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HISTORIC GARDEN WEEK: THE VALENTINE GARDEN

April 23, 2013/2 Comments/in Featured Gardens, Landscape Design, Plants & Horticulture /by mturner

In celebration of the Garden Club of Virginia’s 80th Historic Garden Week, I’m giving a sneak peak of three very special gardens on the Richmond tour by three talented women. Susan Robertson, Laura Valentine and Moonie Etherington have created gardens that reflect their passions and personalities. The Robertson and Valentine gardens are on the Tuesday tour and the Etherington garden is on the Thursday tour. Today, we visit the garden of Laura and Ned Valentine.

THE VALENTINE GARDEN

Laura’s sophisticated garden style has its roots in North Carolina. Growing up in Raleigh, some of her earliest memories are of her mother’s and grandmother’s gardens. Legendary southern garden writer Elizabeth Lawrence lived around the corner from Laura’s grandmother in Charlotte. When in Charlotte to see her grandmother, they would often visit Elizabeth Lawrence’s garden. While her mother and grandmother sipped brandy with Miss Lawrence, Laura and her sister wandered the garden, fascinated by the lily pads in her pond and the birds flying through the house.

Laura’s husband, Ned, was equally blessed, growing up with a mother who created, and tends, one of the most beautiful gardens in Richmond. Enter North Carolina landscape architect Chip Callaway, who had collaborated with Laura’s family in the past (I’m a huge fan). Laura brought Chip to Richmond to help her with the Valentines’ new garden. Chip appears to have masterfully harnessed these horticultural bloodlines, by creating, with Laura and Ned, a garden that any Tarheel or Wahoo would love.

Laura’s love of symmetry and restrained use of color are evident in the twin bluestone terraces that flank the main brick terrace.

The gardens are reminiscent of Italian Renaissance gardens — the gently sloping property has been transformed into several terraced planes.

Smilax, an evergreen vine popular in North Carolina, is trained in arches on the back of the house. A farmer near Wilson, North Carolina gave my husband’s cousin the Smilax that climbs our house.

Deer run rampant in this neighborhood bordering the James River. The trellised fence allows the Valentines to grow vegetables and roses and to espallier fruit trees. Derrick, who helps Laura maintain the grounds, has added netting to keep Peter Rabbit and his progeny away.

Apple trees are expertly espaliered on the fence.

Apple blossoms.

The garden currently is planted with cool season vegetables, including Chinese Cabbages, Chard, Kale, Spinach, Arugula, Escarole and Mustard. The garden is bordered on the inside with roses and the outside with peonies. While the peonies are all white, Laura got jiggy and introduced color with the roses.

I love the plant markers — written with chalk on pieces of slate. So practical and good looking.

This is a grove of Doublefile Viburnum (Viburnum plicatum var. tomentosum). I have never seen them trained as single-trunk trees — gorgeous!

Attention to detail extends even to the service entrance. The Ivy lattice wall is underplanted with Lenten Rose (Helleborus orientalis) and bordered in clipped Boxwood. Laura’s grandmother planted Hellebores long before they hit the mainstream.

Chip and Laura make the most of veritcal opportunities. Here, Confederate Jasmine, about to bloom, blankets the pool fence.

Confederate Jasmine also frames the windows on the garage.

Camellia sasanqua are espaliered on the pool house wall, above, and in the entrance drive, below.

And one last beautiful example of vertical planting: Climbing Hydrangea (Hydrangea anomala subs. petiolaris) softens the wall above the pool house.

The pool, bordered by a spectacular Chindo Viburnum hedge (not pictured), is at the terminus of the property’s central axis.

Carter Skinner designed the stunning pool house.

The White Garden contains a central crushed stone path, with a sundial at its center. All of the flowering plants are white. An evergreen backbone of Camellia, Laurel, Boxwood, Chindo Viburnum and Holly is underplanted with Foxglove, Ferns, Variegated Solomon’s Seal, Dianthus and Bleeding Heart. Deciduous shrubs, including Doublefile Viburnum, Snowball Viburnum, Spirea, Pearl Bush, dwarf Butterfly Bush and Limelight Hydrangea are planted symmetrically and rhythmically along the path. Amazingly full-branched Hibiscus circle the sundial, and Dogwoods line the path.

Foxgloves bloom, while Autumn fern fronds unfurl, in the White Garden.

