of the literature about dianella indicates that they can be invasive as they spread by underground runners. My guess is that they probably need to be in good rich and moist soil to become a pest. Although my clumps grew quite large over many years each was very compact. The striped foliage of this species makes a nice contrast in areas of predominantly green foliage. Flax lilies bear small clusters of starlike blue flowers, followed by bluish purple berries, on narrow stems held above the foliage–not terribly showy. In a shady area of the replanted front garden I have added a grouping of Dianella ‘BluTopia’ which is a hybrid of Dianella prunina ‘Utopia’ and Dianella caerulea ‘Cassa Blue’–it will be interesting to see how this cousin of ‘Variegata’ will perform in a moister, shadier area.

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Dianella ‘BluTopia’

Each of the back gardens beds in turn will get a little love over the next few weeks. Working early in the morning and in easily managed chunks of tasks I hope to get through everything needing attention by mid-October.

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This small poolside bed anchored by a ‘Purple Pony’ ornamental plum needs only a light deadheading of the pink Sunblaze® miniature roses and ground hugging purple Salvia ‘Gleneden’ PPAF. Several large clumps of Aristea ecklonii on the far side were groomed soon after their early summer blooms faded. They are aggressive reseeders and I have learned to remove the spent flower stems religiously after a few seasons of digging scores of volunteers on my hands and knees. Almost done here–I’ll be on to the next bed soon!

I hope you are all enjoying your almost fall gardens–whether you are blessed with actual autumn weather or are just in a fall state of mind.

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A nodding agapanthus bloom bids summer adieu

 

 

In a daze in Denver…I’ll take a seat at this table

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THE GARDEN OF KIRSTEN AND SCOTT HAMLING IN DENVER

A large and shady corner lot in the historic Montclair neighborhood of east Denver embraces a 1902 family home. First glimpses reveal broad green lawn with the home tucked quite far back on both sides of the lot.

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Time worn front walk flanked by perennials
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Fuchsia hanging baskets on the deep and protected front porch
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We are greeted by mimosas and bite-sized breakfast treats by the playhouse near the opening to the back garden
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Looking from the front/side lawns into the back garden

Landscape architect Wendy Booth of Ivy Street Design worked with the homeowners to transform their shallow back garden into distinct garden rooms with the goal of creating welcoming spaces for family and friends to gather. There is no back garden gate–significant shade is really that offers privacy from the lawns. It feels as if it is all one garden with structures and furnishing defining individual spaces.

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‘Fourth of July’ rose climbs the side of the home

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The addition of a substantial two sided brick fireplace creates living and dining spaces close to the home’s raised back porch. Multiple umbrellas add to the already shaded space and the rooms are decorated as if indoors. This is one of a very few gardens on this trip where I saw annuals used in any large numbers. The electric blue container of lobelia was one of a pair and drew my attention from the bus window.

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Great driftwood horse sculpture

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The star of this garden dining room is this one of a kind concrete topped table for 12–with a slightly more narrow chair it could probably seat 16 or 18. Homeowner Scott designed the table and had it poured in place. There is a shallow trough with a zinc liner down the center in which to float candles or arrange flowers (chill wine?). Underneath the table a tube allows for the trough to be drained. The Hamling’s table is set for today’s Fathers Day brunch. Scott joked with us that underneath the table is also their designated tornado shelter.

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An internet find–personalized water bottles
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The narrow nature of the area is evident from the view from the raised back porch
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Looking out from the brick patio into the parterre garden–formal in style but filled with casual billows of blooms
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Colorful moveable art
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French styled fountain anchors the parterre and echoes the wagon bloom palette
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Looking back toward the fireplace
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I came down from the porch on the wrong side right into the dog run/raised veg bed area and found these charming peonies amidst the tomato plants

There is a whole lot of living packed into this back garden and all within a comfortable distance from the house making it so much more likely to be used often. Its relatively easy accessibility from the home’s lawn areas makes it a great place to draw in your neighbors from their evening walk. Wrapped in blankets in front of the fire on a night with a bit of a chill or gathered at the huge table playing board games accompanied by wine and cheese–it all sounds great to me!

