Color | Deborah Silver & Co.

Notes From A Hort Head

Good friends came to the shop late in the day a week ago Saturday-they had a mind to shop our sale, and go to dinner afterwards. We liked the idea. They bought a round of handmade Italian terra cotta pots, given our once a year sale. What would they plant in them? Boxwood, and more boxwood. Rob and I got into a rather spirited discussion about boxwood species and cultivars. M interrupted the both of us with this: LISTEN TO THE HORT HEADS GOING AT IT!

I was amused, and then pleased. Me, a hort head? Well yes, I guess that would be me. My earliest days gardening was entirely about the horticulture. Plants, soil, zones, weather and more plants-I doted on the White Flower Farms catalogue and the national weather service bulletins on TV. Mind you, this time in my life was pre computers. The print plant and seed catalogues were about all I had, beyond my own digging and experimenting.

I grew up into garden design via the plants. Any plant-I was interested. I read all that I could. I learned the names. The latin names-that too. I sprung for small starts of every manner of wild flowers. Rock garden plants-those were great too. Peonies-species peonies. Itoh hybrid tree peonies. Lactiflora peonies. Any peony-I was sure I had to have it. The 5 acres I owned in Orchard Lake had 300 peonies the day I sold it. Iris-loved those too. I grew every iris I could get my hands on. Species from Turkey. Louisiana iris. Japanese iris. Bearded iris. I could go on, but my hort headedness is not really of so much interest. What is really interesting are the plants.

The winter in my zone is long-the better part of 6 months. Every gardener in my zone needs a mechanism by which they cope. January is not so bad. The remnants and memories of the holidays sustain. February-brutally colorless and cold. March-still winter-although in late March comes the crocus, and the hellebores. But March is not the glory that is spring. Last spring was a torment, between the way too early heat, and the heartbreaking and lengthy late freeze. I so hope for better this coming spring.

I had reason to shop for plants for an event. Mark’s greenhouse sported two full benches of cyclamen. Both the standard and miniature cyclamen were in full bloom-breathtaking. Faced with all of those flowers, I loved what I saw, and grieved for the long winter that lays ahead. There is no spring in my immediate future. And I do miss the flowers. I filled my cart, and installed them in my window sill. The leaves typically are dark green with striking white markings, but some newer cultivars sport leaves with big blotches of silvery white.

My windowsill is not a bad spot for cyclamen. They like cool, even downright chilly temperatures. Therre is something very cheery about all of this pink, red and white.

Cyclamen persicum is also known as the florists cyclamen. This species, not hardy in my zone, has been intensively bred for winter bloom. If you are longing for spring, these cyclamens might help you weather the winter storm. Be careful not to overwater. Buy blooming plants that show clear signs of sending up new flowers. I keep them on the dry and cool side, and fertilize every 3 weeks or so with a balanced fertilizer-at 1/2 strength.

Once the leaves start to yellow, I know the plants are asking for a rest period. I will confess I have never tried to keep them over to a following winter. I am not that good a grower. That they help me winter my flowerless storm is enough.

There are cyclamen that are hardy in my zone. Cyclamen hederifolium generally prospers in lower light and dry shade. I would try them in a few locations before making a big investment. They can be haughty, demanding, picky, and unfriendly. Perfectly sited, they prosper. Thriving colonies make you and your garden look good. For years I had a patch in dry shade that was as lovely in leaf as it was in flower.

The flowers are so similar to the florist’s cyclamen that I can not tell them apart. Were I a cyclamen head, I am sure I could spot the differences. They are diminuitive and charming in the garden, but they are really great on my winter window sill.

Not too shabby, this.

Posted on: January 18, 2013 9 Comments

Filed Under: Color, Plants Tagged With: florists cyclamen, cyclamen hederifolium, cyclamen coum, cyclamen

The Garden Designers Roundtable: Cheap And Chic

I am sure I have read countless articles entitled “Cheap and Chic”-as if cheap and chic were truly a believable or desirable place to be. I favor cheap if it doesn’t look and act cheap-no further explanation is necessary here. A vast planting of hellebores looks fancy, whether it came from seed, or from giant one gallon pots. As for chic-not the focus of any gardener. Those magazine pages picturing gardeners is spotless clothes and shoes are about something other than gardening. Great design has nothing to do with cost. It is the doing that costs. An extensive landscape project with mature plant material installed all at once-expect to spend lots. Make it a life’s work-expect to spend lots of your time, effort and energy. The urn pictured above with bamboo stakes glued around a circular form-cheap and chic. Meaning properly proportioned. Scaled correctly for the space. A garden urn and pedestal indoors? Filled with what looks like 200 varnished natural bamboo stakes? Satisfyingly stylish, with a dash of the unexpected. A fireplace full of candles collected over time? Collections beautifully or unusually displayed make a strong visual impression. The fireplace strung with a pair of mirror garlands-chic in the fashion sense of the word. The metal angel hair draped over the fountain looks sumptuous as it is too far away for close inspection. Up close, you would know it was cheap.

Available everywhere, even in your own drawer or shed, are objects whose shape is as interesting as their use. Vintage augurs rusty from disuse are available for a song. Strung with lights, and hung from a tree branch-amazingly dressy.

