Monthly Archives: August 2012

Jorgenson Farms and Jeni’s Ice Cream

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This Sunday we visited Jorgenson Farms for the first annual Backyard Mintfest in corporation with Jeni’s Ice Cream. Jorgenson Farms grows all the mint for Jeni’s Mint ice cream and the fest allowed Jeni’s fans to see where the mint is locally grown and tour the farm. Val Jorgenson is a family friend and McCullough’s has helped with numerous projects around her farm over the years. This was a wonderful event and the whole family had a great time.

A photo from the event under the tent. If you live in Central Ohio and need a tent or table & chairs rental let me know, those used at this event are from McCulloughs.

Jorgensen Farms has sunflowers growing around the edge of her fields that are the highlight of a sunflower-summer dinner she has every year.

A basket of personal fans to help keep everyone cool during the hot summer day.

After Jeni's Demo, Val invited everyone out to the field that grows the same mint for Jeni's ice cream to pick some of their own.

Jeni provided a demo of how to make mint-chocolate milk (yes it was delicious) and mint whipped cream.

I am back!

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Personal, Uncategorized
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I got back from my trip last Friday and quickly back into the full swing of work (hence why I am just posting). I took the first weekend to recoup from the lack of sleep on the plane ride home and delighted friends and family with slideshows of my 3,000 plus photos. I am still in the process of flagging my favorites and finalizing the best way to share here on Outside the Boxwood. In the mean time here is a sampling of the non-garden and a few garden photos from my trip. I think by the end of the series you will see that my trip was amazing and I came back inspired. I will attempt to break it up so it is not all my trip for three weeks straight, but we will see.

Yes, this is me with Peit Oudolf, and yes I looked that happy for the entire day after this moment.

This was at an art school, the large letters spell out Search & Destroy.

A sample of the beers I had on the trip, and a waffle.

I found this stack of magazines in one of the nurserys we visited, reminded me of my office back home.

WSJ Magazine – Gil Schafer & Deborah Nevins

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Inspiration, Landscape Design
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Image above from WSJ Magazine article, features low field stone walls and low clipped hedges.

In our house we get a lot of magazines because you never know where you will find a great article that opens you to a new designer/product etc. That can totally be said for the WSJ Magazine which is printed ten times a year in the Wall Street Journal Weekend edition the first weekend of every month. The July/August issue included the landscape of architect Gil Schafer (a new resource for classical architecture and restoration) by his friend and famous landscape designer Deborah Nevins (amazing work portfolio I have admired).  WSJ.com includes the majority of the article and amazing photos so please read and if you don’t already, plan on checking the newsstands monthly for the WSJ Magazine (the tracked section alone is with the purchase).

Images above from the WSJ Magazine Article of Gil Schafer’s home in New York, which include a walled garden and tightly clipped privet hedges. 

 

Here are some more details of the work of both Designer and Architect featured in the article.

Deborah Nevins is a Landscape Designer (website here) that works across the globe designing landscapes which highlight the existing location’s beauty with classical, yet modern features and an particular emphasis on forms created by the plants and planting design. The images I pulled below really show how they create forms within the landscape, but there are a few examples of plant selection to highlight the region of landscape and environment.

Gil Schafer is an architect with a focus on the classicdetails of design creating and restoring homes that have and will stand the test of time (firm website). I am surprised how often I have seen his work in magazines and blogs without noting it was done by Gil. I really appreciate an architect that brings in a landscape designer before the home construction is started to ensure the best features of the land are included at the very beginning. Gil has a new book coming out in October (preview on his site here) called The Great American House, Tradition for the way we live now and it looks like a great reference for interpreting classic design for our modern lives. Below are selections of his work, I focused on the exteriors since it reflects the landscape more so than interiors and I tend to like classic exteriors with more minimal interior features.

Images above from Gil Schafer’s website feature a New York townhouse facade I have loved for years.

Images above from Gil Schafer’s website feature a center hall design house I have pinned for a design for my dream home.

Book Recommendations – Plant Combinations

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So I am officially in The Netherlands now, so this post is launching via some help back at home. I have a deep weak spot for design books. In my suitcase I am bringing an extra bag just for flying home all the garden design books I plan to buy throughout my trip. Here are two book recommendations for those who are also looking for some good plant selection books to add to their library.

 

Designer Plant Combinations, by Scott Calhoun 

This book includes 105 combinations using 6 plants or fewer. The book is grouped by perennials, annuals, groundcovers, etc so you can look within the type of combination you would like. It also has photos of the combo in landscape, plus the individual plants. The photos of the combo in landscape/planted are nice if you are not 100% familiar with the specific plant so you can see how the plants relate with scale and texture. This is a book I have stored next to my desk for quick reference when I need some inspiration for mixing etc. From Amazon here.

 

Natural Companions, Ken Druse

This book was released in March 2012, and I came across while browsing my local Barnes & Noble so I am behind on the ranting and raving. What first struck me about this book was the use of photography to show the plant combinations; Individual plants photographed on a black background in a very artistic and striking view. The book is grouped around seasons/zones and the combos highlight plants that bloom at the same time. In my review the majority of the combos include photos also in a landscape setting. I did not purchase this book, it is next on the list of purchases (need to wait until after my book buying on this trip). If anyone has additional inputs on this book I would love to hear, but from the photos alone (by Ellen Hoverkamp) should make this a must buy. From Amazon here.

I should have two more posts scheduled for while I am gone, then I will be bombarding you with photos from my trip.