Handwritten letters may be an endangered species but a slim, elegant mail slot (or maybe you say “letter plate?”) will always be a stylish accessory for the well-dressed front door.
We’re rounded up 10 of our favorite mail slots—from classic styles to sleek, modern lozenges—in a variety of finishes for your consideration. Junk mailers, take note: If your bulky catalogs don’t fit through the door, it’s no accident.
Is the concept of “mail” old-fashioned? We hope not. Here are more of our favorite mailboxes to encourage handwritten letters, postcards, and the occasional love note:
If only we could identify our particular succulents, we’d know how to keep our little friends happy—no more droopy, shriveled leaves, yellowing stems, or threats of sudden death. At least that’s the theory.
This is the third installment of our Succulents Explained series (you can identify Kalanchoes and Sedums and Crassulas and Sempervivums with tips from our previous posts). We’re focusing on Graptosedums and Graptoverias today (hereafter: Graptos) because these hybrid succulents which result from crosses between cousins are everywhere we turn these days. At the plant nursery the other day there were so many that the Graptos were grabbing my pants legs and begging, “Please, miss, can’t you take me home?”
So…why are there so many Graptosedum and Graptoveria cultivars, how do you know if your succulent is one, and are Graptos the succulents for you? Keep reading to find out.
Photography by Mimi Giboin.
Graptoverias
First, what is a succulent? We’ve covered this before, so a summary: “Succulent” is an adjective that describes a plant’s characteristics, not its formal botanical name. There’s no single plant family (or genus, or species) called Succulents. Instead, there are thousands of kinds of succulent plants with similar physical characteristics: pillowy leaves where they store their own water supply, thick stems, and swollen roots.
In the world of succulents, plants get hybridized frequently. Breeders are always crossing one succulent with another to try to come up with a super offspring that embodies the best characteristics of its parents. Plants that belong to the succulent family known as Graptopetalum, with colorful rosette shapes, are frequently crossed with compact Sedums or waxy Echeverias with the intent to emphasize the best features of both.
In the Graptoveria cross shown above, for example, you can see its parents in its shape (rosette), leaf structure (pointed), and color (ghostly gray-blue).
Sedums
Sedums never get woody stems, are perennial, and produce diminutive flowers with five petals. The main reason to cross these low-growing, hardy succulents with Graptopetalums with is to create attractive, compact perennial ground covers.
Graptosedums
The hybrids have more interesting shapes, colors, and textures than their parents. I think this is what we all want for our children, by the way.
So, are Graptos for you? In general, they will perform better outdoors in the garden than indoors as houseplants (this is true of most succulents with blue-gray or purple leaves). If you can offer them sandy soil, bright, indirect sunlight, and the promise of good drainage, they will spread quickly to create plush perennials mats in garden beds.
Margot is currently reading The Paper Garden: Mrs Delany Begins Her Life’s Work at 72on Mary Delany’s amazing cut-paper botanicals: “She was inventive, exacting, and incredibly productive into her eighties and her work is celebrated to this day,” Margot says.
Plus: Have you signed up for our newsletters yet? Stay updated, whether you want nitty-gritty hardscaping advice, the latest plant posts, or just the highlights.
Poppy Anemone, A. coronaria: “Lilies of the Field”
Of the more than 100 species of perennial anemones, the colorful poppy anemone is one you are likely to see in spring gardens (and to covet for yours). With its large, velvety petals and wide range of colors, Anemone coronaria flowers also find their way frequently into florists’ refrigerator cases and bridal bouquets. But be warned: This charming cut flower has a short vase life (from three to five days, on average).
Are poppy anemones the right flowers to grow in your garden (or your container garden)? Read on.
Photography by Christin Geall.
A favorite since ancient times, anemones were made mythic by the ancient Greeks (the scarlet red flower symbolized the blood of Adonis, Aphrodite’s lost love) and their habitat extends throughout Mediterranean climates. Botanists and Bible scholars have long debated whether the New Testament’s injunction to consider the carefree nature of “the lilies of the field” referred to poppy anemones rather than to lilies.
