tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9027977640330991432024-03-12T20:48:28.787-07:00Garden Wise GuyThoughts on sustainable landscape design intended to demystify! We all seek the same thing for our gardens: beauty, function and a gentle footprint on the land. One-half practitioner, one-half teacher, one-half low-brow humor. Come on in...Garden Wise Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785776337799149082noreply@blogger.comBlogger263125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-902797764033099143.post-76392340247909923542012-12-21T16:04:00.001-08:002012-12-21T16:04:33.657-08:00Yards: Turn Any Outdoor Space Into the Garden of Your DreamsMy book doesn't come out until March, but in the meantime, you can catch a few enticing minutes of video to get you ready. Preorder now at Amazon, Barnes&Noble or Powells.com<br />
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<a href="http://animoto.com/play/yWrAnQdx3jjEK66f0tx64A">Yards: Turn Any Outdoor Space Into the Garden of Your Dreams</a>Garden Wise Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785776337799149082noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-902797764033099143.post-13113814231751694152012-05-09T21:04:00.000-07:002012-05-09T21:07:06.349-07:00Deck The Halls, Forget The Holly<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-P69rJnDtnHQ/T6s-GRfiP2I/AAAAAAAABms/r7YKkXh75hw/s1600/3Yucca.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-P69rJnDtnHQ/T6s-GRfiP2I/AAAAAAAABms/r7YKkXh75hw/s320/3Yucca.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
I'm really upset with my dearly departed mom. As much as I imagine myself an in-your-face,
intolerant
critic crusading for high horticultural standards, when it comes to face-to-face encounters, she raised a
quietly considerate coward.<br />
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The same goes for flaunting my horticultural paradise when I post stuff on-line. It would be so tempting
to pose, tongue sticking out, next to retina-dazzling hibiscus flowers while my gardening pals in the
Midwest chip booger icicles from their livestock's nostrils. But I don't want to be the cause of my
buddies sliding into a wintery depression as they watch their garden disappear under a blanket of black
ice.</div>
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So, I'd like to delegate the flaunting to you, dear readers, knowing that, vicariously, I've played some
small role in this taunting. Surely, you know some igloo-dwelling, blubber-eating peeps you'd like to
agitate; someone who flaunts their flamboyant fall foliage, luscious lilacs, and redolent rhododendrons,
coveted plants that don't stand a chance around here. Well, it's payback time, and here's the ammo
you've been seeking. </div>
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Your Mission: Forward this Edhat blog post to them as soon as you're done reading.</div>
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Did anyone actually piss off their friends? Find out at <a href="http://edhat.com/">Edhat.com</a>.</div>Garden Wise Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785776337799149082noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-902797764033099143.post-73003390914827287562012-05-09T21:01:00.000-07:002012-05-09T21:06:43.278-07:00Santa Barbara Zoo – From Jungle to Jewel<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5VCcGiwQCkM/T6s9I_e9WoI/AAAAAAAABmk/jN_Y46dtDes/s1600/9Penguin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5VCcGiwQCkM/T6s9I_e9WoI/AAAAAAAABmk/jN_Y46dtDes/s320/9Penguin.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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"It was a Thursday afternoon, around 1959, when I volunteered to help Bob
Kallman and the Jaycees clean the tangle of Eucalyptus, vines, and weeds at the
Child Estate. The house had been razed by the fire department and the place
was a mess." Ted McToldridge was filling me in on a bit of local history as we
strolled the lushly planted paths commanding panoramic views of the Santa Ynez
Mountains, Andree Clark Bird Refuge, and Pacific Ocean. "It was the kick-off
event to develop a new park that would include a community center, ice skating
rink, botanical garden, and farmyard."</div>
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Long ago, this area served as a camp for Chumash who fished the coastal
waters. Centuries later, John Beale, a retired New York coffee and tea merchant
built a pink stucco, red tile roof mansion on the site and named it <i>Vegamar</i>,
meaning Star of the Sea. At age 68, he married 35-year-old Lillian Bailey, who
years after Beale's death, married John H. Child, hence the more recent estate
name. Through the Great Depression, Mrs. Child extended her compassion to
dozens of out-of-work "hobos" who rode the nearby rails. She allowed them to
live in shacks on the property, governed by their own mayor, provided they lived
respectful, sober lives. Locals called it Childville, but it was also known as the
Hobo Jungle. The hobos have passed away, but "jungle" still applies.</div>
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More <a href="http://www.edhat.com/site/tidbit.cfm?nid=76351" target="_blank">flora and fauna</a> fun at Edhat.com </div>
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<br /></div>Garden Wise Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785776337799149082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-902797764033099143.post-64533836998126114862012-05-09T20:54:00.001-07:002012-05-09T21:06:15.953-07:00The Flip Flops Are Hung By The Chimney With Care<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EUOqMPhxtbM/T6s-qbQWP_I/AAAAAAAABm0/jSGaTYXYBvU/s1600/1Mantle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EUOqMPhxtbM/T6s-qbQWP_I/AAAAAAAABm0/jSGaTYXYBvU/s200/1Mantle.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
As the end of 2011 nears, I've been checking off all the significant dates on my
calendar. I just survived <i>National Undo the Top Button of Your Slacks For One
More Bite of Turkey Day</i>. But I sat out <i>Black Wear A Football Helmet To Shop for
Deals At Midnight Friday</i>.<br />
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On the heels of these revered holidays comes the ever-perplexing fortnight known at our house as <i>Are We Gonna Get a Christmas Tree
This Year?</i> Let's face it, Santa Barbara isn't exactly the land of winter holiday
icons. Segways are more practical than one horse open sleighs, LEDs take the
place of icicles on our eaves, and there are only so many tiny surprises you can
conceal in a flip flop.</div>
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Last night Lin and I discussed going treeless for the first time since our now-21-year-old son, Benjamin Cosmo, was born. We've outgrown needing a spot for
Santa to leave the 12,347-piece Wuthering Heights-themed Lego set our boy
once coveted. Even better, there'll be no rearranging of furniture, and no worries
about Biff the Wonder Spaniel lapping sappy water from the tree stand.</div>
