$5.9 9 / $6. 99 C AN.

M AY 2 O O 6
great ideas for
gracious outdoor living
santa barbara style

Plant a Tropical Garden

on the Weekend
Hydrangeas:Timeless
Beauties, New Hotties
Almost-Instant
Water Features
Turn Bouquets into
Art Belgian Style
contents M AY 2 0 0 6

58
72

Features
La Dolce Vita
70 58
Nestled in a geographically blessed Mediterranean climate,
Santa Barbara and its suburb of Montecito offer an abundance
of ideas and inspiration for gracious outdoor living and cre-
ative gardening. This elegant approach to living with nature is
inspirational wherever you are. B Y D O N N A D O R I A N

72 Belgium Wow
“Cutting-edge floral design” rings true in Belgium, where
designers are pushing far past the flowers-in-a-vase paradigm.
Meet Daniel Ost, Geert Pattyn and Nico De Swert, three
pioneers in this born-again art form, and take in the beauty
and curiosity of their designs. B Y J E N N Y A N D R E W S

On the Cover 80 Short but Sweet

A stone banco in a Montecito Cross over the Maine border into York and all bets are off.
garden exemplifies Santa A creative culinary couple and their landscape designer’s inven-
Barbara style (see page 58).
Photo by Steve Gunther. 80 tive way with annuals created a garden that leaves conservative
Northeast tradition in the dust. B Y T O V A H M A R T I N

When the sun is out and the wind is still, you’re one month on in the middle of May—R O B E R T F RO S T GARDEN DESIGN 5
 contents

Departments
12 Reader Letters
15 Dirt Left- and right-coast
museums and their must-see
landscapes. Sitting in minia-
ture. Cottage Garden in Piasa,
Illinois. Midcentury-modern
garden goodies in Pound
Ridge, NewYork.And more.

20 26 26 Growing The magnifi-

cent and versatile hydrangea.

35 Décor This coastal get-

away is a place for luxurious
but casual outdoor living.

40 Style Water features that

are new in material and con-
temporary in design.

45 Entertaining Maximiz-
54 ing your garden for a party:
Designer Dan Zelen offers
guest-pleasing tabletop ideas.

40 50 Groundbreaker
The inside track on Philippe
Starck’s outdoor furniture.

54 Abroad
ExploringVancouver Island’s
horticultural heaven.

35 89 Sage Advice
You asked and Jack Ruttle an-
swers.Versatile bamboo.A Na-
tive American meditation gar-
den.Tropicals in New Jersey.

112 Details
A Mogul garden brings Moor-
ish tradition to the Hamptons.

For more, check out

45 89 www.gardendesign.com.

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6 M AY 2 0 0 6 What potent blood hath modest May—R A L P H WA L D O E M E R S O N

E D I TO R - I N - C H I E F Bill Marken

E X E C U T I V E E D I TO R Joanna Fortnam
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from the editor

People’s Choice
MY DAUGHTER, VISITING THE SAN FRANCISCO FLOWER & GARDEN SHOW WITH ME
and presumably bringing a sensitivity refined by a U.C.-Berkeley degree in art
history, loved the bottle tree. A bottle tree is not a real tree, but real bottles
hang on a tangle of real rebar—it is garden folk art that I never seem to get.
What you learn from watching people react to plants, exhibits and products
at a gardening coming-together event like this is mind-stretching and mind-blow-
ing.You see what people really like. It’s like a big, live focus group.
We are pleased to say that visitors to the show liked the Garden
Design exhibit garden enough to
vote it the People’s Choice award.
Called Moroccan Modern, the gar-
den was designed by Michele
Swanson and built by Modern
Landscaping. It was created to dis-
play ideas for comfortable and styl-
ish outdoor living, decorating and
entertaining.What did our “focus
group” visitors react to? The traver-
tine paving squares, the beautiful
urns from Eye of the Day and the
ribbony disguise for the Sundance
Spa, among many things. I covet-
ed the elegant, tank-sturdy Kalamazoo grill. My daugh-
At entry of Moroccan
ter-in-law, also a show visitor, had her eye on the Arma-
Modern garden, designer
da chaise by Brown Jordan.You can see more about the
Michele Swanson and
show garden in one of our upcoming issues.
builder Mike Hertzer of
Beyond our garden, the show revealed lots of inspir-
Modern Landscaping.
ing landscapes, exciting plants and further observations
Crowd-pleasing antique
on the gardening public’s behavior, including my own.
urns and reproductions.
Digging Dog Nursery’s booth offered an amazing ar-
ray of perennials and flowering shrubs, including two
viburnums I took home. At Annie’s Annuals, I saw for the first time blooming
in cultivation the legendary giant coreopsis (Coreopsis gigantea) that grows wild
on the islands off Southern California. Happy to tell you that both nurseries sell
their plants online: www.diggingdog.com and www.anniesannuals.com.
I spotted a great solution for a boring slab of concrete: Cover with an ipe
deck in modular form (www.ecowoodscalifornia.com). And I thought pretty
seriously about bringing home a garden gong that you hammer with a drum-
stick.What would neighbors think? On my dream wish list: a garden teepee
by Jesse Salcedo (jdsalcedo@earthlink.net).
Random observations: More small gardens than usual. More diversity, with
garden styles from Japan to Baja to Morocco to Provence.Wonderful green
and blooming meadows by John Greenlee. I’d like to see an award for Best in
Show baby stroller—all the latest models were on parade.
C A RO L I N E KO P P ( 2 )

It’s great to see so many people passionate about what we deal with in every
issue of Garden Design magazine.They’re spouting long Latin names, rubbing
their hands on fine teak and treating garden designers like rock stars. If only
editors were treated that way!—B I L L M A R K E N , E D I TO R - I N - C H I E F

A little madness in the spring is wholesome even for the king—E M I L Y DICKINSON
mailbox
On Deck
We own an urban home in a his-
toric section of downtown Indi-
anapolis that’s very much like the
home shown in the article “Urban
Spaceman,” by EmilyYoung, in the
January/February issue.The arti-
cle shows a back deck with a
sofa/storage center and mentions
KyleTracy as the carpenter.Would
this gentleman have a plan or
drawing for this sofa/deck? If so,
I would like to obtain a copy for
our home.The deck is perfect, and
the sofa fits with our backyard
landscaping plans this year.—Jim
Newman/Kathleen Houlihan, In-
dianapolis, IN
According to landscape architect Rob
Steiner, the design of the deck and
bench (above) was simple enough to
not require plans. A good carpenter
should be able to customize a similar
setup for your space by using the pho-
to for reference.What doesn’t show is
the simple rail and drawer system un-
der the bench—like a single oversize
dresser drawer—that was retrofitted as
an “aha moment” afterthought.
Best Ohio Birch
What species of birch did Michel
Desvigne and Christine Dalnoky
use in the garden on page 112 of
the March issue? —Megan King,
Central Ohio
The designers were unavailable to an-
swer your question by press time.We
consulted our horticulture expert, who
has narrowed it down to either Betu-
la pendula from southern and eastern
Europe or B. mandschurica from Chi-
na.You might have more success with
B. papyrifera, a white-barked birch bet-
ter-suited to the heat in the Midwest
(specifically Zones 2 to 6 and some-
times even to 7), or B. utilis var. jacque-
montii.The problem with white birch-
es in the Midwest is their susceptibility,
when stressed by drought, etc., to in-
festation by borers, which typically kills
the trees. Another option would be to
use a native species like river birch, B.
nigra (especially ‘Heritage’), though
its bark is pinkish rather than white.
More “NameThat Plant”
What plant is pictured in your
March issue on page 76, the
grasslike plant in the foreground?
It looks like a variegated Dianella
tasmanica in a more yellowish col-
or.There are two of these plants in
the picture, one is next to a
bromeliad. I would love to know
what kind of plant that is for future
reference.Thank you so much and
keep up the great work!—Rede-
lyn Guiting, Burbank, CA
According to landscape designer Art
Luna, that’s actually a furcraea, which
is in the agave family.
Retail Customers
Welcome
As the owners of Mesogeo Green-
house on Bainbridge Island,Wash-
ington, we’d like to correct a small
error that crept into the article
about us in your July/August 2005
issue. It referred to us as a “whole-
sale nursery.”We are actually a re-
tail nursery open to the general
public.Thanks much for the chance
to set this straight.—Terry Moye-
mont, Mesogeo Greenhouse,206-855-
9017, www.mesogeogarden.com
Correction
On page 36 of the April issue the
city of Fremont, California, was
misspelled as Freemont. We do
apologize to the good people of
Fremont for the extra “e.”
dirt MUSEUM GARDENS | PAT I O C L E M AT I S | MINI CHAIRS | N E PA L I V Y | A L C AT R A Z | N I K I I N AT L A N TA

Museum Quality
Bold new gardens in Washington, D.C.,
and San Francisco match their museums
for innovation and viewing pleasure
a masterful blend of old and tioned Dore vase. Native plants like red-

C O U RT E S Y N AT I O N A L M U S E U M O F T H E A M E R I C A N I N D I A N ( 1 ) ; C O U RT E S Y D E YO U N G M U S E U M ( 1 )
new, also merits praise and woods and sand-dune-like mounds of soil
Above left: Native
IS IT A TREND FOR GROUND- a close look. Landscape ar- remind you of the park’s wild heritage.
crop garden at D.C.
breaking new museums to cre- chitect Walter Hood faced Fitting in with neighbors—a familiar
museum.Above
ate innovative gardens to com- several challenges.While de- theme for homeowners—was also an issue,
right, next page:
plement the buildings and add signing a landscape to com- with the venerated JapaneseTea Garden next
Tree ferns inside
to the visitor experience? If so, plement the about-to-be- door. A clipped hedge of white camellias is
and magnolias out-
we are certainly in favor of it. iconic building, he also just the right connection. More of Golden
side the de Young.
In San Francisco, there’s the wanted to honor the origi- Gate Park is also inside the museum—tree
startling new garden surround- nal garden and plants. ferns and eucalyptus in the skylit courtyard.
ing the de Young museum in Golden Gate Historic, century-old Canary Island palms Visitors can best see the nearly 5 acres of
Park, rebuilt to replace the earthquake-dam- (Phoenix canariensis), saved from the old land- landscaping from the building’s 144-foot tow-
aged landmark there. Around the National scape, were replanted after almost five years er.A bird’s-eye view reveals a zigzag of ferns
Museum of the American Indian in Wash- in storage and now break up the southern and a grove of eucalyptus almost slicing one
ington, D.C., a garden pays homage to the face of the building. Old favorites are given building into three. From this height, the ab-
relationship between Native Americans and a new twist:A circular Pool of Enchantment stract ground shapes of the Garden of En-
their natural environment. replaces the old rectangular Turtle Pool. chantment resemble a Miró painting.
The de Young museum opened last fall, New artworks are showcased alongside old: InWashington, D.C.,The Smithsonian’s
and Herzog and de Meuron’s copper-clad Andy Goldsworthy’s meandering Drawn National Museum of the American Indian
building has earned worldwide attention, Stone, underfoot at the museum’s front en- opened in fall 2004, and the permanent
most of it very positive.The new landscape, try, contrasts admirably with the reposi- plantings have settled in nicely—the birch

