tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23608938821476257632024-03-13T09:51:37.859-04:00Miss Rumphius' RulesMiss R's Rule Number 3--Do something to make the world more beautiful.Susan aka Miss. Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13428911321406722652noreply@blogger.comBlogger118125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2360893882147625763.post-54280884626204827902009-06-18T15:00:00.002-04:002009-06-19T06:14:46.118-04:00Miss R's Facelift<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-style: italic;">As of 3:00 pm EST on June 18, 2009</span><br /><br />Miss R has moved to</span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;">a</span> <a href="http://www.susancohangardens.com/blog/"><span style="font-size:130%;">new location</span></a><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Please join me there</span></span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/Sjp4sN67C4I/AAAAAAAAAuU/TXiOxfH6Xts/s1600-h/JB+Roses+015.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/Sjp4sN67C4I/AAAAAAAAAuU/TXiOxfH6Xts/s320/JB+Roses+015.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5348720208502262658" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"></span></span><br /></div>Susan aka Miss. Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13428911321406722652noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2360893882147625763.post-67110080838568902502009-06-17T16:16:00.007-04:002009-06-17T17:10:29.811-04:00Plant Torture? Not Necessarily.A couple of years ago a client told me she wanted to drive into her driveway to a beautiful garden and asked me to design one for her. Easy enough request. She also wanted to screen off the back yard with some trelliage but didn't want climbers on it. Easy enough request. She wanted a deer resistant cottage style garden in her favorite color combination--blue and yellow. Again, easy enough request.<br /><br />When the trellis work was installed, there was only one logical place for it so that's where it went. What was left for this garden of easy enough requests was a 30" wide bed between the fence and the blacktop in the blazing sun where the plow would push the snow in the winter months. Not so easy any more. These types of garden problems are what landscape designers excel at and when it really makes sense to consult with a professional.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/SjlRI5vq-9I/AAAAAAAAAuM/Zc7oAI6fyAc/s1600-h/Sandi%27s+Garden+1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 266px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/SjlRI5vq-9I/AAAAAAAAAuM/Zc7oAI6fyAc/s320/Sandi%27s+Garden+1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5348395245860748242" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:78%;">Heat loving, deer resistant driveway garden<br /><br /></span></span></div>Now three years later, the garden is thriving without irrigation or much care and it looks great. What's the secret? Plant choice. All of the plants chosen for this garden are drought tolerant, heat and sun loving, and tough as nails.<br /><br />Here's the list:<br /><br />Agastache x 'Black Adder'<br />Achillea 'Moonshine'<br />Baptisia austrailis<br />Iris germanica<br />Stachys byzantina<br />Sorghastrum nutans 'Sioux Blue'Susan aka Miss. Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13428911321406722652noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2360893882147625763.post-9176519077251592562009-06-15T09:28:00.007-04:002009-06-15T13:35:35.331-04:00Bloom Day--June 09This is my first bloom day. With a cool June and two weeks of mostly gray and rain...here's what was blooming this morning.<br /><br /><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >In order top to bottom: Thermopsis caroliniana, Clematis sp. (a rescue, not sure of cultivar), Hydrangea arborescens 'Annabelle', and one of many Lychnis coronaria</span>.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/SjZNhQdepII/AAAAAAAAAts/UV9g5QpULSw/s1600-h/Front+garden+6_09+002.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/SjZNhQdepII/AAAAAAAAAts/UV9g5QpULSw/s320/Front+garden+6_09+002.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5347546841298674818" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/SjZNhjBvz9I/AAAAAAAAAt0/7JdMddZeaSc/s1600-h/june+09+bloom+day+002.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/SjZNhjBvz9I/AAAAAAAAAt0/7JdMddZeaSc/s320/june+09+bloom+day+002.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5347546846282633170" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/SjZNh_Xf0QI/AAAAAAAAAt8/44cnJboUxqg/s1600-h/june+09+bloom+day+008.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/SjZNh_Xf0QI/AAAAAAAAAt8/44cnJboUxqg/s320/june+09+bloom+day+008.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5347546853890052354" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/SjZNifKe14I/AAAAAAAAAuE/RVgD2fKqVnM/s1600-h/june+09+bloom+day+006.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/SjZNifKe14I/AAAAAAAAAuE/RVgD2fKqVnM/s320/june+09+bloom+day+006.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5347546862425397122" border="0" /></a>Susan aka Miss. Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13428911321406722652noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2360893882147625763.post-81266571067738126032009-06-14T12:53:00.000-04:002009-06-14T12:53:46.573-04:00The Garden of Lost PlantsMy professional need to know plants is how I ended up with <span style="font-style: italic;">The</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">Garden of Lost Plants</span>. My personal gardens looked more <span style="font-style: italic;">designed</span> when I was an amateur.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/SjUkxICOVMI/AAAAAAAAAtc/E--2pOqW01k/s1600-h/Front+garden+6_09+001.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/SjUkxICOVMI/AAAAAAAAAtc/E--2pOqW01k/s320/Front+garden+6_09+001.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5347220558961333442" border="0" /></a><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;" >The sunny 'Deer Eat This...Sucker!' garden with a Buxus topiary awaiting installation elsewhere</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><br /></span></span></div>I am not a plantaholic, although to look at my home garden, you would think I was. My planting design knowledge of plant needs, form, structure and maintenance comes from personal experience. As a landscape designer, I learned early on that specifying plants for a specific site without having firsthand knowledge of them can lead to garden disaster in a season or two. I just can't design a great garden from pictures and descriptions in a book or a catalog...I have to <span style="font-style: italic;">know</span> the plant. Obviously I can't grow everything so that's where garden visits come in.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/SjUdjBTD3XI/AAAAAAAAAtM/ETREZ2YJd9A/s1600-h/silene+virginica+northcreek.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 276px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/SjUdjBTD3XI/AAAAAAAAAtM/ETREZ2YJd9A/s320/silene+virginica+northcreek.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5347212620053339506" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:78%;">A woodland native I'm trying this year--Silene virginica<br />photo via <a href="http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.northcreeknurseries.com/_ccLib/image/plants/DETA-285.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.northcreeknurseries.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/plants.plantDetail/plant_id/285/index.htm&usg=__uDYqHlp9wxRpKOGg_zMYRUntY3E=&h=276&w=300&sz=23&hl=en&start=13&um=1&tbnid=66WKCIH6sX9QKM:&tbnh=107&tbnw=116&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dsilene%2Bvirginica%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1B2GGFB_enUS238%26sa%3DN%26um%3D1">Northcreek Nursery</a><br /><br /></span></span></div>I have one of many plants--with few multiples--I watch each grow, observe how big it really gets, what texture the foliage creates, if the bloom color and time is what I expect, and if the way I neglect them allows them to survive. I am always experimenting and have found winners and losers through this hodgepodge, totally unscientific process. My garden is not fenced or sprayed--I barely have time to pull the weeds. It is in a sub-urban environment with deer, rabbits, chipmunks, moles and a dog who has no respect for my efforts. Add kids and this is a similar environment to many of the landscape design projects I work on.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/SjUmAC9MNEI/AAAAAAAAAtk/EFBz3_AwmIs/s1600-h/asarum+canadensis.