It’s All Wrong But It’s All Right

I simply cannot get it out of my head. This fall is absolutely beautiful – from all the great color to the nearly perfect temperatures day after day. And though I wrote on a similar topic last post I must return to the gorgeousness of things again. To not go on and on about this fall would be a double sin no doubt. It should be cold, damp, and gray by now. Leaves should be brown and fallen. Even late perennials should be finished. Tropicals should have long since been put to bed for winter. But it’s not that way at all. It’s sunny and warm out. Red and gold leaves still hang on the trees. Perennials are still flowering. Brugmansias are blooming outside my office window. It’s all wrong. But it’s so all right.

I am still digging tropicals and other non-hardies at home. If the weather had not been so great I would be in deep double-dug doo-doo. As it is, I’m sort of leisurely going along – but admittedly starting to look over my shoulder for “real” November weather. Whether it was the cooler summer or the steady rains I don’t know but many plants did extra good this year. The Amorphophallus konjac got huge. Read the rest of this entry »

Theft is art if you write cleverly enough

Probably the most satisfying aspect of working as a gardener at the IMA is to be present at the intersection of art and nature.  Not just being able to cruise the galleries indoors, or seeing some sculpture in the gardens; but bit by bit creating new art experiences – at least in my head.  And that is where art starts forming, as the mind combines the previously unrelated.

Ooooo, the blog is getting a little too deep and self-consciously artsy.

Who said something about art being either plagiarism or genius?  In the horticulture trade, one of the first things a gardener learns is to borrow and adapt what others do. A good gardener  gives proper credit when told, “That is a nice plant combination.”  So, John Teramoto, Marty Krause, Annette Schlagenhauff (am I forgetting anyone?) – thank you for the exhibit Lay of the Land.

The exhibit combining Asian and Western art prints and poetry, set me to thinking about how often images in the galleries, or music and poetry cause me to recall some beautiful place I’ve experienced.  Nice memories and feelings …. trying to capture the bliss of the moment.

So as Autumn brings another season to a close, I offer some images and poems, with apologies to the artists,  that reminded this gardener of the promise and beauty of Spring as compensation for labors…

Work
The corn is baking in blue smoke,
Pickled tomato is piled ready on my plate,
And the chrysocolla of a young cedar branch is close.
Yet the breakfast that should be calm and enjoyable
makes me uneasy.
I’m worried about the manure I threw yesterday
From the horsecart and left on the slope.
Kenji Miyazawa 1896-1933

Manure and compost on vegetable garden at Oldfields

Manure and compost on vegetable garden at Oldfields

Read the rest of this entry »

Gardening Schizophrenia

This is the time of year when I am frequently torn by opposing emotions. Concerning the garden, I mean. Let’s not even think about getting into all the other areas. Those 50 degree nights? They make me think about frost. It’s coming. Soon. Four weeks? Six weeks? And it makes me crazy. Everything is looking so nice.

1

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Justified and Ancient

The weather has been absolutely gorgeous of late, lots of 50’s at night and 70’s for daytime highs. It doesn’t get much more perfect than that. I could just about give Mother Nature a big open-mouthed kiss.

image courtesy of neatorama.com

image courtesy of neatorama.com

I admit these temps are not ideal for maximum growth on my precious tropicals but for everything else (including me, okay, especially me) it’s fantastic. The Hydrangea paniculata ‘Kyushu’ along the mall has never been so happy. Not that they have looked bad other years. It’s just they look extra full this year. Read the rest of this entry »

Fashion in Bloom in the Gardens

Fashion often finds inspiration in nature as illustrated by these designs created from actual plant material.

image from trendhunter.com

image from trendhunter.com

image from trendhunter.com

image from trendhunter.com

More often however designers are only inspired by plants when they are creating fabric for their work. That fact is the focus for the exhibition Fashion in Bloom put together by Niloo Imami-Paydar, IMA’s Curator of Textile and Fashion Arts. The exhibition opens Saturday April 4 and runs through January 30, 2010. The items in this exhibition go all the way back to the 1700’s, but the four I’m blogging about are from the late 1950’s to the 70’s. Read the rest of this entry »

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