Museums do not just happen—J . PA U L G E T T Y GARDEN DESIGN 15

 dirt
trees’ bark is peeling off in hefty chunks and
looks ready for canoe making.
The landscape around the curvy, rough-
hewn sandstone building occupies much of
the site’s 41/2 acres and gives the visitor a sense
of how Native Americans lived with nature.
Ethnobotanist Donna House conceived the
garden in conjunction with landscape archi-
tects at EDAW in Alexandria,Virginia.
Plantings of some 150 species represent
traditional crops and the forests, meadows
and wetlands of the Chesapeake Bay region.
The focal point of the landscape is the pond
near the front entry; realistic touches include
cattails, bald cypress and fallen trees left for
visiting birds. Along the building are native
grasses. During the growing season, another
section is devoted to native crops grown for
food and medicine.What you won’t notice
are plant labels—a no-no for House, a stick-
ler for maintaining an authentic native spirit.
Of special note are several dozen boul-
ders placed around the property.These are
known as grandfather rocks, symbolic of
the relationship between nature and Amer-
ica’s native peoples.—R U T H C H I V E R S
AND BILL MARKEN
For details on visiting the de Young muse-
um and exhibitions, see www.thinker.org/de
young/index.asp. For details on the NMAI,
see www.americanindian.si.edu.
16 M AY 2 0 0 6
plants
Patio Perfect
AS MORE PEOPLE CHOOSE TO LIVE IN TOWN- care dwarf cultivars designed for growing
houses and apartments, their gardens are in larger containers.The plants reach only
shrinking, often to the size of patios or bal- 3 or 4 feet tall, but their flowers are large
conies.What can gardeners do to overcome and are produced freely on both last year’s
the space crunch? Grow up. stems and new growth.This means that even
That was the impetus for me to develop if a severe winter kills top growth back to
dwarf, bushy new varieties of one of my fa- ground level, the clematis will still grow and
vorite plants—clematis.These “patio clema- flower the following spring.
tis” as they’ve been dubbed, can be planted Like other clematis, the dwarf varieties
in containers among flowering annuals, pro- need a companion plant or some other sup-
vide columns of color to define an outdoor port to grow on, lots of water and excellent
room or enhance the view from a deck. drainage.They also like their roots to be kept
And the multistemmed plants, which aren't cool.That’s easy to accomplish—just plant
leggy like so many of the colorful annuals or even shal-
older clematis, will keep low-rooted perennials in the
flowering from spring same container and they will
through late summer. protect the clematis’ roots,
Last year the fruit of my as well as add extra oomph
labors, the Raymond Evison to the flower display.
Patio Clematis™ Collection, And, based on my expe-
was launched at last and this rience, you can forget all
spring three new colors have those complex rules about
been added to the group— pruning associated with old-
C O U RT E S Y D E YO U N G M U S E U M ( 1 ) ; R AY M O N D E V I S O N ( 4 )
Bourbon™ is purple-band- er clematis varieties. Plants
ed with red, Angelique™ is in the Patio Clematis Col-
palest lilac and Parisienne™ lection do well with the
is mauve with reddish an- “ponytail prune.” Before new
thers.The designer hues fit growth appears, grasp all the
with the trend to extend in- Sampling of the Patio stems 12 inches above soil
terior decor to outdoor liv- Clematis™ Collection, level, and cut off the tops.—
ing spaces. clockwise from top left: R AY M O N D E V I S O N
It took 10 years for the Panache™,Versailles™,
Evison™ and Poulsen® breed- new lilac Angelique™ For more info on the Raymond
ing program to develop this and Hyde Hall™. Evison Patio Clematis Collection,
new kind of clematis, easy- visit www.evisonclematis.com.
A little saint best fits a little shrine.A little prop best fits a little vine—R O B E R T HERRICK
 dirt
growing
TOP SEED
More than 10 years ago Curtis Jones and Judy
Seaborn came together in life and in business.
Now their family-owned company, Botanical In-
terests, in Broomfield, Colorado, has become a
source for top-quality flower, vegetable and herb
seeds.The rigorously tested, hand-picked seeds
are untreated with chemicals and represent
more than 400 varieties, including a Certified
Organic line and heirlooms.
A sampling of noteworthy items includes
‘Black Magic’ bachelor button, ‘Chater’s Double’
hollyhock, ‘Candy Stripe’ cosmos,‘Teatime Red’
hibiscus,‘Thumbelina’ carrot, seven varieties of
gourds, 10 basils and 23 peppers.
Botanical Interests artfully includes plenty of
information, outside and inside the beautifully de-
signed seed packets, on everything gardeners
need to know and then some—water, soil, light,
planting depth, days to harvest or bloom, color
and habit, frost dates, and even a historical or
culinary tidbit or two. Each packet is like a minis-
tory about the plant. Jones and Seaborn say,“Our
aim is for the gardener using our seeds to say at
the end of the season,‘What a terrific gar-
dening year this was. I did a
great job.’”—E L L E N W E L L S
fyi For more information, e-
mail inform@botanicalinterests.com or see
www.botanicalinterests.com. Seeds are available
from retail stores and independent Web sites.
18 M AY 2 0 0 6
destination nursery
PrairieTropical
THE MOST STYLISH GARDENS ALWAYS SEEM TO
be exotic paradises thriving in coastal cli-
mates.To a Midwestern prairie gardener,
used to stifling summers and blood-stilling
winters, such lush displays are an unfair tease.
Fret not, flatlanders, because in a place not
far from St. Louis dreams of a backyard jun-
gle can be fulfilled, if only for a few months.
Cottage Garden, in small-town Piasa (pro-
nounced PIE-a-saw), Illinois, is run by a self-
professed plantaholic who feels your pain.
Chris Kelley and husband/business part-
ner, Bill Kelley, opened a retail and mail-
order perennial nursery in 1987.A passion
for the colorful personalities of tropicals
gradually overtook Chris.Today she calls
the nursery a “plant zoo” specializing in
“tropicalismo on the prairie,” unusual ten-
der annuals that love the region’s steamy
summers and balmy early autumns.
The mom-and-pop operation still offers
a hefty share of hardy perennials, including
hostas and many hard-to-find natives such
as pale-yellow Baptisia x ‘Carolina Moon-
light’. But it's the tempting tropicals, skill-
Convince me that you have a seed there, and I am prepared to expect wonders—H E N R Y
Left to right: Cottage Garden
nursery offers a choice
selection of tropicals for
Midwesterners; rex begonia
vine (Cissus discolor) in front
of Hosta ‘Golden Sculpture’.
fully arranged in sample containers and
beds, that are the draw for an experimen-
tal palate. Look for Brugmansia‘Super Nova’
with its 16-inch-long white trumpet
blooms, tiny Caladium humboldtii, and fab-
ulous Nicotiana mutabilis. New last year was
Jasminum officinale Fiona Sunrise™, grown
in the Midwest for its striking golden fo-
liage.This year it’s shrimp plant, Justicia
carnea ‘Radiant’. Visitors can shop from
among 60 varieties of hummingbird fa-
vorites and tour the stock-plant greenhouse
for a peek at what’s coming next season.
Make a day of it by first visiting the in-
spirational Missouri Botanical Garden
(www.mobot.org) in St. Louis. Cottage Gar-
den is only a 45-minute northeasterly drive
C Z A C H S TO VA L L ( 1 ) ; C H R I S K E L L E Y ( 2 )
away, and proprietors the Kelleys will rec-
ommend several charming eateries nearby
to satisfy a gardener’s more visceral
hunger.—L AU R I E G R A N O
Cottage Garden, 6967 Illinois Route 111,
Piasa, IL 62079. Call 618-729-4324 or see
www.cottgardens.com.
DAV I D T H O R E A U
books

QUEST FOR EDEN

As anyone who has ever gardened

even briefly knows, it can be an epic

journey, sometimes to the funny

farm. In The $64

Tomato (Algonquin

Books, $22.95), gen-

tleman farmer

William Alexander

recounts with wry

humor and dead-on insight his joys,

woes, epiphanies and philosophies as

he realizes that the road to his idyllic

garden is paved with Japanese bee-

tles, groundhogs, weeds and misguid-

ed contractors. He says, "Gardening is

often thought to be a genteel, relax-

ing hobby....For me, gardening more

often resembles blood sport." So why

do it? For Alexander it's a fascination

with the cycle of life, the triumph of

optimism over experience, and the

food. Ah, the food!

A litany of every possible gardening

experience—from deer fencing to

weed-filled topsoil to canning an over-

abundance of peaches to planting a

meadow—this book will strike a chord

(and hit a few nerves) with anyone

who dreams of orderly rows of ripen-

ing veggies and eating a tomato fresh

off the vine. In the end, it's worth all

the drama even if, when expenses are

tallied and amortized, the tomato

does cost $64.—Jenny Andrews

 dirt
Clockwise from top
left: Panton Chair set,
Gala by Franco Albini,
Indoor chair Lockheed
Lounge designed by
Marc Newson in 1986.
collecting
Big Design, Small Package
WHEN IT COMES TO ADDICTIONS, COLLECTING
miniature chairs is a stylish vice—and a great
way for space-strapped furniture junkies to
live with history-making design.
TheVitra Design Museum has added four
new mini chairs, including a palm-size ver-
sion of the wicker Gala designed in 1950 by
Franco Albini, to its ever-growing Minia-
tures Collection which now includes close
to 100 tiny perfect copies of classic chairs,
indoor and outdoor, from the past 180 years.
In 1992 the museum, inWeil am Rhein,
Germany, started producing handmade chairs
that are one-sixth the size of famous origi-
nals housed in Vitra’s permanent collection,
which includes seating by Ludwig Mies van
20 M AY 2 0 0 6
der Rohe, Charles Rennie Mackintosh,
Charles Eames, Frank Gehry and Philippe
Starck. Special licensing agreements are
arranged with designers or designers’ estates,
Vitra officials say, to ensure the minis are ex-
act, albeit much-scaled-down, replicas.
Garden-, patio- or porch-centric chairs
in the miniatures lineup include the cast-
iron Gartenstuhl designed in 1820 by Karl
Friedrich Schinkel, the painted-metal Mid-
way Gardens Chair by Frank LloydWright
in 1913, and the 1986 painted-steel Think-
ing Man’s Chair by Jasper Morrison.
Other indoor-outdoor creations include
the 1986 sinuous bent and welded steel
Spine by Andre Dubreuil and the 1952 lat-
A chair is a very difficult object to design.A skyscraper is almost easier—L U D W I G
fyi Chairs are available at Vitra,
29 Ninth Ave., New York, NY,
212-463-5750; 557 Pacific Ave.,
San Francisco, CA, 415-296-0711;
and MoMA Design and Book
Store, 11 W. 53rd St.,
New York, NY, 212-708-9700,
www.MoMAstore.org.
ticelike Diamond Chair by Harry Bertoia.
(Vitra’s mini-Diamond is the indoor chrome
version; the original chair was also made in
a rubberized white for outdoor use.)Vern-
C O U RT E S Y V I T R A D E S I G N M U S E U M ( 3 ) ; P E T E R L O E W E R ( 1 )
er Panton designed the colorful, stackable
plastic Panton Chair in 1960, then costly to
make and considered too precious for out-
door use; today, the mini-Panton (sold in
sets of five) and a full-sized model are re-
produced by Vitra in an inexpensive
polypropylene that works well on a patio.
Still, the petite Panton and other Vitra
miniatures are valuable collectibles and
should be displayed in a protected area.The
little chairs range in price from about $100
to more than $600 each.—LAURIE GRANO
M I E S VA N D E R RO H E
i love this plant

NEPAL IVY
One of the happiest times as a horticulturist or
nursery person in North Carolina was the an-
nual plant distribution engineered by the late
J.C. Raulston, founding director of a unique plant
collection and arboretum in Raleigh now called
the JC Raulston Arboretum in his honor.
Each year in this salute to plants, a black
trash bag full of rooted cuttings was handed out
to members of the nursery trade at conventions
across the state. For the arboretum the purpose
was to broaden the selection of plants available
for sale to keep the industry in high gear.
I was lucky to collect a wonderland of
unique plants from those horticultural hand-
outs.At the top of my list is the variegated
Nepal ivy (Hedera nepalensis var. sinensis 'Mar-
bled Dragon') I acquired in 1997.Today this
treasure spills over the stone wall in my side
garden. Its 5-inch lobed leaves have cream-col-
ored veining and neat splatters of lime green.
Mature plants can produce striking yellow or
orange umbels of fruits. Plants are easy to prop-
agate using only single-node cuttings.
The ivy’s hardiness has been listed as Zone 8
(usually in British references), but I’ve found it
quite hardy in my Asheville garden (Zone 6b),
where we often have windy winter nights
around 0 degrees.While there is some leaf burn
in really cold winters, the vines recover in spring.
One difficulty in writing about great plants is
including a source. Fortunately I live near Sandy
Mush Herb Nursery (www.sandymushherbs.
com). Since the owners are longtime admirers of
Raulston, I called proprietor Fairman Jayne and
learned that the nursery does stock this plant
and that it’s hardy at their location in the North
Carolina mountains.“It's a beauty,” agreed Fair-
man,“and a continuing salute to Raulston’s ge-
nius at collecting.”—P E T E R L O E W E R
 dirt
restoration
Paradise on Devil’s Island
ALCATRAZ ISLAND, HOME OF THE INFAMOUS
prison, each day attracts thousands of visi-
tors who are ferried across San Francisco
Bay’s unforgiving waters to tour the creepy
historic cellblock. Over the years, few peo-
ple noticed the gardens.
Yes, there are gardens on The Rock, at
one time at least 2 acres of them, in meager
soil amid tumbled ruins and wild over-
growth.When the prison closed in 1963,
plants maintained by inmates were on their
own.The budget-strapped National Park Ser-
vice took over the site in 1972, and since then
the skeleton staff has had its hands full pre-
serving the crumbling buildings, let alone
the once-vibrant gardens.
The neglected roses, agaves, ice plants,
calla lilies and fuchsias (among nearly 200 na-
tive and exotic varieties found so far) have
proven to be as tough as the convicts who
once tended them, and their resilience is be-
22 M AY 2 0 0 6
or so years shows the gardens to be an in-
triguing microcosm of how plants are intro-
duced to an initially barren habitat, how hu-
mans and plants interact, and national
gardening trends.The gardens date to the late
1860s, when the island was being trans-
formed from a U.S.Army fort into a military
prison. Officers and their wives, in attempts
to make the bleak landscape more inviting,
designed small Victorian-style plots planted
in soil brought over by barge. Plantings later
increased when a gardening rehabilitation
program was created for prisoners. (The fas-
cinating history is covered in the 1996 book
Gardens of Alcatraz by John Hart, Russell A.
ing rewarded. Led by the Golden Gate Na- Beatty and Michael Boland.) After Alcatraz
tional RecreationArea, Golden Gate National became a federal penitentiary in 1934, Fred-
Parks Conservancy and The Garden Conser- die Reichel, secretary to the warden and self-
vancy, and fueled by volunteers, restoration taught gardener, guided a team of inmates in
of the abandoned gardens is underway. further improving the island’s colorful cas-
Information accumulated over a hundred cading gardens, which at their peak offered
neighboring San Franciscans dramatic views.
Alcatraz gardeners sought out plants from
parts of the world with climates similar to
that of California’s coast; the restoration is
L I N DA OYA M A B RYA N ( 2 ) ; C O P Y R I G H T L E C H J A R E T KO ( 1 ) ; C O P Y R I G H T S A R A H C A R M O DY ( 1 ) ; A N D R E B A R A N O W S K I ( 1 )
teaching just how hardy exotic ornamentals
can be. “People always talk about using na-
tives for sustainable gardens,” says Carola
Ashford, project manager of the Alcatraz His-
toric Gardens Project for the
Garden Conservancy. “These
Agaves (above),
exotics are thriving without a
pink geraniums
lot of intervention, chemical or
and yellow sedums
otherwise.”
(left) thrive among
“This place is so harsh with all
other tough plants
the gray rock and concrete, to
at Alcatraz.
see the gardens is to see the is-
land’s softer side,” says Jayeson
Vance, park service ranger. In restored sec-
tions visitors linger and take care not to litter.
The hidden gardens of Alcatraz, once
apparent only to those who knew where
to look, are being set free for all to enjoy.
Perhaps one day the plantings will be as
powerful a draw as the haunting prison
buildings.—L AU R I E G R A N O
For information see www.parksconservancy.org
and www.nps.gov/alcatraz/nature.
It looks like Alcatraz has got me licked—A L CAPONE
 shopping

AVANT GARDEN
When Kristin and Charlie Allen saw the dilapi-
dated gas station in the idyllic Westchester
County town of Pound Ridge, NewYork, they
realized that its industrial look and soaring ceil-
ings were a perfect match for their garden an-
tiques shop,Avant Garden.
“We wanted to invigorate the vocabulary of
garden antiques,” says Kristin, who, with Charlie,
opened Avant Garden in 2003.They are part of
the new generation of antiques dealers drawn to
the clean, spare lines of midcentury modernism,
and their passion is evident in the shop filled
with industrial containers, zinc-topped tables,
sculpture and amoebic-shaped planters.
When they aren’t minding the shop or show-
ing at top design and garden shows in the New
exibits
York area, Charlie, who is English by birth, is of-
ten on buying trips to England, France, Belgium

NIKI IN ATLANTA Above: Nana on a

and Italy.“There is really a big difference between
American and European industrial.A European
To walk through the Atlanta Botanical Garden this spring is to enter étagère, for example, has extraordinary detail—
Dolphin, 1998, and
even its rivet pieces are interesting,” says Kristin.
a dreamscape peopled with oversize animals, eerie totems and zaftig Guardian Lion, 2000;
Because the warm-weather season is so
two of the works
dancing women.Welcome to the fanciful world of noted French short in the Northeast,Avant Garden is also a
by Niki de Saint
perfect stage set for innovative pieces that bring
artist Niki de Saint Phalle, whom ABG director Mary Pat Matheson Phalle on display.
the outdoors in, from faux bois, industrial street
calls "one of the most significant female artists of the 20th century." lanterns to stone-topped game tables and an-
thropomorphic lamps.“One of our most satisfy-
"Niki in the Garden" is one of the most extensive exhibitions of Saint Phalle's sculptures, including
ing recent sales was a complete set of
36 large pieces—some as long as 25 feet—as well as smaller works, their polymer forms covered Woodard’s classic wire-mesh Sculptura line from
the 1950s,” says Kristin.—D O N N A D O R I A N
with glittering mosaics of tile, glass and semiprecious stones. Coming from as far away as France,

Germany and California, some of the figures are so large they had to be moved in sections.A few For more information call 914-764-0010 or see
www.avantgardenltd.com.
sculptures can even be entered and the mosaics continue on the interior walls.

