America’s Enduring Home Landscape Style

January 14, 2019 by admin Leave a Comment

America’s enduring home landscape style –

Several years ago I owned a house which included two side-by-side rental units.

I thought it would be a a good idea to include plants along the front porch. I planted the old-fashioned spirea prunifolia called ‘BridalWreath.’

Of course at the time I had no idea it could grow to nine feet.

I also planted a young arbor vitae.

Little did I know that I was following the American tradition of foundation planting, or planting along the walls of the front of the house.

In his book From Yard to Garden: The Domestication of America’s Home Grounds landscape arhictect Christopher Grampp writes about the origin of foundation planting, an American invention for the home landscape.

He says, “By the 1930s, lawns and foundation planting had so firmly established themselves in American front yards that it was rare to see other styles.”

Since then the front home landscape has included the lawn and foundation plantings.

In 1901 the Rawson Seed Company from Boston advertised its grass seed with this image from Quincy, Massachusetts. [below] Notice the front lawn and plantings near the house.

The lawn photo in the 1901 Rawson catalog

The garden industry continued for decades to promote this kind of front yard with its lawn and foundation planting.

Grampp writes, “Nearly all garden design advice in books, newspapers, and magazines were now recommending shrubs against the facade of the house and lawns running to the street.”

No surprise that American homes shared this sameness in landscape from California to Maine – even to this very day.

Filed Under: Garden fashion, Garden history, Lawn

Media Drives Garden Industry

January 7, 2019 by admin Leave a Comment

Media drives garden industry –

We gardeners like to think we are original in planning and installing a garden space.

In an environment of newspapers, magazines, books, and, of course, social media that is not possible because we are surrounded by media messages in both advertising and editorial content.

Since the 1890s the media have become the major influence on our ideas about gardening.

At the end of the nineteenth century people wanted standardized products that came from the nation’s factories, whether clothing, shoes, or food. Even seed company and nursery owners illustrated their large operations in a chromolithograph included in the pages of the catalog. A customer could then see the trial fields, the building which made boxes for the company’s many orders, and, of course, the multi-storied factory that served as the seed company or nursery headquarters.

People didn’t want just any oat meal. They wanted Quaker Oats.

And they got that, and lots of other standardized products.

People also wanted a garden like the one illustrated in the garden catalog, which spread across the country in the millions from the many seed companies and nurseries, operating as the modern business they had become.

The Philadelphia seedsman Robert Buist might have felt the power of the media on his business when he wrote in 1857: “Nurserymen have to cater for the wants of their customers, and they wish everything that receives a newspaper puff, however indifferent in quality–so that we go on increasing in all sorts of varieties.”

Garden Catalogs

No surprise then that the yearly catalog from the seed company or nursery helped people to choose seeds and bulbs for the flower garden.

This Smith catalog from Worcester, Massachusetts in 1898 provides an example from that period of the vibrant Victorian garden.

Because everyone was ordering the same seeds and bulbs there was a certain sameness in plant choice and garden design.

People wanted to conform to the norms of the culture.

Thus standardized gardens appeared everywhere.

It reminds me of the ‘ready garden’ you can buy today. All the seeds are embedded in a cloth that you simply lay on the prepared soil and water.

Not only has the garden vendor given you a garden. That person has also provided the design and the seeds.

All you need to do is water and watch it grow.

Filed Under: Advertising, Garden fashion, Garden history, Garden style

James Vick Offered New Year Advice

December 31, 2018 by admin Leave a Comment

James Vick offered New Year advice –

Rochester, New York horticulturist James Vick (1818-1882) owned a successful seed company in the late nineteenth century.

His mail order business included customers from around the world.

Vick published a monthly garden magazine Vick’s Illustrated Monthly.

James Vick (1818-1882)

He offered various kinds of advice in the magazine.

In 1879 he offered this advice for the New Year:

“At the commencement of a New Year people make a pretense of looking for their faults, with a view to making corrections, so as to start the year fair;

“and they sometimes manage to find a few small ones that their friends have not noticed but never discover those large blots that are disagreeably apparent to everybody but themselves.