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If you're certain about having a Christmas tree this year and want to make the
most environmentally enlightened decision, you've probably wondered what's
the greenest way to go. If you're on the fence, let me lay out a few options to
consider.</div>
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Read my <a href="http://www.edhat.com/site/tidbit.cfm?nid=75149" target="_blank">five alternative ideas </a>at Edhat.com </div>Garden Wise Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785776337799149082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-902797764033099143.post-49598902615917615412012-02-24T21:42:00.003-08:002012-02-24T21:45:27.523-08:00Motel Landscaping with a Santa Barbara Vibe<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vS527WfsP78/T0h1RYZiyII/AAAAAAAABkQ/h8COZ9FAvj4/s1600/Kalanchoe.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 276px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vS527WfsP78/T0h1RYZiyII/AAAAAAAABkQ/h8COZ9FAvj4/s320/Kalanchoe.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5712945068787288194" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 18px; font-family:Georgia, Palatino, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif, serif;font-size:small;"><p style="font-family: Georgia, Palatino, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif, serif; text-align: justify; font-size: 12pt; ">Got guests visiting the Central Coast for the first time this holiday season? If they hail from the land of the ice and snow, are you hoping for 80-degree days just so you can get your smirk on? I can only imagine what it's like for visitors who just spent their upstate Michigan morning flame-throwing through the glacier blocking their driveway, and a few hours later, being greeted by sky-scraping palm trees, luxuriant birds of paradise, and exotic succulents dotting the landscape.</p><p style="font-family: Georgia, Palatino, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif, serif; text-align: justify; font-size: 12pt; ">Santa Barbara is a tourist-oriented town, and as you'd expect, lots of hotels and inns cultivate that Santa Barbara look: whitewashed stucco walls and red tile roofs, wrought iron grills and polychromatic Moorish tile patterns. Sadly though, very few hotels have carried that look into their landscaping. I see lots of sickly rose bushes poked here and there, clots of misshapen junipers abound, and for that little splash of color, a pot with decades-old geraniums wheezing their last hurrah. But very few seem to embrace our rich plant palette and used it to enhance the ambiance of their grounds. I can't think of a better way to make a long-lasting impression on their guests.</p><p style="font-family: Georgia, Palatino, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif, serif; text-align: justify; font-size: 12pt; ">I've thought about writing about hotel gardens ever since the Lemon Tree Inn (<a href="http://www.treeinns.com/" style="font-family: Georgia, Palatino, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif, serif; color: rgb(0, 51, 204); font-size: 12pt; ">treeinns.com</a>) reinvented themselves a few years back. They enlisted the adventurous landscape design talents of Eric Nagelmann, the creative force behind Ganna Walska Lotusland's extraordinary cactus garden. Eric has a great eye for dramatic, high contrast design and an encyclopedic knowledge of some out-of-left-field plants we generally don't see in commercial landscapes.</p><p style="font-family: Georgia, Palatino, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif, serif; text-align: justify; font-size: 12pt; ">See the <a href="http://www.edhat.com/site/tidbit.cfm?nid=73858">botanical fun</a> some Santa Barbara lodgings are having at Edhat.com...</p><div><br /></div></span>Garden Wise Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785776337799149082noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-902797764033099143.post-39618164459854179882012-02-24T21:39:00.004-08:002012-02-24T21:42:20.302-08:00Trinity Gardens – Open Hearts & Dirty Fingernails<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UqMlEUzTB7g/T0h0N6pAkQI/AAAAAAAABkE/LIBwVmrY6xU/s1600/trinity%2Bmap.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UqMlEUzTB7g/T0h0N6pAkQI/AAAAAAAABkE/LIBwVmrY6xU/s320/trinity%2Bmap.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5712943909747855618" /></a>Something wonderful happens when people who care about other people meet in a garden. In this case, a handful of Trinity Lutheran Church members are plowing forward with their vision to grow food for the needy, teach kids about healthy eating, and provide a space where locals learn to cultivate hand-grown food.<br /><br />Earlier this week, I was standing at the south end of the church's parking lot at 909 North La Cumbre Road, getting the grand tour from Judy Sims -- a legend in Santa Barbara's school gardening movement -- and Linda Vogel, two of the dynamos behind Trinity Gardens.<br /><br />According to their map of the future garden, this flat, stubbly, gopher-pocked plateau will house a varmint-proofed one-acre vegetable garden divided into 33 plots. Other features include a fishpond, tool shed, shade structure, propagation bed, and composting station. Just down the east-facing slope, fruit will blossom and ripen in the orchard. Along the perimeter, they envision a buffer of California native plants used by the Chumash who lived off this land.<br /><br />Read on to find out how to get involved in <a href="http://www.edhat.com/site/tidbit.cfm?nid=72640">Trinity Garden's local efforts</a>...Garden Wise Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785776337799149082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-902797764033099143.post-71010453529186702542012-02-24T21:32:00.003-08:002012-02-24T21:36:27.409-08:00Boost Your Garden Design Skills and Save Money at a Flower and Garden Show<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-f5psp1YilmY/T0hzGez6koI/AAAAAAAABj4/W49OiNpQM2A/s1600/NWFGS_exhibit.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 256px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-f5psp1YilmY/T0hzGez6koI/AAAAAAAABj4/W49OiNpQM2A/s320/NWFGS_exhibit.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5712942682506695298" /></a><br />What if you could complete a master garden design course in a day? That's what you get when you attend one of the major flower and garden shows in anticipation of spring. Certainly, looking through web sites, books, and magazines are useful ways to find inspiration, but walking through dozens of gardens in a day (sans bone chilling winds and snow drifts) is my idea of comfort and efficiency.<br /><br />If you live anywhere near Seattle, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco or any of the big-time, celebrity-studded venues, you'll find the inspiration to push your design chops to the next level. True confession: I've only been attending shows for a few years, mainly to find fresh ideas to share with my readers. But even though I've been designing gardens since the 70s, each time I visit a show, I come away with new tricks, discover hot plants, and find innovative products to use in my own clients' gardens.