Saint Phalle was unconventional as an artist and a woman—fashion model, set and costume

designer, self-taught artist and the only female member of the Nouveau Realisme movement,

which included Christo, Gérard Deschamps,Yves Klein and her husband, Jean Tinguely. She was fa-

mous in the 1960s for her "shooting paintings," created by firing a gun at containers of paint, but

eventually sculpture became her primary medium. Influenced by artists like Antonio Gaudi and

Salvador Dali, she created monumental, surreal figures,

"Niki in the Garden" will be on
both startling and joyful. Her work can be seen in public
display through October. Every
Thursday evening the garden will spaces worldwide, including the Tarot Garden in Tuscany,
be open to the public and the
the Stravinsky Fountain in Paris and Queen Califia's Magi-
sculptures lit for "Niki Nights."
cal Circle in Escondido, California. —J A

But man does not create…he discovers—A N T O N I O GAUDI GARDEN DESIGN 23

 dirt

RECIPE
30 pink parrot tulips
6 long green carrot tops
24 red-tinted fava beans
one small bunch of red-leaf lettuce
raffia wire
1 round glass bowl about 8 inches in diame-
ter, the length of the fava beans

Celebrate spring this year by giving vegetables

a place of honor in your bouquets. Here are in-
the cutting edge
structions on how one floral designer, Banchet

SPRING POTAGER Jaigla, approaches the season.

To wrap the bowl in fava beans, stretch an
BANCHET JAIGLA STARTED MAKING FLORAL DESIGNS 19 YEARS AGO, WORKING OUT OF HER elastic band around the bowl and slip the beans
barn in Bedford, NewYork.Today she has an international reputation, having won awards under it. Conceal the band by tying over it tight-
across the globe for a unique visual vocabulary underscored by the variety and quanti- ly with raffia wire. Bunch the tulips together in
ty of flowers she regularly garners from growers in Asia,Africa and South America. groups of five, using raffia to tie each group to-
Her latest project is Flower Bar, to open early this summer in her enlarged flower gether. Pour enough water into the bowl to reach
shop in Manhattan’s edgy meatpacking district, where wine, champagne and ready- the bottom of the tulip stems, then add the tulips
to-go floral arrangements will be offered.While bars are generally lined with liquor to the bowl. Cut the green tops off just-picked
bottles, Banchet’s effusive orchid arrangements will be on display instead. Flowers and carrots and place one top between each group
MICHAEL KRAUS

cocktails are an irresistable combination—and it happened at Flower Bar first.—D D of tulips. Bunch up the lettuce and place it at the
top of the arrangement.
Banchet Flowers:809Washington St.,NewYork,NY;212-989-1088;www.BanchetFlowers.com.

24 M AY 2 0 0 6 The fountain is my speech.The tulips are my speech.The grass and trees are my speech—G E O R G E T. D E L A C O RT E
 growing
Heavenly Hydrangeas
Voluptuous or dainty, hydrangeas offer color and
solid-citizen stability to borders and containers
MORE THAN SUMMER DECORATION FOR SEASHORE COTTAGES OR SPACE-FILLERS ALONG FOUNDATIONS,
hydrangeas are versatile shrubs suitable for almost any garden in areas that experience some win-
ter cold. Most of the familiar kinds hail from China, the Himalayas, Japan and North America, but
others in this genus of around 100 species come from the Philippines, Indonesia and South Amer-
ica.Almost all bloom in white, pink, blue or lavender on mounded or treelike coarse-leaved plants.
Lacecap types bear demure seed-producing flowers surrounded by sterile ones, while mopheads
offer zaftig clusters of all-sterile flowers.The latest trends are dwarf, gold-foliaged and reblooming
hydrangeas and ones with oversize flower clusters on sturdy stems.The rebloomers have revolu-
tionized hydrangeas and made them available even for gardeners in colder climates. —R AY RO G E R S

Appeal Mostly easy to grow,

hydrangeas can be abused and still
reward the gardener with lush
foliage and showy flowers.Think of
them as workhorses with a strong
desire to please. For longer enjoy-
ment, their flower heads can be
dried; gather in peak bloom and
hang in an airy, warm place.
Zones Selections of arborescens
and paniculata are hardy to Zone 4,
and those of quercifolia to Zone 5.
The flashier macrophylla and com-
pact serrata types do best from
Zone 6 and southward, but
rebloomers like Endless Summer™
flower on both new and old wood
and can be grown in Zone 4, used
almost like a perenni-
al—dying back to the
H. MACROPHYLLA ‘GEN- ground over winter and
ERALE VICOMTESSE resprouting in spring.
DE VIBRAYE’ AND The species involucrata
‘BRUNETTE’ needs the milder tem-
Container culture main- peratures of Zone 7
tains alkaline soil condi- and warmer areas.
tions, allowing ‘Brunette’ to Virtually all of them
bear red flowers, while the withstand the heat of
P H OTO G R A P H S B Y L E E A N N E W H I T E
more acidic soil in the Zone 9 summers.
open ground promotes Exposure While most
blue in Generale. hydrangeas thrive in full
sun (given ample water),

26 M AY 2 0 0 6 To analyze the charms of flowers is like dissecting music—H E N R Y THEODORE TUCKERMAN

 H. INVOLUCRATA
Although not obvious in
this picture, Hydrangea
involucrata bears pleasingly
fuzzy leaves.These offer an
attractive backdrop for
the open, airy lacecap
clusters of pale blue to
pink-mauve fertile flowers
punctuated by a few
showier, sterile ones.To 3
feet tall and twice as wide.

Blue color is everlastingly appointed by the Deity to be a source of delight—J O H N RUSKIN GARDEN DESIGN 27
 growing
they grow equally well in partial
shade, especially in areas with long,
hot summers.Try them in east-fac-
ing locations in your garden and in
the bright shade under high-pruned
trees in a woodland setting.
Soil Reasonably fertile, well-drained,
moist soils with lots of organic mat-
ter make hydrangeas happy.While
they all tolerate a range of soil pH,
28 M AY 2 0 0 6
1 2
3 4
acidity or alkalinity is an issue for
macrophylla types. In acidic soils, alu-
minum is readily available, promoting
blue and purple flowers; alkaline
soils restrict access to aluminum,
leading to red, pink and lavender.
Regular applications of aluminum
sulfate promotes bluer flowers.
Care Remove dead wood from
established plants of macrophylla,
I will be the gladdest thing under the sun! I will touch a hundred flowers and not pick one!—E D N A
[1] H. MACROPHYLLA
ENDLESS SUMMER™
Without question the
hottest hydrangea in the
trade. Unlike most macro-
phyllas,‘Endless Summer’
starts blooming early and
keeps producing flowers
(on new and old wood)
throughout the season.
New enough that its ulti-
mate height isn’t well-doc-
umented; may reach 3 to 4
feet tall and wide.
[2] H. PANICULATA
‘LIMELIGHT’
Similar to the ‘Grandiflora’
(PeeGee) types,‘Limelight’
goes one step beyond the
others with its big clusters
of lime-green flowers that
age to white. Expect a
mature plant to reach 10
feet high by 6 feet wide.
Hardier than many
hydrangeas, to Zone 4.
[3] H. MACROPHYLLA
‘MME. FAUSTIN
TRAVOUILLON’
Somewhat smaller than
loftier macrophylla types
at about 4 feet tall, it flow-
ers freely and over a long
season. Blooms are dark
pink in low-aluminum soils.
Also known as ‘Peacock’.
[4] H. MACROPHYLLA
serrata and involucrata as spring ‘BRUNETTE’
growth begins, but don’t knock off Always richly colored,
flower buds at the ends of the whether aluminum is avail-
shoots. Cutting back paniculata able in the soil (flowers in
types hard in spring promotes larg- shades of blue and purple)
er flower clusters. Cut arborescens or not (flowers red). Not
S U S A N A . ROT H ( 1 )
selections to the ground every as tall or vigorous as many
other year or so to keep them neat. of its kin, making it a good
Pruning is rarely needed to keep choice for containers.
most quercifolias looking good.
S T. V I N C E N T M I L L AY
 growing

fyi Thanks to Wilkerson

Mill Gardens in Palmetto,
Georgia, where most of
these photos were taken.
For more information see
www.hydrangea.com.

30 M AY 2 0 0 6 The very pink of perfection—O L I V E R GOLDSMITH

 [1] H. MACROPHYLLA
‘MARÉCHAL FOCH’
Though less cold-hardy
than many macrophyllas,
the profusion of saturated
rose-pink mopheads of
‘Maréchal Foch’ makes it
a favorite as an indoor
plant in cooler regions.
[2] H. QUERCIFOLIA
‘SNOWFLAKE’
Handsome oaklike foliage
and attractively peeling sil-
very brown bark are rea-
sons enough to plant any
quercifolia, but this selec-
tion also features foot-
long, pyramidal, drooping
heads of sterile flowers
that look like stacked stars.
Expect it to reach 8 feet
tall and nearly as wide.
2

We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hands and melting like a snowflake—F R A N C I S BACON GARDEN DESIGN 31
 growing

[1] H. MACROPHYLLA
‘KARDINAL’
In the presence of soil alu-
minum, the intricate lace-
cap flowers bear small fer-
tile mauve flowers con-
tained within a circlet of
large, dark pink sterile
flowers, as seen here.The
entire cluster becomes red
in the absence of alu-
minum. Less cold-hardy
than other macrophyllas.
1 2 About 3 feet tall.
[2] H. MACROPHYLLA
3 4 ‘GIMPEL’
Fully mature flower heads
show a strong contrast of
white fertile flowers and
pink sterile ones.Among
the newer selections
(introduced in 1986) and
not as cold-hardy as some.
Vigorous plants mature at
less than 4 feet high.
[3] H. MACROPHYLLA
‘NIGRA’
Although the pink or pale
blue flowers are of some
interest, grow this
hydrangea more for its
striking black stems. Extra
fertilizer and routine
removal of older shoots
encourages stronger,
darker new growth. Can
grow 3 feet tall and
almost twice as wide.
[4] H. MACROPHYLLA
‘TOKYO DELIGHT’
White lacecaps gradually
turn pink as the season
progresses. Has an
d e s i g n i n g w i t h hy d r a n ge a s White-flowered selections create the illusion of snowballs attractive upright plant
in summer, especially on plants grown in partial shade. Mass pink and blue types with similarly colored garden
habit, and the dark green
phlox (Phlox paniculata selections) and lilies for a visual confection of candy colors. Blue selections look like
leaves acquire red and
sapphires against a gray wall or set alongside a slate patio. Macrophylla selections make imposing container
purple shades in autumn.
plants—feature a pair in big lead-colored urns—and paniculata selections can be maintained as good-sized “trees”
Spotted stems offer
in large terra-cotta pots. Remember hydrangeas in containers will need extra watering. Quercifolias are the
additional visual interest.
boldest and have the coarsest texture of the lot, lending visual strength to shrub borders and woodland plantings.
Under 5 feet tall.

32 M AY 2 0 0 6 ’Tis my faith that every flower enjoys the air it breathes—W I L L I A M W O R D S W O RT H

 decor C R E AT I V E I D E A S I N E X T E R I O R D E C O R AT I N G

The pergola extends

toward the Pacific Ocean,
offering multiple options
for elegant but relaxed
outdoor living. “We've
had 40 to 50 people over
at one time, and it never
felt crowded,” Witt says.

