ARTof GARDENING

I’ve moved...

Sun, 7 Sep 2008 02:33:42 -0400

For a host of reasons, I’ve moved my blog to Blogger.  If you’ve ended up here, please visit (click on):

Art of Gardening

My garden on TV. I wasn’t expecting that.

Tue, 2 Sep 2008 15:22:00 -0400

More Garden Walk blathering, this time on television. THAT I expected, but I’d have cleaned up the yard a bit more had I known they wanted to shoot it so much! Usually there’s an establishing shot and then cut to photos/running footage. We did one take–about seven minutes–and I didn’t screw up once! All That Matters is a Time-Warner regionally-based talk show hosted by Peter Anderson. Thanks to Peter and crew for making this happen. Photo above is from the garden during Garden Walk. This was about the size of the crowd for about three-quarters of the day, both days.

Trellis, Screen & Vine

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 18:48:04 -0400

Garden Bloggers’ Design Workshop: Click here for more blog posts  on Trellises and Screens Gardening Gone Wild’s Garden Blogger’s workshop series has me thinking about different aspects of my garden each month. This month’s topic had me out paying attention to the trellises and screens whether intentional or accidental in my garden. Being a space-challenged urban lot, I’m always looking to grow upwards. I have even more high tall structures to create–as time & budgets allow. Below is what I found and what I found growing on my vertical surfaces – and one horizontal trellis.

The 2,000 year-old garden.

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 17:19:33 -0400

I didn’t get to go in to walk around. But here are some glimpses of a 2,000-plus year-old garden.The Pope’s tennis court.
In case you’re wondering what garden, it’s the Vatican Gardens in Rome. We didn’t get to visit the gardens because we made the mistake of planning our Rome vacation during the Feast of the Assumption, when the Vatican is closed. The museum itself was open on Saturday and we did get in to see the Sistine Chapel and the rest of the Vatican art collection. This was my second time there.
I was raised Methodist, and currently attend an Episcopal church, so all the Catholic traditions are foreign to me. My wife acted as religious translator, having been brought up Catholic. There are plants from all over the world represented in the Vatican gardens.
I am in awe of the Vatican - there is immense wealth in the hundred of billions of dollars there - the properties, buildings, art. Much of the art (like the Pieta and Sistine Ceiling) is of incalculable value. The treasury & art collection holds hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars worth of valuables. I keep telling my wife, that if I were Catholic, and subject to the constant drum of tithing and requests for donations, I’d be cheesed. They seem to have enough money. They could liquidate a chalice or two from the treasury to raise some money if they’re that cash poor.
Is it really a 2,000 year-old garden?  Yes and no. It’s not the been the same garden over the centuries. It has changed, as garden fashions had, over the course of time. But these have been “tended” grounds for around 2,000 years. The grounds of St. Peter’s Basilica were considered a revered area even before St. Peter’s burial there. The stairwell of a building on the Vatican grounds - the world’s smallest country.
There are many portions of the garden designed specifically to be seen from certain Vatican windows, I assume it’s windows of which the pope looks out.
Romans would rather create a statue of a tree than plant one  I do have to say, and I regret having to say this, but the public gardens of Rome, of which I saw few, admittedly, are underwhelming, under scale and under cared for. I wasn’t too impressed. I’ll post about a couple Roman gardens I saw eventually, but they seemed to not be cared for enough, or restored to their previous elegance. Some rare green within a Vatican Museum courtyard.
The gardens of the Borghese Museum were disappointing at the very least. Weedy & wimpy. City gardens were trash strewn and uncared for. Most were underplanted and looked sad. I never got to see the Medici Gardens or the Vatican Gardens, so I’m probably not a good judge.
The Villa Borghese Park itself is beautiful - avenues, plazas, wide expanses, an amphitheater, a lake (complete with temple), an equestrian center, museums, fountains, statues and more. Not many gardens to speak of though. The park is landscaped beautifully and thoughtfully with idyllic layouts of trees, boxwoods, shrubs & hedges. And a very dirty and littered sports center that looks abandoned. Probably not what the original landscape designer intended.The Forum grounds. Plantings, for the most part, seem haphazard - like they just didn’t kill the stuff growing in areas where they don’t care. It’s August - brown grass season there.
The entire site of the Forum, the oldest part of the city, seems to have few planned plantings, most of the greenery seems to have just happened there on its own. Doesn’t seem right in the middle of the largest archeological site in Italy. You’d think there’d be some plantings, at least in a small area that might help to interpret where plantings might have been originally, what plants may have been there or an attempt to at least keep bushes from growing around some the ruins, decaying them further.
There are some of the world’s best-designed expanses in Rome – plazas, squares, piazzas, stairs – that are spectacular in layout and design, with barely a spec of green in sight, if at all. I really think the current and ancient Romans would rather create a statue of a tree rather than plant one.Terraces, rooftops, decks and any spare inch of private space is where you’ll find the green.
Up in the air is where the gardening action really is The real action in Rome, from what I can tell, is with the balconies & rooftops of residences and restaurants. I’ll post about those in the coming weeks as well.

