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When Tony B. from Martha Stewart Living Magazine emailed me this past October that they were interested in featuring some objects Detroit Garden Works carries for their March garden issue, my heart skipped a beat.  OK, maybe many more than one beat.  Why wouldn’t my heart pound?  Martha Stewart has done plenty to make gardening mainstream.  I so admire how she connects thoughtful living, decorating, celebrating, cooking, gardening and growing-I read every issue.  I bring the recipes home for Buck.  Why is this?  I have choices about how to live my life day to day.  But I am, like many other people, interested in her take.  She has devoted an enormous amount of time to documenting and inspiring creativity.  In the home.  In the kitchen-and in the garden.  For regular people-coast to coast, and beyond.  She made a gorgeous garden seem attainable. 

 Like you, I have failed miserably to repreduce her gorgeous outcomes-no matter how detailed her instructions might be.  My years ago kitchen never recovered from my efforts to reproduce her spun sugar.  My garden in no way looks like hers.  This has never really bothered me.  The important thing is that she encouraged me to try all sorts of things. She tells me where she shops.  Whom she admires.  She sows all kinds of seeds-she is a teacher.  Regularly and reliably I will run from learning something.  Maybe that’s from worry that I cannot learn something. But I seem to have no problem trying out what she suggests.  I treasure her for this.

I am not always so interested in what is hip, current and fashionable-I have my own ideas about things.  But I respect her take.  I can be fancy-talk to me about hellebores, landscape design, good garden plants, winter containers, garden antiques-and so on.  But I can also be a plain and simple citizen-interested in a little guidance, a few fresh ideas.  Anyone who sows seed gets my respect.  Seed sowers-they are a breed all their own.  They might generate an idea, a recipe, a design; they plant.  They conduct.  They advise.  They suggest.  They connect with you and me and lots of others.  One seed at a time, they make a difference.  One seed at a time, they speak up. 

In any event, I could not be more pleased that Martha Stewart Living reserved a place for three items we carry-in their “Great Finds- Our 50 favorite products, projects and places inspired by the world of gardening.”  I could not be more pleased that Detroit Garden Works was included in their list.  One item, sourced by Rob.  Another-by me.  And the third-a product we manufacture.  I very much like this part.  Many thanks, Martha Stewart Living.

Posted on: February 6, 2011 9 Comments
Filed Under: The Branch Studio, Garden Ornament, Detroit Garden Works Tagged With: , , , , ,

Stuck

Stuck inside, that is.  The inside story-we are repainting parts of Detroit Garden Works for the spring. Every square inch is torn up, everything is stacked up, on hold, or in storage.  Then what we have has to be introduced to what is on the way for spring. The visit to the Atlanta Mart gave rise to plenty of ideas about display spaces.  I walked through my shop rooms this past week, and tried to imagine what new spaces might look like.  Not one idea surfaces.  A bad cold didn’t help things.  The January weather adds to the inertia that best describes winter; there is a sopping wet and partially frozen dingy grey wool blanket everywhere I look.  Every square foot of our 10,000 square feet will be home to our the spring gardening congress.  I know I need to be ready, but there needs to be a plan first.  All the possibilities and sheer the size of this place means I have less time that I think to get it thought out.  It is just hard to shake off that longing for another time and another place-like my garden in the spring or summer or fall- and get going.  This makes for a design headache. 

We have 2 containers coming from the Europe, the first of which is scheduled to make Montreal February 4.  What happens next is anyone’s guess. Should that part of Canada see a snow storm the likes of which invaded New York City a few days ago, the railway will be shut down, or keep traffic moving at a crawl.  A 2 day trip from Montreal might take 10 days.  We have a customs broker who attends to the process of our container being cleared for entrance into the US.  That process is a good deal more stringent and time consuming today than 10 years ago.  I have no earthly idea what day that semi will pull in with that container on board.  It could be days-it could be more time than I bargained for.

 

If you are a gardener, you get design headaches too, particular to the winter months.  The process of deciding what trees, shrubs, perennials, groundcovers, annuals, tropicals, vegetables, herbs you are crazy for-easy.  What we all  have a mind to grow next season-easy. Every tomato under the sun looks good right about now.  What we plan to change, renovate, turn around and rethink-easy.  Putting all of this together in a coherent scheme-a design headache. Beautiful meadows-there are many that are nature driven and naturally maintained.  They tend to be really big spaces-much bigger than my yard.  When nature has an idea, she expresses it on a really big scale.    A mini meadow requires such thoughtful design-there’s simply no room for mucking about with obviously unresolved areas.  Full scheme ahead.

On my small property, in my small business, I do not have unlimited space and time.  I need to pick and choose which statements I wish to make, and then decide how to make them.  This means my gardening broadcasts need a lot of distillation, and fast.  The Mart in Atlanta-so many things in one place.  Making sense of it all-big work that is still going on.  One finite space, one small voice-looking to organize and energize a collection.  Seed catalogues, tools, nursery stock availability lists, annuals, pots and benches for spring-there is plenty to to see, read and absorb.  There is also the matter of the stack of site plans on my drafting table-projects which need design time before spring. 

  

   Customers straggle to my door-we are happy to let the garden-starved in, but we do not provide that much comfort. The shop is just about 55 degrees. The most lively thing going on is the dogs barking.  The January doldrums have set in.  The shop is in so many fragments, waiting for an organizing metaphor.  In spite of my headache,  I like these days when every room is taken down to its bare bones, and the thought of putting it all back together scares me.  It means I have work to do that I like.

  Sorry to say this, but we northern gardeners have the entire month of February, and perhaps into March to go before there is any hint of spring.  Not so good for you-not so great for me either.  I so miss my garden.  But for the shop, the deconstruction is good.  It means our spring will be a fresh.     If there ever was a time for a big idea, this is it.  I feel sure that if I look long enough, I’ll spot one.

