Thursday, April 17, 2014

Tooling up for Spring Gardens: Tool Care Tips for that First Cut, Happy Spring Containers & Orchards

Sheryl Crow and Cat Stevens sing passionately “the first cut is the deepest.”

Gardeners know better.

Our log-splitting president, Abe Lincoln, probably got it better when he famously said: "Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe."

Before you take to cutting out what you think are “dead” leaves or branches from this long, cold winter, with its see-saw of freeze, thaw, freeze thaw - take the time to prepare.

Spring is new beginnings.
While I joked that with the weather so curious recently – we might see Frosty holding hands with Peter Rabbit!
.
Time to end your winter nesting – and get outdoors to see the birds nesting.


It IS spring


Albeit a cold one – meteorologists say it’s ten degrees colder than normal.
The nursery owner told me yesterday that with the full moon around Mother’s Day, the calendar date that marks the unofficial OK to plant annuals in our zone 6/7 – you may still be susceptible to frost at that date – so check up before planting.

However, I’m the optimist and believe it’s better this way than too hot. 
I will enjoy our pansies and ranunculus container plantings.

While botanists at the area botanical gardens forecast a mash-up of bloom times – with tulips blooming along with cherry blossoms and magnolias, enjoy what is nevertheless the season’s ephemeral beauty.  

And if you missed pruning your summer blooming trees and shrubs due to too-cold weather, you’re not too late.

Before you head out in those first warm days to play catch up and cut – heed some of Abe’s arboreal wisdom.

Tool Smarts

Review your tools before you start pruning, cutting, trimming or digging; make sure your tools are clean and sharp.

If you thought it was a long winter, imagine what your tools thought – sitting in the corner of a tool shed, garage or back of your truck – where dampness or fungus can grow.  

At my spring garden talk on Tuesday, a woman from the garden club sheepishly admitted that she’d never cleaned her garden tools.  While she looked more like I’d just caught her cheating on her taxes (or worse) – you should love your tools and good maintenance will help not only preserve them and the investment you made with them, but clean tools help insure you don’t pass along sap or pathogens.
Plus, clean and sharpened tools help you to do garden work faster and more efficiently. After all, they are part of your garden team – labor-saving assistants to make your efforts much more effective.

Tools that need to be sharpened are loppers, pruners, knives, hoes, shears, and shovels, to name a few.

I start by washing; dipping the tool blades in a bleach bath – three parts water to one part bleach. 
Wipe dry.
If needed, use mineral spirits to remove any tough to rid residues.
I lay mine outside for further fresh-as-spring clean. 
No hanging on the line!

But you do want to stand your tools up or hang from pegs rather than lean against a wall or floor where the tools can gather moisture – the enemy of your tool’s beauty and utility.

Of course, we should all wash up our tools after each garden adventure – think of it like washing the dishes after the meal – or taking off your makeup at the end of the day.
Yes, there are those times when we just. Can’t. Seem. To spend. One. More. Minute…

Spa Talk
In general, wipe your tools down after every use – with a quick wash at the sink or with a soap and water drenched cloth and/or nail brush.

Keep a bucket of sand handy moistened a tad of linseed oil to dip the tools into after using them.
This mix is abrasive and lubricating – a veritable spa treatment for the tools.
Experts recommend the linseed oil vs. the old-fashioned recipe of using motor oil and I agree.  No one wants motor oil on their melons!
The Linseed oil is also beneficial for the tools’ wooden handles – so go ahead and give them a quick wipe too.

Sharpening 
We have an automatic blade wheel but you can also use a handheld whet stone or flint or carbide sharpener and file the blade at a 20-degree angle.

Pruning
This is the first year I’ve pruned our crape myrtles (Lagerstroemia indica).   In the northeast, zone 6/7 area (thanks to climate change) where we live, late winter/early spring is the best time to prune these blooming beauties and workhorses of the summer garden.
The crape myrtles are one of the few blooming shrubs/trees of the summer here, their bark is museum-worthy and their easy-to-no care maintenance and glorious, colorful, stately beauty elicits smiles and a loyal following.

