Comments on: Installing Gardens – COLOR!

By: Laura

Laura — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 08:38:17 +0000

What a wonderful palette Ivette! I can imaging how wonderful it will feel to stroll down under the arbor with the plants as a long painted scroll unfolding–the frame of the arbor punctuating the vivid plants.
Love clients who understand that a planting update needs to happen from time to time!

By: Adriana

Adriana — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 23:37:21 +0000

I LOVE ‘kangaroo paws.’ I have to restrain myself from planting nothing but paws!

By: germinatrix

germinatrix — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 22:09:00 +0000

Hey ESP!
Thanks for the thumbs up! I am very happy with it and can’t wait to go back in a couple of months (we have to plant a hillside with natives and drought tolerants) and check in on the baby garden. I am SUCH a fan of the groundcover sedums that they have become my drug of choice. I’d rather have Sedum ‘Angelina’ than just about anything, except Sedum nussbaumeranum, or Sedum ‘Voodoo’.
You know me SO well – I wanted to do a Horror Garden SO BADLY – but I understood the reason for a different approach. The Horror/Monster Garden that I have been dreaming about will have to wait until Jan and I purchase our summer home – in Transylvania!
The boulders were already there, and Judy wanted to take them out, but we decided in the end to leve them, and I’m glad because it gives the flat, narrow space some depth; something for the plants to cuddle up against. They also link the walkway garden with the rugged, rocky hills that surround it. I love them!
I’ll be popping over to your place for a visit shortly! Keep an eye out for me and get the Sangria ready, because you know I tend to stay a while!
XO!

Hi there MichelleD! I LOVE it when you stop by!
I’m clad you like most of the plant choices – I’m pretty pleased myself! And I hear you about the Juniper – I find them very controversial because they are used SO badly so often … it’s hard for our eyes to see them for what they are in their essence. I try to approach plants that come loaded with that kind of baggage by just seeing the basics – are they right for my climate? Do they work culturally with my palette? Does the texture work to create interest? Does the color either compliment or contrast with my color palette?
I have to admit to not bothering much about horticultural context if a plant can work within whatever climate/microclimate I’m working with. I like to play too much! And sometimes the outcome doesn’t work, but when it does, I feel like I’ve discovered a new country! Certain junipers and succulents work to my eye because I am such a sucker for contrast of both color and texture – the icy blue and the warm orange of the juniper/anigozanthus mix is so pleasing to me! And the coniferus texture tickles the smooth surfaces of succulents in the best way, I think…
I kept coming back to junipers as a very solid, useful plant – and I wanted to ‘sexy’ it up a bit; to bring it into a modern palette and se if it would work. I have to say that I have been REALLY happy with them in Elysian Landscapes’ eclectic gardens – they are as tough as they can be, and they work beautifully to create an almost classical structure that the succulent/dry palette can work against. I know that for many people, junipers can’t be recuperated (and there are MANY that I haven’t been able to bring myself to use!) but I like to gamble, and there are several gardens where these vertical junipers have paid off very well!

This is what I LOVE about blogging – only half of the article is written in the post, and then the rest is written in collaboration with your readers in the comments! RIGHT ON!
Thank you so much for this dialogue, Michele! We all learn so much from each other – and I always appreciate the back and forth. You help sharpen my ideas, and you and your work are always inspirational to me as well!

By: Michelle D.

Michelle D. — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 21:34:22 +0000

Hey there Germi,
I really like the textural flow of the planting composition, the plant choices and the color arrangements.
I’m a little ambivalent on the blue juniper. Maybe I will come to love it as the garden grows in but I’m finding it a bit out of horticultural context (juxtaposed against the paws and succulents) and the color is just a tad bit too cool amongst the other rich jewel tones.
I’ll probably be eating my words once it grows in and I see how it all blends beautifully together.( what’s new ! )
Anyways, it is always great fun to see what you are crafting.
Always inspirations, always fun, and always enjoyable .

….. post photos as the garden grows in. ( I can almost taste my ambivalent words ! )

nice craftswomanship.

By: ESP

ESP — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 18:39:42 +0000

Hi Ivette.
I think your scheme is going to look great (it does already) The sedum ground cover will be a great finishing touch…and for such a prestigious client! I bet you were tempted to do a gothical / horror theme, come on, admit it!
Did you bring in those boulders?
Great work as usual.
ESP.

By: germinatrix

germinatrix — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 21:24:28 +0000

Pomona! Hi! I totally agree with you on all points – the nursery industry has done flowering plants a huge disservice by hybridizing them to flower big and forever, at the expense of their form and grace. I don’t care how beautiful a flower is, if the plant it’s on isn’t beautiful, what’s the point?
And yes, there is room for all sorts of approaches to design – I certainly can’t claim to design well for all tastes! The profession of garden design and installation is one that can accommodate so many different sensibilities – we are better when we embrace diversity and support each other. Which is why I have a little problem with the ‘natives-only’ contingent.
Beautiful last thought! XO!

