I've moved!

A loooong time ago, but I forgot to put a forward link here.

I've Moved

I moved sometime ago, but never put a new link up here. Well here it goes. You can find updates of The Dad House blog at it's new location http://thedadhouse.wordpress.com/

Becky

Here's to Doing Nothing!

I move fast. My colleagues laugh, saying they can hear the "click, click, click" of my fast walk crossing the floor over their heads. I don't stop "doing" from the day's start to finish.

But something happens to me in the garden.

I slow down. Sometimes I just stand there, staring into space.

The first couple of times it happens I shake myself from my reverie and begin my task with fresh vigor. Fussing to myself about wasting time and my large list of garden chores.

Slowly, I begin to remember gardening isn't about accomplishing tasks as quickly as possible. Slowly, I remember I'm nurturing my soul as well as my soil. Slowly, I start to enjoy those moments of staring into nothingness.

I breathe deeply, I listen, I relax and sometimes I see things. Like this praying mantis I discovered in the nandina.

Or earlier this week when I saw filaments flying into the sunlight from the kitchen garden. It reminded me of the scene in Charlotte's Web when her children spun a thread of web and floated away in the wind. Sure enough, by continuing to "do nothing" for a little bit longer, I saw a miraculous sight: a spider floated over my head headed for a new location.

Thank goodness for doing nothing.

What's in Bloom

It's the 15th which means its another Garden Bloggers Bloom Day sponsored by Carol at May Dreams Gardens. This is only the 2nd one I've participated in; I feel a little self-conscious since I have so little to bloom. I'm reminding myself though of my original blogging intention: to create a garden record and what better way to do that then monthly pictures of what's blooming!

The tomatoes are gone, but the Tagetes signata 'Lemon Gem' are flourishing; even their stems have turned a pretty red.

Rosemary 'Arp'

Chrysanthemum 'Miss Jessie'

I thought this was a Passionflower seed, but research shows it's actually a fruit and, like a pomegranate, we could eat the seeds. I'll need to do some more research before I put anything in my mouth though...

1000 Garden Ideas by Stafford Cliff

This is a coffee table book filled with pictures from unidentified gardens around the world. It's organized by specific themes like Walls & Fences, Rocks and Steps and each page is filled with multiple pictures, some only slightly larger than credit card sized. This format is fine for the Pots section, but imagine trying to see pictures of ponds in this format! The details were lost and I learned little.

California!

In mid-September I met a girlfriend in California for a brief get-away. The start of our trip was a drive to Sacramento to visit some of her childhood haunts. I was impressed by all of the Italian cypress in that part of the state. They were so beautiful and I once again wished I could grow them in Virginia. We spent the night near the Capitol building and visited the building and its lovely grounds before hitting the road. This was my first trip to California and I was very excited to see orange trees.

and redwoods!

The grounds were filled with many other beautiful, old trees including this Atlas Cedar.

There was one section with boxwood, aucuba and rhododendron that felt and smelled (thanks to the boxwoods) just like home. Turns out it was! The garden was a recreation of East Coast flora to commemorate those who lost their lives in the Civil War.

Of course inside the building itself, I couldn't resist taking a picture of another amazing sight

After that early morning tour we headed toward Point Reyes National Seashore Park. Beside the sandy beach were waves of colors that turned out to be a variety of succulents.

Our trip ended in San Francisco where my friend had a conference and I spent two days exploring the city on my own. The first day I of course ended up at Golden Gate Park known for its gardens. The Japanese gardens were my favorite. Look at this beautiful gingko to the right of the Tea House. It was unlabeled, but one of the gardeners told me it was the species.

I had been leaning toward planting the 'Autumn Gold' variety along the street, at Michael Dirr's recommendation, but I'm already rethinking. This may be why I don't progress very quickly in my garden. It takes me forever to come up with what I think will be the perfect variety and then I see or learn something that changes my mind!

Throughout the garden they used heavily pruned bamboo to both divide rooms and create movement. Bamboo is a plant I love, but can't bring myself to plant because of its invasive nature and our proximity to natural woodlands. The idea of using it in this way make me think maybe...

Doesn't it look like boxwood in a formal garden from this distance?

Water was throughout the garden all connected to a large pond you didn't discover until the end

with beautiful, old koi.

There were a number of unusual bridges, many of which seemed solid until you got up close and saw the water or a glimpse of a fish passing underneath.

There was also a beautiful collection of dwarf conifers with a sad history. The collection originally belonged to a Japanese couple, the original caretakers of the garden. According to the sign "during World War II" the couple "was forced to relocate to other areas of the country." Sounds like they were sent to an internement camp to me. Do they really think the public is so stupid they can't figure out the truth? Why not just be honest and show respect for the Hagiwara family by acknowledging their experience. Perhaps, I'm assuming too much; read the sign and decide for yourself.

