I love the rain. I love the sound of rain. It calms me down. As a child, i remember the rain was always a calming influence on my mother too. Mom was a "doer" and she thought everyone should be "doing" too. So when the sun was shining there were cars to be washed, lawns to be mowed, leaves to be raked, errands to be done. But when it rained, she surrendered and we were left to our own choices. Sitting with my father surrounded by piles of books, the thought still brings me peace. I love the rain.
This morning it is raining in Provincetown. The sound of the drops on our tin roof is soothing and hypnotic. I love knowing that the garden is being saturated in anticipation of the growing season before us.
Yesterday we discovered our first daffodils of the season!!!! 'Tete-a-tete' growing under the 'New Dawn' roses against the wall that seems to gather the heat. Isn't it amazing that no matter how many times you see a daffodil........it always makes you smile. Crocus tomasianus is in full bloom in little colonies everywhere. I am learning the differences between snowdrop 'elwessi' and snowdrop 'nivalis'.........i am a romantic when it comes to the ancient crowds of snowdrops we see all over Provincetown huddling under hedgerows, or old oaks..........they are a complete joy.
Today we will stay in.......with our books and our projects and listen to the rain. What a glorious luxury! With an afternoon nap............it makes for a perfect day.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Thursday, March 26, 2009
THE POWER OF WHITE
It seems that this period of late winter into early spring can be the most frustrating of all. In deep winter, we can settle into the routine of rushing into the house and finding a favorite book or working on a project. In full spring, we have everything to see and do in the garden. But in this time between seasons, we can neither stay in the house nor the garden and we want so much to get going with all things green. The ground is not yet able to be worked, but the days have grown warmer and the snowdrops and crocus are tantalizing.
So, the creative gardener needs some distractions to get them through this interim period. A weekend in the city was an interesting contrast from the compost pile, and rife with possibility, so Partner and I set forth to be inspired.
The best kept secret in New York is Friday nights at the Metropolitan Museum. It is open until nine and there is no one there!!! And those that ARE there, are actually interested in the art they are looking at. We were anxious to see the Pierre Bonnard exhibit as his colors ans composition are a never ending source of expansion for us. But the painting that took us most by surprise was a large canvas in the center of the show entitled "White Interior". The luminosity of all the planes of white in this painting were mesmerizing! It pulled you in, like sitting in a quiet room, watching the afternoon sun cast moving shadows. White was powerful and strong and clarifying, yet very complex. Bonnard showed so many hues of white in this one painting it started me thinking.
So then we turned to one of our favorite artists for further guidance, Andrew Wyeth. In the book entitled, "Memory & Magic", on page 178, there is a painting called "Off at Sea". It is a symphony of white.......the shingles, the bench, the window sill, the clouds........Wyeth is a master of white................the mental wheels continued to turn.......
The next day, Partner and I ventured forth to the New York Botanical Garden to see the orchid show entitled "Brazilian Modern" and inspired by the work of Burle Marx. Now I am already a huge fan of orchids, but my tastes lean toward the more curious varieties. I love the flowers that resemble insects in colors of brown, olive green with hints of lavender or gold. I also like to view the plants growing on tree trunks or wrapping their aerial roots around moss covered rocks. So the large monochrome groupings of technicolor blossoms took me aback at first until i got into the spirit of the show. We came upon a huge wall of white phaleonopsis set cheek-by-jowl into moss - spectacular! With the natural light from overhead, the shadows cast on the blooms gave myriad shades of white...............the weekend was beginning to establish a theme: "THE POWER OF WHITE".
Now we all know the famous white garden created by Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicholson. Vita told us she chose white as her theme because the garden would be used primarily in the twilight hours, and the white flowers would be luminous in this light. I must confess, like many, i have been smitten by the simplicity and innate chic of this garden. Vita and Harold were able to reconcile a huge plant list by keeping to a monochrome color scheme.....and avoided the chaos that was possible.
On Commercial Street in Provincetown, there is a small garden that has become a favorite of mine for it's discretion, restraint and simplicity. It is a study in green texture with the fine glossy leaves of the Japanese holly hedge, the bank of oak-leaf hydrangeas, a rectangle of green lawn (tapis vert) and a grouping of iceberg roses. There is nothing more refreshing on a warm summer evening than a stroll to view this garden. Then, with ultimate taste, the designers of this garden have added the punctuation of a huge stand of 'David' phlox.........an incredible white cloud that rises from the green! Absolutely marvelous......perfect color, perfect placement, perfect balance.........THE POWER OF WHITE.
I have always admired restraint in people as well as gardens. As Diana Vreeland said: "elegance is restraint". But, unfortunately, I was born a hunter-and-gatherer......a collector. I struggle between aquiring, and organizing the aquisitions into some kind of pleasing composition. This is where I believe the "power of white" can bring a sense of serenity to the chaos. Snow-in-summer with it's optic white carpet, pee gee hydrangea, spirea "bridal wreath", "white trumpator" lily flowered tulips, 'David' phlox, digitalis 'alba' (white foxglove).........so many ways to incorporate the calming influence of white into every season.