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 273px; height: 225px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/SjUmAC9MNEI/AAAAAAAAAtk/EFBz3_AwmIs/s320/asarum+canadensis.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5347221914807710786" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:78%;">Another new one for '09 although I can't believe I haven't grown it before--Asarum canadensis<br />photo via <a href="http://www.rushcreekgrowers.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=plants.plantDetail&plant_id=66">Rush Creek Growers</a><br /><br /></span></span></div>I try to make <span style="font-style: italic;">The Garden of Lost Plants</span> look as if they've seen a designer's hand, but it's a challenge with one of each. I group plants together using basic design principles--contrast of foliage texture and color, diagonal repetition of color, shape and structure that helps to create a visual pull through the space. I make sure plants are peaking out from around corners to beg further inspection. Those that I suspect will be showstoppers get the 'look at me I'm a star' placement.<br /><br />I rotate plants in and out of empty spaces that are still in containers until they go to a new home and I've been known to dig something up and take it to a client--leaving a hole until a new orphan or test case takes its place. Some plants are so successful that I have too many--bearded Iris for one, Leucanthemum superbum 'Becky' is another. A couple of years ago I added some woodies for trial and structure. That has helped with design cohesion a bit.<br /><br />Plants move in and out of my garden constantly. It is pretty and somewhat over the top and yes, there are things that stay for years. Sometimes they even survive the lawn guy's string trimmer.Susan aka Miss. Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13428911321406722652noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2360893882147625763.post-73103967393369447522009-06-13T06:44:00.012-04:002009-06-13T18:39:40.374-04:00The Old ManThe old man disappeared a few months back. His ancient Lincoln Continental, with its glossy finish gone flat and peeling from years in the sun, was always parked in the driveway. Every day, as I passed by on my early morning walk, I picked up his newspaper and put it on the trunk of the car so he wouldn't have to bend down so far.<br /><br />The old man's yard was unique to him. Two beautiful cherry trees heralded each spring's return, their lowest branches adorned with hanging baskets full of faded plastic blossoms. A garden of pinwheels stood at the foot of one. He had a sense of whimsy.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/SjOG_GeuDgI/AAAAAAAAAs8/BRGteAiNuj8/s1600-h/new+camera+photos+014.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/SjOG_GeuDgI/AAAAAAAAAs8/BRGteAiNuj8/s320/new+camera+photos+014.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5346765601248251394" border="0" /></a>The old man disappeared a few months back. The Lincoln is gone--a neighbor parks his car in the empty driveway now. The garden is overgrown, but the pinwheels, hidden in the knee high grass, remind me that the old man had once been there and I smile.Susan aka Miss. Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13428911321406722652noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2360893882147625763.post-91889550500190897762009-06-09T15:38:00.033-04:002009-06-10T06:07:47.543-04:00The Romantic IdealThose who know me, know that I am not very...well not a girlie girl. They also know that my ultra-romantic and feminine side comes out in other ways. One of those is my love for bold, evocative statements in the garden. As a landscape designer whether I'm working on a contemporary or traditional design, the object is the same...extravagant gestures, layers of texture and dreamy places to slow down and enjoy it.<br /><br />I think this is the most romantic image in a garden <span style="font-style: italic;">ever</span>. Over exposed? Yes. But Fragonard's 'The Swing', pictured below, is the essence of romantic ideal. The young woman is joyful at being in love and in the garden...she is participating in her environment rather than just giving it a look or a walk through.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/Si7GKA3tmcI/AAAAAAAAAsU/07nNwH3t_E4/s1600-h/Fragonard--The+Swing.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 254px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/Si7GKA3tmcI/AAAAAAAAAsU/07nNwH3t_E4/s320/Fragonard--The+Swing.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345427683070024130" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Jean-Honore Fragonard 'The Swing'</span></span><br /><br /></div>Has our concept of what is romantic in a garden changed since the 18th century? I don't think so. We still want the same human experience as the girl on the swing. What has changed is the availability of skilled labor to maintain the estate sized model it is based on and the philosophy that all natural resources are inexhaustible.<br /><br />The romantic ideal might seem old fashioned, but it's a point of departure only limited by lack of imagination. There is the possibility of creating lush and jubilant outdoor spaces without being bound to a planting scheme or a single style. Romantic gardens beg human interaction--the discovery of a secret, a place for intimate conversation, or a solitary escape from the stresses of daily life. They are the sum of their parts...not just the framework for a floral display.Susan aka Miss. Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13428911321406722652noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2360893882147625763.post-27540140857084472622009-06-07T10:42:00.010-04:002009-06-07T11:55:57.667-04:00Business as UnusualThese are scary times for landscape designers whose practices overlap both the creative service and construction industries. Anyone in my business who tells you they are thriving is not being entirely truthful. The sad state of the global economy that is a financial disaster for so many is not what I'm writing about here. The media has scared consumers who do have the means and the need for our services into hunkering down, not spending any money and worst of all believing that they 'shouldn't'.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/SivdlNVCdPI/AAAAAAAAAsM/Hd5c59T6Wdw/s1600-h/money.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/SivdlNVCdPI/AAAAAAAAAsM/Hd5c59T6Wdw/s320/money.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5344609014108026098" border="0" /></a>I consider myself to be fairly typical of landscape designers who are out there now. I have work, just not the amount or size of work I've had in the past. I am lucky to have loyal clients who come back again and again as well as some new ones who are willing to spend on new projects.<br /><br />Creativity is needed in our business so that it isn't business as usual, it is time for business to be unusual. We need to educate our clients about the intrinsic worth of what we provide and make it invaluable to them. We need to enhance their lives in every way possible--drawing them outside into the larger world so that our services become what they are willing to spend money on.<br /><br />This summer is the 40th anniversary of Woodstock and I am reminded of the lyrics that very wise Joni Mitchell wrote all those years ago:<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br />We are stardust<br />Billion year old carbon<br />We are golden<br />Caught in the devil's baragin<br />And we've got to get ourselves<br />Back to the garden<br /></div>Susan aka Miss. Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13428911321406722652noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2360893882147625763.post-89203530164991026322009-06-05T17:40:00.007-04:002009-06-05T18:38:14.227-04:00A rose by any other name...I've started to wonder about my blog name. Few, mostly those with kids, know the wonderful book by Barbara Cooney, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miss_Rumphius">Miss Rumphius</a>, and the story behind it. Read it if you can.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/SimT1QnGPyI/AAAAAAAAAr8/eBZ58D2Eh3Q/s1600-h/miss+rumphius+cover.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 260px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/SimT1QnGPyI/AAAAAAAAAr8/eBZ58D2Eh3Q/s320/miss+rumphius+cover.