After the flowers fade: at the Dunn Gardens, Seattle

A tapestry of pastels. Arrestingly beautiful.

Can a garden work without blooms? Of all the things I could say about Seattle's Dunn Gardens, this question floated to the top as I reviewed my many photographs. What happens after the flowers fade?

But, first, the Dunn Gardens deserve an introduction. Originally, they were an early 20th-century family estate with gardens designed by the Olmstead Brothers. Generations of Dunns considerably added to and maintained the gardens. Today, they're a registered historic site funded by a charitable trust, and for nearly 15 years have been under the curation of Glenn Withey and Charles Price. The gardens are open to the public during special events or by appointment, usually restricted to groups of 12 or less.

Our 70+ bloggers descended on this 10-acre wooded compound with our garden antennae vibrating. The trees alone – many not native to the Pacific northwest – could be a post in themselves.

Red and yellow foliage pop in the Curator's Garden by the Arthur J. Dunn Terrace

After the thrill of being in a space recedes, you regard it with a more critical eye, and begin to ask: What makes it work? The colourful Curator's Garden above, for example. (For reference, see this Seattle Times story on the garden by Valerie Easton.) If you look carefully, you'll see that all that colour is achieved with a minimum of flowers. There's a patch of calendula on the right, subtly mirrored by a soft yellow brugmansia at the far end of the stone bench. Some monochromatic annuals in pots. Like the ribbon of purple verbena, they'll continue to bloom. But that bright splash of red lilies is only too transient. It's foliage, yellow, red and green, with attention to form, that carries the burden here.

A frosty sea of blue 'Halcyon' hostas and blue hydrangeas, with islands of green geranium. 

I was particularly impressed with the simple combination of blue-on-blue above. This online article on Price and Withey's top-10 plants for colour suggests that the hosta might be 'Halcyon.' Over time, we'd see this blue turn to gold, with the Geranium macrorrhizum shading with red. If they're like most hydrangeas, the blue will turn green then brown, but retaining the snowball form. Piet Oudolf has been influential in pointing out the beauty of flowers in all stages of life and ripening. Hydrangeas are among the increasingly appreciated array of flowers that look attractive as they decay. With all this changing colour going on, any blooms on the hosta or geranium become almost superfluous – albeit lovely.

That was the case for so many of the garden beds we enjoyed at Dunn Gardens. More below.

A mist of blue and purple foliage and pompom allium seed heads anchor this bed

Golden foliage of Sedum 'Angelina' becomes a canvas for bold brush strokes of blue Brodiaea

Poppies are among my favourite decorative seed heads

Not a great photo in the bright noonday sun, but it highlights the river of spent allium flower heads

Duelling gardens, Seattle, Washington

Seattle gardeners, Jim and Suzette Birrell (with grand-sprout)

The great thing about the private gardens we visited during the 2011 Garden Bloggers' Fling in Seattle, Washington, was that they were all designed and maintained by the homeowners, themselves. It's inspiring to see the work of professional garden designers (which some of the homeowners were), but it's also fascinating to see labours of love which speak to the true meaning of the word amateur.

The first two gardens were next door neighbours. While I call them "duelling gardens" in the title, I doubt that they duel – no more than any two avid gardeners. Instead, I'm thinking of our British-born mum, who'd have pronounced it "jewelling." Each, in its very distinctive way, was a garden jewel.

Interestingly, I preferred the garden of Shelagh Tucker, whose front garden was inspired by Beth Chatto's Gravel Garden and whose back garden was composed of flowery garden rooms accented by salvaged stonework. My husband preferred the more practical and open approach of the Birrells next door, with their vegetable beds and constructed pergolas, fences, and a stunning blue shed. Well, I think we all lusted after the shed.

It turns out that in the Birrell family – whose garden my husband preferred – the main gardener is Jim. I liked the garden created by Shelagh. This led me to wonder: is this gender divide coincidental, or are there male and female preferences in garden styles? I researched this question online, and found some discussions here and here. Now, take a look at the duelling slideshows. Then tell me: what do you think?

(For those of you who can't view these slideshows on the iPad, I've embedded the links to the appropriate Flickr set into each of the titles below.)

The Birrells' Garden:



Shelagh Tucker's Garden:

Blooms Day in Toronto, August 2011

Still life, with rain barrel

It isn't often that we'd direct you from Toronto Gardens to our Facebook page. In fact, we've never done it before, and might never again. But for this Blooms Day, when nothing very much is happening in the garden, I wanted to have a bit of photographic fun with the iPhone app, Paper Camera. And it's faster to upload photos to Facebook than to create a slideshow in Flickr. So here it is.

For much more straightforward tales of what's growing around the world on the 15th of this month, visit Carol of May Dreams Gardens, the originator of the Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day party.

Five things to look for in a garden centre

At the end of July, I joined about 70 garden bloggers from North America and the UK in Seattle, Washington, for the annual garden blogging extravaganza called the Fling. Over four days, we saw many, many wonderful gardens, which I'll try to share with you over the next while.

