Changes Under The Red Umbrella

For as long as I've lived here, the house next door has been empty.
(See 'My Neighbor's Manihot') At first it was an empty OLD house, with a wild, overgrown garden that poured over the fence. Then it became an empty NEW house; remodeled and expanded from top to bottom, just in time for the housing slump. During the remodel the garden was cleared, a rather shocking change.

But look how some of my neighbor's plants returned to help. Slender Manihots, from seeds her trees flung into my garden. Vigorous (but firmly contained) running Bamboo along the walk, and a sturdy Fig tree (that actually crawled under the fence) sheltering the Red Umbrella corner. I like that her garden continues in mine, and hope someone thinks as generously about MY bamboo one day!

But other changes are afoot under the Red Umbrella. Everything looks normal, right? Look closer and you can see a whole lot of daylight coming through that fence, because the large shed on the other side was removed by the (drumroll) New Neighbors (who moved in while I was out of town recently-surprise!)

3/4" spaces between the boards, and some very large knotholes are making my formerly uber-private little nook feel a little exposed. I mean, I can see their STUFF over there!

Gaining visual privacy won't be difficult. The Boston Ivy is on its way, and I've got some fun ideas for the fence. What I wonder is, how will they be using THEIR corner? Will it be a patio, a vegetable garden, a hot tub? A children's play area? A meditation garden?

It will be interesting to see what happens. I've been fortunate to have such a quiet, private spot for years; now it's time for things to be different. With every change comes opportunity.

Maybe I can interest them in a nice shrubbery!

Drive-By Gardening

I'm not the kind of gardener who gets up and says, "I'm going to garden today!" I don't put on jeans and sensible shoes, sunscreen, gloves and a hat. It's a little different when I'm building a garden, as I was last spring, or adding a fun new detail; that becomes a job to be done.

I don't see my day-to-day gardening as a job, because I try to create gardens that, once finished, can be left alone for a time to decide what they want to be. Then every so often I swoop in, with pruners, scissors or fingernails, and do a little drive-by gardening.

This morning was a perfect example. I noticed my purple plectranthus was looking scraggly...last month's bloom spent, and a second wave trying to come in. So I took to snapping away (plectranthus has brittle, square stems that break easily).

It took a couple of minutes, the plant looks fantastic, and there's a pretty purple pile that might (eventually) get potted up, given away, or taken to the compost bin. The Myrsine even got a tipping too. All this done in my robe, barefoot, with a cup of tea in my hand.

Drive-by gardening is like triage. Whatever needs doing, in the moment, gets done. Or not. Sometimes the need is urgent and timely, like rose pruning, poppy tear-out or bamboo cleanup, but to me a garden is a living, breathing organism that can only be controlled so much, and should be left somewhat to its own devices.

I like drive-by gardening because it lets things grow together in away you just can't duplicate in beds that are constantly cultivated or rearranged. It also fits into the small bits of my day that I feel free to putter. My plants are old friends; even this grouping of pots has been together for several years. By shaping them bit by bit, I've gotten to know who I'm working with. The result is my garden seldom looks perfectly manicured; in fact, if I do my work well, it never looks 'touched' at all.

[Note: This leisurely illusion is best maintained, I have found, when unbeknownst to you, your father has been stopping by to weed every so often!]

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - September 2009

Fall is starting to whisper in Northern California; we had our first real rainstorm of the season last night, and the garden today was damp and fragrant. I let a few of the last artichoke buds flower (but must be sure to cut them before they do their "HaHa! I'm really a thistle!" thing.) ~Click any photo to enlarge~

Things are more subtle in September. This is Grevillea 'Coastal Gem' a South-African groundcover shrub that is a good alternative to prostrate rosemary in the landscape; drought tolerant, deer resistant, wonderful texture and a lovely coral flower.

A little out-of-season Cerinthe major next to the Coleonema 'Sunset Gold' (one of my favorite plants, in case you haven't noticed!) That Cerinthe is blooming now is evidence of the milder-than-usual summer we had; normally this is an early spring combination!

This Diascia has been one of the hardest working perennials in my garden this year; planted as instant color in April they have been blooming non-stop ever since. Every time I go out to shear them, they look at up me like this and howl 'Nooo!' Maybe next month...

I am in love with this grass: Calamagrostis brachytricha (Korean Feather Reed Grass). I bought it from none other than John Greenlee himself. Unfortunately, my cats love it too, hence MY name for it:
Cat Toy Grass!