“So they conclude, being so nearly perfect, certainly so much more so than their neighbors, that it is hardly necessary to trouble themselves about a change, while, of course, anything like reformation is out of the question.

“The years pass away and the ‘beams’ grow larger, and all others see them, but we never ‘see ourselves as others see us.”

And for the Gardener

“Every one knows what sad mistakes Mr. Smith made in laying out his grounds, and what miserable taste was exercised in its planting, except Mr. and Mrs. Smith.”

Vick’s chromo [couretey of Millicent W. Coggon]

Happy New Year!

Filed Under: gardening, Seed business, Victorian

Newport Mansions Feature Christmas Poinsettias

December 24, 2018 by admin Leave a Comment

Newport mansions feature Christmas poinsettias.

Everyone knows that Newport, Rhode Island is home to the east coast grand mansions of America’s Gilded Age.

Right now four of the mansions have taken on a festive holiday look.

Four Mansions

Until January 1 you can visit these four Newport mansions, The Breakers, The Elms, Rosecliff, and Marble House, decked out in lights and the holiday colors of red, green, and gold. The Preservation Society of Newport County, the group that oversees eleven historical properties in Newport, has made this holiday display at the mansions available to visitors for more than twenty-five years.

Decorated Christmas trees dot the rooms of the mansions. The trees sometimes surprise you when you turn a corner and see a tall evergreen decked in gold and red as in the Gothic Room of Marble House.

The dining room tables are set with period silver and china, and individual white candles illuminate the windows. Christmas wreaths and evergreens decorate walls.

Poinsettias

Three thousand poinsettias add color to the rooms of the four houses. The plants, grown in the Preservation Society’s own greenhouse,

Pointsettias in the Greenhouse at The Breakers

Poinsettias in the Greenhouse at The Breakers

are removed and replaced several times during the holiday season to ensure the displays remain fresh.

The poinsettias at The Breakers provide a stunning show of the season’s colors.

Architect Richard Morris Hunt designed The Breakers, a 70-room Italian Renaissance-style palazzo, built in 1895, for Cornelius Vanderbilt II, President and Chairman of the New York Central Railroad.

Its interior includes rich marble, mosaic tile floors and ceilings, and open-air terraces with magnificent ocean views.

The Breakers

Right now in the Grand Hall of The Breakers stands a 15-foot tree made of red poinsettias. The room with its walls of yellow stone and a 50-foot high ceiling that seems to go up forever shines with the red color of the poinsettia.

The Grand Hall at The Breakers with its fifteen foot Christmas tree, made of poinsettias, to the left

When The Breakers was built, the poinsettia, originally from Mexico, was beginning its journey as the holidays’ most popular decorative plant.

Nineteenth century Philadelphia nurseryman Robert Buist, who introduced the poinsettia to the garden industry, once said that it was “truly the most magnificent of all the tropical plants we have ever seen.”

Philadelphia nurseryman Thomas Meehan included an article about the poinsettia in his magazine Gardener’s Monthly in May of 1876.

Meehan said that this plant “has been of late years an almost indispensable adjunct of Christmas decorations, be they of church or hall–the brilliant Poinsettia pulcherrima, the bright scarlet bracts of which give the head of blossoms a flower-like appearance, and serve admirably to lighten up the somewhat somber masses of evergreen.”

And that is truly what you find at The Breakers. The blossoms of the poinsettias brighten up this mansion and three others in a holiday spirit.

Filed Under: Garden fashion, Garden history, gardening, Victorian

Can Amaryllis Bloom Again?

December 17, 2018 by admin 2 Comments

Can amaryllis bloom again?

It’s holiday time and for many that means amaryllis as a gift plant.

Many gardeners as well as non-gardeners love to grow amaryllis. I counted myself in the former group. That is, until I thought it would be great to have an amaryllis rebloom the following year.