So, this year, we will explore the clarifying properties of "white" in the landscape and the garden. If one cannot restrain..........one can at least calm by taking advantage of the "POWER OF WHITE".
It seems that this period of late winter into early spring can be the most frustrating of all. In deep winter, we can settle into the routine of rushing into the house and finding a favorite book or working on a project. In full spring, we have everything to see and do in the garden. But in this time between seasons, we can neither stay in the house nor the garden and we want so much to get going with all things green. The ground is not yet able to be worked, but the days have grown warmer and the snowdrops and crocus are tantalizing.
So, the creative gardener needs some distractions to get them through this interim period. A weekend in the city was an interesting contrast from the compost pile, and rife with possibility, so Partner and I set forth to be inspired.
The best kept secret in New York is Friday nights at the Metropolitan Museum. It is open until nine and there is no one there!!! And those that ARE there, are actually interested in the art they are looking at. We were anxious to see the Pierre Bonnard exhibit as his colors ans composition are a never ending source of expansion for us. But the painting that took us most by surprise was a large canvas in the center of the show entitled "White Interior". The luminosity of all the planes of white in this painting were mesmerizing! It pulled you in, like sitting in a quiet room, watching the afternoon sun cast moving shadows. White was powerful and strong and clarifying, yet very complex. Bonnard showed so many hues of white in this one painting it started me thinking.
So then we turned to one of our favorite artists for further guidance, Andrew Wyeth. In the book entitled, "Memory & Magic", on page 178, there is a painting called "Off at Sea". It is a symphony of white.......the shingles, the bench, the window sill, the clouds........Wyeth is a master of white................the mental wheels continued to turn.......
The next day, Partner and I ventured forth to the New York Botanical Garden to see the orchid show entitled "Brazilian Modern" and inspired by the work of Burle Marx. Now I am already a huge fan of orchids, but my tastes lean toward the more curious varieties. I love the flowers that resemble insects in colors of brown, olive green with hints of lavender or gold. I also like to view the plants growing on tree trunks or wrapping their aerial roots around moss covered rocks. So the large monochrome groupings of technicolor blossoms took me aback at first until i got into the spirit of the show. We came upon a huge wall of white phaleonopsis set cheek-by-jowl into moss - spectacular! With the natural light from overhead, the shadows cast on the blooms gave myriad shades of white...............the weekend was beginning to establish a theme: "THE POWER OF WHITE".
Now we all know the famous white garden created by Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicholson. Vita told us she chose white as her theme because the garden would be used primarily in the twilight hours, and the white flowers would be luminous in this light. I must confess, like many, i have been smitten by the simplicity and innate chic of this garden. Vita and Harold were able to reconcile a huge plant list by keeping to a monochrome color scheme.....and avoided the chaos that was possible.
On Commercial Street in Provincetown, there is a small garden that has become a favorite of mine for it's discretion, restraint and simplicity. It is a study in green texture with the fine glossy leaves of the Japanese holly hedge, the bank of oak-leaf hydrangeas, a rectangle of green lawn (tapis vert) and a grouping of iceberg roses. There is nothing more refreshing on a warm summer evening than a stroll to view this garden. Then, with ultimate taste, the designers of this garden have added the punctuation of a huge stand of 'David' phlox.........an incredible white cloud that rises from the green! Absolutely marvelous......perfect color, perfect placement, perfect balance.........THE POWER OF WHITE.
I have always admired restraint in people as well as gardens. As Diana Vreeland said: "elegance is restraint". But, unfortunately, I was born a hunter-and-gatherer......a collector. I struggle between aquiring, and organizing the aquisitions into some kind of pleasing composition. This is where I believe the "power of white" can bring a sense of serenity to the chaos. Snow-in-summer with it's optic white carpet, pee gee hydrangea, spirea "bridal wreath", "white trumpator" lily flowered tulips, 'David' phlox, digitalis 'alba' (white foxglove).........so many ways to incorporate the calming influence of white into every season.
So, this year, we will explore the clarifying properties of "white" in the landscape and the garden. If one cannot restrain..........one can at least calm by taking advantage of the "POWER OF WHITE".
Monday, March 16, 2009
I am a gardener. I do not profess to be a learned horticulturist or landscape architect. I am an amateur gardener who loves the company and the cultivation of plants and the solitude of my garden. When I first came to Provincetown over twenty years ago, I remember being seduced by the gardens and would spend many summer afternoons wandering the tiny streets and alleys looking through gates and over fences. Notebooks were filled with scribblings and thumbnail sketches of ideas I wanted to remember, and I would write down the addresses of noteable plants I wanted to keep track of, or a garden design I might try to emulate. My love for Provincetown grew with each trip back to town. And as the seasons changed, I was able to discover the many different facets of this town I am now blessed to call home.