 

In a daze in Denver…lessons from a cocktail napkin

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THE GARDEN OF ROB PROCTOR AND DAVID MACKE IN DENVER

A few months ago my husband outlined the inspirational message he was to give at our youngest son’s wedding to his long-time love on a polka dotted cocktail napkin–you can actually see the napkin in his hand in the photos taken of him with the bride and groom at the altar. In the garden notes about Rob Proctor and David Macke’s phenomenal  garden, I learned that 25 years ago Rob drew a layout of the garden on a cocktail napkin  as he and David celebrated the closing on their new home. The cocktail napkin’s role in new beginnings and big decisions is starting to take on new meaning for me!

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Rob and David invited us to enter their back garden through their 1905 brick home which displays an eclectic collection of David’s antiques and Rob’s watercolors. Rob Proctor is part of Denver’s horticultural royalty. He is a past Director of Horticulture for Denver Botanic Gardens and has written sixteen gardening books on topics from cutting gardens to how to create beautiful gardens on a shoestring budget. Rob has written for the Denver Post and is the resident gardening expert for Denver KUSA-TV. He is also a noted botanic illustrator and watercolor artist. This garden has been featured in many books and magazines and is open annually in August (at its peak bloom) for the Proctor’s Garden tour which benefits a local nonprofit community-based animal shelter/humane society.

A Denver Garden Bloggers Fling would not be complete without a chance to see Rob’s garden. Caveats to this post which simply does not do the garden justice, even in its first few weeks of the season; you get the light you get based on the time of day we are scheduled to be in any given garden and MY photography skills can’t do much to alter that; we have about 35 minutes in any single garden to not just take it all in but also photograph it. If you are a YouTube viewer, there are multiple videos over several years of this garden, several including interviews with Rob. Especially engaging is a June 18, 2019 YouTube upload set to music by fellow Flinger Janet Davis who blogs at The Paintbox Garden–unfortunately my platform doesn’t support links to video but any of the videos can be found by Googling.  Your search engine will also offer you a series of Rob’s own video clips at http://www.9news.com on a variety of gardening topics. All of these are worth watching.

On with the show…

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The brick patio opens to a series of very long and lush perennial borders within a formal structure “walls” provided by brick columns and lathe fencing. The garden’s folly is the visual focus from the seating area and draws the eye to the into to the depths of the garden.

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Flower filled intimate seating spot just a step or two away from the kitchen door
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Turf plays the role of pathway between the borders
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The lathe supports vines and climbing roses, the columns offer another location for containers
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A spot to relax on the way to the herb garden

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The parterre herb garden as viewed from several angles. Again, Rob has used formal structure but let the plants fill it in a blowsy, live and let live fashion. The herb beds are actually sunk below grade to collect water in a technique employed by the Native Peoples which Rob describes as the way a waffle collects syrup.

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This climbing rose anchors the center of the parterre

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Cobalt cushioned seating along the fence line overlooking the herb garden
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A pair of potted clematis flank the loveseat

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The gravel allee is actually the old driveway, now transformed into a long border completely composed of pots. This is perhaps a good place to note that this garden is home to over 600 planted pots. that’s 6-0-0! They are small and large, tall and squat, mostly but not all blue or terra-cotta. Holy moly–I’m doing well to not let the ivy left behind in last year’s abandoned container croak over the winter…

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Rob and Dave snuck this red seating area in to see if we were paying attention
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Lots of crimson and chartreuse in these terra cotta pots
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A little peachier here

The next border over–they all extend from the back of the home sort of like tines from a fork–is quite shady due to the tree cover directly behind the herb parterre but chock full of emerging perennials. Pots of color are placed in the borders to add pops of interest at strategic spots.

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Succulents planted in hypertufa boxes rest on a wooden bench at the base of a large shade tree
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One type of pot, one type of plant= big impact
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Looking down the border

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This magnificent plant that is sited on both sides of the border at its sunnier end (look to the very end of the lawn strip in the next to last photo for the billowy clouds of white) was the subject of much interest to many of us–finally identified as Crambe cordifolia, sometimes referred to as giant sea kale. It sort of looks like airborne baby’s breath floating six feet in the air. Even in a smallish garden it could be used as the backdrop for other more colorful perennials and annuals.