The amaryllis belongs to the tropical plant world. That means for us here in New England an amaryllis becomes a houseplant.

Amaryllis ‘Red Lion’ [Courtesy of Target]

A few years ago I received the Smith and Hawken amaryllis called ‘Red Lion’ as a Christmas gift. I had never grown an amaryllis before and I was excited to try it.

In early January I potted it according to the instructions and it grew just fine. First the plant’s long green leaves appeared, and then the large red flowers followed.

The colorful blooms lasted for a couple of weeks. I was happy with the result.

When the plant’s flowers dropped, I simply tossed the contents of the pot in the compost bin. That was my happy first experience with the amaryllis.

Advice

Four years ago I bought three amaryllis bulbs. I thought the group of three would add a burst of indoor color over those chilly weeks of winter. I chose the variety called ‘Minerva’ which blooms with bright pink and white flowers.

After they finished blooming in late March, I wondered if this group of three bulbs would rebloom the following winter.

I asked some of my Master Gardener friends what to do.

All of them insisted on the need for a dormant period for the bulbs of about three months. I needed to have the bulbs rest in a dark, low heated area of my house, like the basement. This was of course after I had left them outside in their pots for the entire summer.

So I followed their advice.

Then I placed the three pots in the bright light of the dining room sun in early January. Over several weeks each grew long green leaves but no flowers of any size ever appeared.

What was I doing wrong?

I decided to try again the following year.

More Advice

This time I consulted an amaryllis expert I met in the spring at Boston’s Flower and Garden Show. For their dormancy period she advised I store each of the potted bulbs in a separate large brown bag in my cellar for three months.

After the three months, it was January and time to bring them out of the basement.

I placed each of the pots on a separate stand in front of the dining room window. The leaves grew well. I waited patiently for the flowers to follow, but no flowers ever emerged.

That was two years ago.

This past year I did the same thing. Three brown bags in the cellar followed by light and water in the sunny dining room in January.

Again no flowers appeared.

When I complained to my gardener friends, none of them could give a satisfactory answer. They only raised questions. Did I have them outdoors during the summer in their pots? Was I careful to keep them in a dark place for several weeks?

Amaryllis ‘Pink Piper’ [Courtesy of White Flower Farm]

Recently I received a beautiful garden catalog from White Flower Farm. The cover and the first twenty-three pages are dedicated to the amaryllis. Beautiful photos of different amaryllis varieties fill each page.

This year I think I might just buy a new amaryllis bulb.

Filed Under: Advertising, Annuals, Bulbs

UNH Sponsors Final Poinsettia Open House

December 11, 2018 by admin Leave a Comment

UNH sponsors final Poinsettia Open House –

A few days ago I visited the University of New Hampshire’s Poinsettia Open House in Durham. This is an annual three-day event held after Thanksgiving.

This year the exhibit, held in the University’s greenhouse, included over fifty poinsettia varieties. (below)

Colorful holiday poinsettias lined the metal shelves in the greenhouse at UNH a few days ago.

While there, I found out that UNH’s horticulture degree program will end May 30, 2019.

I was sorry to hear that news.

Over the years I have visited UNH’s greenhouses various times for many events they sponsor like the Poinsettia Open House.

Also, part of my training as a Master Gardener took place in the very same UNH greenhouses.

UNH’s Thompson School of Applied Science will continue to offer two-year associates’ degrees. They include Veterinary Technology, Forest Technology, and in an Applied Animal Science program emphasizing livestock animals.

The Thompson School however will no longer offer degrees in Civil Technology, Culinary Arts and Nutrition, Horticultural Technology, or Integrated Agriculture Management.

UNH leadership explains its decision in this way.

The market has changed.

There is increased competition in availability and price for two-year associates’ degrees, fewer students in the applicant pool, and a significant increase nationally for short-term credentials.

All of this has led to decreasing enrollment and offerings not in line with state and regional workforce needs.

I know this was a hard decision for the University to make.

Many people have signed a petition to reinstate the Horticultural Technology program.