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5343964976053108514" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/SimT1QnGPyI/AAAAAAAAAr8/eBZ58D2Eh3Q/s1600-h/miss+rumphius+cover.jpg"></a><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney</span><br /><br /></span></div>About ten years ago I got all paranoid about using my real name as an identifier on the <a href="http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/design/">Landscape Design</a> forum at <a href="http://www.gardenweb.com/">GardenWeb</a>. Miss Rumphius had been my favorite book to read to my son when he was small and I identified with her as a character--hence the screen name. Most people referred to me as Miss R. I stopped posting at Garden Web shortly after it was taken over by iVillage, but that's another story.<br /><br />I decided to carry the Miss R moniker over to my blog for no real reason other than people already knew me by that name. Now I wonder if it might not be the best name for what I write about. Miss R's third third rule 'Do something to make the world more beautiful' still is, but the name...maybe not so much.<br /><br />I have no idea what I'd call my blog other than Miss R, but I'd be interested in what everyone who reads here thinks. Leave a comment and let me know.Susan aka Miss. Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13428911321406722652noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2360893882147625763.post-8062140542421867512009-06-03T06:59:00.021-04:002009-06-03T10:55:11.216-04:00Mired In TraditionLast Sunday, in Bucks County, PA, I went on my second <a href="http://missrumphiusrules.blogspot.com/2009/05/garden-visits-chester-and-far-hills.html">Open Days</a> garden crawl of the season. These visits recharge my creative juices and offer me a first hand opportunity to see what other landscape designers and talented amateurs have created. I look carefully, take photographs and experience the gardens in three dimensions. Being in a garden is so much different than looking at pictures of one especially for a designer as interested in creating spatial relationships as I am.<br /><br />What I already knew, and what three of the gardens I visited confirmed, is that on the east coast, those with the means to build a landscape of substance opt to emulate traditional English gardens. The old stone houses and barns that give Buck's County its lure form the backdrop for the gardens. Although one garden had a beautifully enhanced woodland, there was not one meadow in the acres and acres of mixed borders and mowed turfgrass that I saw. Planting styles differed within these gardens but the traditional garden design paradigm did not.<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/SiaEkIRZaqI/AAAAAAAAAq8/pfnrDQfah34/s1600-h/Buck%27s+County+020.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/SiaEkIRZaqI/AAAAAAAAAq8/pfnrDQfah34/s320/Buck%27s+County+020.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5343103764152281762" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:78%;">A rustic twig bridge in the woodland at <a href="http://www.hortulusfarm.com/gardens.html">Hortulus</a> Farm Garden & Nursery<br /></span></span></div><br />There were some beautiful vignettes and ideas within these classic schemes. One, at Willow Farm, had a grey/blue and burgundy palette juxtaposed with honey hued native stone that I particularly liked.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/SiaGgekJ9II/AAAAAAAAArc/BG5gERPNpIo/s1600-h/Buck%27s+County+008.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/SiaGgekJ9II/AAAAAAAAArc/BG5gERPNpIo/s320/Buck%27s+County+008.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5343105900440319106" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:78%;">Blue/grey and burgundy plants with native honey colored stone<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: left;">Another, at Hortulus, had a bold yellow planting scheme punctuated by a large terra cotta urn that was dramatic and interesting.<br /><br /></div><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/SiaIKJaPl0I/AAAAAAAAArs/T5frh1D03QQ/s1600-h/Buck%27s+County+028.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/SiaIKJaPl0I/AAAAAAAAArs/T5frh1D03QQ/s320/Buck%27s+County+028.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5343107715827734338" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:78%;">Yellow and terra cotta in combination at Hortulus<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-family:georgia;">A third really great idea</span> </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">was again, at Hortulus.</span></span> The formal fountain at the far end of a double mixed border was actually a swimming pool. It read as a fountain until you noticed the steps. This idea could be adapted for many different situations both grand and intimate.<br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span></div><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><br /></span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/SiaIKabmHGI/AAAAAAAAAr0/GW4v4qtJGN8/s1600-h/Buck%27s+County+027.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/SiaIKabmHGI/AAAAAAAAAr0/GW4v4qtJGN8/s320/Buck%27s+County+027.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5343107720396807266" border="0" /></a><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;" >The swimming pool fountain</span><br /><br /></div>This contrast between classic and contemporary design was magnified by the last stop of the day, an interior designer's shop in Lambertville, NJ, <a href="http://www.reinbothandcompany.com/">Reinboth & Company</a>. I try to check this small shop out each time I'm in the area since it is really well edited. The garden accessories in their courtyard were clean, crisp and modern. It seemed restful and welcome after a day of observing such traditional points of view.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/SiaIJgb2AgI/AAAAAAAAArk/nJS8DJBdX8I/s1600-h/Buck%27s+County+049.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/SiaIJgb2AgI/AAAAAAAAArk/nJS8DJBdX8I/s320/Buck%27s+County+049.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5343107704828592642" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:78%;">Contemporary garden accessories at Reinboth & Co.<br /></span></span></div>Susan aka Miss. Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13428911321406722652noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2360893882147625763.post-58631046289757848972009-06-01T19:30:00.009-04:002009-06-02T14:43:22.337-04:00My Garden State--Basking RidgeYesterday I stopped for a bit in the village of Basking Ridge. I went specifically to take pictures of the White Oak that has lived there for more than 600 years. Known as 'The Old Oak', this ancient tree has been growing and shading the sacred ground that is the Presbyterian Church graveyard for almost 300 years before the first person was buried there in 1733.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/SiUFI5tViMI/AAAAAAAAAqc/ut5KkMYKmZA/s1600-h/Basking+Ridge+007.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/SiUFI5tViMI/AAAAAAAAAqc/ut5KkMYKmZA/s320/Basking+Ridge+007.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5342682183433029826" border="0" /></a><br />I have a fondness for old graveyards, and the Old Oak made my visit incredibly special. At lunchtime, I was the only living person there and the noise of traffic and the bustle of noontime activity in the village seemed distant, event though the church and cemetery are at a busy crossroad.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/SiUFJdcoz0I/AAAAAAAAAqs/2rD-F5I5TzY/s1600-h/Basking+Ridge+009.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/SiUFJdcoz0I/AAAAAAAAAqs/2rD-F5I5TzY/s320/Basking+Ridge+009.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5342682193026666306" border="0" /></a><br />Standing next to it, this American native tree's trunk is more than 6' in diameter--its branches are supported by crutches and cables.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/SiUFJI80eGI/AAAAAAAAAqk/sKg085XtNfA/s1600-h/Basking+Ridge+008.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/SiUFJI80eGI/AAAAAAAAAqk/sKg085XtNfA/s320/Basking+Ridge+008.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5342682187524503650" border="0" /></a><br />The raw power of the oak's presence combined with the remnants of 18th and 19th century lives lovingly carved into the headstones is hard to describe. For me, it was an emotionally charged experience full of reverence for nature and respect for those who had been.Susan aka Miss. Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13428911321406722652noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2360893882147625763.post-36088119999128667992009-05-31T07:10:00.000-04:002009-05-31T07:10:00.060-04:00Arching BellsMaybe because its Latin name could inspire fear in any designer, or maybe because it isn't seen often, but Nectaroscordum siculum ssp. Bulgaricum should be used by more garden and landscape designers. A bulb, hardy from zones 6-10, it is delicate yet architectural with mauve, ivory and pale green bells arching from a single stem. N. siculum is sometimes called the Sicilian Honey Lily or sold as Mediterranean Bells. It is another underused plant that deserves more attention.