A spriglet of Loropetalum chinense 'Plum Delight,' another of my favorite winter-blooming shrubs, giving a little sneak preview.

I have mistreated this purple-leafed Plectranthus for years, but last spring I repotted him AND gave him his very own drip emitter; I think I've been forgiven!

The Lantana by the front porch is still going strong; no doubt it'll be around next month too. Thanks again to Carol from May Dreams Gardens for inspiring "Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day!"

I Used To Have a Lawn, Now I Have a Sanctuary

I am honored to write the first post for Lawn Reform's 'I used to have
a lawn' blog contest. I'm glad to share my blissfully lawn-free garden existence, and hope you will too!
When I was designing my back yard, someone suggested I put a lawn here. Insisted, in fact. Since he was my landlord and paying for it, I didn't have much choice. So I simply stalled the project until the house was mine, then did exactly as I pleased.

No doubt you are getting thoroughly tired of the Red Umbrella, but we'll start there to orient you for the rest of the tour.

The view from under the Red Umbrella. I have spent a lot of time contemplating my fountain this summer. It uses MUCH less water
than the equivalent in sprinkler gazing.

At the center of things is a simple paver patio. There used to be lawn here too, before my time. I would much rather go sit out in the middle of the yard on a starry, starry night without getting my socks wet, wouldn't you?

Around the patio are sturdy evergreen shrubs accented by grasses.
My cats find this kind of garden MUCH more entertaining than turf (which gets their feet wet too!)

In the sunny corner of the garden I have vegetable boxes where I grow herbs, apples, tomatoes, pomegranates, peppers and wildflowers in a rather casual way. I guess I could make some nice compost from a lawn...but I simply want more.

There are lots of dry little corners, perfect for succulents. This is the kind of edging I like.

Just because it's a paved, doesn't mean it isn't a garden. Buddha
sits on the step next to my office door. The succulents do get watered...occasionally.

Shade-loving plants in glazed pots cluster in a sheltered corner of the patio. They enjoy regular water, but almost never need mowing.

Outdoor space can be used in so many ways, it seems a shame to dedicate so much of it to lawn out of...habit. Especially in a dry summer climate like California. But things are changing, and my clients are losing their lawns by the yard...and gaining so much more.

I toast this trend with satisfaction (and dry feet) from my sanctuary under the Red Umbrella.