Not sure that will help, but I would sign it in a heart beat.

We need more programs in Horticulture, not fewer.

Filed Under: Annuals, gardening

Seventeenth Century Front Garden Restored

December 3, 2018 by admin Leave a Comment

Seventeenth century front garden restored –

The north shore Massachusetts town of Ipswich claims more First Period houses than any other community in America.

First Period refers to those houses built between 1625 and 1725.

The style of the Whipple House, built in 1677, represents that period.

At the end of the nineteenth century the Whipple House was moved to its current location in Ipswich.

Though it had suffered much disrepair over the years, several historically minded citizens of the time thought it worth saving. In its day the Whipple House was the grandest of examples of early American homes.

At the end of the nineteenth century the Reverend Thomas Franklin Waters became a leading member of the Historical Preservation group in Ipswich.

He said at the time that the Whipple House was “a link that binds us to the remote Past and to a solemn and earnest manner of living, quite in contrast with much of our modern life.”

The Whipple House still stands, thanks to the initiative of this group and its successors. [below]

Whipple House in Ipswich, Massachusetts [built in 1677]

Garden

An extensive kitchen garden at the front of the house greets a visitor to the Whipple house.

The location and design of the kitchen garden continues the English garden tradition of early Plimouth Plantation as well.

In the early 1960s garden historian Isadore Smith (AKA Ann Leighton) and landscape architect Arthur Shurcliff designed and installed the raised beds of the kitchen garden.

Smith and Shurcliff set out to recreate what would have been a typical wife’s kitchen garden of the seventeenth century. They designed a garden with mostly herbs since the wife was responsible for both the food and the medical needs of the family.

There was not much time for a pleasure garden of decorative flowers so the plant choices of the kitchen garden were based on the cooking and health needs of the family.

The English style of an enclosed kitchen garden with raised beds lined up in a certain symmetry was also the style at the restored gardens of Colonial Williamsburg.

Mr. Shurcliff provides a link between the Whipple House and the Williamsburg garden restoration.

In the 1930s Boston landscape architect Shurcliff, who previously had worked with American landscape pioneer Frederick Law Olmsted, also recreated the garden of the Governor’s Palace at Williamsburg.

According to landscape architect and garden writer Rudi Favretti, the Whipple garden style, centered on the practical needs for plants, continued as the predominant form of gardening well into mid-nineteenth century America.

Thus today the Whipple House illustrates the early influence of English garden design on American home landscape.

Filed Under: English garden design, Garden fashion, Garden history

Nineteenth Century Middle Class Home Landscape

November 26, 2018 by admin Leave a Comment

Nineteenth century middle class home landscape –

The colonial era along the East coast set a landscape design pattern for the middle class, or worker class, in the decades that followed.

A certain kind of nineteenth century middle class home landscape appeared mostly in rural or farm areas. The vegetable and herb garden was close to the house just where the first colonists located it as well.

Historian John Stilgoe wrote a wonderful book about the history of home landscape in America called Common Landscape of America, 1580-1845.

He writes, “Vegetable and herb gardens ought to be near the kitchen so that the farmwife or one of her children can quickly gather fresh vegetables and herbs.”

At that time most people lived on farms or in rural areas. Their home landscape was more utilitarian than the elaborate designs of that period at the country homes of more wealthy Americans.

Home Ownership

Stilgoe writes, “By 1840 the notion of home ownership was deeply rooted in the national imagination; only a small percentage of farm families rented their farms, and those hoped to own farms someday.”

It was owning a single family home that became important to the nineteenth century middle class.

Clifford Edward Clark, Jr. refected that same idea in his book, The American Family Home, 1800-1960.

In the Introduction to his book Clark commented on what motivated him in writing the book.

He said, “I was struck by the persistent antiurban bias and the glorification of the single-family dwelling that has dominated middle-class consciousness.”

Once people became home owners, the way the home landscape was to look became important to reflect tradition and what neighbors included in their own yards.

The kitchen garden near the house, an idea inspired by the early colonists, continued in that middle class home landscape design.

