Fringe Benefits

I 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.

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.

The Fringe tree on Mountain Avenue

Blooms

Dreaming of Other Places

I have itchy, gypsy feet. When the weather gets nice my longing to pick up and go gets worse.


I want to go some place exotic--full of color, odd sounds and history.

Bali

I want to go some place I've never been that will inspire me.

Angkor Wat, Cambodia

I need to get outside of my comfort zone.

India

Maybe it's just the May-hem of being a landscape designer at this time of year causing me to want to escape.

Yellowstone National Park

Don't get me wrong--I love what I do, but I need to recharge and my creative batteries sometimes need a jump start.

Nikko Temple, Japan

Travel does that for me--it jolts me into a new direction every time.

Buenos Aires, Argentina

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.

Fez, Morocco

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.

First Year Snapshots

Yesterday 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.

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.

Upper and lower borders--the wall is very old-and was covered with ivy

Lower border--it has a sequential bloom pattern

Chelsea Flower Show Junkie

Yes, 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.

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.

Here's a video of this year's Best Show Garden designed by Ulf Nordfjell for The Daily Telegraph:

The Fence from 'Trash or Treasure?'

It's almost finished--glad it didn't get damaged on its trip to and from the dump! Here's the fence. It needs paint and the posts need to be trimmed and capped. A simple loop will keep the gate closed.