Each Little World

Wednesday vignette

Clematis alpina 'Stolwijk Gold' is just as beautiful in the summer without any flowers. The stems are distinctly red, contrasting with the eponymous foliage. 

The Glidden House

We discovered The Glidden House a few years ago when we checked the Cleveland Museum of Art's website to see if we could find lodging nearby. This boutique hotel, located in a historic building, is right in the midst of University Circle, the city's art and cultural area. We could see the botanic garden from our window as we ate breakfast and the art and natural history museums were within easy walking distance. 

The building was once the home of the Glidden family whose name was synonymous with paint. There are well-throught-out new additions to the original structure giving them room for conferences and weddings without detracting from the beautiful old house. 

Though the building feels spacious inside, it also manages to maintain a comfortable, almost homey feel. Well, a rather fancy home! There were a lot of cars around the entrance when I took this photo as there was some kind of business meeting in progress. But we have been able to park adjacent to the hotel on our visits and we've just left our car and walked everywhere. They even let us keep our car there after we'd checked out but wanted to go back to the museum for a while. 

We  snapped this photo for the beautiful construction materials and for the rocky solution to a problem area. We have a similar narrow, sloped space and are thinking about using the same solution. 

Opposite this painting is the check-in desk. On the coffee and side tables are the latest books about the exhibits at the art museum. This is the only hotel I've ever been in where I was so taken with the art and art books that I could hardly pay attention to registering!

We ate breakfast in the garden room adjacent to the original dining room on the other side of the brick wall. The Glidden House offers an absolutely fabulous breakfast buffet. 

You can also sit in the dining room with a fireplace and lighted built-in china cabinets around the room. The cabinets are full of china!

Isn't this a great spot to begin your morning!

I had to take a closer look at the beautiful woodcarving around the screen doors out to the patio. 

The dark wood just at the edge of the photo on the left below is the screen door whose carving I photographed above. 

This outdoor seating area is between the old garden room and one of the new event spaces.  

The glassed-in area (above) with the long white curtains is a small cocktail lounge (below). There is a small curved bar area with seating by the big windows. 

While Mark played on his laptop, I had to check out the artwork. There's nothing I like better than abstract mark-making. 

The view out the windows in the lounge. 

And the view towards the street. 

When I think of Wisconsin I picture huge old Oak trees and acres of evergreens. But there is something mesmerizing about the trees that I see every time we drive out East. 

On our walk over to the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, we unexpectedly came across this Frank Gehry building.  

It's the Peter B. Lewis Building of Case Western Reserve University whose buildings are spread throughout the area. As Mark was standing on the sidewalk across the street taking these pictures, someone called his name. We looked up and it was one of his Madison photo friends who was in Cleveland for a music conference on the lute! Small world. 

You are allowed to go inside and tour part of the main floor. It was well worth taking a look to see how all those swoops and curves played out in the interior. And we also got to see a ceramic sculpture by one of our favorite artists, Jun Kaneko. You can tell I'm going to the natural history museum and not the art museum by my casual clothes. 

I haven't a clue what this building was originally or how it is used today. But it was too lovely not to capture it with the camera. 

I've written many posts about restaurants and museums and art galleries, but I am not sure if I've ever shared my opinion on a hotel. But should you be in Cleveland, The Glidden House Hotel is a lovely place to stay. And to our surprise, we discovered it cost about the same as one of the big chain hotels we'd stopped at in Toledo on previous trips.

The drive from Madison to Cleveland is a bit longer than we'd prefer to do in one day, but knowing The Glidden House Hotel was at the end of our drive kept us focused. That, and the fact that I'd made reservations a while before we left Madison for dinner at L'Albatros Brasserie (photo from their website above), a wonderful restaurant just down the alley from the hotel. We ate outdoors on the patio our first night and went back the next night and enjoyed a cosy dinner inside by those big windows where we watched a rainstorm. 

Author's note: I am not receiving any remuneration for this post. We've had great service and experiences at all the places mentioned and wanted to share them. 

CBG: The view from the street

When we were in Cleveland three years ago we spent a day at the Cleveland Museum of art and squeezed in a visit to their botanical garden. When we were in Cleveland last summer, we again spent a day at the art gallery but this time added a short visit to the natural history museum.

Since I could see the garden from our breakfast table at the Glidden House hotel across the street, I dashed over to take a peek even thought the gardens had not yet opened for the day. These are all shots taken quickly with my iPad during a break in the rain. These areas are outside the main gardens and are adjacent to the entrance driveway and parking ramps. 

Cleveland's Botanical Garden is in the area known as University Circle which is a museum-rich arts area.

i thought this was a great way to hide this utility vehicle ramp from the main entrance drive on the other side of the greenery. 

You can enter from the sidewalk and I am sure many people walk through this area as a shortcut to work or the other museums. 

I took this photo last June for my Madison garden friends to show them that the botanic garden had lost a big Hibiscus just like many of them. Another result of the harsh winter along the Great Lakes. 

I am a big fan of "true" Geraniums and was impressed that the plant was being used as a little hedge here. 

