tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15670169382104101982024-03-05T10:25:18.495-05:00got soil?The true life horticultural adventures of a late blooming gardener.Debshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16822749169354562484noreply@blogger.comBlogger207125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1567016938210410198.post-28964914276121262772018-07-31T11:27:00.000-04:002018-08-23T11:36:28.003-04:00Threat of Giant Hogweed Invasion Found to be Giant HogwashFirst, a story:<br />
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When I was gardening at <a href="https://www.greatdixter.co.uk/" target="_blank">Great Dixter</a> some years ago, I met one of the bad boys of the plant world: Giant Hogweed<span style="font-size: small;"><i style="font-family: inherit;">. </i><span style="font-family: inherit;">I remember the encounter quite well, particularly because of Fergus's stern </span>admonition<span style="font-family: inherit;"> as to what might happen if we didn't heed his warnings about how to approach it. While Giant Hogweed looks pretty and impressive, this plant's sap can cause severe burns on exposed skin and if it gets in your eyes, well, it's bad. Really bad. Like, go to the hospital and probably should learn Braille, bad.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">So there we were, the four of us, charged with the task of ridding the garden of a particularly large specimen. The reason I remember this so clearly is because three of us took precaution to the next level with tall boots and long socks, long trousers, long sleeves, heavy gloves, goggles, hats, and </span>bandannas<span style="font-family: inherit;"> over our faces. We looked like a crew of botanical outlaws! All but the French intern, who took up the machete with a glint in her eye and started slashing the thug to bits, wearing only trainers with short socks, running shorts, and a tank top. Amazingly, she suffered no harm and together we vanquished the enemy, reducing its 12' height and about 8' width into several sturdy garbage bags. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">So when the sensational news recently came out about the state of Virginia being invaded by a whole colony of Audrey-like marauding Giant Hogweed, I noticed because I live here now. Since I had lived to tell the tale of my English encounter with the weed, I really didn't see what the big deal was but the news made it all the way across the country and I started receiving concerned emails from friends in California. Surely an authority in the plant world would come forth and set the record straight but it took several days of hearing about it on the radio and seeing it plastered all over the internet and social media before anyone did.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">My favorite headline was from the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/02/us/giant-hogweed-nyt.html" target="_blank">New York Times</a>, cheekily borrowing that soothing phrase from <i>The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy</i>, 'Don't Panic!' after warning of burns and blindness.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">So what is this pestilential plant and should you be worried about it? The short answer is no, but let's start with properly identifying it and how to deal with it, if found.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2018/07/03/us/03xp-hogweed3/03xp-hogweed3-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2018/07/03/us/03xp-hogweed3/03xp-hogweed3-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale" width="303" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A poster warning of the harmful effects of exposure to Giant Hogweed sap.<br />
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Plant names often contain hints as to a plant's physical characteristics and Giant Hogweed is just that - giant. It can reach 15' in height and the leaves can be upwards of 5' wide with stems up to 4" in diameter. To say it has presence is an understatement and so isn't something you're likely to accidentally brush against on a hike. You'd really have to blunder into it in a big way. The airy white flowers form an umbel (same root word as 'umbrella') which reveal its relation to the carrot family (which also includes the common culinary herbs parsley, fennel, anise, celery, coriander, cumin, and dill) but please don't try to eat it! </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Since it seems so easy to identify, why all the sensationalism? There are several other plants in the same family here on the east coast that may be mistaken for the Giant Hogweed and since some can cause adverse reactions through touch or ingestion, it's important to know the difference. Here in NoVA a more diminutive cousin, Queen Anne's Lace (<i>Daucus carota</i>), is a common and prolific wildflower; however, another cousin, Poison Hemlock (<i>Conium maculatum</i>), also grows in this region. I made it my personal mission to be able to identify them when a former employee kept insisting that the Queen Anne's Lace in the garden was in fact Poison Hemlock and nothing I said or showed him could convince him otherwise. My conclusion: he was not a person I wanted to be stuck in a forest with having to forage for food because he would surely kill us.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">But I digress.</span><br />
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Instead of plodding through all the plants to avoid, it seems easier to me to identify the one that's safe, or least likely to eat you alive. Anything else that looks similar but doesn't display the same characteristics probably should be avoided. At best, one should use common sense and proper PPE (personal protective equipment) when dealing with this family if you don't know precisely who you're dealing with.<br />
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<i>Daucus carota</i>, commonly known as Queen Anne's Lace or wild carrot, is an herbaceous biennial that grows about 3' tall. The stems are green, rough, hairy, and solid when cut. The small white flowers form a dense umbel (there's that word again) with a purple flower in the center.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2LdcnCltjH2_UBezzd6Y5ID86AhAvw-yb-3tmhiA5IEeyddHICyetWpvOxYmqzkJ6sl3kUJnWE1tJVv_1234clPNBa7U2vS5v7RjLVqD4mgQb4863rDRilXobP8ynhdDhwA3yEDOuIg/s1600/IMG_3105.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2LdcnCltjH2_UBezzd6Y5ID86AhAvw-yb-3tmhiA5IEeyddHICyetWpvOxYmqzkJ6sl3kUJnWE1tJVv_1234clPNBa7U2vS5v7RjLVqD4mgQb4863rDRilXobP8ynhdDhwA3yEDOuIg/s320/IMG_3105.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An umbel of Queen Anne's Lace in full flower. Notice the purple flower in the center. Notice also that I'm touching the stem with no glove on. Some people may experience an irritating reaction from the hairy stem, and those who are photosensitive may get blisters from exposure to the sap.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEherfqgCenqLi1K1zFqG3cprmePIDnn4B8o3xGLeBkD80QdfGo5jXLxHchdSGtbZwfj0uTMe7jzTJEdQ-vo7l5cQNY-rxvBhSJgFDTdJalcgbJlnwA1wr-phyXJyfRXss7hPmQp6U6NAg/s1600/IMG_3108.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEherfqgCenqLi1K1zFqG3cprmePIDnn4B8o3xGLeBkD80QdfGo5jXLxHchdSGtbZwfj0uTMe7jzTJEdQ-vo7l5cQNY-rxvBhSJgFDTdJalcgbJlnwA1wr-phyXJyfRXss7hPmQp6U6NAg/s320/IMG_3108.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Queen Anne's Lace umbel in profile. The stems are hairy and completely green, with no blotches of color.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidHtkyl3QIQhK-_ds3Do1Ud8d8cMIV2RYTJSEqpmJdX_lt6F0eMo30Lj7dhZ49n4rNGjq3qE0Uii0-jzQwuJMMlmBeo6dwVtJn2yfu6BETc95r9UvCB1UZzT9CUuzj2Sv3OVGai4tgkA/s1600/IMG_3109.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidHtkyl3QIQhK-_ds3Do1Ud8d8cMIV2RYTJSEqpmJdX_lt6F0eMo30Lj7dhZ49n4rNGjq3qE0Uii0-jzQwuJMMlmBeo6dwVtJn2yfu6BETc95r9UvCB1UZzT9CUuzj2Sv3OVGai4tgkA/s320/IMG_3109.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The solid core of a cut stem of Queen Anne's Lace.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiukhXf7ItbNAmX4FMRfgnbQipdY0k0YnFpLqAKpVldq8MZ5P2NCM8HKBA0C8hWrl9ZvuxxT3pJQQ2dnJ-UX-u0e5o_KI9KKVt0IG-Pv_I50aKYD_Lt9NAxUGp0wpx2Mzx_X_EYgtUp2Q/s1600/Dara.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiukhXf7ItbNAmX4FMRfgnbQipdY0k0YnFpLqAKpVldq8MZ5P2NCM8HKBA0C8hWrl9ZvuxxT3pJQQ2dnJ-UX-u0e5o_KI9KKVt0IG-Pv_I50aKYD_Lt9NAxUGp0wpx2Mzx_X_EYgtUp2Q/s320/Dara.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Meet 'Dara', a colorful ornamental variety of <i>Daucus carota</i>. She still sports a darker purple center.</td></tr>
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To me, the most immediate way of telling the wild carrot apart from Poison Hemlock is to cut it. If the stem is hollow, step away. After all, this is the plant that killed Socrates. Unlike the Queen, Poison Hemlock grows taller, has smooth stems with purple blotches, the umbel isn't as dense and the purple center is conspicuously absent.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Picture" height="168" src="https://bcpoultryhobbyfarmingnetwork.weebly.com/uploads/7/2/1/6/7216984/lookalike_orig.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">http://bcpoultryhobbyfarmingnetwork.weebly.com/know-your-plants.html</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"></span><span style="font-size: small;"></span><span style="font-size: small;">For those in the know, neither Queen Anne's Lace or Poison Hemlock can be confused with Giant Hogweed, seeing as it's so much bigger than either of them. That's why it's handy, not to say important, to Know. Your. Plants. As Marie Curie once said, "Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less". Knowing what Giant Hogweed is in the first place, and understanding how to deal with it in the second, means you shouldn't have anything to fear. I don't for those reasons, and because I had a good teacher who didn't just send a bunch of novices to deal with a dangerous plant without properly arming us first. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">So what should you do if you think you spot one? First of all, Don't Panic! And don't touch* it if you're not sure what it is. Take a few photos of the leaf, stem, and flowers and send them to your local Cooperative Extension agent. This <a href="https://pubs.ext.vt.edu/content/dam/pubs_ext_vt_edu/spes/spes-48/SPES-48.pdf" target="_blank">guide </a>from VA Tech has a table showing the differences between several similar plants that are often confused and this handy <a href="https://vtnews.vt.edu/articles/2018/06/hogweed-media-advisory.html" target="_blank">media advisor</a>y, which also says to not panic and indicates that the population isn't spreading and there's really nothing much to worry about after all, provides more information on how to report it if you think you've spotted it. </span><br />
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So, forewarned is forearmed and understanding eliminates fear. If that doesn't convince you and all the Giant Hogweed hullabaloo still gives you nightmares, just remember:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJXalOyrRqCkYda88YjgboRMaiagxfEMoB2c674cMBRSWwjsWB0TFh0VY0zUbJ-FdEqzSw2XuxD_r-QBl2ciU7pu3vFvGt6nvSUOLdiBOFoW3TNS8quDoxLIekYw9_RXaeP79nr-Gn-w/s1600/don__t_panic_and_carry_a_towel_by_ashique47-d3fu8qd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="776" data-original-width="1366" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJXalOyrRqCkYda88YjgboRMaiagxfEMoB2c674cMBRSWwjsWB0TFh0VY0zUbJ-FdEqzSw2XuxD_r-QBl2ciU7pu3vFvGt6nvSUOLdiBOFoW3TNS8quDoxLIekYw9_RXaeP79nr-Gn-w/s320/don__t_panic_and_carry_a_towel_by_ashique47-d3fu8qd.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">*Giant Hogweed sap is phototoxic and causes severe skin inflammation when contacted skin is exposed to UV rays. If contact is suspected, get out of the sun and thoroughly wash affected area with soap and water. If irritation persists, consult a physician. If it gets in your eyes, rinse immediately with clean water and seek medical attention.</span>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>Debshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16822749169354562484noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1567016938210410198.post-765466274204743592017-05-01T00:00:00.000-04:002017-05-01T00:00:21.992-04:00May"The very word May, short and direct, seems full of light and ready to become airborne. Man compares himself with the world around him, with the birds shouting their songs, the trees bursting into leaf; old or young, in imagination or in fact, he feels himself a part of this great creative impulse."<br />
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Christopher Lloyd in Christopher Lloyd's Gardening Year</div>
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Debshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16822749169354562484noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1567016938210410198.post-89395958013318756782017-02-19T10:18:00.000-05:002017-02-19T10:18:02.155-05:00Shakespeare in the GardenI've been trying to come up with new ways to keep my crew at work motivated and to convey the daily task list in a less monotonous form (because, let's face it, gardening isn't all glamorous work, sometimes we have to get our hands dirty). <br />
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This week I'm going to try a Shakespearean approach and see how it goes:<br />
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GARDENER [to the first man]<br />
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Go, bind thou up young dangling apricots</div>
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Which, like unruly children, make their sire</div>
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Stoop with oppression of their prodigal weight.</div>
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Give some supportance to the bending twigs.</div>
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[to second man] Go thou, and, like an executioner, </div>
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Cut off the heads of too fast-growing sprays</div>
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That look too lofty in our commonwealth.</div>
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All must be even in our government.</div>
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You thus employed, I will go root away</div>
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The noisome weeds which without profit suck</div>
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The soil's fertility from wholesome flowers.</div>