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/SiGQw5juYEI/AAAAAAAAApY/zQi0csxpUpQ/s1600-h/Nectaroscordum+siculum+004.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/SiGQw5juYEI/AAAAAAAAApY/zQi0csxpUpQ/s320/Nectaroscordum+siculum+004.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5341709802796900418" border="0" /></a><br />I have used it in my garden as well in those of several clients. The deer don't eat it and it starts its show right after the alliums--to which it's related. The leaves, like alliums, aren't terribly attractive and can easily be hidden by careful planting design that allows N. siculum to punctuate shorter plants with more interesting foliage. The first time I saw it in a garden, its companion was Hosta 'Sum and Substance' and the combination stopped me in my tracks.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/SiGQxfHsDuI/AAAAAAAAApg/sukk5zlvtNQ/s1600-h/Nectaroscordum+siculum+005.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/SiGQxfHsDuI/AAAAAAAAApg/sukk5zlvtNQ/s320/Nectaroscordum+siculum+005.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5341709812879855330" border="0" /></a>A European native, this bulb is easy to grow in sun or partial--so easy in fact that these have been slowly multiplying in an abandoned garden near here for as many years as I can remember.Susan aka Miss. Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13428911321406722652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2360893882147625763.post-22385082521130845632009-05-30T07:24:00.008-04:002009-05-30T08:03:27.919-04:00Long ago I lived in Lille...France that isI have long been fascinated with all things French. I even went so far, years ago, to live there for a while. Not in romantic Paris or sunkissed Aix en Provence, with its fields of lavender, but rainy, industrial Lille. My only garden there was a pot of geraniums on my kitchen balcony to brighten up the grey skyline view.<br /><br />Even though the photographs evoke the grey that, for me, is unique to northwest France, imagine how thrilled I was to find the work of <a href="http://www.bleunature.com/histoire/a_nice_story.html">Frank Lefebvre</a> and his company <a href="http://www.bleunature.com/produits/5,new_design_2009.html">Blue Nature</a>. Primarily interior, there are outdoor pieces as well. Some designs are modern and clean lined while others are traditional flights of fancy. <br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/SiEcL7CTGNI/AAAAAAAAAo4/gDXDtgTiDFk/s1600-h/bleu+nature+fence.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 308px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/SiEcL7CTGNI/AAAAAAAAAo4/gDXDtgTiDFk/s320/bleu+nature+fence.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5341581624189589714" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family: verdana;font-size:78%;" >Inspiration--</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size:78%;">This would make a wonderful deer fence for any garden</span><br /></span></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/SiEcMMPkZ7I/AAAAAAAAApA/LabPnKPXLjM/s1600-h/blue+nature+bench.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 170px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/SiEcMMPkZ7I/AAAAAAAAApA/LabPnKPXLjM/s320/blue+nature+bench.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5341581628808652722" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size:78%;">I just flat out want this...for me or one of my landscape design clients<br /><br /></span></span></div>Using petrified, reclaimed and untreated wood this company, based near Lille, crafts beautiful and evocative pieces that honor and respect the materials they are made from. Isn't this what the best garden design does also?<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/SiEcMWNnQuI/AAAAAAAAApQ/uc9KbT68X4Y/s1600-h/bleu+nature+chair.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 224px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/SiEcMWNnQuI/AAAAAAAAApQ/uc9KbT68X4Y/s320/bleu+nature+chair.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5341581631484805858" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size:78%;">Clean and crisp--fusing ancient and modern<br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/SiEcMYxfJDI/AAAAAAAAApI/1-rqjrOHjxw/s1600-h/blue+nature+table.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 251px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/SiEcMYxfJDI/AAAAAAAAApI/1-rqjrOHjxw/s320/blue+nature+table.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5341581632172139570" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family: verdana;font-size:78%;" >Just because--again a great inspiration piece</span><br /><br /></div><span style="font-family: verdana;font-size:78%;" >All photographs: BLEU NATURE – Sarl BN HOME Photographers : Didier Knoff and Gilles Piat</span>Susan aka Miss. Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13428911321406722652noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2360893882147625763.post-6042949071016364732009-05-27T17:45:00.012-04:002009-05-28T06:50:49.076-04:00WhiteI started thinking about this when all of my white shrubs bloomed at once this spring. They are supposed to bloom in a kind of sequence. The absence of color was just as, if not more powerful, than a garden full of color.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/Sh5r7VaT33I/AAAAAAAAAow/8r67RtI_3ew/s1600-h/white+and+ahmad+005.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/Sh5r7VaT33I/AAAAAAAAAow/8r67RtI_3ew/s320/white+and+ahmad+005.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5340824875211939698" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size:78%;">Jus</span><span style="font-size:78%;">t the spireas--lilacs & fothergilla were blooming too<br /><br /></span></span></div>I know the idea is not new, but white has a symbolic power beyond the absence of color and I think it's appropriate for our times.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/Sh24v986ejI/AAAAAAAAAoQ/9h0Fy7oEAtk/s1600-h/white+chanel+stairway.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 239px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/Sh24v986ejI/AAAAAAAAAoQ/9h0Fy7oEAtk/s320/white+chanel+stairway.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5340627867354692146" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:78%;">The staircase at Chanel for the 2009 Haute Couture collection<br />photo via Chanel<br /></span></span></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/Sh22IUlaqHI/AAAAAAAAAoI/NQkv-SMuX24/s1600-h/white+seeds.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 298px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/Sh22IUlaqHI/AAAAAAAAAoI/NQkv-SMuX24/s320/white+seeds.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5340624987212130418" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:78%;">A puff of dandelion seeds (plenty of those around here)<br /><br /></span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/Sh5pffrzfPI/AAAAAAAAAog/Ua2CYEWQRdo/s1600-h/white+lace.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/Sh5pffrzfPI/AAAAAAAAAog/Ua2CYEWQRdo/s320/white+lace.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5340822197910076658" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">A lace table cloth</span></span><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/Sh214DZ-9eI/AAAAAAAAAnY/MWgeRCHaSP8/s1600-h/white+church.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/Sh214DZ-9eI/AAAAAAAAAnY/MWgeRCHaSP8/s320/white+church.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5340624707722868194" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:78%;">Santorini</span></span><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/Sh2143YxXYI/AAAAAAAAAno/R33apECb7uw/s1600-h/white+rope.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/Sh2143YxXYI/AAAAAAAAAno/R33apECb7uw/s320/white+rope.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5340624721676426626" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:78%;">Nautical ropes<br /><br /></span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/Sh5pfIFmZ1I/AAAAAAAAAoY/Z9Tw9_t6bO0/s1600-h/white+picket+fence.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 262px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/Sh5pfIFmZ1I/AAAAAAAAAoY/Z9Tw9_t6bO0/s320/white+picket+fence.