WETHERSFIELD GARDEN

In my opinion this garden is one of the best examples of a classical garden in the United states. Well hidden in the Hudson Valley, Dutchess County, New York, the garden built in the secound half of the twentieth century by Chauncey Devereux Stillman. The design is attributed to at least two designers: Bryan J. Lynch and Evelyn N. Poehler.

Address: 214 Pugsley Hill RoadAmenia, NY
Phone: (845) 373-8037

The oval reflecting pool looking forward to the great arborviteae allee.

Fountain Cupid-on-Dolphin

Central Axis

Arborvitea allee

Entrance to cutting garden

Great pattern created with grass and stone work

COTTAGE GARDENS OF SIASCONSET NANTUCKET

I usually stay away from this term as its meaning has been widely overused to describe any mess that has a cheap bird bath stuck in the middle. I also hate to throw around the word charm because its use by every TV make over show has been applied to more throughtless , and trite details than I have the patience for.

BUT....for the cottage gardens of siasconset on Nantucket I make an exception and instead welcome the labels: Cottage and Charm

The meandering streets, close quarters and small scale of these structures and the gardens that envelope them are truly deserving of this title. I visited recently and although is was a cloudy day, the gardens and cottages looked magical and well...see for yourself.

Abundance

Is there any better than bright shades of green off setting the white trim and faded blue door?

I love the clean graphic quality of this design

GREEN IS MY FAVORITE COLOR

Gardeners training vine at Sissinghurst, in England

Villa lante, Itlay

Simple tall elegant hedge

Boxwood creates pattern

THINK GREEN!

No this is a rambling Diatribe on the glories of conservation. It's color theory and the overlooked and often under appreciated color GREEN.

A tall elegant six to eight foot hedge enclosing a garden, or a low boxwood hedge used to edge and define areas. Also ground covers use to create drifts of green..and yes even the much maligned turf lawn all use variations of green.

Even our most beloved flowering plants use a base of green from which to contrast there blooms.

So think green. A garden doesn't need to be forty different colors. A garden of all greens is a calm soothing place, when done right is timeless.

Nothing thrills me more than the gardens of Italy that use green architecture to create spaces of unparalleled beauty. Villa Lante, Villa de Este are of course some of the most famous, but Italy is flooded with great gardens that have been time tested.

A few of my favorite ever-green plants for North east america

1. Ilex (Holly) Blue hollys & crenata's like steeds or Ilex opaca 'cheasapeake'

2. Buxus (Boxwood) Lots of varieties to love:

3. Hedra (IVY) many varieties a real classic

4. Taxus (Yew) wonderful for shaping

5. Arborvitae: Great substitute for Italian cypress trees in the north east

6. Pachysandra: Yes I even love this much over used and under appreciated ground cover.
7. Eunoymus: 'Manhattan' for large shiney leaves and fortunei 'emerald gaiety' for a ground cover

HUDSON VALLEY MAGAZINE ARTICLE

Writer Lynn Hazlewood from Hudson Valley Magazine and I had a chat about my garden and the results with photos are published in the July 2009 issue of the Magazine.

Click here for the link:
http://www.hvmag.com/Hudson-Valley-Magazine/Hudson-Valley-Home/Summer-2009/Italian-Lesson/

Below is the opening for the Article.

Italian Lesson
Taking his cues from classic Italian gardens, a landscape designer uses local materials and lush plantings to create his own interpretation
By: Lynn Hazlewood Published June 17, 2009 at 10:25 AM

The kitchen garden, on the upper tier, has a more rustic, casual look than gardens closer to the house, but is laid out symmetrically, with beds edged in box. Michael Schoeller grows the classics: tons of tomatoes, heirloom potatoes, herbs, Swiss chard, lemon grass, and things we can’t get at the local farmer’s stand. Yellow Tagetes marigolds, zinnias, gourds twining over arbors, and trumpet vine trained along the fence give the garden spice, he says

Photographs by Philip Jensen-Carter

A GARDEN OF WOODLAND PATHS

RUSSELWRIGHT ECOLOGICALLY DESIGNED LANDSCAPE AND EDUCATION CENTER

This past weekend, myself, a bunch of friends and over 40 others were lucky to be involved in a volunteer landscape maintenance day at the Russel Wright Center in Garrison New York. I was an amazing beautiful day and the place has started to come out of its winter slumber.

I encourage everyone to go to the center and take the guided tour of the main path way and house. Above is a photo of the moss room, which is unbelievable beautiful. There are also more aggressive paths for hikers and people wanting a deeper woods experience.

Visit the website to learn more: www.russelwrightcenter.org

GARDEN CONSERVANCY'S OPEN DAYS

OPEN DAYS ARE HERE

The Garden Conservancy open days directory is out and the open days start April 3 & 4 in Pennsylvania and April 26 is the first showing in our area.

If you aren't familiar with the program " OPEN DAYS" is the brain child of the Garden conservancy, who headquarters is located in my back yard, Cold Springs, New York.

Started in 1995 the Open Days program unlocks private garden gates across the country, working with volunteers and garden owners to coordinate schedules. Many of the gardens are rarely, if ever open to the public. All the money goes to support the Garden conservancy efforts to preserve exceptional American gardens for public education and enjoyment.

Visit the website: www.gardenconservancy.org

I love there easy going, user friendly organization as you can choose just to visit one garden and pay at the door, you can become a member and pre-buy tickets, you can purchase a directory which I love, or just visit the website.

RECYCLED READING

I have to admit I'm a gardening book fanatic, having hundreds of garden books on ever topic from design to pruning. With all the talk of being green, I thought one of the ways to recycle is to re-read a gardening book that has been on your shelf for a while.

I brought down from a shelf one of my favorites, Garden Style by Penelope Hobhouse. There was a piece about her in my latest edition of GARDEN'S ILLUSTRATED MAGAZINE (the Vogue of all garden magazines) and it reminded me of her great contributions and the many books I have written by her.

Reading her book again, after many years reminded my of why I love all things garden related, and she has a terrific way of outlining garden style history and people that really have made a major contribution. It's also interesting because since my first read, I have traveled and seen some of the gardens she speaks about which really makes it all more relevant.

So try recycled your reading, its free...and it might just spark a new fire..!

Here are some of my old favorites, not sure if they all are still in print. Try the public library if your old books can't get your going.

Gardens of Persia

Author Penelope Hobhouse

Penelope Hobhouses, Gardening though the Ages

Author Penelope Hobhouse

David Hicks My Kind of Garden

Author Ashley Hicks

Garden and Climate

Author Chip Sullivan

Color by design

Author Nori and Sandra Pope