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[The Tragedy of King Richard the Second, Act III, Scene IV]<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.shakespearesengland.co.uk/">www.shakespearesengland.co.uk</a></td></tr>
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Debshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16822749169354562484noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1567016938210410198.post-51893740962988018502017-02-16T10:00:00.000-05:002017-02-16T10:03:32.304-05:00Oh, Deer<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
One of my favorite TV shows growing up was Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom. Each week I'd watch the ivory mustachioed host, Marlin Perkins, traverse the globe presenting exciting tales of wildlife conservation. It was probably my first exposure to conservation issues and corporate sponsorship. For a kid growing up in Suburbia it was all about exotic locations and wild beasts that I would probably never have the chance to see up close and personal.</div>
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Then I became a gardener and moved to the east coast.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheskDx28Sg7i1fgYBlv70azGO0ACEh-dyKxCbGZgBoWqhZRVO6QiHe4ODgo317l-s_cZH2dm5HJrWLTZSySXFdAxvdlKZY9oGijThmUIYhv4CIEa06akuW68TZykBiIQxwB_y-b7Lp6Q/s1600/IMG_1743.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheskDx28Sg7i1fgYBlv70azGO0ACEh-dyKxCbGZgBoWqhZRVO6QiHe4ODgo317l-s_cZH2dm5HJrWLTZSySXFdAxvdlKZY9oGijThmUIYhv4CIEa06akuW68TZykBiIQxwB_y-b7Lp6Q/s1600/IMG_1743.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Every region of the world has their native pests that are the bane of a gardener's existence: in So Cal it's gophers and grubs; in England it's badgers and tourists; here in the Mid-Atlantic it's white-tailed deer. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A mature buck lounges in the Pachysandra, digesting his lunch</td></tr>
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When I arrived as Director of Horticulture at my former employer several years ago, I was surprised to find a small herd of <em>Odocoileus virginianus </em>in residence. The fence surrounding the property had been breached several times due to storms and vandalism. A few attempts to drive the deer out proved unsuccessful and the deer were happily noshing the garden away.<br />
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One way to tell you have a deer problem in a wooded area is if you can see through the forest. The absence of an understory and ground cover layer are indicative of over browsing. Deer are native plant connoisseurs and will munch all the desirable plants that other birds and insects rely on for food and shelter, creating an imbalance in the local ecosystem. One day I popped out of the laundry room at home and came face to face with a herd in the parking lot. These deer were munching their way along the stream out back but I noticed they neatly avoided the boulder covered with budding poison ivy (apparently they know the poison ivy mantra, too). </div>
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According to experts, the numbers of white-tailed deer currently roaming the streets is way more than it was when Colonists first settled the eastern sea board 300 years ago. Native Americans and arriving settlers would hunt deer for their meat and hides. Natural predators also kept the populations in check, maintaining balance in the ecosystem. Then the human population boomed, cities were built, habitat was destroyed. The number of deer plunged and laws were passed to save them resulting in an exponential increase in the population. With no habitat left, they began to infiltrate the suburbs and remaining forest edges created by urban sprawl. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A buck and a doe out for lunch in the parking lot at my apartment</td></tr>
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An adult deer will eat 6-8 lbs of vegetation a day. Multiply that by the eight deer that were stuck inside the fence and you'll see that the garden where I worked was on the fast track to not being a garden at all. The historic rose garden had already lost a season of bloom and the yews were nibbled to stubby twigs. Don't even get me started on the seas of New Hostas that Never Grew. I knew that controlled hunts were commonly used in larger public gardens to manage the deer so I wasted no time in organizing one. </div>
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The hunt would have to be bow because of the dense residential area, and it would have to be carefully managed. When I breached the subject I was met with much resistance: "The city would never allow it", the nay-sayers said. "Have they ever asked?" I asked. Well, er, no, they hadn't. So I asked, the city said yes, and a resolution was passed to allow a bow hunt in the garden. </div>
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As fate would have it, I connected with the <a href="http://www.njsfsc.org/counties/central-region/union-county-chapter-central-region/" target="_blank">Oak Ridge Sportsmen's Association</a>, who happily satisfied the insurance requirements. They were skilled, they were experienced, they were knowledgeable, they were shocked that I got the resolution passed. So they came, they strategized, they hunted, and they got all the deer. They were awesome! </div>
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One of my requirements was that at least 75% of the deer harvested go to a food bank and I'm proud to say the hunt resulted in 320 meals being donated. Once the snow melted, you could almost hear the garden breathe a sigh of relief in the knowledge that it could get down to the business of growing again without fear of being eaten to death. As it is, the damage already done was extensive and will take years - no, decades - of wise stewardship and planning to restore. In this age of instant gratification and high speed everything, people lose sight of the fact that while it can take a herd of hungry deer (or a hurricane, or earthquake, or whatever) a very short time to decimate 6 acres of woodland, it will take much longer for it to recover. Unfortunately those people often aren't gardeners nor do they spend much time in nature. If they did they would understand that nothing in nature happens over night.</div>
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Invasive species that take advantage of the gaps created by an absence of native ones have to be eradicated and the areas replanted or the natives allowed to regenerate. New plants have to be monitored and cared for to ensure survival, and the invasives constantly beaten back until the balance is restored and nature can take care of itself again. Restoration takes a lot of work and a lot of time.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pachysandra, a native of Asia, is a shade loving ground cover that spreads rapidly in the humus rich soil of a forest floor. Though also native to parts of SE US, it's been declared invasive by several eastern states.</td></tr>
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Every conceivable non-lethal method had been attempted to remove the deer from the garden in the past and failed, leaving a managed hunt as the best possible option. If I hadn't pushed it through, the herd would have more than doubled in the spring (let's see, 15 deer eating 8lbs of garden each day is...times 5, carry the 1...yikes!). It's a touchy subject for many but getting rid of the deer was the only way to save the garden and save it we did (tip of the hunter orange cap to you ORSA guys!). It would have been interesting to see how the woodlands there regenerate and perhaps someone will take advantage of the opportunity now presenting itself and I'll read about it in ten years or so. </div>
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A similar, though much larger, study was done at Yellowstone National Park which was also overrun with deer. They took more drastic measures and reintroduced a pack of wolves to do the hunting. The result was a trophic cascade - an ecological phenomenon triggered by the addition or removal of top predators and involving reciprocal changes in the relative populations of predator and prey. And while the Mutual of Omaha loving kid in me thought having Marlin Perkins cover the interaction of wolves and deer in a suburban garden, they unfortunately weren't an option.</div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/ysa5OBhXz-Q" width="560"></iframe><br />Debshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16822749169354562484noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1567016938210410198.post-1302594666196820072015-12-02T07:59:00.001-05:002017-02-16T19:25:00.332-05:00Osculate Me Under the Obligate Hemiparasite<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Welcome to December and all the seasonal festivities and frivolities married to it! Few holidays have such a diverse number of traditions and customs. I mean, who came up these and why are they related to Christmas: eggnog, fruitcake, decorated conifers, socks on mantles, and swapping spit under mistletoe, just to name a few (and those are only the decidedly American holiday traditions. You should hear what they do in other countries!).</div>
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Actually, we did borrow the mistletoe thing from Britain, like most things which are so awesome and British. And the British being born gardeners, well, they know a thing or two about plants. What other culture would write a Christmas carol about holly and ivy? As the great global melting pot, not only do we often borrow foreign customs, we frequently take their plants, too. <em>Viscum album</em>, the native species found in Great Britain and much of Europe, having now been introduced to North America, is an evergreen plant with a woody stem which grows on and gets most of its nutrients from a host. It does photosynthesize a bit, but not much, which is what makes it a hemiparasite, and that's a compliment, really. The Latin name is likely derived from the sticky seed coating (viscum) and the color of the berries (from 'albus', meaning white). <br />
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The species native to Spain, Portugal, North Africa, Australia, and Asia is <em>Viscum cruciatum</em> (sounds like a Harry Potter spell, doesn't it?). <br />
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All in all, there are over 80 genera with more than 900 species of Mistletoe. And the family name that these plants belong to? Wait for it....Santalaceae. <br />
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I kid you not, but it has nothing to do with Santa Claus. (Or does it? Nah.) Mistletoe is related to Sandalwood. It also happens to bloom and set fruit right around Christmas time when most other plants in the Northern Hemisphere are settling in for a long winter's nap. Once dissected, the common name is anything but complimentary. The name mistletoe comes from the Anglo Saxon word 'mistel' (which means dung, probably a reference to how the plant is propagated) and the Old English word 'tan' (which means twig). Roughly translated, mistletoe means 'poo on a stick'. Isn't that...special!<br />
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Mistletoe has been known and used in Herbalism for centuries and parts of the plant were prized by many ancient cultures for their healing properties. The Greeks used it to cure everything from menstrual cramps to spleen disorders, while over in Rome, the naturalist Pliny the Elder noted its use as a balm against epilepsy, ulcers and poisons (ironic, since the berries are poisonous to humans).<br />
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The plant’s romantic associations most likely began with the Celtic Druids of the 1st century A.D. Since mistletoe can blossom even during the frozen months of winter, the Druids came to view it as a sacred symbol of vim and vigor, and it was administered to humans and animals alike in the hope of restoring fertility (again, poison! Raising eyebrows, here). The association with fertility and vitality persisted throughout the Middle Ages. Some considered it an aphrodisiac (Poison! Does no one listen!?) owing to the allegedly sexual nature of the plant: the Y-shaped branches, white sticky juice from pearl hued ball-shaped berries hinted of...let's not venture further...ok, lets. Ironically, it's the female plant that bears the poisonous fruit while the male plant is conspicuously berry-less. Let your Freudian brain puzzle that one out over a mug of 'nog for a while. <br />
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By the 18th century mistletoe had become incorporated into Christmas celebrations around the world. The 'downstairs' class of Victorian England is credited with first recording the tradition of kissing underneath the mistletoe. Taking their cue from the Druids' and their fertility rituals, the tradition of kissing beneath the mistletoe dictated that a man was allowed to kiss any woman standing underneath the boughs, and should any woman refuse the overture, ill luck would befall her. Another variation on the tradition stated that with each kiss a berry was to be plucked from the mistletoe, and when all the berries were gone, the smooching must cease. Many a serving maid scurried into hiding when the mistletoe was hung, as described by nineteenth century writer Washington Irving: "the mistletoe, with its white berries, hung up, to the imminent peril of all the pretty housemaids."<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Ah, what an excellent specimen of Viscum album! Did you know this lovely plant is actually a parasite!? Why, it's extraordinary, really! You see, it actually grows in the branches of trees, not in the ground! Yes, isn't it remarkable? The seeds are eaten by birds, whereupon they pass through the digestive tract, or gut, and are shat out onto a tree branch where the seed sprouts by sending out rooting tendrils called haustorium..."<br />
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"Will he ever shut up and just kiss me?"</td></tr>
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Kissing under the mistletoe caught on, surprisingly, and continues as a holiday sport to this day. I suppose of all the wacky Christmas customs, smooching under a parasitic plant is more pleasant, and infinitely more preferable, to a regifted 10-year old fruit cake. <br />
