Plant Talk

Spring Chores Slowed Down by Chill Here...A Different Story on the East Coast

"Every spring is the only spring- a perpetual astonishment." -- Ellis Peters

When I read Anne Raver's New York Times story about spring gardening in a heat wave, I was reminded how in spring, more than in any other season, the timing of garden chores is so very weather-dependent.

I'd just come indoors for a hot cup of tea, chilled from wrestling with old lily stalks and digging out an overgrown clump of miscanthus, and settled down to read "The Race Is On: Early Spring, Early Planting". Raver writes that everything is ahead of time on her side of the country; the crabapples are about to bloom at her Maryland farm. And she's sowing seed for sunflowers, zinnias...she's feeling behind on getting her summer flowers started!

I slogged back out to finish pruning back the epimedium. If you don't get the tattered leaves cut away before the tiny flowers appear on their wiry stems, it's difficult to avoid damaging them..unless you garden in bifocals, which is something I haven't quite come to. Yet.

Same with the autumn ferns; cut the old foliage down too late and you risk injuring the tightly curled, newly emerging fronds. Search as I might, I saw little sign of new flowers on the epimedium or fresh fronds on the ferns; the fat snouts of Hosta 'Sum and Substance' are barely poking out of the still cold ground.

I've never pruned my roses or hydrangeas so late in the season; it seems wrong to cut them back while the temperatures are still dipping below 35 degrees at night. Still, the sun was out, I need to get on to fertilizing and mulching, so the hydrangeas are clipped, the roses beheaded, the lavender sheared back, and, finally, the garden is looking as tidy as it can before I spread a fluffy, dark layer of feeding mulch (at least a month behind schedule). And hopefully get my sweet peas in the ground so come June I can pick bouquets like the one above...

Raver writes "And I long for those chilly March days of yore, when I gardened in a sweater. These days, the race is on to get the peas planted soon enough so they can do most of their growing before the mercury climbs into the 80s." It had been 77 degrees at her place the day before, and she'd heard a bluebird singing.

At least her article made me wonder, as I snuggled back into fleece and headband before heading outside, if it was better to be faced with the uncertainties of heat too early, or be thwarted by yet another chilly spring...

 

Purple Leafed Plums Never Look As Good as They Do Right Now....

Pink, pink springtime - the view out my upstairs window into my neighbor's purple leafed plum on a pouring down rain day. Most of the year, this tree looks like an ungainly shadow...but thank goodness for its ethereal ultra-pink presence on this gloomy, soaking wet day....

 

"Petal & Twig" Made the New York Times!!

I'm so grateful to Anne Raver for her sweet little review of "Petal & Twig" in the New York Times today. In "Arranging The Garden Inside and Out" she reviews my book along with Ken Druse's new "Natural Companions" so I'm in very good company...Take a look....

Preview of Chihuly Garden and Glass, Opening in May at the base of the Space Needle

I don't often throw around the word spectacular, but it's the only way to describe what's going on at the base of the space needle as the new Chihuly Garden and Glass exhibit comes together for a May opening.

I was lucky enough to have a hard-hat tour last week led by landscape designer Richard Hartlage of AHBL; I'm writing a story about the gardens that'll run in Pacific Northwest magazine in early June.

A true confluence of creativity is exploding at the base of the Needle -it looks like the beginning of a rennaissance for the Seattle Center. From the sleekly modern, 40 foot high glass house and the nine-room gallery fitted into the shell of the old Fun Forest (designed by Seattle architect Owen Richards) to the gardens, I've never seen anything like it.

The galleries are roomy, the gift shop is lined with pale wooden walls and the banquet seating in the cafe is decked out in a print so stylish it could have been designed by Mondo of Project Runway fame.

The site is ringed in welcoming new plazas, promenades and plantings. The green roofs are planted to be seen from the Needle above, and there are green screens, groves of stewartia, mature elms and even dove trees....a 40 foot tall, modern glasshouse...it's going to be so beautiful...

Just picture this: lavender glass wands atop an ancient log salvaged from the woods. That's just one of the many intriguing visuals to come; all the Chihuly glass pieces have been made specifically for this exhibit.

Here are some construction site photos to give you an idea...stay tuned for the longer article in Pacific.

The blue disks are placeholders for art ...and in the background a Chihuly sun just being assembled atop a mound planted with....well, you're going to have to wait and see for yourselves...

The remodeled building and one of many groves of trees being planted for shade and scale..

Some of the  mature trees going in, which will make the site feel finished the day it opens...and behind is the new glasshouse....

 

 

 

Shangri-La Hotel Orchids and Backyard Bouquets....

The first Shangri-La Hotel in North America is on Alberni Street in Vancouver B.C..... It being a bit out of our price range, we were staying a few blocks away at the Listel on Robson...but we wandered through the hotel lobby and outdoor public spaces. All is elegant and minimalistic, textural and atmospheric, like this swirly steel sculpture, grove of timber bamboo and outdoor fireplace outside the Ki Modern Japanese restaurant & bar at the hotel.

