Philosophy 102

New Thread! Hope this works.

We came from here -

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/990966/

Hooray it worked!

It is very windy here and my yard is covered with yellow and brown leaves. Fall is upon us, but the next two days are supposed to be in the nineties!

I love fall. My favorite season. After working so hard on the garden all spring and summer, you would think it would be sad to see the flowers fade - except for the asters - and the tomato plants looking ragged. I feel somehow that I'm "off the hook" and if the plants look bedraggled and wild it's not my fault, and I can relax and enjoy nature taking over. And the root vegetables in the Farmers' Market - beets and turnips. Yum. I also feel fickle. It was so exciting to see spring arrive, and then the languid days of summer. How quickly I'm ready to move on to the next season.

Winter gardens - do you just tolerate your gardens in their starkest state, or do you find beauty in their winter presence? What do you like best in winter gardens?

Beauty,, definitely beauty in winter.

I'm not ready for that LOL

Pix beautiful photo. I like things down to the bare bones so the structure is visible.

Good job, Judi, with the new thread. No time for adding input this morning, but should have time later on today. Am having an eye exam so will see if I can even see the screen later on.

I am so far behind on the answers that I wanted to post in this thread that I feel like I should be in the "special" class!

Next segment...I want to give my impression of how I feel Lynn's garden portrays her personality. This is a very difficult one for me to do as we have become good friends over the last year, and it is very hard to seperate what I know of her as a person from what her garden would show a stranger.

Here goes my best shot...

You can tell that Lynn's garden is relatively new (you can still see dirt for gosh sakes!), and just the number of beautiful beds alone tells you that she is an incredibly hard worker....there are very few people who would be dedicated enough to do that much in such a short amount of time. You can also tell that she does not enter into a project lightly, but jumps in with both feet and tons of enthusiasm. You see an inate curiosity and love of diversity in the number of different colors, forms, and textures that make up her beds. You also see that she has a love for beauty and a wonderful artistic flair, as every garden, planter and sitting area blends horticulture and hardscape together like it was done by a professional designer. You see both a nurturing and hopeful nature in all of the tiny plants that have been started by cuttings, as well as all of those still in the process of rooting. You also see a wealth of generosity in the fact that she will go out of her way to offer cuttings and share starts from her garden, even though her plants are still in relative infancy (not to mention the generous nature it takes to invite a group of relative strangers to stay at her home and garden for a weekend, and going above and beyond to try to make sure that everyone is comfortable and happy).

As her friend, I can tell you that the enthusiasm that her garden tells you about is nothing compared to the real thing! She is a pure joy to walk the garden and go plant shopping with...her spirit brings out the kid in you for sure! :)

I can't wait to meet Lynn.

In the Midwest, winter is an 8-month-long monster to be dreaded, a time when neighbors & friendships languish because all involved retreat inside by the fire for days at a time.

I think winter will be FUN here! Storms on the ocean, cozy clothing & coffee dates ... plus, my insto-garden here will look awesome with its strong bones. Not to mention the upcoming salmon run that will happen in my back yard. Aaaaaaaaaaaand! BABY SALMONZ in the spring.

summerkid- you will never regret moving there!! I envy your hardiness zone.

SK, my friend from Kennewick, WA (on the eastern side of the mountains) laughs at us.

She says when it rains there, they go inside. When it rains here, we just walk a little faster.

Our typical rain is a slow drizzle that lasts from October through early April, with a week of warm, sunny weather in March that makes us all think spring has arrived. It's the grey that'll getcha, but usually the cold is tolerable.

It may get cold here in Minnesota but at least the sun shines! If you dress appropriately, you can enjoy the crispness in the air and the crunch of the snow under your boots. As far as enjoying my garden in the wintertime, we have wildgrasses in 3/4ths of our backyard specifically bluestem so there is this rust brown grass swaying in the breeze above the snow -- also annabelle hydrangeas dried flower heads and dried coneflowers with goldfinches feasting on the seed ---- the small small red apples on my crabapple slowly fermenting so when the robins return for Spring they can get intoxicated. All of the seasons have something to enjoy --

Yes, cabindweller - there is definite beauty in those cold seasons. I grew up in Alaska winters - it may be dark, but the snow reflects all the light shined on it. There's nothing darker than a rainy winter's night on a country road when there is no snow . . .

Yes, but a dark, rainy, winter night on a country road has its own voluptuous pleasures ....

