Garden Rant

Wow!

During a visit to my hometown of Lockport, N.Y., a place I very rarely set foot in, though it's only 40 minutes away, I noticed that hydrangea heaven seemed to have set up shop on the very block where I grew up.

Oh, yes, I'm sure you'll all say stuff like "Oh, yeah, I had that, but I got sick of it and pulled it out," or "We treat those as weeds where I live," but I adore hydrangeas and would love to have 2 or 3 of these voluptuous beauties on my property. I wonder how they get them to grow that way? I suppose by trimming, but then how do the trunks get so thick? I don't know the cultivar (PG types?), and have rarely seen the shrub treated this way. Except on this street. It was late and I didn't have time to closely examine these, or to question their owners.

Everything I wanted to know about Herbaceous Perennial Plants and how you, too, can have a copy

Whenever I get one of these big encyclopedic plant books, I invariably turn to an entry for a plant I know well. And then I turn to the entries for plants I'm confused about. And then I turn to an entry for a totally obscure plant I'€™m sure they won'€™t have.

Does Allan Armitage'€™s Herbaceous Perennial Plants pass the test? Yes—pretty much. I haven'€™t begun to plumb the depths of this 1k-plus-page encyclopedia, but I look forward to avidly reading the whole damn thing.

First test: I really needed to know the difference between helianthus, heliopsis, and helenium. Really. Although photos are grouped in signatures, rather than appearing on every page, the entries are all next to each other. I left the section feeling greatly enriched. Herbaceous Perennial Plants passes the he-he-he test with flying colors.Next: I had to decide: did I want to plant echinops or eryngium? After reading both entries thoroughly, I'€™m still not sure. There is an eryngium giganteum that gets to 4 feet, but I'€™m not sure I can find it.

Second, is boehmeria in here? No, not that I can see, unless the botanical name is changed. However, flipping through, I found tons of other plants I'm eager to acquire.

Finally, just turning the pages at random, what'€™s the grossest or weirdest plant name? Early days, but I'€™m gonna go with blechnum.

Enough with my silliness. Wouldn'€™t you love to have a copy of Herbaceous Perennial Plants for your very own? Here's what you do: answer these 3 questions correctly. In deference to our West Coast readers, I will close this contest at 6 p.m. EST and draw from the correct comments. Two correct comments will win. Got it? Good.

The genus Gaillardia encompasses some wonderful native species. Where did Gaillardia get its name?

Eupatorium perfoliatum is often known as boneset; from where did that name come?

From where did the name Annabelle hydrangea come?

Answer them in comments, and I'€™ll pick 2 winners at 6 p.m. EST.

If I don'€™t get correct answers, I'€™ll just pick from comments.

Thanks for playing!

NEW RULES. Since the correct answers have been posted, I am giving one to Carol, and for the other one I will simply choose/draw from comments at 3 EST.

THE WINNER of the second book is Yolana, chosen from a random drawing. Thanks for playing and for the interesting comments. And if you didn't win, I guarantee that this book is worth picking up.

Law enforcement and the lawn - the next installment

Haven't enough local governments been embarrassed by news stories ridiculing their enforcement of outdated weed control laws?  For the powers that be in Lansdale, PA, I guess not.

Thanks to Siobhan Nehin for the tip.

Is this how the Left sees gardeners?

I stumbled upon a leftie website called Irregular Times, which has a section on "Gardening from the Underground," titled Irregular Growth. I suppose that's a good thing, but read the introduction: 

Gardening - when one hears the word one thinks of old people: retired couples with nothing to do, aged devotees of Martha Stewart, or rich, matriarchal wives jealously guarding access to their garden and gossip clubs. Like so many other traditional domestic activities, gardening often feels like a relic, a holdover from a past of little relevance to the electronic, simulated, placeless world of today.

The gardens that we see on television and read about in newspapers and magazines reflect the ludicrous mismatch between the literal earthiness of gardening and the desires for perfection that have emerged as a part of our virtual culture. These gardens might as well be experienced on a computer monitor. They are completely managed, with no surprises. They are without depth, texture, and odor, separated from the environment around them. They are to nature what the Epcot Center is to culture.

Irregular Growth rejects the idea of gardens as museums. In a world in which consumerism is equated with virtue, gardening has the potential to become a subversive art. These pages are centered around the effort to realize that potential, reacquainting people with their humanity through a symbolic immersion in the natural world.

Come grow with us.

Where to start!  Maybe with the description of gardeners, with "old", "retired, "aged" and "gossip" all in the same sentence.  And is YOUR garden ludicrous, perfect, completely managed, with no surprises,  without depth, texture and odor, an Epcot Center Museum?

