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HISTORIC GARDEN WEEK 2014: THE ARRANGEMENTS

May 7, 2014/2 Comments/in Flower Arranging, Plants & Horticulture /by mturner

Historic Garden Week, “America’s Largest Open House” hosted annually by the Garden Club of Virginia, has raised millions of dollars to restore some of Virginia’s most treasured landmarks and gardens. The monsoon-like conditions last week did not put a damper on the festivities. In this blog, I celebrate the creativity and hard work of the women of the James River Garden Club as they gathered flowers and greens from their gardens and pulled together some pretty spectacular arrangements.

Delphinium, Tulips, Poet’s Laurel (Danae racemosa) and Sea Holly (Eryngium planum) radiate from a silver cup in the lovely home of Kristen and Barton Harris. Betsy Trow took many of the pictures (the best ones!) in the Harris home.

Service with a smile: Sarah Wiley works on the dining room arrangements.

Tulips, Variegated Solomon’s Seal (Polygonatum odoratum ‘Variegatum’), Deutzia (Deutzia gracilis), Azaleas and Lilacs (Syringa vulgaris) are loosely arranged in individual goblets.

Deutzia, Variegated Solomon’s Seal, Snowball Viburnum (Viburnum macrocephalum) and Snowmound Spirea (Spiraea nipponica ‘Snowmound’) grace the front hall.

Talk about over-achieving — these tiny glass bud vases pack a big pink and green punch with pink peonies, tulips and azaleas. Wood Spurge (Euphorbia amygdaloides var. robbiae), Hosta and Lenten Rose (Helleborus orientalis) provide the preppy green counter punch.

Margaret Reynolds and Inge Sen (above) put the finishing touches on an arrangement (below) containing Pink Dogwood (Cornus florida), Tulips, Lilac, Variegated Solomon’s Seal , Wood Spurge and greens.

This arrangement is like a walk in a Virginia spring garden. Foliage, including Blue Hosta, Autumn Fern (Dryopteris erythrosora), Ghost Fern (Athyrium ‘Ghost’), Coral Bell leaves (Heuchera, spp.), Barrenwort (Epimedium grandiflorum), Japanese Holly Fern (Cyrtomium falcatum) and Lenten Rose (I’m sure I’m missing some!), do the heavy lifting for the blue flowers of the Amsonia (Amsonia tabernaemontana) and Bearded Iris (Iris germanica). The iris in this spectacular arrangement makes me think of Swan Lake!

The monochromatic kitchen sparkles with the silver julep cups and the Coral Honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens). Snowball Viburnum (the OTHER Snowball Viburnum — Viburnum opulus roseum) and Lenten Rose provide a subtle contrast.

Susan Robertson and Mary Bacon identify the plants used in the arrangements.

At Westover (I blogged about Westover Plantation last week), Muschi Fisher and her daughter Andrea Erda gathered Azaleas and Snowmound Spirea, above, and below, another variety of Azalea (‘George Tabor?’), with the Spirea and — I love this — a lone apricot Tulip.

The entrance to Caroline and Gordon Wallace’s beautiful Byrd Park home was framed by twin arrangements of Tulips, Slender Deutzia, Variegated Solomon’s Seal and Willow branches. Caroline is the owner of the Caroline Travels the World. She is well known for customizing exotic and adventurous trips throughout the world for her clients.

Masses of Ranunculus form a stunnning line and complement the art work in Caroline’s dining room.

A bunch of Lenten Rose and Deutzia grace a hall table.

Two Snowball Viburnum are used in this arrangement: Viburnum macrocephalum (the large, white Snowball) and Viburnum opulus ‘Roseum’ (the smaller Snowball). Wisteria drapes below.

A mass of Peony (possibly ‘Festiva Maxima’?) fills this rustic container at the bar.

Nothing prettier than a bunch of Lily of the Valley (Convallaria majalis).

