A visit to Tower Hill's Orangerie and Limonaia

I recently took a few of my family members for a visit and lunch to Tower Hill in Boylston, Ma. For me it is a 'must do' visit every year in either Late February or Early March before our New England Spring arrives in the garden and landscape. It was a wonderful day, we drove thru overcast skies and windy cold temperatures to reap the reward of this wonderful gem. The forced daffodil bulbs are now in the Orangerie and Limonaia working on their little blossom bulge for display soon. The real show however is the stunning display of tropicals and succulents that are in bloom now. One family member was so amazed at her experience entering the large doorway to the Orangerie she stopped short in her tracks and stood and just gazed at it all. Once we entered of course the experience blossomed to a full bouquet of ah's and oh's then questions. What is this! I have to have one of these!  I just love the color of this! and WOW look how big this one is. Responses I've often heard all repeat when I bring them to visit.

I was intrigued at seeing the large Aloe blossom ready to open. I have only ever seen photos of this, so of course, now, I shall have to go back and see the real thing.

The difference in materials used building the Limonaia are obvious and the experience with the visit there was a bit different. We of course enjoyed it and also the wonderful view of the courtyard between the Orangerie and Limonaia. The Camellia's really were quite the show in the Limonaia.

The water feature in the courtyard was so inviting we just had to go out and see it, despite the wind and cold temps. The large turtles (or maybe they are tortoise) appearing to spew water at each other were a site we all imagined how fun it must be as a child to come and see them.

The plantings in the courtyard we could see are young and newly installed yet we enjoyed the color, texture, shapes and sizes they offered in this dormant season of New England. Some of us began to shiver beckoning our return to the indoors. We stopped and viewed the wonderful WitchHazel display at the Twig's Cafe entrance and enjoyed a nice warm lunch before heading back home.

A special thank-you to the Worcester Horticultural Society and all the generous folks who over the years have provided support and donations to this wonderful place. It's a bit of a ride for the folks from New Hampshire I brought, but their last comment was, 'I can't wait til Spring to come back and explore the outdoors here, and let's bring the rest of the family'.

I hope you enjoy the few photos I took, you can also visit the Tower Hill website for more info. Take a look at  What's in Bloom   to see learn about some of what's waiting for you to come see!

Spring is coming, Honest!

Now that February is behind us here in the Northeast we have begun the countdown to when Spring truly arrives. The official start of Spring this year is March 20th. This is a time when we all start looking for the signs that the season is here. This year we have so much snow and ice it will be a good bet as to when we will really start to see and feel Spring.

I recently read a book borrowed from a friend that I enjoyed so much that I must mention it here.  Before you start getting ready to make your lawn the blue prize of the neighborhood this year, I ask you to consider some of the things this books author has written about. The numbers I'm about to clue you into were provided by author Douglas W. Tallamy in his book Bringing Nature Home. In the United States there are over 40 million acres of lawn and we spend 45 billion dollars on caring for it. Did you know that 1 hour of lawn mowing produces the same amount of pollution as 650 miles of driving? How about the price of gas these days, did you know that yearly 800 million gallons of gas is consumed by lawn mowers?

Bringing Nature Home is a great and easy read. It is a discussion on what can be done by all of us to sustain wildlife with native plants. Now don't go thinking you can not contribute, you can. Whether you have property that provides a place to plant or not, you live in a community, communities have schools, public spaces, private business and corporations have parking areas, all of these can be landscaped with plantings that invite and sustain a wildlife environment. Wildlife, what is that? If you are thinking bears, deers, wolves and other such animals, think again. A point made by Mr. Tallamy at a recent presentation I attended at New England Grows was his observation that once native sustaining plants were placed in the landscape, birds native to the area were noticed returning and many of the huge population of non-native birds moved on to other areas. The book discusses this example very well.

