Philip’s Garden Blog

http://www.amazon.com/Made-Garden-Modern-Library-Gardening/dp/0375759476

A truly grass roots concern, this plan could only have become a reality from dedicated individuals from every part of the community who had this vision:
http://www.thehighline.org/.  The following are just a few of the schemes proposed:

In this environmentally friendly roof garden, drought tolerant perennials are placed in drifts of complimentary colors. White yarrow (Achillea millefolium) and ornamental grasses add texture.

Of late, water has been badly manipulated as an element in the garden.  With a disregard for natural laws, piles of stone tower over a flat plain to issue a water cascade; contrived “naturalistic” pools reside where it would normally wash away; and fountains produce a din as to preclude conversation.  Conversely, water in the garden is  excluded, as some feel it does not contibute to a water-wise approach, necessary in a future of shrinking supply.

The gardens of the Generalife in Grenada, Spain show how still reflecting pools and fountains, gurgling and in sprays, can create a rarefied atmosphere; a place of repose and refreshment in an arid landscape.

Today, Tom Stuart Smith and Brandon Tyson incorporate water in their gardens with a similar approach:

In this garden designed by Tom Stuart Smith, russet colored drifts of grasses are  startling in a field studded with clipped topiary standards. There is an evocation of time here; one is reminded of the classic ruins of Rome clothed in verdure so beloved of the 19th century Romantics.  It is as though a once formal garden, now “gone to seed”, has achieved a new kind of splendor.

          
This imposing biennial, Greek mullein (Verbascum olympicum) is native to Ulalag, Turkey, a region of great biodiversity and botanic interest. Certainly this mullein grows in a single season to olympic proportions.   The grey hairy leaves are indicative of plants endemic to arid regions. These  plants exhibit little but their  leaves for a year or two before it sends a stock up to 8 feet high, with many flowering branches. After summer blooming, the plant dies but not before it releases many seeds for future plants.

Greek mullein grows naturally in stony ground, well drained with little fertility. Give it a similar situation in full sun and it is easy to grow.  This plant has the potential for great dramatic effects in the garden when planted in multiples, as shown here in a mixed border at Great Dixter.  Plants can be purshased here: http://www.anniesannuals.com/signs/v%20-%20z/verbascum_olympicum.htmidal paniclerming a pyramidal panicle

In this striking border,  Noel Kingsbury,  author of Planting Design: Gardens in Time and Space  and Seedheads, combines spiky perennials with a backdrop of dramatic grasses. The contrast of the formal elements such as the classic urn, bench, and gravelled path with the naturalistic plantings in a blue and grey colorway with emphasis on texture is key.  You can create a similar effect with the following plants:

Their justifiably famous topiary and garden shears with their double bow handle pattern gives the softest possible squeeze for maximum comfort over prolonged use.
Angled blades keep knuckles clear from foliage when cutting straight lines or can be turned over to help create curves.

Burgon and Ball can be found at http://www.burgonandball.com/index.php

Piet Oudolf creates a delicious composition with drifts of perennials knitted by tall grass. The strong colors are particularly effective against the green of the meadow.  To reproduce this effect in your own garden you’ll need some amount of space; a certain depth . A tremendous amount of plants are used. For cost reasons alone, seeds are the way to go, with the perennials started in seed trays and then transplanted, and the grass self-sown.

Piet Oudolf’s wife Anja has a nursery on the premises, but the intrepid gardener can achieve this with some preparation and effort.

Liatrus spicata: 

Echinacea  sp. “merlot“

Festuca rubra

This charming annual and California native, Collinsia heterophylla, received the name “Chinese houses” due to the fact that the whorls of flowers on long stems resemble pagodas. They are delightful viewed up close and spectacular planted en masse . These grow naturally on the margins of oak woodland  so they can take some dappled shade and add sparkle to the semi-shade border. If it likes your garden it reseeds! Plant in generous drifts for optimal effect.

Plants can be purchased from: http://www.anniesannuals.com/ and  purchase seeds from: http://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/annuals/chinese_houses.html

Ever since Roman times when Cneius Matius Calvena first introduced topiary to European gardens and Pliny in his Historia Naturalis decried its use, topiary in its various forms has suffered the caprice of garden tastes.  Certainly the apogee of the art can still be seen at Levens Hall, created in 1694 by Guillaume Beaumont, a pupil of le Notre at Versailles:  http://www.levenshall.co.uk/

Topiary fell out of fashion in the early 18th century, only to be dealt a further blow by Lancelot”Capability” Brown later in that century. He stripped away parterres and hedged gardens,opening up the landscape with un-interrupted vistas of clipped turf and placid,naturalistic pools.  The art of Topiary experienced a resurgence in 20th century Arts and Crafts gardens such as Hidcote Manor:  http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-vh/w-visits/w-findaplace/w-hidcotemanorgarden/

This example from Powis Castle would be at home in a modern garden, with its monumental simplicity.

Today, Piet Oudolf, a leading figure in the contemporary landscape scene, utilizes clipped hedges as a backdrop to his signature drifts of wild grasses and untamed perennials with breathtaking results.

http://www.oudolf.com/

A concept dating from before the 12th century, the bower( from old English bur) was a delightful feature of the Medieval Hortus conclusus or enclosed garden. Often a shelter made of tree branches and twining vines, the bower was a way to immerse onself in nature, away from prying eyes and temporal distractions.

http://www.cityofwinchester.co.uk/parks/eleanor/eleanor.html

Willow elements needed to create your own bower can be purchased here: http://www.thewillowfarm.com/willow_landscape_achitecture.htm
Or construct your own personal Bower with bamboo poles and a summer climbing annual such as pole beans or a gourd vine!