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So while you're enjoying the eggnog and petrified fruitcake at your next holiday gathering, keep an eye out for halls decked out with that most romantic of evergreens, pucker up, and whisper seductively to your sweetheart, "Osculate me under the obligate hemiparasite". That'll get hearts racing, I guarantee it!</div>
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Debshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16822749169354562484noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1567016938210410198.post-55626172553580741392015-06-06T21:43:00.001-04:002015-06-06T21:43:26.279-04:00Double Trouble"So we grew together, like to a double cherry, seeming parted, but yet an Union in partition. Two lovely berries moulded on one stem; So, with two seeming bodies, but one heart"<div><br></div><div>~ William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream</div><div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVAKYagf-7usy29AzqVz1QgNvWOwA1f5nxRNKIZnq1fcHNrmP_lVvAPP9_RgbQ_p9Ns10ftbSu9JppofIwWCAsw2K2PWhxLUu2yVNY4TuldaxfNXJajZGM8u3iXG1hHovjv8HCzvlVNA/s640/blogger-image--312095077.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVAKYagf-7usy29AzqVz1QgNvWOwA1f5nxRNKIZnq1fcHNrmP_lVvAPP9_RgbQ_p9Ns10ftbSu9JppofIwWCAsw2K2PWhxLUu2yVNY4TuldaxfNXJajZGM8u3iXG1hHovjv8HCzvlVNA/s640/blogger-image--312095077.jpg"></a></div><br></div>Debshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16822749169354562484noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1567016938210410198.post-77591981078252627312015-03-09T18:53:00.001-04:002015-03-15T07:02:34.857-04:00Spring Is ComeBehold, my friends, the spring is come; the earth has gladly received the embraces of the sun, and we shall soon see the results of their love.<div><br></div><div>- Sitting Bull<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjLzp303Xb5ODpyf61RTeR-ctx-VkTnmN6Wa6dEkGnrLifRKAzM_tWpA5AbkNhIIFCWaTxc_nBH2S1hQ7psFPCO03djYtDLy4uQqPq2Px9kU9CvmhSs_MWBiwyLxWFP8MsrHy5W4h8Iw/s640/blogger-image--267740043.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjLzp303Xb5ODpyf61RTeR-ctx-VkTnmN6Wa6dEkGnrLifRKAzM_tWpA5AbkNhIIFCWaTxc_nBH2S1hQ7psFPCO03djYtDLy4uQqPq2Px9kU9CvmhSs_MWBiwyLxWFP8MsrHy5W4h8Iw/s640/blogger-image--267740043.jpg"></a></div><br></div></div>Debshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16822749169354562484noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1567016938210410198.post-804556705250392692014-10-09T06:11:00.001-04:002014-10-11T21:07:24.774-04:00October"Very much a favorite month, this. Even writing a capital O at the start of its name is a pleasure. Of course, the weather can be foul; when can't it? But October does give us spells of the most delectable weather, too, and the golden warmth of its light invests everything with its glow. Nights have a nip in them but by day the air is soft again and we just need to relax in appreciation."<br>
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- Christopher Lloyd in Christopher Lloyd's Gardening Year<br>
<br><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjWDkuI065hX43MgTKPfhEgyTfxvawnPhxy60VZjqOQ7rFnqFJrEcw9mu-bzu1ERzz5zcIbGTSxZNyjy5dcR1ycDwuapm-aWqy9DlDLMOrfX8HO0i5krbwabW2zVWLMTDYeb8ekppv_g/s640/blogger-image--2025940161.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjWDkuI065hX43MgTKPfhEgyTfxvawnPhxy60VZjqOQ7rFnqFJrEcw9mu-bzu1ERzz5zcIbGTSxZNyjy5dcR1ycDwuapm-aWqy9DlDLMOrfX8HO0i5krbwabW2zVWLMTDYeb8ekppv_g/s640/blogger-image--2025940161.jpg"></a></div>Debshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16822749169354562484noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1567016938210410198.post-51640800038699487862014-09-07T07:04:00.001-04:002014-09-07T07:49:25.537-04:00Are You My Mum?Autumn is coming, whether (or should that be 'weather'?) we're ready or not! A heat wave last week sent fall annuals into overdrive so mums are fully blown, but the mild summer also means summer annuals and perennials are still growing strong. Ack!<br />
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Still, one must prepare for the inevitable so I did what any sensible gardener would do: I paid a visit to Longwood Gardens PG Class of 2015's greenhouse.</div>
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Second year students in the <a href="http://longwoodgardens.org/education/college-and-university-programs/professional-gardener-program" target="_blank">PG program</a> enjoy an educational <a href="http://pgprogram.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">trip abroad</a> focused on horticulture and public gardens, and are responsible for raising half the funds for the trip. Part of their fund raising effort includes growing and selling plants at three major sales during the year. </div>
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This week is their Fall plant sale but I was allowed to pre-shop (one of the perks of being an alumna!). Guess what I'll be doing at work this week?</div>
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Thanks to Nick and Lincoln, PG Class of '15, for helping me load the truck!</div>
Debshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16822749169354562484noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1567016938210410198.post-57940027198733475142014-07-28T00:08:00.000-04:002014-07-28T00:14:31.395-04:00Thence I Went...Under GroundOn her 1697 tour of northern England Celia Fiennes visited landmarks rightly considered to be (and cannily marketed as) "great wonders". One such were the underground caverns called Poole's Hole, now known as <a href="http://www.poolescavern.co.uk/">Poole's Cavern</a>. It was a tourist attraction as early as 1622 and widely written about over the next few centuries (but I noticed Celia's account is scandalously omitted from the website's Literary Heritage page - for shame!). <br />
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No wonder that I thought of her when I visited the <a href="http://luraycaverns.com/" target="_blank">Luray Caverns</a>, 'a subterranean world of wonder' right here in northern Virginia. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Limestone and mineral rock formations in Luray Caverns</td></tr>
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Celia described her visit to Poole and the sights within the cavern:<br />
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<em>"Just at the Entrance you must Creep, but presently you stand upright, its Roofe being very Lofty all arched in the Rocks and sound with a great Ecchoe. The Rocks are Continually dropping water all about, you pass over Loose stones and Craggy Rocks. The dripping of the water wears impression on the Stones that forms them into Severall Shapes" </em><br />
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The Luray Caverns were discovered in 1878 but are estimated to be 5 million years older than Celia's caves at Poole. Thanks to a good bit of engineering over the last century modern visitors don't have to '<em>Creep', </em>you descend into the caverns via a sturdy staircase with signs urging, "Please Use the Hand Rails!" and penetrate into the depths along a bricked path lit with electric lights. I kept wondering what it was like for Celia, having to crawl into the cave (so unladylike, and in a fitted bodice and stays - so uncomfortable!) with no illumination on the path but the light of some candles in a lantern carried by a guide. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr7iddFqm8JG5a_PSA4HbK_uF4w_8fV52ddCIc4DjuMMcvdzWoum-cTWUJnwK6QGvvk1zgjZVVPb1y9z6EnL5pdJkw3xHGvsunUV_aRmMi8rck6G-RsADzDdD3K6tU_Gzfkl1scoPZcw/s1600/087.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr7iddFqm8JG5a_PSA4HbK_uF4w_8fV52ddCIc4DjuMMcvdzWoum-cTWUJnwK6QGvvk1zgjZVVPb1y9z6EnL5pdJkw3xHGvsunUV_aRmMi8rck6G-RsADzDdD3K6tU_Gzfkl1scoPZcw/s1600/087.JPG" height="400" width="225" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pillars reaching more than 20 feet high</td></tr>
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Like Poole's Hole, the cave rooms and some of the formations at Luray have names - all exceedingly fitting: Saracens Tent, Giant's Hall, Dream Lake, Pluto's Ghost, and Titania's Veil. There's even one monolithic formation affectionately called The Shaggy Dog. It's only 7 million years old; a mere blip in the grand scheme of geological formation.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Shaggy Dog, largest formation in the caverns at approximately 7 million years in the making. At over 40 feet in height, standing before it makes you feel very small, in more ways than one.</td></tr>
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Celia's friend and contemporary Daniel Defoe published his three volume <a class="new" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=A_Tour_Thro%27_The_Whole_Island_of_Great_Britain,_Divided_into_Circuits_or_Journies&action=edit&redlink=1" title="A Tour Thro' The Whole Island of Great Britain, Divided into Circuits or Journies (page does not exist)"><em>A Tour Thro' The Whole Island of Great Britain, Divided into Circuits or Journies</em></a> between 1724 and 1727. I often wonder if his travels weren't inspired by Celia's tales of her own. I enjoy comparing the two accounts, especially their descriptions of how the caves must have been formed, which I share here with you along with my own:<br />
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Celia Fiennes, 1697:<em> "but the difficulty appears as to this hole how so large a Cavity should be Left, as in some places the Roofe is as lofty as you can see and all stone; now how it should be fixt so as not to tumble in by the weight of the Earth or stone on the top: as to the waters dropping it is but what is Customary among rocks and stones, there are many springs which run in the veines of the Earth and allwayes are running in such subteraneus vaults in the Earth, which gather together and runns in a little Channell in the bottom of this Cave"</em><br />
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Daniel Defoe, c. 1724:<em> "It is a great cave, or natural vault, ancient doubtless as the mountain itself, and occasioned by the fortuitous position of the rocks at the creation of all things, or perhaps at the great absorption or influx of the surface into the abyss at the great rupture of the earth's crust or shell."</em> <br />
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Deb Wiles, 2014: <em>"Water plus Time equals THAT!? Woooooooaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!!!!!! "</em><br />
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Yeah, whoever finds my travel diary 300 years from now might be a wee bit disappointed.<br />
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I do have two advantages over Ms. Fiennes and Mr. Defoe, though. Namely 300 years of scientific advancement in geology and a little tool called Google. Like those at Poole, Luray's caverns are "solution caves", meaning a solution of calcium carbonate donates some of its carbon dioxide, allowing a precipitate of lime to form. The limestone which is formed by this precipitate grows at the supersonic rate of approximately one inch every 120 years. Highly acidic water once filled the chambers and ate away the softer material. As the natural water table declined, the chambers drained leaving the eroded forms behind, which are still growing. There are still springs in the caves and a constant drip in places due to surface water percolating down into the caverns. Our guide called these drips "cavern kisses" and claimed each 'kiss' brought 100 years of good luck. I should be set for the next four centuries. I suspect if the dripping at Poole's Hole had such a catchy nick name Celia would have mentioned it but all she says is:<br />
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<em>"The dripping of the water wears impression on ye Stones that forms them into Severall Shapes, there is one Looks Like a Lyon wth a Crown on his head, ye water trickling on it weares it into so many shapes; another place Lookes just Like ye shape of a Large organ wth ye severall Keys and pipes one above another as you see in a great Cathedrall;"</em><br />
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I wonder if Leland W. Sprinkle had read Celia's diary when he set about creating the Great Stalacpipe Organ at Luray? It's the largest musical instrument in the world, and took three years to build starting in 1956. Sprinkle reputedly got the idea when touring the caves with his son, who hit his head on a stalactite producing a musical tone. He painstakingly located and shaved thirty-seven naturally formed stalactites to get the right notes, connecting each one to a solenoid and small rubber mallet controlled by a traditional organ console. The caves cover 64 acres and while the selected stalactites are spread around only 3.5 acres within the caves, the sound can be heard anywhere in those 64 acres. It really is an amazing feat of science and musical engineering, and I found myself wishing again for that TARDIS so I could see the look on Celia's face when she heard this:<br />
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There is also an underground lake called the Dream Lake. Fed by a spring, the lake is only 20 inches deep but very wide. The water is crystal clear and the still surface creates a perfect mirror reflecting the ceiling above so that it looks as if stalagmites are growing up beneath the water from the lake bed. The photos don't do it justice, and a collective awestruck "Ahhhhh!" came from everyone in the tour group.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMYCt6oAiZUrC-Dn0Rbv1RHbtiHw8WCISnLvLAwCCybNhGdhEaWOMp8OQdoYhnfQpXR1_ilaoFTw0KQCFY7A-efea1MMqBu1YqyEmOj8cV9fmSb4KTCqymxsnQG24ptsktSfbb2s9IHg/s1600/064.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMYCt6oAiZUrC-Dn0Rbv1RHbtiHw8WCISnLvLAwCCybNhGdhEaWOMp8OQdoYhnfQpXR1_ilaoFTw0KQCFY7A-efea1MMqBu1YqyEmOj8cV9fmSb4KTCqymxsnQG24ptsktSfbb2s9IHg/s1600/064.JPG" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mirrored reflection of the ceiling in the still crystal water of Dream Lake</td></tr>
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Different minerals lend their colors to the rocks as well, from brown to red to alabaster white. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The range of colors and intricate layers in this formation can be clearly seen thanks to the lighting</td></tr>
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The formations that really awed me were the curtains, or veils. Their delicate waves look like they were carved by a master sculptor (well, I guess one could argue they were) yet each fold took millions of years to form. Mind. Blown.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Part of Saracens Tent, one of the most well formed draperies in the world. <br />