And turning to the articles themselves, it's a weird little collection that I read so you don't have to.  Just one quote, though, on weeds:

Weeds help a garden seem integrated into the landscape that surrounds it. Weeds remind a garden viewer that a flower bed is located in a particular place with a natural community of plants. Unlike the artificially perfect curves of the trendy mulched flower beds, the curves created by weeds make sense within a landscape. Weeds follow the terrain, living in great sweeps with borders defined by the rise and fall of the land and the natural distribution of nutrients and soil texture. Weeds always make sense where they grow. Their appearance is never contrived.

Yeah, down with trendy mulched flower beds!

The obvious question is who ARE these people, so I wrote to ask- there being no About page - and was told that "Some of the people who post to our site don't want to have their political writings interfere with their day jobs (which unfortunately can happen)."

Wow, if people are being fired for their positions on flower beds, we want to know!  We're bloggers, after all, risking our livelihoods every day to take positions on these defining issues.

Photo by Michael Krinkle via iStock, where it's filed with the tag "active senior".

I'm Gonna Hire a Wino to Decorate Our Garden

An English couple, irritated by the new smoking ban in pubs, has decided to set up their own bar at the foot of their garden, according to news reports.  They call it Beach Hut Number Three (the town of Cleethorpes already has a Beach Hut Number One and Two), and because they don't charge for the liquor, they claim that their venture is entirely legal.  They just buy a keg, put out a donations jar, and start pouring.  According to their beer supplier:

"There are a lot more people buying off the internet now. Our barrels are up to £50 cheaper than the breweries, so we are saving people money. There is a trend towards people setting up their own bars. We provide them with a range of 1,500 wines and can do parties and provide staff.

This little venture has saved them over £5,000 in bar bills, the couple claims.  (Note to self:  Never add up annual bar bill, or annual garden bill, for that matter).

How I envy Brits and their pub culture. At the end of the day, I'm still at my damn computer, typing away, while they are out at the pub with their friends. This isn't just a wistful American stereotype, either--I was in England last year, staying with actual British friends, and it was clear that our evening pub visits weren't just in our honor--they really did spend their evenings hanging out and chatting with their friends.    To do all that and be in the garden?  All the better, even if the primary motivation is to be able to smoke.

Now local officials are snooping around to see if they can put a stop to this unruly behavior. We'll keep you posted on further developments, but meanwhile, watch the video here.

And speaking of videos, this one is not much to watch, but damn, doesn't this song get your toes a-tappin? Happy Friday, folks.

More on Mass Hort

More news on the situation at Mass Hort: 

One of the commenters on our original post was an 18 year-old college student who is out $3500 that he had hoped to use for tuition this fall.  He's gotten some coverage locally, and the Boston Globe has picked up the story, reporting that the group is "reorganizing its finances and expects to start sending out checks to vendors by the end of next month."  To raise funds, the article reports, Mass Hort may " sell off some of its $8 million in assets, which includes books, stocks, and bonds."  It will probably take a while to straighten out the mess--apparently the group didn't file its 2007 tax returns, suggesting bigger problems than a low bank balance.

You Say Aster, I Say Symphiotrichum

Great piece in the San Francisco Chronicle from Friends of Rant Ron Sullivan and Joe Eaton. Two beloved California plants, Zauschneria californica (California fuchsia) and the native California aster, have been given new names in light of genetic analysis by those crazy botanists at the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group. It was inevitable that the old way of classifying plants--by peering closely at their anatomical features and deducing their relationships to other plants--would give way to DNA analysis.  Now it turns out that any number of plants that look alike are not related at all, and plants that don't appear to have much in common are actually cousins.

But damn those name changes.  I'm not even going to try to keep up.  I never did get around to figuring out how to pronounce "zauschneria"--I just buy it and stick it in the ground.  Now that it's called Epilobium canum, not much will change.  Search.  Buy. Plant. 

If you need the detail—a talk with Allan Armitage

Have you ever felt completely out of your depth while talking to a celebrity, someone you admire, or some expert in a specialized field? Sure you have—and I was not unusual in feeling a bit intimidated while talking to perennial expert Allan Armitage for this short interview. Even as I admit this, however, I must also stress the importance of the amateur interviewing—and challenging—the expert. In the gardening press, I see a lot of reporting of what the experts say, and not as much probing discussion of those opinions. That’s where blogs like this come in. We report—and opine—but your comments provide the most important dimension.

All this is by way of preamble for a talk I recently had with Armitage about his new book, the third revision of Herbaceous Perennial Plants. First published in 1989, this book is a perennial bible, the go-to for many serious gardeners. I was thrilled when this tome landed on my front stoop. It’s huge—1108 pages, and full of info, drawings, and photographs of plants. I love a big book: between the OED and myriad sets of Proust, Dickens, and Scott our bookshelves are filled—we’ve even read some of them.

Here’s what I asked Armitage about Herbaceous Perennial Plants, and here’s what he said. Keep in mind: we’ll want to know what you think!

