Winter is the time to catch up on all the photography editing and post production from during the past year.  Or in the case of this sequence of photos, from years ago.

While I was working on the American Meadow Garden book, now 4.5 years ago, I stopped by Scott Arboretum at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania.  The entire campus is the Arboretum, but around the garden office the staff creates the most amazing containers of foliage plants.  Being incredibly busy with the book and projects since, my editing and the post production processing of this job never seemed a priority. [Read more →]

Steve Asbell is a writer, illustrator and photographer based out of Jacksonville, Florida. I’m a big fan of his writing and his love of gardening is inspiring. You can find more about him at his blog, The Rainforest Garden.  Fran Sorin

In Steve’s words:

I’ve only been a gardener for the last three years, but my mother has been preparing me for a lifetime. It was only when she lost the ability to walk and became the proud new owner of a power chair that I planted my first garden. It was meant to be a gift to the woman who taught me to live and celebrate each day, but it was only through her garden that I was finally able to appreciate all of the lessons she’s taught me through life. Gardening was a little difficult for an army brat like me, but the lack of space never kept me from learning. ‘Bloom where you’re planted’ was a common saying among military wives, but for my mother those words stuck and became a mantra that defines and empowers her to this day. She didn’t teach me how to garden in the usual sense but instead gave me gifts much more enduring and profound. My mother taught me how to cultivate my sense of wonder into adulthood and to savor life wherever it can be found. She was teaching me to be a gardener all along.

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RAMBUNCTIOUS GARDEN

This book came to my notice through a rather impressive little chain. Piet Oudolf recommended it to me, after Rick Darke had recommended it to him. I’d like to use it today to develop a train of thought that first came to me years ago. It’s also very relevant to my last blog posting here about native and exotic plants, and in a way continues the discussion.
Written by a science writer (Emma Marris) – ‘Rambunctious Garden’ tackles the fact that there is virtually no ‘untouched nature’ left on the planet, and that an awful lot of what we call nature is heavily managed by humanity or was trashed by our ancestors, often a very long time ago or is the result of non-native species setting out and creating entirely novel ecosystems. Marris discusses how many of these new ecosystems actually function very well, and not always in competition with natives, and there is much here to counter the more lurid fantasies of the ‘natives only’ lobby, as well as to highlight just how much, and for how long, the human race has been changing life on earth. Well-written, firmly evidence-based, level-headed, open-minded and packed with intriguing examples, the author paints a picture of a rapidly-changing ‘natural’ world which she describes as a ‘rambunctious garden’. She does not take the garden analogy any further, so I will here.

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When we go out into the garden to take pictures, we don’t always find what we expect.  So don’t get locked into seeing what you want to see.  See what is.

When my friend Kate Frey suggested I might want to photograph the tapestries of winter vegetables she planted at Lynmar Winery I could hardly wait for the next free morning.  I knew her keen sense of design and plant combinations would be exquisite.  An organic edible garden designed to be an artistic visual treat ?!  Think the Roadrunner cartoons… zeeeeeeeeoooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwwww …. I’m on my way. [Read more →]

Every so often, when visiting a noteworthy garden, I see a potting area I envy. Like this one, in Modesto, CA, which doubles as a dog grooming station.

This lovely one, shoe-horned into a garden in Charleston, SC, has a sink. And I thought it was a luxury to simply have a hose bib! [Read more →]