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And while Celia noted the formation at Poole that looked like<em> 'a salted flitch of Bacon'</em>, Luray's got the fried eggs to go with it:<br />
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I still intend to visit Poole's Cavern to see what Celia saw, and I have to admit I'll be a bit disappointed if I don't have to crawl through the entrance as she did, but I love the fact that these wonders exist all over the world and that some can be so similar. Take away the modern amenities and I bet my visit to Luray Caverns wasn't really all that different from Celia's to Poole's Hole. She was a bit of a rebel, though, and broke off pieces of rock as souvenirs. This practice is Frowned Upon and visitors are admonished not to touch the rocks at Luray so I had to content myself with a free piece of Unakite from the museum which my entry ticket entitled me to. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fitz enjoyed the American version of traveling under ground</td></tr>
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Luray Caverns are located in Luray, VA in the Shenandoah Valley. For visiting information go to their <a href="http://luraycaverns.com/" target="_blank">website</a>. Guided tours last about an hour. Tip of the day: if you go on a weekend, plan to go early and beat the crowds! Debshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16822749169354562484noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1567016938210410198.post-5577175541944307082014-07-17T20:18:00.001-04:002014-07-27T20:56:04.201-04:00A Gardener's GardenEvery gardener has a favorite garden. Or two, or twelve. And every gardener I've ever met knows a garden - a gardener's garden <span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">- t</span>hat inspires them, that speaks to their soul, and leaves them with a renewed passion for their profession every time they visit. Whether it's the design, the designer, the plants, the architecture, the artistry, the history, or all the above, there is something about it that resonates. This is mine:<br />
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<iframe src='http://www.nowness.com/media/embedvideo?itemid=4006&issueid=2934' width='500px' height='315px' frameborder='0'></iframe><p><a href="http://www.nowness.com/day/2014/7/15/4006/the-gardener-s-garden-great-dixter">The Gardener’s Garden: Great Dixter</a> on <a href="http://www.nowness.com/">Nowness.com</a></p>Debshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16822749169354562484noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1567016938210410198.post-39910184681256603582014-07-15T05:44:00.000-04:002014-07-15T05:44:00.549-04:00What's That Plant?I simultaneously love and hate when someone asks me the name of a plant that I don't know. I love it because it means as soon as the conversation ends I'll be able to dash to my library to look it up and will learn something new. I hate it because I'm a professional horticulturist with extensive training and education and we're supposed to know these things, right? <br />
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Then I remember the story about Christopher Lloyd, one of the - if not The - greatest plantsmen of the 20th century. If he was visiting a garden and encountered a plant that was unfamiliar to him, he'd nudge it with his toe and nonchalantly ask his host, "What are they calling this these days", a cheeky reference to the fact that taxonomists are constantly changing plant names and a brilliant way to mask his extraordinarily rare ignorance. Unfortunately that trick doesn't work when you're the one being asked and you don't know the answer.<br />
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So there I was at work - in a garden that's still new to me and that I'm still getting to know - when a guest asked me, "What's that plant?" and pointed to a variegated ground cover with seed heads that clearly mark it a member of the <em>Umbelliferae, </em>which the taxonomists have changed to <em>Apiaceae</em> (see, Mr. Lloyd was really onto something). This puts it in the same family as carrots and Queen Anne's Lace but I recognized it as neither of those. Whatever it was, it was happily colonizing a small space under an apple tree and doing a splendid job of crowding out the <em>Sarcococca*</em>.<br />
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After this cursory and incomplete identification, the guest went to her lunch and I went about the rest of my day, temporarily forgetting about the Mystery Plant. Until five o'clock this morning, when I reluctantly awoke from a very pleasant dream with "variegated umbellifer" in my mind and couldn't get it out (we plant geeks obviously have very strange cognitive functions).<br />
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You'll be happy to know, then, that the plant in question is a variegated form of <em>Aegopodium podagraria, </em>commonly called Gout Weed** and it's Number 1 on <a href="http://www.canadiangardening.com/how-to/pests-and-diseases/the-top-10-unwanted-garden-plants/a/32921" target="_blank">Canada's 10 Most Unwanted List</a>. Introduced to America from Europe and Russian Asia, it was known in those parts as a medicinal and pot (culinary) herb back in the Middle Ages where it was used to treat gout. The 16th century herbalist John Gerard described the thuggish habit I observed thusly:<br />
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<em>'Herbe Gerard groweth of itself in gardens without setting or sowing and is so fruitful in its increase that when it hath once taken roote, it will hardly be gotten out againe, spoiling and getting every yeare more ground, to the annoying of better herbe.'</em> <br />
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I didn't ask the <em>Sarcococca</em> if it was annoyed, but it sure looks it.<br />
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Its botanical name is derived from the Greek words “agios” meaning goat and “podion” which means little foot, combined to "Little Goat Foot" because the shape of the leaf is thought to resemble the shape of a goat’s foot. <br />
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Another of its names, Bishop's Weed,*** comes from it's being commonly found near monastic ruins. Monks grew and traded medicinal plants, they being practically the only persons who could travel extensively in the Middle Ages without much fear of being set upon by highwaymen. Saint Gerard lent his name to the plant, as well, being the lucky saint invoked to cure the gout. The roots and leaves have diuretic properties and were boiled or crushed then applied as a poultice, or eaten in a bitter spring salad. It's also thought to be helpful in alleviating symptoms of rheumatism, kidney, bladder, and intestinal disorders, and hemorrhoids (not sure how they discovered that one). <br />
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All in all a very useful addition to the early physic garden and the variegation makes this variety a very decorative plant, but it's ruffian personality dictates a ruthless hand in controlling its spread both in the garden and in the wild. It spreads by underground rhizomes and by seed, so cutting off the flower stalks immediately after blooming and pulling it out roots and all are the best control methods. The variegated leaves do make a nice ground cover in an area of dappled shade so long as it's kept in bounds.<br />
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Now armed with this bit of information, I'll be ready the next time someone asks me what it is. I might even give it a nudge with my toe and say, "This one? Well, in the Middle Ages it was known by a whole list of names but these days they call it something completely different..."<br />
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*<em>Sarcococca hookeriana</em>: also called Sweet Box, makes a nice groundcover. Leaves are deep glossy green in shade with clusters of fragrant white flowers in late winter and early spring.<br />
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**Other names include: Ground Ash, Ashweed, Pot Ash, White Ash, Ground Elder, Dog Elder, Dwarf Elder, Garden Plague, Farmer’s Plague, Snow-on-the-Mountain, Jack Jumpabout, Jump About, Goat’s Foot, Bull Wort, Bishop Wort, Bishop Weed, Herb William and Herb Gerard (whew!)<br />
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***Not to be confused with another member of the Apiaceae also called Bishop's Weed for similar reasons, <em>Ammi majus, </em>seen here used to great effect in the garden at Great Dixter.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(greatdixter.co.uk)</td></tr>
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<br />Debshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16822749169354562484noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1567016938210410198.post-39371315735160911892014-07-13T08:23:00.000-04:002014-07-13T08:56:55.472-04:00A Review of Queen Elizabeth Olympic ParkI was extraordinarily fortunate to be doing my MA in London during the year which saw the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and the XXX Olympiad. What a year! <br />
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In the autumn of 2011 a landscape architect who worked on the design of the Olympic Park gave a presentation to our class; a design teaser of what was then being built. While I was writing my dissertation my tutor, Tom Turner, very generously gave me a ticket to the park so I was able to see it in all its Olympic glory (I can also boast that I ate at the World's Largest McDonald's). In this video Tom and fellow University of Greenwich professor Robert Holden, Landscape Architects both, discuss the post-Olympic landscape of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. I would love to see it again, in light of this review.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/RCCqFs6NWhc" width="560"></iframe><br />Debshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16822749169354562484noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1567016938210410198.post-35580330852581985962014-06-07T01:00:00.000-04:002014-06-07T13:37:34.428-04:00Happy Birthday, Celia!Were she alive today, Celia Fiennes would be celebrating her 352nd birthday. In the spring and summer 317 years ago she would have been embarking on what she called 'My Northern Journey' in which she traveled from London up to Scarborough and back, traveling about 635 miles on horseback or by coach over 7 weeks. <br>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A page of Celia's diary noting the beginning of her Northern Journey (Wiles, 2012)</td></tr>
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1697 is the only travel date she mentions in her diary. And it struck me looking at the photo of the journal entry in her own hand: She made these travels in the year 1697. Sixteen. Ninety. Seven. <br>
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No cars, no busses, no trains, sometimes no roads. No electricity, no 4G wireless, no Wi-Fi hot spots, probably no map (she would have hired guides), and none of the modern conveniences that we all take for granted nowadays. I never get tired of reading Celia's diary. In this digital age where selfies are all the rage, I wonder how much of the experience is lost when viewed through a camera lens or on a phone screen as one whizzes through a town or flits from one monument to the next. Hardly anyone keeps a journal any more. Yes, there are blogs (hello!) but one big zap from a power surge like, oh say, Betelgeuse going supernova will wipe out the servers and the blogs will be lost forever. So will the entire solar system, but that's another post for another day.<br>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Burghley House, 'eminent for its Curiosity', built between 1555 and 1587. It had just been remodeled in the modern style by the Fifth Earl when Celia visited in 1697.</td></tr>
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Of course I'm guilty of being a rabid picture taker and feel a great surge of gratitude to the inventor of digital photography every time I click the shutter but I'm more grateful to Celia for opening my eyes and mind to another way of seeing the places I visit. I still marvel at the level of detail she includes in her diary and wonder how she managed to retain all that information until she was able to sit down with quill and paper to record it. Seriously, I've seen her diary and she didn't write it in the coach on a bumpy dirt road between destinations.<br>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Celia included a description of her family's seat, Broughton Castle, in Oxfordshire (Wiles, 2012)</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Broughton Castle, as it looked 273 years after Celia's death (Wiles, 2012)</td></tr>
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Still, these days we tend to rely on the camera to capture views and help us recall details when not too terribly long ago those details would have been recorded by hand, either in prose or drawing. There are no drawings in Celia's diary, though it's reasonable to expect she knew how, 17th century ladies of noble birth being schooled in the arts and all. Either she simply didn't take the time or what sketches she may have done have not survived.<br>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-O5KZJz0QhiyVKeom1BaJG9Nr1i3hmHLTIxRbl69cX0Mfkb-V9bXdZUgTWmbogLOLIO_ZgWEcoMLiIIwZraa1WBm0EUy_ai0kMO6ALL67phM3Wc2LLhvVkvn2fwQ1rZSXUVqFulCV2g/s1600/DSC_0356+(3).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-O5KZJz0QhiyVKeom1BaJG9Nr1i3hmHLTIxRbl69cX0Mfkb-V9bXdZUgTWmbogLOLIO_ZgWEcoMLiIIwZraa1WBm0EUy_ai0kMO6ALL67phM3Wc2LLhvVkvn2fwQ1rZSXUVqFulCV2g/s1600/DSC_0356+(3).JPG" height="267" width="400"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Audley End, built between 1603 and 1616. If Celia's figures are to be believed, at the time of her visit there were 3 courts, 30 towers, a cupola, and 750 rooms. (Wiles, 2005)</td></tr>