This terrace across the entrance drive from the front door exemplifies the Italianesque aesthetic that Laura loves, and that she and Chip perfected in the Valentines’ garden: consistent use of just a few elements throughout the property, such as the wrought iron bench and the Versaille planters overflowing with lush Boxwood; a strong evergreen backbone of sturdy Hollies, clipped Boxwood and espaliered Camellias; and the use of rich natural materials in beautifully laid — and oft repeated — patterns, such as the brick terrace here.

Alan Greenspan once warned us of irrational exuberance. Laura, Ned and Chip mastered rational exuberance, by allowing structure, form, texture and rich materials to take center stage in a brilliantly designed, and flawlessly executed and maintained landscape. Who says Tarheels and Cavaliers don’t mix?

HISTORIC GARDEN WEEK: THE ROBERTSON GARDEN

April 22, 2013/3 Comments/in Featured Gardens, Plants & Horticulture /by mturner

In celebration of the Garden Club of Virginia’s 80th Historic Garden Week, I’m giving a sneak peak of three very special gardens on the Richmond tour by three talented women. Susan Robertson, Laura Valentine and Moonie Etherington have created gardens that reflect their passions and personalities. This first blog post focuses on the the Robertsons’ garden. Tomorrow I will post a blog on the Valentines’ garden and Wednesday I will document the Etheringtons’ garden. The Robertson and Valentine gardens are on the Tuesday tour and the Etherington garden is on the Thursday tour.

THE ROBERTSON GARDEN

Susan and Walter Robertson’s beautiful spot of earth is nestled in the woodland that sits just above the historic Kanawha Canal. Susan loves nothing more than digging in her garden — weeding, planting, pruning — it really doesn’t matter, as long as she is surrounded by the plants she has nurtured and nourished over the years. Her yard is her laboratory, whether experimenting with different plant combinations or trying new pruning techniques. She’s generous with sharing her vast knowledge and the bounty of her garden. Susan’s mom, Page Fitchett, instilled in Susan and her sister Mary a love of gardening. Mary and Page will be in town to help arrange flowers in Susan’s house this week.

Akebia (Akebia quinata), a native vine, scampers up the front porch posts. A Passion Flower vine is growing in the urn.

A Robin takes a bath in the shade garden.

The pool used to be separated from the house by a fence. Susan and Walter reconfigured the space, moving the fence to the perimeter and adding broad steps leading directly to the pool.

The pool house has been a relaxing refuge for many friends and family (to my knowledge, George Washington did not sleep here).

The back porch of the pool house overlooks the backyard sloping toward the canal.

Stormwater drains from the terrace through the weep holes in the wall, then filters through the river rock and is absorbed by the water-loving hydrangeas. Capturing the storm water in the garden has the double benefit of channeling it toward plants who need it and preventing it from entering the river through drains.

Perennials and hydrangea will be blooming in the next few weeks in the pool garden.

It is so hard to find this classic pale lavender shade of Bearded Iris (Iris germanica) in the nurseries. I can’t promise I won’t come dig this up someday when nobody’s around.

Susan planted an herb garden just outside her kitchen. She uses crushed stone as a mulch to help keep the weeds at bay (the stones also make it easier to remove the weeds).

Coral Honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens) twines around the tuteur.

Nuff said.

No, this isn’t the 14th hole at Augusta — but hey, wouldn’t that be an entertaining challenge!

Lady Banks Rose (Rosa banksiae) floats above the Eastern Bluestar (Amsonia tabernaemontana, better known simply as Amsonia).

This is where Walter goes to be alone with his thoughts after the Nationals spank the Braves.

The sun casts long shadows across the sloping lawn.

The deer love the Robertsons’ yard. Most of the plants in their garden are deer resistant, but Susan can’t help planting a few beloved plants that are tasty to the deer. She is my go-to girl on the latest deer deterrents. She’s tried them all.

No crape murder in this yard.

The white Azaleas and the Doublefile Viburnum (Viburnum plicatum var. tomentosum) are both at their peak right now.

THE GARDENS OF DUMBARTON OAKS

February 22, 2013/0 Comments/in Featured Gardens, Landscape Design, Public Spaces /by mturner

Tucked away in a quiet part of Georgetown is Dumbarton Oaks, one of the finest American gardens still in existence. Inspired by her travels in Italy with her aunt Edith Wharton (author of Italian Villas and their Gardens), landscape gardener Beatrix Farrand created an American interpretation of the classical Mediterranean gardens she had studied, by carving out a series of garden rooms from the hilly terrain near Rock Creek for Mildred and Robert Woods Bliss, beginning in 1921.