I’m glad you like the palette, John! I was really excited designing it, but when the material came off the trucks I was almost doing backflips. The colors, textures, and shapes came together so well! It is such a treat when clients let you run at a full gallup! I really appreciated the confidence not only of the clients, but of Judy at Elysian, who always has my back. If I really want to do something that a client might be a little leery of, she always manages to talk them into it. It’s because she is a plant maniac, too – like us!
I’m so glad you liked this project! Thank you!

Pam dear! It is SO TRUE about the impact you and your fellow Austin Bloggers have on my planting. I see such an exuberant embracing of the climate with no compromises as far as beauty goes! For me, the dry palette meant a scaling back on the sexier blooming plants, but when I started reading the blogs (via your blogroll, thank you very much!) I was blown away by the weaving together of blossom, form, and foliage. It is a very distinct look – I credit y’all with bringing it to a sharper focus than I’ve seen before. My hat tips to you awesome Texans!
And it IS a treat to be able to use larger plants! I know all the books say that planting small is the best way, and it truly is – but there is ALOT to be said for the gratification of an INSTA-GARDEN!
And you are CORRECT! The Cravens are such lovely people – they even insisted that I pose for pictures with them! I am also the biggest fan of horror films (really!) so it was a real thrill to hang out and talk plants. He loves plants and really interacts with his gardens! Who would’ve thought?
XOXO!!

By: Pam/Digging

Pam/Digging — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 14:37:58 +0000

Germi, I’m delighted to know (from your comment above) that the Austin bloggers have influenced you in any way, because you have certainly influenced my taste for drama plants and succulents. I love this planting and am glad you showed the process and not just the end result. Using the larger size pots makes such an immediate difference. My budget requires that I start out with puny one-gallons in my own garden, and the impact is just not quite the same.

I don’t know who the Good Humor Man is. You know who I would have guessed, thanks to your “I scream, you scream” clue? Wes Craven. Scream, right? Ha!

By: John

John — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 08:25:13 +0000

What an amazing palette. I use Juniperus ‘Skyrocket’ with Nandina a lot for the same reasons you cite, but rarely have clients adventurous enough to go “all in” like this. The hairs on my neck stand up with all those spines and spikes around… very apropos to the client. Brava!

By: Pomona Belvedere

Pomona Belvedere — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 02:17:56 +0000

Wow, I enjoyed the color palette on this one – but also the textures and shapes. I’m still a novice at foliage combos (I let the woods around me determine a lot of them) but wanting to be educated on them. I think the reason a designer might get disenchanted with flowers is that a lot of garden books and catalogues treat them as a sort of “producers”: lots and lots of flowers, regardless of the look and feel of the whole.

And as for the look and feel of the whole: maybe we need different kinds of garden designers, just the way we need different kinds of singers and different kinds of writers. Tastes differ; there are many roads to paradise (which, don’t let’s forget, is a garden).

By: germinatrix

germinatrix — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 01:00:21 +0000

Hey Megan! I have to say that I’ve gone back and forth on flowers over the years … I started out LOVING the cottage-y thing, then got all hardcore subtle and then came the succulent rage – now I’m liking flowers again, thanks in part to the amazing bloggers from Austin, who incorporate so many beautiful blooms into their dry palettes. I think it always depends on the types of flowers, don’t you? I don’t see me planting dinner plate dahlias anytime soon, but kangaroo paws, salvias, verbenas, grasses, wild roses … bring them on!
XO!

Hi Summer – so happy to make you swoon! Come back and we’ll do it again!

Hey Laura you DOLL! We are the Coleonema twins! I adore the golden airy plant, and I love using it to bring movement to a garden in lieu of grasses. And not only you have my link love, you have the regular kind too!

Hi Julia – thanks for the thumbs up on this post! I was thinking that maybe I should wait until it was planted and grown in a bit, but it looked so good as it was going in I thought why not show that there is real beauty in the PROCESS, too? Planting is always the most exciting time! You will have your own patch of paradise soon, and I am very happy to keep you company until you do!

Susan, I swear you made me laugh so loudly the dogs came running in from outside to see what the fuss was about. I’m sure it comes as a wonderful surprise to know that the Good Humor Man is living large up in the Hills!

Carri, you sweet little lime! I was THRILLED when I saw that the broker had delivered the most incredible Paws for the installation! Usually we get little wimpy ones with one bloomstalk and a few brownish flowers. These were putting on a show! I’m glad you like the palette – it makes me want to switch things up at home – oh no … I hear the sound of more money being drained from my bank account…

Loree, there IS no frivolity when it comes to Kangaroo Paws! Right? I think they may be a necessity. I think they were among the very first plants I put in my front yard when I moved into this house in the mid-nineties, and that same Paw is still flourishing! I swear, you need a tiny vacation home down here so you can grow all your favorites without the fear of frost. So come on down ! I’m very good to my Minions!

Dear Tendril! Likewise … just GORGEOUS!!!