Want to know what all the hoopla is about invasive plants? There are documented examples and photos supporting them in this book. Some 'invasives' perhaps have good traits for a one time fix, but, over time they become out of control and harmful to the natural environment, next time you drive along the highway or an area that was disturbed during construction and left to its own instead of re-landscaping properly, take note of the invasives that have blanketed the native trees, you'll see that trees are dead or dying from vines that have deprived it of sunlight necessary to sustain life or perhaps it has broken off from the weight of vine cover during months of snow and ice here in the Northeast.

I'm a gardener, and often when I come upon insects in the landscape I'm not sure what kind it is, is it a good insect? is it a bad insect? The images and descriptions in this book are a prime reason I will have keep this book handy for referral. I've always known that a rule of thumb is that is you see an insect in large numbers you probably should know what it is, its possible there is an imbalance in the garden when this happens, it could be ok or not. After reading this book it may be that you simply need to introduce a few native plantings to provide the balance that nature needs to do its job. I enjoyed learning about oh so many insects and cannot wait to see how many I will hopefully be able to identify this year. We have lost some beautiful and worthy insects due to loss of habitat, did you know many insects only feed on certain types of plants? The Royal Walnut Moth is the largest most beautiful Lepidoptera in North America, says Tallamy. It is now extinct in New England, scientists say from light pollution. The poor thing would literally die from exhaustion from attraction to man-made light.

As a designer I've always supported keeping natives in the design process. Knowing what a native plants purpose is enhances the overall effect of the landscape both for the customer and nature. It certainly does not have to be an 'all or nothing' native planting design, but care should be taken on what mix of natives and non-natives are expected to co-exist with each other. There is some discussion on this topic as well in the section 'What Should I Plant'. Basically the message is simple,  native plantings should continue throughout a neighborhood to provide a thread of the natural environment that was there before its interruption. If you think about protected areas, such as wetlands and many conservation lands, this is the rule, developers are required to provide a list of what is intended to be planted near these areas, and for good reason, not just to keep invasives out but to maintain the sustainable nature of the space that was there to begin with.

With that I'll close with the following statement from the author, he says:
our gardens need native plants to support a diverse and balanced food web essential to all sustainable ecosystems

 

for a look inside the book visit the link below...enjoy!
Bringing Nature Home

Design By Nature

Truly we all are impacted by the surroundings of nature. Opportunity to learn from nature and use it in our daily living is so simply attainable, we just have to take the moment to capture and experience it. For me there are 2 times of the day I favor for viewing what Nature does all on its own. Sunrise and Sunset. The effect they have on what we view is always a reward, changing from minute to minute. You can experience the view from the grandest perspective or from a detailed perspective and the reward is just as great for each. Take a roadside view you perhaps travel each day. How different it will appear during different times of the day. The shadows, the movement, the color, the outline. I took a few photos that I just 'had' to stop and capture during sunset on my way home from a routine drive. The difference this time that made me stop was the combination of the time of day and weather. The day had been one of a 'misty rain' which I think provided the lovely low rolling foggy looking mist in the photo. That combined with the time of day as an image that is now captured and stored in my humble human memory.

On most trips past the view of the tall grasses, I probably never took much notice. But this time they compelled me Stop! Get out of the vehicle! and Take a picture! As the passing cars 'whizzed' past me I thought, they don't know what they are missing, or surely they would have at least slowed down along this stretch of the road.

To me the view offered connections with thoughts and feelings of  peace, rest, silence, a slow dance, a lullaby song. The large island in the distance provided the backdrop for the display up front. Sort of like the curtain on stage does for the performance front and center.

There is a look of slight 'order' to it all. The trees all clumped together on the island beyond, the small shrubs dotting the area like focal points to a garden and  the grasses like a carpet surrounding it all. I suppose that describes best how I interpret Nature's Design to apply to my own designs. I'm always wondering how can I apply that beautiful scene on a different scale, using different plants or ornaments. Sure we can all pop open a book and follow the designs of  folks famous for their work, or even use snippets from a favorite magazine, but for me there's not enough 'connection' doing that. I enjoy the process and reward of noting Nature's Design and taking that connection and applying to a design I can call my own.  Well sortof, I did after all borrow some of the idea from perhaps the best designer on the planet, Nature.