Here's a picture of their beautiful collection in its current home. The good thing I took away from the sign was proof that "miniature" conifers really are, well, miniature. If these plants are really from the 40's they're growing as slowly as promised. Not that I thought the books were lying, but it's nice to see an actual example with a year for reference.

Some other details I found inspirational:

Check out this little piece of wood with a plant growing inside. Such a simple thing became something fun to discover and such a pretty way to draw attention to an attractive piece of wood.

Checkout this manmade hill creating height in an otherwise flat area. I love its variegated topper!

This grass was beautiful, especially when the light shone on it highlighting the red; it would look gorgeous by my pond. The botanical gardens had it labeled as Imperata Cylindrica Santintail. I thought I remembered this from a controversial Horitculture cover where it first caught my eye. Readers wrote in incensed that they would feature such an invasive plant in such a prominent way! My initial research indicates my memory is correct. It's listed on the Invasive Alien Plant Species of Virginia list. Oh well, it was fun to dream about however briefly. Of course, now I still don't know what to plant near the pond...

This bench looks simple enough to create at home. Won't my Dad be thrilled with this inspiration.

I loved too that they used these simple wood boxes for their pond plants. I always reuse black, plastic pots, but this was interesting.

I walked around Stowe Lake to reach these waterfalls.

Notice yet another bridge, this one crossing the falls, that allows water to flow freely.

This dead tree on the other side of the lake looks exactly like a giant heron stalking its prey...

The botanical gardens had a few impressive specimens and I took photos of lots of trees and perennials that were new to me and that I want to learn more about. I won't bore you with all of the pictures in this already long posting, but check out the trunk on this Lemon Verbena.


Macondray Lane was tucked between two streets in the Russian Hill area of downtown. After climbing up more steep hills than I would ever have liked, I found it closed in and a more secluded area than I usually venture into alone in a big city. Looking back from where I'd come and looking forward to the woodland-like path I took a deep breath and plunged ahead. It was completely unexpected in the middle of a city.

I liked this little seating area one homeowner had created along the way.

Gardens at the National Zoo

I know, I know, it's a zoo, the focus is supposed to be the animals, not the gardens. But, I'm a gardener, no matter where I am gardens always catch my eye.

When we visited the National Zoo a few weeks ago I took some pictures of the animals, but most of my photos were of the gardens. The zoo is pretty well shaded with many old, beautiful trees, many of the varieties Dirr recommends. The flower beds are mostly okay in the older parts of the zoo, but they are definitely doing some interesting things in the newer sections.

These grasses were in one of the older sections under some trees. I love how the grass looks like water. I wish I knew exactly what kind it was, but I don't know grasses. My dream is to one day do a natural woodland garden with Asian influence under the pines. The trees are in a circle with a couple of cedars and bitternut tress on the outskirts. I can see a grass like this bordering the path, perhaps on the outside between the cedars and the woods. It's so calming, I even just like looking at in the photo.

In the aviary, they used this very simple fencing for decoration. If you look closely, you can see that the frame is made by standard wood pieces you can buy at any store, faced with sticks placed in a random pattern. It makes a great rustic border and goodness knows we have plenty of sticks around so this would be easy to recreate. I have no idea where I would use it though, perhaps on a larger scale around the cutting garden?

I loved the natural feel of this man-made stream.

This is another spot on the same stream. Can't you just envision wildlife and humans alike walking (barefoot for the humans) through it or just sitting on the rocks enjoying its bubbly, coolness?

Ahhhhh, something to consider for the "great pond expansion project." No definite plans or start date mind you, it's strictly in the information gathering stages.

These creations were at the beginning of the Asia Trail. It's the kind of thing we've seen hundreds of times with cornstalks only this time, with sticks instead. Not only is it unique, but so textural you can't resist touching it. They did the same thing with bamboo closer to the pandas.

Speaking of bamboo, isn't this gorgeous? They've used bamboo throughout the zoo, but I only recall this golden colored variety along the Asia Trail paths. I do love bamboo, but don't feel I can plant it due to it's thug-like nature. I am very curious however about the clumping varieties; although I've also read that they too spread, just not quite as rampantly. Living so close to a natural forest and a feeding river for the Chesapeake Bay I just don't feel like I can take a chance.

Isn't this a pretty garden? Wait, it gets better, let me show you a wide shot...

it's on a roof! There's been a lot of blog buzz about the book Planting Green Roofs and Living Walls by Nigel Dunnett and Noel Kingsbury. I love the idea of it for the environmental benefits and was thrilled to see the National Zoo was making a "green" effort. Apart from all of that though, it was just downright pretty!


This was another man-made stream at the zoo. It's deeper than the previous one and lovely, but with just stone on either side and the plants at a distance it's not naturalistic enough for my setting.