Filed Under: Garden fashion, Garden history, Garden style, gardening

Plimouth Plantation’s Home Landscape

November 19, 2018 by admin Leave a Comment

Plimouth Plantation’s home landscape

It is mid November and our thoughts turn of course to the Thanksgiving holiday.

That means we remember the pilgrims who sailed from England in 1620, landing in Plymouth, south of Boston.

Today we can learn about the pilgrims from Plimouth Plantation, a site that replicates that early period of our country’s history.

The colonists represent an important example of early home landscaping in this country. They designed a landscape that fit their needs.

The English colonists knew of course of their homeland’s landscape and garden style.

Before they made the voyage, they had no idea what the land and weather would be like in their new home.

They would however build a house, resembling the style they knew in England.

Architect Gerald Foster wrote a practical guide to home architecture called American Houses: A Field Guide to the Architecture of the Home.

He says, “Arriving on the New England shore, the 17th-century English settlers immediately erected Native American huts and wigwams or dug into the earth for temporary shelter.

“For permanent housing, they drew on their own experience and built simple cottages based on familar English homes.”

Here is a reproduction of an early colonial house you can see at Plimouth Plantation. [below]

Replica of an early colonist’s house at Plimouth Plantation [Courtesy of Plimouth Plantation]

They would also adopt a landscape similar to what they knew from England of the seventeenth century.

Because they were concerned from the beginning with their own survival in the new land, any landscape making or gardening had to be simple and useful.

Notice in the image [above] that a bed of vegetables and herbs lies in front of the thatched roof house. That kitchen garden takes up a substantial part of the front area.

The garden shows rows of plants, mostly vegetables and herbs but with a few flowers as well. In England a walled garden held such rows to create what the English referred to as their ‘kitchen garden.’

As with all landscape design, Plimouth Plantation reflects a form that is particular to a time and culture.

Filed Under: English garden design, English Style, Garden history

Squirrel Stashes Pignuts in My Garden Shed

November 12, 2018 by admin Leave a Comment

Squirrel stashes pignuts in my garden shed –

I know of a squirrel that has been quite busy lately.

A few days ago I opened my garden shed and discovered a pile of pignuts.

The pointed mound measured almost two feet high in the center. A lot of pignuts.

The yellow pignut looks a great deal like a walnut. The large pile shocked me at first.

I thought to myself, “How could this amount of nuts accumulate in this one spot?”

I presented the issue to the Master Gardeners at our monthly meeting a couple of days later. As if in unison, they all agreed that it had to be a squirrel.

Pignuts [Courtesy of Illinois Wildflowers]

Carya glabra Tree

Pignuts come from the Carya glabra or hickory tree.

The 1900 edition of Liberty H. Bailey’s Cyclopedia of Horticulture described the value of the wood from this tree.

It said, “Most of the species [of Carya] have hard strong and tough wood, much valued for many purposes, especially for handles of tools, manufacture of carriages and wagons, also making baskets and for fuel.”

University of Georgia horticulturist Michael Dirr also gives a bit of history to the tree in his Manual of Woody Landscape Plants. He writes, “It is native from Maine to Ontario, south to Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi. Introduced 1750.”

Here in New England it is considered a hardy native ornamental tree.

Nineteenth century Rochester, New York seed company owner James Vick (1818-1882) mentioned the Carya in his magazine Vick’s Illustrated Monthly. In 1880 he wrote that the nut, “On account of its delicate flavor and excellent keeping qualities, is the most highly prized of our native nuts.”

Bailey too discussed the nut.

The COF said, “The species of some varieties of C. glabra are edible, and are sold in large quantities; mostly gathered from the woods though in later years orchards of improved varieties have been planted.”

Somewhere out there, scurrying around, is one industrious squirrel who has been quite busy carting these edible pignuts off to my garden shed.

Unfortunately he will have to find a new storage spot since I have sealed up the opening in the shed’s foundation.

Filed Under: Native plants

American Gardening