Crape myrtles bloom on new growth.
You can prune them for a shrub-like screening effect or more as a tall, lollipop look. Pruning correctly will allow flowers to arrive earlier.

Don’t top off; rather prune gently – mindful of the lateral or axillary buds – not the terminal buds – in order to encourage more full growth and avoid the spindly or lanky growth with few to no inflorescence.
Fine Gardening advises “to prune them early spring before they break dormancy. And good pruning while crape myrtles are young will mean less maintenance when the trees are older.” http://www.finegardening.com/how-to/articles/pruning-lagerstroemia-crape-myrtle.aspx



I also snipped off the spent hydrangea heads from the macrophylla aka Mophead hydrangeas that bloom on old growth in order to improve their performance – and look.


I was not pruning – that work should be done when the flowers fade in the fall.  However, I like the look, and believe it strengthens the plant for the winter and provides food and shelter for pollinators of all sizes. 
These summer blooming shrubs set flower buds in late summer or early fall so take care when removing the dried blooms from last year.
There is a school of thought that says Mopheads don’t ever really need pruning.
Today, due to the shrubs sheer popularity, there are ever-more varieties available for your garden – and these new – often branded hydrangeas can bloom continuously as in “Endless Summer.” Still others bloom on new growth and should be pruned in spring, 
Be sure to check the plant you have before lopping off part of it nutrient-building woody stems.

Remember – ask or find out – if your hydrangea is the kind that blooms on old or new wood.

Want to change the color? That’s another story.




We also cleaned out the herb bed gardens, gently raking with the small Japanese-styled rake. Likewise, I raked the pea gravel walks that embrace the garden’s quadrants.



I fluffed up the indigenous, local rock borer that gets beat down over the winter.

It was now mulch time!  We get three to five yards delivered and then distribute in the beds accordingly.




At this time, I also walk my garden and my clients - to produce a punch list and a need-to-buy list - talking into my iPhone until Siri has enough of my garden talk… 
This way I can readily email text or images or add to existing project work to share with my garden team, too. 
Like tools, make technology work for you. 

Orchard
Last autumn, I planted the espalier apple against the wall of our front entrance porch.
And planted its mate J around the back in what I dreamed would be our future orchard, located next to the farme-ette. 
The apple trees were an exciting find at our local nursery.  I was delighted to find any fruit trees to tell you the truth. My research and calls turned up zero at just about every nursery.
 There wasn’t much choice in the fruit trees when I did find a source - the pears they had just didn’t work for me. 
But I got the two apple sweethearts, and planted them right away.
Especially happy to be starting our homegrown orchard.

The design is a simple one: two beds, a path in between so garden guests can bask in the spring blooms and seasonal fruit above – while taking in the edible farm-ette.
After marking off one bed and planting the apple, I swiped the bales of hay from my neighbor’s discarded Halloween post design and used it as a ground cover for the tree. 
Despite the Polar Vortex and because of the snow, the apple stayed snug as a bug and warm. The blossoms on him and the espalier are already intoxicating. 





Last fall, I ordered three more fruit trees – these I sourced from Willis Orchards www.wiillis.com 

The dwarf peach (Bonfire), cherry (Compact Stella), and apricot (Garden Annie – maybe Leeannie!) bare root fruit trees arrived last week. I chose dwarf not only for the scope of our yard; I am careful not block our neighbors’ view of the harbor and NYC skyline so didn’t want big trees that we’d need to continually prune or make for bad relations.

 
 
With visions of fragrant fruit blooms dancing in my head and my mind’s eye (Hello Monticello!) and excited for what might be our own homegrown fruit, sitting under the fruit trees’ canopy – on a bench, perhaps, fueled my enthusiasm to plant my design.

I couldn’t wait to complete the orchard.

