On The Ground and In The Air

Good Morning All!

It has been a long time since we last talked and first and foremost I just wanted to let everyone know that all is well!  There have been a number of very good things happening that have kept me away from the blog for a few months, but my schedule is about to loosen up a bit and I have a lot of great things to tell you.  I'll get to those in a future installment, but today, I want to tell you that after several years of trying I have found who I think are the perfect folks to partner with in the Garden Travel & Tour business that I have wanted to launch for so long.

 

I met Ron & Linda Williams at the American Hosta Society National Convention when it was held here in Nashville back in June and, as luck would have it, they own a garden tour business!  We have partnered to create a tour to Italy from May 14-26, 2013 and I hope that some of you might be interested in joining us!  Below are a few photos from a personal trip to Italy a couple of years ago and a sneak peek at just a bit of the Italian countryside we'll see on the trip.

 The sunrises in Tuscany can be spectacular and the food is second-to-none.

 

Assisi, in Umbria, is the birthplace of St. Francis and one of the stops we will make on this tour.

The Tuscan countryside is full of charming hill towns and our trip will include visits to Cortona, Siena, and others.

You can't go to Italy and not enjoy the amazing food and wine.  One of our stops will be a private tour of one of the finest villas and vineyards in Chianti, where we will be hosted by the owners with lunch at the villa as a special treat.

 

Other highlights include a brief tour of Rome at the beginning of the trip, 5 nights in Tuscany and the grand finale will be in the quiet and relaxing town of Stresa on the stunning shores of Lake Maggiore.

Gardens included will be those of the world famous Villa d'Este at Tivoli, Isola Bella (an island garden and villa on Lake Maggiore), the private villa and garden of Princess Claudia Ruspoli who we hope will be in residence and join us for lunch, a special artisan's craft fair at Palazzo Corsini in Florence and much more along the way.

 

For a full itinerary, pricing and other information, please email me at tbmgardens@gmail.com  These tours are designed for small groups and we will close the trip at 20 people.  This is how we are able to visit many of the private, one-of-a-kind destinations included on this trip, so if you are interested, please don't delay in contacting me as we expect the trip to fill fairly quickly.  I hope you'll be able to join us!

Antiques & Garden Show 2012

I swore I wasn't going to do it.  A couple of years ago, after 17 years of involvement, I had "retired".  This year, I was simply going to be in attendance at Nashville's annual Antiques & Garden Show.  I would walk the floor, peruse the items, chat with old friends and maybe have a Bloody Mary or two.  Then the phone call came.  Cheekwood, our botanical garden where I started my Nashville career 19 years ago, needed an assist.  I've never been able to say no to Cheekwood and to make matters worse, it was one of my best friends who made the call.  How could I possibly say 'No'?

And so I found myself planted firmly in the middle not just of creating a garden, but creating THE garden that sits right at the main entrance to the show--the very first thing people see when they come in the door.  It was time to pull out all the stops!  I had done this garden one time before, but this year was different.  For the first time in the 20-plus-year history of the show, Cheekwood was going to be front and center.  They had to look good, and so did I.  So it was that the Cheekwood garden staff and I set to work with my talented designer friend Phillipe Chadwick (a talented designer in his own right and the gardener in charge of Cheekwood's Color Garden, among other things) and I at the helm, creating the garden of Cheekwood's dreams.  We hoped. 

There were times when it was an uphill climb, but we made it.  The first picture below is what the garden looked like at about noon on Monday and the rest are what it looked like at about the same time on Thursday, just a few hours before the show opened for the annual Patrons and Preview Parties.

Construction was well underway by noon on Monday, but the floower was still plywood, the reflecting pool still needed its liner and our "tree trunks" still needed to have their bark attached.

The same view of the garden at noon on Thursday!

Our amazing "grass people" created by Parisian artist Mathilde Roussel just for our garden at the Antiques & Garden Show.

Our "tree trunks" after they were full of flowers.  These were created from cardboard sonotubes and cedar slabs with the bark still attached.

The theme of this year's show was "Collective Color" and each flower arrangement was created in a more or less monochromatic scheme to create a rainbow of color across the back of the garden.

The largest arrangement that Phillipe and I created was nearly 5 feet tall by 8 feet wide and stood atop a tree trunk that was 8 feet tall.

