Cheekwood Gardens and The Great Smoky Mountains

So...I haven't kept up with this blog as planned. But part of the reason is that we (my significant other and I) were on vacation for over a week, which involved lots of planning the week before and the requisite decompression thereafter. We drove from Kansas City to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and back, with stops in St. Louis, Nashville, Memphis, and The Ozarks along the way. It was a great trip filled with the requisite tourist stops and some beautiful natural scenery. I definitely came away with a fondness for Tennessee as a state, at least in terms of aesthetic appeal.

While in Nashville, we spent a couple of hours at Cheekwood Botanical Gardens and Museum of Art, formerly the residence of the wealthy Cheek family, who made their fortune off Maxwell House coffee. It's quite large, with different themed gardens throughout the space, including a color garden and Japanese style garden. My favorite of the gardens we walked through was probably the color garden near the main entrance. The space was full of striking combinations that took full advantage of the dry, full-sun location:



What I like about the above photo is the combination of the cool dusty miller and perennial salvia with the deep, bright reds. There were also complimentary combos of bright lime green with a wine red, in addition to contrasting textures. It was a great example of contemporary styles of garden design that place emphasis on large naturalistic swaths of color and texture. I don't have the space for these kinds of mass plantings, but it was definitely inspiring.

Right now, Cheekwood having an exhibition of glass works by Chihuly throughout the gardens and inside the museum. As an artist, I'm not a big fan of Chihuly. Once you've seen a couple of his pieces, you pretty much get the idea. There's also controversy surrounding the fact that he doesn't blow his own glass or build the larger structures most are familiar with. Nonetheless, it was interesting to see how the vegetal/floral glass sculptures were integrating into the garden, contrasting or complimenting the shapes and colors. Some of the most interesting pieces were the floating "globe onions" in the reflecting pools near the Japanese gardens:



The Great Smoky Mountains were a rather different experience, a mostly untouched natural world instead of the cultivated world of Cheekwood. Parts of the park contain old growth forest, a rarity in much of the United States (if the world). The variety of plant life we saw throughout would definitely inspire any observant gardener. Despite it being the last yawn of summer, we saw plenty of wildflowers, many of which are familiar in gardens. For instance, there were quite a few cardinal flowers growing wherever they could find a scrap of sunlight:



I was especially excited by the Joe Pye Weed in its natural setting:



I've loved these flowers for a long time and have more recently considered planting some in a spot of the yard prone to flooding. I'm not sure which species these were, but they were quite numerous along the banks of Noland Creek. If you look carefully in the background, you can see the rhododendron bushes that were incredibly common throughout the park. I can only imagine how gorgeous the forest is when these things are in full bloom. The tropical-looking leathery leaves add plenty of interest on their own. They'd make a wonderful addition to a shade of forest garden.

Of course, that's just a portion of how we spent our vacation. I might post some of the photos I took during our visit to Mark Twain National Forest once I have them uploaded. Now that we're back in town and summer has settled down, there will be more posts, I promise. Hope everyone reading had a great and relaxing season!

Rebuilding a Garden

Back in December, I discussed my plan to move the vegetable garden from the backyard to the space on the south side of our house. This spring we've been working hard to turn plans into reality, in spite of circumstances intervening and things going slower then planned.

In March, Rob dug up the forsythia, which ended up taking a couple of hours and a sledge hammer. The results left a nice little pit of dirt and at last no stump to contend with:



After that was done, I pulled up the old beds we built back in 2007 and took a look at the boards. My assumption was that the bottom portions would have some decay but would be otherwise usable in the new plot, so I was a little surprised by the severity of the decay on some of the boards. Here's a photo to illustrate what I'm talking about:



The heaviest decay occurred on the boards further downhill, which is lightly shaded throughout much of the shade and obviously gets more water when it rains. It's also worth mentioning that we built the beds with 1"x8" untreated pine boards. After 3 seasons in-ground, some decay is to be expected. Less expected were the termites that infested 2 or 3 of the boards; our house suffered minor termite damage in the distant past, but we've never seen any sign of the critters. When I first discovered all this, I was afraid we wouldn't be able to reuse the boards at all, but after further assessing the damage, we were able to salvage half for use on the small 2'x2' and 2'x4' frames. Not bad!