<br />(And this year, you can find me sharing my design wisdom at two West Coast shows, but more on that in a minute.)<br /><br />My intent isn't to diss the smaller regional shows scattered around the country, but the resource pool of top-of-their game designers, garden creators, and speakers can be limited. On the other hand, regional shows feature local professionals intimately aware of the opportunities and challenges of gardening right where you live. If a local home and garden show is as far as your spare time and budget can take you, by all means, get thee to a nearby exhibit hall and soak up everything you can. The following advice applies regardless:<br /><br />Didn't mean to tease, but you'll have to click to get the good advice at my January 16, 2012, <a href="http://www.finegardening.com/item/21855/boost-your-garden-design-skills-and-save-money-at-a-flower-and-garden-show">Fine Gardening blog</a> post.Garden Wise Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785776337799149082noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-902797764033099143.post-17222679363234555552012-02-24T21:28:00.002-08:002012-02-24T21:32:12.183-08:00America In Bloom: Rebuilding Communities a Shovelful at a Time<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TE3_OXhWdTA/T0hyRQ-SwiI/AAAAAAAABjs/u5GgQvohg0E/s1600/America%2Bin%2Bbloom.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TE3_OXhWdTA/T0hyRQ-SwiI/AAAAAAAABjs/u5GgQvohg0E/s320/America%2Bin%2Bbloom.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5712941768259060258" /></a><br />I've got a project I'd like you to consider as 2012 gets rolling. It'll get you into gardening mode long before freeze warnings are a distant memory, and quite possibly make you and your gardening pals local heroes. Let me explain.<br /><br />Anthropologists tell us that agriculture is the basis of civilization. Instead of full-time hunting and gathering, humans literally put down roots, opening the way for cultivation of crops and domestication of animals. This fundamental shift led to spare time for specialists like bakers, animal-skin tanners, and video game designers.<br /><br />I'll bet it wasn't long before native plant species were appreciated not only for their practical uses, but also as a splash of color to complement the throw pillows. I should probably look this up, but I'm guessing it didn't take long for community minded folks to propose, "Why don't we spruce up Main Street with some hanging baskets?! We'll create a sense of community pride, attract more tourists to our shops, and feel compelled to invent electricity for street lights so we can hang flowering baskets."<br /><br />Plenty more to read about this <a href="http://www.finegardening.com/item/21695/america-in-bloom-rebuilding-communities-a-shovelful-at-a-time">America In Bloom </a>at my December 28, 2011 Fine Gardening blog.Garden Wise Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785776337799149082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-902797764033099143.post-30300632759192930452011-12-23T21:16:00.000-08:002011-12-23T21:20:46.315-08:00Sustainable Landscaping: 1830s La Huerta Style<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kdCNopdfeUA/TvVg0X9sb4I/AAAAAAAABjQ/ONXDDzLCbu0/s1600/1Jerry.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kdCNopdfeUA/TvVg0X9sb4I/AAAAAAAABjQ/ONXDDzLCbu0/s320/1Jerry.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5689560157154733954" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Jerry Sortomme</span> has done more to promote sustainable landscaping in the Santa Barbara area than anyone I can think of. As the chair for the Environmental Horticulture Department at Santa Barbara City College for twenty-two years, Jerry taught, mentored, and regaled thousands of students. Many of "Jerry's Kids," as some affectionately call themselves, have moved on to careers in environmental science, horticulture, contracting, design, and other green professions.<br /><br />I met Jerry not long after I started working for Parks and Rec in ‘87. From the start, I knew he was a force to be reckoned with. Aside from his bottomless storehouse of horticultural and environmental knowledge, his sense of advocacy for his horticulture program made him and his students frequent partners on City projects, with a double bonus of having his classes get their hands dirty in real- world projects while doing a good turn for their town.<br /><br />Well, Jerry might have retired from SBCC in 2003, but he's still eyebrow-deep in very historic, very local dirt. He stepped out the door of room A-162 and right into a volunteer position as project manager and consultant for La Huerta Historic Garden at the Old Mission Santa Barbara. The goal of this unique project is to "exhibit era-specific plant materials, revealing horticulture art forms, techniques, and the science of the Spanish mission-era."<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Huatza Huerta?</span><br /><br />Simply put, La Huerta (Spanish for ‘orchard') is an extension of the Old Mission's museum (under the direction of Tina Foss) but moved outdoors. This project, begun in 2003, is literally bringing back to life a side of California's Mission era many people don't know about, especially visiting third- and fourth-graders studying California history. (This is the year when their parents pull an all-nighter, finishing the Mission San Juan Capistrano model - complete with a holographic projection of returning swallows - that's due tomorrow.)<br /><br /><a href="http://www.edhat.com/site/tidbit.cfm?nid=71444">Travel back in time</a> via Edhat.comGarden Wise Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785776337799149082noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-902797764033099143.post-70225857514003017032011-12-23T21:12:00.000-08:002011-12-23T21:16:43.281-08:002011 Santa Barbara Not So Beautiful Awards<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-U-5B11B-x0g/TvVfvLnNcKI/AAAAAAAABjE/YmO-PBekQl4/s1600/1Bondage.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-U-5B11B-x0g/TvVfvLnNcKI/AAAAAAAABjE/YmO-PBekQl4/s400/1Bondage.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5689558968428228770" /></a><br />Well, plant lovers, it's time to take a slug from your pretty, pink, <span style="font-weight:bold;">Pepto-Bismol pitcher</span> and turn your attention to this year's installment of all things awful in the local garden world.<br /><br />Last weekend the generous, good-doing folks at Santa Barbara Beautiful bestowed their annual honors on designers, property owners, and big-hearted community members. The recipients are locals who lend their talent, time, and support to making our area a place of horticultural and artistic beauty.