OceanView
Luxurious, casual outdoor living, combined
with wild, rugged plants, makes
this coastal retreat a California dream
WHEN PAUL JUNGER WITT AND SUSAN HARRIS WANT TO GET AWAY, THEY SKIP THE AIRPORT HAS-
sles and jet lag. Instead,Witt, a film and TV producer, and Harris, aTV writer/producer,
T I M S T R E E T- P O RT E R ( 2 )

motor up the California coast from their home in Brentwood and, in just over an hour,
are comfortably ensconced at their seaside retreat on Rincon Point just outside Carpinte-
ria. “We love to be here without the phone ringing. It feels much farther away from L.A.
than 76 miles,” saysWitt, who produced the movies Insomnia, Three Kings and Dead Poets
Society.The couple’s stylishly understated weekend escape began as one house over 20 years

By the deep Sea, and music in its roar I love not Man the less, but Nature more—L O R D B Y RO N GARDEN DESIGN 35
 decor
ago. Back then, they hired Santa Barbara-
based Eric Nagelmann to design a “wild, nat-
ural and unrestrained” garden to blend with
the rugged, windswept site. “We wanted it
to look like he hadn’t been here, like it just
grew,” says Harris, whose sitcom credits in-
clude Soap, Benson and The Golden Girls.
Then, in the early ’90s, the couple bought
the house next door, razed it and built a
guesthouse. “With five children and two
grandchildren, we needed more room,”Witt
says. Afterward, Nagelmann knit the two
lots together and softened the architecture
using lavish masses of hardy rugosa roses,
grasses and sedges such as Ravenna grass and
Carex pansa, westringia, lavender and lan-
36 M AY 2 0 0 6
tana.The result is a dreamy oceanfront par-
adise worthy of a five-star resort.
F U N C T I O N : Witt and Harris visit their
weekend getaway throughout the year to in-
dulge their passions for reading, long walks,
playing charades and lingering over
casual meals of salad and grilled
fish. “We have a blended family, so Top:The shady entry
the garden is full of happy memo- courtyard is filled with
ries of when the kids have all got- hydrangeas and Impatiens
ten together,” Harris says. balfourii. Right: A remov-
F O R M : “Paul and Susan wanted a able canopy blocks the
full view of the beach, but they sun’s glare in summer, the
wanted privacy, too,” Nagelmann outdoor fireplace warms
says. He removed a fence that once the patio in winter.
separated his clients’ beach house
Alone I walked on the ocean strand, a pearly shell was in my hand—H A N N A H FLAGG GOULD
 T I M S T R E E T- P O RT E R ( 2 )

How fine has the day been! How bright was the sun, how lovely and joyful the course that he run!—I S A A C WAT T S GARDEN DESIGN 37
decor

and wood deck from the neighboring prop-

erty, now the guest quarters with a pergola
shading a cozy fireplace and spacious Can-
tera stone patio. He built a massive seawall
out of basalt boulders, which added 8 feet
to the garden, and finished it with a wrought-
iron gate based on an original at the Casa del
Herrero estate in nearby Montecito.
S T Y L E : Exposure to the seashore’s extreme
heat and cold, drying winds and corrosive
salt spray made decorating with sturdy fur-
niture and plants a must.
“The garden is kind of
glamorous without being Right:A Weatherend
too ‘done,’” Nagelmann bench sits on a carpet of
says. “There’s a practical- zoysia atop the new sea-
ity to it because things wall—an ideal spot for
have to stand up to the watching the sun set. page, the couple otherwise she says. In the entry courtyard, hy-
harsh elements.” Opposite:A small patio gave him free rein. “What’s drangeas, Impatiens balfourii and nemesia
PLANTS: Harris asked for between the two lots gets so unusual about this gar- clamber around clipped boxwood and pot-
pink and purple blooms, both sun and shade next den is how unplanned it ted junipers, while ‘Checkerboard’ fuch-
but since she and Nagel- to an Australian tea tree. was.There were never any sia, bougainvillea and podranea spill over a
mann were on the same drawings; it just evolved,” pergola.Along the beach, Carex glauca and
 Ravenna grass sprout from the sand,
westringia buffers the deck, and small Aus-
tralian tea trees (Leptospermum laevigatum)
hide the pergola supports. Side hedges of
Melaleuca nesophila and Pittosporum crassi-
folium screen out neighbors, and thorny
‘Mermaid’ roses discourage trespassers.
F U R N I S H I N G S : The pergola’s gossamer
polyester canopy shelters a faux-stone din-
ing table lit by a crystal chandelier, McGuire
rattan seating and an antique Indian bed up-
holstered in fade-resistant Sunbrella fabric.
The deck featuresWeatherend teak chaises
and tables, Santa Barbara Umbrella um-
brellas and washable white terry-cloth slip-
covers.A small patio tucked beneath an ex-
isting Australian tea tree recycles a wicker
sofa and armchairs found in storage.
Whether old or new, almost everything has
taken on a weathered patina the owners
adore. “We had some wood furniture re-
finished, but it turned out reddish-brown,”
Witt says. “We had to wait two years for it
to turn silver again.”
B O N U S : Like the surfers who flock to
catch Rincon Point’s spectacular swells,Witt
and Harris relish winters at the beach almost
more than summers. “Days are shorter, but
the light is golden, the surf is huge and the
beach is empty,”Witt says. “We love being
here when it’s cold in the afternoon and we
can start a fire at dusk.”—E M I LY YO U N G

For more information contact Eric Nagel-

mann: 805-966-3928, fax 805-963-2306
or e-mail nag@silcom.com.
T I M S T R E E T- P O RT E R ( 2 )
 style BY DONNA DORIAN

[1] S O F I E WAT E R F E AT U R E :
Resistant to extreme temperature,
sun and corrosion and available in a
range of colors, this handsome con-
crete fountain is ideal for any setting.
Comes with a preassembled under-
water pump and simply requires a
standard electric source. Underwater
lights optional. From Studio Four Los
Angeles: available in custom sizes,
starting at $1,350. Call 818-343-1600
or see www.studio041a.com.
[2] S TA I N L E S S - S T E E L G L A Z -
I N G B A L L F O U N TA I N : Use this
contemporary water sculpture to
add tranquility indoors or out. In-
cludes UL-approved pump and sub-
mersible light. From Unique Arts:
$129 to $149. Call 800-928-3738 or
1
see www.uniquearts.com.

Fountains of Life
Contemporary water features for a modern garden
FLOWING ONTO STONE, GURGLING THROUGH RUN-
nels, overflowing from fountains, cascading in
falls, water ushers meaning, movement, sound
and tranquility into the garden, just as the means
by which it is introduced—be it fountain, basin,
pond or bog—adds a decorative element into
3
the overall composition.
But how to successfully bring water into the
garden has often been the question.Today, with
water-garden nurseries and garden-ornament
shops more present in the marketplace than ever [3] A S I A N FA L L S : Standing just
before, much of the expense and maintenance over 4 feet tall, this fountain features
traditionally associated with water features have a cascade of rippling water over
disappeared. In turn, craftsmen have begun to beautiful, natural slate. Nestle the
evolve a new vocabulary for the design of wa- piece in a garden or use it as the focal
ter features that addresses the innovative aspects point on a terrace.Available with re-
of landscape design. Here are a handful of man- circulating pump, halogen lighting and
made, easy-to-install options in new materials decorative rocks. From Beckett Cor-
from stainless steel to concrete that have begun poration: $269. Call 888-BECKETT
2
to redefine the ancient repertoire. or see www.888beckett. com.

40 M AY 2 0 0 6 For fountains, they are a great beauty and refreshment—F R A N C I S BACON

 style
[4] VA S O A C A M PA N A F O U N -
TA I N : Converted from a terra-cotta
pot designed by the renowned Italian
craftsman Francesco Del Re, this
fountain is fitted with a hidden pump
beneath a bed of stones at its base
and over its inner liner, creating an
unusual, naturalistic effect. From Eye
of the Day Garden Design Center:
fountain: $2,755; pot without pump
and liner: $2,209. Call 805-566-0778
or see www.eyeofthedaygdc.com.
[5] A R C A D I A N B A L L F O U N -
TA I N : Made from a unique water-
proof, frostproof cast-stone mix, this
timeless design is perfect for the
contemporary garden.Available in
Coade yellow, Portland gray, slate,
terra-cotta and creamy Bath. From
Haddonstone: ball fountain, $343;
pebble ball fountain and bowl kit,
42 M AY 2 0 0 6
7
$504. Call 856-931-7011 or
see www.haddonstone.com.
[6] C E R A M I C WAT E R F E AT U R E :
Water only enhances the subtle lines
and color of this handcrafted, hand-
drawn stoneware piece inspired by
natural forms and ammonite fossils.
Frostproof, hollow, light and easy
to carry. From Katrina Trinick Ce-
ramics: small, $148; large, $340 to
$385. Call 011 44 1208 831716 or
see www.ktceramics.co.uk.
[7] P O L I S H E D M I L L S TO N E
F O U N TA I N : Inspired by the
traditional millstone, this contempo-
rary handmade fountain of polished
black granite doubles as a contem-
porary water sculpture. Installation
kits available. From Stone Forest:
$1,500. Call 888-682-2987 or
see www.stoneforest.com.
I may not hope from outward forms to win the passion and the life, whose fountains are within—S A M U E L TAY L O R C O L E R I D G E
 find balance

D DOMILA
A Division of Amexiport

“New classics for the modern garden”

The Equilibrio Chaise Lounge

All-Weather Wicker

www.domila.com 866.359.0085
entertaining E N J OY T H E G R E AT O U T D O O R S

Plein Air Dining

Designer Dan Zelen creates an
al fresco tabletop with ideas inspired
by the fruits of the sea and the garden
P H OTO G R A P H S B Y S T E V E G U N T H E R

“WHEN ENTERTAINING OUTDOORS,

bring the outdoors to the table,”
says Dan Zelen, a multitasking de-
signer whose Los Angeles-based
shop, Zelen Home, opened its
doors in spring 2004. (At only 800
square feet, the shop is where good
things—furnishings, accessories,
and tabletop wares—come in small
packages.) Also working as a styl-
ist and the creative director of the
trendsetting garden décor shop In-
ner Gardens in L.A., Dan is known
for his instant recognition of what’s
hot and what’s not—and for hav-
ing an eye for imbuing each of his
floral arrangements with all the je
ne sais quoi of a fashion statement.
Invited to decorate a table for
an early-evening party outdoors,
Dan worked with L.A. landscape
designer Scott Shrader, who de-
signed the outdoor space,
to make sure that table,
Designer Dan Zelen, top, chairs, terrace and pool
decorated a tabletop for an environment all worked
outdoor party as if he were together.Then focusing
designing a small seaside on the tabletop itself,
garden with plants and Dan looked for inspira-
objects from the sea. tion in his own shop,
where a set of look-alike

The art of dining well is no slight art, the pleasure not a slight pleasure—M I C H E L D E M O N TA I G N E GARDEN DESIGN 45
 entertaining

An overview of the table

displays an ocean-themed
assortment of mesquite
wood, succulents, starfish sea urchin shell bowls and a can-
and shells interspersed delabra he designed from mesquite
between vintage dishes wood sparked the idea of design-
and stemware. ing the table with an ocean motif.
In a sense it was just like designing
a room, where a single piece of
furniture—here a single accesso-
ry—sets the stage for every style
decision that follows.
Dan’s point was to make a table
look like a seashore garden. So in-
stead of engineering the usual
flowers in a vase, he placed the
driftwood candelabra at the cen-
ter of the table and then set white
sand, sea shells, succulents, coral
shells and the sea urchin bowls di-
rectly on the table, as if the table-
top were the beach itself. Like a
well-orchestrated still life, every-
thing became part of the scene—
the Martini picks were each
topped with a cultured pearl, and
even the fruits matched the color
scheme.—D O N N A D O R I A N
For more information on Dan Zelen
Home, call 323-658-6755. For more
information on Scott Shrader, see
www.shraderdesign.com.

46 M AY 2 0 0 6 At a dinner party one should eat wisely but not too well, and talk well but not too wisely—S O M E R S E T MAUGHAM
 tips for outdoor tabletops: Begin with a theme—here Dan drew on objects found along
the seashore. Incorporate flowers and foliage from the garden at hand; for example, use grapevines as run-
ners, hosta leaves as placemats—or visit your local nursery for ideas. Before the meal begins, accent the table
with food that participates in the color scheme—here the grapes and the wine repeat the purple of succulents
and sea urchin shells, while strawberries pick up the colors of the cranberry glass bowls and napkins.
After the meal is over, plant what you can back into the garden (which means don’t remove their roots!).

Clockwise from top left:

An olive pierced by a
Martini pick topped with
a cultured pearl suggests
an attention to detail that
never goes unnoticed.
The textures and colors
of a purple succulent, a
starfish and a ceramic bowl
designed to simulate a sea
urchin shell reiterate the
overall seaside concept.
To bring the memory of
the beach to the table,
Zelen scattered sandlike
crushed white glass on the
table and topped it with a
starfish and a succulent.
Decorated with the fruits
of the garden and the sea,
the tabletop is sprinkled
with red strawberries on
red linen napkins held
down by a coral seashell
in a coordination of color
as well as theme.

But where is the man that can live without dining?—O W E N MEREDITH GARDEN DESIGN 47
 entertaining

s o u rc e b o o k
Yin Yang dining table by
Kenneth Cobonpue: $3,113;
Mosaix Athena dining armchairs:
$1,250 each, both available from
Janus et Cie. Call 800-24-JANUS
or see www.janusetcie. com.
Dan Zelen’s sandblasted
mesquite-wood candelabra: $325;
vintage stemware: various prices;
ceramic sea urchin bowls: $40 to
$120; sterling silver Martini picks
with cultured-pearl tops: set of
four, $225, all available at Zelen
Home. Call 323-658-6756 or
see www.zelenhome.com.
Large blue French ceramic
chargers: $40 each; Nouvel Studio
cranberry glass bowls: $14 each;
linen napkins by Libeco Home:
$20 each, all available at Barneys
New York. Call 212-826-8900.
Professionali Martini glasses:
By Colle for Table Art, set of 4,
$120. Call 323-653-8278 or see
www.tartontheweb.com.
Placemats by Thomas
O’Brien:Target, $4.99 each.
Available from Target stores.
Shells, starfish and crushed
white glass:Wasabi Green.
Call 213-629-0068.
Assorted succulents: Inner
Gardens. Call 310-838-8378
or see www.innergardens.com.