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The white lathe folly at the end of the center border is filled a variety of containers potted up with succulents, ferns, tropicals and houseplants needing a little protection.

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Cobalt blue pots are again prominent, many with yellowy-chartreuse foliage
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Matched hanging baskets of a huge coral hued begonia flank the folly’s doorway
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Another cluster of blue pots are nestled at the base of a spiral staircase

Remembering that this garden is just now in its opening weeks of Denver’s relatively short growing season, I am not sure I can imagine all 600 of the pots bursting with blooms at the peak of the season.

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The central border is alive with bright and dark foliage colors and many blooms. While more is not yet quite blooming than is, the overall effect is staggering. Another plant drawing a bit of attention is this huge leafed perennial which is present is all the borders in various stages of maturity. Several Midwest gardeners recognized it right away and referred to it ask hogweed, cautioning unwitting novices like me not to touch it! David Macke identified it for us as Heracleum maximum, commonly called cow parsnip. It is a genus of about 60 species of perennial herbs in the carrot family. Apparently it can deliver a nasty rash if you handle it and then the affected areas are exposed to sunlight.

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The umbels on this cow parsnip tower least 8 feet in the air
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Another favorite in this sunny border Kashmir sage, Phlomis cashmeriana

The most Westerly border ends in an arbor leading to the vegetable garden which spans the entire back of the property, mostly shielded from the view of the more ornamental borders.

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A huge weigela is an explosion of blooms
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Clematis recta billows at the base of the arbor
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Things get a little wilder  as you approach the veggie area.
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A little potting up space
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Once again having structure and organization firmly in place allows for freedom within the planting beds
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The “waffle” scheme is repeated here, allowing valuable water to flow into the below grade planting square
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Each square of edibles has a terra cotta potted succulent centerpiece–art in its own right
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Malva sylvestris, zebra mallow snuggles up against the base of a bench
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Clary sage pops out of the gravel in abandon
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Creative succulent containers abound

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I am practically on a dead run from the far back veggies to the house as last call for the bus is made-fortunately I am not alone!

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Looking back to main patio from central border path
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Blue pots explode with pansies, succulents and more
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How could I have missed this patio water feature–hidden amongst the myriad of pots!
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Rob bids us good-bye

The lush back garden Rob and David have planted, nourished and nurtured over 25 years after its initial plan was rendered on a cocktail napkin was beautiful on June 18th, the day of my visit. I expect that each day of its season, while different, is equally as stunning. Layer upon layer of plants will come and go through out the borders, beds and pots, rewarding anyone who is lucky enough to spend even 35 minutes amongst them. The “bones” and fundamental framework planned out on that cocktail napkin have made it possible for diverse plant materials to flourish in both contrast and harmony with one another–bits of interesting chaos resting safely in the arms of the garden’s structure. The message David delivered to the soon-to-be newlyweds was one of building a framework of confidence in one another through caring and communication. The goal being a relationship in which both can flourish individually and as partners, in times of contrast and harmony, but always in a safe space. Didn’t think you could get all that on a cocktail napkin, did you? A huge thank you to Rob and David for their generosity in sharing their garden with us on this day.

 

 

In a daze near Denver…tough plants, easy smiles

~ queenofthedirt ~ 7 Comments

THE GARDEN OF JEAN MORGAN IN LOUISVILLE

Jean Morgan’s garden doesn’t take itself too seriously. She strives to offer food, water and refuge for butterflies in all their life stages (including the eating your plants to a naked stem phase) and rest plus a sip of water for her bird visitors within a native landscape that can get by when it needs to with virtually no supplemental water.

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A raucous clump of huge, bright orange poppies greeted us as we got off our bus just around the corner from Jean’s home

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Jean is standing at the ready to greet us but most of us have stopped to take in the shallow plant filled front yard which runs the length of her cottage.

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While there are quite a few permanent plantings, including this rose, the overwhelming sense of this front bed is that of masses of freely seeding wildflowers. Blue love-in-a-mist is everywhere, including cracks in the asphalt surface of the street. There are large colonies of both pink evening primrose and yellow sundrops–both of the genus Oenothera.  Although Jean has both natives and non-natives, she admits that in a conflict where one must go–the natives win every time.

