Monday, August 26, 2013

Garden Designers' Roundtable: Bold

Canna spp.

Has your garden become the only place where you feel safe to express yourself, to vent, to let go of social norms and do a bit of visual screaming?

I hear you.

Use your voice to create something powerful and beautiful — not just noise.  Create bold notes in the landscape to develop focal points that can lead the eye through the space and unify it, too.

Two simple ideas to employ when you want to be bold:  big and bright.

A big object is a bold presence that demands our attention, whether it's the overall plant size (relative to it's surroundings), flowers, foliage, or an in-organic item that's been introduced to the landscape:

Hibiscus spp.
plume grass, Erianthus ravennae
giant silver mullein, Verbascum bombyciferum
an eight foot tall bronze sculpture by Kevin Robb

A bright object catches the eye and is easy to see in a world of green.  Think red, yellow, and white — the colors most easily discerned by the human eye, even in low light:
Bold red tulips in Spring demand that we "Wake up, already!" and leave Winter blah behind.
Acid yellow flowers and foliage is are not to be ignored. Design by DBG.
white glows even on a cloudy day
This brilliant blue hue, unusual in nature, demands our attention. Design by Carol Hines.

Big AND bright?  Powerful stuff:
purple smoke tree, Cotinus coggygria and Achillea at Denver Botanic Gardens
Canna and kale
Hesperalo parviflora. at Kendrick Lakes. Design by Greg Foreman
Cranbe cordifolia

big swaths of bright perennial flowers in the trial gardens at Colorado State University
holiday light extravaganza at Denver Botanic Gardens

Dare to be bold — you may find a voice that you never knew you had.

For more inspiration on the bold landscape, click through the links below:
Garden Designers' Roundtable

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Wordless Wednesday 8.21.2013

Colorado blue spruce (Picea pungens) and blue lyme grass (Elymus ovenarins)
Blue on blue.  The perfect use for this (typically) over-eager grass.

Monday, August 19, 2013

Nature's Gifts

A surprise discovery in the garden the other day:

I thought the flower had been left there for me to discover by Jim (it's something he would do).  But no, it was more likely an offering to the squirrel gods.
sculpture by J. Mark Burton
Regardless, it's a reminder to keep one's eyes open for random treasures in the garden.

Happy Monday!

Thursday, August 08, 2013

Garden Tour with a Twist

I love me a good garden tour, so when I heard about the Chicks on the Ridge tour in my own little city/suburb of Wheat Ridge, Colorado, I was pretty excited. I have a couple of neighbors that live close enough that I can occasionally hear the buck-buck-buck of their small flocks, but I was curious to see what the trends were — if any — in the new era of chicken owners. (As a kid, I spent many enjoyable hours feeding, chasing, gathering eggs etc., of chickens, ducks, and other fowl on my grandmother's farm. So, I do "get" it.)
She's a classy classic --- Rhode Island Red

A total of eight homeowners opened their backyards for the tour and were excited to share their chickeny passion.  Most of them had built their own chicken coops and chicken runs, many choosing to repurpose materials, including this headed-for-the-dump armoire:

Ta-daaaa!
the rectangular door in the back slides open for access to the enclosed run area during the day
Most of the owners view their chickens as family pets, and chicken-keeping as a good activity to share with their children.  They enjoy owning a variety of different chicken breeds, like this fancy, feather-footed dame:
Who needs a feather boa when you can have feathered feet?

With a couple of exceptions, egg production to supplement the family food cupboard was the goal, not sales.
these "Easter eggs" are from Amerucanas

My favorite chicken abode was this one; an all-in-one, covered and enclosed unit for coop and run.  It's nicely finished — not too big, and not too small:

It features easy access to the nesting boxes, and a large back door for airing the coop and cleaning.


All of the chicken owners that I visited understand the connection between chickens and gardens; they're actively raising veggies and putting their chicken waste to good use as part of their compost/soil improvement regime.
Isn't this Barnevelder a beauty?

I was surprised to hear most of the tour participants say that they consider their chickens to be low maintenance and easier to care for than they'd anticipated.  But I suppose if one is chasing around after young children all day, taking care of a few birds would be a piece of cake!

Thanks, again, to all the chicken wranglers who welcomed us to their coops, and Wheat Ridge 2020/Live Local  for their sponsorship.