How do you imagine the ordinary gardener using this book?

I’ve written other books that are aimed at people like my daughter—a young mother who doesn’t care much about gardening but wants a good-looking yard. Armitage’s Garden Perennials would be such a book. This [Herbaceous Perennial Plants] is a reference book aimed at someone who really loves gardening. People who really need the detail. But it’s also a fun read. The introduction is my favorite part; if you read nothing else, read those first few pages.

What’s exciting to you about the additions you’ve made since the 1997 edition?

We live in a cultivar world now. If you really want your socks knocked off (or to be nauseous), look at heuchera cultivars. But that’s what makes it so much fun. There are also many more native genera to discuss. Like the 1997 book, the revision is very inclusive. I also talk about what’s new, but even so, it could have been 500 pages longer. It’s no longer possible to talk about all the hosta or daylily cultivars. I refer people to the societies.

What seemingly “ordinary” plants do you think deserve more attention?

The daisies—rudbeckia, coreopsis, asters (which have all but disappeared from the palette), helianthus, and the old-fashioned galliardas.

What do you see happening in the field from where you sit?

LA's Community Garden Wins Reprieve

I just received an ecstatic email from filmmaker Scott Hamilton Kennedy with some good news about the 14-acre community garden he documented in "The Garden" (winner of the Silver Doc's top prize this year).  He wrote:  "Another amazing underdog victory for the farmers!!  It's not over yet!"  Seems they won a one-year delay while an environmental impact report is prepared for the proposed warehouse (despite the warehouse company's $1.3 million in carefully targeted political contributions).  The public's been speaking up in protest, en masse.

Here's a press report. 

Sustainable Gardening in Florida Winners Are...

Ginny Stibolt thanks everyone who submitted their photo choices and reports that her computer's random selection feature chose Christopher C NC and Robin Haglund to win copies of her forthcoming book Sustainable Gardening for Florida. Congrats!  And here are the photos Ginny and her editors have selected, with your help.

Golf: Will it ever be green?

Golf courses started out so rustic, so much a part of nature, you have to wonder how they came to be the strange and toxic places we know them to be today. Back in Scotland where golf began there were no greens, tees, or fairways, just "linkslands", that grassy, hilly land running through seaside dunes. Still today the Old Course at St. Andrew’s has much longer grass than American courses.

Speaking of miniature cows

Spotted recently in Ketchum, Idaho:  three miniature cows.

They're not much bigger than a dog.

How I would love to have a little cow of my very own.

Just look at those faces.

Let's all get cows, shall we?

MWG Seeks Lurie Garden for Discreet Chicago Encounters, Possibly More?

You:  World-class urban garden designed by Dutch naturalistic gardener Piet Oudolf. 

Me:  Disorganized and distracted California gardener who longs to cultivate effortlessly cool wildness.

If you are rangy, weedy, and overgrown, but with a hip, urban sensibility, you may be the garden I'm looking for.  Prickly seed pods, tough root systems, and muscular stems a plus.  Must be sophisticated enough for jazz on warm summer nights, but rough-and tumble enough to take the heat and the wicked cold.

I'm tired of pampered annuals that disappear the morning after and never call again. My ideal garden knows what it wants and isn't afraid to go out and get it. I'm looking for plants that don't seek anyone else's approval and have the confidence to stand tall all year, even after they've gone to seed.

Must love wildlife. Must hate plant tags; alternative forms of signage a plus.

If this sounds like you, meet me in Chicago's Millennium Park around sunset.  No phone calls, please--my regular garden thinks I'm out of town on business.  Discretion appreciated.  You won't be sorry.

Gardening for guys, brought to you by Esquire

Can my lawn attract women?

How do I build a shrub wall?

How should I landscape around my grill?

It’s been brought to my attention by Jim/Art of Gardening that a new column in Esquire written by Landscape Guild co-founder Frank Contey answers questions from male readers who, having finished looking at sexy photos of Kate Beckinsale or Sienna Miller, are ready to consider their gardening dilemmas.

It’s very basic and pretty much assumes a newbie audience, but I was interested in “How to Use Your Lawn to Get a Date.” Want to know which plant will attract women? Click to find out.

Victorian magnificence—and decay

It’s as though the entire place was deserted in 1908 and only the ghosts were left to take care of the plants. My husband and I visited the Sonnenberg gardens at Canandaigua, NY yesterday. The experience was both charming and disturbing. Don’t get me wrong—I love Victorian botanical gardens, in all their artificiality and forced exoticism. That’s my thing. And I adore it.