White Lilac and Lenten Rose brighten up the kitchen. Rosemary and Mint stand ready for use. Lamb for dinner?

Mary Anne Burke and Betsy Trow worked non-stop to ensure a successful Garden Week tour.

Jenny Andrews’s talent as an interior designer was on display in her fresh, beautiful home. Jenny, who owns Andrews Designs, specializes in residential and resort design. In the kitchen arrangement above, Frances Williams Hosta frame Snowball Viburnum, Tulips and the tender new growth of Poet’s Laurel.

Jenny and Louise Kirby work with the Hosta and Lenten Rose cut from a neighbor’s backyard garden.

Azaleas, Snowball Viburnum, Lenten Rose and False Indigo complement the pale blue palette of the room.

My Oak Lane buddies, Margaret Valentine, Jennie Gumenick and Margy Brown, work together like a well-oiled machine.

The picture doesn’t do this gorgeous arrangement justice. Deutzia, False Indigo, Allium still in bud, Lenten Rose and Variegated Solomon’s Seal cascade out of the classical cast stone urn.

Pink tulips frame a beautiful painting by talented artist Tenley Beazley.

Less is more in this arrangement of apricot Tulips and Spanish Bluebells (Hyacinthoides hispanicus).

These sweet little bouquets, containing Azaleas, Bleeding Heart, Spanish Bluebells, Deutzia, Variegated Weigelia leaves and Coral Honeysuckle, spice up the bathroom windowsill.

Having raided the neighbors’ yards for plant material and filled Jenny’s home with the fruits of their labor, the girls from the Hood call it a day. Pictured, from left, Margaret Valentine, Margy Brown, Ida Farinholt, Louise Kirby and Jennie Gumenick.

HISTORIC GARDEN WEEK 2014: WESTOVER PLANTATION

April 28, 2014/3 Comments/in Featured Gardens, Plants & Horticulture /by mturner

Welcome to Historic Garden Week 2014, the Garden Club of Virginia’s spectacular week-long celebration of Virginia’s finest homes and gardens. Before immersing yourself in Richmond’s tours Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, treat yourself to a beautiful drive east on historic Route 5 and tour Westover Plantation Tuesday. Westover’s gardens are open daily, but the interior of the grand home is open rarely. This is your chance to see Westover’s gardens and interior.

Route 5 is home to several 18th Century plantations, none more spectacular than Westover. At the terminus of an allee of towering Hackberries (Celtis occidentals), perfectly sited along the north bank of the James River, is one of the most noteworthy examples of Georgian architecture in the United States.

Although William Byrd II (founder of Richmond) has long been believed to have built Westover, recent (dendrochonologic) testing of the attic beams’ tree rings produced evidence that the house may have been built circa 1750, which would make William Byrd III the home’s builder. Westover most likely was named for the West brothers, who were brothers of Lord Delaware, the first colonial governor of Virginia, and leaders of the first English settlements upstream along the James River.

The grounds include three spectacular pairs of 18th Century English wrought iron gates.

Native Dogwoods (Cornus florida) flank the north iron clairvoyee. An iron clairvoyee (claire – voie), in case you were wondering, is an ironwork gate or grille through which a vista can be enjoyed.

A series of carved stone finials atop the iron clairvoyee’s piers represents the icons of virtue: the acorn, pictured above, for perseverance (from small acorns grow great oaks), the pineapple for hospitality, the Greek key for wisdom, the urn of flowers for beauty, the cornucopia for abundance and the bee hive for industry.

Westover is still a working farm, producing winter wheat, soybeans and corn. Beyond the Dogwood is a field of winter wheat. Although the fields are not irrigated, Westover provides some of the best yields in the Commonwealth.

Pictured above are three of the hardest workers on the grounds: Henry, Cornelia and Wills Erda, leaning against one of Westover’s famed Tulip Poplars (Liriodendron tulipifera). On a recent visit, the three were hard at work in the garden.