Let the wine flow!

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 18:11:16 -0400

Spotted in a backyard on the Black Rock & Riverside Tour of Gardens here in Buffalo. You can’t tell too well from my photo, but this is a wine rack, outdoors, rigged to be a water fountain (maybe it’d be easier to see if they’re used a red!).
Made me smile to myself–then investigate to see how they did it. There’s a clear flexible hose you barely see to the right, behind the bottles. Blends well with the white fence behind.
Not something I would necessarily do in my yard, but I’m glad someone did it!
And no, it was not in the garden of GardeningWhileIntoxicated. I’m sure if she had one, it would be a working fountain with real wine–no cover charge–but a one drink minimum.
The Black Rock & Riverside Tour of Gardens, held the first week of August each year, is a great tour of 80-plus gardens which includes and evening tour of 20 gardens from 8-10 p.m. the Saturday of that weekend.
I haven’t made the evening tour yet. It intrigues me as I’m sure there’s some great thought put into lighting schemes–wether subtle or dazzling. In the future, I’ll post other photos I have from the daytime version of the tour.

I am just plum stupid.

Sat, 9 Aug 2008 12:34:33 -0400

You know this apple & pear tree espalier I keep bragging about (photo right)? Just a couple weeks ago I was trying to impress visitors with my first fruit in five years, mentioning the three tiny apples that were growing.
Well, it turns out those little green apples were little green plums! I have a plum tree. I bought an apple tree - I still have the tag that was on the tree - but apparently it was a bait & switch of a good sort.
I had wondered why the tree, that I do know to be an apple tree, always got that dusty mildew on it mid-season–like most apple trees–but this one seemed to be resistant.
The leaves were also a bit brighter green and were a bit more elongated. I just assumed it was a different variety of dwarf apple.
Even the fruit (seen left), at first, were hard and green like an apple, although small. You can see the unripe green fruit in the photo to the left. I assumed some dwarf apple trees grew dwarf fruit.
Not complaining or anything, I’ll take my complete harvest (all three) gladly. I had one yesterday - it was about the best plum I’ve ever had - juicy and deep purple throughout. I’m saving the pits to grow more.
If I can just get the apple and pear trees (at least I think they’re pear trees) to fruit, I would have a mini orchard-with an annual yield of what, maybe 10 fruit or more!
Turns out God didn’t make little green apples in the summertime - he made plums!

What the hell strip!

Wed, 6 Aug 2008 19:53:17 -0400

Found this while on Manchester Place, the week before Garden Walk. A beautiful rock garden, complete with artwork, occupying a hell strip (the area between sidewalk and road). I don’t think I’ve ever seen a nicer one.

Garden Walk Photo Albums

Mon, 4 Aug 2008 22:20:20 -0400

I wasn’t the only one out there taking photos on Garden Walk weekend. Here are links to other sites, blogs and photo galleries of the Walk. It’s actually kinda freaky to be looking through these other people’s sites & posted photos and see pictures of my own garden!

Photos
Buffalo News/Buffalo.com includes photos from the crowds on both days, as well as a nice collection of Macro shots of individual flowers.
Siobhan’s photos - a native Buffalonian, a Florida resident for 14 years, here just for the Walk. 263 photos of some of the more popular gardens on the Walk.
AndrewSprung’s photos VERY colorful shots from Union Place, North Pearl and more.
MiSchelle61's photos has some great architectural shots in and amongst the garden photos. Mischelle’s from Northeastern PA.
sayvanderlay's photos - 15 shots from in and around Little Summer in the Cottage District.
MNT’s photos from the Walk. Some nice close-ups of flowers. A couple from my yard!
afidel16’s photos Very colorful photos from various gardens.
My photos - Columbus Parkway, Linwood Ave, Richmond Ave, a couple from Johnson Park, Clarendon, Windsor, Highland, Rabine Terrace, St. Catherine’s Court, a party at Elizabeth’s and of course, Lancaster Ave.

Video
Sally Cunningham, her weekly gardening segment, Sunday morning on WIVB Channel 4, spent the morning on Sixteenth Street with colorblind gardener, Joe Hopkins. You’ll have to click on the video. Right now, it’s the second one down. (4:16)
Andy Parker, WGRZ TV 2 meteorologist, talking up the Walk from Manchester Place, Columbus Park, Granger Place, Johnson Park, Sixteenth Street, Erie Basin Marina and from the Garden Walk Shuttle.
Victoria Hong, WIVB anchor, finds a Kitty and Bunny on Little Summer Street, and talks to them! And they talk back! (1:41)
Brian Zabka a quick interview with gardeners from Little Summer Street and other scenes from Summer. (1:20)
Irishpenny1981 A quick look at the pond at the garden on West Delavan (I think!).