One of the favorite features of this year's garden were these antique gates that were donated to Cheekwood about 10 years ago.  They have been fully refurbished and will now be prominently featured in the newly-renovated Howe Garden which will open later this spring.

Winter Weather Advisory

Winter Weather Advisory.  Those are words we've only heard once or twice here in the Nashville area this winter.  In fact, our winter has been closer to a Zone 8b winter than our typical Zone 6b (or 7a if you choose to believe the new USDA Hardiness Zones Map that was just published http://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/PHZMWeb/ ).  Yes, we've gotten warmer.  Imagine that.  The new Hardiness Zones Map is based on 30 years worth of data, rather than the typical 10 years, so at least we're headed in the right direction and looking at long-term weather data rather than potentially anomalous short-term trends.

Narcissus pseudonarcissus

While I have personally enjoyed not having those frigid winds whipping across the ridge and the treacherous road conditions that go along with living in a region that is notoriously unprepared to deal with winter weather, the garden has been confused.  Not all of the plants are confused, mind you, but some that have a predisposed notion for popping up early in the season were waaaay ahead of schedule.  Narcissus pseudonarcissus the early daffodil that is naturalized all over the southeastern U.S. usually begins flowering about now--sometime between Valentine's Day and the end of February.  This year, it was in full bloom in my garden on January 20.

Helleborus niger 'Josef Lemper'

Hellebores, also called Christmas or Lenten Rose depending on the species, are staples of the Southern shade garden.  Their evergreen foliage provides year round interest, but it's their flowers that are most welcome during the short, gray days of winter.  I have several and can honestly say I don't think I've ever met a hellebore I didn't love.  Some of the most impressive that I have trialed over the past three years include Helleborus niger 'Josef Lemper', which began flowering the week of Thanksgiving (2011) and continues to produce new flowers even as I'm writing this, the third week of February, three months later.

Helleborus niger 'Double Fantasy'



Helleborus niger 'Double Fantasy' as it ages.

Helleborus niger 'Double Fantasy' is a fairly recent introduction from Japan and has pristine white flowers which, once the plant is well-established, will be fully double in form.  Younger plants will produce what are often called "anemone-flowered" blooms with a ruff of central petals like the photos above.  I also love the way the flower ages, with the outer petals often turning green while the inner petals remain white.

Helleborus x 'Winter Moonbeam'

Another outstanding performer in the garden during the past three years or so has been Helleborus x 'Winter Moonbeam'.  I love its foliage in the summer--a dark, almost black-green with creamy silver marbling in the veins.  It's right by the front door where I can appreciate it every day.  And in winter, it greets me from around New Years Day until late March with creamy white flowers that age pink and eventually to almost maroon.  They remain on the plant for several months and I remove them only when the new foliage begins to push up in mid-spring.

I also love the opportunity to visit other gardens around Nashville and wherever I may be traveling for business or pleasure.  Some recent trips to Cheekwood, our local public garden and Glen Leven, a property owned by The Land Trust for Tennessee, offered up these spectacular winter and early spring garden gems.



Edgeworthia chrysantha--Chinese Paperbush

Chimonanthus praecox--Wintersweet (flowering at Christmas!)

Arum italicum--Italian Arum (Leaves appear in autumn and remain throughout the winter.)

And a very special little narcissus, known throughout the South as a "Sweetie" because of its intoxicating fragrance, Narcissus jonquilla (flowering about a month early).

So if, like me, you live in USDA Zone 6b or warmer, you too can enjoy many of these winter-flowering beauties.  Many are hardier than Zone 6, growing even into Zone 5 (and in the case of the Narcissus, Zone 4).  They'll just flower at the end of winter instead of throughout the winter months like they do for me.

And In Christmas News...

Early on this Christmas morning, while the family is still asleep, I thought I'd share a bit of the week's good news with all of you.  I want to thank each and every one of you for following along!  Gardener Cook (formerly Garden Notes) will officially reach 25,000 views before year's end!  This is no small feat and is thanks entirely to you.  No readers, no blog.  It's that simple.