And the orchids in the lobby were as classy as the chandeliers...oversized, slim glass cyclinders holding purple, chartreuse and white cymbidiums, some on cut stalks, others just blossoms floating in water. A few mossy branches grounded the vases in nature...

When I got home to Langley later that afternoon, my first stop was the garden to see what was in bloom to pick for a friend's party, and to take in to the yoga studio. I was so happy to find the hellebores and euphorbia still going strong, plenty of tiny narcissus in bloom....

I couldn't help but compare my little bouquets with the still fresh memory of the orchids....and while it's a bit like comparing the proverbial apples and oranges....The roses of winter (hellebores) are as appealing as the orchids, if not nearly as showy. The masses of orchids  had the advantage of stop-you-in-your tracks gorgeousness, a whiff of the tropics, and such elegance, while the homegrown bouquets are free (relatively...), quick, easy, organic, fragrant (the narcissus) and weren't sprayed or shipped long distances.

We may well think that our flower choices are all about the visuals, that we choose one flower over another based on color, shape, size...But really, aren't most flowers beautiful and heart warming?  As with so many other things, our bouquet choices are every bit as much about sensibilites and ethos as they are about aesthetics.

Orchids always look like money....the hellebores look like the simple flowers they are, made valuable by the fact they bloom in winter when not much else is flowering...

 

 

Sun, Snow, and Flowers - The First Week of Spring in Vancouver B.C.

Vancouver must have even more microclimates than we deal with in Seattle - so far today we've had winds that must have blown in off a glacier, bright sun, pouring rain...sometimes all at once. The hills around the bay are liberally dusted with snow, dramatically dark clouds and huge white puff clouds alternate with clear blue sky. This city is intensely urban with all its stylish residential towers dominating the skyline, yet so rooted in nature with water, mountains, trees and flowers everywhere you look...

I'm here to speak to the Garden Design Group, such a generous and welcoming group of dedicated gardeners and professionals. But today we spent the day walking - through Stanley Park, around Coal Harbour, checking out galleries on Granville Island, and dinner in bustling Yaletown.

Here are a few photos of this supremely beautiful city, right on the cusp of springtime..

First stop - Granville Island, wiht all its cool shops, flower stalls, public market, boat shops and art galleries..

Everywhere on this funky island with its old, refurbished industrial buildings are flowers - daffodils and primroses blooming in half barrels, flower markets, and displays at individual shops, like this woven basket of spring blooms -

The concentration of galleries on this one little peninsula is exciting...

The public market is a feast for the senses....you're hit with the smell of flowers, fresh produce and exotic spices the minute you walk inside..

Every door opens to flowers inside and out...

And the beautifully displayed produce is nearly as tempting as the flowers...

A wall of vases at the new CB2 store on Robson Street - I didn't know this hipper Crate and Barrel was anything but a catalog....the store is full of bright colors and contemporary design at reasonable prices.

There's a new (to me, anyway) chain of grocery stores called Urban Fare that is so sleek and upscale it makes Whole Foods look downright dowdy...one of the many green displays at Urban Fare on Alberni Street.

It was heartening, despite the cold, to find proof that spring has arrived in Stanley Park...

 

Everyday Bouquet Contest - Sharpen Your Clippers and Win a $100 Gift Certificate

Happy first day of spring - today is the vernal equinox, even though you'd never guess it from the weather...

Might a prize nudge you into going outside, clippers in hand, to find what’s poking up and budding out in your garden to cut for a bouquet? You can scavenge roadsides for cool grasses or wildflowers, or exchange flowers or leaves with neighbors….the point is to get outside, gather, arrange, photograph, and enter our contest called “Everyday Bouquets” in the hopes you’ll develop a pleasurable bouquet habit.

 I wrote “Petal & Twig” to encourage gardeners to bring nature indoors, whether you grow it yourself, trade, or forage. It can be so easy and satisfying to gather what catches your eye and fashion it into a simple little heart-felt bouquet.

For the next four weeks, to celebrate my new book  Petal & Twig: Seasonal Bouquets with Blossoms, Branches, and Grasses from Your Garden (January 2012), I’m partnering with my publisher Sasquatch Books on a contest to reward you for messing around with flowers.  I’m hoping “Plant Talk” readers will enter our Everyday Bouquets Contest that starts tomorrow. I'll post a bunch of my favorites here as they come in to inspire us all...

To enter, create your own early spring bouquet and send a photo and brief description (100 words or less, plant names included please, if possible) to me before April 17th.  I will be looking for seasonal inspiration and creativity, for a sense of fun and joy. 

 The winning bouquet - highly subjective, I admit - will receive a copy of Petal & Twig, and a $100 gift certificate to Terrain.

 To Enter:

 Full official contest rules and guidelines are below. Contest begins March 20, 2012. Entries must be received no later than April 17, 2012, 11:59:59 PM Pacific Time.

• Enter for the chance to win a gift certificate to Terrain (Approximate Retail Value $100).

• No purchase necessary.