Farrand designed a series of stone and brick walls, paths and steps, as well as arbors, trellises, pools and fountains. Although the layout was guided by Italian principles, she was influenced in her planting design by the English garden style, and Gertrude Jekyll, specifically.

Eleanor McPeck wrote in Beatrix Farrand’s American Landscapes, that Farrand’s trademarks were “clarity of outline, a strong sense of enclosure, the simple plan enriched by architectural detail and softened by perennial beds and trees.” The gardens of Dumbarton Oaks illustrate these principles beautifully.

My friend, Carolyn, standing in front of the north facade, below the French steps, on a cold day in February.

In 1941, after the estate was given to Harvard University, director John Thacher asked Farrand to write a guide for the garden’s care. Diane Kostial McGuire, in a foreward to Farrand’s Plant Book for Dumbarton Oaks, wrote that the book “resulted in this unique document that describes measures to be taken when plants need replacement, the various levels of maintenance required, the design concept of each part of the gardens, why particular choices were made, and why certain ideas were rejected.”

Below, a look at the gardens, as described by Beatrix Farrand in her Plant Book:

The Box Terrace (a revision by Ruth Havey eliminated the beautiful simplicity of the garden as envisioned by Farrand).

“The Box Terrace is intended to be an introductino to the Rose Garden, rather than a garden of importance on its own account. . . If the Box is allowed to grow too large it engulfs the scale of the terrace, which then tends to look more like a shelf than an overture to the Rose Garden.”

Lovers’ Lane pool and amphitheater. The seats were adapted from the “open-air theatre on the slopes of the Janiculum Hill at the Accademia degli Arcadi Bosco Parrasio. The shape of the theatre was copied from the one in Rome, but the slopes surrounding the Dumbarton theatre are far steeper than those on the Italian hillsides.”

“The whole arrangement surrounding the Lovers’ Lane pool is entirely controlled by the natural slopes of the ground and the deire to keep as many of the native trees as possible unhurt and undisturbed.”

“In order to give seclusion to this little theatre, it has been surrounded by cast-stone columns, baroque in design. . . The columns are connected with a split natural-wood lattice in long horizontal rectangles.”

The Herbaceous Borders, with the toolshed in the background

“The composition of the planting of the Herbaceous Border should be rather carefully chosen from material which is somewhat unusual in its character and harmonious in its color tones.”

The Rose Garden

“The high wall, on the west side with its latticed-brick balustrade, shows the difference in the material thought appropriate to use on account of the added distance from the house and its more formal lines . . . This high wall is an admirable place on which to grow certain climbing Roses, perhaps a Magnolia grandiflora, Clematis paniculata, and a wispy veil of Forsythia suspensa narrowing the steps leading from the Box to the Rose Garden Terrace.”

The Fountain Terrace contains two identical pools set in the lawn and enclosed by stone walls.

Beatrix would not be happy to find her fountains so spotless and pristine. She wrote, “two fountains are kept filled and playing during the summer season, and it is important that their curbs be allowed to become as mossy as possible, as, scrubbed and cleaned well, the curbs would look new and fresh and garish, whereas the fountains should appear to have been ‘found’ there and to be a part of the old plan.”

The Pebble Garden

The Beech Terrace.

“. . . the structure of the tree (Fagus grandifolia) in winter is almost as beautiful as its summer color. It was clear that in any poistion so dominated by one magnificent tree, all the other planting must be secondary and as inconspicuous as possible.”

Wisteria (if only I’d visited a couple of weeks before!) grows up a low wall and along a chain.

Steps from the Fountain Garden to the Rose Garden

“The steps have been broken into three different flights in order to make the climbing not too laborious a process. Two-thirds of the way down the steps, a seat, under a lead canopy, is placed on the landing, and, when possible, is surrounded by pot [no, I don’t think she means THAT pot] plants which harmonize in color with those used in the garden.”

The irregular stones used in these beautiful steps signal that you are descending toward the “naturalistic” woodland and dell.

The sun shines through the Wisteria vines.

The Wisteria Arbor “was modified from a design of Du Cerceau (from his drawing of the garden of the Chateau Montargis). It is planted almost entirely with Wistaria, mainly of the lavender variety but with some few plants of white. The Wistaria Arbor is designed so as to be seen from below, so that the hanging clutches of the flowers will make a fragrant and lovely roof to the arbor.”