The day before it began, local blogger Alison Conliffe invited some earlybirds on a sidetrip to Seattle's favourite (I should say, favorite) garden centre: Molbak's Garden + Home. To say I was impressed isn't enough. We have some excellent garden centres in Toronto, but Molbak's still has something to teach them. Here's what they do well – and what you should look for from a garden centre near you.

Molbak's well-spaced display of zinnias gradates deliciously from yellow, though orange, pink and red. Nice.

1. Great plants, in the best possible condition

Really, this should be the minimum requirement for any reputable plant retailer: A good selection of desirable plants, well looked after. I stress the last point. No more tiered trolleys, over-packed with desiccating plants, please. Let's shop from places that take good care of their (and your!) investment.

Based on my brief visit, Molbak's does a great job at this. The plants on display were of take-home quality. It helps that Seattle, in the Pacific Northwest, has the "bluest sky you've ever seen, and the hills, the greenest green." Plus, Molbak's has its own 40-acre nursery nearby, and buys other stock from local suppliers. Still, by the end of July, when I visited, even garden goods from nursery growers in Toronto can start to look crispy. After-care in the garden centre is critical.

Molbak's selection was broad, too, from common garden geraniums to lesser-known species such as Mukdenia rossii 'Crimson Fans' (colouring up for autumn, at right). We know that smaller nurseries might not have room for this diversity, which falls into the "nice to have" category of our wish list.

Great signage that tells it straight can be a "silent salesman" you can trust.

2. Honest, informative signage

This picture really says it all. The info tells the whole story, complete with wrinkles. Does it discourage people from buying and trying for themselves? It wouldn't if I lived in Seattle. What about you?

To display cascading plants, Molbak's shows them… cascading. What a concept!

3. Helpful displays

This simple zig-zag of eavestrough-esque material is an effective, two-sided display that works on many levels. It makes it easy for shoppers to see the spillers. It doesn't compact the materials, so when you buy and plant them, the "spill" is already in progress. And makes it easy for staff to maintain and restock. This is the kind of smart thinking we'd like to see.

One of many Molbak's displays that read like instant gardens. They make me think: Yep, I'll take it all!

4. Inspiring merchandising

This display is also helpful, because some of the design thinking is done for you. A massed display like this, a few pallets square, is close to the real estate you might have in a small city garden. It stresses the value of planting (and buying) in multiples, which can only be good for the retailer, and makes a stronger impact on your finished design. We look to our garden retailers to know plants, and also to know design. What blooms together? What would make a statement after they bloom? Please show us.

A shopping cart, planted full of succulents.

Molbak's merchanding and design teams must be busy, busy, busy. Displays like the ones in these photos are dotted all through the store. The colour combos of plants and garden ornamentation are subtle and striking. It's "suggestion selling" at its most effective.

The store also does container design, with sun or shade ideas clearly marked. You can check out plant combinations and do your own, or have Molbak's design it for you. Their ideas were beautiful.

A container of mostly annuals in shades of pink, purple, rust and yellow.

A semi-permanent container with perennial ferns and a shrub accented by annuals (or ones we treat as annuals)

5. Longevity

Molbak's has been in Seattle since 1956, obviously weathering the stresses of growth and generational changes well. With the demise of Reeves Nursery in Toronto, we have seen that sadly this isn't always the case. Our own patronage is important, especially for independent garden retailers. They're fighting North America's misguided obsession with cheap in competition with the big-box retailers. However, smart management and intimately knowing your product, your services and your market, and its changes, is the key to success in any business. Long-term success is mostly what we look for from our garden centres, especially the ones we love.

Grow kiwifruit; yes, even in Toronto

The grapelike fruit of the hardy kiwi Actinidia arguta 'Ananasnaya' at UBC Botanical Garden, Vancouver

If you aren't a fan of the fuzzy skin on kiwifruit, you're in luck. Not only are there smooth-skinned species, but they're hardy in our climate. The one above was photographed in B.C. However, Actinidia arguta is available from at least two Ontario nurseries, and is showing up more frequently on Ontario 100-mile menus.

A. arguta doesn't grow as large as the commercial varieties appropriately named Actinidia deliciosa. They're more the size of large grapes or gooseberries. I'm told, though, that they are quite tasty. There are a number of cultivars in addition to 'Ananasnaya' which gets its name from its pineappley flavour.

The developing fruit of Actinidia deliciosa; the kind you see in supermarkets

In fact, the decorative kiwi vine A. kolomitka 'Arctic Beauty' – usually grown for its unusual pink and white foliage variegation – will make fruit that's edible, if you have both male and female plants. Both are required for pollination. Only one kiwifruit is self-pollinating, A. arguta 'Issai'. All the rest require at least one male of the species. If you had room – and you'd need it; the vines can grow to 40' (12.2 m) – you could plant an absolute harem of females. Local commercial growers are becoming more common.

The pretty flowers of A. deliciosa – which are showier than those of the hardy kiwifruit

If you're interested in trying these fruits for yourself, there's a growing (no pun!) number of resources. Cornell University offers this fact sheet, including the enticing statement that a single mature kiwi vine can produce 50-100 lbs (22.7-45.4 kg) of fruit in a year. That's quite the harvest! There's also this excellent article on hardy kiwis by Nan Sterman, whom I had the pleasure of meeting recently in Seattle.

