May

"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."

Christopher Lloyd in Christopher Lloyd's Gardening Year

Spring Is Come

Behold, 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.

- Sitting Bull

Put Your Plants On

Just when you thought there couldn't possibly be any more spring time revelry, I'm here to tell you about World Naked Gardening Day.

Yup, you read that right.

Internationally celebrated on the first Saturday in May, gardeners around the world are encouraged to tend their plots au naturel. 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.

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.

"Are you sure that's not poison ivy? Oh, look! Shiny!"
Adam and Eve, c. 1701-1704
Antonio Molinari  (1655-1704)

This year a group of professional gardeners in England have taken WNGD a step further by baring all to raise money for Perennial Gardeners' Royal Benevolent Society, a UK charity supporting people in horticulture. Taking their cue from the Calendar Girls, 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.

The Grubby Gardeners pose for charity at the Kensington Rooftop Gardens in London
(photo: Jason Window via perennial.org.uk)

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.

If you're on Twitter, follow the #GrubbyGardeners fundraising efforts @PerennialGRBS.

May Day

Can 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.



Thomas Sevestre: 'Jack in the Green, May Day Celebrations

of the Chimney Sweeps of London', 1850

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 Walpurgisnacht or Walpurgis Night (which is actually the night of April 30 but we won't quibble).

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!

Jack in the Green floats and revelers lined up for the parade





Why, hello there.

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:

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 Flora made an appearance, with her own crew, yet.

Flora, goddess of flowers and the season of spring

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.)

totalhangout.com

*A reference to the historical fiction series Outlander. If you're a fan, you'll understand.

Floralia

If 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!

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.

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 flamen Florialis (they really liked alliteration, those Ancient Romans).

Triumph of Flora by German artist Tiepolo (c. 1743), based on Ovid's description of the Floralia

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.

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, The Botanic Garden, 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:

"Oh, watch, where bosom'd in the teeming earth,
 550 Green swells the germ, impatient for its birth;
      Guard from rapacious worms its tender shoots,
      And drive the mining beetle from its roots;
      With ceaseless efforts rend the obdurate clay,
      And give my vegetable babes to day!
      And steps celestial press the pansied grounds.

Midsummer Eve by Edward Robert Hughes, c. 1908

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 Earth Day 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....".

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!

Or, if you're stuck inside by rain like I am, you can try to identify all 500 plants in this painting!

Primavera or Allegory of Spring 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?

Happy Floralia!

You Say Tomato, I say

 

 

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: Tomatomania!

 

"What's that?" is what most people ask and I have to pause. How does one describe 'the world's largest (and most fun) heirloom tomato seedling sale'? '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!

 

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!

 

Some of the 300+ varieties to choose from at Tomatomania's Encino sale

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 parties 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!

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.

Veteran Tomatomaniac, Steve Gerischer, helps a customer with her selection.

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!

The three-day flagship event at Tapia Bros. farm stand 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 Tomatomania's 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!

Scott Daigre and his team of dedicated 'Maniacs at the Encino event

I am Fitz, and I approve this Mania.

 



It's Official

Spring has arrived!

Standing on the Shoulders of Giants

In forty years of prolific writing, Christopher Lloyd penned columns for the Guardian and Country Life magazine as well as an impressive number of books, never missing his weekly deadline. With inspiration coming from his garden right outside, he always had something to write about. And now here I sit at his home at Great Dixter in what I fancy was once a servant's bedroom converted to a kitchenette for students, with the same sources of inspiration at my fingertips and I'm at a complete loss as to what to write. Part of me still can't believe I'm actually here and there are no words for such a condition!

The journey from the States was smooth and uneventful, which is as good as a journey can get in my book, and we arrived in the UK early in the morning and eager to get to Dixter. We took planes, trains, and autos (in the form of a London cab) and miraculously didn't get lost! Thus, when we made our way to the south and the village of Northiam, we were greeted with several happy views.

It's spring here, which is plainly evident in the profusion of naturalized Crocus blooming in the lawns and meadows, the Daphnes wafting their scents throughout the garden, and the swelling buds of fruit trees in the orchard (many of which Christo grew from seed).

We've been here two full weeks and already have had wonderful adventures: a volunteer weekend led by head gardener Fergus Garrett with students from Kew, Wisley, and Cambridge, an outing to Wisley, and this week we're due to visit Beth Chatto. Work in the garden is hard and the list of jobs to do before opening day on April 1st is long but we're getting through it. Each day is different and with each we learn several new plants, techniques, meet a new volunteer, hear new and wonderful stories, and try to keep up with Fergus's boundless energy and enthusiasm (which isn't easy, let me tell you!).


Students who partook of the volunteer weekend with Fergus and staff

This is real gardening and I can't wait to chronicle our adventures here over the next six months! But now I must leave you as we have been invited to lunch with a neighbor and mustn't be late. Before I go, I'll leave you with some images of spring at Dixter!


Liliputian Cyclamen in the garden



Galanthus in the Barn Garden





Daffodils in the Peacock Garden



Potted Anemone on the porch





Sheep graze contentedly at sunset (heck, if I were a sheep here I'd be content, too!)



Spring Springs!