<br /><br />But now it's time to turn our attention to The Dark Side, and share the goofy, "What were they thinking?" examples that have earned their own 15 minutes of shame. It's not my intent to just point a finger and say, "Ewwwwwwwwwwww". My hope is that by tossing these perpetrators into my Cuisineart of criticism, I can prevent readers from committing their own crimes against horticulture, and quite possibly become proud honorees at future award events.<br /><br />This time around I'm sharing <span style="font-weight:bold;">tales of bondage</span>, cartoon character simulations, math-challenged manglers, and will explain why I think the City of Santa Barbara has some ‘splainin' to do.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down (with apologies to Pedro Almodovar)</span><br /><br />One of my favorite go-to plants is Myer's Asparagus (Asparagus densiflora ‘Myers'). I love its soft texture, cheery chartreuse color, and eerie resemblance to <span style="font-weight:bold;">Sideshow Bob's hair</span>. It grows in partial shade or full sun, and en masse, creates a softly sculptural effect. Place it near dark, broadleaf foliage, like this pairing with bear's breech (Acanthus mollis), below, at Alice Keck Park Memorial Garden, and you've got a study in subtle contrasting foliage.<br /><br />So what were they thinking over at Ahi Restaurant on upper State Street? Who came up with the clever idea of using the nylon string the delivery guy uses to keep the LA Times from scattering to put these plants in <span style="font-weight:bold;">kinky S&M restraints?</span> Kudos to Ahi for trying to enhance a boring white wall, but do they think we wouldn't notice the passive restraints? I'm sad to announce that the horsetail reed (Equisetum hyemale) that played a central role in this threesome has since passed on (probably forgot the safe word). Dudes, if some of the frilly fronds are in your way, it's a simple snip to cut them at soil level and let the rest of this delightful plant dance its graceful dance.<br /><br />Brace yourself. There's plenty more at my <a href="http://www.edhat.com/site/tidbit.cfm?nid=70270">Edhat.com blog... </a>Garden Wise Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785776337799149082noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-902797764033099143.post-43665980388514702402011-12-23T21:08:00.000-08:002011-12-23T21:11:15.819-08:00Groovy Zoo Gardens<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-M5xkWLoOa6Q/TvVe6LJ-S5I/AAAAAAAABi4/x632Q3ESLIY/s1600/1Bamboo_lg.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-M5xkWLoOa6Q/TvVe6LJ-S5I/AAAAAAAABi4/x632Q3ESLIY/s320/1Bamboo_lg.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5689558057772534674" /></a><br />If you love gardening, want to discover some new plants, and make new friends who understand why you have dirt under your fingernails, how about volunteering at your local zoo? More about tapping this mother lode of horticultural fun in a second, but first, a quick detour...<br /><br />I was always grateful my former neighbor Janie, the elephant tender at the Santa Barbara Zoo, didn't bring her work home with her. The steps to her second story apartment were not up to her "co-workers" popping in for an after-hours beer.<br /><br />I was thinking about Janie - who has since moved up the food chain to the San Diego Wild Animal Park - the other day while researching a story on zoo landscaping. I was admiring the Santa Barbara Zoo's Asian elephants as they reached for stalks of bamboo and giant bird of paradise leaves, suspended from a towering umbrella-covered support system. Their meal hadn't traveled far. Called "browse" in zoo parlance, these munchies were harvested from landscaped areas around the grounds, doing double duty not only as a staple in the diets of zoo inhabitants (gorillas and giraffes get second "dibs"), but also as ornamental plants simulating of each animal's native habitat. <br /><br />Wanna see penguins and palm trees? <a href="http://www.finegardening.com/item/21608/groovy-zoo-gardens">Follow this link...</a>Garden Wise Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785776337799149082noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-902797764033099143.post-17833566054962820632011-12-23T21:05:00.001-08:002011-12-23T21:08:16.159-08:00Gift Idea? Give the Hippest Garden Photos on the Planet<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-B9BPV04FLkI/TvVd9bW7EvI/AAAAAAAABis/JR2SpMzERow/s1600/1Hip_Lotusland_lg.jpeg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 285px; height: 285px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-B9BPV04FLkI/TvVd9bW7EvI/AAAAAAAABis/JR2SpMzERow/s400/1Hip_Lotusland_lg.jpeg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5689557014149796594" /></a><br />Last time I posted here, I spilled the beans regarding all the green and not-so-green options for Christmas trees. So I thought it might be a good idea to forge ahead with an idea for a gift to put under the tree for the garden lover in your life. No, you can't dig holes and plant bulbs with it, but you can make some magical moments when you combine a new iPhone with the hippest photography app on the planet.<br /><br />I saw my first Hipstamatic image a couple of years ago, posted at a Flickr page for aficionados. The image that caught my eye was a fairly mundane composition - the exterior of a 1930s era office building. But it looked like someone had dug it out of an old shoebox in the attic: grainy, tired colors, and lighting irregularities that gave it a dreamy feeling.<br /><br />To my delight, I found out that Hipstamatic is an app created for iPhones, and for $1.99, I thought I'd splurge. (Biff the Wonder Spaniel can go a day without a rawhide chew.)<br /><br />Hipstamatic is photo enhancement software that digitally simulates different types of lenses, films, and flashes to create an almost endless array of sometimes hauntingly unpredictable effects. Launch the app and you'll see what appears to be an old pocket camera, complete with textured, matte black case, a small view window, and a big yellow button that triggers the shutter.<br /><br />See <a href="http://www.finegardening.com/item/21483/gift-idea-give-the-hippest-garden-photos-on-the-planet">lots more cool pics</a> at FineGardening.comGarden Wise Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785776337799149082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-902797764033099143.post-28310543072894915312011-11-20T17:57:00.000-08:002011-11-20T18:02:46.806-08:00Stay Classy Santa Barbara<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uBuhEq-7HvY/Tsmwy1W23TI/AAAAAAAABic/E6R-anPlR08/s1600/11Anthropologie.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 239px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uBuhEq-7HvY/Tsmwy1W23TI/AAAAAAAABic/E6R-anPlR08/s320/11Anthropologie.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5677263192640118066" /></a><br />I'm posting this upbeat, gushing article about the beauty of Santa Barbara as an advanced karmic vaccination for the likely effect of my next post, two weeks hence. That will be my annual Santa Barbara Not So Beautiful Awards, where I shine a snarky, searing light on the boneheaded things people do in the name of horticulture.