Borage (Borago officinalis ) is a native to Syria. Perhaps a Crusader brought back seeds of this plant back with him to Europe. Certainly this was a fixture in Medieval gardens, with references made of it by Culpepper and Gerard: “Those of our time do use the flowers in sallads to exhilerate and make the mind glad. There be also many things made of these used everywhere for the comfort of the heart, for the driving away of sorrow and increasing the joy of the minde. The leaves and floures of Borage put into wine make men and women glad and merry and drive away all sadnesse, dulnesse and melancholy, as Dios corides and Pliny affirme. Syrup made of the floures of Borage comforteth the heart, purgeth melancholy and quieteth the phrenticke and lunaticke person”

You do not need to be a “Lunatike person” to experience these desirable effects. An infusion of the leaves in a tall glass is an ingredient of the traditional Pimm’s cup http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pimm%27s_Cup

This prickly plant with its star shaped blue flowers certainly makes the bees merry, as they are quite attracted to it.

 Reason enough to grow this in the garden.  This is easy to grow from seed and can be purchased here: http://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/herbs/borage.html

Imagine you are in your house with the windows open, listening to the sound of birdsong and the gentle breeze in the trees.  This reverie is suddenly interrupted by the noise of a gas-powered lawnmower, obliterating the moment with its cacophony and fumes.  There is an alternative to this scene, however, one that is as green as the garden itself. 

A push manual reel mower requires no electricity or gas. The sound it makes whilst in use is rather comforting, contributing to the bucolic atmosphere. Operating it requires little exertion, but does give one a sense of physical well-being.

The Brill Luxus 38 push manual reel mower is an outstanding example of this type: well-made and producing fine results, it looks swell too, with its friendly painted finish.

It can be found here at: http://www.cleanairgardening.com/brillux38ree.html

I have had numerous garden hoses over the years, and I have discovered that only the best will do. Cheaper hoses end up with kinks and holes, and that makes watering the garden a struggle. The Everlasting Garden Hose by Gilmour claims to be the last one you will ever need! How about that! It has heavy duty brass couplings, heavy-duty collar which prevents kinks at the faucet, all kinds of linings and a 500+ psi burst strength. Whew!  At $85.00 for 100 feet it is a bargain in the long run.

It can be found here: http://www.rittenhouse.ca/asp/Product.asp?PG=931

The garden cloche, a bell jar-shaped glass vessel with an open bottom,
is an ideal way to protect young seedlings. If there is a cold snap, or chance
of frost, the cloche acts as a miniature greenhouse. This is also an organic
way to protect young plants from slugs and other pests when the plant is vulnerable.

Cloches of various sizes can be purchased here:
http://www.englishcreekgardens.com/Cloche1.htm

I love shirley poppies. I had great success last year from seed and I have planted this variety by seed this year: Papaver rhoeas “mother of pearl”: in shades of grey, lilac, mauve and white.

This can be purchased from Select Seeds: http://www.selectseeds.com

Place the (very tiny) seeds in a mixtue of horticultural sand and sow in good, moist but well-drained soil. Place a light top dressing of  soil on top of the seeds. Keep the bed evenly moist throughout the days of germination (about two weeks).

The Shirley poppy was created from 1880 onwards by the Reverend William Wilks, vicar of the parish of Shirley in England.  In a corner of his garden where it adjoined arable fields, Wilks found a variant of the field poppy that had a narrow white border around the petals. By careful selection and hybridization over many years, he obtained a strain of poppies ranging in colour from white and pale lilac to pink and red, and unlike the wild poppies these had no dark blotches at the base of the petals.

Celia Thaxter writes in “An Island Garden”, 1894
http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/thaxter/garden/garden.html:
“On one low bookcase are Shirley Poppies in a roseate cloud. And here let me say that the secret of keeping Poppies in the house two whole days without fading is this: they must be gathered early, before the dew has dried, in the morning. I go forth between five and six o’clock to cut them while yet their gray-green leaves are hoary with dew, taking a tall slender pitcher or bottle of water with me into the garden, and as I cut each stem dropping the flower at once into it, so that the stem is covered nearly its whole length with water; and so on till the pitcher is full. Gathered in this way, they have no opportunity to lose their freshness, indeed, the exquisite creatures hardly know they have been gathered at all.”

And for a succession of bloom:

“I am always planting Shirley Poppies somewhere! One never can have enough of them, and by putting them into the ground at intervals of a week, later and later, one can secure a succession of bloom and keep them for a much longer time, –keep indeed, their heavenly beauty to enjoy the livelong summer.”

Brand new terra cotta pots lack the mellow texture and hand-thrown irregularities found in
19th century terra cotta pots.  Marston and Langinger are the exception, with these new pots
which have the quirky charm of the antique:
http://www.marstonstore.com/marslang/Default.aspx?region=US

This is the best watering can I have seen.  Made by Haws, it has a large 2 gallon capacity
and sturdy handles. It looks swell, too.  Available at Smith and Hawken.