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5340822191575820114" border="0" /></a><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;" >Weathered Picket Fence</span><br /><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/Sh214W0_LrI/AAAAAAAAAng/3y_WzqDGLvU/s1600-h/white+dodecatheon.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/Sh214W0_LrI/AAAAAAAAAng/3y_WzqDGLvU/s320/white+dodecatheon.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5340624712936402610" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;" >Dodecatheon meadia--native and beautiful<br />Photo via Vanderbilt.edu<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/Sh5qZwIG8PI/AAAAAAAAAoo/NeUpO2XFYAY/s1600-h/white+wicker.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/Sh5qZwIG8PI/AAAAAAAAAoo/NeUpO2XFYAY/s320/white+wicker.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5340823198756172018" border="0" /></a><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;" >White wicker</span><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/Sh2147xYsuI/AAAAAAAAAnw/uk_BKTjYOyU/s1600-h/white+garden.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 225px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/Sh2147xYsuI/AAAAAAAAAnw/uk_BKTjYOyU/s320/white+garden.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5340624722853409506" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:78%;">The White Garden at Sissinghurst<br />photo via Meade/flickr.com<br /></span></span></div>Susan aka Miss. Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13428911321406722652noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2360893882147625763.post-40424925207946355752009-05-26T10:14:00.010-04:002009-05-26T10:47:07.317-04:00Often way over my headMy neighborhood has some unusual street trees. A few blocks away there's a solid block of Sweet Gums (Liquidambar stryaciflua) that make an incredible tricolored foliage show in the fall and an unbelievable knee high mess when they shed their macelike fruit. Bags and bags of them are heaved to the sidewalk by the homeowners who have to rake them from front yards, sidewalks and hell strips.<br /><br />Anyway, when I was out for my early morning walk today I noticed a young, low branched Tuliptree (Liriodendron tulipifera) in bloom. An eastern native, it's not often I get to see these exotic flowers at eye level as the trees in my parts are tall, tall, tall and their blooms are usually 50-60-70 feet above my head.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/Shv9ZaoU9xI/AAAAAAAAAnQ/HqoysSjdS4U/s1600-h/Tulip+tree+006.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/Shv9ZaoU9xI/AAAAAAAAAnQ/HqoysSjdS4U/s320/Tulip+tree+006.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5340140396264879890" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family: verdana;font-size:78%;" >A sun kissed 'tulip'</span><br /></div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/Shv9Ycq6GdI/AAAAAAAAAm4/leuA_WJrubY/s1600-h/Tulip+tree+002.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/Shv9Ycq6GdI/AAAAAAAAAm4/leuA_WJrubY/s320/Tulip+tree+002.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5340140379632703954" border="0" /></a>Susan aka Miss. Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13428911321406722652noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2360893882147625763.post-61095873514163916242009-05-25T07:06:00.026-04:002009-05-26T09:34:44.255-04:00Talking to Myself<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p> <p class="MsoNormal">I have in some way and in fits and starts kept a journal for years.<span style=""> </span>There have been times when just the act of chronicling what ever was happening in my life has helped me sort it out.<span style=""> </span>As a teenager they consisted of pages and pages of laments, descriptions of parental and personal drama, social slights and ad hoc adventures.<span style=""> </span><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">After graduating from art school I starting making illustrated journals in black bound sketchbooks and for years I kept them safely in a box to be looked at now and then.<span style=""> </span>Ten years ago, all but one of these sketchbook journals were destroyed in a basement flood.</p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/ShqWyAOeQpI/AAAAAAAAAmw/OALRgUV5ilQ/s1600-h/1977.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 294px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/ShqWyAOeQpI/AAAAAAAAAmw/OALRgUV5ilQ/s320/1977.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5339746093999473298" border="0" /></a><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:78%;">Studies for a series of landscape inspired brooches circa 1977</span></span><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">What wasn't destroyed were the two new types of journals I had been keeping. In dated composition books I kept a series of garden journals. My garden composition books were often carried with me to the nursery, library or bookstore. My first designed garden is in one. Although I have an extensive design education and years of experience, I am a self taught gardener. My garden journals contained sketches, ideas, bloom times, receipts, plant labels all types of information that I wanted to remember.</p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/ShqKa-7DhpI/AAAAAAAAAmY/sguewmuvF9c/s1600-h/garden+journal+001.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 233px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/ShqKa-7DhpI/AAAAAAAAAmY/sguewmuvF9c/s320/garden+journal+001.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5339732504373069458" border="0" /></a><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:78%;">A page of one of my garden composition notebooks</span></span><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">In small sketchbooks I kept travel journals. Since I have always had to travel on the cheap, these journals became souvenirs of my adventures. I recorded descriptions of places and made collages of tickets, postcards and sketches. Ephemera was collected and the notebooks were created on the go. They were a record of where I had been in the world larger than my own backyard.<br /></p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/ShqL47AazWI/AAAAAAAAAmg/oTkALuG7Qew/s1600-h/travel+journal+001.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 233px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/ShqL47AazWI/AAAAAAAAAmg/oTkALuG7Qew/s320/travel+journal+001.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5339734118229527906" border="0" /></a><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;" >From a trip to London in 2001</span><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">In both of these new journals there were also tidbits of the old journals--personal notes and the occasional lament.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">When I first started writing Miss R, I didn't realize that it would evolve into a new type of journal. <span style=""> </span>The first year was stop and go, and I didn’t really pay much attention to the content or frequency.<span style=""> </span> Now I realize that the content is really an extension of my years of writing about my life. No, I don't often write about personal drama, but I do definitely write about the way I feel about what I do. I also write about places I've been and plants I've seen and post drawings, designs and other tidbits of my creative life.</p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/ShqRYI1KcvI/AAAAAAAAAmo/XrLLN-O50hU/s1600-h/notebook.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 254px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/ShqRYI1KcvI/AAAAAAAAAmo/XrLLN-O50hU/s320/notebook.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5339740152074498802" border="0" /></a><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:78%;">A recent page from my current notebook</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal">I still carry a notebook with me to jot down ideas, plant names, or make a quick sketch of something--although digital pictures have replaced some of my sketches. I realize that recording my ideas and experiences has been part of my life long creative process.<span style=""> </span></p>Susan aka Miss. Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13428911321406722652noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2360893882147625763.post-7804085181231846592009-05-23T17:15:00.022-04:002009-05-24T07:22:29.870-04:00Field Trip--Upper MontclairI have a soft spot for bearded Iris. I use them often in the gardens I design. They are reliably deer resistant and I like their sculptural blooms and their grey green spiky foliage.