Congratulations on your launch, Lawn Reform, long may you wave!

~~~

To participate in the Lawn Reform Blog Contest, simply write a post on your blog that completes the statement: “I used to have a lawn, but now I have…”

• You can answer in words, pictures or both.
  
• Links to previous posts are welcome.
• If you but dream of a future with less lawn, feel free to complete “I still have a lawn, but one day I’ll have a…”
• Once you have posted, go visit Susan Morrison at Blue Planet Gardening and sign it up using the Mr. Linky widget.
  
• On September 30, Susan will post the randomly drawn winners and share highlights.
  
• Don’t forget to visit the Lawn Reform website and download a badge for your blog!

On With The Show

This week, to my great delight, I was invited to join the staff of the San Francisco Flower & Garden Show. I will be helping the new owners of this world-class event make it bigger and better than ever, and can think of no better way to put my experience to good use!

You see, I am no stranger to the Garden Show. The first time I ever attended was to help build an educational booth I designed for Foothill College, when I was a student in their Ornamental Horticulture & Design program. The booth won an award, and we had a great time.

I remember visiting the display gardens and marveling at how such huge, living, breathing creations could have come to life in the bowels of the Cow Palace; it was quite magical! I thought maybe one day I would like to build one of THOSE gardens...

My opportunity came just three years later, when fellow designer Daniel Owens of Enviromagic, with whom I had collaborated on an episode of Curb Appeal on HGTV the previous year, asked if I would co-design a display garden for the 2005 show. And of course I said yes!

Daniel designed the front part of the garden, with sleek modern lines and a cute little Crosley car parked on a travertine driveway.

(Ha! The pic on the Wikipedia link! Look familiar? How auspicious!)

My contribution to the garden was through the gate and up up up the stone stairs...

...where a tranquil woodland garden was built around a glass mosaic meditation platform overlooking the show floor. The process of producing a garden like this can be rather grueling, both physically and mentally, but the show itself was such fun; it seemed that everyone I knew stopped by to visit! Still, I have great respect for garden creators who do this again and again; once might just be enough for me! We did win a Gold Medal by the way (Daniel has it!)

This year I was once again working on an educational booth, this time for the Association of Professional Landscape Designers. We had an excellent team, and my contribution was a massive slide show highlighting the wonderful work of our members (here I have been caught pondering the finer points of screen resolution.)

This is part of the beautiful booth we built, which was masterminded and designed by friend and fellow designer Allison Olson. Her design and our hard work was awarded 'Best In Show' for educational booths. It was a great way for me to reconnect with the show again, especially since it was the first year at its new home, the San Mateo Event Center.

It was a chance conversation with the show producer's husband at this very booth six months ago that led to the opportunity I have with them today; I said if they ever needed help with the show to think of me. And they did. I'm really excited to see what happens next.

So what are you doing March 24-28 2010? This will be the show's 25th Anniversary, and it is going to be a great party! And if you know of any terrific gardening, green tech or green living companies that would be interested in being part of the action, send them here!

The Seven Gardens of Meme

Sarah and Helen of Toronto Gardens have kindly bestowed upon me the honor of a "Seven Things About You" meme, and it feels so much like, "have another glass of wine, dear and tell us about yourself" that I accept!

In pondering the topic, my mind veered into the garden, as it often does. I saw that there have been seven particularly influential gardens in my life. Spanning nearly five decades, their stories make for a passable memoir of a California gardener. Thank you for inspiring
me to share them!

Garden 1: Floribunda roses in Sunnyvale, CA 1967

For the first four years of my life I traveled with my parents as a Navy family. We lived in Texas, San Diego and the Philippines, but I recall little of it. In 1964 we moved to Sunnyvale, and when my dad finished his tour of duty, we stayed in the 'Valley of Heart's Delight.'

Our first garden was a simple suburban lot in the heart of what was rapidly becoming Silicon Valley, but at that time was more orchards than offices. My mother planted roses and annuals and old fashioned shrubs like pussy willow. My dad built us a clever play yard. There were trees to climb, just enough lawn, and a full complement of butterflies, bugs and birds, of which I was inordinately fond.

I have such vivid memories of that garden, much more so than the inside of the house. Looking through photos for the post I could almost smell that particular fragrance of snapdragons as you squeeze their sides to make a tiny roar; and almost taste that drop of nectar you can sip from a nasturtium.

Garden 2: My room, Saratoga, CA 1977

In 1970 we moved to Saratoga, where I commenced my teen years. We had a different sort of garden there, perched at the top of a creek bank lined with large pine trees. It was a larger and wilder place.

During those years we played in the creek, planted vegetables and enjoyed the many fruit trees. But I have to say, my main horticultural interest then was houseplants, I loved them, my private oasis in my room. Back in the day, I was the QUEEN of macrame plant holders.
My true gardens would have to wait a bit longer.

Garden 3: With a small helper, Aptos, CA 1989