I measured, modified, cut the grass patch and used the rototiller to create the aerated bed.  Then I planted these fruit-cuties with an eye toward staggering them so that when viewed from the side, one can see all the trees.

Satisfied – I’m waiting for nature and hoping the pollinators will love us more






I shovel cut the bed borders - ridding the accumulation of leaves and debris there too.  Years ago I interviewed the garden estate manager at Linden Hill for a Two River Times feature here in the Garden State - and this Cornwall-raised and trained hort expert was quite persnickety about maintaining the crisp shovel cut border.  "You can tell an expert and caring gardener by the borders they keep," he admonished.  It stuck with me.   

Happy Containers
Getting ready for Easter weekend, I wanted to fill the front urns and flower pots with seasonal, welcoming flowers to help guests smile on their way in for homegrown hugs, food, and drink.

Spring cleaning doesn’t stop at the windows.
For healthy plants, a good scrubbing will make all the difference. 

Be sure to wash or sterilize your containers to rid them of mold and fungus. 
To clean, you can use a pot-scrubbing brush and soak in the bleach solution for 5-10 minutes in order to kill bad things that may have set up housekeeping in your pots.

Because it’s so cold still, the plant choices are limited for spring containers here. 

I hope you’ll agree that that the white pansies and ranunculus that highlight the white star magnolia and the house’s trim are a welcome sight.


And nothing says sweet spring like pansies.


Don’t their “faces” just make you want to pinch their cheek or kiss them?

Happy Spring. Cheers to new beginnings.






Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Secret Gardens & Beds with Benefits



The Secret Garden was the theme of the Herald Square, NYC Macy’s Spring Flower Show this year.  www.macys.com/flowershow

Judging by the swarms of people elbowing each other to eagerly pose near the lush, colorful, blooming floral displays with family, friends or in Selfies - the cat was definitely out of the bag! 


The spectacular, Free, annual flower show is a perennial – favorite! 
(Sorry, can’t resist all the botanic wordplayJ
Flower fans from nearby and around the world set their spring calendar by the event - which this year ran from March 23 to April 6th - to attend professional demonstrations, special events and guided tours. 




Beds with Benefits


Who knew that a retail sales floor was also a glamorous garden bed? 
The garden sprites at Macy’s Entertainment and Parade group accessorized the store not unlike a botanic garden conservatory. 
Dangling like giant earrings from the ceiling and miles of elevated fashion runways from pillar to post: flowers and plants everywhere!
Minus the pollinators.


Within the Secret Garden theme was the Garden of the Mind.
The two most prominent garden compositions were located on the Mezzanine with three bridges “linking” them, further fostering the feeling you are being embraced by flowers and greenery.

Looking out and across from the perched garden there, I couldn’t help think of a floral analogy: the shoppers looked like so many bees flitting from counter to counter; stopping to admire the floral displays…









The mezzanine arbor was fashioned with beds that were filled with a rambunctious mix of plants: evergreens, ranunculus (LOVE this flowering plant!), astilbe, pansies, lilies, iris, clematis, camellia, and more. 
This garden display was located near the windows and a Starbucks so you could also sit and enjoy the winter garden scene.  





The opposite side mezzanine appeared less pronounced but its ambitious Under the Sea Garden that highlighted Cirque du Soleil’s Amaluna – now at Citi Field -- showcased beds filled with architectural-looking plants of aloe, asparagus fern, and tropicals, including bromeliads.  









Five celebrity floral designers flexed their botanic style, creating a showstopper for the Bouquet of the Day display.   

