Portrait of a Garden

There are two ways to take a garden's "portrait." The first way is to stand back and get a view of the gardens in their entirety:


































The second is to focus on individual plants:













When documenting your gardens, be sure to pay attention to both methods. Documenting your garden from afar will help you see how your landscape develops and assist your garden planning efforts. Viewing my garden through a lens has helped me decide what to plant where and to recognize spots in the landscape that need more attention. Closeup views help you keep track of your plants. I have also found that studying my plants up-close through a lens helps me get to know them better. I notice diseases, pests, an growth habits by spending some time with each plant individually.

I have always wanted to keep a book with each plant, listing their names and habits. It seems like creating a directory like this would make my gardening much easier in the long run, but I have yet to get to it. Once one starts such an index, I imagine that upkeep wouldn't be too difficult either. It's the initial effort that has deterred me. I started with a landscape of mature plantings and need to go back and identify them. If I were to go back four years to when I first moved to this house, I would at least photograph everything I bought and list it properly.

Finishing Projects

I started painting my gazebo the other day and then it rained. My gazebo sits -- half white, half brown -- waiting for my attention. I have big plans for the space, formulated while whitewashing and dreaming, enjoying the sounds of chirping birds and scoping out my gardens. As I painted, and was eaten alive by the biggest mosquitos I've ever seen, I began considering screening in the space. I also envision flowers dripping from flower boxes hanging on the rails of the gazebo. I will fix up the roof, which has loose tiles. I will somehow get up to the dilapidated cupola and replace missing panels. At least while I used my powerwasher on the space, no creature came flying out! (I had feared there were bats in there.) I also hope to place a nice brick patio-like area in front of the gazebo steps. But now, after a short break, I wonder how much of this project I will actually finish.

First, I consider how wise my ideas are to begin with. For example, what is the point of screening in a gazebo on the edge of the woods? When you open the door, won't all the bugs go flying in and wait for you inside? I picture them poised and ready when I am not on my guard. There I will be thinking I am kept safe by the screen, while really it will only provide a false security. I then consider how much time this will take. Do I have time to do this on my own? Will my daughter allow me the large increments of time I need to finish my duties over the summer? How much time will this take away from planting, weeding and my regular garden activities? Also, do I have the talent to get this all accomplished?

I think about the garden visions I've had over the years. How many have I accomplished? I was able to line my whole driveway with rudbeckia at my last house before I left. But I was never able to get anything growing in the backyard, spending all of my time in the front. I also think about my non-gardening projects. My master bathroom has been screaming for attention for two years. I've done as much as I can without spending a lot of money, with my limited tools, and my limited demolition skills. In the rest of the house, I envision retiling the hallway, sanding the wood floors, etc. etc. How much will I actually do? will my priorities change over time? which projects should I tackle first?

I have grand visions. Perhaps dreaming up new projects is part of the fun. Or, is it just a sign of an overactive imagination that is never totally satisfied? I am somewhat disturbed that thus far I have never fully achieved a total vision for my living space. I wonder how others feel about their own ongoing projects. How long does it take you to finish projects once you start them? How many project plans do you have on your plate? Do you ever feel close to finishing your list?
Do you try to accomplish your tasks on your own or do you hire "experts" to help you?

The Art of Gardening

Gardening means "to cultivate a plot of land." And in the case of my perennial garden, which takes up most of my gardening effort, I would like to refine the definition to say: "To cultivate a plot of land for beauty and enjoyment."

Art means " The conscious production or arrangement of sounds, colors, forms, movements, or other elements in a manner that affects the sense of beauty."

Do you think that perennial gardening is an art? I certainly do. Gardening is a creative means of self-expression. The type of garden you create makes a statement about who you are and what you enjoy. Your garden provides visual stimulation with its colors and forms. It can also provide aural and scent stimulation. The multi-sense experience available in the garden certainly affects one's "sense of beauty."

Every year around this time, museums all over the country host "Art in Bloom" events. The Boston Museum of Fine Arts event will take place April 26-29. If you have never had the pleasure of viewing an "Art in Bloom" exhibit, I encourage you to attend one. Flower arrangers are invited into fine art museums to choose a painting and base an arrangement on the artwork. The flower arrangement is then set alongside for visitors to enjoy. Obviously, the arrangements only last a short time. The arrangement mimics the original artists sensibility, but the ability to duplicate the original emotional expression of the fine artist is an art in itself. Not everyone can create such beautiful arrangements. For the arranger to be able to apply this skill to interpreting what the original artist had to say is miraculous to me.