I believe that is a Lemony Lace elderflower in the background. Or was it a Japanese maple with bright foliage? Too fascinated with the Geraniums to take note of the other plants!

Since this bench is right out in the open, it's bolted to the cement. But at least it is subtle and doesn't take away from this peaceful little scene. 

Note how you can see the street and some of the buildings of Case Western Reserve University right behind this tree. The view from that building must be lovely all year. When I visit botanic gardens I try to take a photo of a plant's label so I can identify it later. But it seems like I missed doing it with this gorgeous tree. If you recognize it, please let me know in the comments. 

A busy street on the other side of this planting. It's such a gift to residents that a large area of this garden is not behind fences and gates. I loved walking through and chatting with the folks already hard at work in these outer gardens. 

Since there is nothing green and growing around me at the moment, I will be showing some of my photos from last summer as a break from winter images. 

Olbrich: Gardening in the paving

A few years ago a friend and I went to a talk on reducing maintenance in the garden. It was given by Jeff Epping who is the director of horticulture at Olbrich Botanical Gardens. That evening Jeff showed images of a garden in England where a lovely paved patio had bricks removed to allow plants to be plunked directly into the dirt rather than in containers. 

It enlivened the space but kept everything in check. Nothing could spread rampantly and it was easy to pull any seedling out between the paving stones. Examples of that very idea can be seen in two locations in the gardens surrounding the Rose Tower here at Olbrich Botanical Gardens. The planting below, adjacent to a long water feature, keeps the paving and geometry from feeling too austere.

This planting takes advantage of the reflected heat and dryness that keeps these plants happy and flowering. Note how the pavers are removed in an asymmetrical pattern. The pale pavers in the background acknowledge garden donors. In a home garden, you could adapt that idea by using patterned paver or tiles to visually break up the space. 

This type of planting pocket need not be restricted to a particular type of plant as these photos show. These openings in the pavings are also an easy way to add tropical or tender plants to the broader garden without resorting to containers. 

Late summer at Olbrich Botanical Gardens

Last Friday I found myself doing errands just down the street from Olbrich Botanical Gardens, so naturally I bopped in to see what was happening. All the rain had caused some flooding in the gardens especially in the area along Starkweather Creek which is visible in the background.

But elsewhere, it just seemed as though all that moisture had pushed the plants into overdrive. I could hear people but I could rarely see them over the huge shrubs and tropicals and trees. It was a lovely wander. 

I'm growing purple Perilla frutescens aka beefsteak plant in my garden, but it looks nothing like these herbal bushes!

I love the red stems on this pond plant.

This plant is unfamiliar to me and I did not find an Id tag. But what great a color combo, especially growing near the above plant.

The circular bed above was surrounded by these bright borders below. 

And there was a sign giving us a clue as to the color inspiration and the plants.

For all the gorgeousness everywhere I looked, I have to say I was pleased to periodically find a plant looking as unhappy as the same one in my garden. In this case, it's Brunnera 'Looking Glass'.

A few post-storm shots

We've had about another 1 and 1/2 inches of rain since the big gusher last week, giving us an August total of 14.39 inches (36.55 cm.). 

Trees and shrubs seem fine with all the rain as usually August is the start of much drier weather. Lots of perennials, however, are flopped on the ground or just about melting away from all the moisture. I have a couple of areas where I am hoping to get a lot of work done this fall. In fact, there are plants on order for early September shipment so I am hoping we start to dry out soon. A few things made it through the big rain with flying colors: 

Kirengeshoma palmata koreana group, Paeonia japonica and a bright pink plastic bucket of lily bulbs waiting to be replanted. 

Paeonia japonica seeds are interesting from the moment they begin to form. But they make a pretty dramatic and colorful statement once they split open. Blue or black seeds are fertile and the red are infertile. 

The flowers on Kirengeshoma palmata koreana group are more outward facing than those on the straight Kirengeshoma palmata which tend to face down.

Thalictrum 'Splendide' from Digging Dog Nursery is only two years old and is easily 6 feet (1.82 meters) high, covered in flowers and still standing tall. 

Thalictrum rochebrunianum 'Lavender Mist' is a long bloomer that needs little or no staking. One stem is only now starting to lean down a little. 

The plant that has been brought down by the rain and soaked soil is my Tiger Eye Sumac. I may start removing some of the lower big leaf stems to try to lighten it up in hopes it will pop up again. 

All in all the house, garden and the two of us came through the worst rain we've ever experienced with few serious problems and little damage. We can't complain given the ongoing weather-related problems all around us. 

 

Not quite wordless Wednesday

One of my favorite groupings in the garden and one that looks as cool and refreshing in August as it does in the spring: Epimedium x youngianum 'Niveum,' Adiantum Venustrum and Carex elata 'Bowles Golden.'

Good news and bad news

The good news is that today marks ten years since I first began my blog, Each Little World. Since that seems to me like something worth celebrating, I'm taking the day off! 