As I have alluded to in many Facebook posts and the occasional blog post, I've been wanting to share some exciting news for several weeks, but was unable to until the official word came and I was 100% sure it was going to happen.  I didn't want to jinx it!  So today, I can tell you with a great sense of pride (and a certain amount of relief!) that my first book proposal has been accepted by Timber Press and that I will be spending much of 2012 writing and photographing for a new book tentatively titled In A Southern Garden--Lessons From 20 Years of Gardening in the South.  This is only a working title and may (will, likely) change, but you never know.  Regardless, the proposal has met with all levels of approval, has been officially signed off on and I will have a contract in hand the first week of January!

On the same day--almost at the same time, in fact--a second project that I had been approached about working on also came through.  If all of the stars align and we can work out any "conflict of interest" concerns, I may actually be working on two books in 2012!  The second would be a distinct departure from my gardening world, but an easy step into my second passion--food!  (There was some logic behind my changing up the blog earlier this year!)  I can't say much more than that for now, as many of the details still have to be worked out, but keep your fingers crossed and perhaps by year's end I'll have some further news on this exciting second project.

I hope this brief post finds all of you well this holiday season!  Regardless of which holiday you celebrate, I hope it brings you joy, happiness and peace.  From my garden to yours, Merry Christmas and I'll see you in 2012!

Not Your Grandmother's Amaryllis

Before we dive into the world of these stunning "new" amaryllis, let's talk for just a minute about names.  While I have used the word "amaryllis" in the title and again in the first sentence, it's because I'm writing for you, the gardening public, and not because it is necessarily accurate.  In fact, amaryllis has become the accepted common name for a group of bulbs technically called Hippeastrum.  These are the bulbs that we all know and love as the Christmas bloomers, often with giant red, pink, or white blooms (or multiple variations on that theme).  The truth is that Amaryllis (capital "A" and italicized) is the name of an entirely different genus (group) of plants and is not at all what it is sold in stores around the world at Christmas time.  That said, we all refer to these holiday beauties as "amaryllis", so in keeping with what we all understand, I'm using the same terminology.

The amaryllis I'd like to introduce you to are a newer group of bulbs with extremely unusual and exotic blooms with often spidery petals and an almost otherworldly appearance.  These unusual blooms come from a species known as Hippeastrum cybister, pictured below in a print made around the time of the species' discovery in South America.

In the past two decades, hybridizers have been working with Hippeastrum cybister and crossing it with other species and hybrids to create an entirely new group of bulbs known as the Cybister Group or Cybister Hybrids.  Some of the best include stunning new introductions such as:

Hippeastrum 'Evergreen':

Hippeastrum 'Rio Negro':

 Hippeastrum 'Merengue':

And one of the most unusual of all, Hippeastrum 'Double Merengue', a full double-flowered form of the variety pictured above.

So there you have it!  Some new, unusual and out-of-the-ordinary amaryllis to add to your Christmas collection.  You may not find these in every garden center you walk into, but they are becoming more widely available through various online retailers and a quick Google search should help you locate several nurseries and bulb suppliers who offer them for sale.  I hope this post finds everyone well and enjoying the holiday season and I wish you the very best in the coming year!

Winter Inspiration

It's hard to believe that Thanksgiving has already passed and December 1 is bearing down upon us.  And of course, the weather has taken a turn for the worse long before I (or the garden) was ready.  In fact, I'm sitting here writing to you now with a fire in the fireplace and snow--yes, SNOW!--bearing down on west Tennessee.  It remains to be seen whether it will make it all the way to the Nashville area, but indications are that we'll have at least a dusting and maybe as much as inch or so before it's said and done.  Some areas are expecting more!

Even with the weather turning sour, the garden still has some life in it.  In fact, this beautiful "Christmas rose", Helleborus niger 'Josef Lemper' just started flowering this week and will continue, completely unfazed by the weather, until April!  It is my favorite of all of the recent hellebore introductions.  There are others, as well, but none that have the flower power of Josef.



Here is Josef Lemper last January with a bud pushing up through the snow!

Other winter favorites include the many witchhazels like Hamamelis 'Primavera', pictured below.  Flowering as early as January in warmer climates, its bright yellow petals are a bright spot in the winter garden and are completely unaffected by cold temperatures. 

A plant that often gets a bad rap for being "invasive"--another topic for another blog post--is Mahonia bealei, Leatherleaf Mahonia.  Its outstanding architectural form is a welcome presence year-round in the garden, but my favorite feature of mahonia is its winter blooms.  In fact, its one of the few nectar sources available to honeybees that emerge to scavenge for food on warm winter days.