Ooooh, "voluptuous pleasure on a dark, rainy road at night in the middle of winter." Let me know when this story is finished. I want to read it!

Aw, honey, you can already taste & feel it. No need to read it.

Yes, you're right. Anyone guy Diana Gabaldon's newest book in the Outlander series, an Echo in the Bone? It came out yesterday. I still need to finish the book that comes before it. Good winter reading . . .

I'm too busy watching television.

*guffaw*

You're such a brat, Summer. :D

Well, I DO have all these leather-bound children's texts (in the original Russian) for my intended Nobel-winning progeny to read but .... tsk, nonexistent as the progeny are, I content myself with memorizing Extenze commercials. Mercifully, there is now a new one.

Alas, I have never heard of Diana Gabaldon or Extenze until now.

I just placed a request for "Outlander" from the Library.

The Extenze... yeah, I think I'll pass. 0.o

it's ok not to know stuff, pony.

if i hadn't been a journalist since about age 16 and therefore by profession required to be curious, as well as naturally so, i also would have vast dark areas where there is now random knowledge.

Rarejem, what a beautiful description of Lynn's garden. Thank you for that. It seems as though the two of you have a wonderful friendship.

Cabindweller you must get really cold in Minnesota in the winter! But how lovely it must be with the sun on the crunchy snow.

Yesterday I was chatting with my garden designer neighbor and she has a tree dilemma. There is a very large, old and weak tree in her back yard that will most likely topple over in a storm, and must come down. This tree has been shading their house and yard for 25 years and the back yard has little sun. They have created a wonderful garden of shade loving plants and it is very serene and cool. When the tree comes down, the garden's ecosystem will change. I find such peace and comfort in my own garden and I wonder how I would feel if it changed so drastically. Would it be completely unsettling? I think so.

Thanks for the update on Gabaldon. Must order it today. Waited forever for this one. Makes me sad that mom never got to finish the series. Or at least I hope this will be it.

I don't think she's said that she's finished. There may be more after this.

I'm thinkin' that your mom is getting to read them BEFORE we all see them, Patricia.

SK and Pony, you crack me up. I definitely won't be reading when the new LOST season starts. And I'm kind of excited by this new series FLASH FORWARD. One thing about television is that you can have it on while you're doing your chores . . . or surfing the Web.

Wow, I can't believe I have a quiet lunch hour and I can actually catch up on some threads!

Judi, I did want to take the time to answer one more of your questions from a while back...you asked if the garden photos that others have taken in our own gardens portray them as we see/experience them. It has been a strange experience for me seeing my garden through other people's eyes. What I have found significant is that there are several beautiful things in my garden that I have started taking for granted or not really "seeing" anymore.... things that people who are looking at the garden for the first time take interest in and therefore capture with the camera. I wonder if it's due to the fact that I find myself spending more time looking at what I want to change or the things that I need to do rather than just enjoying the garden as it is.

As for the transition of seasons, every season is my favorite when it comes...each for different reasons...and I am always ready for the transition from one to the next. I can't remember if it was here or somewhere else where I read that a gardener stays forever young at heart as they always have something to look forward to.

I love my garden in the winter because it is so empty and you can really appreciate the form and color of the shrubs and the form of the gardens themselves. Summer everything is full and chaotic...winter is the only time there is relative order!

Judi, I have unfortunately had portions of my garden's echosystem drastically altered by fallen trees over the years that I have lived here, and it is traumatic, even if it only affects one bed. It is much less so however if it is planned and done with minimal damage to the surrounding area rather than having Mother Nature drop it where she may. Once you get over the initial shock however, it is kind of fun to work with the changes and have something new to look at...kind of like repainting a room or buying a new bedspread.

I had not heard of Diana Gabaldon before either, but am always looking for new authors, so library request going in!

Julie, I know it's a typo, but I love "garden echosystem"!

Ooops! Kinda has a ring to it though! :}

Yes, I think you've coined a term that describes a heretofore-undefined garden attribute!

We must define it.

Do our echosystems echo the past, the surroundings or the gardener?

Hmmm... I think all three. The surroundings... as some of the features are static and will be "echoed" in the canvas of every season. The past.... as what is growing in your garden "echoes" your interests and tastes of an earlier time...something that captured your interest when you first saw it and has brought enough satisfaction over the years that you have chosen to let it remain. The gardener.... as the overall garden "echoes" the personality and vision of the one who designed it.



This message was edited Sep 24, 2009 6:53 PM

Raspsodic!