<br /><br />I always catch some heat from the "look for the good and praise it" crowd. Yes, I've heard the old adage, "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all," but I don't live in Smurfville, and I DO get a lot of entertainment and educational mileage out of looking for bad examples and poking at them.<br /><br />In the meantime, I'm posting this gallery of enchanting imagery to prove that I don't just walk around looking for warts and blemishes, when it's obvious that we're blessed with a bounty of beauty that is Santa Barbara. Perhaps by shining a golden light on the vignettes that thrill me, you'll see that I'm not just a one- dimensional curmudgeon flailing his shillaly in the darkness.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Enjoy the beauty of Santa Barbara with</span><a href="http://www.edhat.com/site/tidbit.cfm?nid=69155"> <span style="font-style:italic;">one quick click</span></a>.Garden Wise Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785776337799149082noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-902797764033099143.post-2235978951792091952011-11-20T17:53:00.000-08:002011-11-20T17:57:09.881-08:00Christmas Trees Should Smell Good<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dUrcSET9GUQ/TsmvvM03JUI/AAAAAAAABiQ/DjqoQ8KvcHo/s1600/1buzzy_tree_lg.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dUrcSET9GUQ/TsmvvM03JUI/AAAAAAAABiQ/DjqoQ8KvcHo/s400/1buzzy_tree_lg.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5677262030708876610" /></a><br />The headline pretty much sums up my argument. But my boss would not be happy with a five-word blog post, so allow me to share a few more reasons why I'd never let an artificial Christmas tree through my front door.<br /><br />I make no claims of being a Christmas tree maven, a Yiddish word meaning expert, or connoisseur (a French word meaning maven). I'm from a middle-class Jewish upbringing and I only knew Christmas trees from the homes of my non-gefilte-fish-eating buddies. I remember Jay's metallic silver contraption with the rotating multicolor floodlight. Better, but still pretty bizarre, was Terry's cut tree encrusted in robin's egg blue flocking -- but at least it smelled like a plant.<br /><br />Christmas trees started appearing in my living room after moving out of my folks' place and setting up housekeeping with a girlfriend from a more Norman Rockwell upbringing. Over the years, I've refined my criteria for the perfect tree:<br /><br />• Douglas Fir, because it has more space between the branches for ornaments than the Michelin Man morphology of Noble Firs.<br />• A strong leader to hold the cone-shaped, copper wire-haired, red pipe-cleaner winged angel my son made when he was little.<br />• The enlivening, fresh aroma of resinous conifer needles (overpowered for a day or two by the lingering fragrance of volatilized peanut oil, potatoes, and onions from our annual Potato Latke Gorging Night).<br /><br />It's only in recent years that I've thought about where these trees come from and how they arrive in tree lots around the country. I've wondered whether cutting down live trees for a few weeks of tradition is at odds with my professed stance regarding sustainable living.<br /><br />So I did a little sleuthing and, for me, I can emphatically state that <a href="http://www.finegardening.com/item/21215/christmas-trees-should-smell-good">real trees win the enviro-battle, hands down</a>.Garden Wise Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785776337799149082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-902797764033099143.post-28383137264939563902011-11-20T17:47:00.000-08:002011-11-20T17:53:33.808-08:00Holey Crocs, Batman!<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-v1Nq2Qv_Iq4/TsmuI8Fbb2I/AAAAAAAABiE/wi9Ii3sxnXY/s1600/Croc_lg.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 285px; height: 382px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-v1Nq2Qv_Iq4/TsmuI8Fbb2I/AAAAAAAABiE/wi9Ii3sxnXY/s400/Croc_lg.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5677260273868304226" /></a>Regular size people recognize me by my hat. But really teeny tiny people know me for my distinctive, perforated footwear. I'm a Crocs kinda guy. My shoe rack is stippled with chubby pairs of size tens - red, brown, green, orange, and when I wear a tux, black.<br /><br />My wife, Lin, and I are die-hard What Not To Wear fans, so I get it when she admonishes me that, "But they're really comfortable!" is no excuse for a grown-up wearing what Stacy and Clinton revile as "clown shoes." She's right, but that's my story and I'm sticking to it. As Dr. Scholl taught me, when my feet are happy my brain is happy. And when my brain is happy I can write fascinating garden blogs about my shoes.<br /><br />I pretty much live in my Crocs, so I wear through them regularly. So then what? Landfill? Not for a guy who's so sustainable he can work the same piece of dental floss for a month. So rather than cast off these loyal friends who've served me so well, I tap my inner Martha, transforming them into long-lasting, self-draining, artsy-fartsy wall planters.<br /><br />I had a burst of creative energy this week. Instead of buying the usual box of floral gift cards as a thank you for the landscape architects who share their work with my class, I decided to make something for them. I could solve my shoe disposal conundrum and add a personal touch.<br /><br />Do you wear shoes? Do you like easy, wacky projects? <a href="http://www.finegardening.com/item/21142/holey-crocs-batman">Here's what I did.</a>Garden Wise Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785776337799149082noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-902797764033099143.post-1732350721933707422011-11-20T17:39:00.000-08:002011-11-20T17:47:10.804-08:00Plant Tags: So Much to Say, So Little Space<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PBm_c53fk2g/TsmtRbxxKbI/AAAAAAAABh4/hDgcZrnO4Fs/s1600/5BloomIQInspiration_lg.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 281px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PBm_c53fk2g/TsmtRbxxKbI/AAAAAAAABh4/hDgcZrnO4Fs/s320/5BloomIQInspiration_lg.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5677259320303102386" /></a><br />I know just what Mark Twain meant when he apologetically explained, "I didn't have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead." Writing is tough enough, but sometimes editing my first draft down to a tight, lively, informative read feels like medieval dental surgery. So imagine what it's like to compose a plant tag, those skinny little plastic strips we see poking out of containers at the garden center.<br /><br />You've probably done this hundreds of times: A spectacular looking flower beckons you from across the nursery, so you sprint over, pull out the tag, read a few dozen words, and decide whether that cute little darlin' will be coming home with you.<br /><br />It's not much to go on, but sometimes it's all the information we have when the "ME NEED PLANT" neurons in the primal core of your brain commence to firing. So, what if you could take an extra minute, fire up your smart phone, scan a QR code, and tap a deep mine of information?