G A R D E N S, Perennials
Fall came quickly, but thanks to a wet spring we had some amazing fall color over an Indian summer for the past few weeks. There is not much left in the garden in bloom, just a lot of leaves to haul back for composting. However, I love the form of the fall garden- I truly think there is beauty in decay There are … READ MORE
Gardens, Inspiration
I have been absent all summer from blogging, but am back with a post crammed with garden porn to make up for lost time. In mid-October I was outside Philadelphia speaking at the Perennial Plant Conference hosted by Chanticleer Garden, Longwood Gardens, and Scott Arboretum (Swarthmore College). Put it on your calendar next year! The lineup of speakers was second to … READ MORE
Landscape Design
Earlier in July, we visited Malabar Farms in Lucas, Ohio. The farm’s claim to fame is the home of Louis Bromfield, Pulitzer Prize winner author and the location of Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall’s wedding. Besides these notable characteristics, Bromfield and Malabar are notable for pioneering sustainable agriculture practices. The farm is now a State Park, with miles of trails, … READ MORE
Arrangement of the Week
We have had a wet spring and summer to say the least. Besides making our working schedule crazy (and muddy) it has created for a plethora of blooms in the garden. Today before the storm, I walked through the garden with my wife and my Felcos and trimmed a few blooms into an arrangement. There is no science to the collection other … READ MORE
Design Masters, G A R D E N S, Landscape Design
“The way a garden sits in its landscape is my main concern. I sometimes feel that I fill in the foreground like a stage, and the background is done by a far bigger hand than mine…” – Anthony Paul, Website: http://www.anthonypaullandscapedesign.com/ all photo are located there Recognized style: Contemporary design of restrained, natural perennial plantings which enhance … READ MORE
C O N T A I N E R S, container
Here is my third installment on container gardens with selecting a container based on size and scale. This post has taken me over a week to write as I found explaining scale outside a specific environment tricky. You see images of amazing containers, but its difficult to judge the exact size of a container based on the size of plants alone. … READ MORE
C O N T A I N E R S
The next series of posts on Thinking Outside the Boxwood are going to be more of rant than normal as I attempt to solidify the impact container gardens have in residential gardens. By no means are container gardens a ground breaking concept, there are hundreds of books from edible containers, instant containers and succulent containers to name just a few. But the more I travel … READ MORE
C O N T A I N E R S
I admit I was a bit jealous over the weekend watching everyone’s Instagram posts from Trade Secrets and even worst, the mad rush of finishing RHS Chelsea Flower Show gardens (have you seen photos of Dan Pearson’s garden yet?) I was able to console myself with a trip to Dawes Arboretum and Springfield Antique show with the family. At Dawes, I found a … READ MORE
Inspiration, Landscape Products
(Image from The New York Times article – here) I have long admired Ina Garten’s home and gardens from the articles published and images shared. I recently caught the tail end of her cooking show and was caught by the scale of her firebowl. At 68 inches wide, the bowl is very wide (bigger than my dinning room table), … READ MORE