But Sonnenberg is a restoration in progress. As of now, that progress has not extended to much of the glasshouse area and it is only beginning to become evident in the exterior gardens. The water courses are silent now (soon to be reinvigorated), but the Japanese garden (above) is gorgeous and extensive. A few of the formal areas near the mansion—the summer house of the Thompson family, who gave us this place—are also very nearly as they would have been back in the day. Philanthropist Mary Thompson was assisted by Ernest Bowditch and John Handrahan in designing all this. There are 11 garden areas. But in many, many ways, this place is a mess. And that’s what I love about it.

Walking through the greenhouses, I was struck by the contrasting elements: thriving tropicals, succulents, and orchids; original yellowing labels from decades ago; remnants of discarded statuary; and, most disturbingly, a prevalent aroma of decay. I almost expected to find Miss Havisham lurking behind a palm.

If you live around here, do visit. Otherwise, support your local botanical gardens. They clearly need it.

Just in time - garden-size cattle

The London Times reports that German shepherd-sized Dexter cattle, the "world’s most efficient, cutest and tastiest cows”, are selling like hotcakes.  Though diminutive, one Dexter will produce 16 pints of milk a day that can be drunk unpasteurized, and it'll keep your lawn mowed, too.  And their calves are nifty as family pets... until they're sent off to slaughter at the age of two.

See, I just don't GET how kids can deal with that.  But then I'm suburban-grown myself.

Thanks to Christopher for the tip.  Photo credit.

Btw, there's a timely but thoroughly off-topic post on my blog called "How Joe Biden Treats the Help".

Garden Fairies - Counterculture Garden Clubbers of W. Florida

The Dirt Divas of Austin are doing it - helping each other out in their gardens - and the Garden Fairies of greater St. Pete, Florida are, too.  But the 420 Fairies aren't just gardeners but artists, too, who use their creative energies to transform not just their own gardens but sites in their community - schools, daycare centers, parks in need of invasive plant removal and restoration plantings. Their Artistic Garden tour raised $8,000 to endow a community garden.  And they manage to do all this - and have a blast doing it - while avoiding the usual unpleasantness that traditional garden clubs are known for.  They have no cliques, no heirarchy, and no meetings, with all decisions being made via email.  My kind of club!  And just look at their domain name: We Dig Doin It.com.  Their only rule is that is members help out on 3 member gardens before their own gardens are targeted for help.

And what about the men, you might ask?  Men were included at first but now it's all women, and not because of a male reluctance to be called fairies (they were designated "Big Kahunas"), but the vibe of the group turned out to be artsy, fun, and thoroughly female. 

The group was started a decade ago by Siobhan Nehin, landscape designer, artist, muralist, gardening activist, former art director in the advertising world and famed windsurfer.  I heard from Siobhan lately because as a native of Buffalo, former boss of Jim (Art of Gardening) in the ad world, and visitor to Elizabeth's garden at the recent GardenWalk, she'd heard about GardenRant and sent us a shout.   

I managed to talk Siohbon in from her wind-surfing this week long enough for a fun interview - so much fun that I want to move there, join the Fairies, be Siohbon's new best friend, and take up windsurfing.  I'm barely kidding.

I confess to asking her one impertinent question:  How are the Garden Fairies different from the Red Hat Ladies?" and she responded, "They like to lunch; we like to dig," and followed up with a meatier answer in an email:

Mature women get quite a lift from communing with each other. It's part of the reason why the Red Hat Ladies have been so successful.  But I heard a report on NPR a while ago that modern women are lacking an essential part of our core nature - doing things together. 

Amen to that.  Now enjoy a few more photos below the jump.  The photo above shows the Garden Fairies professional group, with Siobhan on the far left.

Am I Just An Easy Mark?

Every year, I pass this hibiscus on my neighbor's hellstrip. And every year, I am stopped dead in my tracks by it. Zowie, that is one impressive perennial.

I have had zero luck with swamp mallows myself. The neighbor, who appears to do no other gardening besides pampering a couple of these, tells me he puts blankets over them in the winter when they're young. I believe this is the horticultural equivalent of placing a fur coat on the shoulders of a flashy young blonde.

A Hedge, A Statue, and 30 'Hail Marys'

This week the New York Times had an interesting story about a cathedral being built in Oakland, CA that includes a garden for the victims of sexual abuse by priests. The garden was the brainchild of two women who were raped as children. However, other people see the garden as an empty gesture.

Any good rehab hospital will tell you that gardens are indeed therapeutic. Though this one sounds a little conceptual and under-flowered, it might actually make somebody feel better.

However, given the unbelievable range, scope, number, and cruelty of the crimes against children committed by Catholic priests, somehow I feel a bigger garden-related gesture might be in order. A church that can afford a $660 million settlement with victims in Los Angeles alone, has very, very deep pockets indeed. I'd say, sell the Vatican and every doodad in it and then fund sustainable farming programs to ensure that no African child ever goes hungry again. That would be a first step.

Food for Thought

A Manhattan farmers market, 1895.