<br /><br />We're starting to see QR (Quick Response) codes popping up everywhere. They're small printed squares filled with a unique pattern of black and white pixels, like a petri dish experiment gone wild. Download one of many free apps to your smart phone (I like QRReader), hold it in front of the square, and the next thing you know, you're at the product's website.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Read how <a href="http://www.finegardening.com/item/21060/plant-tags-so-much-to-say-so-little-space">QR codes</a> can make your garden shopping a lot more fun...</span>Garden Wise Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785776337799149082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-902797764033099143.post-76416059137505135422011-11-20T17:36:00.000-08:002011-11-20T17:38:57.200-08:00Owen Dell Wants To SLAP Your Garden Around<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-q67tvd2vwZI/TsmrcR7RDsI/AAAAAAAABhs/O_oC4SkVmXI/s1600/4Slappy.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 221px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-q67tvd2vwZI/TsmrcR7RDsI/AAAAAAAABhs/O_oC4SkVmXI/s320/4Slappy.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5677257307613892290" /></a><br /><a href=""></a>Abraham Maslow probably wasn't aware of it, but when he wrote his 1943 paper, A Theory of Human Motivation, he was talking about sustainable landscaping.<br /><br />Now hold on a second. He didn't SPECIFICALLY mention murdering your lawn, setting an egg timer when you turn on the sprinklers, unleashing badass carnivorous bugs in your pumpkin plot, or luring slugs to a drunken death in a saucer of Rolling Rock. He didn't have to. It's obvious.<br /><br />Starting from the bottom of his triangle, he describes the human animal's needs. I'll connect the green dots.<br /><br />Level 1: Food, water, warmth, and rest: If he'd planned ahead (and left more room at the bottom of his chart) he would have also included "plucking fresh-laid eggs from your Double Breasted Pin Striped Bantam Appenzeller's coop, keeping toxic lawn sprays out of groundwater, planting deciduous trees to invite morning sunlight into the breakfast nook, and stringing an authentic Guatemalan Kaqchikel hammock between your Quercus agrifolia trunks.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Pick up the trail at <a href="http://www.edhat.com/site/tidbit.cfm?nid=66459">Edhat.com</a></span>Garden Wise Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785776337799149082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-902797764033099143.post-8736023610546536432011-11-20T17:32:00.000-08:002011-11-20T17:36:00.183-08:00Exquisite Little Jewel Boxes<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-a8yJz-nNSK0/TsmqqQSsNqI/AAAAAAAABhg/QPEI9Jf1uOw/s1600/1channon.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-a8yJz-nNSK0/TsmqqQSsNqI/AAAAAAAABhg/QPEI9Jf1uOw/s320/1channon.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5677256448181810850" /></a><br />Two very talented landscape designers invited me to Eye of the Day Garden Design Center in Carpinteria last week - something about "new demonstration gardens." I smelled a story. Gas prices and carbon footprint be damned, I drove the 12.8 miles from my downtown SB pad and liked what I saw.<br /><br />If you're yearning for inspiration for your own garden, or in the market for a focal point to nestle in a flowerbed, you might want to pop down to Eye of the Day, too.<br /><br />Shining in a chain-link fenced, jumbled storage yard chock full of owner Brent Frietas's garden wares, sit four exquisite little jewel boxes - mini-gardens created from a seemingly limitless selection of pots, statuary, fountains, and garden ornaments.<br /><br />And, oh, the plants! Santa Barbara landscape designers Arianna Jansma and Jennifer Voss, each with an impressive background in botany and art, have a gift for combining form, flowers, foliage, and texture to create stunning compositions.<br /><br />Since the earliest manifestation of Eye of the Day in Santa Ynez, Brent has been a fusion reactor of design and marketing ideas. He told me years ago about his vision for an outdoor showroom that would display his merchandise "in real garden situations" while offering a local designer an opportunity to strut their stuff. After a long gestation period, the idea has hatched.<br /><br />Continued at <a href="http://www.edhat.com/site/tidbit.cfm?nid=63242">Edhat.com</a>Garden Wise Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785776337799149082noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-902797764033099143.post-5686145899698078772011-11-20T17:25:00.000-08:002011-11-20T17:31:58.859-08:00Imagine: No Lawns (but maybe a free book?)If you've been lounging in the Garden of Ed(en) for any time, you know that I'm vehemently anti-lawn (Keywords: wasteful, boring, destructive, sterile). So, this week I'm sharing a great book that like-minded, lawn-averse California gardeners should find inspirational and instructive. But first, let me take you back to this morning, when my button got pushed in a big way.<br /><br />:: :: :: :: :: ::<br /><br />I learned in design school that it's good form to start by saying something positive when critiquing a classmate's design. It makes them more amenable to the pending evisceration, so here goes…<br /><br />The Encina Lodge and Suites, near Cottage Hospital, is to be commended for having their gardeners sweep the pavement with palm fronds instead of gas-powered blowers.<br /><br />There.<br /><br />Today isn't the first time this otherwise lovely guest lodge put my boxers in a bunch. The identical scenario caught my attention two years ago, leading to a water conservation diatribe (It's Like Road Rage, Only Wetter) at my Fine Gardening blog. Sadly, not much has improved. No, I take that back: They've replaced the 1950s-era sprinklers with a shiny new, but just-as-poorly designed system: sprinklers showering me and Biff as we waded up the sidewalk; streams of water smacking into shrubs, then overflowing the beds; over-pressurized pop-ups sending clouds of mist drifting far from their intended target.<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IA313Txm4xU/TsmpBsY60bI/AAAAAAAABhU/VbiX9UNujiM/s1600/1Gutter.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IA313Txm4xU/TsmpBsY60bI/AAAAAAAABhU/VbiX9UNujiM/s400/1Gutter.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5677254651837862322" /></a><br />Now I can share the anger and frustration I felt this morning, triggered by the sight of a fast-moving stream of water coursing down the gutter on, ironically, Bath Street. The only thing missing was a Tidy Bowl man rafting the surge. This gusher's source was the motel's irresponsibly designed, poorly managed sprinklers sheeting off the grassy parkways three blocks upstream.