My stay-home mom years coincided with a move to Aptos, along the coast south of Santa Cruz, where my first husband and I rented a home for eight years. My creative outlet during that time was building my first 'real' gardens.

It all started innocently enough, a row of petunias down the driveway, but with that first little taste I was hooked. By the second summer the tiny front yard was overflowing with perennials. Those were the years of gardening books, magazines and catalogs stacked by the bed, and a grubby baby monitor in the tool bucket.

Garden 4: My first sanctuary, Aptos, CA 1991

With no more room in front, I set out to reclaim the tiny (~10' deep) back garden. Our house was cut into a steep, north-facing slope covered with live oaks, ivy, native hazelnut, elderberry, wild currant and blackberry, all intertwined with copius amounts of poison oak. Fellow blogger Ivette Soler (The Germinatrix) recently wrote about how the jungle advances like the ocean. This stuff advanced like a tsunami!

The garden I made, by adding a planter along the retaining wall, a deck outside our bedroom doors and a shade garden under an arbor, was actually a finalist in a contest (for small gardens under 200sf) held by The Victory Garden. It didn't win, but to have such an early effort recognized at all was very cool!

Garden 5: My first 'Landscape' San Jose, CA 2006

Fast-forward through four dalliances with rental house gardens to
the landscape my second husband and I created, with the help of a landscape architect whose work we admired. The flat lot was transformed into something really quite unique and lovely.

These pictures were taken six years after planting; only the mugo pines by the walk and some star jasmine remain of the original. This west-facing ranch-style home, with its large windows used to be an exposed, hot fishbowl. What it became was a colorful dappled private woodland and meadow, with a house nestled in.

Garden 5: Where my Buddha used to sit

The bones of the garden were the large granite boulders used throughout, sometimes as structure, sometimes as accent. I love boulders in a garden, and use them often (I like structure you can count on, and you can count on rocks.) The cream-colored pot is actually a bubbling fountain, really nice to have near a front door.

Garden 5: Front Entry

We had the hand-carved front door made in Santa Fe; the chip-carved surface almost looks like hammered metal, and the stain went beautifully with the house color, the brick and the bluestone porch. Taking advantage of its willingness to roam, I liberated the star jasmine from the foundation bed and allowed it to ramble along the roofline, one of my favorite details.

Garden 5: Pinching the view; privacy in layers

We used 'pinched views' to gain privacy without blocking the house off completely, as a fence or hedge might do. The garden is actually quite open in the middle, once you walk up the path or over this hill between the shrub rose and large phormium. The focal point stone in the center was a particularly fine place to pose a large furry spider at Halloween!

Alas, this garden was not to stay mine; we sold the house not long after these photos were taken, and another family has made the garden their own. These may well be the last record of "how it was."

Garden 6: My second sanctuary, San Jose, CA 2006

Which brings us almost up-to-date. When I moved into my present home in the summer of 2006 I was a little discouraged to find myself back to square one, but also excited about finally using my years of experience as a landscape designer to create a new garden for myself.

Garden 6: My second sanctuary: 2009

The back came first, as it had been reduced to dirt during a remodel. I've written about this particular corner before; it is my favorite place to be, under the Red Umbrella. It has taught me much about the healing power of peaceful surroundings, particularly gardens.

The back garden was designed and built rather quickly to take advantage of a rare alignment of resources; for the next one I would take my time.

Garden 7: My Manifesto 2006

This is my house as I first saw it. Small, sunny, perfect; I immediately knew it was home. However, it would be a couple of years before I could replace my aging lawn, and I semi-dutifully mowed and watered the tyrant until a sprinkler head broke last year. I saw that as a sign, and let the lawn die with no regrets.

Garden 7: My Manifesto 2009

This winter, with business much slower and my nest newly empty, the time and resources were there to begin in earnest. My dad did the beautiful woodwork; every bit as artful and sturdy as the play yard he built more than 40 years ago. Working with him was a precious opportunity, and I happily bequeathed him my power mower in gratitude for his help.

So the garden mandala I've been creating for three years is now complete; harmonious elements combined to surround, infuse and define my private world. It is not perfect by any means, but it certainly shows how far I've come since that first row of petunias.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thanks for joining me on my long journey; I'm a bit exhausted! Now is the part where I sent you off on further adventures. Here are seven different directions you can go:

A Verdant Life John Black writes SO well, and has a knack for introducing provocative viewpoints with wit, insight, and the chops to back them up.

Blue Planet Garden Susan Morrison has already opted out of the 7-Things meme, but I want you to know about her blog anyway, her message is important and the way she relays it is smart, funny & charming.

GardenPunks Katie Hobson is an amazing photographer as well as a writer; when I saw the photos she took of my garden I looked at my trusty point-and-shoot and said "why can't YOU do that?"

Gossip in the Garden Rebecca Sweet serves up fresh and funny horticultural and design advice from her own beautiful gardens, which have twice been featured in Fine Gardening magazine!

Great Stems Meredith's blog is new to me, but it had me at cantaloupes and ladybugs; the work of a true gardener and talented photographer.