The bad news is that more rain is forecast for today with potential thunderstorms Sunday and Monday. Even if we don't get any record amounts of rain, much of the city of Madison and western Dane County can ill afford even another inch of water. My side of the city took the brunt of Monday's storm but the opposite side of Madison is now taking the brunt of the aftermath. The lakes on both sides of the isthmus are rising, water is being released from the Yahara River via the Tenney Locks into Lake Monona to keep the dam from giving way. City officials said that they have no historic reference points for a rain event like the one we just had that dumped up to 10 inches of rain on the city’s West Side. They are preparing for the worst.

I posted this picture not long ago as it is one of the illustrations the Wisconsin State Journal used in their recent series on the Yahara chain of lakes. You can easily see why everyone is worried about more rain. And you can read about how this is part of long-term climate change in this blog post from the UW-Madison Limnology Lab. They study inland water systems and have the records to show what is happening on our lakes and in the Midwest in general. It is not an encouraging story but one well worth reading. The city is providing free sand and sandbags for folks on East side (photo below) but we will need more than sandbags to deal with what appears to be our new normal.

 

BOTH PHOTOS FROM THE WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL NEWSPAPER

Wordless Wednesday

Climate change hits home — literally

After I drove home from my Monday coffee confab around 3:30 p.m. in a teeming rainstorm, I checked Weather Bug online and could see a massive storm cell was settling in right above us. In fact, it was over the entire west side of Madison where we live and all of western Dane County. It has mostly dissipated this morning after setting a county (and perhaps a state) record for the most rainfall in a 24-hour-period.

When Mark went out during a lull in the rain around 6 p.m., we already had 6 inches of water in our big gauge after only a few hours. Alas, we are going to have to rely on weather service totals to determine how much rain we actually got. Rushing water, soaked ground and the weight of a full rain gauge took its toll during the night. All I could think of when I saw this was Laurie Colwin's book, "A Big Storm Knocked It Over."

My gardening friend Cindy — who lives a little west of us and has the same rain gauge — got 10.45 inches (26.54 cm.), so we're pretty safe going with 10 inches in 24 hours at our house. Nothing as bad as the flooding in the county out in Black Earth and Mazomanie where people were being evacuated. Within walking distance of our house, a group of folks exited a stalled car about 9 p.m. last night and one of the people disappeared in the rushing water. He is presumed to have drowned which is a terrible shock to have such a tragedy happen so close to home. There was nothing but the sound of rain and sirens all night.

It took a number of hours for the water to start seeping into the garage and basement last evening. This was the scene just before 10 p.m. when Mark put my car in the driveway as the French drain was backing up. He managed to get most of the water out of the garage and this morning it was almost back to normal

Everywhere we walked this morning we could see the paths the rain took as it moved through the garden. Most of the damage is mulch or gravel that was moved by the force of the water. This is a path on flat ground which gives you an idea of the force of the rain.

Water flowed down the hill by the Tea House (out of view at the right side), easily moving through the spots where the plants are small and the space is quite open.

It whooshed right over the log edge in obvious gushes. That's Mark down at the west end of the house where water always gets into the basement in a big storm. 

When we looked out into the garden as the light was fading last night, we could see this whole area was under water. The next time we looked, it had subsided and the only sign of the storm this morning is more mulch washed down this side of the Tea House slope. Mark is checking the pond depth. 

The gravel stream is the normal path water takes if the pond overflows. The pond wall is 1/2 inch lower here to channel water away between our house and the neighbor's. This time it appears the pond may have overflowed at the boggy end and swirled around the little lantern and then down into the stream — a first in the 20+ years we've had the pond.

The plants suffered little damage other than a few modest branches that came down. This Carex got flattened as it was not only pounded by rain, but also likely by rushing water from the path above and the stream below. 

When we moved in, this room at the west end of the basement had wood panelling, a raised floor with a vapor barrier and carpet. But when it rained hard we knew water was getting in somewhere behind and under all that construction. So a couple of years ago, Mark tore it all out to figure out just what was happening. We also thought maybe we'd redo the basement but dropped that idea — at least until we figure out if there is any permanent, cost-effective solution to this problem.  

The water runs across the floor and under the wall out into the larger basement area. Then it just meanders down to the drain. This is what it has done in every storm or big spring snowmelt for 24 years. It's never been worse than this, so that's why we've never done anything other than raise everything off the floor. If you enlarge this photo, you can easily see the amount of framed art we have stocked piled in this area.

There are still a number of places in Madison that are impassible this morning. Our street looks rather country-like with its big trees but it is really a busy route between two major roads. At the west end is the entrance/exit to the Beltline, the local route to anywhere you want to go. But this morning that is still under water. Since you can also access the Beltline from the road at the east end of our street, that is what all these cars are lined up to do. They have to make a left out of our street and clearly this morning that is not an easy or a quick thing to do. Usually we only see a line of cars like this after the 4th of July fireworks at our nearby park.

We've got coffee, today's New York Times and nowhere to go. So we are going to relax a bit before attacking the basement. We're also going to count our blessings at how little damage we suffered inside or out compared to many people around us and to those across the country who've experienced increasingly common natural disasters. 

One last thought: It is great to have digital weather programs that give one a sense of the next week's temperatures or when it might rain. But it is absolutely terrifying to watch a massive green and yellow and orange blob swirling around and around and around on the map right where you live. Wondering when it will end and when it will all happen again . . .