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.edhat.com/site/tidbit.cfm?nid=61912">Read on at Edhat.com</a>Garden Wise Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785776337799149082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-902797764033099143.post-1725538343758667492011-11-20T17:16:00.000-08:002011-11-20T17:24:17.869-08:00Time Machine Tales Part II: Long Strange Trip To The GardenBack in July, I blogged about finding an old drawing from my first landscape design class and the memories it triggered. From summers in the mountains to discovering I had a sense of rhythm, it didn't look much like a gardening column. I said it was "Part One in what will likely be a sporadic series." Well, I'm done "sporadickling" and ready to pick up the trail where I left off.<br /><br />Some kids obsess about sports or rock collecting or astronomy or hedge fund trading. For me it was "all drumming, all the time." Bongos were the start, then a pair of drumsticks banging on anything that made noise. I studied jazz, Dixieland, classical, big band, bebop, surf, rock. I even played a polka gig dressed in lederhosen. (Thankfully, no photos survive)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HC5KJsMxN4k/Tsmn8sy-bDI/AAAAAAAABhI/2mSYds7HFM4/s1600/ALBOS_studio_resize__lg.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HC5KJsMxN4k/Tsmn8sy-bDI/AAAAAAAABhI/2mSYds7HFM4/s400/ALBOS_studio_resize__lg.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5677253466536176690" /></a>Here's my high school rock band, A Little Bit of Sound. We not only won the biggest battle of the bands in LA, but we ended up opening for The Doors in San Diego.<br /><br />I stayed with music into my twenties, doing studio recordings, nightclubs, and clocked thousands of cross-country miles on the road. One year I toured with the opening act for the Jackson 5. (Don't get too impressed. We were the band everyone wished would get off the state so Michael would come out.)<br /><br />What's this have to do with gardens? Here's the <a href="http://www.finegardening.com/item/20967/time-machine-tales-part-ii-long-strange-trip-to-the-garden">rest of the story...</a>Garden Wise Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785776337799149082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-902797764033099143.post-14766676246153235662011-11-20T17:09:00.000-08:002011-11-20T17:15:23.195-08:00Surprise at the Indianapolis Museum of Art: A Paved Paradise<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fy42pigV0Pg/TsmmFeYXp5I/AAAAAAAABgw/Kt0Ik1rUKXI/s1600/8planter_lg.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 299px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fy42pigV0Pg/TsmmFeYXp5I/AAAAAAAABgw/Kt0Ik1rUKXI/s400/8planter_lg.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5677251418262054802" /></a><br />The last time I visited Indianapolis was the early 70s. My one-week stay didn't start out so hot. Perhaps it had something to do with the paranoia of being a longhaired hippy musician in Middle America, coupled with my first (and only) tequila hangover. Did I mention it was Easter Sunday?<br /><br />This year was different. I was back in Indy for the annual Garden Writers Association symposium, and aside from my soulful karaoke rendition of Joe Cocker's You Can Leave Your Hat On, there were no reportable shenanigans.<br /><br />This was my fourth GWA event and I have to say that each trip is better than the last. There was a big turnout: We were dubbed the Indy 500, attending sessions covering everything from publishing e-books to the benefits of beneficial insects. The exhibit hall was packed with vendor booths sharing hot new products and services you'll be reading about soon. And these annual meet-ups always provide opportunities for "the tribe" to reinvigorate old friendships and germinate some new ones.<br /><br />Lest you think we spend all our time indoors, the host committee for each city always organizes tours of private gardens and estates, public spaces, and educational facilities. That way we have stuff to write about and share with our readers - sort of like this article.<br /><br />One of our obscenely early morning tours took us to the Indianapolis Museum of Art, housing over 50,000 works representing a variety of cultures and 5000 years of art history. But I'll have to take their word for it, since I spent my time trying to make a dent in the horticultural offerings contained in 152 acres of gardens, woodlands, wetlands, lake shore, meadows, and even their parking lot.<br /><br />Loads of luscious pictures and <a href="http://www.finegardening.com/item/20793/surprise-at-the-indianapolis-museum-of-art-a-paved-paradise">reading ahead</a>...Garden Wise Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785776337799149082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-902797764033099143.post-45832313194838203722011-10-16T20:04:00.000-07:002011-10-16T20:07:16.505-07:00I'll Give Myself a C+<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LfcC4RLKcwg/TpubglsBoNI/AAAAAAAABf4/AvJVOA8dL4s/s1600/1rolled.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LfcC4RLKcwg/TpubglsBoNI/AAAAAAAABf4/AvJVOA8dL4s/s400/1rolled.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5664291940523417810" /></a><br />Did you ever find something in a long-forgotten box that zaps you back in time? My trigger was an old landscape plan I ran across last week, from my early school days. Like the goat herder at the Qumran Caves, I knew I held a piece of history in my hands. Gingerly, and with reverence, I liberated the scroll from a crusty, desiccated rubber band, carefully unfurling it.<br /><br />The title block said 1975, so imagine my relief as I scanned this barely familiar drawing and did not wince.<br /><br />In the early 70s, I wasn't sure what I would do with an ornamental horticulture education, but the music industry's flake factor had claimed another victim, and I realized I'd better find something new to do. I thought about my hobbies and passions.<br /><br />I had become enchanted by the exquisite art of bonsai (gateway drug to Japanese gardens and culture), fascinated by the way nature's forces and raw beauty could be captured and stylized at a human scale. My crush on chlorophyll didn't stop there. Like a Days of Our Lives junkie, I found myself deeply and emotionally invested in the turbulent lives of my 50 houseplants.<br /><br />Off to school I skipped, and after two years of study, earned my associate's degree from Pierce College in LA, memorizing hundreds of multisyllabic botanical names and deciphering the mysterious sand-silt-clay triangle. I learned how to flocculate, which has nothing to do with bodily functions or puberty.<br /><br />Click over to Edhat.com for the <a href="http://www.edhat.com/site/tidbit.cfm?nid=60594">rest of the story...</a> http://www.edhat.com/site/tidbit.cfm?nid=60594Garden Wise Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785776337799149082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-902797764033099143.post-15573081398889957042011-10-16T20:00:00.000-07:002011-10-16T20:04:02.576-07:00Taking On Lawn Alternatives With The Garden Designers Roundtable<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wbS_i559X-Q/TpubBNqdL_I/AAAAAAAABfs/mcUinu3vtDs/s1600/1Book_lg.