<br /><br />Each May, when I was a teenager, my mother and I would go to a neighboring town during bloom time to visit Mr. Grey--an Iris expert who grew and sold hundreds of varieties in straight rows in his suburban yard. We would choose one or two to try in my mother's garden. I still have a yellowed and much cherished typewritten sheet that I follow from Mr. Grey explaining his best practices for dividing, cleaning and planting the tubers. I learned from Mr. Grey that the easiest way to keep track of when to divide iris is to do so every presidential election year.<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><br /></span></span></div>Yesterday was a glorious, perfect day. Off I went to Upper Montclair to the <a href="http://www.presbyirisgardens.org/">Presby Memorial Iris Gardens</a>.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/ShiM4psodXI/AAAAAAAAAmI/JxEfMFGUVpE/s1600-h/Presby+Iris+Gardens+008.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/ShiM4psodXI/AAAAAAAAAmI/JxEfMFGUVpE/s320/Presby+Iris+Gardens+008.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5339172263141340530" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family: verdana;font-size:78%;" >One of the long Iris borders at Presby</span><span style="font-family: verdana;font-size:78%;" > and the crowd of admirers</span><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/Shhz13tuFYI/AAAAAAAAAlI/hRKHRtFrL4g/s1600-h/vangogh+irises.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 260px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/Shhz13tuFYI/AAAAAAAAAlI/hRKHRtFrL4g/s320/vangogh+irises.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5339144727573697922" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family: verdana;font-size:78%;" >Van Gogh's Iris, 1889 (Getty Museum)</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/Shh1IDv0t8I/AAAAAAAAAlQ/JUFyL-CXyns/s1600-h/PresbyIris.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 251px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/Shh1IDv0t8I/AAAAAAAAAlQ/JUFyL-CXyns/s320/PresbyIris.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5339146139553019842" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:78%;">Iris at Presby Iris Gardens 2009<br /><br /></span></span></div>It's close by--less than 30 minutes away, yet I'd never been at bloom time before. Consistent here, Iris start on May 15. Of the 3000 varieties in the garden dating back to the 1500's, here are a few of my favorites.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/ShiMGrdH1GI/AAAAAAAAAlY/yH8tFL9KZ7Q/s1600-h/Presby+Iris+Gardens+004.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/ShiMGrdH1GI/AAAAAAAAAlY/yH8tFL9KZ7Q/s320/Presby+Iris+Gardens+004.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5339171404619699298" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:78%;">Thornbird (1988)<br /><br /></span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/ShiMG6iWW2I/AAAAAAAAAlg/rk1ODgDvnPM/s1600-h/Presby+Iris+Gardens+007.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/ShiMG6iWW2I/AAAAAAAAAlg/rk1ODgDvnPM/s320/Presby+Iris+Gardens+007.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5339171408668154722" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family: verdana;font-size:78%;" >Auntie Em (2007)</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/ShiMHcSZ-6I/AAAAAAAAAlo/syHvPAheZY8/s1600-h/Presby+Iris+Gardens+009.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/ShiMHcSZ-6I/AAAAAAAAAlo/syHvPAheZY8/s320/Presby+Iris+Gardens+009.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5339171417728088994" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:78%;">Quaker Lady (1909)<br /><br /></span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/ShiMHqlQ4JI/AAAAAAAAAlw/sgHvu-RfwN8/s1600-h/Presby+Iris+Gardens+010.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/ShiMHqlQ4JI/AAAAAAAAAlw/sgHvu-RfwN8/s320/Presby+Iris+Gardens+010.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5339171421565280402" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family: verdana;font-size:78%;" >Gracchus (1884)</span><br /><br /></div>Susan aka Miss. Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13428911321406722652noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2360893882147625763.post-16157434379069998512009-05-22T17:33:00.012-04:002009-05-22T20:25:33.120-04:00Fringe BenefitsI love our native fringe tree, Chionanthus virginicus. Hardy to zone 3, it is delicate, fragrant and underused in the landscape. Sometimes I see it used here as a multi-stemed shrub, but seldom as a mature understory tree.<br /><br />I've used it in gardens as a shrub, but never as a tree--I will after this week. On a road I have driven down hundreds of times, there it was in full glorious bloom, at a bus stop on Mountain Avenue in Springfield.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/ShczlVb1NJI/AAAAAAAAAk4/RszQEsOYSEg/s1600-h/pots+and+fringe+tree+013.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/ShczlVb1NJI/AAAAAAAAAk4/RszQEsOYSEg/s320/pots+and+fringe+tree+013.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5338792599773066386" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:78%;">The Fringe tree on Mountain Avenue<br /><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/Shczl2oJEOI/AAAAAAAAAlA/E9RbF6lP49M/s1600-h/pots+and+fringe+tree+014.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/Shczl2oJEOI/AAAAAAAAAlA/E9RbF6lP49M/s320/pots+and+fringe+tree+014.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5338792608683069666" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:78%;">Blooms</span></span></div>Susan aka Miss. Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13428911321406722652noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2360893882147625763.post-72521074994621614822009-05-20T18:30:00.012-04:002009-05-21T07:28:58.265-04:00Dreaming of Other PlacesI have itchy, gypsy feet. When the weather gets nice my longing to pick up and go gets worse.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/ShSGDOTi4II/AAAAAAAAAjw/ViP31QpZ1H4/s1600-h/suitcase.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/ShSGDOTi4II/AAAAAAAAAjw/ViP31QpZ1H4/s320/suitcase.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5338038848278683778" border="0" /></a><br />I want to go some place exotic--full of color, odd sounds and history.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/ShU3RVT5w1I/AAAAAAAAAkI/ZLtN6RFyGVE/s1600-h/bali.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/ShU3RVT5w1I/AAAAAAAAAkI/ZLtN6RFyGVE/s320/bali.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5338233704235516754" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:78%;">Bali<br /><br /></span></span></div>I want to go some place I've never been that will inspire me.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/ShUzwryZtuI/AAAAAAAAAkA/_Bl7FWxgHc8/s1600-h/ankor+wat.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/ShUzwryZtuI/AAAAAAAAAkA/_Bl7FWxgHc8/s320/ankor+wat.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5338229844798453474" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:78%;">Angkor Wat, Cambodia<br /><br /></span></span></div>I need to get outside of my comfort zone.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/ShU3RzDs3nI/AAAAAAAAAkY/n4i7bZ-Uq04/s1600-h/india.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/ShU3RzDs3nI/AAAAAAAAAkY/n4i7bZ-Uq04/s320/india.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5338233712220626546" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:78%;">India<br /><br /></span></span></div>Maybe it's just the May-hem of being a landscape designer at this time of year causing me to want to escape.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/ShU4i7jtvpI/AAAAAAAAAkw/SI-QbEDUqk4/s1600-h/Yellowstone.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 242px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/ShU4i7jtvpI/AAAAAAAAAkw/SI-QbEDUqk4/s320/Yellowstone.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5338235106071789202" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:78%;">Yellowstone National Park<br /></span></span></div><br />Don't get me wrong--I love what I do, but I need to recharge and my creative batteries sometimes need a jump start.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/ShU3SOxkbFI/AAAAAAAAAkg/GQ-P_oD8IuE/s1600-h/Nikko+Temple+Japan.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/ShU3SOxkbFI/AAAAAAAAAkg/GQ-P_oD8IuE/s320/Nikko+Temple+Japan.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5338233719660768338" border="0" /></a><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;" >Nikko Temple, Japan</span><br /><br /></div>Travel does that for me--it jolts me into a new direction every time.<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/ShU3Ru8FlBI/AAAAAAAAAkQ/YooGmI4PRpk/s1600-h/buenos+aires.