Each Little World

Container plantings

Last summer, it seemed like most of the containers I saw on garden tours were planted with Begonias or Coleus. I'm not sure if that meant they were the gardener's favorite plants or the ones most available to buy. 

I find Coleus varieties very attractive, but difficult to use once I get them home with me. So I was smitten with this pot containing a single plant left to flower. What could be prettier?

I initially thought this planting was a little lacking for my taste, until I took a couple more steps past the front door in this garden . . . 

and discovered this display. The Begonias nod to the simple grouping by the nearby door, but are show stopping when grouped with multiple varieties of Coleus and a purple leaved Japanese maple. 

Flowers, furniture and umbrella all glowing in this small shade garden.

The same colors that I saw in countless displays, but this time with Fuchsias and sweet potato vines.

This display was was unusual with the glass art and the container providing the dramatic color rather than the plants.

This was my favorite Begonia composition of all those I saw. The orange of the flowers was toned down by its neighbors and the Begonia foliage reflected the underside colors of the huge tropical leaves above it. Perfection.

I've decided to test a couple of Begonias in my garden next season. But I'm still undecided about adding Coleus. 

Summer garden tour: John Mathews, Part 2

John Mathews garden had more than beautiful plantings to inspire the rest of us. It was filled with wood structures and detailing as well as creative stone work not often seen in small home gardens. The air conditioning unit that we passed by as we entered the back garden was nicely disguised in a manner related to the rest of the garden.  

The back lot line of the garden was beautifully marked by this wall that lets air and wind blow through. It offers a peek at the neighbor's garden without taking the focus off the homeowner's garden. 

The exterior of the garage has been transformed into a structure well suited to the style of the garden. Plus its surrounded by noteworthy plants and stone work.

Everywhere you went there were striking details that caught the eye.

The fence wall along the driveway alternated open and closed panels along with bamboo details. 

Even the folding chair was in keeping with the setting.

Summer garden tour: John Mathews

Last summer a gardening friend and I went on the annual tour of home gardens sponsored by Olbrich Botanical Gardens. We took advantage of the fact that most of the gardens were on our side of town. I was familiar with half of them — which is how I am able to identify this garden.

John Mathews is a professional designer and we've visited each other's gardens a number of times. I always know I will see unusual plants and creative solutions when I visit his garden. 

John has a exceptional collection of conifers and they were marked with id tags which was a treat.

This garden is heavily influenced by traditional Japanese gardens but seen through the eyes of a western homeowner and plantsman. So I was not surprised to see a rain chain or large rocks.

When I get back home I always want to be sure I have images of how these lovely parts of the garden are actually put together. 

So I tend to take lots of detail photos.

We turned left at the rock which took us through the front garden. 

John interpreted a classic Japanese barrier using bundles of prunings. This was across the path from the big rock.

Further along were these standard Ginkgoes. I've rarely met a Ginkgo I didn't like and these were no exception. Look at the moss, rocks and ground cover. The path is behind this display.  

Nothing has been left to chance in this beautiful combination of planting and hardscaping along the side of the house, leading into the back garden. 

A koi pond nestled among rocks and plants. 

I love this scene because it has familiar plants and a simple bamboo fence that anyone could make. Great inspiration.

Again, familiar plants that showcase all different tones of green — contrasted with a big empty pot. 

Every garden we visited had containers with various types of plants. None compared with this one with its span, limited depth and use of rocks as both decorative accents and to create a mini crevice garden. 

Next up: John Mathew's wood and stone garden elements.

Final details: Safer steps

After our new deck was finished last autumn, it was obvious that it was a bit higher than the old one; just enough to make stepping on and off of it awkward. The step we installed on two sides of the deck were stones that had been set with a bobcat back in 1998.

I suggested replacing them with a large limestone step. Mark thought that the old stones could be dug out and raised up enough to make them work as well as they used to. But he was unable to move them in the slightest degree.

Since we are about to have an open garden event to celebrate our redesign, we did not want to have to worry about whether people would find it difficult getting on and off of the deck. So Mark quickly made wooden steps to temporarily cover their stone predecessors. 

They're much easier to use and a great solution. Though you can see the stone underneath in these photos, you don't really notice them when you are using the wooden steps. 

I like this temporary solution so much, I suggested to Mark that we talk to the craftsman who built our deck, to see if he would make steps out of Ipe wood to match the deck. Stay tuned.

Chasing Eden

"Chasing Eden: Design Inspiration from the Gardens at Hortulus Farm" is a new book from Timber Press by Jack Staub and Renny Reynolds. Since this book is from Timber Press, you know it is beautifully designed with high quality printing. Reynolds was a big floral and event designer whose name was everywhere in the 1980s and beyond. I remembered his Bucks County, PA farmhouse and was curious about the garden he created there with his partner.