48 M AY 2 0 0 6 I am thankful for the mess to clean after a party because it means I have been surrounded by friends—N A N C I E C A R M O DY
 groundbreaker I N N O VAT I V E M I N D S I N G A R D E N D E S I G N

Plastic Fantastic
Philippe Starck:“I think of the outdoors
just like the indoors, but without a roof ”
IN THE PANTHEON OF CONTEMPORARY DESIGN,
Philippe Starck has earned a unique place.
Arguably the most influential designer of his
era, he is one of a rare few to achieve inter-
national rock-star status.Although he is best-
known for designer hotels, a genre he helped
invent, his work encompasses an improba- tion is deserved because he embraces new
ble spectrum that includes air-traffic-con- technologies readily and is a forward thinker
trol towers, motorcycles, Olympic torch- whose personal and social agenda is one of
es, sneakers and, interestingly for people rebellion—the core value of modern design.
with gardens, outdoor furniture. Second, and perhaps more impressive, is
Starck has received myriad that the Italians have embraced and sup-
awards and has held exhibitions ported him as if he were one of their own.
in almost every major city French designer I consider this to be an uncommon trait for
around the world. He’s also the Philippe Starck Italians since they are fiercely protective of
recipient of other, less-obvious revolutionized out- their cultural uniqueness.You’ll have to
but perhaps more-coveted ac- door furniture with search hard to find French restaurants in
colades. First, he has earned the the plastic Bubble Milan, yet chairs designed by this particu-
admiration of his hard-core Club Series and lar Frenchman are common in the chic out-
modern design peers, despite a Prince Aha Stool. door cafés near the Duomo.
certain goofiness.This admira- Radical designs for the outdoors, such as

50 M AY 2 0 0 6 Style can make complicated things seem simple, or simple things complicated—J E A N COCTEAU
 groundbreaker

the 2000 Bubble Club series, are quintes-

sential Starck statements. Inflated versions
of traditional interior lounge chairs and so-
fas, they are made from polyethylene, a kind
of plastic.The series is a blend of fantasy and
function, Felliniesque in humor, iconoclas-
tic, yet highly functional.When I asked Star-
ck recently about the inspiration for these
pieces, he said the idea came to him as he
was kayaking to one of his oyster beds in the
south of France. His boat was made using a
strong, durable and cheap material, and he
decided it might work just as well in out-
door furniture. Bubble Club is the result.
But in general Starck and his retailers
avoid labeling his furniture “indoor” or “out.”
Advances in durable plastics and new tech-
nologies have allowed him to apply his cre-
ative talents to a range of furniture that can
be used outdoors, from the polypropylene
(read plastic) Dr. No chair and Prince Aha
stools in the 1990s to his recent polycar-
bonate Ghost Family of products. But his
motivation was not so much the versatility
of use between the in-
terior and exterior as
fyi Philippe Starck’s range
the availability of
of indoor and outdoor
well-designed furni-
furnishings are available in
ture for the masses.
the United States through
What makes these
Design Within Reach
pieces singular, and
(www.dwr.com; 800-944-
why have they been so
2233) and Kartell (www.
successful?There is no
kartellus.com; 866-854-
mystery here. It is all
8823). See also www.
about “play.”Tradition-
philippe-starck.com.
ally, outdoor furniture
has been treated as a
serious matter, constrained by a limited
palette of materials. Prior to WorldWar II,
the materials best able to endure the ele-
ments were limited to teak and coated cast
iron. In the years since, modern materials
such as stainless steel, aluminum and plas-
tic resin have become available. But gar-
dening traditionalists, whether their styles
are Japanese, French or Eng-
lish, have typically favored Above: Made of
the old standards. Designers polycarbonate,
have not had much latitude Starck’s Louis
—or attitude—for experi- Ghost stools, like
mentation. So even today, the rest of the
most outdoor furniture is Ghost line, are
proudly derivative. practical, colorful
Starck, in contrast, brings and adorable.
anAlice-in-Wonderland sen-
sibility to this genre, pro-
ducing colorful, oversize pieces with lounge
and living-room references. He tweaks the
appropriateness of tradition as he upends the
notion of appropriate materials. Much mod-
ern architecture and design is associated with
connecting the outdoors with the indoors,
which usually translates into making the out-
side accessible and visible to those inside.
Starck’s Bubble Club group goes further, lit-
erally turning the inside out, transporting
the living room to the garden.This reversal
results in what Starck would call “surreal-
ism,” merging modernism with classicism.
There is one obvious and inevitable crit-
icism that can fairly be leveled at this work.
To be truly modern today, designers and
manufacturers must take into account is-
sues of sustainability and recycling. In a time
of justifiable environmental consciousness,
Starck’s otherwise admirable pieces are
questionable.While such big, bulky objects
technically can be recycled, many will end
up in landfills, creating another surreal, if
unintended, image. Starck should play
around with this concept a little more. But
then again, he is less interested in the “re-
sponsible” side of modernism. He leaves
that to us as well.—R O B F O R B E S

Rob Forbes founded Design Within Reach

in 1999, where he works with all aspects of
design, and edits Design Notes, DWR’s
highly regarded online newsletter. He can be
reached at rforbes@dwr.com.
 abroad O N T H E ROA D W I T H G A R D E N D E S I G N

mer, which is also high garden season—but

don’t let the crowds scare you off.
Horticultural feasting peaks from late Feb-
ruary to the end of May, as flowering cher-
ries and plums brighten city streets. Look for
magnolias and billowy, double pink Higan
cherries, crabapples and horse chestnuts.
Come summer, Victoria’s Inner Harbour
lampposts, among some 1,000 citywide, are
bedecked with hanging baskets trailing bright
blooms—these are the postcard baskets that
have come to symbolize the city.

MoreThan Butchart Among many choice places to stay, con-

sider Abigail’s Hotel, where you’ll enjoy luxe
lodgings and proximity to
LAST FALL, WHILE I WAS “RESEARCHING” A BOOK Beacon Hill Park.Wild-
on great garden walks, a sojourn to Van- Top left, clockwise: flowers blanket the park
couver Island, B.C., reminded me how its Garry oaks with in springtime, followed
temperate climate—and British gardening blooming azalea at by radiant Victorian bed-
tradition—has contributed to an inspiring Abkhazi Garden. ding schemes in summer
collection of horticultural riches. For any- Sooke Harbour and fall. At the park’s
one interested in gardening, the island is House on the boundary with Dallas
brimming with evocative landscapes that ex- Strait of Juan de Road, a waterfront path
tend well beyond The Butchart Gardens, a Fuca. Restaurant reveals grand vistas of the
destination point for droves of tourists— at Harbour House. Olympic Mountains and
GREG ELIGH (1) SOOKE HARBOUR HOUSE (2)

highly pleased tourists, I should add. dazzling sunsets.

Enchanting Abkhazi
VICTORIA,THE ISLAND’S JEWEL Garden is tucked away in a quiet Victoria
The capital of British Columbia, at the neighborhood. Garry oaks preside over a
southern tip of Vancouver Island, the city of panoply of species, including 100-year-old
Victoria boasts an English ambiance and rhododendrons, in the garden’s artistical-
19th-century architecture.Visitors typical- ly planted rocky terrain. Created over a
ly arrive en masse by ferry from Seattle or span of more than four decades by Prince
mainlandVancouver, especially in midsum- and Princess Abkhazi, the glorious land-

54 M AY 2 0 0 6 Vancouver is lovely—A N T H O N Y M. HALL

 abroad

La Garden Show
MAY 6 & 7, 2006
An Entertaining Garden
See the finest examples of entertaining gardens
designed by the best designers in Southern California.
Buy unique plants, shop at the Marketplace and learn
from well-known experts and authors. The ongoing
entertainment, food and children’s nature crafts will
create a fun-filled weekend for all to enjoy.
Abkhazi Garden,
Garden Show Hours are 9AM to 4:30PM. created over four
Early admission for Arboretum Members is 8AM.
Regular admission fees apply: $2.50 – $7.00 decades, with a
Arboretum members are always free. sprawling old rho-
dodendron under-
For More Information visit www.arboretum.org or call 626.821.3222
scape is now cared for by
planted with fawn
The Land Conservancy of
lilies (erythronium).
Thanking Our Sponsors for Their Support Canada. A tearoom in the
301 North Baldwin Avenue property’s heritage home is
Arcadia, CA 91007 a fine spot to re-energize with a snack.

BEYOND THE CITY

About 14 miles north of Victoria, The
Butchart Gardens, with beds and borders
brimming with seasonal color, has drawn
over a million tourists. The remarkable
transformation of a limestone quarry be-
gan a century ago, when Jenny Butchart
began creating her bit of garden.Today, the
55-acre landscape is famous for its Sunken
Garden set off by a fountain and ponds. In
December, festive Christmas lighting cre-
ates a fanciful night garden.
A journey fromVictoria west to Sooke is
an exceptional outing.The trip traces the West
Shore’s Old Island Highway and calls for a
stopover at Hatley Park, one of NorthAmer-
ica’s finest examples of an intact Edwardian
estate. Stroll through the voluptuous array of
Japanese, Italian and English rose gardens sur-
rounding regal Hatley Castle.
Nestled in the countryside near Sooke,
Markham House Bed & Breakfast gives over
a wing of a Tudor-style home and a separate
cottage to inviting accommodations.
Outside Sooke village, Sooke Harbour
House, an idyllic retreat perched on a bluff
overlooking the Strait of Juan de Fuca, of-
fers dreamy rooms with views.The inn’s
restaurant features fresh local ingredients
flavored with delicacies such as the light
 green needles of grand firs. Guests
and the public are invited to daily
tours of the organic gardens of ed-
ible plants.The mist-shrouded-hill-
side setting encompasses another
wonder: Meander to the water’s
edge for a glimpse of sinuous Whif-
fen Spit, a natural formation akin
to an earthwork.
If you are interested in visiting
private garden sanctuaries reflect-
ing Pacific Northwest style, check
withVictorian Garden Tours; they
can put together a day with access
to gardens designed by true col-
orists and avid plant collectors.
And don’t overlookVancouver
Island’s public garden displays, especially
Government House Gardens and the
demonstration gardens of the Horticulture
Centre of the Pacific. —A L I C E J OY C E

Alice Joyce is the author of the recently pub-

lished Gardenwalks in the Pacific Northwest
(The Globe Pequot Press,March 2006,$14.95).

What to See:
Abkhazi Garden. Call 250-598-8096 or
see www.conservancy.bc.ca/abkhazi.
Beacon Hill Park. Call 250-361-0600.
The Butchart Gardens. Call 866-652-
4422 or 250-652-5256 for recorded infor-
mation. See www.butchartgardens.com.
Government House Gardens. Call 250-
356-5139 or see www.ltgov.bc.ca.
Hatley Park National Historic Site. Call
866-241-0674 or see www.hatleypark.ca.
Horticulture Centre of the Pacific. Call
250-479-6162 or see www.hcp.bc.ca.
Victorian Garden Tours. Call 250-380-
2797 or see www.victoriangardentours.com.
Where to Stay:
Abigail’s Hotel. Call 800-561-6565 or
see www.abigailshotel.com.
Markham House B&B. Call 888-256-
6888 or see www.markhamhouse.com.
Sooke Harbour House. Call 800-889-
9688 or see www.sookeharbourhouse.com.
Ferry Information:
VA L E R I E M U R R AY ( 1 )

BC Ferries. Call 888-223-3779 or see

www.bcferries.com.
Victoria Clipper. Call 800-888-2535 or
see www.victoriaclipper.com.
 A curtain of cape fuchsia
(phygelius) drapes the
gate leading to Penny
Bianchi’s outdoor living
area, where she enter-
tains her friends under
the arms of a live oak.

58
LA
DOLCE
VITA
SWEET IDEAS FOR GRACIOUS
OUTDOOR LIVING FROM
MONTECITO—A HAVEN
OF HORTICULTURE IN THE
HEART OF SANTA BARBARA
THE SECRET OF SANTA BARBARA—AND ITS ELEGANT SUBURB MONTECITO—LIES IN ITS GEOGRAPHY.
Located on one of the few east-west coastlines in the country and nestled below the SantaYnez Moun-
tains, the beaches and hillsides face sun all day and temperatures remain mild year round. Its very
special Mediterranean climate has nurtured a staggering assortment of plants and outdoor-living op-
portunities. Nurserymen and fruit growers discovered the area in the late 19th century.The rich and
glamorous followed in the 1920s, designing grand Spanish Colonial Revival estates and gardens.The
traditions of expert horticulture and exquisite outdoor design continue today. Join us as we share
ideas from three gracious Montecito gardens—full of ideas for outdoor living and decorating wher-
ever you live. And if you get to the area, we offer places to visit and shop for Santa Barbara style.

BY DONNA DORIAN PHOTOGRAPHS BY STEVE GUNTHER

59
 A GARDEN FOR QUAIL
AND CASUAL ENTERTAINING
GROWN FROM THE GROUND UP TO ENCOURAGE A HABITAT FOR NATIVE WILDLIFE, PENNY BIANCHI’S
Montecito garden, flush with gates made from willow, roses, olive trees and thickets of
vines, holds all the resonance of a carefree cottage garden in the Provençal countryside.
An interior designer with a penchant for creating the enchanted mise-en-scene, Penny
formed the vision for her garden soon after she and her husband purchased their prop-
erty nine years ago.While exploring a neighboring 45-acre nature preserve and work-
ing closely with her landscape advisers, she began to observe firsthand what it would
take to create a garden that would follow nature’s course.
Penny’s first act in her own garden was to create a pond.Today a list of wildlife al-
most too long to cite—blue gill and bass, deer, raccoons, skunks, ducks, great blue
herons, redtail and cooper’s hawks, some 50 other species of birds and even a coyote—
can be seen in and around the pond. In the midst of the pond is a duck cote. Penny an-
chored it there after discovering that it takes at least 52 days for baby mal-
lards to fly, making them prey to a great range of animals. Now nine
full-grown pairs of mallards make their home in her garden. Above: A gate made from
Some years after the pond went in, a longtime resident of Montecito willow leads to the guest-
came by and mentioned how nice it was that Penny had brought the pond house. Right: Punctuated
back after it had been covered up so many years ago to make room for a by purple butterfly bush,
riding paddock. It was only then Penny realized that her first act in the the pond is at the center
garden was to restore a native wetland. of a certified National
When Oprah Winfrey moved in next door, a covey of wild quail, up- Wildlife Federation
set by the initial commotion, made their way into Penny’s yard. Penny Backyard Wildlife Habitat.
didn’t mind at all. (She reciprocated by handing Oprah fresh chicken eggs

60
61
62
 through the fence on many mornings.) Because quail are
ground-nesters, Penny planted low-growing shrubbery
around the pond to provide them with cover.
Instead of grass or concrete, Penny covered much of the
ground with pea gravel, which allows rainwater to seep di-
rectly into the soil without runoff. Elsewhere, she planted ros-
es to feed the deer (yes, really) and covered the house with
vines (morning glory,Virginia creeper, clematis and wisteria)
to feed the birds and provide cover for small animals.At the
same time she banned all clippers, blowers and mowers, as
well as all pesticides and herbicides.When Penny contacted
the NationalWildlife Federation, they certified the garden as a BackyardWildlife Habitat.
Penny and her husband usually wake to the call of their rooster, who seems to think
he owns the place. Being partly responsible for the 11 chickens born this year (one of
the hens hid her eggs behind a bag of alfalfa), he has certain claims.As domesticated an-
imals, the 22 chickens, rooster and two dogs are all treated just as well as the wildlife,
walking behind Penny through the garden, under the arbors and over the bridge that
crosses a small stream running across the back of the yard.
Penny hosts parties under the branches of two live oaks.The long table is covered
with a printed Provençal tablecloth and set alongside antique wrought-iron chairs, a
scene that seems to have stepped out of an Impressionist painting. Penny says, “A visi-
tor once told me that he rents a house in Provence every summer, but he thought I did-
n’t need to do that. He said,‘You already have your place in Provence right here.’”

