Fellow blogger Matt Gipson brought it to my attention that some funny things had been turning up in the Miller House archives.

Eero, the Miller House gremlin

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Filed under: Musings

Things remain incredibly hectic especially in preparation for  the opening of 100 Acres.

Folks are working there daily with very good progress occurring. The rain has put a bit of a kink in the system as it has prevented the laying of the sod for the interior of Alfredo Jaar’s the Park of the Laments. Once that sod is in place things will move along swiftly to finish this major piece by the 19^th. We begin planting the area around the Visitors Pavilion next week (including two all staff planting opportunities).

I have a few shots of us planting the exterior of Jaar from a few weeks back.

Removing the burlap from some large Viburnum trilobum. You dull a knife blade really quick on burlap by the way. Volunteers have put in many hours on this project too.

The artist wants the stone walls to be hidden as quickly as possible so we are planting trees and shrubs along the wall and vines on top of the wall. Here Neil and Josh cut holes in the gabion baskets to plant some Campsis radicans (trumpet vine).

We put in at least three cultivars, including yellow and red ones, along with the straight species. We also used two cultivars of native wisteria. It is going to be beautiful. I will try to post pictures when they bloom. I’m quite anxious to see the different colors of trumpet vines.

Here’s a whole group of pictures of us busy planting. Note the incredible soil. Thankfully we had giant augers for digging the big planting holes.

That’s it for now. I will try to post something again next week on 100 Acres since we are only two weeks from opening. Build that buzz.

Filed under: Art and Nature Park, Current Events, Horticulture, Local

Check out our latest Flickr set from this year’s Perennial Premiere:

Filed under: Horticulture, Local

To judge by the few blogs I’ve posted about happenings out here in the world of horticulture, one would think that I’m always whistling Zippity-do-dah in the peaceable kingdom. Wonderful as nature is and as much as I love my job, sometimes things do not go as hoped. So here is a review of some of the disagreeable occurrences that occurred in the garden this year, including a warning about what lurks among the plants.

(via IMA Flickr 2004)

Bambi is a browser. This does not mean that deer tend to thumb through magazines at the newsstand instead of making a purchase. No, they browse in the sense of “chew off the buds and tender twigs of trees and shrubs.” Sure, deer eat grass and hostas and other herbaceous plants, but they have a fondness for woody plants enjoying the young stems and sweet buds of fruit trees and shrubs – I need those buds for next spring’s blossoms. And they like to take naps in the flower beds. So, if you see Odocoileus virginianus out in the gardens, please suggest they trot back over to 100 Acres or Crown Hill. Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: Horticulture

Had thought I learned all I needed to know about geometry back in the 10th grade. Repeated visits to the Miller House over the past few years have forced me to further appreciate another aspect of the topic, with Dan Kiley’s use of the medium in creating his masterpiece of modernist landscape design.

View through the orchard

Though much of landscape architecture involves the careful manipulation of spaces, the gardens at Miller House represent one of the best examples of the craft. Working closely with the home’s architect, Eero Saarinen, Kiley laid out a plan which closely reflects and reinforces the strict geometry of the residence. As with his many other commissions, Mr. Kiley used a limited palette of plants. This was not to be a garden of show-stopping color and horticultural diversity. Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: Design, Horticulture, Musings