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Each time I travel I keep a journal of the journey but have not the capacity for memorizing such minute details that Celia did. She challenges me to do better at recording what I see, which helps make the traveling more enjoyable. That's especially true when I visit a place she'd also been to. Several times I've stood before a grand country house, in one of its rooms, or in the gardens with her description in hand and can instantly see how much has changed. Sometimes not much has and a little thrill travels up my spine. Is this the same view she saw? Would she have noticed those trees, that architectural detail, that painting on the wall, did she approach the place on the same road I did? Following in an historic figure's footsteps has to be one of the greatest highs in the life of a historian.<br>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Chapel at Chatsworth. Celia noted it as being 'very lofty...and supported by 4 large pillars of black marble two at the alter 2 just at the bottom to support the gallery for the Duke and Duchess to sitt in' (Wiles, 2012)</td></tr>
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I will be celebrating Celia's birthday in a part of the country that's new to me and I hope I'll be able to take the time to notice things the way she did. Who knows, maybe my travel journals will be found 300 years from now and used to compare what is then to what was now. Better take good notes, then. I might even attempt a sketch or two.<br>
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Happy Birthday, Celia!<br>
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Debshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16822749169354562484noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1567016938210410198.post-8224143186421363042014-05-12T08:09:00.001-04:002014-05-12T08:09:19.417-04:00On the Case: Garden DetectiveAs a gardener, there are times when I visit a garden and my hand automatically reaches for my hip and the secateurs that should be there, the itch to restore order to an unruly border a constant garden visiting companion. As a garden historian there are times I step through a garden gate and find myself thrown back in time, too easily seeing the ghosts of gardeners past. It's when these two sensations collide that I know I've found some place special. <br />
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I discovered just such a place last week when my friend <a href="http://www.danilomaffei.com/" target="_blank">Dan Maffei</a>, a landscape designer, asked me to take a look at a property he's working on. What was once a farm on the Philadelphia Main Line is now under corporate ownership but the 1930's mansion perched atop a hillside over a once formal garden complete with grotto and reflecting pool, all screaming 'American Country Place Era', are what stopped me in my tracks and made my mouth form a soundless, "Oh."<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View of the garden at the rear of the house, complete with grotto.</td></tr>
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Overgrown yew hedges and junipers left to smother their neighbors do their best to obscure the garden features but we garden detectives are trained to read beneath the overgrowth (Dan laughed at me as I declared, "I'm going in!" and dove headlong into the thicket). Massive boulders forming a terrace of 'natural' paths with scraggly azaleas struggling to bloom in the shade, the boulders themselves in danger of being consumed by tree roots, and the outlines of a fountain basin still imprinted on the ground tell me this was once a grand garden indeed. Strong axial alignments and a plant palette popular in the 20's and 30's all give tantalizing hints but the identity of the original designer remains a mystery. For now.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv-DdzSPsMyTJPWk2lUFdek_zMz_Pra-fmOdcNeeL9bv17OCnAmBXAgyc1dfBEsyU0pEWWrut7qx8oiw0V78xVzBNHxf7bpN-fsh6UA6JZ7weYRN3Cd4vMSwlL9du0XwMDOS7vLUX2Jw/s1600/IMG_1801.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv-DdzSPsMyTJPWk2lUFdek_zMz_Pra-fmOdcNeeL9bv17OCnAmBXAgyc1dfBEsyU0pEWWrut7qx8oiw0V78xVzBNHxf7bpN-fsh6UA6JZ7weYRN3Cd4vMSwlL9du0XwMDOS7vLUX2Jw/s1600/IMG_1801.JPG" height="400" width="298" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This conifer's roots have been growing over the rocks for some time.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGrskeOxBl7dAeaUL8PVr9Fg2eiKkPwVHkrg5eaJU3MoKOtNYYF2DFWoY3puD04slRICHnzsg3WMePbEsqPKWf4T_cmnf3ukkTnnIIqEoSi2A5xr0O-OS5RQ1Jcg01aXQG88iMZPwOJw/s1600/IMG_1814.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGrskeOxBl7dAeaUL8PVr9Fg2eiKkPwVHkrg5eaJU3MoKOtNYYF2DFWoY3puD04slRICHnzsg3WMePbEsqPKWf4T_cmnf3ukkTnnIIqEoSi2A5xr0O-OS5RQ1Jcg01aXQG88iMZPwOJw/s1600/IMG_1814.JPG" height="298" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The pool terrace</td></tr>
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Ever since my tutor used the term I've preferred 'garden detective' to 'garden historian'. It really is surprisingly accurate, after all. In seeking to discover who designed this garden I've got to follow seemingly random leads and apparently minor associations, looking for clues wherever I can. It's a fascinating process, and I was only too thrilled to take the case. I shall be, to the best of my ability, the horticultural Sherlock to my friend's Watson, for while I endeavor to solve the garden mystery it will be Dan who saves it's life.<br />
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The goal isn't necessarily a wholesale restoration of the garden, though that depends on what is revealed about its creators and the ultimate desire of the present owner. I think there's more to this garden, though, and while I find myself wishing fervently for a TARDIS (yes, fandoms colliding, I can't help it) I know with a little digging the garden's ghosts will reveal themselves to me in time. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV1FkqVvZOPo_v2oz_V17XHFp1vaoDVoQ_J3Wv-ae9wSxP0K2pQFW9wzlgvOtIvV8x13trWxbxp6WntwNyrJA4Uh-8VzHHPziZFOaSeUMWDfs1JtLeSLH5cZIHhpftoHIUvhB-wE5qWg/s1600/IMG_1787.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV1FkqVvZOPo_v2oz_V17XHFp1vaoDVoQ_J3Wv-ae9wSxP0K2pQFW9wzlgvOtIvV8x13trWxbxp6WntwNyrJA4Uh-8VzHHPziZFOaSeUMWDfs1JtLeSLH5cZIHhpftoHIUvhB-wE5qWg/s1600/IMG_1787.JPG" height="400" width="298" /></a></td></tr>
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Debshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16822749169354562484noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1567016938210410198.post-59338658191839842572014-05-04T06:30:00.000-04:002014-05-04T06:30:01.604-04:00Happy Star Wars Day!<div style="text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPY4hh6ZNTiDnWANVaz8QVcLkwO8lhL1Q9_-tWPbfArqK8UiFxIHL4x6aotmPdhIo3PqJx_REAhyso3UCECEYligktVKQ3RpU3aEoCr73PEhU4YdVNiF5_ISi9_vBRl5NBWf5fTlsH7g/s1600/happy-star-wars-day-may-the-fourth-be-with-you-20297-1304524213-11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPY4hh6ZNTiDnWANVaz8QVcLkwO8lhL1Q9_-tWPbfArqK8UiFxIHL4x6aotmPdhIo3PqJx_REAhyso3UCECEYligktVKQ3RpU3aEoCr73PEhU4YdVNiF5_ISi9_vBRl5NBWf5fTlsH7g/s1600/happy-star-wars-day-may-the-fourth-be-with-you-20297-1304524213-11.jpg" /></a></div>
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Debshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16822749169354562484noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1567016938210410198.post-42725799553841511332014-05-03T06:00:00.000-04:002014-05-03T06:00:00.593-04:00Put Your Plants OnJust when you thought there couldn't possibly be any more spring time revelry, I'm here to tell you about World Naked Gardening Day. <br />
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Yup, you read that right.<br />
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Internationally celebrated on the first Saturday in May, gardeners around the world are encouraged to tend their plots <em>au naturel. </em>I suppose a sun hat would be acceptable, though I think not having a holster on my hip to hold my pruners would be an inconvenience.<br />
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Founded in 2005 as a way to interest people in getting back to nature there's a nod, of course, to the First Gardeners - Adam and Eve - who tended their Eden with nothing on, resorting only to fig leaves after they'd eaten of the forbidden fruit.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjCiuSsXj46eco-e21Nx2iVncgw-HMd5hBVEEZ0XB5wnPYJiuqyLgemthUWTey2EoBJg4KAVsZhHM2qmhmtvghyphenhyphenB0n6C_-6xtvwVUJv9SfpWDW5pDmEkRJ09-bi1s43JBJKfACJR4vJQ/s1600/AdamAndEve.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjCiuSsXj46eco-e21Nx2iVncgw-HMd5hBVEEZ0XB5wnPYJiuqyLgemthUWTey2EoBJg4KAVsZhHM2qmhmtvghyphenhyphenB0n6C_-6xtvwVUJv9SfpWDW5pDmEkRJ09-bi1s43JBJKfACJR4vJQ/s1600/AdamAndEve.jpg" height="256" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Are you sure that's not poison ivy? Oh, look! Shiny!"<br />
<em>Adam and Eve</em>, c. 1701-1704<br />
Antonio Molinari (1655-1704)</td></tr>
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This year a group of professional gardeners in England have taken WNGD a step further by baring all to raise money for <a href="http://perennial.org.uk/" target="_blank">Perennial</a> Gardeners' Royal Benevolent Society, a UK charity supporting people in horticulture. Taking their cue from the <a href="http://leukaemialymphomaresearch.org.uk/about-us/our-celebrity-supporters/calendar-girls" target="_blank">Calendar Girls</a>, the Twitter formed group called Grubby Gardeners launched a social media campaign by posing in naught but their Wellies in order to reach their goal of raising £20K for Perennial in 2014. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh92UB0B-ODSo_Eo4h_FAy4zvyArywbdjTYn-dsP77LGJKwBC_D-GorKmkzKtNl5kFhJUy-B5dPM3lwkhSAgSLYhUNpU0E7Grvf-qvErINZ38OdBRKvBlAI3Qa4u6I7bI3_6YbiEN4QPQ/s1600/Garden_Boys_credit_Jason_Window.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh92UB0B-ODSo_Eo4h_FAy4zvyArywbdjTYn-dsP77LGJKwBC_D-GorKmkzKtNl5kFhJUy-B5dPM3lwkhSAgSLYhUNpU0E7Grvf-qvErINZ38OdBRKvBlAI3Qa4u6I7bI3_6YbiEN4QPQ/s1600/Garden_Boys_credit_Jason_Window.jpg" height="267" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Grubby Gardeners pose for charity at the Kensington Rooftop Gardens in London <br />
(photo: Jason Window via perennial.org.uk)</td></tr>
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Now, I enjoy walking bare foot on the lawn as much as the next gardener but deer ticks and poison ivy are enough to convince me that full coverage is required while I work, so I can't imagine what kind of gardening the proponents of WNGD are thinking of. I do, however, think the Grubby Gardeners' fund raiser is one brave way to get into the spirit of the day and help a worthy cause. So how about it - are you audacious enough to garden in the altogether? Public nudity laws vary, so check the local ordinance before you march out the door in your birthday suit. And don't forget your pruners.<br />
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If you're on Twitter, follow the #GrubbyGardeners fundraising efforts @PerennialGRBS.Debshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16822749169354562484noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1567016938210410198.post-39543432406868032282014-05-01T14:10:00.003-04:002014-05-01T14:10:24.764-04:00May DayCan you believe it's already the first of May? May Day! Or International Workers' Day, if you're a laborer. Particularly, for some reason, if you were a chimney sweep or milkmaid in centuries past.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb54opHDsP2ld9BerF6wpq8EPzyIXAH44ANyZU26qJv0g46iB5nMWKxujHESYHZ6O5Dt6N6rKEN1NeGWmtr0hc_iQT4FjIFkISDQUFucoxDyULvCNON2GZVMkpF_34gqdvJ9c2yL5H9g/s1600/Thomas+Sevestre+Jack+in+the+Green,+May+Day+Celebrations+of+the+Chimney+Sweeps+of+London.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb54opHDsP2ld9BerF6wpq8EPzyIXAH44ANyZU26qJv0g46iB5nMWKxujHESYHZ6O5Dt6N6rKEN1NeGWmtr0hc_iQT4FjIFkISDQUFucoxDyULvCNON2GZVMkpF_34gqdvJ9c2yL5H9g/s1600/Thomas+Sevestre+Jack+in+the+Green,+May+Day+Celebrations+of+the+Chimney+Sweeps+of+London.jpg" height="251" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thomas Sevestre: 'Jack in the Green, May Day Celebrations<div align="center">
of the Chimney Sweeps of London', 1850</div>
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In many cultures around the world it's a big day for celebrating. If you're leaning toward Celtic ritual, it's the Feast of Beltane, so be wary if you happen to be near any stone circles with a cleft stone*. For you Germanic types, it's <em>Walpurgisnacht</em> or Walpurgis Night (which is actually the night of April 30 but we won't quibble). <br />
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They're all very pagan, these festivals, but while I was in England I witnessed the Jack in the Green festival in Hastings and what a riot it was! You really can't go wrong with feasting, dancing, music, bonfires, and really big people wandering about!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlmUV3R9zB4ktZyDbrKZqJxJ13E4gpmNuvJxN9o2QXJVpeHzI57hXpB9aUm_cvGyhHqE9KUB7ea230xEatWeYQH1SuO_uPqC4UbTfPYlhJzDDW2fSegaS4jXYsO3mFf5EOjN_IEuyX7A/s1600/Hastings+05.01.11+087.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlmUV3R9zB4ktZyDbrKZqJxJ13E4gpmNuvJxN9o2QXJVpeHzI57hXpB9aUm_cvGyhHqE9KUB7ea230xEatWeYQH1SuO_uPqC4UbTfPYlhJzDDW2fSegaS4jXYsO3mFf5EOjN_IEuyX7A/s1600/Hastings+05.01.11+087.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jack in the Green floats and revelers lined up for the parade</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimubqLk5fEkcsbCcxexphwqDq-dcElQbgVSgtxtqEQNSZZhUWRM_KTk-78C7iaQf9e9SDV242LKyGDGp0_840AAB5PBaAoDL1Cd3c7ZX7mkykTVoisx3yLsJyuIkvhu6SEFPfBwkLkNw/s1600/Hastings+05.01.11+120.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimubqLk5fEkcsbCcxexphwqDq-dcElQbgVSgtxtqEQNSZZhUWRM_KTk-78C7iaQf9e9SDV242LKyGDGp0_840AAB5PBaAoDL1Cd3c7ZX7mkykTVoisx3yLsJyuIkvhu6SEFPfBwkLkNw/s1600/Hastings+05.01.11+120.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Why, hello there.</td></tr>
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I do miss the English traditions and celebrations but have the feeling I would be hastened to an asylum were I to walk outside dressed like this:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKeBK76oeEZKgMNOqXHHhRNn58eAlTgfSRY9wqdera-7MYuipJf_OnOwaQ-gAfL_9G9dWY719xfPaShjTKifAD_OTAm6U4E_fmufsW9q39qxym7BIEjpzTSo0Or2GgleX_9j23d7o0yA/s1600/Hastings+05.01.11+052.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKeBK76oeEZKgMNOqXHHhRNn58eAlTgfSRY9wqdera-7MYuipJf_OnOwaQ-gAfL_9G9dWY719xfPaShjTKifAD_OTAm6U4E_fmufsW9q39qxym7BIEjpzTSo0Or2GgleX_9j23d7o0yA/s1600/Hastings+05.01.11+052.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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But when it's for a parade and everyone's invited - nay, expected - to participate, then one must get into the spirit of things. Even <a href="http://gotsoil.blogspot.com/2014/04/floralia.html" target="_blank">Flora</a> made an appearance, with her own crew, yet.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZvZGauVp9oUS4sq1vGh5XEAL0zbBhBRhZd8Pe1uxaCLnQKLm3lZgm0zOM4KzmRdd9yponSokbKRP6jP5Lcjxv69qYGIKiwuq8UARqSYDmRDNj1eJSSWMKNi039i2HYQszsCxG1-8Jlg/s1600/Hastings+05.01.11+111.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZvZGauVp9oUS4sq1vGh5XEAL0zbBhBRhZd8Pe1uxaCLnQKLm3lZgm0zOM4KzmRdd9yponSokbKRP6jP5Lcjxv69qYGIKiwuq8UARqSYDmRDNj1eJSSWMKNi039i2HYQszsCxG1-8Jlg/s1600/Hastings+05.01.11+111.JPG" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Flora, goddess of flowers and the season of spring</td></tr>