For the rest of the boxes, we settled on untreated pine 2"x6" boards, which would give us a good bed height without having to double them up. Initially, I considered the more rot-resistant cedar, but it wasn't as cost-effective. In theory, the sunniness of the new spot and the thicker weight of the boards should help stave off decay longer than in the previous plot.

But before we actually built the frames, it was onto the new step, which was clearing out the grass. Originally I considered doing what a lot of raised bed gardeners do, which is starting right on top of the grass and blocking out weeds with cardboard, newspaper, or landscaping fabric. We'd lay some cardboard along the paths to kill the grass and eventually lay some pebbles or mulch. This idea wasn't really that great, though, since it would end up diverting more water down the path, which would pool up near the gate. Not cool. So we decided that removing an inch or two of sod would be a better idea.

Last weekend we rented a sod cutter and spent an hour or so ripping out lawn:



A bit of a spotty job, but nothing a shovel can't fix.

The last step was building the frames and installing them, which takes more effort than you can imagine. It's hard to tell in photos, but the south yard slopes ever-so-slightly, necessitating the leveling of each bed. Once this task was finished, we broke up the remaining layer of soil (mostly clay), removed offending root masses, and brought in the wonderful soil from the original vegetable garden that took 3 years and a lot of compost to build. We ended up having lots left for the future woodland garden, the backbone of which we'll start building in another week or two.

While the renovated vegetable garden has gone brilliantly, I've had an awful time with seedlings and have lost most while in the cold frame. It does a terrific job trapping in heat during the hottest parts of the day but seems not quite able to block out the frost. 2 weeks ago we had a few nights when the temperatures dropped near freezing, effectively killing the bulk of my seedlings. It's also possible that I have not left the cover on long enough to generate the necessary heat. Whatever the issue, I'm going to try and work it out before autumn, so I'm able to extend my crop a bit longer than usual. I look forward to the challenge!

On the South Side

Since I've spent the last few entries focusing on my vegetable garden, I thought with the next batch of posts, I'd explore other areas of the yard. One area that's undergone the greatest evolution is the garden on the south side of our house. When we initially moved in, the space was dominated by cracked sidewalk that was blocked by the air conditioner. The only plants remaining were what are colloquially known as spider lilies and elsewhere called Resurrection Lilies or Naked Ladies (Lycoris squamigera, if you're curious). So, 2 years ago in 2007, we tore out the sidewalk and built a flagstone path that curled around the air conditioner and between the forsythia.

The space you see in the photo is what you see as soon as you leave the backyard. Since 2007, it's been in a sort of limbo--me uncertain what to plant. I knew that I would be planting creeping thyme along the path, along with the Roman chamomile (which grows lower than the German varieties and survives the winter). And though it wasn't my original plan, the spot east of the lavender along the foundation has been perfect for tomatoes. Much of the rest was up in the air.

This spring I decided to take some initiative and fill the space in. The first goal was to find a plant tall enough to block off most of the air conditioner, but small enough to fit the tight space (it's only about 5 feet from house to path). Once I decided on that plant, I would choose some shorter plants to add interest. After spending hours combing my catalogs and notes, I decided that a Russian sage was closest to what I wanted. I'd add a salvia and something else and be done with it. It took some searching to find a proper variety. The first nursery had only dwarf hybrids available, but they had the fantastic 'Caradonna' variety of salvia, which has deep violet flowers and stems and leaves tinged in purple. I found the sage at the second nursery and brought it home.

Because of this spring's abundant range, I was forced to put planting off for a while. When I was finally able to do so in May, I had had time to think things over and strategize my design. Here are the results:



Of course, right now things are still filling out, but this gives an idea. The yarrow comes from another part of the garden, where it was too tall to fit in. Here, it should be fine, since it should stay shorter than the sage and the pink and white flowers will make the salvia pop. I also tucked in a variety of creeping thyme, 'Minus,' with tiny, tight leaves to cover the area between the stepping stones.

I'm happy with the results, though it's going to take another year or two before everything fills in to my liking. At some point this summer we're going to be removing the forsythia that you see in the right side of the photos. It's just too big and hard to keep from growing over the path without deep trimming, which prevents it from fully flowering in early spring. Removing it will also allow more light to hit everything I've planted.