Their floral creations were in the spotlight for two to three days. This kept the bouquets fresh and the shoppers coming back to see the new look.  In fact, Macy’s told me the Bouquet of the Day was so popular and so many people got up close and in the display, that they had to put crime-scene tape around the design’s display!  
At least the tape’s pretty pink color was seasonally appropriate…

The five floral designers are so good, worth noting and sharing:

  • ·      Jes Gordon, jesGordon/properFun www.jesgordon.com - Named Biz Bash’s Top 35 Event Designers in North America and The Knot’s Best of Weddings Awards in 2012
  • ·      Olivier Giugni – L’Olivier Floral Atelier www.lolivier.com “French-born Olivier brings elegance, sophistication, and joie de vivre to his designs.”
  • ·      Ed Libby – Ed Libby & Company – www.edlibby.com  “A full environmental experience and close attention to detail” are Libby hallmarks
  • ·      Angelica Gomes – Angelica Flowers and Events – “Rio-born Gomes creates beautiful floral designs with the passion and energy of a true New Yorker.”
  • ·      Kenji Takenaka – Noir Hanna – www.noirhanna.com “Captures the mesmerizing world of flowers… Clients include Carnegie Hall and the UN, and named floral designer for the Quin Hotel.”

Floral compositions were worked into the merchandise displays too, as well as the featured gardens.
The plants seemed to be selected for their sheer Wow appeal.  

Obviously, there was no apparent thought given to the taxonomy or hierarchy of the plants’ display. 
If it’s a looker, it made the cut to a starring role. 


And I just love how irresistible the plants are to people – it’s positively magnetic.
Plants are exotic and otherworldly.
Plants create an intimate experience - whether at Macy’s or the botanic gardens – visitors get right up close and take a picture, or reach out and touch the plants.












Which brings up the care and maintenance.
Every night, Long Island’s Ireland Gannon nursery waters the potted plants and change out the wilted cut flowers.
According to Macy’s the controlled air in the store makes keeping the flowers happy a very big job.
Following the show’s conclusion, the retailer spreads the botanic bounty to further beautify Gotham. The cut flowers are composted and the living potted plants are donated to Bette Midler’s NY Restoration Project. www.nyrp.org  

Haute Couture Flower Power

Not surprising, the most popular floral composition was Lady in Red, according to Macy’s.  
And believe me, Nancy Reagan has nothing on this dame!  

Located at the 35th street entrance, the statuesque stunner was a towering 14 feet tall, her gown made from more than 2,000 flowers.   
Roses anthurium, gerbera daises, cockscomb, and hydrangeas were artfully arranged to create a red dress and model that no Fashion Week designer could compete with.

The bottom of the dress was potted plants and the bodice and head were cut, tubed flowers that Gannon nursery traded out and refreshed every night. 

The red color and size was one-two punch of unadulterated Flower Power.

Flower Express

With flowers and plants beckoning at every turn, you can’t help but feel like you’ve stepped into a head-spinning Arcadian dream.
To better make sense of all the floral displays and not overlook anything, Macy’s offered guided tours every 30 minutes.

My tour guide told me the tours start off with a few folks and then like a kind of Pied Piper Petunia with a microphone, draws in people – like a honeybee to pollen – so that the tour ends up with 40 to 50 people who’ve joined the group by mid-point.

Our guide was friendly and eager, pointing out plants we probably would’ve missed, such as the “rare” (according to the guide) citrus tree he said was from the Philippines and is used to make a delicious homegrown marmalade there. I’ve since learned that the calamondin orange home is China. 





Next to that, high up on a garden bridge, was a pretty flowering almond plant.



In the Garden of the Mind, the tour guide pointed to a conifer and then mischievously asks, “Does anyone know what juniper is used in?”
No takers.
OK. For me, it was a kind of momentary “Floral Flashback” - a scene reminiscent of my conifer ID class on the grounds of the New York Botanical Garden (www.nybg.org) with instructor Mike Ruggerio asking the same question with what I remember as the same mirthful “I’ve got a secret” grin.
The suspense is killing the apparently teetotalling group. I snap out of my juniper reverie.
“Gin.” I finally say.
Everyone breaks out in “naughty but nice” giggles. 
And they make me feel like I’ve won the lottery.
They crown me “plant duchess,” I guess, because just then the woman next to me “tests” our combined plant knowledge and asks what’s that one, pointing to a plant in the center aisle garden bed.
I wait for the tour guide.  He’s stumped on this, apologizing profusely.
“Cycad” I offer. 
This leads to a brief discussion of the cycad, it being a part of the pine tree family and having worn the mantle of the oldest plant on earth – that is - until the Wollemi Pine was recently discovered by plant hunters led by David Noble in an inaccessible part of the New South Wales part of Wollemi National Park. “Descendants of an ancient line of conifers that had been thought extinct for millions of years.” Botanists matched it up and confirmed it was something they had seen previously only in fossil records.”
I love plant stories, don’t you?