Westover was sold out of the Byrd family after the death of William Byrd III’s widow in 1814. The plantation was brought back into the family by Byrd descendant Clarise Sears Ramsey, in 1899. Mrs. Ramsey modernized the house and established the formal garden’s 8 squares. In 1921, Mr. and Mrs. Richard Crane, the great grandparents of Andrea Erda (pictured above, with her kids Wills, Henry and Cornelia), bought the property.

Andrea grew up at Westover with her parents, Muschi and Frederick Fisher, and she and her husband Rob are happily raising their family here as well. Muschi and Andrea are both members of James River Garden Club. In the picture above, Andrea shows off their awesome new double-wide chicken coop.

The old one was built on a Ford Model T chassis!

Cornelia and her brothers love tending to the chickens and gathering the eggs.

Poet’s Laurel (Danae racemosa) spills over the crushed stone walk in the formal garden. In the distance, beyond the Boxwood, the river beckons.

Willaim Byrd II’s tombstone lies on the central axis of the 8 square grid.

The garden beds are filled with Poet’s Laurel, Azaleas, Dogwoods, Spirea and swaths of the native Virginia Bluebell (Mertensia virginica), above, and the native Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis), below.

I have to confess that I have not been bitten by the Fairy Garden craze, not really understanding the concept of buying tiny objects to furnish the tiny gardens However, the Erda kids enlightened me on the nature of a true Fairy Garden. Using the ancient Tulip Poplars as their structure, the kids scavenge the plantation’s grounds in search of furnishings. In the picture above, Cornelia brilliantly used a Columbine flower as the fairy garden’s lantern.

Henry devised a contraption allowing the fairies to climb a ladder up the trunk then parachute to the ground.

Back in the garden, Tree Peonies (Paeonia suffruticosa) are in full bloom for garden week.

One word of advice to those new to growing Tree Peonies: unlike herbaceous Peonies, do not cut Tree Peonies back to the ground in the fall. They bloom on the old wood, so leave those stalks alone for glorious blooms the following spring.

This rustic arbor and seat are draped in Wisteria and throw off some pretty spectacular shadows.

The Wisteria was just beginning to pop when I was at Westover last week. It was preparing to be in full bloom for Garden Week.

Lenten Rose (Helleborus orientalis), if not heavily mulched, will drop their heads in mid to late spring and scatter their seeds, producing lots of baby Lenten Rose. When I was visiting Westover last week, Andrea and the kids were putting down mulch made from composted leaves: a PERFECT medium in which those plants will thrive!!!

A shrub the Erdas call Jet Berry (not sure of the botanical name) flanks one of the walkways leading to William Byrd II’s tombstone.

A butterfly hangs out in a stand of Woodland Phlox (Phlox divaricata) and Primroses. The Fishers call these Primroses, an old fashioned variety, “Cow Slips.”

Wills helps prepare the vegetable garden for planting.

Buttercups and a few remaining tulips cover the ground east of the 8 squares in the formal garden.

A peak from the formal garden through the Boxwood reveals the James River.

Thaddeus, who helps the Erdas take care of the property, cuts the buttercups growing along the bank of the river.

In keeping with one of the six virtues set in stone on the iron clairvoyee, Jones Tyler takes care of five bee hives. One of the hives produces 5 gallons a year — very industrious!

I cannot leave you without a peak at The Necessary House, the cadillac of outhouses with 5 holes and a fireplace. It’s been written up in Privy Magazine!

Virginia is fortunate to have the Erdas, and the Fischers before them, as hard working stewards of one of this country’s most significant homes, architecturally and historically. Moreover, they are leaders in efforts to preserve the James, our founding river. As is evident from watching Wills, Cornelia and Henry work hard and play hard on these grounds steeped in historical and ecological lessons, they will pass along their love for this place to the next generation, thus ensuring the preservation of these vital assets for generations to come.