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From the Denver postcards–this chocolate guardian angel watches over the yellow flowered Berlandiera lyrata, chocolate flower. The flower heads of this plants were used by native Americans to flavor their foods. Jean shares that passersby often pick up the Hershey’s wrappers she has used to highlight the plant’s fragrance and bring them to her with apologies for the actions of a careless litterer.

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Jean’s home is one of Louisville’s historic miner’s cabins. The left photo shows its original size and the right photo is of the miner who built the cabin. Jean has lived and gardened here since 1972 when her passion started with a few hens-and-chicks given to her by a neighbor.

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Jean’s love of found objects is obvious–especially those with a vintage Colorado feel
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Ants “mine” for crystal near a swath of cranesbill
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Colorado’s state cactus Echinocereus triglochiadiatus, or claret cup cactus
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Every nook and cranny has something growing out of it
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Stanleya pinnata or desert prince’s plume puts on a show of yellow blooms
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Jean identified this hardy geranium as the North American species G. fremontii AKA  G. caespitosum fremontii, or Fremont’s geranium 
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Bloggers are pretty much shoulder to shoulder in the rock garden between the cabin and its garage
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This old tub planted with succulents is called Barney Bazooka De Chomp III–I wonder what happened to I and II?
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The paths are narrow and there are few places to step without crushing some small vignette
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Jean IDs plants and answers questions–she has prepared reference sheets because she knows we’re going to want the names for everything
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The back garden’s focal point is a whimsical pond
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Bubbles the hippo peeks up from the water
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Tiny and tight succulents fill the rocky crevices
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Jean welcomes all to visit her garden, then come back again and again

Jean believes that every garden belongs to the gardener who tends and loves it. She clearly enjoys her garden every day and revels in seeing the birds and butterflies who make it their home. She is active in community causes including the preservation of other miner’s cabins in danger of demolition. Jean is also involved in annual Boulder County butterfly inventories conducted by Jan Chu, author of Butterflies of the Colorado Front Range. Her cabin and very personal outdoor space shines in a small, clearly aging neighborhood only a block from the railroad tracks–the only thing brighter I saw was her enthusiasm for sharing her garden with us.

 

 

 

 

Doing the West Coast whack…

~ queenofthedirt ~ 4 Comments

One of the most satisfying things about participating in the Garden Bloggers Fling the last several years has been the opportunity to meet gardeners from all over the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. We are all proud of what we grow but there is no denying that we all lament over what we just can’t get to perform well (or even stay alive til season’s end) given our region’s cultural conditions.

When I lived in the deep south our hydrangeas were big, blue and fabulous and spring days were awash in color from the winter’s remaining camellias, azaleas of all colors and blooming ornamental cherry trees. I could not, however, grow a decent rose that wasn’t covered in blackspot by the time it formed buds. At the Capitol Region Fling in 2017, gardeners with massed blooming perennials and annuals mourned their lack of gardenias as evergreen shrubs rather than annuals lost to cold each year. Clematis and peonies are always wept over by those of us whose fate they are not while I’m pretty sure they grow unattended in fields in the Midwest. A fellow blogger mooned over a single agapanthus in a Denver garden as if it was the second coming; in Southern California we grew those by the freeways. Don’t get me wrong–all of us have gotten a round peg in a square hole with enough effort but more and more gardeners are concentrating on growing well what grows best in their garden’s natural culture.

There is also a lot of time to cuss and discuss various the cultural practices we use to get the most from what we’ve got. In front of an amsonia standing very tall in a Denver garden I commented that I had planted one in my Georgia garden but could never get it not to flop. UK blogger Michelle Chapman asked, “Do you Chelsea chop?” I was momentarily without words. She went on to explain that cutting the amsonia, along with many other herbaceous perennials, back at a certain point to encourage branching would produce a sturdier plant less likely to flop. Michelle gardens in Chippenham, England and blogs at Veg Plotting. For her area that optimal spring cutback takes place around the time of the famed Chelsea Flower Show–hence it is called the Chelsea chop. As I enjoy a longer growing season, my perennials generally have been blooming for 2+ months by May when CFS takes place. My early spring cutback to encourage branching is more like early to mid-February but I have no equally descriptive name for it. My Central Valley’s commonly 8 month growing season does benefit from a mid-summer cutback of most herbaceous and woody perennials. After they take a brief rest, I am rewarded with another full bloom cycle which carries my garden through fall. I’ve decided I’m going to call my early July cutback the West Coast whack! There is always more than binds gardeners together than that separates them–we are pretty good world ambassadors, I think.