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Spring is definitely a festive season, when the earth comes alive with flowers and the promise of bounteous harvests, and when we can shed our thick winter coats and dance around in robes of flowers. So grab your May Pole and some Morris Dancers and have fun this weekend! (Just try not to get arrested.)<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXZtpwwmgxcvwhjCkhwUg963T8jwfVNvK9oyH_Sn0eftzc3EaqwFUTZhk8YtPjwc4euJD8c-9MyI3Ue2jhfYPOZAhHwrUr6bvTL1RAZxCpuAHbVwPoqumo9E5c9su9CqnOfnD0sfXiNw/s1600/occupy+spring.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXZtpwwmgxcvwhjCkhwUg963T8jwfVNvK9oyH_Sn0eftzc3EaqwFUTZhk8YtPjwc4euJD8c-9MyI3Ue2jhfYPOZAhHwrUr6bvTL1RAZxCpuAHbVwPoqumo9E5c9su9CqnOfnD0sfXiNw/s1600/occupy+spring.png" height="320" width="207" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">totalhangout.com</td></tr>
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*A reference to the historical fiction series Outlander. If you're a fan, you'll understand.Debshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16822749169354562484noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1567016938210410198.post-15442635904823563982014-04-28T10:05:00.000-04:002014-04-29T10:10:20.395-04:00FloraliaIf spring's bounteous bloom has you giddy at the long-awaited break from a long, hard winter, no doubt you're looking for reasons to keep the giddiness going. Although May is already upon us you can still have your spring and celebrate it, too!<br />
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This week, why not dig back to your Ancient Roman roots and celebrate Floralia? And really, who wouldn't enjoy a six-day festival honoring the goddess of flowers right on the heels of Vinalia (the Roman festival of the wine harvest), though I suspect things could get a bit out of hand. All in moderation, people, all in moderation.<br />
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Because Ancient Romans believed these things, there were gods and goddesses for just about every occasion and situation. Flora, the goddess of flowers, vegetation, and fertility, was one of the most ancient. She even had her own priest, the <em>flamen</em> Florialis (they really liked alliteration, those Ancient Romans). <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYWhaPxGokHa2ltcQl5WdhbEpYxfq8Tq6LgJtBX468PPeME4cJYMkL7FJTPmXM9-VjvN5vnUqjFYOuGNvT8AEhX8OA6MbRXidf8kfKnzxKSRL2dyU0HM-Xdg6nTULqrYHh5z0DcBlHAQ/s1600/743px-Giovanni_Battista_Tiepolo_090.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYWhaPxGokHa2ltcQl5WdhbEpYxfq8Tq6LgJtBX468PPeME4cJYMkL7FJTPmXM9-VjvN5vnUqjFYOuGNvT8AEhX8OA6MbRXidf8kfKnzxKSRL2dyU0HM-Xdg6nTULqrYHh5z0DcBlHAQ/s1600/743px-Giovanni_Battista_Tiepolo_090.jpg" height="322" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Triumph of Flora</em> by German artist Tiepolo (<i>c.</i> 1743), based on Ovid's description of the Floralia <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-1"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floralia#cite_note-1"></a></sup></td></tr>
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Gladiatorial games, dancing, feasting, licentious behavior, and the flinging about of vetches, beans, and lupins were the hallmarks of the festivities, which began at the end of April and ended in the beginning of May. Naked putti were optional. If you should choose to emulate these celebrations and your neighbor peers at you over the fence with arched brows as you prance around a May Pole wearing a diaphanous gown, pelting him with members of the Fabaceae family, don't say I didn't warn you. Personally I think the Romans seized on every opportunity to be naughty and Floralia was another excuse to throw a party. After the winter we've had, I can't say I blame them.<br />
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Even Erasmus Darwin, Charles's physician grandfather (who was also a natural philosopher, physiologist, slave-trade abolitionist,inventor and poet), used an image of Flora as the frontispiece for his lengthy poem, <em>The Botanic Garden, </em>written in 1791. By inserting Flora into his work as metaphor for the science of botany, Darwin was using ancient mythology to connect modern readers with science, popular culture, literature, and art history; all things the best gardeners I know are curious about. Unlike modern day counterparts, Darwin's Flora is assigned a minion of Gnomes to do her bidding and assist Spring in its debut: <br />
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"Oh, watch, where bosom'd in the teeming earth,<br />
550 Green swells the germ, impatient for its birth;<br />
Guard from rapacious worms its tender shoots,<br />
And drive the mining beetle from its roots;<br />
With ceaseless efforts rend the obdurate clay,<br />
And give my vegetable babes to day!<br />
And steps celestial press the pansied grounds.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi21FdXHWRi8XCpeScoEQ7ijAYHEclbALMcSl_d0LrvEMODjxFx5AozCTU0HUb5rOr_BVV8s6k6iiIJHNQuelmzBqFSD5UCmkcl_rYJt7vZc-CPlvwmrfJi5ATyQLCG8PJCLtwVKAVenw/s1600/midsummer-eve-c-1908-by-edward-robert-hughes-109269.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi21FdXHWRi8XCpeScoEQ7ijAYHEclbALMcSl_d0LrvEMODjxFx5AozCTU0HUb5rOr_BVV8s6k6iiIJHNQuelmzBqFSD5UCmkcl_rYJt7vZc-CPlvwmrfJi5ATyQLCG8PJCLtwVKAVenw/s1600/midsummer-eve-c-1908-by-edward-robert-hughes-109269.jpg" height="320" width="257" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Midsummer Eve</em> by Edward Robert Hughes, c. 1908</td></tr>
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After the brutal winter the east coast has had, I'd say spring was definitely 'impatient for its birth' and now that it's here, why not celebrate it? Perhaps we don't in the way the Ancient Romans did, but we still celebrate it in our own Western way. Do you think it's a coincidence that <a href="http://gotsoil.blogspot.com/2014/04/happy-earth-day.html" target="_blank">Earth Day</a> is at the end of April? Or that blooming plants and flowers are exchanged at Easter and Mother's Day? Something to make you go, "Hmmm....". <br />
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If the saying 'the earth laughs in flowers' is true, then it is positively cachinnate with mirth. Hot colored daffodils, iris, and forsythia, cool magnolias, crocus, tulips, blushing cherries and snowy (ugh) white crab apples, fresh green leaves in the trees and carpets of grass are all arrayed in their spring finery. Plant a kitchen garden and grow some 'vegetable babes', or visit a local botanic garden (just be careful not to 'press the pansied grounds'). What better time to go outdoors and celebrate spring!<br />
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Or, if you're stuck inside by rain like I am, you can try to identify all 500 plants in this painting! <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidHc7WijDyefOPENP3zOmzP2Od1v_PkVN76_KGvK2O3dl57v8CAAheL0d2ioQ4mmWAc3MBDd769DH57S4gm75V08XNWgiR2O9pdskPEfFSiBOrtYZBbb0uDE-EuwtLK3NEEe0fNZYpPQ/s1600/800px-Botticelli-primavera.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidHc7WijDyefOPENP3zOmzP2Od1v_PkVN76_KGvK2O3dl57v8CAAheL0d2ioQ4mmWAc3MBDd769DH57S4gm75V08XNWgiR2O9pdskPEfFSiBOrtYZBbb0uDE-EuwtLK3NEEe0fNZYpPQ/s1600/800px-Botticelli-primavera.jpg" height="262" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Primavera</em> or <em>Allegory of Spring</em> by Botticelli (1482). Flora is second from right. Sources say up to 500 plant species are depicted in the paining, with 190 different flowers. Of these, 130 have been specifically named. How many can you find?</td></tr>
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Happy Floralia!Debshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16822749169354562484noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1567016938210410198.post-27527550626130026362014-04-22T09:43:00.004-04:002014-04-22T10:50:46.333-04:00Happy Earth Day!Today is Earth Day, and it's almost as old as I am. The event, that is, not the earth. Ahem. <br />
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Although I was only a toddler when the first Earth Day event occurred, I remember well the era of the hippie flower child: vivid memories of the bright pink, green, and yellow flower pattern pants I wore and of my mom painting brightly colored daisies on the rear fender of my dad's VW bug are still with me. I wish that Bug was, too. <br />
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Earth Day was founded by then US Senator Gaylord Nelson (D-WI), inspired by student anti-war protests and the devastating effects of a massive oil spill off the coast of Santa Barbara. Seeking to channel protestors' energy into a common agenda to improve the environment, Nelson enlisted help from Congressman Pete McCloskey (R-CA) to serve as his co-chair. Together they rallied supporters and organized events across the country. Democrats and Republicans working together? Whoda thunk!<br />
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The stage had been set by the publication in 1962 of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent_Spring" target="_blank">Silent Spring</a> by Rachel Carson. I'm kicking myself for not picking up a copy at the second hand bookshop the other day, for I've never read it. The book sold half a million copies in 24 countries and raised awareness of the environment and all the living things that inhabit it. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5Cvpf1OEx8Vpk63yfpXnIeFs92_I7L9CSVkiyZNQAzaJTMHAT-wS_ZsFQ03LUHX2mry0pgLSzuj60G1pfWibDtJRxitgs-hl-jsXhgDDt5vs4KNuoBY6qZJEJ3Er8RWtnh64dA9DfgQ/s1600/earth_day_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5Cvpf1OEx8Vpk63yfpXnIeFs92_I7L9CSVkiyZNQAzaJTMHAT-wS_ZsFQ03LUHX2mry0pgLSzuj60G1pfWibDtJRxitgs-hl-jsXhgDDt5vs4KNuoBY6qZJEJ3Er8RWtnh64dA9DfgQ/s1600/earth_day_01.jpg" height="211" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Are you my mummy? (photo: time.com)</td></tr>
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Fast forward forty-something odd years and that sense of hippie flower power is still with us. Until recently buzzwords like "green", "sustainability", "eco-friendly", "organic", etc. were used to excess and people are becoming more aware of the importance of clean air, water, energy, and food. 'Grow Your Own' has become a movement in its own right with more and more people ripping out their water and chemical loving lawns in favor of home grown veg (and getting fined for it, too). At the same time, high profile battles are being waged against oil lobbyists and mammoth corporations like Monsanto which give me pause and make me ask just how far have we come since 1970? Technological and scientific advancement is all well and good but when those advances are forced on the population for monetary gain, how is that good? It can be argued that GMO crops aren't making us or the earth well, either, so is all the blather really effecting any change?<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbDVyu04WZFNLFipGhi5vMMkHHrwr1E5pq-4qZsOOEYGkat1sFfr0Kbs3cQ3JwwhYZfM7ZXOmj7FCLi0ESz0_nJeLcFTpP8Gu81Ejz8qT9e60YhG3kUhbexRifqqJ38aRIsmLZ-7PaHg/s1600/plant1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbDVyu04WZFNLFipGhi5vMMkHHrwr1E5pq-4qZsOOEYGkat1sFfr0Kbs3cQ3JwwhYZfM7ZXOmj7FCLi0ESz0_nJeLcFTpP8Gu81Ejz8qT9e60YhG3kUhbexRifqqJ38aRIsmLZ-7PaHg/s1600/plant1.jpg" height="151" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image from the movie Wall-E, which should be required viewing on Earth Day</td></tr>
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As I sit here working on a business plan for starting up a CSA on the family farm, one thing is certain: every day in the garden should be Earth Day. In studying agricultural and horticultural methods used as recently as 100 years ago it's obvious that 'organic' and 'sustainable' are not new concepts, just new terms applied to traditional methods. Perhaps in order to go forward, we must look backward and pay attention to what we see there? <br />
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So how will you celebrate Earth Day? Cities and towns all over the world are sponsoring events so getting involved is easy: Picking up trash on the side of the road or in your local park, local habitat clean up or restoration, taking a class about the environment and stewardship, planting flowers in your town's high street to make it more enjoyable, maybe even peacefully protesting the use of harmful chemicals in your local public open spaces where kids and animals play. It could even be as simple as planting a flower bed in your own garden. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1sWH_CFnwalfZ8M-BIlANo6CRWhyPBZPHlG0Mtu7SR6mvLwpvG35g5vxqLSXAkcyiAdTNKDK3IUot7us0J5fp7TZOr7x-1GK7sCSwcDXTlX8cyLIWtJAtM0dZNjjU8TpfwBqAXGafGg/s1600/earth_day_03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1sWH_CFnwalfZ8M-BIlANo6CRWhyPBZPHlG0Mtu7SR6mvLwpvG35g5vxqLSXAkcyiAdTNKDK3IUot7us0J5fp7TZOr7x-1GK7sCSwcDXTlX8cyLIWtJAtM0dZNjjU8TpfwBqAXGafGg/s1600/earth_day_03.jpg" height="211" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo: time.com</td></tr>