Please take the opportunity to visit Westover this Tuesday, as part of your Garden Week pilgrimage.

HOLLYWOOD CEMETERY’S HERITAGE ROSES

March 11, 2014/1 Comment/in Plants & Horticulture, Public Spaces /by mturner

Richmond’s historic Hollywood Cemetery, renowned for being the resting place for many notable Virginians, is also home to a vast collection of heritage roses, many with fascinating histories of their own. I first became acquainted with Hollywood’s roses in 2011, when I worked with fellow members of the James River Garden Club (JRGC) to update Hollywood’s Notable Tree and Rose Map. James River’s Evie Scott, Hollywood general manager David Gilliam and Van Yahres Associates, a site design firm in Charlottesville that advises Hollywood on its legacy trees, led the endeavor.

Connie believes the Goodall Rose is ‘Radiance’, a hybrid tea.

Fast forward to the summer of 2012, when Kelly Wilbanks, Executive Director of Friends of Hollywood, turned her attention to the roses. Kelly understands both the historic and horticultural importance of the roses to the cemetery. Determined to find someone with rose knowledge to help her at Hollywood, she attended a Richmond Rose Society meeting. Kelly says, “I wasn’t even sure what help meant and had no idea where it might lead or what it might produce.”

‘Cecile Brunner’ climbing rose envelopes the Harrison monument

Happily for Kelly, Connie HIlker, owner of Hartwood Roses in Spotsylvania County, was at the meeting, and immediately jumped at the chance to help. Kelly discovered that Connie had been studying, documenting and propagating Hollywood’s roses for several years (see Connie’s blogs on the Hollywood roses). Talk about a fortuitous meeting! Kelly had found an expert who already knew Hollywood’s roses as old friends, and Connie would be able to continue the work she had begun, but now she would do so in conjunction with Hollywood’s leadership.

The ‘Howe Rose’ is an unidentified Tea rose

Since that meeting, Connie has worked with Hollywood Grounds Supervisor Donald Toney to locate and identify over 100 heritage roses in the cemetery, and devise a maintenance and conservation schedule. The identification includes noting the class, growth habits and present condition of each rose. Connie very kindly took the time to identify for this post several Hollywood roses.

Connie has not yet identified the Larus Rose, but it is one of her favorites.

My next brush with Hollywood’s roses came while touring the grounds of Tufton Farm and Monticello that fall with JRGC. At Tufton (home to the Thomas Jefferson Center for Historic Plants), I learned the intriguing history of ‘Champneys Pink Cluster’ Noisette. The name rang a bell, because I had come across the rose while doing the research for the updated Notable Tree and Rose Map at Hollywood.

‘Champneys Pink Cluster’ rose in Hollywood Cemetery

‘Champneys Pink Cluster’ Rose is credited as the first Noisette. I had always assumed that, given its name, Noisette’s heritage was French. Not so! In the early 1800‘s John Champneys, president of the South Carolina Horticultural Society, crossed the white musk cluster rose (Rosa moschata) and the ever-blooming ‘Old Blush’ China rose to produce ‘Champneys Pink Cluster’, with clusters of pale pink flowers that bloomed throughout the season.

‘Champneys Pink Cluster’ rose at Tufton Farm in Albemarle County

Champneys shared cuttings with Long Island nursery owner William Prince (who provided many plants to Jefferson) and with his Charleston neighbor, Pillippe Noisette. Noisette, son of head gardener to Louis XVI (Phillipe came to America to avoid the French Revolution), produced his own seedlings, labeled them ‘Blush’ and shipped some to his gardener brother Louis Noisette in Paris. There, Louis Noisette produced several varieties from the Champneys cross, and this class became known as Noisette. While Mr. Champneys was not credited with the creation of a new repeat blooming cluster class of roses, he will always be lauded by rosarians for initiating the beloved Noisette class.

