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Archives for April 2009
A Library
A library is an important design tool. A library can be as simple as a folder stuffed with pictures of everything you ever saw or read that you liked. I find books irresistible, and I have collected them as long as I have gardened. They expose me to other people and places. What I see when I read becomes a part of what I bring to my work. It reminds me that I am part of a community of a certain sort. Would that someday I could write one essay the caliber of those written by Henry Mitchell. The long time garden writer for the Washington Post, until his death in 1993; his books I read over and over again. To follow is one of my favorite essays by him-this spring it seems especially timely. His book, The Essential Earthman, is a much have garden tool.
Posted on: April 10, 2009 1 Comment
Rob
Anyone who has come to Detroit Garden Works the past 15 years has probably dealt with Rob. He manages, buys, designs, arranges, and generally oversees the store. He does display, he pulls weeds, and waters. He arranges purchases from nurseries in Ohio, Tennessee, and Long Island, and every place in between. He buys for DGW all over the country, and in Europe. In recent years, he has made a concerted effort to shop our country. We two agree that every city, every region in our country, has people making beautiful work. We just need to find them. His latest purchase, custom made plant towers in a weather resistant acid washed finish that looks like lead. Many of them are his design, and they are being manufactured by a local ironworker.
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Posted on: April 9, 2009 Leave a Comment
Auricula Primroses
I garden in the winter, in one form or another. This past fall, on my mind were show auricula primroses. Their flowers are as beautiful as their forms are varied. The English exhibit alpine auriculas at competitions like we Americans show African violets, and matched topiary pairs at the Philly flower show. The English derive such joy from their gardening, and a dose of joy was what I was after. They even build staging for their auriculas in pots, known as auricula theatres. Wow. Only the English would find such drama in a series of little potted primroses, perfectly grown.
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Posted on: April 9, 2009 Leave a Comment