PHILADELPHIA CITY LIFE MAGAZINE

Reynolds is the half of this couple who had the high-end floral background, but it is Staub who wrote the book; one off many gardening books he has penned over the years. The writing is informative and personal, with lots of interesting and amusing stories. At the end of each chapter are a pair of facing pages with lists of “Dos” and “Don’ts” that are an attractive design element as well as a useful compilation of the high points of the chapter.

Though this is a beautiful garden, full of evocative allees of shrubs and trees, water features and sculpture, not much of it deeply appealed to me which was a bit of a surprise. Though  my garden is large at half an acre, Hortulus Farm is essentially a country estate of about 100 acres. For those of us with smaller gardens, it is a lovely book to inspire dreams. I found more useful ideas and inspiration by looking at small sections of it that could easily translate to an urban garden. Imagine this path, for example, of River Birch trees with Hostas and ferns framing a front walk or the path on the side of a house into the back yard. 

Hortulus Farm is open to the public and is an Affiliate Garden of the national group, The Garden Conservancy. Sadly Jack Staub died just as the book was being published. When I was online looking for Staub's obit, I noticed that the property was listed for sale in 2019; whether it ever sold was unclear. 

Not quite wordless Wednesday

I could not resist capturing an image of the twisted limb on this fruit tree that I saw on one of last summer's WHPS garden tours.  Can't wait until some green starts showing on the trees in my garden.

Lake Forest: An estate garden

I was one of a busload of gardeners from the Wisconsin Hardy Plant Society who visited this estate garden last summer on a very hot, very sunny day. I am including a few images you've already seen of the entrance courtyard and the Japanese Tea House to put the entire property in context.

Our bus dropped us off at the street end of this expansive driveway. We turned left at the garage  . . .

and walked along a covered portico to enter the garden. That sliding shoji-style door on the right was a restroom that the hosts opened for us. You can imagine how thankful and surprised we were at this unexpected gesture. 

We continued along the wooden walkway, getting enticing glimpses of what awaited us.

We turned left at the end of the walkway where it skirted the house before opening into the garden. 

This large piece of sculptural wood marked the corner. 

This was the view as we left the covered walkway.

This stream was on the other side of the shrubs that edged the walkway. 

It curved out into this water feature. 

You could walk up this slope using the rocks as stepping stones between these beautiful swaths of weeping Blue Spruce. 

The folks walking through this shady spot give you a sense of the size of this specimen rock. 

A cloudy and misty day must make these lichens glow. 

This garden was big enough to include large sculptures and to let you enjoy them in long views as well as close-up. 

The Tea House was in this woodsy area on the far side of the garden from the house as well. 

This is the view along the side of the house and garage where we entered the garden — but looking in the opposite direction. 

This little path took you to the back side of the water feature. 

Both ends of this long walkway had unusual natural sculptures.

A beautiful garden, beautifully maintained. 

Lake Forest: The Tea House

Since we have a Japanese-style Tea House in our garden, I was quite excited when I looked across this Illinois garden last summer on our WHPS tour and saw a familiar structure nestled in the trees. 

Like our Tea House, it was stucco. 

I was quite taken with this narrow "veranda" and the beautiful textiles blowing in the breeze.

Flowers and a scroll in the Tokonoma, a display area in a Tea House. 

Every detail in this little building was beautifully done. 

It is not often that one visits a private garden with its own Tea House. I was excited to have the chance to see it up close; definitely impressive. I went home very happy with our Tea House which is a more rustic style but equally impressive, if I do say so myself. 

Lake Forest: A courtyard garden

Last summer I visited what can only be called an estate garden in Lake Forest, Illinois with a members of the Wisconsin Hardy Plant Society. Our bus dropped us off on a quiet, densely wooded street with impressive houses at every turn. Though we did not see the inside of this house, the garden suggests it was equally beautiful. But what was most memorable about this garden was the charm and friendliness of the owners.

The front courtyard garden is the entry area to the house. The garage is to the left and the front door is through the opening on the right.

The rocks and weeping trees offer a hint to the Japanese influences that are to be found throughout this garden. 

The subtle house materials and the dark entrance let the greenery shine. 

The ground cover evergreen shrubs offer a textural contrast to the rock work, whether stone pathways or sculpture. 

You can't tell from these views but the house is situated on the edge of a ravine. 

Garden visits: Pots empty and overflowing

A few more scenes from the garden of Bruce and Linda Christensen. As someone whose garden features large, unplanted pots you can imagine how taken I was with these dramatic containers.  

When you treat pots like sculpture, the surrounding plants can be subtle like evergreen shrubs and solid green Hostas. The Hosta in the photo below looks like the so-called "August lily," a variety whose fragrant white flowers will completely change this scene late in the summer. 

The rippling grasses and Hosta foliage emphasizes the movement on this pot to me. 

Not all the containers in the garden were empty. 

Most of them were filled with annuals which made for bright spots of color amidst the greenery. 

I am a big fan of this Begonia and keep intending to grow it.

Though it is a drama queen from some views, in other directions it merely provides an additional bit of color.