Madame Nature, I’ll be ready when you are.

Posted on: January 29, 2011 Leave a Comment
Filed Under: Holiday, Detroit Garden Works, Landscape Design Tagged With: ,

Telly’s

If you should be a card carrying gardener in my area, no doubt you have been to Telly’s.  If you have not, it is located on John R north of Big Beaver.  I have been shopping there for over 20 years.  I have never known anyone who had a better working knowledge of an incredible range of plants.  I have known few whose enthusiasm for plants matches his.  Wildflowers-he is a source.  Great roses, unusual hostas, specimen hostas, great grasses, the largest population of dianthus and other rock garden plants, the tried and true, and the cutting edge on perennials of all descriptions, great annuals-great tropicals.  His place is the physical incarnation of a first rate horticultural encyclopedia.  Plan to spend some time. It will be time well spent, no matter what time of year you go.   

I called George today-I have 3 large marble planters in a very contemporary conservatory to get planted.  My calls to George with a need for unusual plants, or plants in big numbers have invariably been answered.  The time and effort he has spent sourcing plant material over the past umpteen years-He deserves a seat with a brass plaque at the Library of Congress, department of plants.  I would vote for this.    I have great respect for George-as well I should. We send people to him all the time.  Detroit Garden Works features plants of size, plants I take a fancy to, some of this and a little more of that.  Telly’s is a plant nation.  Of course George says-I just got back from Florida with some very cool plants-when can you get here?  

My holiday and winter work is over, as are the holidays.  My buying trip to Atlanta-over. Coming down with a cold-a given.  I have time now to have a stinking cold, so why not.  A visit to Tellys today helped reduce my irritation level..  The idea of standing in a working greenhouse full of very interesting plants sounded good.  Steve and I got on the road first thing this morning. I am sure you can tell from these pictures that George likes succulents.  We are not talking hens and chicks.  We are talking echeverias.  OK, the sum total of my knowledge is out there, once I say the e word.  Want more info-go see George.  Though I have no name for this plant, I so like how it looks.  I like even better how these 15 e’s look in the case.    

Tray after tray of gorgeous succulents-I snapped this wavy edged turquoise rosette succulent flat up in a second.  George immediately rolled his eyes-do you need all of them?  Mais Oui, George-I need them all.  He gets over it quickly-he can reorder.  But I understand his reaction.  Gorgeous plants are so tough to let go of.  We gardeners are just ordinary people after all-but we have a true passion for plants and growing that can take us over the line.  Over the line-I am happy to be a member of that group.     

Drocera, commonly known as sundew, is the largest genus of carviverous plants on the planet-there are at least 194 species.  Plants that attract bugs, dissolve them, and ingest nutrients from them-creepy.  But George has them, should you be interested.  They are fascinating looking.  They also look like trouble, but I did not mind this case of trouble plants one bit.  January 24 I am happy to have a greenhouse to visit.  How a greenhouse smells in the winter, delicious. The air is heavy with water, and the smell of soil comforts me.  This winter promises to be a long one.  I will be back, regularly.  

Tropical plants are not my forte.  I am better when I am outside. But I have no problem spending time in a warm spot, with strangers. We have had overnight lows recently of 2 degrees, and 8 degrees.  My choices for gardening company-not so great.  Whatever gardening company I might find-fine.  Telly’s is looking really good right now.  

I bought box after box of tropical plants for my conservatory installation tomorrow.  Black, grey, and white leaved plants of a number of sizes and shapes.  Different than these green and red plants whose name I do not know.  No matter. I know the growing conditions for my client.  I know how it is heated.  I know how it is cared for.  This makes it possible for me to design and plant plants whose names do not know.  Margaret Dixon, who may have been the best gardener it has ever been my privilege to know, knew no names.  But she could grow anything and everything, beautifully.  Though she has been gone 15 years, I can still hear her saying.  Ask the name last.  Ask about what makes it happy first.  Should you be a new gardener, skip the name, and move on to the ideal conditions.  Should you be more that 100 feet away from good conditions, consider another plant. 

Phalaenopsis orchids mostly require what I cannot provide.  Though the flowers are lovely beyond belief, I do not attempt to grow them. I like looking at them at Telly’s, and at orchid shows, and at my local botanical garden greenhouse.  Shouild I ever decide to turn over my entire gardening life to the cultivation of orchids, I might consider them.  But in general, I welcome plants into my gardening life that like my gardening life to start with.     


OK, I might make an exception for this amaryllis.  Only as I might possibly provide the conditions they require to flourish.  And successfully summer them over for flowers next year.  This one flower alone was worth the trip today-yes, we had daytime ultra cold and snow.  I am sure there is a greenhouse near you.  My advice? Get out your gardening passport, and go somewhere.

Posted on: January 24, 2011 1 Comment
Filed Under: Detroit Garden Works, Garden Design, Garden Stories Tagged With: ,

At A Glance: Driving North

Lush Life in Atlanta

south of Berea, Kentucky

south of Cincinnati

heading into Cincinnati storm

Dayton, Ohio

icy Chevy

An average tire goes 6.28 feet per revolution.  Detroit to Atlanta and back, 1500 miles.  My tires-1,261,146.40 glued-to-the-road revolutions this trip. 

My Chevy is heavy. It features 4 wheel drive and traction control via computer.  Add that to a rocking set of tires, state of the art windshield wipers, and the orange windshield wiper fluid that Fred made me buy, I had a safe trip back in bad winter weather.  


Can you not see it written on their faces?  Just where exactly have you been the past eight days??  We are all ears.

Posted on: January 22, 2011 8 Comments
Filed Under: Picture This, Detroit Garden Works