You put a spell on me

Though I am mostly interested in how garden designers create integrated compositions, occasionally I am drawn to a particular plant, and I can’t rest until I find a suitable spot for it.  My latest plant-fatuation is the hellebore.  I first noticed it in my neighbor Marcie’s summer garden and fell for its deep green foliage.  Recently I came across it at the Atlanta History Center where it was among the first things in bloom in their wild woodlands.  What a pretty face.  Hellebores are vigorous plants that do well even in dry shade, a rarity.

To make this plant more intriguing, hellebores contain the toxin protoanemonin which can be lethal and for a time thought to have medicinal properties.

According to Greek legend, hellebores cure insanity but require extreme care.  When digging them up, Pliny, the Roman naturalist, instructs gardeners to “draw a circle around the plant, face East, and offer a prayer.”  If an eagle sees you digging one up, though, it will kill you. 

The ancient city of Krissa was defeated when enemies contaminated its water supply with hellebore roots.

The hellebore’s medicinal qualities brought it to the cloister garden.  Supposedly good for black bile and melancholy, toothaches, and ear infections.  Cloister garden expert Deidre Larkin wrote about this in her blog post "Hell flowers." 

Best of all, hellebore roots are said to have the power to make you invisible!  The roots must be ground up first, then thrown into the air.  Walking through the dust apparently does the trick.

In any case, the hellebore has put a spell on me and I am working to find the right place to introduce it to my garden.

 

A verdant heart

Russell Page.  Source: The Telegraph.

Big news. London’s Museum of Garden History has just opened an exhibit of the work of Russell Page. Described as “one of the greatest garden designers of the modern period,” this retrospective shares over 50 paintings, photographs, and drawings, including some from his personal collection.

Russell Page worked in what I call a modern arts and crafts style.  His garden rooms provide unique outdoor spaces that are full of interest and personality yet extremely simple and restrained. 

Thankfully his book The Education of a Gardener (1962) makes his design philosophy accessible.  In it he shares good advice like: “If you wish to make anything grow, you must understand it, and understand it in a very real sense. 'Green fingers' are a fact, and a mystery only to the unpracticed. But green fingers are the extensions of a verdant heart.”

He gives us his thoughts on the importance of restraint, “A discerning eye needs only a hint, and understatement leaves the imagination free to build its own elaborations.”

Page designed gardens from the 1930’s to the 1980’s throughout Europe, the Middle East, and North and South America, ranging from small private gardens to large estates and institutions, so no matter where you live, it is worth the effort to visit his work.  Major examples include the Pepsi Sculpture Garden in Purchase, NY, the National Capitol Columns Garden at the US Arboretum in Washington, DC, and the Frick Collection courtyard, now under threat of being removed.

Marchesa Lavinia Taverna. Source: www.trafioriepiante.it

An example of a private residence he worked on is Giardini della Landriana in Ardea, Italy, pictured above.  Whereas residences usually consist of a house with a garden attached.  At Landriana it is the opposite.  This is a garden first, and happens to have a small house nestled inside it. (The gardener has to sleep somewhere.)  The story goes that the Marchesa Lavinia Taverna and her husband acquired a piece of barren land in the 1950’s to build a garden.  Initially she added plants and tended the garden herself.  At the suggestion of a friend, she contacted Russell Page to add some structure.  Their collaboration resulted in 23 distinct garden rooms that are full of ideas and inspiration.  While some are formal and others informal, each is a masterpiece.

Here I share one of these garden rooms, Giardino degli Aranci, or the Orange Garden.  At ground level, paths and stone work form a formal diamond shape.  Symmetrical citrus and maple trees draw the eye upwards and provide shade in the warm summer sun.  The surprise in this garden goes to the small balls of African boxwood.  They are not placed in the typical formal pattern.  Instead the boxwood balls are planted to seem as if they randomly rolled into place, and are ready to move at any moment.

Giardini della Landriana is only 2 hours from Rome but one of the more challenging gardens to visit.  It is only open to the public a few days a week and at limited times, so check carefully, and bring a map.  My GPS insisted I had arrived when I was still 5 min away.  I only made it after backtracking into town to get directions.

Based on your summer schedule it may be easier to get to London to see the Russell Page exhibit at the Garden Museum.  If you do make it, let me know what you think. 

Click here to see more garden rooms at Landriana.

 

The 23 garden rooms that Russell Page and Marchesa Lavinia Taverna created that make up Giardini della Landriana.

Garden taboos

Each year spring seems to come later and later.  So while I wait for my seeds to start and the last of the snow to melt, I am drawn to old garden guides to help me understand the ideas behind historic gardens.  

Written around 1000 CE by a Japanese court noble, Sakuteiki, which translates as “records of garden making,” is one of the oldest garden guides.  Full of advice, it provides the secret ingredients required to create harmony and balance in the garden.

Sakuteiki advises gardeners to take inspiration from nature: “Travel throughout the country and one is certain to find a place of special beauty.  However, there will surely also be several places nearby that hold no interest whatsoever.  When people make gardens they should study only the best scenes as models.  There is no need to include extraneous things.” 

One of my favorite sections of the Sakuteiki relates to Geomancy (the root of the practice of Feng Shui).  This section taps into the energy of the earth to create harmonious spaces. 

Here are sample quotes come from the chapter called Taboos:

“[On] using a stone that once stood upright in a reclining manner … that stone will definitely … be cursed.” 

”The best ponds are shallow. When a pond is deep, fish become too big and big fish cause problems for people.” 

“When building hills, the valleys between them should not face directly toward the house for… it is unlucky for women of the house to be faced with a valley.”

“Do not set stones where rainwater will drip off a roof onto them.  Anyone hit by rainwater splashed off such a stone will develop terrible sores.”

At first these quotes may seem out of place in a garden guide. But East Asian gardens always feel wonderful, so I believe that there is merit to these bits of wisdom.  The courtyard at the Lingering Garden pictured above shows how the advice shared in Sakuteiki can play out.  Each stone is positioned as if in nature and carefully placed to create balance and harmony.  A valley formed by rocks creates a pathway and cuts the garden at a diagonal, which does not face the house directly.

Check out Sakuteiki and enjoy garden inspiration from a thousand years ago.  Or just look at more Chinese and Japanese Gardens. 

Source: Google Books