In Gardens

A Rose by Many Other Names The Philly Inquirer just wrote this...

Sun, 09 Jun 2013 11:34:00 -0400

A Rose by Many Other Names

The Philly Inquirer just wrote this piece on Bill K’s rose garden. Former president and longtime member of the Philadelphia Rose Society, he’s one of the biggest rose enthuisiasts I know. Check it out (http://articles.philly.com/2013-06-07/news/39817743_1_roses-rosa-rugosa-blooms).

Knockouts roses and Marie Pavie

Sun, 02 Jun 2013 16:56:16 -0400

Knockouts roses and Marie Pavie

Clematis rooguchi

Sun, 02 Jun 2013 16:44:00 -0400

Clematis rooguchi

Saturday at the Wyck Old Rose Symposium Yesterday was the annual...

Sun, 19 May 2013 20:11:00 -0400

Rosa spinosissima

Rosa spinosissima

Philadelphus

Chamomile

Rosa cinnamomea f. plena

Rosa rugosa and one hard-working bee

Saturday at the Wyck Old Rose Symposium

Yesterday was the annual symposium of old roses at the Wyck Historic House and Garden, and the roses were just beginning their show. Located on an unassuming lot in Germantown, Wyck has the oldest and least pretentious rose garden in the United States, still in its original plan.

On my way into the garden, I was stopped first by the the dainty old fashioned blooms of a mockorange spilling over the fence, and then a sweet pink climber peaking through the posts. Within the fence, rugosa roses bloomed sweetly and buzzed with honey bees, while elsewhere in the garden bloomed Rose de Rescht and the double cinnamon rose (Rosa cinnamomea f. plena). The rest of the roses were ready to burst from their swollen buds.

The real show stopper of the day was the Scotch rose, Rosa spinosissima, with its multitude of fragrant, single white petals held closely atop cascading canes of small green leaves.

The symposium closed with glasses of champagne and free roses, one being a rooted cutting from the Scotch rose, which I happily tucked away while sipping my bubbly and admiring the roses one last time.

It’s starting…..

Thu, 16 May 2013 06:27:21 -0400

Father Hugo rose

Mary Queen of Scots rose

It’s starting…..

Laurel Hill Cemetery This has to be one of the most beautiful...

Sun, 05 May 2013 11:09:08 -0400

The William Warner Tomb

Laurel Hill Cemetery

This has to be one of the most beautiful cemeteries ever created. Sitting above the Schuylkill River on 78 acres of verdant land, Laurel Hill Cemetery is a bucolic retreat within Philadelphia’s city limits. Offering amazing views and an incredible collection of art, sculpture, and architecture, Laurel Hill boasts the resting places of some of Philadelphia’s most prominent history and money makers.

My parents and I toured part of the grounds a few weekends ago and came upon some of the most gorgeous gravestones and monuments I’ve ever seen. Like the William Warner tomb, which was carved by Alexander Milne Calder, the first of the famous Calder family sculptors. The tomb depicts a draped female form opening the sarcophagus to release Warner’s soul, partially seen as a face and wings, as a wisp of air in the midst of a swirling cloud. Truly incredible craftsmanship.

Laurel Hill also offers many great events and programs throughout the year, which offer unique ways to experience the landscape. Go check it out for yourself!

What a season for The Bride pearlbush! Aptly named, it continues...

Wed, 01 May 2013 17:49:00 -0400

What a season for The Bride pearlbush! Aptly named, it continues to amaze with its blooms of purest white, spilling over, like a trailing wedding gown. How delicious!

Morris Arboretum rose horticulturalist wishes for longer winter — NewsWorks

Sat, 20 Apr 2013 07:07:50 -0400

Morris Arboretum rose horticulturalist wishes for longer winter — NewsWorks:

I was on the radio thanks to WHYY, so thanks for listening!

After a long cool stretch and a couple of false starts it seems as if spring has finally arrived in the Delaware Valley But one resident whose work depends on the weather wishes winter had hung

Happy Easter blooms! Back home in DC this weekend, my family and...

Sun, 31 Mar 2013 21:19:00 -0400

Corylopsis pauciflora

Happy Easter blooms!

Back home in DC this weekend, my family and I took a walk in the Palisades neighborhood where we saw this pussy willow and Harry Lauder’s Walking Stick in bloom. We also went to McCrillis Gardens in Bethesda and found camelias, Korean azaleas, stachyurus, and winterhazel in bloom.