At Tufton farm, ‘Champneys’ is grown on these good looking, simple, rustic supports

After touring Tufton, we popped over to neighboring Monticello. There, Peggy Cornett, director of the Thomas Jefferson Center for Historic Plants, drew our attention to Rosa moschata, or musk rose (a parent of ‘Champneys’). In 1985, rose rustler Marie Butler discovered the musk, thought to be extinct, in Hollywood’s Crenshaw plot. In 1998, Peggy, Douglas Seidel and Diane Lowe discovered a musk at The Recess at Bremo plantation. The Bremo Musk has since been dated to 1815. The musk now growing at Monticello was subsequently propagated from the Bremo Musk. Extensive research was done by many, including Cornett, Seidel and Butler (recounted in a paper published by the Southern Garden History Association), in an attempt to find a link between the Bremo Musk and the Crenshaw Rose, but no connection has been made. As Butler stated, “the discovery of the musk rose in America retains its aura of mystery.”

I apologize for this woefully inadequate and brief attempt to summarize the complex history of these roses. Meticulous and fascinating research has been done by Cornett, Seidel, Butler and others. That research spans over four centuries, features Jefferson’s pursuit of the musk and follows the trail from Charlottesville to Long Island, Chesterfield, Hillsborough, Charlotte and, of course, Hollywood. For anyone interested in a fascinating example of the intersection of American history and botanical history, I recommend that you begin your exploration with Monticello, the Heritage Rose Foundation and the Southern Garden History Association.

James River Garden Club member Helen Scott Reed inspects the Musk Rose growing near Monticello’s portico.

Meanwhile, back at Hollywood . . . Kelly and Connie took the next step toward restoring the historic roses to their former glory. They held the inaugural Hollywood Rose Volunteer Workshop on a blustery day last March. Connie gave each group of 3 or 4 volunteers a list of assigned roses, a location map and instructions for specific pruning requirements for each plant.

Stephen Scaniello and Anne Call pruning the legendary Crenshaw Rose

Anxious to follow up on our rose mapping project, curious to learn more about the roses, and excited to take part in such an ambitious and worthy horticultural and preservation effort, I came raring to go. I will be forever indebted to Kelly for grabbing me and teaming me up with Peter Toms, the delightful Chairman of Friends of Hollywood, Stephen Scaniello, president of the Heritage Rose Foundation and former director of the famed Cranford Rose Garden at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden and volunteer Anne Call.

Stephen, Anne and Peter Toms admire their handiwork on the Crenshaw Rose.

And then the day got even better — Connie assigned our group the task of pruning the cemetery’s most celebrated rose. Yes, the rose Peggy Cornett told us about at Monticello: the Crenshaw Rose! As reported by Peter in the Friends of Hollywood Newsletter, Stephen advised us, “think about what you are cutting and what it will look like when you do. Take your time. Have in mind the shape you ultimately want to achieve, and the height. This is a cluster-flowered rose. In fact, it is the ‘mother of all cluster-flowering roses.’” We tamed that mother on that chilly March day!

My visit to Hollywood in late May last year was a little early to capture the Crenshaw Rose in its peak glory.

Check out the abundance of buds on the Crenshaw Rose!

Hollywood is holding its second annual rose volunteer work day this Saturday, March 15. If you love Hollywood’s history and grounds or are a passionate gardener who likes to roll up your sleeves, I highly recommend spending the day giving the historic roses some much appreciated love and care. Contact Kelly Wilbanks, kwilbanks@hollywoodcemetery.org for more information.

The bright red of this rose, possibly a ‘Crimson Rambler’, stands out against the soft new growth of the Boxwood.

In closing, I’ll leave you with a few pruning tips from Stephen Scaniello’s A Year of Roses:

Remove dead and diseased wood. Canes with unusual dicooration or severe looking blotches should be removed.

Remove weak, spindly canes and crossing branches from the center of the plant to allow air to circulate the plant.