So on your next trip out along the beaten path, take a second look, you may discover something that has been there all along waiting for you to capture and experience. Here's a final image of my discovery on this sunset evening drive home.

Remember to Look UP and UNDER!

Anyone who appreciates the canvas of nature's beauty knows full well that all the senses are to be engaged in the process of experiencing what nature offers us. We must make the time to stop, look, listen, smell, touch and sometimes taste the elements of nature that surround us. One may drive or bike or walk past this somewhat ordinary looking crabapple and think, oh, what pretty white blossoms! Maybe they will  notice the aroma they offered if the day is warm enough, or hear the bees busy at work helping it to create the small crabapples that hang on into winter for the birds who then eat it; or.... maybe they will be the type of person who really gets to know this tree a bit more than the obvious. Look at the bark, touch it, feel the texture and island like chunks that look ready to peel or fall off but never really do, or perhaps they will notice the details of the blossom, which by the way is of the rosaceae family (meaning the blossom are 5-petaled)  Wikipedia Malus Info is worth a visit to learn more about this genus.

As a design consideration the malus is one of the easiest trees to include in a design. Simply put you need sun (although there are some cultivars that tolerate part shade) space that will accomodate it's natural growth pattern (there are many to choose from, vase like, tall sprawling, short rounded, etc) and correct soil conditions (again most soils can work for a correctly chosen cultivar). Beware however of what else you include in a design with malus. Always choose disease and pest resistant varieties to provide best chances of a long-lived healthy tree, and don't plant non-companion plants in the area, such as cedar and juniper. Although on this particular site both do exist, this crabapple is a resistant type and in the 20 years it has been in this location it has yet to show signs of suffering from apple-cedar rust.

Some crabapples can offer a great canopy to sit under on a hot day.  This location of the bench  offers a beautiful view of the crabapple and is well away from the busy street you would experience actually sitting under this tree.

There are 3 crabapples on this property and each is a different type. All have small fruit that remain on the tree thru the winter, two have a bright yellow/orange colored fruit and one has a red colored fruit. The structure of the trees are different. This one has a vase like shape (although a large white pine fell through it last winter, changing its look a bit) and the other two trees have a more 'rounded' form.

Although the photos of these trees have a white blossom once fully open, they actually had different pink tones when in bud and start of  bloom. I so enjoy walking under these older trees looking up thru the canopy. To me that is the prize. Each season the branch structure inside and up offers interest I truly enjoy. Do have an arborist help you keep your crabapple canopy in good health, suckers should be removed, dead and diseased wood should also be removed, perhaps in a field setting some of these issues would be left handled by nature, but for a lawn tree it's best to give them the proper care, you will be rewarded with a view up close you won't want to miss.

Make time to experience Spring 2010 and plan for next year

 Spring the season is here, officially until Summer begins in late June. So please do get out there and experience it. In your own backyard, neighborhood, park, botanical garden, forest or tradesmen plant nursery.

Most Spring bulbs are up or emerging and the weather determines how long or little they will be putting on the show. A Rainy Day Viewing can be rewarding if you get out there before things flop to the ground. Which is one reason you want to plan a bulb garden that has material with varying heights, such as grape hyacinth mixed in with daffodils and/or tulips. The hyacinth will stand with the wettest weather, but the daffodils maybe not. On a dry day a walk thru the bulbs will reward you with fragrance, if you have selected bulbs that will provide you with such. And, finally, a choice of early, mid and late season bloomers will provide a display for a number of weeks. So now is the time to go out and about and reap the rewards of  careful planning in hopes of generating your personal horticulture masterpiece for Spring.

Nantucket holds a great celebration each spring in April - Three Million Daffodil Celebration
They are just wild about daffodils!  April 23-25 will be all things daffodils if you can manage to get there. There will be however more time to see daffodils after the event, but the true experience should be planned during the festival when everyone and everything is adorned with daffodils.