This must be the sweetest time of the year. Because my nose led...

Sun, 31 Mar 2013 20:41:00 -0400

Pieris japonica

Edgeworthia chrysantha

Daphne odora

This must be the sweetest time of the year.

Because my nose led me around the neighborhood I grew up in to all these spring beauties. Paper bush, pieris, daphne, magnolias, and my favorite - the unassuming fragrant honeysuckle.

The Big Bugs arrived in the snow to the Morris Arboretum...

Tue, 26 Mar 2013 06:34:00 -0400

The Big Bugs arrived in the snow to the Morris Arboretum yesterday! A crew of staff and interns assisted the artist David Rogers install the bugs, including these three ants near the cherry esplanade in English Park. Setting up in the snow was a first time for the artist in his over 20 years of installations, but his energy kept us moving. What a day - snowy, slushy, and cold - but it’s already looking awesome. Check back for more Big Bugs as they come into being throughout the arboretum.

Love this hellebore!, Don’t know the name but will...

Tue, 19 Mar 2013 20:22:00 -0400

Love this hellebore!, Don’t know the name but will soon….

…Well, it’s a mystery. This hellebore came from Clearview Nursery as a freebie, and its name is somewhere deep in the “paperwork.”

Such fun participating in the Container Garden Challenge at the...

Sun, 10 Mar 2013 17:05:00 -0400

Such fun participating in the Container Garden Challenge at the Philadelphia Flower Show. Thanks for the competition, ladies! My witchhazel wilderness didn’t make the cut, but the elegance and unique bamboo structure of Rita Randolph’s container stole the show.

A stroll through Mt. Airy reveals a carpet of Crocus...

Sat, 09 Mar 2013 18:59:00 -0500

A stroll through Mt. Airy reveals a carpet of Crocus tommasinianus! How could one not smile, and think, spring is here and all is good in the world.

Yew tunnel What an enchanting space. I’d love to create...

Fri, 15 Feb 2013 06:32:00 -0500

Yew tunnel

What an enchanting space. I’d love to create this effect at the Arboretum, but my yews have some disadvantages like snow load, age, and the fact that I just pruned them all. Hmmmm….I can always dream.

Photo

Mon, 21 Jan 2013 17:34:34 -0500

Edgeworthia papyrifera

Prunus mume 'Andoh's White'

Hamamelis x intermedia 'Jelena'

Chimonanthus praecox

Last night was my first Longwood Christmas, and as expected, it...

Tue, 18 Dec 2012 15:27:00 -0500

The white oak allee in red, culminating with the dripping American elm

Bruce Munro lights around the small lake

The multicolored branching of Cornus kousa

Last night was my first Longwood Christmas, and as expected, it was beyond spectacular. The visibility getting there was only about a half mile, so it was a miracle that we got there alive without running into another car or a herd of deer. But, once we arrived, the fog became a mysterious backdrop to the magic within the garden gates. Just outside the visitor center, lights dripped from the shadowy branches of an American elm like Spanish moss in the bayou. And from a distance it appeared like the Emerald City, or some gilded palace emerging from the mist.

Select trees were highlighted elsewhere as we wandered the garden - a grove of bald cypress alit in green and blue, and the beautiful branching of the Kousa dogwoods defined in a multicolored array of lights. Some trees stood alone in a haze of blue light, while others marched along an allee in red, a luminous radiation around them from the evening’s fog.

Looking out to the rose garden and rock wall through the yew...

Wed, 12 Dec 2012 23:36:23 -0500

Looking out to the rose garden and rock wall through the yew hedge, with illuminated seedheads of Begonia grandis.

Cedrus deodara on the “Dwarf” Conifer slope...

Wed, 12 Dec 2012 23:31:45 -0500

Cedrus deodara on the “Dwarf” Conifer slope with Metasequoia glyptostroboides below in the Sculpture Garden

This morning was frosty, as the mornings have been. The start of...

Wed, 12 Dec 2012 23:24:00 -0500

Hyssopus officinalis

Ceratostigma plumbaginoides

Geranium

This morning was frosty, as the mornings have been. The start of my day begins with opening the rose garden gates after a night of keeping the deer out. And, today I started in the herb garden, where the downy foliage of salvias and stachys seemed even softer with the dusting of frost. Proceeding into the rose garden, the geranium looked like it had been candied - the leaves in shades of burgundy, green, and crimson all soft and powdery. Then, along the rock wall, the dried plumbago lay coarse and spiky.