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Salvia ‘Mesa Azure’ is ubiquitous in my garden and so is rarely the center of any photo!

As we are spending next week in the cool of the Sierra Mountains and my plants are ready even if I am not, this is my week to whack. In years past, I have spent more time laboriously making the perfect cut on each stem but life has gotten too short for that and many of the twiggier plant groups like the Salvia greggii, of which I have many selections, seem to respond just as well with a less precision prune. Roses are getting another mass dead heading also–not much escapes this mid-summer madness.

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The iris is finished and the salvias whacked!

It will take me the rest of the week, working in the cooler early morning hours, to cut back the salvias, agastache, penstemon and shrub roses. Other perennials can be dead headed and tidied up as time permits. We’ll take a rest from the garden next week as the garden starts its summer afternoon nap.

 

In a daze near Denver…600 tons and what do you get?

~ queenofthedirt ~ 4 Comments

THE GARDEN OF TATIANA MAXWELL IN BOULDER

Six hundred tons is the tally for the Colorado sandstone used to build the walls, ponds and waterfalls in the garden of Tatiana Maxwell. This post will be photo rich–every time I went through the 75+ pictures I took of this beautiful and peaceful property trying to decide what I could eliminate…well, you get the idea!

The Maxwell home is on about 1/2 acre corner lot in the Old North Boulder neighborhood and was completed in 2010. Tatiana’s original vision for her garden was a more traditional English cottage garden but brainstorming with a friend, Thea Alvin of myEarthwork and local permaculturalist Marco Lam opened her eyes to more possibilities. Even after reading a bit about permaculture I am still not sure what its principles are but here’s how I’m going to sum it up: using perfect plants for the climate and only what works in the local environment and cultural conditions rather than starting your design process with the plants you want to use and trying to adapt your site and cultural habits to them.

We started our ramble on the driveway. I will admit I had been in the garden for almost 30 minutes before I realized there actually was a front door. I thought she had no back garden even as I was actually already in it. Let’s just walk right up the driveway which runs from street to property line near the back of one side of the lot.

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A sunny raised veggie bed is the front garden for the Maxwell guest house
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Guest house patio
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Attached to the guest house is Tatiana’s greenhouse/sauna
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More refuge than potting up spot-the sauna is in the back left corner
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This beautiful swing is one of many pieces of Indonesian influence throughout
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A little succulent color brightens up the sauna’s exterior wall

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Between the guest house/greenhouse and the fenced vegetable garden is the family’s handy bike storage. Tatiana’s plan was to create an urban oasis where she would be “cocooned in nature.”

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The two vegetable gardens produce a broad array of vegetables through three seasons. There are also fruit trees and berry bushes plus a couple of fig trees which live in the greenhouse.

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Catmint softens the edge where the stacked stone wall meets the gravel floor for the strip west of the driveway
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Raised beds have drip irrigation and pots for color–warm season veggie gardening is just getting started here
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A cold frame provides space to start seeds earlier than they could be directly sown
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Colorful perennials massed at the north end fill in at the feet of trellised vines

The garage is tucked on the east side of the driveway with a detached studio then nestled between the house and the driveway, a narrow walkway separating the two. As with the greenhouse and gardens no detail was spared on this charming little building.

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These galvanized gutters are like wall art

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This colorful trio lights adds interest to a very narrow planting space between the studio and the driveway. I believe the upper left is a contorted filbert, Corylus avellana ‘Red Majestic’; upper right is one of the lime leafed barberries; below them is a red hot poker plant.

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The front door of the studio is protected by a unique glass and iron awning. The door frame has this southwestern influenced tile work and the same rustic wood found on the window frames.

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A small walkway and ample tree cover makes it hard to distinguish the studio from the house
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A purple clematis scrambles up the gutter

Yes, it’s true that I’ve been basically hanging out on the driveway til now. Let’s dive deep into the garden!