 One last winter favorite, and yes, another of those that some gardeners consider "invasive" (remove the seedheads and they won't move an inch, and it's not that time consuming--you deadhead everything else...)  Arum italicum is an important denizen of my winter garden.  The foliage emerges in late October and early November, remaining completely evergreen throughout the winter, thumbing its nose at temperatures well below freezing.  If we dip down into the teens for an extended period, some leaves my suffer some frost damage, but those can simply be removed and with the warm days of spring, new foliage will appear.  Keep in mind that this is a plant that goes dormant in the summer, hiding underground during the hottest months of the year, so plan accordingly.   Its the perfect plant to mix in with hostas and other shade lovers that are dormant in winter.  The arum will be up all winter long and as it goes dormant in early summer, the hostas will take its place.  In autumn, the cycle will start over as the hostas go dormant and the arum emerges.

So just because winter is knocking at the door doesn't mean I have to let it in, and even on the coldest winter days the garden will remind me that spring will--eventually--return.

Fashionable Roses

Like so many of you, I work--a lot.  Between my design clients, traveling to speaking engagements, working on magazine articles, building a stock photography library and getting ready to launch a garden tour business--not to mention a few projects that I can't talk about quite yet--my days are fairly full.  To that end, sometimes it's nice to be able to mix some pleasure with my work.  Not that I don't find pleasure in all of my work.  If I didn't, I'd change careers.  But really, sometimes it's fun just to have fun and Friday was one of those days!

I've mentioned one of my favorite projects, the Nashville Music Garden, on the blog before.  This garden is a collection of all of the roses that have ever been named for one of Tennessee's great music artists, groups or songs and, as far as we know, it's the only garden like it in the world based solely on its plants having this kind of connection to the music world.  There are roses named for Barbara Mandrell, Lynn Anderson, Dolly Parton, Pam Tillis and many other artists.  There are also roses named for songs, like Rocky Top, Amazing Grace and Blue Suede Shoes.  We even have a rose, 'Crescendo', that was named by Jackson & Perkins to honor our Nashville Symphony--the first time ever a rose was named to honor a group like this--as well as The Grand Ole Opry, The Nashville Ballet and others!

On Friday, we added a new name to our list of honorees at the Nashville Music Garden--Manuel Cuevas.  Now, some of you may not know who Manuel is, but if you've ever seen a photo of someone like Marty Stuart or Dolly Parton, Dwight Yoakam or Little Jimmy Dickens--or any number of other artists--wearing one of those flashy rhinestoned and embroidered jackets, suits or shirts, then you know Manuel.  In fact, Manuel dressed "The King" himself and is the man who made Johnny Cash "The Man in Black".  So it was a true honor and privilege for this little ol' country boy from Kansas to be a part of the dedication of the new 'Manuel Cuevas' rose on Friday.  Manuel even loaned me a jacket to wear for the event and I couldn't have been prouder to wear it!

Pictured with me are Manuel (holding a picture of the rose that was named for him), legendary singer Lynn Anderson (she never promised you a rose garden!), Pat Bullard (my amazing friend who founded the Nashville Music Garden) and rose hybridizer Whit Wells of Wells Mid-South Roses (the creator of the 'Manuel Cuevas' rose and so many others).

By the way, the real rose that you see Lynn wearing on her shirt is the new 'Manuel Cuevas' rose--and the roses you see embroidered on Lynn's beautiful shirt are Manuel's own artistic interpretation of his new rose.  This shirt will be donated to the Nashville Music Garden for a special, online fundraising auction, details of which I'll announce here at a later date.

If you are interested in growing the 'Manuel Cuevas' rose or others that are part of the Nashville Music Garden collection, see Whit's website at www.wellsmidsouthroses.com.  Also, be sure to visit the Nashville Music Garden's own website at www.nashvillemusicgarden.com and become their friend by "Liking" Nashville Music Garden on Facebook.  And if you're ever in Nashville, be sure to stop by the garden which is located directly across the street from the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Nashville Symphony in Hall of Fame Park between 4th and 5th Avenue, just south of Broadway.  You never know who you might catch a glimpse of!