Serenity in the Garden

Lamb's Ear  One of my assignments to my graduate students in the landscape design program at Columbia University was to take a  paragraph  from the book, ' The Hidden Dimension' by Edward T. Hall and share a personal experience related to the topic of the selected excerpt. 'The Hidden Dimension' is a time honored classic on the role of spatial understanding in  culture . The following is an essay that the talented designer,  Yuliya Bellinger, wrote. I think it is so lovely and wanted to share it with you. Simple is beautiful.   TEXTURE in the Garden By Yuliya Bellinger “Texture, about which I have said very little, is appraised and appreciated almost entirely by touch, even when it is visually presented. With few exceptions …it is the memory of tactile experiences that enable us to appreciate texture. So far, only a few designers have paid much attention to the importance of texture and its use in architecture is largely haphazard and inf

Are you feeling a little down? depressed? Well here is a way to fix that -  go out and plant something... Studies have found that an hour of gardening a day reduces the risk of heart disease and stroke and increases bone density more efficiently than aerobics or swimming! In fact, even looking at nature can result in a drop in blood pressure within five minutes and lower our stress hormones. One 16-year study in Australia revealed that those who did daily gardening even cut their risk of getting dementia in later life.    (Gardening boosts endorphins, the body’s good-mood chemicals. Personally, my theory is that we need the sunlight on our pineal gland and this can delay dementia, but I have no proof, its just a 'knowing') Here is a lovely story from  Timesonline United Kingdom,  dated March 27, 2010 "...Jane Robertson was earning a small fortune in the pressured world of derivatives markets when she had a breakdown at the age of 27. A spell

This has nothing to do with garden design and everything to do with garden design. (said the Cheshire Cat) It is one of my favorite 'how to live well' articles. I agree with everything he says! Milton Glaser is a giant in the graphic design art world. And now, after reading this,  I know he is a very wise man. I must share.  His designs include the I ♥ NY logo, the psychedelic Bob Dylan poster, the Brooklyn Brewery logo. He founded New York Magazine with Clay Felker in 1968. And he went to my high school, High School of Music and Art. The artwork shown here was done by Milton Glaser. Go to the  Milton Glaser  website for more essays and insights .  Ten Things I Have Learned by Milton Glaser Part of AIGA Talk in London     November 22, 2001 1 YOU CAN ONLY WORK FOR PEOPLE THAT YOU LIKE. This is a curious rule and it took me a long time to learn because in fact at the beginning of my practice I felt the opposite. Professionalism required that you didn’t p

Sanguisorba candensis - photo by Jan Johnsen Do you have a slightly wet piece of ground? American Burnet ( Sanguisorba canadensis) is an  under-appreciated native perennial plant that might work for you! It is a fall bloomer that is still sporting its spikes of white fuzzy flowers in mid-October.  American Burnet by Stefan Bloodworth  Also called  Canadian Burnet, i t is common in the Eastern US and it is a large, graceful plant that is  native to swamps and bogs but has a high degree of drought tole rance.  It begins to bloom in  August  and continues through the  fall.    It grows between 3 ft and 4 ft tall and is hardy from Zone 3 - 7.  sanguisorba canadensis  by Thomas Muller This plant is clump-forming and spreads through rhizomes. The abundant spikes of bottlebrush-like flowers attract bees and looks especially lovely on the edges of ponds and banks of streams.  It looks great next to other  tall autumn performers such as Helianthus 'Lemon Queen'.

I must admit I first discovered  Drumstick Allium  when I could not find any other allium bulb to buy... It was late fall and I had waited too long to buy the popular Globemaster Alliums... What to DO? I bought the Drumstick bulbs and was thrilled at the result. These purplish - red blooms are small - 1" -and oval shaped.  They bloom in my part of the world in June- July  atop wiry 24" - 30" tall stems and wave in the breeze... They make a superb cut flower (which you can dry to be an 'everlasting').   THEY ARE DEER RESISTANT.   Drumstick Allium bouquet - Martha Stewart Photo Drumstick Alliums look fantastic tucked in the early summer flower border...You can add these small bulbs easily in the fall around clumps of established perennials such as Globe Thistle ( a great combo) Artemesia, Yarrow, Nepeta and Agastache.  They peek out around these plants and are a delightful addition that come back eve

Mexican Salvia - Vermilion Bluffs®   Do you want Hummngbirds to live in your garden next year?  Well, hummingbirds love red and they love salvia flowers. So next spring plant the hardy  Vermilion Bluffs® Mexican Sage ( Salvia darcyi 'Pscarl').   This 4 foot tall, easy to grow, perennial is a show stopper with its brilliant scarlet flowers that  are borne on 3 foot erect spires from July to October.  Not many garden perennials can boast this length of blooming season.   The foliage and stems are very aromatic.  After frost, the leaves die to the ground and then return in spring.  Vermillion Blluffs Mexican Sage from Plant Select - click here Place it in a sunny area or in containers in loamy s oil with  good drainage. When its starts blooming the red color and sweet nectar in the bright flowers will brin g hummingbirds to your yard. Its underground runners form a tough mat that blocks weeds. Vermillion Bluffs is a registered trademark of Plant Select.

"Many gardeners will agree that hand-weeding is not the terrible drudgery that it is often made out to be. Some people find in it a kind of soothing monotony.  It leaves their minds free to develop the plot for their next novel or to perfect the brilliant repartee with which they should have encountered a relative's latest example of unreasonableness.”  ―  Christopher Lloyd ,  The Well-Tempered Garden

I am thrilled to say that I was invited to be one of the 30 book authors signing books this evening in Sharon, CT for the benefit of the Hotchkiss Library there.  Please join us !

Sometimes I find something that makes me so happy - I just read this post which was written several years ago by Kurt Fromherz in his Natureworks blog -  https://naturework.com/jan-johnsen-of-serenity-in-the-garden/ I never know how or if what I write reaches people..and now I know...Thank you so much Kurt Fromherz. Here is what he shared - I am so honored: This winter I made the trek up to snowbound Boston to see a woman speak that I have been following for many years. Jan Johnsen is a garden designer and writer. Her Serenity in the Garden blog caught my eye a long time ago and I fell in love with her posts. When I heard that she had published a new book, Heaven is a Garden, and would be speaking at New England Grows trade show the first week of February, I signed up. She was AMAZING! Her book is all about designing serene outdoor spaces for inspiration and reflection. I read it cover to cover the minute I returned home. I have to admit at times I was moved to tears by