Hi everybody I am in Wrangell. Been working over 15 hour days and no time to post. Will have time to respond next week. See ya.

Scritches to those puppies and kitties from the DG gang!

After returning from a quick (?) trip to Oregon including a visit to Monnier's and Greer Gardens, I will finally take a bit of time to answer a couple of very long outstanding items.

First, reqarding Pixy's analysis of the owners of the RU tour gardens:

I think her summary for Lynn is pretty much right on. I would add that she seems to be trying to catch up with past frustrations of not being able to create on such a grand scale. YES, she works harder than I do also, Melissa! And her gererosity is obvious to all of us that have met her.

I also agree wholeheartedly with her description of Julie's world. Being her Mom, it is hard to be objective and look at it from a distance, but I see some of me there, but mostly that Julie is her own person and creates her space to her own liking and needs to show her own creativity.

Speaking to Melissa's description of me and my gardens, I must say that she herself shows her highly intuitive nature. I seek peace and solace in my gardens and find it waiting there for me. It is one of my main focuses in life right now. Her analysis of my focus on different spaces is also right on, and is also reflected in the various themes in the rooms of my home. "shows her to be a romantic person at heart" is also very intuitive. I was raised by a mother who grew up in a poor family during the depression and so have a very basic inbuilt practicality. My gardens allow me to discard that practicality and go for the romantic. That is the only place I allow myself to "splurge" quite a bit.
One area that I differ so significantly from you, Melissa, is that most of my plants are the more common varieties, reflecting my garden beginnings in Minnesota where the varieties were so much more limited. I am slowly branching out to unfamiliar things and take a lot of delight in being successful there.

I wish I had had a lot more time in Melissa's garden. In the short time I was there, I could see that her tendencies to be a collector were very obvious as is her attention to detail. She works very hard at blending colors and patterns and a sense of harmony seems to be somewhat a requisit for her. She is also both practical and fanciful, as can be seen in her areas of minature plants that need long moments of gazing in order to fully appreciate how wonderful they are, and her romantic Koi pond on the other hand. Her walls and other concrete works and the bright splashes of color here and there show a desire to interject that romanticism into her world.

When I have a little more time, I will respond to Judi's questions about my reaction to the photos taken and how I see my gardens compared to how others seem to have viewed them in their photo documentations.

Oh Sharon your garden descriptions add so much to my mental images that go along with the photos. Thank you. And I love the term "echosystem" - so very descriptive! Very provocative question, SK. If my own garden echos anything, it is the fact that I'm a new gardener!

I haven't had too much time for DG lately, since my daughter that lives here in Portland got engaged last weekend. Her boyfriend has a huge family and so do we. They are not the typical 'big wedding with reception' couple and are now tossing around all sorts of ideas. They want to be married in the courthouse, and them have a big bash. No date set yet, but it will be next spring/summer. That will be the third kid out of seven to marry, and each time that happens our family grows exponentially. It's quite cool the way two families that were strangers to each other are joined together. I absolutely adore his parents and that makes it fun. I have two fantastic daughters-in-law and now a soon-to-be son-in-law that I love. What more could a person ask for?

Congratulations on your expanding family.

Fall has definitely arrived here. It is cold, and leaves are turning. Today I purchased a plum tree - the kind with purplish leaves - for my daughter and her soon-to-be-husband. They have a semi-bare yard and are excited for it to be better. While I was looking at fruit trees I started thinking about what plants have special meanings. I couldn't decide between an apple tree or a plum. If a baby was being born, I might opt for an oak tree or a maple or something else that's gets really big. But an engagement tree? What would you chose? I hope they don't take a fruit tree to mean "Go forth and multiply" - don't want to put any pressure on them!

I don't look forward to long grey winter days, but the fall is so beautiful.

Oak trees are for people who stay forever in the same house. That is not todays young family. Get them a flowering tree that they have joy in the spring and think about you every year.

I have enjoyed your thread for a long time and I have kept quiet. Till the tree. Now I can no longer keep quiet. Check out the eucryphia tree. Its pretty amazing, evergreen, grows rather narrow, no more that 30", fragrant big white flowers that are blooming now. I do think Cistus nursery would have some, perhaps others near. I have one in the yard where it gets the sprinkler real often, a lot of trees don't like that amount of moisture but this is doing great. An added bonus is its one of those things that everyone goes "What is that??? They say its deer resistive as well. Okay, I am going back to lurking, but congrads on your daughter for her engagement.