The tour guide proudly shows off a Jeffery Rudell-designed Gulliver Traveler-sized mobile bloom creation hanging from floor to ceiling. www.jeffrudell.com    

With obvious craft-making pride, the guide recounts how he helped make the giant blooms. “We used ribbons (rather than Jeffery’s signature paper) – 75,000 ribbons that we pushed through the ½” screen frames.”
One side looked like tapestry and the other side was a neat, Scrunchy-like effect.

The blooming mobile also featured giant scrollwork.  This in turn, made the Macy’s folks scurry to bring out their signature, Victorian gates from its inventory stored in their vault.  (Love to explore the vault, wouldn’t you?)

The guide explained how the retailer hadn’t used the gates for years.
I see that the gates are also featured on the Secret Garden brochure.  
I’d leave these gates on display. They are gorgeous and obviously possess an enduring pedigree.


Rudell’s book, Paper Blooms: 25 Extraordinary Flowers to Make for Weddings, Celebrations & More was available for sale in Macy’s Cellar. And here: http://www.amazon.com/Paper-Blooms-Extraordinary-Weddings-Celebrations/dp/1454703504




The Pepperidge Farm® Goldfish® Garden for Kids was mentioned as a garden to visit. I didn’t visit the garden but it sounded cute: “Finn & Friends’ fish Finn was the theme, with the fish and Goldfish brand crackers sharing values (!) of optimism, goodness, confidence, playfulness and imagination."  Whew! Think of that next time you want some crackers in your soup.  Ha. However, if the sponsorship allowed kids to explore the “Great Outdoors” I don’t care a whit about whether the brand alignment is a wet noodle or a crispy cracker.




Tablescapes: The Eyes Eat First

Throughout the duration of the show, Macy’s hosted designers including Kate Spade, Marchesa, and Lennox, to introduce their stunning new spring dinnerware patterns.

Spade’s Charlotte Street is geometric patterned with stripes and polka dots for “casual brunch to family dinner.” goo.gl/7F7fZg 


I adore Marchesa’s fashions and her line of plates is inspired by her bridal gowns’ “lush, lacy detailing.” The Midnight Blue line pattern is “bold florals in a dramatic dark color palette, set against gleaming white.” http://www1.macys.com/shop/product/marchesa-dinnerware-midnight-blue-collection?ID=1121642  


The French Perle Bead from Lennox “invokes classic Parisian style with rippling, dotted edges adorning the sturdy stoneware.” http://www1.macys.com/shop/product/lenox-dinnerware-french-perle-ice-blue-collection?ID=540237

I’m very partial to the Oscar de la Renta line of botanical dinnerware available as a “new, limited-edition home collection at The New York Botanical Garden.  The fashion designer is “an avid gardener and floral expert,” and was allowed to handpick the images from the NYBG LuEsther T. Mertz Library’s Rare Book Collection for his home collection http://nybgshop.org/index.php Gorgeous botanical artwork of greens and pinks and lush florals of peony, mayapple leaves create a happy and elegant tablescape.   

I will be at the Garden Friday to visit the Orchid show, accompanied by my mother and a dear garden client and friend, Maria, so we will check out these beauties, along with the orchids.  



While looking for Jeffrey’s Flower book, I ran into a Tablescapes demo by Barbara K – founder of Tools for Women DIY setting up for a session.   