“THE FARM TABLE SET FOR A PARTY

SEEMS TO HAVE STEPPED OUT
OF AN IMPRESSIONIST PAINTING”

Left: Surrounded by oak

trees and with a chande-
lier hanging in the tree-
tops, Penny Bianchi (hold-
ing dog, right) hosts her
parties Provençal-style.
Succulents and lanterns
decorate her table (top).

63
 A GARDEN EASY AND FUNCTIONAL, Right: An English lead
ALMOST ALL CONTAINERS cistern is stationed in
the middle of the patio.
SOPHISTICATED AND TO THE POINT, THE SMALL EVERGREEN GARDEN SHOWN ON THESE PAGES
Opposite, top left, clock-
summarizes a lifetime of experiences in the landscape. Created by a retired garden de-
wise:The herb garden;
signer very much at the top of her form, it takes a restrained approach to the year-round
relaxed seating on the
possibilities of gardening in the Montecito area.
patio; a birdbath stops
Avoiding perennials that change their face through the seasons, the garden focuses main-
the eye at the end of
ly on variegated foliage and the contrasts between leaf colors—all to the benefit of form.
the shrub garden; herb
Except for a rose garden set against the south stone wall of the house and the blooms that
garden near the kitchen.
come and go on the apple tree, there is hardly a flower in the place.
The main garden, a handsome potager just outside the kitchen, relies almost solely
on the shape and foliage of ornamental herbs and fruit trees. Only lettuce and tomatoes
are grown for the kitchen in spring and late summer.
Although the end result is a becoming classicism, the point of the garden is ease and
function. Because each herb is planted in a stone pot, there is no digging in the ground,
and even the pea-gravel ground cover is maintenance-free.While the herbs are changed
out or moved from here to there, the bones of the garden—bay laurel, box, rosemary, and
apple and grapefruit trees—remain constant, giving structure to the garden year round.
Adjacent to the potager is a second garden planted with easy-to-maintain shrubs,
such as hydrangea, ceanothus and hebe. In between is an outdoor living area centered
around an antique lead cistern and decorated with wicker furnishings. Here the family
basks in the Montecito climate surrounded by their elegant garden rooms.

64
65
 Left: Built on a steep hill-
side, the Siemon house
looks down on a terraced
garden planted in olive
trees, rosemary and
lavender, while a wood-
land garden (below)
spreads on the hillside
above. Right:The antique
Spanish gate exemplifies
the detailing of the out-
door living areas.

HILLSIDE OF OLIVES AND OUTDOOR ROOMS

THE THREE GARDENS THAT SURROUND GREG AND BARBARA SIEMON’S HILLSIDE VILLA GIVE A
virtuoso performance that explores the range and spirit of Montecito’s climate and all
the major themes of the Mediterranean planting palette.
At the end of a long drive, an ancient orchid cactus presides on a limestone bench. Just
beyond, a gate opens to a stone-floored foyer and a stone wraparound seating area.There,
beneath the wide branches of a native California oak, a banco offers a view of a full house of
outdoor rooms—a pergola-covered dining area, a swimming pool, and a casita outfitted
with kitchen, lounge and bedroom. Datura and wisteria perfume the air. So inclusive is the
space that the Siemons lived in the casita as their house neared completion.
The garden began with Barbara poring over photos of gardens in Provence. She took her
cues from French hillside terraces, dry-stacked stone walls and pea-gravel paths—and par-
ticularly from the interplanting of lavender, rosemary and olive
trees, leading her to import two dozen 100-year-old olive spec-
imens. In her desire for accuracy, she even placed a ladder against
an olive tree “partly because it looks so picturesque,” she says,
“but also because to harvest an olive, one needs to climb up a
ladder and shake the fruit down from the tree.”
Barbara admits that the garden below the house was a ma-
jor challenge from the first, given that the hillside was covered
with nothing but the tough local natives—poison ivy and cac-
tus.And it was so steep that it took three or four people to hold
onto her and her collaborator, landscape designer Heidie Bald-
win, to negotiate a safe path down the hill. Meanwhile, re-
searching what would grow on a south-facing slope in Mon-
tecito confined Barbara to herbs, olives and succulents. If the

66
67
 Above:The Spanish-style
banco is made comfort-
able by pillows and pro-
tected from the sun by
the arms of a huge native
oak. Right: An orchid
cactus grows beneath
a pepper tree at the
entrance to the house.

68
garden isn’t actually original to the site, it brilliantly presents what nature intended.
Above the house is another world, a woodland garden crisscrossed by a path whose end
offers a breathtaking panorama of the canyons of the Santa Ynez Mountains beyond.
Wanting the garden to naturalize under the canopy of its established native oaks, Bar-
bara planted only what could thrive there on its own—agapanthus, pittosporum, choco-
late and peppermint scented geraniums, ornamental grasses and iris. At the top of the
hillside, she nestled an orchid house moved from an early-20th-century Montecito es-
tate. And a meditation garden, with a pond punctuated by a weeping mulberry and an
ancient Chinese soy mill converted into a quiet fountain, provides another retreat.
“Olives, pepper trees and oaks formed the atmospheric mix of the old mission-style
gardens of the area,” explains Barbara.They are the grand strokes of this pleasure gar-
den, too, which, after much labor, an acute attention to detail and careful, abundant
planting, fulfills the sweet promise of Montecito.

“THE BANCO OFFERS A VIEW FROM THE

OUTDOOR DINING AREA TO THE CASITA”

69
 MUST-SEE GARDEN SPOTS AROUND

eye o f t h e d ay French

antique Anduze pottery and limestone

fountains, English lead urns, handmade

terra-cotta, hand-carved stone statuary

and American-made benches make this

exquisite collection world class (above).

4620 Carpinteria Ave., Carpinteria; 805-

566-0778; www.eyeofthedaygdc.com.

william laman Well-edited lotusland The late Polish opera singer Madame Ganna Walska spent

shop with an ever-changing mix of looks 45 years designing this flamboyant botanical garden (above). Composed of

and products for interior and garden, rare, unusual and endangered tropical and semitropical plants, this surrealist,

ranging from the contemporary to the theatrical presentation is counted among the most outstanding gardens in

antique, gathered everywhere from America. Reservations required well in advance. 695 Ashley Road, Montecito;

Western Europe to Asia. 1496 E. Valley 805-969-9990; www.lotusland.org.

Road, Montecito; 805-969-2840.

www.williamlaman.com. santa barbara botanic garden Dedicated to

the biodiversity and conservation of native California plants, this historic

STEVE GUNTHER (4)

property with its meadow, mission dam and aqueduct offers premier display

gardens and changing exhibitions. 1212 Mission Canyon Road, Santa

Barbara; www.sbbg.org; 805-682-4726.

70
SANTA BARBARA
seaside gardens
This full-service nursery is the garden

community’s gathering spot (below).

Functioning as a virtual botanical library,

it offers a wide range of unusual plants,

casa del herrero state-of-the-art display gardens and design

This Spanish Colonial Revival house services. 3700 Via Real, Carpinteria;

and its array of distinct and fabulous 805-684-6001; www.seaside-gardens.com.

gardens open a doorway into the glam-

orous world of old Montecito (below).

Tiled fountains and runnels guide the

way through gardens influenced by the

Spanish Moors, the 16th-century Italian turk hessellund

Renaissance and 19th-century England. Named for its original owner, the

Along with Lotusland, this historic 40-year-old institution of Turk

garden continues to have a strong Hessellund Nursery (above), located

influence on the private gardens in the among the shops and restaurants of

area. Reservations are required. 1387 Santa Barbara, is now run by the

E. Valley Road, Montecito; 805-565-5653; knowledgeable Raymond Sodomka. A

www.casadelherraro.com. one-of-a-kind nursery known for its

jam-packed, kaleidoscopic plant offer-

ings ranging from leading-edge intro-

ductions to the tried and true, it

offers spirited display gardens and a

design service. 1255 Coast Village

Road, Santa Barbara; 805-969-5871.

71
 BY JENNY ANDREWS

belgian
wow
AT THE HEART OF EUROPE SITS THE SMALL COUNTRY OF BELGIUM,
a creative milieu where contemporary and traditional styles
easily intertwine. Nowhere is this more obvious than in Bel-
gium’s cutting-edge floral design.The impetus for this is part-
ly historical, partly cultural. Close-neighbor Holland has dom-
inated the floral industry for over 400 years, and Belgium has
been renowned throughout Europe for its nurseries since the
turn of the last century. Even art history has had its influence—
the floral still-life painting of the Dutch Masters in the 16th and
small town has its flower shop (or several).And Europeans take
the craft of floral design very seriously—as a field of study it
requires years of rigorous education and apprenticeship.
What has emerged is a style that shows a deep under-
standing of the innate qualities of even the simplest materi-
als, combines European mass arrangements with oriental sim-
plicity, and is familiar yet somehow startling.Three designers
whose work exemplifies the best of Belgian floral art are Daniël
Ost, Geert Pattyn and Nico De Swert. These are not just
17th centuries set the tone for flower arranging for hundreds flower arrangers but artists, who use the full wealth of nature
of years.Though bouquets are popular in the United States, to sculpt their visions, creating pieces that are both innova-
there is no comparison to the passion for cut flowers in Europe. tive and a fusion of classic styles, a celebration of fleeting beau-
They are part of everyday life, a staple like bread and milk; every ty and the power of flowers to transform living spaces.

72
Examples from three of
Belgium’s top floral
designers. Far left: Geert
Pattyn’s sci-fi sculpted
aspidistra leaves. Left:
Daniël Ost’s stylish com-
bination of Zantedeschia
aethiopica ‘Green
Goddess’, Aspidistra punc-
tata and Symphoricarpos
albus. Below: Nico De
Swert’s dainty tapestry
of wax flower blossoms.

73
 Nico De Swert
NICO DE SWERT’S PRIMARY INSPIRATION IS COLOR, YET HIS PREFERENCE
is not riotous multihued explosions but sophisticated, monochro-
matic combinations through which he can better explore the sculp-
tural qualities of his materials. In fact, he considers himself a “floral
sculptor” rather than an arranger. Educated at the Royal Academy of
Fine Art in Antwerp and trained in the trenches of the European cut-
flower industry, De Swert brings an artist’s eye to his work.Also an
interior stylist, he is keenly conscious of how an arrangement fits
and even transforms a room, like any work of art.
Rather than nature re-created, his arrangements are “nature re-
cast,” using berries, leaves, stems and flowers like actors in a play—
hydrangea blossoms in a vertical “painting” or grasses as
wall sconces.The traditional often takes a twist, like the
beehive hairdo of gloriosa lilies above.Wanting to bring
the European love affair with flowers to the States, De
Swert now works as a top stylist in NewYork.

Photographs byWendall T.Webber from Nico De Swert:

Living with Flowers (Harry N. Abrams, 2005, $40).

74
Far left, top: Gloriosa lilies
stacked in a glowing
dome above a sleek vase.
Far left, below: Mambo®
roses peek from an orb
of southern magnolia
leaves whose brown
undersides complement
the tawny blooms.This
page: A trio of wall vases
with setaria grass adds a
wild yet chic element to a
contemporary setting.

75
 This page: A flat bowl
makes a mini pond for
floating duckweed
(Lemna minor), edged
by bay laurel leaves
(Laurus nobilis) strung
together. Far right, top:
A dress sculpture
made from raffia and
money plant (Lunaria
annua). Far right,
below: A pattypan
squash makes a hand-
like container for a
still-green flower head
of Sedum spectabile.

76
 Geert Pattyn
GEERT PATTYN IS MORE THAN A MAKER OF BEAUTIFUL BOUQUETS. HIS
creations are integral, even if temporary, elements in the overall de-
sign of the space rather than simply accessories to a room.There is an
elegant minimalism in much of his work, but the apparent simplicity
is deceptive—there is ingenuity in weaving steel grass
into globes for lights or using a pattypan squash as a vase.
Inspired by working on his parents’ farm, Pattyn knew
from a young age that he would become a floral design-
er.After studying horticulture and floristry, he launched
his own business on his family’s property in Geluwe.The
renovated outbuildings that now form his studio, house
and conservatory serve as a sort of floral-design laboratory, accom-
panied by a garden where Pattyn gathers materials. His designs range
from a bounteous bouquet of cosmos fresh from his garden to a wed-
ding-dinner display to abstract sculptures of twigs and branches.
Twice awarded the coveted title of Champion Florist in Flanders,
Pattyn has represented Belgium in international competitions, fre-
quently gives courses and demonstrations, and is a regular contrib-
utor to the Belgian floral design magazine Fleur Créatif.

Photographs by BartVan Leuven from Floral Interior Decoration

(Stichting Kunstboek, 2003, $73; www.stichtingkunstboek.com).

77
 Daniël Ost
IT’S IMPOSSIBLE TO TALK ABOUT FLORAL ART, PARTICULARLY IN BELGIUM,
without mentioning Daniël Ost. His very personal blending of West-
ern floral traditions and Eastern sensibilities is unique, and his works
often look like a cross between a Baroque Flemish painting and Japan-
ese ikebana. Indeed, Ost’s work is a dynamic study in contrasts—
bountiful and thrifty, ephemeral and earthy, contemporary and Old
World, celebrating new growth and decline. Born in Sint-Niklaas,
where he still lives and maintains a shop (a second shop is in Brus-
sels), Ost has been at the top of his field since the 1980s.
Though he creates arrangements from the sumptuous to the high-
ly stylized, flowers are not always the focus, sometimes not appear-
ing at all amid bark, leaves, twigs, seaweed, moss, fruit
and seedpods.And the pieces are often a celebration of
senescence as much as burgeoning new growth.All parts
and all stages of plant life are fair game.
Ost’s creations go far beyond home décor, challeng-
ing conventional views of floral design. Many pieces are
more like installation art or performance art for plants,
utilizing unexpected materials, unusual containers and even startling
settings.As much as a creation of art, Ost’s work is intended to pro-
voke thought, set a mood and spark emotion.