One of the holiday season’s most recognizable decorations-giant rayon weatherproof bows. The ribbon has one finished faux felt side. The backside is most definitely the back side. They are usually made by a bow making machine that keeps the finished side out, and the back side hidden from view. The bright red version is common on wreaths, garlands, and car bumpers and lampposts this time of year. The wine red version-I thought it had possibilities.

The cloud of red curly willow in the pots in the front of the shop is remarkable given the natural shape and contours of the branches. The cinnamon orange color-rich and vibrant as only natural color can be. Yes, the sticks are cheap. They are especially cheap if you grow your own. Grow your own, create your own, repurpose and reimagine what you already own-what you spend in doing such is the most satisfying way to spend.

The wine red rayon bows take on an entirely different feeling paired with the willow. This color takes on a jewel like look, in relationship to the color of the willow. A 5.00 machine made cheap bow transformed a winter look into a very dressy holiday look.

Dark and intense color is rich looking, no matter the material you use to achieve it. I am not a bow maker, but who needs to know that? I sure can glue loops onto a cardboard backing. And I can glue loops big enough to disguise the emergency light installed dead center to the front door.

Simple is always cheap. The time you spend second guessing an idea, or revising, or agonizing over what to do can be an expensive outlay of time. Trusting your first instinct about what to do-much cheaper. An idea simply expressed is cheaper-less costs less. A simple idea repeated until is makes a strong visual impact-chic. My clients who envision 100 boxwoods in pots for their landscape-not cheap, but how chic!

For gardeners in my zone, a little lighting outdoors can be stunning. The snowy weather comes free of charge.

How do other members of our Garden Designer’s Roundtable see cheap and chic? You are free to read. Sharing is chic.

Lesley Hegarty & Robert Webber : Hegarty Webber Partnership : Bristol, UK

Susan Cohan : Miss Rumphius’ Rules : Chatham, NJ

Andrew Keys : Garden Smackdown : Boston, MA

Deborah Silver : Dirt Simple : Detroit, MI

Rochelle Greayer : Studio ‘g’ : Boston, MA

Posted on: December 18, 2012 10 Comments

Filed Under: Winter, Color, Holiday, Good Design Tagged With: the Garden Designers Roundtable

Coppice Wood

Coppicing is a traditional method of producing long straight woody stems by cutting a tree or a shrub back to the ground. Many varieties of woody plants respond to this drastic treatment with vigorous growth-from the ground. Coppice wood was used to provide firewood in European countries where the number of trees were vastly outnumbered by a large population requiring fire for cooking and heat. Shrubby trees wre planted on the perimeters of farms; regular coppicing produced densely twiggy living fences.

The new shoots emerging from the stump of a tree grow long and straight. The juvenile growth is vigorous, and the color is vibrant. In England, the coppice wood from the sweet chestnut tree is still used to make fencing and fence poles for livestock and poultry. The sweet chestnut is coppicied on 12 to 18 year cycles, and then harvested to make fencing and gates. The poles come from coppice wood which is allowed to grow upwards of 30 years before cutting.

The fresh cut twigs which arrive at the shop in early November are grown by farmers who plant their shrubs in rows or blocks, like crops. Large fields are harvested in rotation, so every year there is a crop of long straight stems. Many of our twigs come from varieties of salix, or willow. Every gardener knows that the new or current year’s growth on a red twig dogwood shrub has the best color. Mature stems become woody, and the color dull. The new bark of coppice wood is lively. Newer cultivars of the redtwig dogwood have better and brighter color. The coppice wood of this redtwig dogwood cultivar is known for its especially brilliant color.

Once the leaves fall, those twigs which are ready are harvested, sorted by length, bundled and shipped. Most bunches are 10 stems, except for the curly willow. The winter color of curly willow stems is subtle, but no so its shape. The curving and curling stems provide lots of volume-these voluminous bunches are usually 5 stems. 5 stems of this gracefully airy and unpredictably curving willow can endow a winter container arrangement with lots of rhythm and movement.

Coppiced yellow twig dogwood is brilliantly yellow green. The twigs will be color fast the entire winter. Used in a winter container, it is not unusual for the stems to root, and leaf out in the spring. Though but a very few of the leaves are still clinging, the branches are vibrant at a time of year when most all else in the garden has gone dormant.

Flame willow is a striking coppery orange in color-quite unlike the bark of the trees and shrubs that grow in my garden. This warm cinnamon color is a standout in snowy and gray weather. This variety of willow is much more handsome in its twiggy state than it is as a green-leaved shrub.

Japanese fan willow was cultivated from a fasciated, or flattened natural stem. Many perennials and shrubs will exhibit this peculiar characteristic. Some azaleas that exhibit densely twiggy growth were propagated originally from fasciated stems. Fan willow is noted for its exotic shapes and forms. No two branches ever look the same.

Curly copper willow exhibits much the same habit of growth as the green curly willow. However the striking color means it will take fewer branches to make a statement in a winter container. Our coppice wood has arrived at just the right time. The cold temperatures outside will help keep them fresh, and the surface of the bark glossy. Thought the color will survive the winter perfectly intact, the warm weather in the spring will eventually dessicate and shrivel the stems.

But there is a place for dry stems in winter containers. Dead wood branches that have shed their bark can be beautiful in a winter arrangement. Bleached natural branches are dramatically pale in color, and are visible from a great distance.