Thursday, September 28, 2017

Eclecticity


  
I can hear some of my regular friends groaning already "Blue Hydrangeas?" Why on earth is he showing pictures of this most Maritime, most hackneyed and yet most loved Victorian matron. Just as a talking dog, or horse, merits some interest, a front garden planted thickly with Hydrangea macrophylla in Colorado's steppe climate is of more than passing interest. Ever since the "everblooming" sort was introduced a few years ago, I've seen them here and there around Denver. And I have to admit, I'm impressed with how they're doing.

You can be snobby all you want, but you have to admit this is a bit of a tour-de-force in our semi-arid climate! I wouldn't want to pay their water bill...



And now for a rather dramatic shift: not far from the hydrangeas, a large garden was recently refurbished consisting largely of this wonderful Southwestern tree yucca, Yucca rostrata. Rather different from hydrangeas in effect or culture...


The simple landscape complements the mid-century style home--and both are rather newish I would think...

Just a few more random shots: I enjoyed this immensely--the plant selection is as eclectic as the contrast of one home to the next...



You can tell I like beaked Yucca...


A few houses down and across the street I saw this pink shrub that gave me a start...turns out to be begonias...


I've enjoyed this simple garden of groundcovers--not much of a mowing bill here...


Slightly wild, but still fun...


This one has a bit of a xeriscape/rock garden in front. Cool!

There are too many of these: a giant house in an expensive neighborhood--the street trees are dead and the grass is stressed. Perhaps it's due for a re-landscape?
                                                                                                                                                                  

I've always loved this yard that consists entirely of lamb's ear (Stachys lanata, or S. byzantina)


And finally a xeric corner on a Hilltop mansion...notice the bonsai pine? And the red yucca and especially the Cylindropuntia davisii. this is not gardening as usual!

I've not been to every big city in America (yet) but I have not found another that grows quite the range--from blue hydrangeas to tree yuccas. I wished I'd photographed the giant rhododendrons I passed by this morning. And there are large evergreen magnolias in a few select gardens.

Denver, I love you! You are indeed the city eclectic (or eclecticity for short). If that words not trademarked yet, I better get on the stick.

Monday, September 25, 2017

A reflection on art in the garden.

Reflections by Frank Swanson



Sculpture exhibits have become an important part of the program of many public gardens, especially the one I work at. What I enjoy most about most of these is that they are finite: the very powerful artistic sculptures can dominate the space where they are located. The gardens at Denver Botanic Gardens are sufficiently bold that they hold up well to such art--but if the art were permanent, there is a danger they would eventually become static, or worse, stale. There are many permanent pieces of sculpture on display at Denver Botanic Gardens--all of which I have come to love, this one in particular. I show it first in snow--the minimalist context lets you admire the limestone form without distraction.  




Unlabeled sculpture at park in Pruhonice, Czech Republic
Imagine how suprised I was to find a twin of our sculpture (not an identical twin I hasten to add) in Europe.  I suspect if I had asked, I could have found out who was responsible for this interesting "reflection" of the piece at Denver Botanic Garden which I saw this last May: I was intrigued that the two different artists created somewhat similar forms out of a cylindrical shape. With similarly mottled, sleek forms (this one could be cement: I should have examined it closer).

sculpture
Reflections, again

 I find it interesting to see how radically different a piece of work can look in different contexts, or different seasons.

Garden art is somewhat controversial: but there has been figurative art in garden spaces for as long as humanity has created figures. Figurative art has threbled the visitation to D.B.G. over the last decade not only bringing truly remarkable sums of money, but raising the visitbility and status of the Gardens in the community.  Again and again I've been told that new visitors come to see the art, and come back (and join) for the garden.

And I think that's terrifc!



Friday, September 15, 2017

Memento Mori: home to the botanical


As we strolled through Lund last Sunday, we walked by the cemetery which was adjacent (as they are wont to be) to the botanical garden where we were not supposed to go (not good enough). It was worth the visit, but this gorgeous piece of art along the way caught my eye, so I photographed it...what a wonderful thing to put on your tombstone!



Thanks to the computer age we live in, I found Monica's obituary on line: here it is (in Swedish)--but the translation (provided by Google) follows below the link:


Google translation of the Obituary:

1837/5000
Mona was born in Kisa as the youngest daughter of provincial counselor Nils Albert Hennings and his wife Hilde, born in Vienna. She went to school in Linköping and graduated there. With her Tomas, Mona, via Uppsala, came to Lund and graduated in 1966. At the Sydsvenska Gymnastikinstitut (SGI), which was located at Sandgatan 14, she started working in 1967.Mona was a deeply knowledgeable and clinically skilled physiotherapist with a special interest in orthopedic medicine, that is, diseases and problems from our organs, but she had a glance far beyond the usual for each patient's individual needs. She listened, answered and there was always a supplementary question. Physiotherapy is in many ways about motion education. The ability to convey this to the patient, Mona took part in her work with the students at the Department of Physiotherapy at Lund University. To continue as a clinician, Mona was the prerequisite for communicating what she wanted to the students and we were lucky when she swept down to us with news from the big world. That the students appreciated her, we know at least once a year, we celebrated that she received "Kotan", the student's prize for the best teacher. Despite a heavy workload at University, Mona followed when SGI 1997 moved to Bredgatan 5 and worked there until 2010.But Mona was so infinitely more than just a good colleague. Many of us are physiotherapists in Lund, like her, she had a really good friend, Mona meant a lot to many. She was interested in us, of our children and of our lives. Through her openness with the disease, she helped us all to slowly accept that her own time ran out. Around Mona lived everything and everything was beautiful, home to the botanical and summer of the Hellenic coast.Ylva Hedin Larsson, for the physiotherapists at Sydsvenska gymnastik institutet
Google Translate for Business:Translator ToolkitWebsite Translator
I think the matter above pretty much speaks for itself: The art on the tombstone alone tells me that Monica is someone I would have love to have known. The Obituary amplifies my interest.  I am a little distressed that she died only five years older than I am now (I better pack a lot in in the next five years! And start working on my tombstone artwork, perhaps?)...