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Eventually, there will be another rain barrel in this area and another one on the other side of the fence. I was going to purchase another pre-built model online, but I discovered that a local non-profit, Bridging the Gap, sells kits as well as cheaper pre-assembled rain barrels. Since I support their efforts to promote environmental issues locally, I think it's the best option. If you're composting your yard and kitchen waste and don't yet have a rain barrel, consider it. You'll be preventing run-off, in addition to having a supply of free water for your garden.

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Additionally, a friend of mine in Kansas City, Alex, started her own gardening blog a few months back called Unaccustomed Earth. If you're interested in urban gardening and exotic houseplants, I recommend having a look. I've found a number of her entries useful and entertaining, and I've even learned about carnivorous plants.

While I haven't been keeping up with garden blogs as regularly as I'd like, I have been reading a local food blog out of KC called Everything Begins With E. Emily belongs to and volunteers with the Fair Sharm Farms CSA and much of her blogs charts how she uses food from the CSA, as well as other local sources.

Spring Has Sprung!

Officially 3 days into spring, and everything's busy preparing for the oncoming season. The temperature has sustained around 50°-60°, with very little frost at night. Today's high is predicted to be 70°. I suppose I should work on a few spring chores before it rains tomorrow.

The garden, of course, has been enjoying these conditions. The tulip leaves have been popping up, and the crocuses are in bloom in the front garden. I was surprised by a few daffodils in the south garden among the spider-lily leaves. Lately, I've been noticing daffodils everywhere in the neighborhood and recalling how much they delight me with their cheery selves. Save for the crocuses, the front flower garden is so void of color. So I think I might tuck a few daffodils in next autumn. I'm thinking also of adding some more crocuses, especially some smaller varieties, to add more interest. For now I'll just have to wait for the muscari, tulips, and allium to flower.

The vegetable garden is progressing slowly towards production. I planted peas outside last week and started some tomatoes and herbs indoors. Just yesterday I was able to plant a few of my cole crops in the ground--the bok choy, kale, and raab specifically (which you can see in the photo). If you look in the upper right corner of the photo you'll note what appears to be glass. This is one of the old windows I've been using as cover at night, just to stave off any late spring frosts. When we moved into our house in 2006, we found all sorts of odds and ends in the basement and attic. We have several windows and window screens, along with doors and what the inspector called "museum quality" knob-and-tube wiring. But my boyfriend and I are natural packrats who like old, weird things, so we look at such objects as opportunities, rather than landfill fodder.

Anyway, speaking of vegetables, may I entreat you to plant some kale?



I've eaten the stuff several times, but I've never grown it until this year. It germinates and grows very rapidly compared to nearly everything else I've planted. I have very little doubt that in less than another month I'll be rewarded with a bevy of leaves to sautee or throw into a tasty minestrone soup. This is a Russian variety, which means that the leaves are flatter and less curly than the Scottish varieties you often see in grocery stores.



Yes, it is a wonderful vegetable.

Lastly, yesterday Rob (my boyfriend) and I attended the orientation for our CSA. "CSA" stands for Community Supported Agriculture. It's like a subscription service for direct-from-the-farm produce where, for a few hundred dollars, you get a weekly supply of vegetables throughout the growing season. Our CSA, Fair Share Farms, maintains a blog to keep members up to date. I chose them because they had the most convenient drop-off point in the city and are committed to organic methods. There were a lot of people at the orientation and sign-up yesterday, which was both hectic and heartening. I'm glad that so many people like me are getting interested in supporting local agricultural economies and caring more about where their food comes from. Another interesting benefit of this CSA is that we are required to work a few hours on the farm in Kearney. We signed up for a couple weekends in August, so it will be a while before we contribute, but I'm looking forward to seeing the farm and how it operates. I'm excited!

If you're interested in joining a CSA, I recommend this website as a starting point. You can just input your zip code, and they'll throw out a few farms close by. There are over 2000 CSA's throughout the country, so chances are there's one in your vicinity.