Photographs by Robert Dewild from Remaining Flowers (Lannoo,

2004). Ost’s work can also be seen in his other books Leafing Through
Flowers (Callaway, 2000) and Invitations (Lannoo, 2004).

78
Far left, top:Whirling
dervishes of cycad
cones (Encephalartos
laurentianus) and Larix
decidua stems. Far left,
below: Individual
blooms of hydrangea
perched on a spiro-
graph pattern of
Xerophyllum tenax
above elderberries.
This page: Maidenhair
fern and rubus with a
millinery look echo the
elegant vase pattern.

79
 B Y TOVA H M A RT I N P H O T O G R A P H S B Y LY N N K A R L I N

Left:Where colors are

strong, garden designer
Jacquelyn Nooney
harnesses the power of
monosweeps—like this
sedum ‘Autumn Joy’, rud-
beckia ‘Goldsturm’ and
boxwood combination
at Stonewall Kitchen.
Right:The same theory
of blocks of color, form
and texture being
bounced back and forth
plays out at the Stott/
King residence.

shor t but sweet

Summers in Maine are fleeting spectacles
of color and spice—at least if you follow the
“no-fear, no-holds-barred” approach of a
culinary couple and their inventive designer

80
81
 From top left clockwise:
Everywhere the theme
is contrast, like the lily-
sedum combo in the
upper garden. In the
pool area (next two
BOSTON PROPER MIGHT GIVE OUT BUTTONED-DOWN VIBES, BUT pictures and lower left),
nearbyYork, in Maine, wants you to know that it is anything but pots limited to a trio of
conventional.The moment you nose north and glide over the plants or a single speci-
Maine border, gardening goes distinctly unplugged. men make a splash.
For Jonathan King, a longtime resident of Maine who knows Orange Lychnis chal-
the weather all too well, to garden or not was never negotiable. cedonica, Salvia nemorosa
Playing in the soil was intrinsic to his psyche (“It’s one of the and an ornamental grass
few things that keeps me completely focused”), even though keep the contrast high.
the climate renders the growing season brief.Actually, the com-
pressed time slot might be one reason why Jonathan, a psy-
chology major, turned to jam making, a hobby he subsequently turned into
the East Coast gourmet empire known as Stonewall Kitchen. Jon will tell
you that the jam idea began because of his Yankee distaste for tossing any-
thing that could possibly be squirreled away.At any rate, he devoted his post-
college days to working in greenhouses and moonlighting in restaurants.
Similarly, his partner Jim Stott also had split affinities: He managed his own
construction firm during daylight, then waited in a restaurant after dark.
That’s where the two were when they began hauling their hand-labeled pre-
serves from Jon and Jim’s extensive vegetable/herb garden in Hampton,
New Hampshire, to a local farmer’s market.The rest is culinary history.
Apparently, the two had a knack for mak-
ing summer bloom eternal (if only for your
taste buds), because their business mush-
roomed from the inception of the Stonewall
Kitchen brand in 1991, eventually requir-
ing bigger digs.The two now live close by
their 55,000-square-foot corporate head-
quarters in York. Having always cultivated
secondhand growing spaces, Jon longed to
fashion a garden from scratch. So this time
around they bought what was basically an
oversize sandbox, 25 acres total. It was all
potential with no prearranged footprints.
That’s when Jacquelyn Nooney entered
the picture. In the landscape biz since 1984
and with plenty of experience under her belt
(she’s the principle of Jacquelyn Nooney
Landscape, Inc.), she has dual strengths:
strong structure and inventive/off-the-beat-
en-path plants, which includes a fabled sym-
pathy for annuals. (Since customers are apt
to jump immediately to images of wax be-
gonias when they encounter that word, she
uses the euphemism “seasonal plants.”) Be-
tween Jon’s tendency to be a stark raving
collector (so far he has gone ape over

82
83
84
 Opposite:There was
plenty of space on the
greenhouse patio to
stage a sizable focal
point, but rather than a
daylilies, roses, coleus, cacti, dahlias, alliums and heirloom
mixed container,
tomatoes: “We needed something to feed my fetishes”) and
Jacquelyn Nooney used
Jacquelyn’s design specifically created to welcome annual in-
a single, strong conifer
novation, there was ample opportunity for derring-do.
with variegated ivy
The growing window in Maine might not be wide, but the
spilling down. A yellow
garden packs a succinct statement into a limited time frame,
dahlia jutting from the
playing brave colors against masses of textural grasses, salvias,
bed behind shows how
sedums, et al., creating sweeping gestures. Strong structure keeps
much tender plants like
everything in line. Simple, straight vistas direct your gaze. Basi-
Maine summers.
cally, the beds form a series of mirrored rectangular spaces cut
by a strong central axis and an equally pronounced cross axis.A
long, leisurely pergola above the cross axis, shouldering wisteria, provides
shade from the seaside sun and frames the central focal point—a planted, rus-
tic stone trough. A sparkling, inviting pool is off to the side, accented with
containers billowing with grasses, coleus or whatever is hot that year.
Keeping within the Yankee vernacular, the beds are edged neatly with

“The growing window in Maine might not be

wide, but the garden packs a succinct statement
into a limited time frame, playing brave colors
against masses of textural grasses”
granite cobblestones, and the paths are pebbled (Jon and Jim requested that
the tread be comfortable to walk barefoot). Spaces are given roles.The beds
along the pergola are prescribed to receive whatever Jon has fixated on that
year. Meanwhile, to preserve the peace, these “wild-card” areas are skirt-
ed by a series of nepeta-hemmed architectural beds each featuring a single
statuesque hornbeam.The majestic allée they create provides what Jacque-
lyn calls a “backbone of solid perennials,” allowing her to give the more flu-
id beds a new “hairdo” every year. Colors are carefully intermingled; tex-
tures are similarly meticulously staged.The result is haute horticultural
coiffure, balance being everything.
Further gardens have sprouted on the property, and a greenhouse was added
to accommodate Jon’s proclivity for flowers despite winter. Since the beds re-
quire thousands of “seasonal plants” every year, the greenhouse doesn’t at-
tempt to feed that staggering appetite—Jacquelyn grows the annuals herself
off-site. Farther afield is a restful shade garden and vegetable/herb garden.
The cultivated segment is 3 acres and expanding.The garden spaces lead one
into the next, a gradual progression that changes mood and material, depending
on the light, the theme of the space and Jon’s latest whim. Each garden is in-
tensive but serenely focused, with all components in concert.There are no
jarring moments. Sure it’s jam-packed, but it gels.

For more information, see www.jnlinc.com and www.stonewallkitchen.com.

85
 horticulture hq
The raucous flower bed farther up the highway

from the King/Stott home was a brilliant move

on Stonewall Kitchen’s part. What with the mas-

sive plants beside the road sign (“Nothing under

4 feet will do” is Jacquelyn Nooney’s decree), you

can’t resist the botanical bait. Giants like castor

bean and further islands of flowers serve as a

treasure hunt, pulling you into SK’s shop and café.

“Packing it in to engage the public” is

Jacquelyn’s goal at the flagship store. She has two

long strips to work with, the mission being to

“create something that’s wild, zany, wooly and

dynamic where guests will stop to admire and

touch the plants.” Basically, partaking of the gar-

den becomes an experience just as enjoyable and

uplifting as savoring the culinary wares.

Jacquelyn’s signature style is to play the ten-

sion of tall and short plants off each other: let-

tuce and pansies below tulips, ‘Bull’s Blood’ beet

below brugmansia, papyrus waving above salvias.

“The garden just rocks and rolls,” she says.

Initially, not everyone in the corporate campus

agreed that Stonewall Kitchen

Top left:When Jacquelyn
needed to invest in a garden of
turned her talents to
the Stonewall Kitchen such proportions. But ultimately,
headquarters, she laid
the gardens became crucial to
a simple structure with
complicated compo- the ambiance and inextricably
nents. A hardworking
bound with the brand. The gar-
space, the gardens serve
as a pleasant café-side den defined the destination.
setting, as well as supply
“We even made the number
cut flowers (Cosmos sul-
phureus, calendula and crunchers into believers. It was
bachelor’s buttons,
a smart, strategic move,” says
right) for the tables.
Jacquelyn—her final analysis.

86
87
 sage advice A H O W- TO G U I D E F O R G RO W I N G A N D O U T D O O R L I V I N G

H O RT Q & A W I T H J A C K R U T T L E

Q
French Dressing
What plants can I use to create a French-
style country garden? — CATHERINE TAKPER,
ENCINITAS, CA

A You see many garden styles around

country homes in France, from classical to
cottage and from modern abstract to nat-
uralistic, but I think I know the style you
are envisioning—casual but organized,
seemingly carefree, always interesting.Your
mild climate is well-suited for this.
Actually, France provides better plant-
ing models for most American gardens than
England because the French climates are
more like ours. Summers in parts of France
are often dry and warm, sometimes even
arid and broiling hot. And Provence, with
its Mediterranean climate and frequent wa-
tering restrictions, holds
many good planting ideas
A balanced yet infor-
for coastal California ar-
mal design of boxwood,
eas such as yours.
geranium, lamb’s ears,
There are some signa-
sedge, rhododendron,
ture plants that play are available that would be every winter to form short, permanent
Boston ivy and colum-
recurring roles in the quite suitable in your area. arms that support the new foliage. Popu-
nar Italian cypress has
country gardens of Another French touch lar smaller trees are the olive with its sil-
a very French flair.
Provence.A low hedge of would be columnar evergreens very leaves and yellow-flowered Acacia
lavender along the drive planted as sentinels or in rows dealbata, which the French call mimosa.
or a walkway, plus a climbing rose trained to mark a property line or drive. Italian For annual flower plantings, French gar-
on the wall near your doorway, might seem cypress (Cupressus sempervirens) fits the bill deners have a bold way with color. Pure
cliché, but they are endearing features around but will eventually grow to 60 feet tall. red, yellow, orange and blue don’t scare
many French homes both large and small. For a similar look you could substitute one them.They practically invented the sort of
For taller hedges, follow the French lead of the shorter columnar junipers, such as gardening that emphasizes bold tropical fo-
with boxwood. Buxus sempervirens is native Juniperus chinensis ‘Spartan’ and J. scopulo- liage and flowers (think cannas and bananas)
across southern France and grows freely in rum ‘Gray Gleam’ or ‘Skyrocket’. melded into annual beds. In pots and win-
dry alkaline soil, along roadsides and among For summer shade, London plane trees dow boxes, geraniums are still beloved.
scrub oaks. Specimen boxwoods are often (Platanus x hispanica) are widely used in A garden in southern France almost al-
J E R RY PAV I A

sheared into globes and other topiary France along drives and around patios, with ways includes a shady paved spot for dining
shapes. Numerous hybrids and cultivars the main branches pollarded—pruned back outdoors. Grape vines trained on an over-

Imagination rules the world— N A P O L E O N B O N A PA RT E GARDEN DESIGN 89

 sage advice

Above: The shade of a

grapevine creates a
place to sit or dine.
Opposite: Watering
cans are hot col- head arbor are nice; prune
lectibles; make sure them hard annually so
they also function. they never overwhelm the
trellis and admit plenty of
light in winter.
Speaking of food, a little kitchen patch
out back is an authentic French touch.
Think about growing zucchini, tomatoes,
beans and peppers in summer, fava beans
and artichokes in winter and spring, and
salad crops nearly year round.

Q I’ve been tempted by antique watering

cans I’ve seen in local shops and flea markets.
How can I tell if they are genuine antiques and
also if they would be OK to use for gardening
chores? — KYLIE ROVERTS, ANN ARBOR, MI

A Watering cans that actually are more

than 100 years old are very rare. It’s un-
likely that you’d see one in a shop or a flea
market—and certainly not more than one
at a time. But galvanized-metal watering
cans of a design that originated more than
a century ago in Europe continued to be
made in large numbers into the 1950s, and
a few (notably Haws of England, whose
products are available in the United States)
are still made.Those “antique” galvanized
cans made in Europe are what I mostly see
for sale these days.They have an oval body
and a long, narrow spout originating at the
S U S A N A . ROT H

base of the can.They’re closer to 50 years

old than 100, and are priced from about
$50 in flea markets to $100 and up in shops.
 Old watering cans for that kind
of money certainly should be us-
able in the garden. Check one
out before buying. Beyond hold-
ing water, it should show no rust
inside or cracks in the seams.
The handle and neck brace
should be solid.The rose (where
the water comes out) should
still be removable, not soldered
in place; should fit tightly, with
minimal leaks; and should be
able to deliver a gentle shower.
Ask for a demonstration
with water (or a no-questions-
asked return policy) before you
buy a high-priced can. Or get a
brand-new one from Haws
(www.haws.co.uk) or a reproduction from
India or Eastern Europe. A new can will
soon develop the patina of age that you like
and should have a long, useful life.

Q I would like a flowering evergreen tree to

make into a topiary at the approach to our front
door. It needs to take full morning sun. (We tried
a camellia but it didn’t do well.) — DIANE
RICHZER, MYRTLE BEACH, SC

A Teddy Bear® magnolia, with big glossy

leaves, fuzzy brown undersides and large
white flowers, would be magnificent.You
could prune it into a cone about 10 feet tall
J E R RY PAV I A
 sage advice

and 6 feet across the base.This is a more

compact cultivar of the southern magnolia
(Magnolia grandiflora).
For something slightly smaller, consid-
er Osmanthus fragrans (sweet olive). You
could prune it into an evergreen cone or
pyramid about 6 feet tall that would cover
itself in very small, deliciously scented flow-
ers in winter and spring.