The Doswell Rose is an unidentified ‘Alba’.

Shorten remaining canes, making each cut about a quarter inch above a bud eye (the swelling red point located along the cane). These buds develop into new branches that will produce a flower. Because the new growth grows in the direction of the bud eye, be sure to make your cuts above outward facing buds.

An ‘Old Blush’ rose by Presidents Circle thrives. Some bushes in this area have perished in recent years.

EARLY SPRING GARDEN CHORES

March 3, 2014/2 Comments/in Plants & Horticulture, Seasonal Garden Chores /by mturner

For those restless gardeners who, like me, are checking their gardens daily for signs of life, grab your pruners and head outside, because it’s time to:

Magnolia denudata (Butterfly Magnolia)

Cut back Liriope with the lawn mower or string trimmer.

Cut back to the ground any Lenten Rose or Christmas Rose (Helleborus genus) leaves that are browning or leathery.

New growth and flowers should already be emerging.

Helleborus niger (Christmas Rose)

Prune to about 2 inches high all perennials not cut back in fall.

Exceptions: cut back Perovskia atriplicifolia (Russian Sage) to about 6 inches, cut back Salvia microphylla/greggii (very similar, often confused) to about 4 inches. These are both woody perennials.

A perennial bed at Cheekwood Garden in Nashville

DO NOT cut back Tree Peonies! They bloom on old growth.

Remove dead and discolored Stachys byzantina foliage (Lamb’s Ears).

Prune ornamental grasses all the way back.

Don’t prune before early March, since the winter color and movement are two of their best features.

Exception: Try raking, rather than pruning, Muhly Grass (Muhlenbergia capillaris), for thicker new growth.

Ornamental grasses along the High Line in New York City

Prune dying leaves of evergreen ferns (many of the fronds still look great — I can’t usually bring myself to cut these just yet).

Dryopteris erythrosora (Autumn Fern) fiddlers emerge alongside Digitalis grandiflora (Foxglove)

HYDRANGEAS

Prune Annabelle Hydrangeas (Hydrangea arborescens), if you did not do so in the fall. by cutting back all branches to 6-12 inches high.

Unlike the Mophead Hydrangeas, Annabelles bloom on new wood.

Hydrangea arborescens ‘Annabelle’

You can still prune the everblooming Hydrangeas, as they bloom on new and old wood (you will be cutting out some of the flowering buds that have set on the old wood).

You can also prune Hydrangea paniculata now (includes Pee Gee, Limelight, Tardiva cultivars).

LIMELIGHT: If you want a full, bushy plant, cut back Limelights to about 2 or 3 feet every spring. Also prune all the little spindly branchlets. If you are training your Limelight into a tree, then merely thin the weaker branches.

Hydrangea paniculata ‘Limelight’

TARDIVA: Tardiva has a much nicer growth habit than Limelight and Pee Gee. It naturally grows into a tapering multi-branched small tree. To maintain the multi-branch form, just deadhead last year’s flower heads and any small spindly branches that detract from the form you are trying to attain.

Hydrangea paniculata ‘Tardiva’

You may snap off last year’s flower heads of old-fashioned Mopheads, Lacecaps and Oak Leaf Hydrangeas, and you may cut out the oldest unproductive branches, but do not give these Hydrangeas an overall haircut right now. They bloom on old wood.

Work aluminum sulphate into the soil in which blue Hydrangea are growing, to make the blooms bluer. Add lime to make the blooms pinker.

OTHER SHRUBS AND TREES

Prune Buddleia davidii (Butterfly Bush) to about 2 feet and remove spindly and dead branches, if you want a full bushy plant. If you want a Butterfly Bush that resembles a small multi-trunk tree, only cut out straggly branches. Prune the dwarf Buddleias to about 2 feet wide and one foot tall.

Cut back Caryopteris x clandonensis (Bluebeard) to about 18 inches.