A closer look at the stunning woodwork of the Wisteria Arbor.

The orangery was built around 1810. Creeping Fig (Ficus pumila) climbs the walls and ceilings, and is pruned to form a pendant in front of each window.

Owner Mildred Bliss wrote, upon Beatrix Farrand’s death, “never did Beatrix Farrand impose on the land an arbitrary concept. She ‘listened’ to the light and wind and grade of each area under study. The gardens grew naturally from one another until now, in their luxuriant spring growth, as in the winter when leafless branches show each degree of distance and the naked masonry, there is a special quality of charming restfulness.”

NASHVILLE’S CHEEKWOOD BOTANICAL GARDENS

July 31, 2012/1 Comment/in Featured Gardens, Landscape Design, Plants & Horticulture, Public Spaces /by mturner

A water garden bordering one of Cheekwood’s grand terraces

The Cheekwood estate was the Nashville home of Leslie Cheek and Mabel Wood Cheek, early investors in Maxwell House Coffee. The limestone mansion and extensive gardens were designed by New York-based residential and landscape architect Bryant Fleming. Cheekwood is a Southern suburban interpretation of an Eighteenth Century English Country House. The estate is now a museum and botanical garden. I explored the incredible gardens last summer while in Nashville.

Water spills out of an urn and into a pool below

Cheekwood has a Richmond connection. Mary Tyler Freeman Cheek McClenahan, one of Richmond’s most accomplished women, was married to Leslie Cheek, Jr., the second director of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Mrs. McClenahan was dedicated to improving the lives of Richmond’s poor, and dedicated to the City’s urban renewal and preservation of its history, arts and landscapes. She co-founded, with Carter McDowell, Richmond’s Better Housing Coalition. Mrs. McDowell is still a driving force in the continuing success of the Coalition, ensuring that the vision of the founders is realized.

One of three ponds that provided water for the house and the other water gardens

Many sources of water, including the three ponds that serve as a reservoir for other water features, as well as streams, fountains, formal pools and naturalistic pools, adorn the grounds.

Ferns, Iris and Yew spill over the bank of the stream

Water lilies (Nymphaea) thrive in a circular stone pool

An ornamental millstone sits in the center of the stone pool

One of many sculptures anchors this water garden

Stone and ornamental iron also dominate the grounds, and effectively connect the gardens and the house. Local master metalworker Philip Kerrigan, Jr., created the estate’s ironwork. Cheekwood was his first major commission, and he went on to collaborate with Fleming on other projects. Kerrigan is credited with reviving the ornamental metal arts in Nashville.

Wisteria creates a canopy over the terrace

Now you know why Mutual Assurance doesn’t let you grow Wisteria on your house!

Iron grillwork adorns a window

Stone retaining walls are used to terrace the sloping land

Stone slabs form a bench

Euphorbia finds a home in the stone

In the 1990’s, Nashville based landscape architect Ben Page led a team in restoring the original gardens, including the view sheds seen from the mansion when it was originally built in the late 1920s.

American Boxwood (Buxus sempervirens)

Peter Fleming anchored the formal gardens with masses of Boxwood.

Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta), Rose Mallow (Hiiscus moscheutus), Rose of Sharon (Hybiscus syriacus), and grasses anchor the late summer perennial border

This perennial border provides four seasons of interest. By late summer, it is bursting.

Russian Sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia), Lavender (Lavendula angustifolia), Lamb’s Ear (Stachys byzantina), Nepeta sibirica (Catmint), PInks (Dianthus), and several Salvias make up the Silver Garden

The gray stone walls are the perfect foil for the silver-foliaged plants.

Japanese Maple (Acer palmatum)

Gorgeous Japanese Maples dot the landscape.

Japanese Beech Fern (I think) (Thelypteris decursive-pinnata) and native Columbine snuggle up to a decaying double tree trunk

Verbena and Lobelia

This border between two brick walls succeeds because it is predominantly foliage, with a range of pinks that complement the red brick.

A rainbow of annuals under a series of 8 arches.

The Robertson Ellis Color Garden is a study of color as a design element.

If you find yourself in or near Nashville, I highly recommend a visit to Cheekwood Botanical Gardens.