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 276px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/ShU3Ru8FlBI/AAAAAAAAAkQ/YooGmI4PRpk/s320/buenos+aires.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5338233711114949650" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:78%;">Buenos Aires, Argentina<br /><br /></span></span></div>I've always had wanderlust and have luckily been able to indulge it on mostly a whim. When I was younger with less responsibility, I'd just pack a bag and go.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/ShUzwQhrfuI/AAAAAAAAAj4/Gj6F-Gcy7H0/s1600-h/Fez.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/ShUzwQhrfuI/AAAAAAAAAj4/Gj6F-Gcy7H0/s320/Fez.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5338229837480558306" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:78%;">Fez, Morocco<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: left;">Now it's not so easy. I dream of the places I want to see and save and save until I can afford to go. One of the above will be next.<br /></div></div>Susan aka Miss. Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13428911321406722652noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2360893882147625763.post-20409446399016519712009-05-20T07:10:00.009-04:002009-05-20T07:41:56.512-04:00First Year SnapshotsYesterday on my way to somewhere else, I stopped at a garden I designed and installed last fall. The design mostly followed the footprint of a formal garden that had fallen into ruin--the concrete pond was there as was a crumbling low garden wall. I updated it and designed a scheme of mostly deer resistant plants--the exceptions being roses and daylilies planted at the owner's request.<br /><br />These are not the best photos I've taken and I usually don't photograph gardens in their first season --they need time to fill in. First year photos are like taking baby pictures--the gardens are going to morph and mature and come into their own as they grow--and really they're just another cute baby. I made an exception yesterday since really liked what I saw.<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/ShPmZfXtzEI/AAAAAAAAAjg/V2RSCzzdxWw/s1600-h/strada1st+year.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 256px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/ShPmZfXtzEI/AAAAAAAAAjg/V2RSCzzdxWw/s320/strada1st+year.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337863308956257346" border="0" /></a><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;" >Upper and lower borders--the wall is very old-and was covered with ivy</span><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/ShPnNKJ6a8I/AAAAAAAAAjo/29TI8o-f_w0/s1600-h/strada1styear2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 256px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/ShPnNKJ6a8I/AAAAAAAAAjo/29TI8o-f_w0/s320/strada1styear2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337864196614417346" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:78%;">Lower border--it has a sequential bloom pattern<br /></span></span></div>Susan aka Miss. Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13428911321406722652noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2360893882147625763.post-9205887402604619772009-05-19T06:15:00.008-04:002009-05-19T06:28:47.842-04:00Chelsea Flower Show JunkieYes, I admit it. I'm a Chelsea Flower Show junkie and this week it's time for my big fix! I follow the Chelsea Flower Show like some guys follow the Jets. I can't get enough.<br /><br />I find the gardens to be great sources of inspiration. Flower show gardens, regardless of size are places to experiment and often exciting ideas emerge. I know the Chelsea gardens have huge corporate budgets and I know they're theater, impossibly perfect and created to last a week instead of a lifetime. It doesn't matter...I have to have more, more, more.<br /><br />Here's a video of this year's Best Show Garden designed by Ulf Nordfjell for The Daily Telegraph:<br /><br /><embed src="http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f8/1138370360" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" flashvars="videoId=23575414001&playerId=1138370360&viewerSecureGatewayURL=https://console.brightcove.com/services/amfgateway&servicesURL=http://services.brightcove.com/services&cdnURL=http://admin.brightcove.com&domain=embed&autoStart=false&" base="http://admin.brightcove.com" name="flashObj" seamlesstabbing="false" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" swliveconnect="true" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash" width="389" height="329"></embed>Susan aka Miss. Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13428911321406722652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2360893882147625763.post-2061142342673237182009-05-18T18:24:00.004-04:002009-05-18T18:29:45.299-04:00The Fence from 'Trash or Treasure?'It's almost finished--glad it didn't get damaged <a href="http://missrumphiusrules.blogspot.com/2009/04/trash-or-treasure.html">on its trip to and from the dump</a>! Here's the fence. It needs paint and the posts need to be trimmed and capped. A simple loop will keep the gate closed.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/ShHgl_5z1XI/AAAAAAAAAjY/oyR9sTJEB5U/s1600-h/fence+001.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/ShHgl_5z1XI/AAAAAAAAAjY/oyR9sTJEB5U/s320/fence+001.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337293976824436082" border="0" /></a>Susan aka Miss. Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13428911321406722652noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2360893882147625763.post-14982659439040464962009-05-17T08:45:00.001-04:002009-05-17T10:02:40.355-04:00Garden Visits--Chester and Far HillsAccompanied by a friend, who is also a landscape designer, a map and our cameras we set off to see three gardens in Morris and Somerset counties for an <a href="http://www.gardenconservancy.org/opendays/events.pl">Open Days</a> garden crawl. With my trusty point and shoot, I took many more photographs than I have here. Some are for inspiration, some are for reference and others will be shared here later illustrating other posts.<br /><br />This area of New Jersey is known for its history and tradition. Homes dating from late 18th and 19th century sit side by side with those built in the last real estate bubble. The three gardens we visited were traditional, based in European traditions, and on properties with old homes. All three gardens were several acres, the result of years of vision, personal attention and financial commitment. Aliums were in bloom everywhere. Container plantings were significant players at both Hedgerows and Kennelston cottage forming their own small 'gardens' or creating focal points within larger plantings. I think I'd like to explore containers as a contributor and design element later.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/Sg_tFBo0O_I/AAAAAAAAAig/hYGPEG4La58/s1600-h/Chester+and+Far+Hills+Gardens+002.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/Sg_tFBo0O_I/AAAAAAAAAig/hYGPEG4La58/s320/Chester+and+Far+Hills+Gardens+002.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5336744754052086770" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:78%;">A stone pier, containers and gate at Hedgerows</span></span><br /></div><br />With the morning's fog still creating an atmospheric haze, down Old Chester Road we drove, our first stop was Dan and Jeanne Will's garden, Hedgerows. For me, the most interesting part of this garden was the woodland. Meandering paths wove in and out of plantings that were in places highly edited and in others self seeded. The combination of intent and abandon was charming.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/Sg_rv_TgmCI/AAAAAAAAAiI/t7KAv3lvPyw/s1600-h/Chester+and+Far+Hills+Gardens+004.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/Sg_rv_TgmCI/AAAAAAAAAiI/t7KAv3lvPyw/s320/Chester+and+Far+Hills+Gardens+004.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5336743293136967714" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:78%;">Self seeded Primula japonica were abundant, as were Myosotis sylvatica<br /><br /></span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/Sg_rwJWxZsI/AAAAAAAAAiQ/60fI1vls04I/s1600-h/Chester+and+Far+Hills+Gardens+006.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/Sg_rwJWxZsI/AAAAAAAAAiQ/60fI1vls04I/s320/Chester+and+Far+Hills+Gardens+006.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5336743295835006658" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:78%;">Gravel paths weaving in and out of plantings</span></span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/Sg_rwe6HBnI/AAAAAAAAAiY/m_G8Lx79T2g/s1600-h/Chester+and+Far+Hills+Gardens+007.