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The Dean Bond Rose Garden was established to memorialize Elizabeth Powell Bond, the Dean of Women at Swarthmore College from 1890 to 1906, and her love of roses. The garden was made possible through a bequest of Robert Pyle, Class of 1897. Designed in 1956 by the Arboretum’s then Assistant Director, Gertrude Wister, the Dean […]
“Beware of Orange,” says Amalie Adler Ascher in her book, The Complete Flower Arranger: A Comprehensive Guide to the Pleasures of Floral Design,” published by Simon and Schuster, 1974. “Orange has a very loud voice. … Studies show that orange is one of the least liked colors (along with purple).” Ms. Ascher goes on to […]
“A Rose by Any Name: The Little Known Lore and Deep-Rooted History of Rose Names”‘ authored by Douglas Brenner, former editor and chief of Martha Stewart’s “Living” and Steve Scaniello, curator of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden begins, “Why does ‘Barbara Streisand’ share a bed with ‘Queen Elizabeth’? And Why is ‘Sexy Rexy’ with them? Because […]
The International Rose Test Garden high above the City of Portland, Oregon dates back to 1917 making it the oldest rose test garden in the United States. New rose varieties are tested and the City of Portland awards the “Gold Medal” award annually for the best introduction. Fourteen different characteristics are evaluated: plant habit, vigor, […]
“…my eyes are fixed in fascinated admiration on a glorious rose, its pale gold, cream and ivory petals blending to a lightly ruffled edge of delicate carmine. There it is before me, majestic, full of promise, and I am convinced it will be the greatest rose of the century,” so wrote Mr. Robert Pyle of […]
Emory Knoll Farms of Street, Maryland explains on their website the difference between an extensive green roof versus an intensive one. The extensive uses plants with foliage of two to six inches, low-lying plants designed to provide maximum groundcover. An intensive green roof uses foliage of one to fifteen feet to provide more of a […]
A visit to Cylburn Arboretum in Baltimore, Maryland took us to the Worthley Garden, a garden full of sedums. Scott Ritchie, the Acting Green House Supervisor, explained how he created its berms with sand, lime, gypsum and rock, a climate suitable for the cliff sedum, S. quadragulane, blue spruce, sedum angelina, and album coral carpet […]
Sunflowers were the American queen at the Waverly Farmers’ Market this past Saturday. Five dollars for 5 stems was the going rate and people were paying it gladly. We couldn’t let well enough alone here, had to introduce Safari King to the Queen and give them a staff and some trailing eucalyptus for their royal […]
This Washington Post article makes fascinating Sunday reading. The subject, Dan Hinkley, a plant explorer has devoted his life to historically tracking the 19th and 20th century discoverers of plants in the Asia surrounds. “The ice age glaciers that erased much of the flora of Europe and North America were blocked by the Himalayas and […]
Recently we visited St. Michaels, Maryland. The first morning there we quietly left the house and circled over to the east side of the property to see if the post was occupied by ospreys. Indeed it was. In fact as soon as we rounded the shoreline trees, the mother/father left the nest of three fledglings […]
My plan for the fall is to take a strip of land on the west side of our property which also has southern exposure and plant greens to use in flower arranging. How happy I was to read Chapter 21 in Amalie Adler Ascher’s book, “The Complete Flower Arranger, A comprehensive guide to the Pleasures […]
A visit to our State Capital, Annapolis, always charms. The sailboats bob in the harbor, the streets, Main, Duke of Gloucestshire, radiate from the State Circle around the Capitol and historic shops, homes and churches add to the ambience. Always looking for that just right vase, we found The Annapolis Pottery, chock full of lovely […]