Q What should I know before starting a roof

garden? — RICH BROUSSART, NEW YORK, NY

A Actually, you need to know a lot since

a roof is a very different environment from
a garden at ground level. In fact, you’ll
probably want to get professional help be-
fore getting started on a project like this.
First, consider the climate on a roof,
which is more severe than on the ground.
It’s often quite windy in summer and very
sunny and hot. But if nearby buildings are
tall, the garden can be in shade all day,
which is too dark for many plants, or quick-
ly switch from deep shade to intense sun.
Never use regular garden soil for a roof
garden; it’s much too
heavy and doesn’t
Below: Osmanthus fra-
hold water well or of-
grans offers handsome
fers poor drainage.
evergreen foliage and
Use a lightweight ar-
tiny flowers with a
strong, sweet fra-
grance. And the plants
can be easily shaped.

ANDERA JONES
 Above: For colorful
rooftop planters, low-
maintenance annuals
like geraniums and
nemesia are good bets.
Combine plants that
tificial soil often called
need similar care.
a “soilless mix” in your
containers.
Plan on building some wooden or lat-
tice screens on the windward side of your
plants to keep them from developing a per-
manent lean. Lattice can also provide some
shade, especially for a southern or west-
ern exposure.
Also install automatic drip irrigation.
Container plants need much more frequent
watering than plants in the ground. Sun,
heat and wind will compound the water
requirement. By midsummer, if not earli-
er, you would need to hand-water at least
once a day and in very hot weather, twice
a day.That schedule is nearly impossible to
maintain every day all season, which is why
a drip system is crucial.
Finally, it is essential that you get approval
from your landlord or building co-op board
and the local planning commission.They will
probably require that your roof be exam-
ined and certified by an engineer or archi-
tect, who will stipulate required changes to
the surface of the roof and the weight lim-
its for your structures, containers and plants.
Once you get approval, I also recommend
ANDREA JONES

hiring a qualified garden designer who spe-

cializes in roof gardens, especially if you
have limited gardening experience.
 sage advice

SPRING PLANTING

Weekend Tropicals
PLANTING SEASON HAS ARRIVED, AND IN NUTLEY, NEW JERSEY, THAT MEANS IT’S TIME TO UNLEASH
the razzamatazz—all-singing, all-dancing borders stuffed with summer annuals and ten-
der exotics that really sock it to you for a late-season finale. Seattle-based landscape de-
signer Richard Hartlage makes an annual pilgrimage to two clients in New Jersey, neigh-
bors Graeme Hardie and Silas Mountsier, to supervise the launch of a summerlong
horticultural extravaganza in both gardens.The big planting push happens over a long week-
end in mid-May after danger of frost has passed.The stage is set with plants recycled from
the greenhouse, houseplants, trays of colorful annuals, choiceVictorian bedding favorites
and the odd rarity tucked in here and there for the oooh-factor. —J OA N N A F O RT N A M

SHOPPING
For this type of summer tropical dis-
play most plants are treated as dis-
posable from year to year, so the
weekend begins with a shopping trip
to two local nurseries.
Bulk Buys: The first stop, Morris
County Farms in Denville,
is a hot spot for foliage houseplants
(top right) and impatiens (below
right). Team Hort: Hartlage (blue
shirt) and Hardie (in hat) have
worked together for over 10 years,
so they know just what they’re look-
ing for. Pastels are used more in
Hardie’s garden (to match the house
trim), while Hartlage picks out satu-
rated oranges and reds that will pop
in the evergreen Mountsier
garden. Boutique
Finds: Second stop of the Left, clockwise: Choosing
day is Atlock Farm, in coleus at Atlock. Ray
Somerset (right), a trove Rogers, Graeme Hardie
of special finds. Hartlage and Richard Hartlage at
picks out coleus—some Atlock Farm.A lime-green
topiaries for pots (center dracaena for a dramatic
right) and small plants of focal point. Coleus topiar-
the old Victorian type for ies. Picking out impatiens.
massing in borders (left).

94 M AY 2 0 0 6 The long, cold Minnesota winters instilled in me a fascination for exotic far off places—P E T E R AGRE
 P H OTO G R A P H S B Y A N D R E B A R A N OW S K I

All we need, really, is a change from a near frigid to a tropical attitude of mind—M A R J O R Y S. DOUGLAS GARDEN DESIGN 95
 G A R D E N D E S I G N A D V E R T I S I N G D I R E C T O R Y

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97
 sage advice
From top left clockwise:
Just out of storage, these
brugmansias and cannas
soon spring to life.Ti plants
line a path. Specimens wait
to leave the greenhouse.
Hartlage watering contain-
ers. Below: Even the small-
est cactus has its place.
98 M AY 2 0 0 6
RECYCLING AND PLANTING
The chorus line of color and foliage
includes some return appearances—from
greenhouse specimens and dormant
plants. Many have a regular spot in the
garden and are simply moved into place.
Sleeping Beauties: Tender plants that
go dormant include brugmansias and can-
nas (top left), just out of storage in the
cellar. Greenhouse Stars: Some hard-
to-find specimens spend winter in the
greenhouse, including a prickly pachypodi-
um (above, lower right) and cactus (left).
Dig for Victory: The hard work lasts
all weekend. Hardie (top right), spaces out
fluorescent Ti plants alongside a path.
Effort Rewarded: Planting the borders
The highest virtue found in the tropics is chastity, and in the colder regions, temperance—C H R I S T I A N
with standard 24-packs of impatiens or
coleus takes a day or two, but the
effort is rewarded by a summer of low-
maintenance color. Hartlage plants on
10-inch centers, and the plants fill out
in about three weeks.
At a Pinch: Hartlage recommends,
when planting coleus, that you pinch
out the tips to encourage bushiness.
Follow-Up: Hartlage follows the
planting team with the watering wand
(above, lower left), checking that pots
and borders are saturated. Granular
Osmocote fertilizer is added to pots at
planting, and all plants are fed biweekly
with a 20-20-20 liquid fertilizer.
NEVELL BOVEE
 Below:A small Begonia
paulensis, bought in the
houseplant section, rapidly
develops into a shrublike
plant that suits the tropical
theme of the garden.

Politics, just like the tropical forest, feeds itself from its own waste—P A U L C A RV E L GARDEN DESIGN 99
 sage advice

DESIGN TIPS
Big impact is the raison d’etre of the tropi-
cal look. Hartlage takes a three-pronged
approach to achieve this:Tropical plants
(of course), bold foliage and forms, and
shots of saturated color. Block Style:
Rather than planting in a complicated cot-
tage style, concentrate colorful annuals
like impatiens in geometric blocks for a
strong contrast with the fine-textured
background. Foliage Form: Taro, ele-
phant’s ears, the occasional banana and
caladiums—great foliage plants with strik-
ingly large, architectural leaves—make a
great contrast in an otherwise suburban
garden. Spike It Up: Prickly or strap-
leaved plants are good focal points. New
Zealand flax, bromeliads and agaves are
drawn from different habitats, but they
have the right exotic look, as do many
common houseplants, such as spider
plant, dracaena and bird’s nest fern.

FINISHED EFFECTS
The long, hot, humid New Jersey sum-
mers suit tropicals down to the ground,
and these plants grow astonishingly fast,
quickly transforming a suburban garden
into a lush oasis. Hanging Around:
More greenhouse specimens—staghorn
ferns and spider plants—are co-opted
into the summer display, hanging on walls
and from corners (far right, top and cen-
ter). Foliage Power: Borders cleared
of tulip foliage in May and freshly planted
with coleus look like this in September
—still going strong after most summer
perennials have faded (far right, below).
J E R RY H A R P U R

Sources: Richard Hartlage, 253-284-

0254; Morris County Farms, 973-366-
4448; Atlock Farm, 732-356-3373.

100 M AY 2 0 0 6 Destroying rainforest for economic gain is like burning a Renaissance painting to cook a meal—E D W A R D O. W I L S O N
 Around the pond foliage
contrasts abound—black
colocasia, busy coleus and
prickly pachypodium.
Staghorn ferns (top) and
spider plants (center) add
finishing touches. Coleus
(right) lends junglelike
rhythm and pattern.

I thought I would be Sheena of the Jungle as a little girl—P A M GRIER GARDEN DESIGN 101
 sage advice

A N ATO M Y L E S S O N

Path to Enlightenment
PATHWAYS THAT TWIST AND TURN REPRESENT
life’s journey.A circular labyrinth, combined
with a Native American medicine wheel,
suggests different directions in life. Flowing
water represents ever-present, continuous
change; a still pool allows reflection.
This garden near Detroit, created by de-
signer JeffreyWhite of Detroit-based Agua-
Fina Gardens & Imports, reflects the own-
er’s interest in different spiritual beliefs,
including those of Native Americans.
The space, roughly 4,000 square feet, was
reclaimed from a wild corner of the garden
in fall 2005. It includes a meditation mound
formed from an antique well capstone, a dry
riverbed and several symbolic stones.The
client walks in the gardens every day, fol-
lowing a route designed to represent the
complex twists and turns of life’s journey.
The sinuously curving paths were creat-
ed largely on the ground, some using the tra-
ditional stake and string to create a perfect
radius. Others needed an individual touch—
“feeling by foot” as White says, to create a
comfortable walk.—JF
The labyrinth/medi-
For further information
cine wheel is laid
on AguaFina Gardens &
out in sandstone
Imports, call 248-738-
reclaimed from
0500 or 888-738-0599 or
the original garden,
see www.aguafina.com.
with winding paths

G E O R G E D Z A H R I S TO S ( 2 )
picked out in gravel
and springy moss.

GROUND DETAILS SYMBOL IN STONE SPECIAL SPACE

Hand-selected glacial boul-
ders provide informal steps
to the top of the mound.The
firmly packed moss, laid on
raised berms of soil, makes a
beautifully molded floorscape.
The standing stone is actually a
piece of petrified wood. Chosen
for its shape and stature, it was
placed at a tight, sloping turn on
the path to suggest the obsta-
cles encountered in life.
The atmosphere of the gar-
den is reinforced by a subtle
separation from the rest of
the property.The slope and a
grouping of ‘Green Gem’
boxwoods offer solitude.

102 M AY 2 0 0 6 Nature is a labyrinth in which the very haste you move with will make you lose your way—F R A N C I S BACON
 sage advice

1 2

LANDSCAPE SOLUTIONS

Bamboo’s Yin and Yang FEW MATERIALS USED IN THE DESIGN OF GAR-
3
dens offer the dichotomous appeal of bam-
boo. Geisha-girl delicate in form yet with a
tensile strength greater than steel’s, this an-
cient natural resource can punch up the
Asian ambience in a landscape whether used
as sculpture or in more utilitarian functions.
Stephen Glassman, aVenice, California,
artist, has been applying ancient construc-
tion techniques using various bamboo vari-
eties—including beechey bamboo (Bambusa
beecheyana), giant timber bamboo (B. old-
hamii), golden bamboo (Phyllostachys aurea)
and giant Japanese timber bamboo (P. bam-
busoides)—to create steps, handrails, bridges,
fences, shelters, sculptures and more for
both private and public spaces.Though his
pieces often coincide with an Asian-themed
garden, many times his work is commis-
sioned to contrast with the landscape.
L A U R A H U L L ( 1 ) , S H I R L E Y WAT T S ( 2 )

[1] A Glassman-built span—dubbed The Yellow Bridge—provides L.A. rocker “I’m often asked to move into concrete
Perry Farrell with a direct path from his living room to a grove of black bamboo. urban areas,” Glassman says, “as a level of
[2] A front gate made of black bamboo (Phyllostachys nigra) draws the line at counterpoint or to dance with the flow of
entering a Venice property, yet invites with its airy design. [3] Live Mexican the design.”—J A S O N U P R I G H T
weeping bamboo (Otatea acuminata ssp. aztectorum) buffets a Glassman fence
to screen a midcentury modern home and landscape from a public walkway. To contact artist Stephen Glassman, e-mail
zolart@artnet.net or call 310-305-1696.

104 M AY 2 0 0 6 The stiffest tree is most easily cracked, while the bamboo or willow survives by bending with the wind—B R U C E LEE
 ANNOUNCING GARDEN DESIGN’S

2OO6
G O L D E N T ROW E L
AWA R D S
To enter: For the Golden Trowel Awards (open to
amateurs and professional landscape designers and contrac-
tors), please fill out the form below and return it, along with
Open to all home gardeners and do-it-yourself
your completed entry, by June 1, 2006 to Garden Design, at- designers as well as professional garden designers,
tention Golden Trowel, 460 N. Orlando Ave., Suite 200,Win-
ter Park, FL 32789.Your entry should include the following: landscape contractors and landscape architects.
Your story: Send us a written account. Include
your inspiration, the planning and what you started with, the Winning gardens will be presented in an upcoming
planting, the achievements and the setbacks of your garden.
Be as specific and creative as you can. Submissions must be
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thing from a professionally rendered drawing to a home- to the amateur whose garden
grown sketch. Be as detailed as reasonably possible, but keep demonstrates the most
creative use of plants.
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Photography: Submit enough prints to explain the
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PANELS IN SOLID OAK LATHS
561.805.9995 www.authenticprovence.com

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108 W W W. G A R D E N D E S I G N M A G . C O M
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w w w. s y c a m o r e c r e e k . c o m
SYCAMORE CREEK

ARBORS
TRELLISES
TOWERS
PERGOLAS
CUSTOM WORK
Handcrafted
Copper
Garden
Furnishings

P. O. B OX 1 6 , A N C R A M , N Y 1 2 5 0 2 • 5 1 8 . 3 9 8 . 6 3 9 3

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Send for our new A-28

CATALOG AND GUIDE TO
WATER GARDENING
$3.00
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E-mail Address: pstetson@paradisewatergardens.com

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 details

Reflected
Glory
Atlanta garden designer
Ryan Gainey drew on
Moorish tradition for this
formal walled courtyard,
known as the Mogul gar-
den, in the Hamptons.The
high brick walls give some
shelter from salt winds,
and the brick path, fore-
ground, bisects a canal—
home to lotus, papyrus
and fish.Yews are clipped
into spires to resemble the
Italian cypress more typi-
cal of such warm-climate
gardens. Flanking the canal
are neatly pruned ‘Meyer’
lemon trees in large pots.
On the wall behind the
fountain is a mirror, a
glimpse of paradise.—J F

From Seascape Garden-

RO G E R F O L E Y

ing, by Anne Halpin, photo-

graphs by Roger Foley (Storey
Publishing, May 2006, $35).

112 M AY 2 0 0 6 Paradise hath room for you and me and all—C H R I S T I N A RO S S E T T I