I met her previously at a Gift Show – so it was nice to see her again and learn how she continues to extend her business and brand.  “It’s all about DIY,” she peeped with a dare-you-to-argue kind of stare.
I’m all for the makers so no argument from me.











She and her team were poetry in motion, creating three home entertainment tablescape compositions: 
summer picnic, 







garden party, 


and date night.
“I want to inspire people and take the mystery out of creating a tablescape experience,” said Barbara K. 

I’d leave the mystery in. But I got her point.  Let your imagination and creativity soar. Don’t be afraid. 
Make your tabletop a fantasy.
The French have a saying when referring to the plated meal: “The eyes eat first.”

Speaking of the French and their ready reference to all things amour (now, that’s brand alignment!) Barbara K stops, framed card for the date table and marker pen in mid-air, to ask what to write on the display card: “I love you? or Will you marry me?” 
I suggest the latter.  In a time when everyone seems to Love everything, the notion of marriage sounds more nuanced, more meaningful and yes, filled with "mystery.”

Tell your story with flowers and plants.    

Happy spring!

When you visit the Macy’s Secret Garden web site – you can send me a glamorous Petal Gram!





Thursday, March 27, 2014

Don’t be a Fool! The Antique Dealers’ Association Online Show Debuts April 1st



My garden art accessory friend and designer, Barbara Israel, let me know that her Garden Antiques and Replicas will participate in the Antique Dealers’ Association (ADA) first-ever online antiques show, premiering on the auspicious April 1st.

Mark your calendars, alert your Twitter, and get your tablet, computer or mobile smartphones ready.
You can also be notified by Facebook, Twitter or email when you request the calendar tickle at the ADA web page.

Home décor enthusiasts won’t want to miss the front row seat to better preview and buy the great finds from a very diverse list of top-tier dealers.

No lines, no waiting, no parking, and no fooling with Mother Nature…

The show will run “around the clock” (pre-digital time "talk!") from Tuesday, April 1st at 10 am to Thursday, April 3 at 10:00 pm
Then – just like Cinderella – the show page will disappear. Poof.  A dream…

The ADA asked its dealers to hold back items for this show as they do for any other show – so they are forecasting you will see the best in American antiques and fine art, folk art, Americana, Native American, and other decorative arts. 

Plus, every item is sold with a guarantee of authenticity.  
Despite the calendar date, you can’t get fooled: a written guarantee of the age, origin, condition and restoration, if any is provided with every sale.
So you can rest easy.  After all, there is a lot of pedigree on the line – in every sense.

Easy To Purchase
It’s also practically guaranteed you will find something you want to buy. 

With full access -- dealers and the general public access the show at the same time so no First Dibs issue here – you are sure to fall in love with an object of your desire that may have been out of reach in any other context.

All you need to do is contact the seller directly from the show page/site. 
Recommended best times to purchase is 9 am to 9 pm EST.
An email link and the phone number of the ADA dealer representing the item will be listed with each object, according to ADA.

Don’t like it once you get the piece is delivered to your home?  No problem, they say.  You have three days to let the seller know you want to return it. Easy as Amazon…

Garden Art
Preshow, I suggest you check out Barbara Israel’s garden ornament offerings. 

You will not only enjoy a much-needed jump-on-the-season garden “tour” but you can also get your creative garden design senses stimulated. 

Too much time gazing at snow this winter may have dulled your green garden aesthetic!
You – and your garden designer – can prepare a list of the garden art that will enhance and accessorize your garden rooms and exterior designs.


There are fountains, birdbaths, urns, sundials, furniture, wellheads, cisterns, and architectural miscellany.  




I wrote about Barbara’s collections previously for the New York Winter Antiques Show: http://gardenglamour-duchessdesigns.blogspot.com/2013/01/new-york-winter-antiques-show-features.html


For direct information to the ADA online show premiere:

Good luck.  Let me know what you fall in love with at the first-ever, ADA Show.