Caryopteris x clandonensis ‘Longwood Blue’

Prune Callicarpa (Beautyberry) to about 6 inches.

Callicarpa americana (American Beautyberry) growing wild at Jamestown

Prune Sasanqua Camellias (fall and early winter blooming Camellias) now, only if needed to shape or reduce size.

“Pinch” or hand prune Boxwood to thin and open up the plant. This allows light and air inside so that the plant can produce leaves along the interior surfaces. This is especially important to protect the Boxwood from Boxwood Blight. The Virginia Coopertative Extension Service, North Carolina State University and Saunders Brothers Nursery are good resources for keeping up with the latest on the blight. If planting Boxwood, be sure to ask your landscaper or the nursery whether the Boxwood come from a nursery that adheres to the Boxwood Blight Cleanliness Program.

If your Poet’s Laurel (Danae racemosa) has not been pruned in a few years, cut it back to the ground. Poet’s Laurel produces new growth from the earth, not from other branches. You can continue to do the full cut back (the Frank Cut) every spring; you can do the Frank cut every 2 or 3 springs; or you can just cut out the oldest third of growth every spring.

DO NOT prune any spring-flowering shrubs or trees until after they bloom! Exception: Dead or diseased branches can always be removed.

Camellia Japonica blooms in late winter or spring, depending on the cultivar. It should not be pruned until after it finishes blooming.

Prune Vitex agnus-castus (Chastetree) by cutting suckers back to the ground or back to the intersection with a larger branch. Remove some large branches to provide a nice, open shape to the small tree/shrub. You can also cut Vitex way back, if it has gotten out of control.

Vitex agnus-castus (Chastetree)

DO NOT COMMIT CRAPE MAIMING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Topping Crape Myrtles does nothing except disfigure the tree. Feel free to thin Crapes now, by cutting out weaker branches and sprouts. See my earlier post for more information on proper Crapemyrtle pruning.

ROSES

Prune Shrub Roses to about 12 to 18 inches. Make cuts about a quarter of an inch above an outward facing bud. Also remove any branches with diameter less than a pencil, and any diseased or dead branches.

Prune Climbing Roses. Cut out all dead and diseased canes, any crossing or spindly canes and some of the oldest (increasingly less productive) canes. Tie the branches to your support.

‘White Dawn’ Climbing Rose

Begin feeding roses every six weeks throughout the growing season. While I generally avoid fertilizing plants unless they are showing signs of deficiency, roses are an exception because they are gluttonous feeders.

OTHER CHORES

Work compost into the soil to keep it healthy and provide a source of nutrition for the plants.

Paeonia lactifolia (Herbaceous Peony) in bud

Apply mulch ONLY if needed. When you do mulch, consider mulching with half or all compost or a layer of shredded leaves and another inch of finely ground mulch. If the mulch applied earlier has not broken down, do not apply more. Sometimes, overzealous mulching leads to an impenetrable mat that traps moisture, thus inviting disease. Rake loose the existing mulch to allow air and rain through to the soil. Also, be sure not to lay the new mulch too thick — especially in perennial beds.

PLEASE DO NOT volcano mulch around trees! Volcano mulch is the term used to describe mulch piled up in a big mound around a tree. When mulch rests against a tree trunk, it traps moisture, softening the trunk and inviting pests and disease. Over time, the tree will decline and die. Richmond Tree Stewards recommend the 3x3x3 rule: no more than 3 inches of mulch, in a 3 foot wide circle, stopping 3 inches from the trunk.

Helleborus foetidus (Stinking Hellebore) emerging in late winter

“The opening of the first buds, and the resurrection of plants that looked to be dead, fill the gardener with an enthusiasm that is as perennial as the season.” Elizabeth Lawrence, A Southern Garden

SEASON’S GREENINGS

December 24, 2013/3 Comments/in Flower Arranging, Plants & Horticulture /by mturner

The creative juices are flowing in RVA this Christmas. The spirit of the season shines through in these festive arrangements lovingly put together by some of Richmond’s most talented artists. Jeanette McKittrick serves up a platter of pomegranates, grapes, artichokes, apples and pears, adorned with pine, cedar, freesia, Paperwhite narcissus and holly.