And for a little on the history of the kiwifruit, from New Zealand's Zespri, the world's largest producer of this fuzzy green – and yellow – fruit, check out this link.

The food garden at UBC Botanical Garden in Vancouver, where these shots were taken

The Black Garden, VanDusen Botanical Garden, Vancouver

The Black Garden at VanDusen Botanical Garden, Vancouver, B.C.

Black plants are trendy at the moment. So I thought the Black Garden might be a good entry point into a post on an amazingly diverse botanical garden such as Vancouver's VanDusen garden.

Actually, it's a bit misleading to call this a black garden. First, there are no true black plants in horticulture – although some deep purples come pretty close. Second, a garden with only the foliage and flowers we call "black" can seem like, well, like a black hole. As you can see from the pictures, the contrast of golden, chartreuse and red foliage are just as important to the look of this garden.

Purple berberis, deep red Asiatic lilies, heucheras and sedums are among the dark plants in this bed

The Black Garden isn't large. In fact, the first picture shows almost the whole thing. However, it is a well put-together demonstration garden of striking plant combinations. By demonstration garden, I mean that the beds have been planned less for the purposes of design – although they're certainly pretty – than for education. A garden designer would likely use fewer plant species, and mass them for stronger impact.

One near-black foliage plant is black mondo grass (Ophiopogon planiscapus 'Nigrescens') which appears as an edging plant. It isn't actually a grass. Lilyturf is the common name for Ophiopogon's close, sometimes indistinguishably close, cousin Liriope (which is also known as mondo grass; another example of the common-name trap), and both are in the lily family. Black mondo grass should be just-hardy in Toronto (USDA Zone 5/Canadian Zone 6) with winter snow cover. I've seen it for sale at Connon Nurseries.

Unfortunately, the dramatic Aeoniums studded within the mondo grass are not winter-hardy for us in Toronto, although I have noticed Gardenimport selling a similar one as a "temperennial" -- essentially, a perennial grown as an annual, unless you're lucky enough to have a greenhouse. (I get no benefit from either garden vendor mentioned; they simply denote availability in our area.)

Red, chartreuse and even peach make excellent colour punctuations in the Black Garden

Black can be a tricky colour to use in the garden, especially in a shady site that already has its share of darkness. Cover up the yellow foliage in the photo above, and you can see how black foliage alone can recede dangerously into shadow. On the other hand, used with colours that advance, such as yellow, black can add a pleasing illusion of topography. It's a different kind of texture; chromatic texture.

If you were taking notes, VanDusen makes life easier with excellent plant labels. Sedum 'Postman's Pride' at right was one of the blackest of the blacks – though its reflective surface lightens up the effect in this picture. However, shiny leaves of any colour are another variation to consider when designing your plantings.

As a sidebar: thanks to reclassification by taxonomists, if you're hunting for this plant, you might find it with the double-barreled name Hylotelephium telephium 'Postman's Pride.' Sigh. Just when will they stop the name shuffle?

The entire plant needn't be black. I like how the red stems in the sedum (bottom left) echo the dark colour theme.

The image above emphasizes the different textures of the foliage used. If you have any doubt, look at the same picture below, but rendered (not all that professionally, I'll admit) as a B&W image.

By the way, this is a useful trick for judging the colour and textural variations in your own garden. Most digital cameras or photo processing software these days allow you to turn a colour photo into black and white.

See the pools of light and dark, but also the linear and round, upright and prostrate contrasts? Sometimes, like the three grassy textures together in the bottom middle of the shot, repeating a similar texture in different colours can be effective, too.

Even in the late-summer garden doldrums, the VanDusen Botanical Garden has much more to offer than this little strip of land. Visit my Flickr site for some more shots – best viewed in Slideshow mode for the largest image size. It includes a peep at the beautiful new visitor centre under construction. Completion is slated for Fall 2011.

Golden bleeding hearts, hakone grass, creeping lysimachia, hostas and heucheras help turn on the lights.

Nitobe Memorial Garden, Vancouver B.C.

You are about to come with me on vacation for the next few posts. I hope you're up for a little travel. We're going to the West Coast – to Vancouver and Victoria, B.C., and to Seattle, Washington. And we'll be visiting a lot of gardens. Ready?

Our first stop is the Nitobe Memorial Garden – a classical Japanese garden that belongs to the UBC Botanical Garden & Centre for Plant Research, on the campus of the University of British Columbia. I'd never heard of this garden gem till it was recommended to me by a fan. It was created to honour Inazo Nitobe (1862-1933) who lead a fascinating life. A Japanese scholar and a Quaker – married to an American woman before such things were done – his goal was to act as a bridge between East and West.

But you can find out everything you need to know through the links above. For now, just enjoy this peep into a special place. For a look at a very different style of Asian garden, visit our Toronto Gardens Facebook page to see Vancouver's Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden. If you Like our page while you're there, we won't complain.