Locally, in my area, I read that a gentleman recently wrote a book about gardens inspired by art. Unfortunately I misplaced the ad for the talk he is going to give at a local museum and I am unable to find reference to it online. But I am intrigued by the idea of this book. Imagine creating a whole garden to mimic one of the great fine artists. You could create the obvious gardens in Monet's work, based on his own personal gardens in Giverny. (Monet was actually an avid gardener who saw his own gardens as works of art and used them to inspire his paintings.) You can create fields of iris inspired by Van Gogh's iris. Or you can reach beyond flowers and just be inspired by vivid colors in pictures to create your own interpretations. Maybe Degas' dancers put you in the mood for tiny pink blossoms? This kind of gardening would be "Art in Bloom" on a grand scale!

I have never tried to create a garden based on the artists. Perhaps that can be a side project this year? What I do consciously accomplish in my own garden is a harmony of colors. My front garden is made up of primarily oranges and yellows. Purples overlap with yellow early in the season, creating a contrast of opposite colors on the color wheel. In my backyard garden I focus on pinks and purples with splashes of other colors. This color harmony stimulates me. I feel calm when I look at a garden with flowing waves of color. I like my two dimensional art work very much the same way. I also appreciate tight compositions that allow the eye to flow from one element to another.

For those of you who have never thought of yourselves as artists, try thinking about your garden in this way. What patterns do you see? What colors attract you? What elements do you appreciate in a garden? How do you decide where to place things? Then, take a look at a history of art book. (I recommend H.W. Jansen's History of Art if you can get your hands on a copy of his book. He provides a diverse range of works to get you fully acquainted with the art world through time.) Determine what attracts you to certain pictures. Are they the same elements that attract you to a particular gardening style?

Garden Catalogues

They're here! They're here!

I went online a few weeks ago and ordered all of the free gardening catalogs that I could find. Many places charge for their catalogs, which is understandable considering the expense to them. The prices are reasonable at only a buck or two a piece, but I figure if I don't know the garden company I don't want to spend money on their catalog. The costs could add up fast. My mom says now that I will be on everyone's mailing list, getting junk mail from obscure places. But I don't care ...except for the twinge of guilt about the trees that are being killed by my living large, covered in catalogs. Hopefully it's at least recycled paper and I'm told that's mostly what they use these days anyway...I am dreaming of spring. I am moving my vegetable garden this year to a larger, flatter piece of my property. I also plan to go crazy with hydrangea and flowering perennials to fill in my garden spaces.

We moved to this property three years ago. There were many established and very large plants, but the landscaping was not cared for by a true gardener. I have slowly been moving and reshaping the backbone of my garden. I now know exactly what I want to do here. I have visions of great English Victorian-like spaces. There will be hidden hideaways where my daughter and her friends can play with large expanses of green between. (I'm trying to convince my husband that the green should be clover and not lawn.) There will be flowers blooming continually. There is shade and sun and will be wild mystical gardens with waist high wild flowers. There will also be a tame formal herb garden that even include boxwood. I am not a fussy gardener, so tame is relative...

In my old house I ordered three burning bushes (when they were still allowed in these parts) from catalogs and received sticks in the mail. By the time I left the property seven years later, the sticks each had about three branches and grew from a foot high to two feet high. So, this time, I'm taking my time making my choices. I've read that mail ordering perennials is not always a great idea, so I'm going to start with a few.

These are the catalog I have in hand. More I expect will be trickling in:
Park Seed Company
Thompson and Morgan
White Flower Farm
Bluestone Perennials
Dutch Gardens
and of course the obligatory Burpee. I've been on their mailing list for years.
I am so excited about Bluestone with its unusual flowers and awesome prices.

I have been a shameless garden store junkie in the past, wandering through the aisle and spending my self-given "allowance" every week on whatever catches my eye. As a floral photographer, I have visited garden centers almost every week during the growing season over the past couple of years just to take photos. I never walk away empty handed though. There is always something new, beautiful, bright and tempting. It seems like it will be easier to control myself while catalog shopping. HA HA!

My interest in catalogues was awakened by the book "Two Gardeners: A Friendship in Letters" about Katherine S. White and Elizabeth Lawrence. The book is an archivists dream. (In my other life I'm an archivist, managing historical records.) We get a peak into the personal lives of these personable women and the camaraderie they form through their shared gardening passion. Both women were famous garden writers. Katherine S. White was also the wife of famous novelist E.B. White. One of the things for which she was best known was her catalog reviews. She spoke about catalogs with passion. What a fascinating history these glossy colored booklets must have. I can't wait to learn more!

Any advice about mail ordering perennials will be appreciated.