Jeanette fills a basket with more fruit, rose hips, pine boughs, boxwood, freesia, a little Dusty Miller, rose hips and eucalyptus pods.

A full-length mirror draped in pine and silk ribbon rests casually against Deborah Valentine’s front hall wall.

On a mantle, Deborah threads a fuchsia ribbon through cedar, boxwood and dried hydrangea.

On another mantle, Deborah plays off the rustic, but gilded, mirror and candelabra with pine cones and a magnificent magnolia wreath touched with gold paint.

A vase is filled with Lilies and Euphorbia.

On the sideboard in the dining room, Deborah filled her driftwood container with Poet’s Laurel, nandina greens and berries, lilies, orchids and Advent Purple Dianthus. She “underplanted” the arrangement with a mixture of conifer boughs.

Jennifer Sisk gave her driftwood container a more earthy feel, by filling it with Amaryllis, Moss and Cedar, then she hung a boxwood wreath from the mirror with a simple red ribbon.

Jennifer has used this gorgeous front hall mirror as the anchor for so many different looks. It glows here, draped in cedar and framing amaryllis and magnolia.

Susan Robertson keeps a progression of Christmas flowering bulbs on the garden table in her sun room.

An exotic peacock feather wreath dazzles in Susan’s front hall.

Margaret Valentine adorns her ginormous boxwood and spruce wreath with a hot pink ribbon, which looks smashing on her front door.

Margaret continues the glam look on her dining room table. Using silver candlesticks, vases and Julep cups, she fills the containers with all white flowers: lilies, roses and orchids.

Margaret surrounded the funky Christmas trees on her mantle with moss balls, boxwood, roses and an angel trumpeting the joy of the season.

Noni Baruch draped her mantle in cedar, added gilded pinecones and silver votives, filled containers with berries and roses, then framed it with towering containers of magnolia, lilies and willow sticks.

In her dining room, Noni threw a shimmering runner on her table, then topped it with a silver sleigh filled with paperwhite narcissus, holly berries, greens and various cones.

Speaking of silver, Bocky used the color to dramatic effect in her dining room. Surrounded by silver goblets and candles, the beautifully arranged white and green arrangements really pop.

Bocky’s earthier side is on display on this mantle, where she covered simple containers with different mosses and lichen. The containers hold Winterberry stems.

By adding the cluster of berries to this rose and hydrangea posy, a summery bundle is transformed into a Christmas arrangement.

Jeanette and Melinda Hardy create this spectacular, overflowing arrangement on Melinda’s living room mantle. Using greens as the base, they added sensuous pomegranates and sinuous Lysimachia.

Melinda matched the muscular mantle in the den with more robust magnolia for great balance and rich color. The feathery cedar branches provide wonderful contrast.

Melinda and Jeanette filled a moss-lined container with cryptomeria, pine, ligustrum, lysimachia, paperwhite narcissus, thistle, orchids and pomegranates for an ethereal effect.

The pomegranates and thistle are dusted with glitter, giving this stunning arrangement a subtle glow.

The alter guild at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church put me in the Christmas spirit today. As I admired this pillar majestically adorned in the traditional greens of the season — pine, holly, nandina, cedar, magnolia and Poet’s Laurel — I was reminded that we decorate for the season with joy in our heart and with the hope of peace on earth and goodwill to all.

HISTORIC GARDEN WEEK 2014: THE ARRANGEMENTS

HISTORIC GARDEN WEEK 2014: WESTOVER PLANTATION

HOLLYWOOD CEMETERY’S HERITAGE ROSES

EARLY SPRING GARDEN CHORES

SEASON’S GREENINGS

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