Miss Rumphius' Rules Susan Cohan has already been meme'd I know, but if anything deserves some extra recognition, it is her intelligent, informative blog. It is a standard to which I aspire.

Root Awakening Lynn Felici-Gallant's photos of her New Hampshire garden are exquisite, I have borrowed several (with permission!) for my screen saver, and enjoy them every day!

The Germinatrix Ivette Soler has also been meme'd already, (and her delightful response might be even longer than mine) but I HAD to include her because I adore her every post. When I'm inclined to curb my enthusiasms, her writing reminds me that it is OK to have passion for what I do, and to not be afraid to show it!

On My Knees for Gardening Gone Wild!

David Perry, the judge for the August photo contest at Gardening Gone Wild asked us to get down on our knees and show them something they haven’t seen in quite the same way before.

I was encouraged to submit a cool hummingbird shot (thanks, Maureen!) but two things were wrong; first, it was taken a couple of weeks ago, (not with this assignment in mind) and second it was kind of a panic shot taken from above, not a thoughtful shot taken from knee level or lower. For my first GGW entry, I want to follow the rules!

As I sat under the Red Umbrella pondering, I saw this fellow making his way across the garden, and knew that he would be my subject. A common brown snail, not very sexy, or is he? Well, I groveled before him, so I bet he's feeling pretty special (from his, um, new home in the neighbor's ivy!)

A Day In The Life - The Growers

The same day I visited Pottery Planet, I also paid calls to two different plant growers, Pacific Plug & Liner and Soquel Nursery Growers. The central coast of California, with its mild climate and agricultural focus, is home to many kinds of growers, from small specialty to annual color to huge commercial wholesale.

My first visit was to PP&L, a starter-plant grower in Watsonville that provides small plants in large quantities to wholesale growers (Like Soquel) who grow them on until they are ready to sell to retail nurseries and landscape professionals. PP&L also tests and develops plants provided to them by breeders all over the world.

The gorgeous Gaillardia above is one of PP&L's summer perennial trials; if bee votes count, this beauty is a sure thing!
~click any picture to enlarge~

Boy, not a plant in sight! This is where it begins for many of PP&L's plants, the cold closet where seed stock is kept at a preserving temperature until ready for propagation. I felt a bit guilty, thinking of all those unscientifically stored seed packets in my garage!

Check out the seeding machine! Large trays with compartments not much bigger than sugar cubes are run through this machine, where the seeds are planted at the proper depth, covered and watered, just like that. I was impressed. The planted trays are then taken to the indoor growing field.

And, I do mean field. You are looking at thousands and thousands of perennials, grasses, even small shrubs and groundcovers, on a vast sea of waist-high tables in a carefully controlled greenhouse.

The next field over is the propagation room; the plants you see aren't the end result, they are the beginning...mother plants from which thousands of cuttings are taken and rooted in a similar fashion to the seed trays, but with slightly larger cells.

These mother plants are never sold; they are harvested until that can't take it any more, and then composted. Here we see a field of Dianthus.

These are starts of Cordyline 'Festival Grass' from FitzGerald Nurseries in Kilkenny Ireland, who provide very small sprouts to PP&L to be started like this. These will probably grow for another few months before being sold to growers, who might tend them for another six months (small wholesale size) to a year (full retail size) before selling.

Ah, that's more like it! Some of the many plants they are developing; a couple of beautiful Carex in the middle (also from FitzGerald) a beautiful variegated Euphorbia, pink Agastache, and some bright Coprosma.

Here's what all the cuttings and seedlings look like when they are ready to come outside, still in their propagating trays. Amazing to see familiar plants in their infancy! I believe the foreground trays are the ornamental cabbages that are a common winter annual in California.

This is a batch of a new variety of Pennisetum Rubrum almost ready to ship out for planting in 1g containers; these will likely be going in to gardens next spring. It was fascinating for me to see the 'early childhood development' of some of my favorite (or next favorite!) plants! Now on to one of my favorite wholesale nurseries.

A half hour north of Watsonville you'll find Soquel Nursery Growers. I've been shopping at Soquel for years. They are a small wholesale only (sorry!) nursery specializing in unusual perennials, grasses, groundcovers, shrubs and vines, mostly in 1-and 5-gallon size.

As you can see, they are a terrific place to go for color, also a good choice for a client visit. They nearly always have an electric cart for me to use, and a tour of inspection is always a pleasure!

I was shopping for the containers I had purchased earlier at Pottery Planet, which were destined for a partially shady deck. So to the shade house I went, for a look at their choicest plants. Here we have two varieties of red Loropetalum chinense, Lamium 'Purple Dragon' and blue-flowered Brunnera.

Southern sword fern, (Nephrolepis) Coral Bells (Heuchera) and Sweet Flag (Acorus 'Ogon') remind me of how gorgeous these three are planted together!

I'm a visual designer, and prefer to choose plants on the spot rather than plan everything out and just execute a shopping list. I played with groupings on the flatbed of the electric cart until I had what I needed. Then, I went home.

Thanks for joining me on this 'Day in the Life' it's always more fun when someone comes along!