• Open to residents of the fifty United States and the District of Columbia, ages 18 or older.

• Contest begins March 20, 2012. Entries must be received no later than April 17, 2012, 11:59:59 PM Pacific Time.

• Winners will be selected on or about April 30, 2012

• Void where prohibited by law.

Entries must be sent to valeaston@comcast.net, and please put “Petal & Twig Contest in the subject line so I don’t miss them.  Entries must include the following: (Incomplete entries will not be considered.)

▪   Name (first and last):

▪   Email Address:

▪   Photograph of your bouquet (1MB or less)

▪   Brief (100 words or less) description

 Click below for rules and guidelines

White Flower Farm "The Garden Book" for Summer 2012 is a Stunner...and It's Free

I was lured into planting my first garden more than thirty years ago by the images in the White Flower Farm catalog - I remember ordering daylilies and delphinium...I probably never even got past the "Ds".....

Hydrangea paniculata 'Vanilla Strawberry' is the cover girl on the Summer 2012 catalog (order a copy of the catalog here), and only a small example of the plant porn to be found within...

Our local nurseries are so well stocked now with most everything you can find in the WWF catalog, and with other advantages (pick out your own plants, no shipping, lower prices) I rarely order from the catalog anymore, but I still adore and study it. It's such a great source of information on new varieties, planting combinations...really, the photos are so gorgeous you can nearly smell the roses, lilies, and lavender, feel the silkiness of the ruffled clematis and poppy petals.

If you're in search of inspiration for pots and hanging baskets, check out the "Carnivale" combo in a tall bronze urn: "Canna 'Tropical Salmon', Coleus 'Bronze Pagoda' and Verbena 'Aztec Plum' with a hit of lantana and yellow helenium.

I got into growing tuberous begonias (like B. 'Orange Cascade', left) because of the catalog's luscious photos. And the dahlias...it's like a primer of the most covetable of these most covetable summertime beauties.

It's a sign of the times that WWF is emphasizing annuals less and vegetables more; they're selling tomatoes, peppers, salad greens, raspberries, and a "Beginner's
Veggie Garden Collection"

From my first garden nearly forty years ago to now, White Flower Farm has been about quality. It's still the place to buy as close as you can get to a ready-made garden, pick up something new and glamorous (I fell for their extravagant Clematis 'Crystal Palace' a few seasons ago when it was still exclusive to WWF), or just study, and dream over the beautiful, and still free, catalog.

White Flower Farm has always specialized in soul-stirring flowers, like this red and pink Clematis 'Avant-Garde', which hardly looks real, and poppies like P. orientale 'Salmon Glow' (bottom photo). All photos courtesy of White Flower Farm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Patient, and Not So Patient, Plants Waiting To Go Back Outside.....

After Tuesday's swirl of snow in Seattle, I went to Cliff Mass's blog for weather comfort, and found this cartoon....and more talk of snow. The ten day forecast shows nothing but rain and highs hovering in the 40's, plunging into the 30's at night...no warm soil or gentle spring rains in our near future...

If we feel impatient for the soil and air temperature to warm up enough so that it's even close to pleasant to work in the garden, think how impatient tender plants are by now to get back outside....These succulents, scented leaf geraniums and begonias have been sitting around inside since late October, dropping their leaves in protest over being housebound for five months. The plants long to spread their roots into sun-warmed soil as much as we can't wait to plunge our gloved hands into soil not saturated with cold rain...And we all, plant and human alike, crave the renewal of spring sunshine.

Can't you just feel the droopy impatience of these plants waiting to go back out in the fresh air??

And Bridget's disgust looking out from her perch on my desk in Seattle, her dreams of a walk around Greenlake fading as the sleet blows sideways.

Breaking Flower News - Seattle Grower's Market Opens For Retail this June

The Seattle Growers Market announced this morning that they're opening for retail!  I was so excited when this creative group of flower farmers opened their fabulous Georgetown market last spring....but it was wholesale only. Which means that when you shop at local florists and grocery stores, you had a much wider array of interesting, local flowers to choose from. But still, nothing beats going to the market yourself, talking with growers, picking and choosing from the inspiring range of materials on offer.

And now the likes of you and me can shop the market, starting June 1st.  If you don't have space, time or the inclination to grow lilacs or sunflowers or whatever else you're craving for bouquets...go on down and select fresh, local flowers, leaves, branches, pods...vegetables...fruit...all you need to make big, gorgeous, original bouquets.

 Dianne Szukovathy, President of the Seattel Wholesale Growers Market Cooperative, wrote "After much debate and careful consideration, our board of directors has made the unanimous decision to open our doors to the public for very limited hours--as is done at the San Francisco and Los Angeles Flower Markets.  "Open to the Public" hours will begin on Friday, June 1." A $5 day pass fee is involved. Check out Rosemary's Blog  to see photos of last year's big opening party....stunning flowers, ribbons, baskets, in a funky old warehouse setting..

The Seattle Growers Market is at the original Rainier Brewery Building Malt House at 5840 Airport Way South in Georgetown.....see you there.....