But the phrase that caught me was this little cryptic, haunting quatrain.

Around Mona lived everything
and everything was beautiful
home to the botanical
and summer of the Hellenic coast.

Yes. Thanks to my stroll through Lund, and to the internet and (god forbid) Google (and thanks to the enduring enamel of art above all), I seem to have stumbled on someone I'd love to have known.

Tivoli: a few too many snapshots...


To be honest, I've done this rather ludicrous post for a friend who happens to be doing the horticulture for Denver's Tivoli equivalent. And why not share it with you too? The idea of horticulture at an amusement park isn't everyone's cup of tea: when I shared a few pictures from Tivoli on Facebook, I was met with a little tsunami of...shall we say...dubiousness? I generally find amusement parks in America to be pretty grotesque and crass: two adjectives that I don't think one can fairly apply to Tivoli...but then you be the judge!


OK. There was a little grotesquerie and crassness here and there..



I haven't seen many monuments to clowns, but this has to be the best of class in that department...and the green wall behind is pretty cool..


 I watched a pantomime and a ballet at this pavilion. If you ask nicely, perhaps I'll even post the link so you can see them on my Youtube channel (I'll have to upload them first, however)...


I'm a sucker for Orientalia. I understand using the world "Orient" is tabu [insert accent on "u"] --is Orientalia likewise banned? 


I have three large Plumbagos rather like this in pots in my garden. Must be the thing to do!


I must warn you: there are a lot of pictures in this post. And none of them have been photoshopped ...you see what I snapped. I could drone on and on (and will doubtless chime in from time to time), but really, they're just a lot of flowers of all kinds. Enjoy!



Oh yes, and some garden sculptures too!


And lots of plants in pots!


You'll occasionally catch glimpses of the rides--which mercifully don't dominate the scene as they so often do at amusement parks. The gardens are what dominate the scene!


Stylized edelweiss? anemone?


Oh yes, and fountains!


The dahlia time of year..


One must have potted Brugmansias. I do myself.


And roses. And elegant barriers to keep you away from the workers who are grooming things for you.


Gardens everywhere...


I like the dark dahlia and helichrysum together. But as Chris Woods says, I'm easy to please (you can tell he's never lived with me).





Did I mention dahlias?




One can never have enough Tropaeolums in my book. Nor enough ancient olives.



And they have chickens.


Wonder what's destined for the troughs?


Life is incomplete without a fig tree. We have two (or maybe three?)...




A little herb garden...



And veggies in pots...


I wouldn't want to be the one to lug these monstrous Monsteras...demonsterably.


Or the many cycads and palms in containers...


Love this bonsaied Hydrangea...


One must have a weeping  willow...


And a moor hen I mistook for a duck (thanks, Alys, for the correction!)


And more ducks...these were the most trusting ducks. I walked right next to them and they didn't stir. The Danes are so damn civilized. In America I'm sure they'd be more cautious.



Never even went into the Orangerie. I did listen to the jazz band tuning up for a while..




I love this hedge of Cleome.


The distant clock tower was so....European!


The rides seemed to be designed to admire from a distance as well as terrorize up close.



Cacti are so popular they named a bistro (with Mexican food!) after them.


Mostly just succulents and not cacti in KACTUS...







Love this Lavatera...


And a whole frickin' border on the pond margin!


I have a thing about Japanese anemones--I like them...








Not just any amusement park has a resident heron...I was very taken with him (her?)...




Wonderful woodsy patches...


More ducks!







The first hint of fall in the Euphorbia...





I love this Sedum. (OK, Hylotelephium in case Stephen Jankalski gets this far)...





















I hadn't had dinner yet and was tempted by this ice cream concoction...


Where they got all those scoops in the picture before...








There were many restaurants. I picked this one...


The view from my chair..


The entre course (I haven't inflicted the whole meal on you). Lamb. It was delicious...do notice the woman above...



She resembles mightily the younger of my two sisters. I miss them both terribly. You can imagine my thoughts through dinner as I looked up and kept jolting in my chair as my re-incarnated sister ate her dinner. I confess, I did have some wine and it did color things up a bit. Things like this are difficult to convey in anything less than nostalgic, heart throbbing verse (which I don't do--very often anyway). I should have that night.


Replete, complete and slightly tipsy I headed home through the evening lights...


ANOTHER performance in the Pavilion...I watched the whole thing.


So the Alhambra must have looked to the moor as he sighed his last. I kept sighing though...



And so I danced back to my hotel, glad that I had taken so many pictures. And you've seen practically every one (I did mercifully weed out a few duplicates here and there..)

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