Photographing the Garden & Thinking about Design

The last week or so I've been making an effort to go out in the garden and take some photos. I've missed a day here and there, but it's still a good habit to get into. There's always something going on this time of year, and I often find myself wandering aimlessly, looking at everything or nothing in particular.

More importantly, my Creme de Cassis hollyhock is in bloom:



With all the weevils sucking at it, I was afraid it might never bloom. The leaves are pretty chewed-up, and the stalks are bent, but the flowers are lovely. I realize now that I should have saved some bamboo poles or bought some sturdy stakes to keep the plants upright. Aesthetically, they are not as nice as they could be. Still, hollyhocks always strike me as the flower for a cottage garden, which is roughly the vibe I go for. With any luck, they'll reseed and continue to delight for years to come.

Other Matters

For some reason, I have a subscription to Domino. Many of their ideas are quite out of my realm financially and don't really fit with my lifestyle, but I do like any design/decorating mag as a resource. I have my own idea of style, which I try to maintain against whatever trends are out there, but I don't mind having a guide show me the way around.

Anyway, the most recent issue has an article about gardening design personalities, which highlights a number of names worth remembering. If you've read previous entries in this blog, you'll notice that I'm really interested in the design and "theory" aspects of gardening, so I thought I would list all the figures mentioned for personal reference and share them with you.

Beatrix Farrand
Edith Wharton's "The Mount"
Tony Duquette
Madame Ganna Walska's Lotusland
Garrett Eckbo
Thomas D. Church

I own a book called Creative Gardens, by James C. Rose, who studied architecture at Harvard with Eckbo and was similarly pivotal to Modernist landscape design. Some images of his work can be found here and here.

Finding Inspiration in Cemeteries

Well, we've been back from Europe just a few days, and the experience is still sinking in. Though Paris and Berlin were both cool and rainy during our two weeks, spring seemed farther along than here in the American Midwest, and there was much lovely greenery all around us. Paris is more a town for gardens, and the influence of formal design is still apparent, though some of the newer parks are a bit wilder looking. An unlikely inspiration came when we visited Paris's two largest cemeteries, Pere Lachaise and Montparnasse, which are older and wilder looking than any local cemetery. Though fake flowers are as common, real plants decorate many of the graves.

I liked the miniature attempt at formality with this arrangement. I noticed that the French are very much into bordering beds with ivy, which has a tendency to obscure the center plants.



These pots were set on top of Charles Baudelaire's family tomb, where he is buried with his father, mother, and brother. I liked the arrangement of the brightly edged waxen leafed ivy with the fuzziness of the purple flowers.



I have no idea what sort of plant this is, but I assume it's a wild thing native to Europe. The leaves and flower are quite small and dainty, and the plant has a trailing habit that is very pretty. I love these sorts of plants, but I doubt it's something I can find in America. I especially worry it's invasive; French gardeners probably pull it out on sight.



A garden in the middle of Montparnasse:



The blue grape hyacinths were also in full bloom. One of my favorite bulbs. Not terribly exotic, but they have a simple unfettered charm I like. They look great when they've gone wild.



This plot looked untended, but I liked the messiness of it. I notice I best like plots that are slightly wild and overgrown. What pulls this together is the color scheme, based around the yellow/lime green/orange and violet/purple tones. It looks unplanned, but there is a logic to it.



This was not taken in a cemetery, rather the gardens at the Museum of the Middle Ages. I was surprised to find an iris in bloom. One of my favorite flowers. Even the everyday purple hues are good enough for me.



At Lachaise. I just like the layering of the composition, with grass at the foreground, the mix of shrubs in the middleground, and the tall evergreens flanking everything in the background. The basics of artistic composition at play.



I love the sword-shaped iris leaves peeking out of the soft, eroded stone, covered in moss.



Since I've been home, I've managed to transplant about 25 tomato seedlings to larger pots, and yesterday I planted carrots, spinach, and mesclun outside. Today, I plan on transplanting as many seedlings as I have pots for and planting more seeds inside. I will also have to plant the green onion seeds I forgot to plant yesterday. I also have the front and side flower/herb beds to bolster. I'm planning on getting some baptisia (false indigo) and heuchera (coral bells) for the front bed. And berry bushes for the back garden too!