 

  

The American Daffodil Society offers a plethra of information on daffodils. Each year they select a National Gold Winner and the US Postal Service even has a daffodil themed stamp you can purchase. 

Did you know that deer and rodents will not eat your daffodils? The bulbs and leaves contain a poisonous substance that they are not interested in consuming. Tulips however are like a fine dining experience for them, so you can try surrounding your tulips with a ring of daffodils, sometimes this works, but not always.

Did you know you can plant daffodils in a shady area? If the shade is created from deciduous trees (meaning they lose their leaves in autumn) your daffodils will be a welcome display in the Spring until the trees wake up and start their own show.

Do you know the difference between a daffodil and a jonquil? If you are interested in entering daffodils in competition, it would be important to know this difference.

How about the difference between daffodil and narcissus? Careful,  could be a trick question. If you know botanical latin it will help with the answer.

It is now that I go out into the garden and determine where I need to put more bulbs for next year's display. I usually will take color coded wooden craft sticks and place them where I need to add that color to an area. Later during the Fall I acquire my bulbs and plant them where I've left a marker to do so. Easy! I don't have to worry that I'm digging an area already planted or that I'm just adding more of the same color to an area.

As a bonus I use the colored stick (it's flat like a tongue depressor) and write the name of the bulb I've just planted there. The following Spring I enjoy my walk thru the garden learning about the new bulbs that are up and asking us all to please come up close and see and touch and smell! Remember to bring some indoors to enjoy as well!

Spring is back and so is the Boston Flower and Garden Show.

I'm looking forward to getting a sneak peak at Spring in full bloom this year at the Boston Flower and Garden Show. It's back after a year of absence and managed by a professional events group. The Mass Hort Society will still be a big presence and judging and awards will be provided in fewer numbers that the past. But at least it's back, and this year at a t time we will not worry about snow in the forecast.  I hope you all get a chance to see the show this year and form your own opinion vs. reading about it in a journal or online social network. There is just nothing like the 'real thing' when it comes to blossoms and blooms.  The theme this year is 'A Feast For The Senses'.

Be sure to visit the 'HopeInBloom' exhibit that I'm helping out with this year.  Visit the website for more info on HopeInBloom, they provide gardens free of charge to patients undergoing breast cancer treatment.  Stop by the exhibit and learn about this worthy cause and the people that make it happen thru volunteer efforts. Funding for HopeInBloom gardens are provided solely thru private donations.
The HopeInBloom exhibit will portray a typical outdoor garden that is installed during the seasonal months of the year,  they also provide indoor gardens and florals for those not able to have an outdoor garden.

I attended the Philadelphia Flower Show this year for the first time. It was a fun and rewarding experience. It is true that the show is 'large' and many 'large' displays. The theme was Passport To The World. The florals were amazing. My observation was that exhibits in this show had a mix of landscape and floriculture in each of the themes. The Africa theme display used dried floral and beans to create life size models of African culture and face masks. Very impressive.  The India theme used dried materials and blossoms to create a large elephant draped with an ornamental back carpet accompanied by a large peacock.  All of this was very impressive but as as a horticulturist I really wanted to see the 'down in the dirt' displays.

I did find exhibits that I had hoped to see. Sustainable of course was in the description for just about any exhibit that portrayed a garden or landscape. Some were realistic and considered what I would call 'doable' by the average home owner, others of course were way outside of the box, nice to view, and obtainable with a large price tag I'm sure. I enjoyed most the exhibit that provided walk-thru with posters explaining the goals of the horticulture used in the exhibit.

I enjoyed the hort and garden societies entries most. Porches adorned with a mailbox and walkway were really fun to look at and seek out what materials were used to create them. Balcony plantings and window boxes accompanied by a lamp post were also a treat to walk thru and see how the same theme was created so differently times 5.

The amateur hort displays are always fun to walk thru. I really like the lay out they offered at this show. You could actually walk thru the displays like you would an outdoor nursery and see the exhibit up close. Really nice for taking photos. There were some wonderful topiaries and under glass miniature gardens that folks had been very creative with. I think I'll try one of each myself  this year.