Blog Posts
Great Weekend Apple and Country Girl, from around Oswego, NY, visited and posted about some of their favorite things.
Buffalo Garden Walk A brief synopsis of one woman’s journey through the Cottage District and a great description of the Dorchester median and a stop at the Japanese garden.
Look Up Apple focuses in on Buffalo second floor porches and THEIR gardens! She finds our second floor porches to be unique to us.
Buffalo Spirit GardenRant blogger, Michele, from Saratoga Springs, (in for her second Garden Walk!) expounds on one particular garden on Brayton that she finds appealing.
Who Is Tracy - Garden Walk Very good photos & post on Tracy’s impression of the Walk.
Great Urban Spaces GardenRant blogger Susan Harris, of Takoma Park, Maryland, writes about garden spaces. Even has a photo of Susan with a bona-fide gardening celebrity she ran into on the Walk - Roger Swain - the man in the red suspenders from PBS’s Victory garden host from the mid-90s to 2001.
Buffalo Garden Walk a belated recap a first-time Garden Walker is impressed with what she sees.
Best. Garden Walk. Ever. GardenRant blogger Elizabeth, whose house was on the Walk, writes of encounters (and other parties) in her garden.
If you know of any other posts, photo collections or videos, please let me know. I send these in an e-newsletter to just under 2,000 Garden Walk fans. If you’d like to be added to the Garden Walk Newsletter, please email me.
If you’re having a problem posting a comment, please change the address prefix http://web.mac.com/ to read http://web.me.com/. It’s an iWeb/Apple thing I haven’t worked through yet...

Whimsy? Not me.

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 17:54:36 -0400

Garden Bloggers’ Design Workshop: Stone in the Garden  Click here for more blog posts  on garden whimsyI’m not particularly big on “whimsy.” I think the most whimsical thing in my garden is really something I did for my daughter–the Harry Potter garden to the right, below, which you can read more about here. Or my lightning lightning rod, which you can see here.
It’s not that I don’t appreciate, or get a chuckle from, whimsical items in other yards. I’m just rather practical and don’t like the clutter of signs and statuettes in my garden. I like to read bumper stickers too, but I hate the thought of putting one on my car. Although they’d probably fill in the bare spots pretty well. Whimsy, that is, not bumper stickers.
Below are some whimsical garden items either I, or Garden Walk photographer Don Zinteck, have taken from our Walk, or others.

Better Homes & Gardens back one mo time!

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 08:24:10 -0400

This time, the traveling comedy troupe of Donna Talley, Better Homes & Gardens scout and story producer, and Toronto photographer Andreas Trauttsmansdorff are back today photographing the BACK garden at 755 West Delavan, the garden of Jennifer & Jim Guercio. Above is a photograph of Andreas & Donna shooting Jim & Jennifer. This photo shoot is not for BH&G, but for one of BH&G’s specialty publications, Garden Rooms.
During Garden Walk, this is a must-see garden. We endeavor not to highlight or feature one garden The pond with, what’s been referred to as, steroidal koi.over another, but this garden draws people in like a magnet.
36 Gallons of Lemonade Jennifer & Jim put out lemonade for all the people visiting their garden during the Garden Walk. Last weekend, they went through 36 gallons of lemonade before they finally ran out. People were coming, not only on Saturday and Sunday, but Monday and Tuesday (yesterday) too!Jennifer and her garden made the front page of the Buffalo News, above the fold, on Saturday.
A Surprise Guest Host One special guest in the garden, among thousands of special guests, was Roger Swain, the man in the red suspenders, the PBS TV host of Victory Garden (mid-1980s until 2001). He spent an hour there and came back again the next day.
Ying & Yang Donna and Andreas spent the previous day shooting a garden in Syracuse. They were starting here about 5 p.m. And they were starting again this morning at 5 a.m. until the sun gets too bright, probably around 10 a.m. Donna spends her time directing, styling, dragging pots & props around and obsessing over details (as an art director, that’s MY job on photo shoots). Mild mannered Andreas, makes suggestions, usually three or four times, before hyperactive Donna slows down enough to realize what he’s said. You’d think they were an old married couple.Can you see why Better Homes & Gardens might like this garden?
BH&G and Their Buffalo Past The last time they were here, two weeks ago, they shot the front garden at this house for BH&G magazine. You can see my post about that here.
Last Fall, they were here to shoot a garden on my street. You can see my post about that here. Every angle makes a great photo. That’s a faux-ed composite urn. The white column in the background (with blue ball) is a pedestal from an old sink.