Mary's garden...

What is an Indo-Persian Garden?  And how did one find it’s way to Yonkers, New York?  My recent visit to Untermyer Gardens was a refreshing example of the power of finding beauty in different cultures.... 

Thanks to Eliza Scidmore, cherry blossoms have become an integral element that welcomes spring.  These natives of the Himalayas are among the first trees to bloom,  transforming winter’s gray into clouds of white and soft pink.   But it wasn't easy getting cherry trees to US shores.  If at first you don't succeed, try again...

“Fight for a just cause; Love your fellow man; Live a good life” was the favorite credo of the creators of this quintessentially American gilded age country house and garden. The first 2 letters of each phrase, FI-LO-LI, form the name of this special place. It also is an apt description for the garden today….

Calvert Vaux, the visionary architect behind New York City’s Central Park, would have marked his birthday on Dec 20, 1824.  So this seems an appropriate time to celebrate his Central Park bridges.  Each one is unique; an ornament tucked into the broader landscape.... made all the more beautiful by fresh snowfall...

Counting down to tulip season!  Legend Beatrix Farrand wrote in 1941, “In the spring, probably the best bulbs to use will be Tulips, in such colors as may be found attractive.  The cheapest groups which can be bought in large quantities are those of the mixed Darwins, preferably running toward the yellows, bronzes, and oranges..."  Her Plant Book for Dumbarton Oaks is full of garden advice...

Do you have a favorite romantic garden?  For many people, the answer to that question is the Garden of Ninfa. (Definitely, one of my favorite.)  This got me wondering, what is a romantic garden?  “Scenic vistas, winding paths, bucolic meadows, and rustic retreats suitable for solitary contemplation are just a few of the alluring naturalistic features...

Gardens have the ability to transport us to a different place and time.  Visiting the Thai Pavilion at Olbrich Botanical Gardens in central Wisconsin is a powerful example.  This landscape takes us on a mini-vacation to the delights of Thai culture and ecology.   An 8,000 mile journey never felt so close.

This kitchen garden has style.  Villa La Pietra is a reminder that ornamental gardens can be productive, and vegetable gardens can be ornamental.  Simple criss-crossing paths are laid with crushed stone, a central fountain features a mythical mer-boy, and at one end sits a covered structure to...

Immigrants have a significant impact on US gardens.  In Alexia Campbell’s The Atlantic article she explains, “the landscaping industry has become the largest employer of foreign, non-agricultural guest workers.”  Some things never change.  While Campbell’s article was written last year, it could have been written one hundred years ago.  Take Fujitaro Kubota for example.  In 1907, Kubota emigrated to the US...

Water features, like other aspects of the garden, can be a source of competition.  One of my favorite "water fight" examples starts at Paleis Het Loo in Apeldoorn, Netherlands.  Het Loo boasts "the highest spouting fountain in Europe"...

Pulling into Riverbend in Kohler, Wisconsin is like entering another world.  This arts and crafts style English manor house with its picturesque setting takes us back 100 years. It provides a case study in how to create a garden that looks older than it actually is...

In 1772, William Chambers wrote of Chinese gardens, ”Their scenes of terror are composed of gloomy woods, … The trees are ill formed..., and seemingly torn to pieces by the violence of tempests.”  Perhaps no where are these scenes of “ill formed” trees more present than in the ancient art of penjing.  If you enjoy Penjing, a scholar garden is the place for you and this collection is dazzling....

I learn something new every time I visit a garden.  What struck me the most about Russel Wright’s home and studio, Manitoga, was how he used garden paths as his organizing principle for the landscape.  Everything is selected and arranged so that the visitor has a deliberate experience...

Looking for inspiration for your parterre garden?  In 1722 Antoine-Joseph Dezallier d'Argenville offered advice to aspiring parterre designers in his book La Theorie et la Pratique du Jardinage.  “The broderie of a parterre should be neither too heavy nor too light.”  Here's an example of what he meant...

At some point we all have the urge to tear out our gardens and start over again.  After enough changes occur, the desire might be to restore a garden to its original design.  Though many houses and gardens were created to be one integrated unit, that intention can get lost over time.  Here is the story of one such restoration...

Sharing our landscapes with friends is one of the pleasures of gardening.  Nature opens the mind and relaxes us; it takes us out of our inner world.  As I look to other gardens for inspiration, Frank Lloyd Wright reminds me of the power of building destinations in the garden, and spaces to facilitate conversation...

The Cienfuegos Botanical Garden was not on our itinerary.  One of our fellow travelers found it in her Lonely Planet guide book.  A "94-hectare botanic garden, near the Pepito Tey sugar mill, 17km east of Cienfuegos” – seemed too good to pass up.  What we found blew us away...

With the recent passing of Fidel Castro, Cuba is back in the news – a good time to reflect on Cuba’s history.  What better way to explore this than by through a garden - the Cienfuegos Botanical Garden.  Several of the Garden’s formal features grabbed my attention.  An abandoned pergola and a grand allee of palms...

In 1962 John Glenn became the first American to orbit Earth.  His passing this month is a good excuse to remember the Space Age and Atomic Era and how this period influenced gardening.  The Sunken Garden we see above at West of the Lake Gardens in Manitowoc, Wisconsin provides a great example...

Those of you who have traveled to China know this charming tradition.  Hotels provide their western guests with a business card.  On one side, it explains that you are a guest of the hotel and that if you are found somewhere in the city, to please return you to the hotel.  On the other side is...

With the US elections over, some Americans have joked about moving abroad.   In the early 1900’s, quite a few Americans did just that and Italy was a favorite destination.  Among these expats were Hortense Mitchell and Arthur Acton who settled outside of Florence to restore an old villa and its gardens.  Where would you go? What kind of garden would you create?

Like many gardeners I love to borrow ideas from beautiful landscapes. But this is not always easy. Sometimes the challenge is to scale down something grand; some ideas are prohibitively expensive; sometimes ideas are just not practical.  This is why I so appreciate Frank Lloyd Wright's ability to combine inexpensive materials in innovative ways...

New York City is among the densest places in the world.  Amidst all its activity any quiet spot is a source of welcome relief.  One my favorite is the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine.  Set on a full block in upper Manhattan.  The Cathedral is an inclusive place where all are welcome...