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Approaching the garden secret entrance from the driveway–you just know you want to be in there!
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This unbelievable rock pond is a natural watering hole for pollinators
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Lots of plantings, like this Euphorbia, soften the junction of the driveway surface and the massive rock walls

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Neither the first nor the last clematis envy I experienced in Colorado
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We’re going in!
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A quick left turn allows visitors to step underneath the huge slab of rock forming the base of the waterfall
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Stepping out into a path which circles the pond offers a different perspective of the greenhouse…
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…and a up-close view of the pond’s impressive rock structure, depth and waterfall
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Back through the rock tunnel and I step out into the expanse of the garden

Tatiana Maxwell wanted to have a garden space in which she could host events for causes she is passionate about and the broad lawn provides ample space several hundred people to be seated.

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Red rose climbing up the side of the pond wall
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Another contorted filbert–‘Harrry Lauder’s Walking Stick’

The entire south side of the lot is enclosed with a massive very high stacked stone wall which turns the corners on both the east and west sides, allowing for several elevations of planting places on the interior of the walls. These beds are lushly panted with a variety of foliage colors, shapes, sizes and textures.

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A fringe tree in bloom

I literally stood mid-lawn and turned 180 degrees right to left to photograph the interior borders. They are well kept but not fussy–looks to me like a gardener who likes to be out in her garden snipping and picking here and there.

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Looking back toward the home, a shady patio is a wonderful place from which to observe the garden goings on
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Iron hardware supports the arbor
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Rustic bell shaped light fixtures on both the home and studio
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Looking back at the pond
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Looking back at the patio from the east lawn

It was not until I had walked out far enough to take this photo that I recognized that this patio was not the front of the home–that we had actually entered at the back of the property.

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Around the corner from the driveway and looking back into the garden–really the only side open to street view
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Found the front door!
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Tatiana’s green roof through the tree branches

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I love this somewhat understated front entrance into a home which I’m sure is very large and beautifully appointed. It says to me that this home is about Tatiana’s connection to her family, garden, neighbors and friends rather than that she needs a “grand entrance” to make a statement about who she is to those who don’t know her. Again, old world and international details set the tone.

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Lovely tracery of the vine on the stucco wall
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Just north of the front door is an almost hidden entrance to a walled secret garden
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Subtle water sounds
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Bold Indonesian lanterns flank French doors leading to? I would want it to be the master bedroom!
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A mix of colorful foliage
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These steps make a statement–I think they are basement access

It’s time to walk back to our buses, still parked by the driveway. Now I get to see what I would have normally taken in first on any garden tour–the street view. Behind its stacked sandstone walls, Tatiana’s home is virtually invisible except for a the space open to the lawn on the east side.

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The raised beds resume and round the corner
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The set back raised beds in front of the higher walls result in three planting levels–this is the point where the two streets of the corner lot meet
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Flowering trees, shrubs and perennials fill all levels–this lemon yellow pine leafed penstemon contrasts brightly with the catmint and lily-of the-Nile
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Corner of the street and the driveway–I’ve come full circle (square?)

I found both this home and its garden very appealing. I have never seen so much rock in any other garden anywhere but many lush plantings soften it throughout. Equally suited to a young family or empty-nesters, this property could meet most everyone’s desire’s for ornamentals and edibles plus a wide swathe of lawn. Gardens that look so casually beautiful are not without maintenance but the permaculture nature lends itself to the need for less water, less fertilizer and lower energy requirements. Every garden requires maintenance and I think working in this one would be a great pleasure.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In a daze near Denver…art and experimentation

~ queenofthedirt ~ 9 Comments

THE GARDEN OF CAROL AND RANDY SHINN IN FT. COLLINS

Newcomers in 2006 to the Front Range, Carol and Randy Shinn retired to Ft. Collins and have been experimenting in their garden ever since. Both are artistic by nature, Carol in the visual arts and Randy in musical composition. It was not until the next day that I became aware that this was the garden of THE Carol Shinn–a rock star in the art quilting world who is internationally known for her photo-based free motion machine stitched images.