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/Sg_rwe6HBnI/AAAAAAAAAiY/m_G8Lx79T2g/s320/Chester+and+Far+Hills+Gardens+007.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5336743301620369010" border="0" /></a> <span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:78%;">A small rustic yet elegantly proportioned summerhouse </span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Our second stop, Hay Honey Farm, was one of two we planned in Far Hills. I first visited this garden 4 or 5 years ago. This time, the owner requested that photos not be published, so I won't share mine here. A series of gardens included hillside woodland with a beautiful Rhododendron walk, a hayfields with remarkable views across the valley and a Laburnum allee. This garden is well worth the visit.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/ShABI8pS7pI/AAAAAAAAAjI/F8ctYqzzFCg/s1600-h/Chester+and+Far+Hills+Gardens+026.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/ShABI8pS7pI/AAAAAAAAAjI/F8ctYqzzFCg/s320/Chester+and+Far+Hills+Gardens+026.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5336766811663953554" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:78%;">A gravel path through a shady garden room at Kennelston Cottage in Far Hills<br /><br /></span></span></div>After a drive on dirt and gravel roads through some of the most beautiful country in New Jersey we arrived at our final stop--Kennelston Cottage. This was the most traditional garden of the three. Recently featured in <a href="http://www.newjerseylife.com/home-garden/">New Jersey Life</a> magazine, Kennelston's gardens are a series of interrelated rooms and vignettes.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/Sg_0I51f-NI/AAAAAAAAAi4/lWgTcB4S5UQ/s1600-h/Chester+and+Far+Hills+Gardens+028.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/Sg_0I51f-NI/AAAAAAAAAi4/lWgTcB4S5UQ/s320/Chester+and+Far+Hills+Gardens+028.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5336752517258672338" border="0" /></a><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;" >The Potager</span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;" > with chimney pot planters</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/ShAEbOg0hvI/AAAAAAAAAjQ/nLX_DSejQRQ/s1600-h/Chester+and+Far+Hills+Gardens+032.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/ShAEbOg0hvI/AAAAAAAAAjQ/nLX_DSejQRQ/s320/Chester+and+Far+Hills+Gardens+032.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5336770424232773362" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:78%;">A lovely purple and white poolside planting scheme<br /><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/ShABI_z9_vI/AAAAAAAAAjA/HBRleGVDFHE/s1600-h/Chester+and+Far+Hills+Gardens+034.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/ShABI_z9_vI/AAAAAAAAAjA/HBRleGVDFHE/s320/Chester+and+Far+Hills+Gardens+034.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5336766812514025202" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">The view to the house from the pool</span></span><br /></div></div><br /><br /></div></div>Susan aka Miss. Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13428911321406722652noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2360893882147625763.post-17231835182451870612009-05-16T06:46:00.010-04:002009-05-16T19:28:01.605-04:00Field Trip--Chester and Far HillsI really do <a href="http://missrumphiusrules.blogspot.com/2009/03/inspiration-and-influence-garden-visits.html">what I say I do</a>.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/Sg6ax2xeHxI/AAAAAAAAAh4/g1bBAnq0Xg8/s1600-h/Open+Days+logo.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 93px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/Sg6ax2xeHxI/AAAAAAAAAh4/g1bBAnq0Xg8/s320/Open+Days+logo.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5336372789787893522" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Find Gardens to visit on <a href="http://www.gardenconservancy.org/opendays/events.pl">Open Days</a> </span></span><br /><br /></div>Even though I design gardens and landscapes every day for a living, I still love to discover other people's gardens. Today, despite the gloomy forecast, I'm going to take advantage of the <a href="http://www.gardenconservancy.org/">Garden Conservancy's</a> Open Days in Morris and Somerset counties. I never know what discovery I'll make or if I'll even like the gardens I visit...usually there's some tidbit that I find interesting or worthy of a quick sketch or photo, but sometimes the gardens are absolutely breathtaking.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/Sg6dscNaBSI/AAAAAAAAAiA/v0_7VbQMDdQ/s1600-h/Lamington+Garden.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/Sg6dscNaBSI/AAAAAAAAAiA/v0_7VbQMDdQ/s320/Lamington+Garden.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5336375995292845346" border="0" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:78%;">The remnants of an Ellen Biddle Shipman garden in Lamington from a previous year's visit</span></span><br /></div>Susan aka Miss. Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13428911321406722652noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2360893882147625763.post-70287028519583329452009-05-15T07:43:00.011-04:002009-05-15T08:56:00.006-04:00BooksI love books. Since I first learned how, I have been a voracious reader.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/Sg1lvXf4-SI/AAAAAAAAAhw/0SOF6QKZX4A/s1600-h/books.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/Sg1lvXf4-SI/AAAAAAAAAhw/0SOF6QKZX4A/s320/books.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5336032997939935522" border="0" /></a>For me, books have been gateways to the larger world. They have been a source of inspiration, information and escape. I like them as objects as well. I am always fascinated by the mystery between the covers, the tactile discovery of turning a page to see what's next. I have spent hours of my life in libraries and everywhere I've ever lived, both here and abroad, I've had a library card.<br /><br />I am no longer an indiscriminate book buyer. At several points in my life I had more books than anything else. I am fortunate to have The Chatham Bookseller, <a href="http://www.abebooks.com/home/chathambookseller/">a great used bookstore </a>, in the next town over that has three shelves of books on gardens and landscape design and many more on interiors, graphic design, fine art and just about any other subject I might want to explore. With their greatly reduced prices penciled in on the flyleaf, I've bought more than a few books here.<br /><br />My design library isn't big since I don't have the room for the hundreds of books I would have if I did. It is carefully edited and often culled when new additions need to find a home on the overstuffed shelves. Some of my favorites are out of print, some are new, some are eye candy coffee table books, some are serious reference books. I'm going to share some of my favorites over the next few weeks.Susan aka Miss. Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13428911321406722652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2360893882147625763.post-18342281507110965142009-05-14T07:29:00.013-04:002009-05-14T11:45:10.186-04:00Inspriation and Influence--1st Dibs<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/SgwIj6XVpYI/AAAAAAAAAho/BGI0JzxXUkk/s1600-h/gate.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/SgwIj6XVpYI/AAAAAAAAAho/BGI0JzxXUkk/s320/gate.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5335649071582782850" border="0" /></a>I really like <a href="http://www.1stdibs.com/">1st Dibs</a>. I don't visit it every day, or even every week, but when I do it sucks me in and when I'm done I've spent more time than I had planned.<br /><br />1st Dibs is a huge on-line marketplace for antiques and mid-century modern furniture and accessories--Portobello Road or the Paris Flea Market on steroids. 1st Dibs also has a beautifully designed and edited section on people, places and ideas. There are great garden elements to be found--bought or used as inspiration.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/SgwHHjPz44I/AAAAAAAAAhQ/yIHg8w1hmt0/s1600-h/faux+bois+planters.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kA8ooaZT5II/SgwHHjPz44I/AAAAAAAAAhQ/yIHg8w1hmt0/s320/faux+bois+planters.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5335647484829229954" border="0" /></a><br />The profiles in <span style="font-style: italic;">Style Compass</span> or books in <span style="font-style: italic;">Required Reading</span> get me every time.Susan aka Miss. Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13428911321406722652noreply@blogger.com2