A GARDEN GEM ALONG THE JAMES RIVER

April 23, 2012/in Featured Gardens, Flower Arranging, Landscape Design, Plants & Horticulture /by mturner

THE GARDEN CLUB OF VIRGINIA KICKS OFF THE RICHMOND TOUR WITH A GARDEN THAT MARRIES CLASSICAL PRINCIPLES AND A NATURAL SETTING

Martee and Charles Johnson graciously opened their home and garden for the Garden Club of Virginia’s Historic Garden Week Tuesday, April 24. Proceeds from Garden Week tours held throughout the Commonwealth this week are used to restore and preserve Virginia’s historic gardens.

The urns flanking the front door are planted simply with white Geranium, green and variegated Ivy and Ferns.

Camassia leichtlinii bulbs are just beginning to bloom. Camassia, like almost all of the plants in the Johnsons’ gardens, are deer resistant.

Hatcher lives life in full blur.

Tuckahoe (you can call him Tucky) hasn’t been able to convince Hatcher that life is a marathon, not a sprint.

The garden is a magnificent example of allowing the site to dictate the design. Instead of heavily planting the garden with a riot of color, the Johnsons have used color judiciously, allowing the evergreen backbone to frame the breathtaking views of the James River and Williams Island beyond.

Landscape Architect Charles Gillette designed the original gardens, terracing the property and creating strong axial lines. The lower garden is dominated by a large terrace overlooking the river. The upper terrace, random-width Bluestone bordered by a hedge of Green Gem Boxwood (Buxus microphylla ‘Green Gem’), was designed by Charlottesville based Landscape Architect Charles Stick. Stick masterfully incorporated his own classically designed terraces, walkways and hedges into the existing Gillette landscape.

The pierced brick wall softened by Ivy is a classic Gillette feature.

I love green mortar.

Under stormy skies the James River bisects Williams Island in front of the Johnsons’ home.

The strong evergreen backbone reinforces the formal layout of the walkways and terraces, but gives way to more naturalistic plantings, many native, closer to the river.

Brick paths pave the central axis and the primary paths closest to the house, but more informal crushed stone paths are used closer to the river. Peonies and Astilbes will be in full bloom in another week. More Camassia are just beginning to bloom.

Steps also become more naturalistic as paths travel toward the water.

This cobblestone wall is part of a massive stone retaining wall supporting the lower terrace. The Annabelle Hydrangeas thrive on the embankment.

Mercury anchors the lower terrace. Catmint is just beginning to bloom, and Allium foliage is emerging.

Mercury is fleet of foot, but he can’t catch the CSX train.

This Rose arch leads to a Boxwood Parterre in the lower garden.

The new growth on the expertly clipped Boxwood (see recent blog entry on hedges) creates a tone on tone effect in the Parterre.

Focal points abound in the Johnsons’ garden. The bench and urns sit at the terminus of the Boxwood Parterre.

The monochromatic green background brings out the patina in this old urn.

Martee is known throughout Virginia for cultivating young talent. She has showcased many artists and artisans, including Nicholai Jerome, who owns Spartan Metalwerks. He created The Hand for Martee.

Martee says that three men can sit in The Hand!

The view from the Johnsons’ bedroom. The glass panels upstairs and down slide open.

It’s time to go, to make way for the James River Garden Club women who will create gorgeous flower arrangements with cuttings from Martee’s and other members’ gardens.

JAMES RIVER GARDEN CLUB CREATES FLOWER ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE JOHNSON HOME

Jenny and Noni get to work in the garage on a cold damp day.

Laura checks out the collection of cuttings. The arrangements consist primarily of flowers and greens from members’ gardens. Because the Tulips are spent after this crazy Spring, some Tulips were bought to supplement those grown in the gardens.

Katherine arranges Rhododendron.

Elizabeth and Deborah take advantage of a large mirror as a backdrop.

‘Blue Angel’ Hosta and False Indigo (Baptisia australis)

Liz works in the dining room.

Margaret pulls Peonies and Roses from the buckets.

Single Peonies (Paeonia, spp.), Arum (Arum italicum), Lenten Rose (Helleborus orientalis), Eastern Bluestar (Amsonia tabernaemontana), Lilac (Syringa, spp.), Tulip

Laura takes cues from the painting that dominates the front hall.

Variegated Solomon’s Seal (Polygonatum odoratum ‘Variegatum’), Lenten Rose (Helleborus orientalis), Corsican Rose (Helleborus argutifolius), Coral Honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens), Camassia Leichtlinii (from Martee’s garden), Tulips and Roses