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Their new Colorado home came with an outdated lawn, uninteresting flower borders and juniper everywhere, including block the front windows. The new garden has a small puddle of lawn and now the perennials, conifers and collection of ground covers winding through and tucked amongst the rock paths and large rock outcroppings are the stars of the show.

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A small stream bed runs left to right under the rock path
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Bearded iris are an important feature in the garden
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View from the driveway
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View from the street side
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View from the street side near the property line
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Wow!
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The same poppies from a different vantage point
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Color and textures weave through the diverse plant materials
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Greeting visitors near the front door
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One of several peonies in the garden–this one softens the front walk

Rock gardening has become Carol’s passion after adding the first granite and sandstone boulders to anchor her developing beds. She says the growth of the garden has been organic rather than that of a rigid structure based on a plan. Her experimentation with a bed of horizontal layers of sandstone, then later a bed of vertical basalt has cemented her love of crevice gardening–no pun intended.

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The largest of the crevice gardens as viewed from several angles.

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Another crevice garden with a bright lavender aster peeking out
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A little wider view of that crevice garden

All of the crevice gardens are anchored with conifers which will, in time, provide more vertical interest. A wide variety of alpine ground covers and perennials are tucked in all the crevices. Colorado natives make their presence known everywhere. So much of this plant material is unfamiliar to me but I’m sure if I’d had a decent alpine/steppe plant reference book I could make sense of it. This was not the only garden we visited that compelled me to text my husband the message, “I need more rocks!”–by the end of the Fling I was texting simply, “What I said before, DITTO.”

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This most recently planted crevice garden was designed by Kenton Seton, a rising star in this gardening style. Along with this bed Carol is developing a collection of miniature conifers. Central California gardeners tend to have conifer lust and so it’s unimaginable to me being able to grow both full-sized and miniature selections–other than a few pines, our dry air just crisps most conifers to brown sticks.

Carol’s gardening goals have grown organically also. Their pick of Ft. Collins as their retirement home was, in part, due to the belief that water was more plentiful here than other nearby cities. Her original garden goal was to create the beautiful and lush perennial garden we all covet in magazines and garden catalogs. Many of her original plantings, including a huge collection of daylilies from Randy’s father, remain but are gradually being replaced as needed with more xeric plants.

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A rose scrambles over an arbor topped gate leading into the back garden
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This beautiful burgundy clematis is tucked in the corner where the fence meets the house
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A small flowered white climbing rose distracts from the basement window well

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A narrow brick path leads into the back garden which has more traditional elements, especially in the shaded areas like this one along the fence line. Hostas, hardy geraniums and hellebores are seen here.

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On the opposite side of the path, creative pots combined with diverse foliage colors light up the shade.

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Look back down the garden path

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As the tree cover gives way to open sky another arch forms the perfect frame for the Shinn’s rusted iron water feature.

This island of plantings buffer the house from the lawn and sunnier garden areas.

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In the open and sunny center, conifers and sun loving perennials thrive. Multiple paths using a variety of hardscape materials give the garden floor interest and easy access to working beds many vantage points.

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A crevice garden in the works

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A vegetable garden occupies the back corner of the garden, mostly obscured from the view from the house and main patio area.

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The rose bed
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Runaway chives in the rose bed

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This large raised bed runs almost the length of the back of the house, allowing for trees and shrubs to become garden walls. We had a sudden rainstorm a few minutes after this photo was taken and I was sitting at the far end where you can see fellow blogger Noelle already resting–we did not get a drop of rain through the tree cover while other standing on the back patio were soaked.

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The same bed as viewed from the sunny lawn side
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Stately bearded iris in full bloom
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The backside of the same bed is adjacent the patio and perfect siting for this subdued pond

This garden is the one of the best looking works in progress I have ever seen. There is tremendous plant diversity–running the gamut from peonies to cacti and everything in between. It all is working well together supported by an eclectic group of year round structural elements including a diverse selections of conifers and a few deciduous trees.

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The stress that goes along with making your garden ready for a tour was not borne by this little copper haired neighbor–a budding entrepreneur who had set up a lemonade stand (plus cookies) hoping for thirsty garden bloggers. We gave her lots of business and I’m sure she was sad to see us go!