One of the first things to think of when planning your garden is the skeleton or structure. First, think about the feel you want for your garden whether tropical, contemporary, cottage, wildlife friendly, or formal. Next, here are a few more things to consider before getting to the garden centre and filling up that trolley.
Here are some basics we need to remember when purchasing plants:
The size of the garden and the plants. The plants need to be in proportion to one another and the surrounding space. A large tree in a small garden does not work while a small tree will be lost in a large space. Various sized plants provide the brain with more information adding interest.
Keep in mind evergreen plants keep colour and wildlife in your garden throughout the year. It’s necessary to note which plants are evergreen so there is a balance during the…
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On October 1, 2014, one of the native plants I saw during a couple of hours at the botanical garden in Tucson named Tohono Chul was Gossypium thurberi, a bush in the mallow family that people call desert cotton or wild cotton.
To learn some interesting things about the human use of cotton, which has been going on for thousands of years in various parts of the world, you can check out the relevant Wikipedia article.
© 2015 Steven Schwartzman
As I sit here from my office the rain is constant and my yard is looking like a lake in some areas. It’s a good day to do some spring planning. Last year I taught some garden classes and really enjoyed sharing my passion for gardening. Today I am planning more classes for other venues as the need is so great. The younger generation is eager to learn and last year they came to hear all about vegetables, herbs and seeds. I saw a few sparks of interest in growing flowers so I will be taking the leap and giving some classes not only in design but how to grow flowers. Yes, I know for most of us growing flowers is easy but with communities densifying gardens have changed. They are definitely smaller areas to plant and our young people may only have a small patio. They want plants that…
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I just didn’t get to spend enough time at the Huntington Library. We were probably there for only three to four hours total. The place is HUGE.
One of the massive buildings on the grounds of the Huntington Library.
Most of our time we spent at the Desert Garden. However, the grounds have 12 distinct gardens spread over 120 acres.
Versailles comes to Pasadena.
Not everything was fabulous. This scene with the grassy sward and the statues seems very out of place, like an imitation Versailles. Plus, how much water does it take to keep this lawn so green, and isn’t there a drought in California? I do like the distant view of the mountains, though.
Sasanqua Camellias
There were a few nice Sasanqua Camellias in bloom. However, I had been hoping for masses of blooming Camellias. And aren’t some Camellias supposed to be fragrant? None of these were.
Rose…
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John Scurr House still looks quite special as you glimpse it from the DLR at Limehouse but it has an even more extraordinary history, both in its politics and its architecture. It started life as a design showpiece – a daring example of municipal modernism and an exemplar of high quality tenement living for council tenants. It came near to ending it as a slum but for its recent rescue and striking refurbishment. This blog tells that story, one involving many of the leading names in social housing and addressing many of its key issues.
John Scurr House, 2014
The scheme was officially opened in July 1937 but the journey to that proud day for the Borough of Stepney was a complex one. That the densely populated industrial borough needed new housing was not in doubt but what was desirable and what was practicable were fiercely controversial.
An aerial view…
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The wildflower called Mexican hat, Ratibida columnifera, reaches its flowering peak with the formation of colonies in the late spring, but it’s common to see at least a few of these plants blooming here and there for the rest of the year. When I was at the Arbor Walk Pond on December 26, 2014, I noticed exactly one Mexican hat plant with several flower heads on it, but by then I’d run out of daylight and decided I’d go back soon if I could. The weather over the next couple of days was yucky, but on the morning of the 29th we had sunlight so I returned and took plenty of pictures, including the one shown here. The ray flowers on this Mexican hat, though a bit ragged around the edges, brought welcome bits of brightness to a landscape that has become mostly dun now that winter has arrived.
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We visited the Watts Towers on the Sunday before Christmas. Watts Towers are the remarkable creation of an immigrant tile setter named Simon Rodia, who worked on them from 1921 to about 1954.
Watts Towers from outside south wall.
There are seventeen towers and other structures on the property, the largest being about 90′ tall.
Watts Towers seen from the adjoining park.
The towers were created entirely by Rodia using hand tools only. He fashioned them from rebar wrapped in chicken wire and packed with mortar. The rebar he bent by hand, sliding the rods under railroad tracks to hold them steady.
Simon Rodia. Photo from http://www.wattstowers.us.
He then covered his creations with a mosaic made from all manner of common items – sea shells, broken bottles, odd bits of tiles and ceramics.
Mosaic with glass bottles.
Rodia also used all kinds of objects to create patterns in the mortar.
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Happy New Year from PlayGroundology.
That’s me with the glasses and the big smile, hot off the presses today, as seen and lovingly portrayed by our five-year-old Lila-Jeanne. It’s a pretty good likeness too but I think we’d be safe swapping the dimensions of the head and torso…
Papa by Lila-Jeanne
That’s Lila swinging away in the vid back in the day when she was a wee babe of 9 months. It was shortly after she was born that I started down the PlayGroundology road. I was home at the time on parental leave. Hanging together for 9 months is one of the greatest gifts our little family has ever experienced.
Nearly five years later, PlayGroundology is a journey that’s still fresh. It seems that there is always something to discover in the world of play whether it’s old and overlooked, or new and untried.
Although I’ve been writing…
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Nigel Boldero aka 'Old School Gardener'
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