And we must not forget to mention the vendors. There were many, as there usually are at these shows. The quality was pretty good. It was a treat to see more 'hort' related vendors than some of the products I'd rather go to your local discount store to purchase. The economy has triggered many folks with huge talent and creativity to make $ense of it all. I saw some very nice unique artistry as a result.  A building contractor started building and selling birdhouses, but not any ordinary birdhouse, these are works of art. He had cuts the copper tiles for each roof, and each house is unique. The show was his first exposure to the public, his booth was 'very' busy.

So we all have our reasons for attending the various Flower and Garden shows each spring here in New England. Whether it be to learn about the hottest newest plants to buy or how to's on growing your own garden or maybe see a new floral display splash you'd like to try, there certainly is one great benefit to attending the show, the people! You get to meet so many folks like yourself that are ready to jump in and get going with the growing, seeing, smelling, touching, hearing, taste of the season, what a great way to experience them all at the 'Feast For The Senses' show in Boston next week.

Check your trees and shrubs for needed pruning this time of year

It's February, the days are getting longer and the sun is getting stronger.  Before your trees and shrubs wake up  for their long awaited spring show, this is a great time to get out and check them all for damage due to winter weather and/or critters.

Removal of damaged branches can often prevent more damage from occurring either to the damaged tree or other trees and surroundings. The ground is frozen this time of year meaning less damage occurs from falling branches and/or their debris during the clean-up process. Consider a shade garden for instance. You certainly don't want to be out trying to tip toe thru the upcoming garden while doing needed pruning to your trees and shrubs.

Any diseased growth on trees could be removed now as well. Many diseases have less chance of spreading if removed during the colder months of the year. Be sure you know the disease you are dealing with and follow recommend procedures.  For instance, there seemed to be perfect conditions last year for fire blight problems. It is still evident on many trees this winter, which is a good time to remove affected branches.
Many University sites have fact sheets and images on diseases and how to treat trees affected with them. A best practice when planting  is to choose trees that are highly resistant to the disease your area may have problems with.
I found the life cycle information on fire blight below at one of the may University sites that provide such helpful data.

Pruning of trees and shrubs for shape is necessary less often if they have been planted in the 'right place'.
There are of course topiary, espaliers and fruit bearing trees that require pruning on a regular basis. It is important that pruning of these be done at the right time and using the right tools and methods. For instance, pruning of blueberry bushes is very different from pruning apple trees. Even when trees and shrubs are pruned to form particular shapes or rows, there is a correct technique to be used to provide optimum health for plants that are forced to grow in unnatural forms. There is a fun little animation tutorial on pruning provided by the Arbor Day Foundation. Take a couple of minutes and enjoy it at the link below.

http://www.arborday.org/trees/pruning/animation/launch.cfm

There is an unfortunate tree in the back of my own property that snapped at the top third of its height during a recent wind storm. It is now lying semi-horizontally about 15 feet off the forest floor among several other trees which of course are stressed and possibly somewhat damaged by this event. Since these trees are not on my property but my neighbors I will alert them of the situation. This seems to be an 'out of site, out of mind' area to the owner, which is a shame, as this small woodland is shrinking from lack of proper care.

Arborist services should be considered for any work that you do not have the proper tools for and for large and dangerous situations. Large trees typically should be left for the pros as well as any treatments for infected  trees. A Certified Arborist   has had to attend educational classes and training and maintain their education each year, please use them, most damage done to trees is due to improper pruning. When looking for an arborist check their status and check their references. In the state of Massachusetts you can obtain information on current  Mass Certified Arborists at the Listing Service for the Mass Arborists Association
If you are not sure how to do light pruning of your young and small trees bring in a consultant who can teach you or advise you. If you think you need a chain saw to prune your tree, you need a professional! A chain saw should only be used on a dead tree or a tree that is too large to handle by most homeowners.