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However you choose to spend the day, I hope you'll at least give some though to the Earth and what an excellent planet it is to live on. After all, we don't have many alternatives and, while the time each of us is on it is just a blip, many more generations are coming and we should leave them something worth living on.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="288" mozallowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" src="http://www.hulu.com/embed.html?eid=pj8uoow8dnmddgiljzgtbw&partner=msn&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hulu.com%2Fwatch%2F67637" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="512"></iframe><br />Debshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16822749169354562484noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1567016938210410198.post-65866088017507113012014-04-21T11:13:00.000-04:002014-04-21T11:13:24.302-04:00Tools of the Trade<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I belong to several plant-geek groups on social media and enjoy the exchange of ideas and questions in all of them. Today someone posted a question about an advertised tool used in pricking out seedlings. The question was whether anyone had used it and was it worth the $5.50 asking price (plus shipping and handling). Pricking out was my favorite nursery job at <a href="http://www.greatdixter.co.uk/" target="_blank">Great Dixter</a> so when I saw that post, I immediately thought of my favorite gardening tools:</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmvl7W9LtuAG-dyTLEk9ZBOrE5i2k7xkLFd0dzhmLS2ijmLLuCQqSUTyOSnP1hUd7Nq6RqdPa4UYT09ZBTI3ipxsNV8KDVLz-pbVIaeZ0fs7YEzSYfyBz8LxWCz5NfP7x2kbVl6yKcVA/s1600/DSC06674.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmvl7W9LtuAG-dyTLEk9ZBOrE5i2k7xkLFd0dzhmLS2ijmLLuCQqSUTyOSnP1hUd7Nq6RqdPa4UYT09ZBTI3ipxsNV8KDVLz-pbVIaeZ0fs7YEzSYfyBz8LxWCz5NfP7x2kbVl6yKcVA/s1600/DSC06674.JPG" height="180" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My favorite garden tools: a notebook, a pen, dibblers</td></tr>
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When most people talk about favorite gardening tools, the first things that usually come to mind are pruners, or favorite gloves, or apparel. Not me. My favorite garden tools are a notebook, a pen, and two dibblers (that's the technical term for the thing you use to prick out plants. Try saying it ten times fast with a straight face, go on!). <br />
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One of my dibblers is a length of branch, about 1/4" in diameter. It's got a slight yet somewhat menacing curve and the narrow end has been shaped to a point by a pen knife. The cut end has also been shaped but is more rounded. Days and hours of handling, stabbing, and grinding into potting soil has polished the dibber to a smoothness that almost feels soft so it doesn't scratch my hand, a definite plus since I rarely wear gloves while gardening, and especially not while handling small and delicate seedlings. It may be just a piece of twig, but I counted it among my most essential tools while working in the nursery. Cost: free, with a little elbow grease.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjENHLoTZ3zt0SuG2w-sEBViY9OYAA7ObnAZvPYEShz-g3y-uRgouHAbscl9FP3l3dTmeUQDxtch92VC4nmFjlXFCYWzw65AA1NQiNWYk6koYpW_RN9ubQz4IA4K3cj1d1yGPMkj5jciA/s1600/DSC06675.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjENHLoTZ3zt0SuG2w-sEBViY9OYAA7ObnAZvPYEShz-g3y-uRgouHAbscl9FP3l3dTmeUQDxtch92VC4nmFjlXFCYWzw65AA1NQiNWYk6koYpW_RN9ubQz4IA4K3cj1d1yGPMkj5jciA/s1600/DSC06675.JPG" height="180" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjobLSx6mhfKI2Y7Os25LSX4zEEz3fH09hJAm0uyHvY74PiYmnJVArmXDk22Sku3XBfNefO-25ReH9HtNmJD-bSP0vmV-E1jLMCuzoaazxK0CV1DBKzSmoriVjxau53G5Sx-HdHQXQj9Q/s1600/DSC06676.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjobLSx6mhfKI2Y7Os25LSX4zEEz3fH09hJAm0uyHvY74PiYmnJVArmXDk22Sku3XBfNefO-25ReH9HtNmJD-bSP0vmV-E1jLMCuzoaazxK0CV1DBKzSmoriVjxau53G5Sx-HdHQXQj9Q/s1600/DSC06676.JPG" height="180" width="320" /></a></div>
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Another dibbler that I've used in the garden only on special occasions is this hand turned beauty. It's about the length of a pencil, made from the wood of a white cherry tree felled at Castle Fraser in Scotland. I can tell you this with absolute certainty because the craftsman who made it told me so, chips flying off the whirling branch as it spun in his lathe. Some years ago I spent a week participating in a working holiday with the Scottish National Trust at <a href="http://www.nts.org.uk/Property/Pitmedden-Garden/" target="_blank">Pitmedden</a> Garden, picking apples and preparing for their annual festival which included traditional farm life demonstrations by various craftsmen. I got to chatting with a talented woodworker and when I told him I was a gardener, he said, "Och! You'll be needing a dibbler, then!" and set about making this for me. It's a beautiful honey blonde color, polished to silky smoothness by fine sandpaper and a bit of bee's wax. The thistle on the end was only fitting, given the tool's parentage. During the festival I was stationed in the historic farm house making traditional oat cakes over a wood-burning stove so he also made me a sycamore rolling pin to roll the cakes with. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8-aharDvV5Ds6L52Jgf0YL7ZM-YaJAx87AEF7yjmJ3Khm_z-AjXBlZMMNNLLPjHVd3-1yJdpsZOXAdsyKhUBZYFq2YCiF3M8XtawjW84FWIvT0XKQHMFaCNih_IO6snfhY9keaFHGyw/s1600/DSC06677.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8-aharDvV5Ds6L52Jgf0YL7ZM-YaJAx87AEF7yjmJ3Khm_z-AjXBlZMMNNLLPjHVd3-1yJdpsZOXAdsyKhUBZYFq2YCiF3M8XtawjW84FWIvT0XKQHMFaCNih_IO6snfhY9keaFHGyw/s1600/DSC06677.JPG" height="180" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hand turned dibbler, white cherry wood, with Scottish thistle embellishment</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2Vx5K-Dt_FKkPjVecuqw5Oc9yJ7uvYb4nWiv9-jb5KRpoxZZIwwOfrj37tFXiDVQW0kU20ilvP5vWZ3BZ8-Fe2N03oaG1AofP1dE9JAcv7Lt5gjFcJ09X9g1VsyHPc1JpVz2IS02V1Q/s1600/DSC06678.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2Vx5K-Dt_FKkPjVecuqw5Oc9yJ7uvYb4nWiv9-jb5KRpoxZZIwwOfrj37tFXiDVQW0kU20ilvP5vWZ3BZ8-Fe2N03oaG1AofP1dE9JAcv7Lt5gjFcJ09X9g1VsyHPc1JpVz2IS02V1Q/s1600/DSC06678.JPG" height="180" width="320" /></a></div>
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While at Great Dixter I befriended another woodworker who taught me a thing or two and let me turn my own chestnut mallet. Sure, manufactured synthetic tools are handy and might last a long time, but there's something about using nature's bounty to craft your own tools. Unlike injection molded plastic or metal, these handmade tools are part of a natural cycle of growth, use, and decay that won't harm the environment. When they've outlived their usefulness, throw them on the compost heap and make a new one. Cost: free. Value: intrinsic and highly sentimental.<br />
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By far my most indispensable garden tool is a notebook. I've always been a habitual note-taker anyway but while I was at Dixter, Fergus so ingrained the importance of recording observations in the garden that I never went to work without a notebook and pen in my back pocket. Christopher Lloyd always carried one, and the <a href="http://www.greatdixtershop.co.uk/PBSCCatalog.asp?CatID=2268295" target="_blank">Alwych</a> book was his brand of choice. This one was a birthday present from the staff at Dixter. It's got an 'all weather cover' so it will withstand some rain or occasional dropping in puddles but there are notebooks with waterproof paper specifically made for outdoor use if you're working in the wet. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbLJVPBadQ0xZJAFAgsGWPT-R2gz2bde5rEMdNlnjy7r3p-aHdQxu6BBLGEz6wSgGkdOjjs1IWxYk-uOis4WGSVV6ODEfSXsiu5eCDSWHMA92Uyi6y5GHFVWlxESIyamyUVs-MOLlGnA/s1600/DSC06679.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbLJVPBadQ0xZJAFAgsGWPT-R2gz2bde5rEMdNlnjy7r3p-aHdQxu6BBLGEz6wSgGkdOjjs1IWxYk-uOis4WGSVV6ODEfSXsiu5eCDSWHMA92Uyi6y5GHFVWlxESIyamyUVs-MOLlGnA/s1600/DSC06679.JPG" height="320" width="180" /></a></div>
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Personally, I make no secret of being a <a href="http://shop.moleskine.com/?gclid=CIHApMfm8b0CFe9QOgod0DcAJQ&ad=40034465548" target="_blank">Moleskine</a> addict and for use in the garden prefer the pocket size soft cover notebooks which come in a rainbow of cheerful colors. They're available with blank, lined, or quad ruled pages. I like blank pages, because doodles and sketches are an important method of observing and recording the garden. They're not weather proof, though, so I usually have a collection of both weather proof and non-weather proof to choose from, depending on the daily forecast. I regularly go back and look through my notebooks to remind myself of thoughts and ideas for the garden, or to recall the name of a particular plant I saw used in a new and creative way. Lately I've been watching The Tudors and when a lawyer came to The Tower to remove a condemned Sir Thomas More's books, papers, and quills, I honestly felt his pain at their loss. Cost: varies. Value: priceless.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhjSgYHtZslqy05xVnxlYPPk60pC4qxe9cY_4yoQlug35vCu0txEDOPPeCjEYMndiky9ByvV9U5PlbIGziXkRs-xDBLUprMr5-xAXtwmqQ3FmxOrAJmzVpvX2j3GP4RgVCt2RFzNIKAg/s1600/008.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhjSgYHtZslqy05xVnxlYPPk60pC4qxe9cY_4yoQlug35vCu0txEDOPPeCjEYMndiky9ByvV9U5PlbIGziXkRs-xDBLUprMr5-xAXtwmqQ3FmxOrAJmzVpvX2j3GP4RgVCt2RFzNIKAg/s1600/008.JPG" height="180" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My doodle of a border combination seen in the garden at Wave Hill</td></tr>
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The last tool I rarely enter the garden without is the one I used to take these photos. A camera is indispensable for recording changes in the garden and capturing images in gardens you visit but while a camera will capture an instant in time, it won't record the scents and sounds around you, how a place a makes you feel, or record notes for future improvements or ideas. Also, batteries die, and then what do you do? You pull out your trusty notebook, of course!<br />
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Whatever your trade, there are tools that define it. What's your favorite?Debshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16822749169354562484noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1567016938210410198.post-23138881753840384712014-03-25T15:19:00.000-04:002014-03-25T15:19:59.566-04:00You Say Tomato, I say<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Spring is a time of heady anticipation for many gardeners and I'm no exception. Being as I am now on the east coast where everyone is longing for warmer temperatures, spring bulbs to bloom, and the grass and trees to shake off the dreary dun of winter in favor of lush green mantles, there is still one event, more than any other, that I look forward to as the real herald of spring: <a href="http://tomatomania.com/" target="_blank">Tomatomania</a>!</div>
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"What's that?" is what most people ask and I have to pause. How does one describe 't<span class="st">he world's largest (and most fun) heirloom tomato seedling sale'</span>? 'A traveling tomato seedling circus' is one way. The New York Times called it 'the tomato freaks' Woodstock'. A friend of mine said it was like being an alcoholic let loose in a liquor store, only this addiction is good for you. All correct. It's the only traveling plant sale I know of that specializes in one type of plant but within that one genus offers over 300 new, heirloom, and hard-to-find varieties. Many people come looking for one or two and leave with a full tray. With sizes ranging from tiny pea-sized currant tomatoes to huge 4-pound giants, tastes from sweet to salty, a whole rainbow of colors, and names from Azoychka to Zapotek, it can be somewhat overwhelming. But it's also a whole lot of fun!</div>
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Professional, amateur, or shy yet eager first time grower, it matters not. Tomatomania! not only attracts a unique class of growers, it's staffed by a passionate and knowledgeable team who come together every spring to share this passion with you. While their day jobs range from professional landscape designer or horticulturist to graphic artist and interior designer, we all have one thing in common: we love growing tomatoes and we want you to love it, too! </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGGl16L7MNUleP6fNKxgBIG_kWw2xnNP_f5Kx9tOgqhQr_pdPw0u173ylKHHQoagMc_pLiFFsvXr9QkkeahEHZQMK9GvSTZoxbni3_FicmSGJf5qu6a5qwOCcfiNWMwlxByFZEz6FJPw/s1600/211.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGGl16L7MNUleP6fNKxgBIG_kWw2xnNP_f5Kx9tOgqhQr_pdPw0u173ylKHHQoagMc_pLiFFsvXr9QkkeahEHZQMK9GvSTZoxbni3_FicmSGJf5qu6a5qwOCcfiNWMwlxByFZEz6FJPw/s1600/211.JPG" height="320" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some of the 300+ varieties to choose from at Tomatomania's Encino sale</td></tr>
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What started as a weekend event in a trendsetting Pasadena nursery called Hortus (people still mourn its loss over 10 years later), has become one of the most anticipated rites of spring up and down the state of California. It's even crossed the Mississippi and now appears at nurseries and garden centers on the east coast. Owner/producer Scott Daigre and his team oversee the entire production from selecting and buying seed, growing it, to organizing, designing the coveted annual t-shirt, and generally ensuring that your tomato season is the bountiful success it should be. The array of colorful tomato cages, t-shirts, signs, and umbrellas gives the event a decided party atmosphere and as if one party wasn't enough (well, actually, over a dozen <a href="http://tomatomania.com/category/events/" target="_blank">parties</a> now), there's a tasting held at the end of summer so you can share your success, try new varieties, and start planning what to grow next year!<br />
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I've been a proud part of this wonderful tomato circus for 12 years now and when a customer asked why on earth I would take vacation time from my job to work at a plant sale the answer was easy and immediate: it's a labor of love (that and I'm running away from the east coast winter). For me it's not just about selling plants, it's about the people. There are few places in this world where you will meet a more generous and enthusiastic bunch of experts who give such good hugs and who care so much about every customer's gardening success. I've seen it time and again: a fellow Tomatomaniac (for that is what we proudly call ourselves) patiently walking around the entire sales floor with a gardener, explaining the personality of every variety inquired about, recommending alternatives or new ones to try, explaining the virtues of good compost and organic fertilizer, admonishing gently not to water the things so darn much or the flavor will be lost, and for the sake of all that is good and holy in the garden put away the MiracleGro! The level of service you get at Tomatomania! is unmatched, in my opinion.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Veteran Tomatomaniac, Steve Gerischer, helps a customer with her selection.</td></tr>