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 285px; height: 389px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wbS_i559X-Q/TpubBNqdL_I/AAAAAAAABfs/mcUinu3vtDs/s400/1Book_lg.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5664291401498439666" /></a><br />Here in my sleepy little beach town of Santa Barbara (where Kim Kardashian had a sleepy little multimillion dollar wedding last weekend) I write a bi-weekly blog for Edhat.com. It's a great website known for alternative community news, contests, trivia, mailbag, and quirky essays. (I do some of the quirking.) <br /><br />So it makes sense that I reviewed Reimagining the California Lawn: Water-conserving Plants, Practices, and Designs there a few weeks ago, stimulating lots of enthusiastic comments from green-minded readers.<br /><br />But here at my Fine Gardening blog, where most readers don't wear flip-flops and pick fresh lemons from their kitchen window in January, it wouldn't have occurred to me to bring this regionally important book to national attention. It's not like loyal readers in Platteville, Wisconsin, are going to grow Bougainvillea ‘California Gold' on a patio trellis, then take the sprawling, spiny monster indoors to overwinter it on a sunny window sill. But here I am, writing about the book anyway.<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><br />The Rationale</span><br /><br />I was invited to guest-post at this month's mass blog hosted by the Garden Designers Roundtable, a panel of professional landscape and garden designers blogging monthly on topics related to design. And this month the topic is one near and dear to my heart (and other internal organs): lawn alternatives. <br /><br />Sure, Reimagining's plant recommendations might be specific to California gardeners (and probably crosses over to bordering states), but what it says about the reasons for reimagining the role of lawns in our landscapes should be food for thought for anyone concerned about the uncertainty of changing global weather patterns. Droughts this summer have been catastrophic. Texas has received only 6.5 of its usual 34 inches of rain; in 2008 the news was filled with stories about Atlanta's municipal drinking water supply drying up. Who's next?<br /><br />This is a story that will grow on you. <a href="http://www.finegardening.com/item/20609/taking-on-lawn-alternatives-with-the-garden-designers-roundtable">Read more at Fine Gardening </a>Garden Wise Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785776337799149082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-902797764033099143.post-53291469150399921802011-10-16T19:57:00.000-07:002011-10-16T20:00:43.158-07:00Chardonnay and Herbs Meet in Sonoma Wine County<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8rAZLTxQ-nc/TpuZz3To7LI/AAAAAAAABfg/fA7pGUnB4Bc/s1600/10HomegrownHerbs_lg.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 285px; height: 365px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8rAZLTxQ-nc/TpuZz3To7LI/AAAAAAAABfg/fA7pGUnB4Bc/s400/10HomegrownHerbs_lg.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5664290072647232690" /></a><br />My fellow bloggers recommend that my posts should to be like quick jabs—get in, score your point, and get out. A few words and a picture.<br /><br />[Dang! I just used 109 characters telling you that I shouldn't take so long getting to the point. Shoot!! That was another 79! Yipes!!! Another 22.]<br /><br />So, here's the point: On Wednesday, August 31, award-winning, landscape-loving, nicest-guy-you'd-ever-want-to-meet garden photographer Saxon Holt will be holding a book party at the coolest, most beautiful, all-sustainable vineyard and winery, smack in the middle of Sonoma wine country.<br /><br />Saxon will be joined by author and herbalist Tammi Hartung to talk about their book, Homegrown Herbs: A Complete Guide to Growing, Using and Enjoying More Than 100 Herbs (Storey Publishing, $19.95). The talented twosome will be appearing from 2 to 4 p.m. at Lynmar Estate at 3909 Frei Road in Sebastopol. Attendance is free but limited to the first 60 guests. For more information, call 707-829-3374, ext. 102, or email candi@lynmarestate.com.<br /><br />As blog posts go, that was efficient, but not much fun. I like fun. <br /> <br />I promise I'll circle back to tell you more about the impressively sustainable vineyard and winery run by husband and wife team Anisya and Lynn Fritz, located in the rolling hills of California's Russian River Valley. Meantime, promise me you'll keep reading while I detour for "a few" paragraphs. If you do, you'll see luscious images and perhaps take away some inspiration for your own garden.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.finegardening.com/item/20558/chardonnay-and-herbs-meet-in-sonoma-wine-county">More luscious reading at Fine Gardening...</a>Garden Wise Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785776337799149082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-902797764033099143.post-58402203828662544992011-10-16T19:53:00.000-07:002011-10-16T19:57:21.010-07:00Healthy Skepticism for a Healthy Garden<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HqOWbnrHlUQ/TpuZO80IcBI/AAAAAAAABfU/V2JzMz5jGss/s1600/Informed_cover1_lg.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 248px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HqOWbnrHlUQ/TpuZO80IcBI/AAAAAAAABfU/V2JzMz5jGss/s400/Informed_cover1_lg.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5664289438470533138" /></a><br />"Why, yes, I do have a confessional in my office," Dr. Linda Chalker-Scott replied. I was calling her to seek absolution for my horticultural transgressions.<br /><br />"It has paisley curtains," she continued.<br /><br />I just finished reading her book, The Informed Gardener (University of Washington Press, 2008). In this authoritatively written, sorely needed dose of science and skepticism, Chalker-Scott reveals the truth behind many of the dearly held myths surrounding gardening practices and products.<br /><br />I worried: Would she pardon years of advising customers to "throw a little bone meal in the backfill. Helps the roots get started"? What about telling clients to tip-prune transplants "to keep the roots and foliage in balance"?<br /><br />Hogwash! Clearly, I was guilty of unconsciously passing along what one of Chalker-Scott's colleagues calls "faith-based horticulture."<br /><br />Chalker-Scott didn't set out to be a matador, hell-bent on goring gardening's sacred cows. Her first two degrees put her on a steady course toward a career in marine biology. In the 1980s, deciding instead to chase her passion for gardening, she completed her doctorate in ornamental horticulture at Oregon State University, focusing on the stresses affecting landscape plants in urban environments.<br /><br />The contest is over, but there's lots more to read <a href="http://www.finegardening.com/item/20396/healthy-skepticism-for-a-healthy-garden-win-a-free-copy-of-the-informed-gardener">at Fine Gardening</a>...Garden Wise Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785776337799149082noreply@blogger.com0