Partner and I found our first garden in Provincetown deep in the West End just after September 11, 2001. In retrospect, we must have been running; trying to escape a cty that now seemed threatening. We had been dreaming of a place in town, but this event was our catalyst, and we made the move. The garden we inherited was the work of a talented and passionate gardener who, years before, had passed on. We felt sheltered by the huge old lilacs he had planted, and the smell of the sweet autumn clematis in bloom will forever be connected in my heart to this beautiful place. Possessed with a working knowledge of New England plants, this first garden was a primer on the special eco-system of Provincetown. We grew with the garden, and through trial and error, we followed the path of all relationships and learned from our successes and our failures. Our hollyhocks were one of our proudest moments. The Japanese anemones started to colonize, and the daffodils multiplied. The garden was a place of solace and peace; somewhere we could escape to, somewhere we could belong.
In 2007, we began a new garden from scratch. It is located closer to town, and has the close proximity of neighbors and neighborly things. We left the isolation and the privacy of the West End garden and are creating a space that is more part of a community; a true Town Garden. During these recent insecure times, the garden has helped us refocus on what is important in our life, and has given us a reniewed sense of purpose and creativity. With each new bulb, shrub or daylily, we are investing in something tangible.....something real. The training of the 'New Dawn' roses has made us optimistic about the future and our part in it. If they can climb up this huge trellis, then anything is possible.
A garden is a metapor for the life we lead and the world we live in. Some plants must have a specific soil to grow abundantly, and some plants are tenacious no matter what the obstacles. That is one reason I love incorporating wildflowers and natural species into the garden plan. Wildflowers are tough and adaptable. Like the wild asters that grow between the rocks at the Breakwater; their beautiful lavender blooms cover the rocks even though the plants have found only a small crevice in which to root. Not only are they able to grow, but they thrive! And then there is my favorite example of the wild artemesia growing out of the pavement at Herring Cove. I remember discovering her basking in the hot August sun, during a dry spell, growing through a crack in the asphalt only to reach her roots into the sand beneath. And yet her silvery leaves were celebrating her place on earth happily and triumphantly. This beautiful artemesia has shown me the power of perseverance; going on and going through no matter what the obstacles appear to be.
A garden is hope. A garden is an investment in the future. Every leaf, every seed is a gesture toward a better tomorrow........a more beautiful tomorrow
Partner and I found our first garden in Provincetown deep in the West End just after September 11, 2001. In retrospect, we must have been running; trying to escape a cty that now seemed threatening. We had been dreaming of a place in town, but this event was our catalyst, and we made the move. The garden we inherited was the work of a talented and passionate gardener who, years before, had passed on. We felt sheltered by the huge old lilacs he had planted, and the smell of the sweet autumn clematis in bloom will forever be connected in my heart to this beautiful place. Possessed with a working knowledge of New England plants, this first garden was a primer on the special eco-system of Provincetown. We grew with the garden, and through trial and error, we followed the path of all relationships and learned from our successes and our failures. Our hollyhocks were one of our proudest moments. The Japanese anemones started to colonize, and the daffodils multiplied. The garden was a place of solace and peace; somewhere we could escape to, somewhere we could belong.
In 2007, we began a new garden from scratch. It is located closer to town, and has the close proximity of neighbors and neighborly things. We left the isolation and the privacy of the West End garden and are creating a space that is more part of a community; a true Town Garden. During these recent insecure times, the garden has helped us refocus on what is important in our life, and has given us a reniewed sense of purpose and creativity. With each new bulb, shrub or daylily, we are investing in something tangible.....something real. The training of the 'New Dawn' roses has made us optimistic about the future and our part in it. If they can climb up this huge trellis, then anything is possible.
A garden is a metapor for the life we lead and the world we live in. Some plants must have a specific soil to grow abundantly, and some plants are tenacious no matter what the obstacles. That is one reason I love incorporating wildflowers and natural species into the garden plan. Wildflowers are tough and adaptable. Like the wild asters that grow between the rocks at the Breakwater; their beautiful lavender blooms cover the rocks even though the plants have found only a small crevice in which to root. Not only are they able to grow, but they thrive! And then there is my favorite example of the wild artemesia growing out of the pavement at Herring Cove. I remember discovering her basking in the hot August sun, during a dry spell, growing through a crack in the asphalt only to reach her roots into the sand beneath. And yet her silvery leaves were celebrating her place on earth happily and triumphantly. This beautiful artemesia has shown me the power of perseverance; going on and going through no matter what the obstacles appear to be.
A garden is hope. A garden is an investment in the future. Every leaf, every seed is a gesture toward a better tomorrow........a more beautiful tomorrow
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