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Just in case you wanted all that good advice wrapped up in one place ready to put in your pocket, Tomatomania! offers classes and workshops so you know just what to plant and how to plant it. There's also a book and an iPhone app so you really can take the mania with you wherever you go!<br />
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The three-day flagship event at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tapia-Bros-Farm/126868084034172" target="_blank">Tapia Bros. farm stand</a> in Encino is exciting and exhausting but I'm already looking forward to next year. If you missed it, don't fret; there are several more events left this season. Just go to <a href="http://tomatomania.com/" target="_blank">Tomatomania's</a> website for information on the next one and head on over to see what the mania is all about. Trust me, you'll be glad you did!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Scott Daigre and his team of dedicated 'Maniacs at the Encino event</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I am Fitz, and I approve this Mania.</td></tr>
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Debshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16822749169354562484noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1567016938210410198.post-83226476196601704442014-03-18T19:45:00.001-04:002014-03-18T19:45:08.804-04:00It's OfficialSpring has arrived!<br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihWNqaH284Ibaa_LgO04DTaNjNNPHYBGqRAFYMnWJWwiNyVleLgI9G_JsTIU5dCbeRtAn5GdiVZSt_RkEViBACq8SwX3_oAnSPZQSqdw4tX1wUdbz6GGVvqe16xSAL9UTaO5LztuIoSA/s640/blogger-image-1589059651.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihWNqaH284Ibaa_LgO04DTaNjNNPHYBGqRAFYMnWJWwiNyVleLgI9G_JsTIU5dCbeRtAn5GdiVZSt_RkEViBACq8SwX3_oAnSPZQSqdw4tX1wUdbz6GGVvqe16xSAL9UTaO5LztuIoSA/s640/blogger-image-1589059651.jpg"></a></div>Debshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16822749169354562484noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1567016938210410198.post-72670677336170240262014-03-15T06:23:00.002-04:002014-03-15T06:23:46.255-04:00Five Minutes of Garden Fame<div class="post-title">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I'm</span> quite chuffed, as my English friends would say, to be featured in garden writer Helen Yoest's blog! She's been doing a wonderful series of profiles highlighting young garden talent, an idea she got from a similar series featured in <a href="http://www.gardensillustrated.com/" target="_blank">Gardens Illustrated</a>. I had the honor of working along side several of the gardeners featured in the GI profiles and, because youth is a state of mind, am thrilled to be in company with so many talented gardeners in Helen's series. I've copied her post here for your reading enjoyment and took the liberty of adding some links for people and places I mention because I love them so and want to share them with you! To see the original post and more fantastic content from Helen, give a click on her blog link below. Do drop in and have a look around. While you're there, tell her Debs sent you!</div>
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Garden Talent: Deb Wiles</h3>
<section class="pre-meta">Posted by <a href="http://gardeningwithconfidence.com/blog/author/helenyoest/" rel="author" title="Posts by HelenYoest">HelenYoest</a> on March 13, 2014</section><section class="entry"><div class="bottomcontainerBox">
<input class="jpibfi" type="hidden" /><b>Meet Deb Wiles. Deb, thanks for sharing with <a href="http://gardeningwithconfidence.com/blog/" target="_blank">Gardening with Confidence</a>! And thank you for all you do!</b></div>
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<b>Please visit the Gardeners going forward category (on this <a href="http://gardeningwithconfidence.com/blog/" target="_blank">blog</a>) for other interviews of bright young minds.</b></div>
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<strong style="line-height: 1.5em;"><img alt="Deb Wiles" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-22378" data-jpibfi-indexer="1" src="http://gardeningwithconfidence.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/STA76624-225x300.jpg" height="300" title="" width="225" /></strong><br />
<strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">Name:</strong><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> Deb Wiles</span><br />
<strong>Age:</strong> 45 on the outside, 25 on the inside<br />
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<strong>Occupation:</strong> Director of Horticulture, Garden Historian<br />
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<strong>Where you went to college:</strong><br />
<strong></strong> California State University Northridge (BA Deaf Studies), UCLA (Horticulture and some Landscape Architecture), University of Greenwich, London (MA Garden History), and I was a <a href="http://longwood%20gardens%20professional%20gardener%20program/" target="_blank">Professional Gardener</a> student at <a href="http://longwoodgardens.org/" target="_blank">Longwood Gardens</a>.<br />
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<strong>What is your earliest garden memory? </strong><br />
My earliest garden memory is of pinching the seed heads on Oxalis in my grandparent’s garden. I was probably 5 and didn’t realize they were weeds! I just liked how it tickled when the pods exploded between my fingers! We also had a Passiflora vine in our backyard that was annually covered with Gulf Fritillary caterpillars which then made their chrysalides all over the fences and walls of the house. Kind of eery but when the butterflies emerged it was magical! That was the first time I made the connection between a plant and an insect.<br />
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<strong>What made you decide to enter the field of horticulture?</strong><br />
I was a cubicle rat in a windowless office for years. On the weekends I spent all my time at a local nursery called Hortus, taking classes and drooling over the plants. One day I overheard the owner telling another customer about the landscape architecture program at UCLA and my company had a tuition reimbursement program! The rest is history!<br />
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<strong>Please tell me about your specific horticultural position?</strong><br />
I’m Director of Horticulture for an historic estate turned public arboretum. Right now that means I shovel a lot of snow! There are only two of us on the hort staff to manage 13.5 acres of formal gardens, wildflower meadow, and woodlands so my job is very hands-on. I also have the dubious distinction of successfully organizing the first ever deer hunt on the grounds (and I’ve only been there 6 months!). I write the monthly garden tips article on the company website, teach classes and workshops, write grant proposals, and launched the Arb into social media. Currently I’m helping to develop our first garden docent training program.<br />
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<strong>How long have you been in the horticulture business?</strong><br />
Unofficially, about 15 years. Officially, not quite 10.<br />
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<strong>What is your personal garden style? </strong><br />
I studied the gardens of the late 17<sup>th</sup> and early 18<sup>th</sup> century for my MA and really love the calmness that order and geometry bring but my own personal style is very haphazard. When I had a garden of my own, I would wander the nursery and grab whatever was new or unique or a plant I’d seen on my travels just to see if it would work in my garden, so it was quite varied! Luckily my landlord didn’t mind the experiment!<br />
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<strong>Tell me about your first plant love? </strong><br />
I try to be an equal opportunity plant geek but I would have to say Sweet Pea since that’s my birth flower. The blossoms are so elegant yet playful, and the scent! I’d fill my house with them if I could!<br />
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<strong>Who inspired you in your career and how?</strong><br />
Oooh, lots of people: Gary Jones, who owned Hortus; <a href="http://tomatomania.com/" target="_blank">Scott Daigre</a> and Catherine Downes, who worked there as well as fellow Hortus devotee Susan Drews; my colleagues in the windowless cubicle who cried, “Take me with you!” when I left; Fergus Garrett, head gardener at <a href="http://www.greatdixter.co.uk/" target="_blank">Great Dixter</a>, who I met for the first time in 2006 and whom I am honored to call friend and mentor, and pretty much everyone I met while I was at Longwood! And, of course, my parents.<br />
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<strong>What is your favorite garden setting? </strong><br />
I love a garden with a broad view across a body of water, with a seat to enjoy it on, lots of heavenly scents carried on soft breezes, sunshine, shade, something to explore, and something to discover. A cafe with tea and scones doesn’t hurt!<br />
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<strong>What is your favorite planting style?</strong><br />
Right now I’m into what William Robinson called the Wild Garden.<br />
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<strong>What advice can you give others considering entering the field of horticulture?</strong><br />
DO IT!!! I took a drastic cut in pay when I left my high-powered corporate job to work in the garden and have never regretted a moment of it! Yes, it was a scary move, especially since it’s technically my third career, but I’ve made the best friends, have seen the most amazing places, met the most remarkable people, and have learned more than I ever imagined. If it’s where your heart is, go there. You won’t be happy until you do!<br />
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<strong>If you could go anywhere to see gardens, where would that be? </strong><br />
I’m not finished with the UK yet!<br />
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<strong>If you could go with any one person, who would it be? </strong><br />
<a href="http://gotsoil.blogspot.com/2012/05/journeys-of-celia-fiennes-introduction.html" target="_blank">Celia Fiennes</a> (1662-1741). This woman traveled to every county in England between 1685 and 1710, an accomplishment very few men could claim at the time. She kept a travel diary describing the gardens and interiors of the great houses she visited as well as the local trades and commerce. Not much is known about her apart from her diary and her family connections so I’ve started researching her biography and hope to retrace her journeys one day.<br />
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<strong>What was your most valuable training? </strong><br />
Longwood introduced me to the world of public horticulture on a bold scale and Great Dixter introduced me to a world of wonder and historical reverence! Both were invaluable in preparing me for my present position.<br />
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<strong>How can people contact you: email, fb, LinkedIn, Twitter, website, etc.?</strong><br />
<a href="mailto:debwiles@gmail.com">debwiles@gmail.com</a><br />
Facebook: Deb Wiles<br />
Twitter: @dawiles<br />
Blog: gotsoil.blogspot.com<br />
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<img alt="Helen Yoest" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-22226" data-jpibfi-indexer="2" src="http://gardeningwithconfidence.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Screen-Shot-2013-11-20-at-12.14.20-PM.png" height="28" width="66" /></section><br />Debshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16822749169354562484noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1567016938210410198.post-39328266760901347042013-12-20T07:07:00.000-05:002014-03-15T08:43:04.767-04:005-10-5I love reading interviews with gardeners. Being in the gardening world, as I am, and visiting so many amazing gardens, I always find myself wondering about the gardeners behind them: Where do they find their inspiration? What training have they had and from where? Why did they use a particular technique? What was their favorite tool? and If I asked nicely would they give me a cutting of that plant!?<br />
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One gardener who constantly inspires me is Jimmy McGrath, who is partly responsible for the path my own gardening life has taken in recent years. It was through him and his <a href="http://longwoodgardens.org/" target="_blank">Longwood</a> classmate, Mark, that I learned about the <a href="http://longwoodgardens.org/education/college-and-university-programs/professional-gardener-program" target="_blank">PG Program</a> there. After Longwood Jimmy went to <a href="http://www.greatdixter.co.uk/" target="_blank">Great Dixter</a>, where I met him one unusually snowy April morning. He went on to the Jerusalem Botanic Garden, then spent time gardening at DeWiersse in Holland. After a brief return to the States, Jimmy and his other half set off for England and I was able to reconnect with him there, chatting and catching up next to the colored fountains playing in the park next to Marble Arch that reminded us of the fountain terrace at Longwood. While in London, Jimmy worked on the fantastic landscape scenes featured in the Olympics opening ceremony - a once in a lifetime dream job! Then he was off to garden at Gravetye Manor, with the colors, forms, and textures of William Robinson's wild garden buffeting him with inspiration. Jimmy is a gifted artist and I always love when he posts his drawings on his blog, wishing I had the discipline to develop my own artistic ability more. Now he's gardening in Spain, enjoying the warm Mediterranean climate while I shiver through a cryogenic north east winter!<br />
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I have such admiration for Jimmy so I was truly surprised when he asked to <a href="http://plinthetal.com/2013/12/12/5-10-5-deb-wiles/" target="_blank">interview</a> me for a new blog that he and a friend here in the States were setting up. Me? Really? Aw, shucks! I don't know why I still find myself surprised by the way own garden path has meandered, and am constantly in awe of the company in which I find myself. Gardeners truly are remarkable people! So grab a cup of tea and go visit Jimmy's <a href="http://plinthetal.com/" target="_blank">blog</a>. There you will find beauty, art, horticulture, and inspiration.<br />
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Thanks, Jimmy! I'm proud to call you friend!Debshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16822749169354562484noreply@blogger.com0