Anemones are best known today as a large group of plants grown for decorative purposes. The species A. coronaria (‘corona’ refers to the crownlike arrangement of the stamens), is grown as a cut flower, seen most commonly in its black-centered purple, red, or white form. It’s available in single, double, and semi-double forms.
Easily grown, the tiny corm-like tubers of A. coronaria can be planted in the fall (in warm climates) and in spring (in colder regions). They are hardy to USDA growing zone 7 in light soils.
Cheat Sheet
To grow poppy anemones, soak dried tubers until they become plump (this may take a day). Keep the water running at a drip, to provide oxygen.
For container plants, place the tubers directly into deep pots filled with loamy soil. To grow poppy anemones out in the garden, keep them cool (about 40 degrees Fahrenheit) in a tray of damp coir until they sprout. This could take upwards of two weeks.
After poppy anemones sprout, choose a sunny site in the garden with light fertile soil, amended with a balanced organic fertilizer. A. coronaria likes free draining soil, so avoid wet ground.
A. coronaria produces a tasteful rosette of deeply cut leaves before sending up flowers. Snip flowers at the base of their stems and the plant will deliver numerous blooms.
On arid hillsides where they grow wild, anemones go dormant after blooming when the weather heats up. If you live in USDA zones 7 or warmer, the tubers can overwinter in the ground. (I lift mine in the Pacific Northwest in midsummer after the foliage has browned off, hang the tubers in mesh bags to dry, and pre-spout them again in the fall for winter planting under cover. Occasionally I miss a few in my garden beds and they re-sprout in January of their own accord.)
Keep It Alive
Nurseries carry plants in spring. These can be popped right into a sunny location in the garden or planted into a pot.
To harvest, cut the stems from the base of the plant when the green “ruff” of sepals surrounding the flower is at least 1/4 inch from the base of the bloom. (You also can cut anemones after the flowers are open, but they won’t last quite as long).
Support the stems of anemones in a tall vase while they open and treat them as you would any cut flower: keep them out of direct light and change the water often to discourage the buildup of bacteria.
“I wish we’d stop growing potatoes, carrots, and onions,” says Mark Diacono. “Life is too short to grow unremarkable food.”
Welcome to Throwback Sundays: Readers’ Favorite Posts from the Past.
Diacono, award-winning blogger, author, and photographer (and head gardener at River Cottage HQ), says: Don’t grow things because you think you should: Instead make a wish list of “un-buyables.”
Vegetables and fruit that are no trouble to grow—but almost impossible to find in the shops—are just as easy as growing something dull. Take quince, for instance.
A three- to four-foot-tall Jumbo Quince Tree is $19.95 from Willis Orchards.
Consumer demand for quince is relatively low, so those that want it can’t find it in shops. Grow your own and give away extra fruit (though it is unlikely that you will have a glut).
A Wineberry(Rubus phoenicolasius) plant is $13 from Fruitgarden via Etsy.
“Japanese wineberry has wonderful fruit that arrives in the lull between summer and autumn raspberries,” says Diacono, who sells all kinds of recherché edible plants at his nursery. “It is deeper-flavored than raspberries and more wine-y; hence the name. The canes are covered in deep pink hairs: very beautiful, especially in autumn and winter.” The Japanese wineberry also makes an informal boundary or hedge.
Alpine Strawberries
A potted Alpine Strawberry(Fragaria vesca) plant is $10 from The Shop at Monticello.
Artificial grass has been gaining ground—and a reputation for being eco-friendly because it doesn’t need water, fertilizer, or to be mowed. Plus, the newest generation of artificial grass often looks good enough to fool us into thinking it’s real.
But have we been too quick to extol the virtues of artificial grass? After Michelle included it on a list of 13 Landscape Design Ideas to Steal in 2015, some readers revolted: “It might be better to grow something, rather than smother the living soil beneath it,” Susan Krzywicki wrote. Another reader pointed out, “Artificial turf is extremely hot. Ask any child who plays soccer in the DC. region. On a bad day, the turf can burn through your cleats.”
Our readers got us thinking. Does artificial grass offer salvation to drought-prone climates—or it is one of those inventions that will eventually end up in the too-good-to-be-true file? Here’s a close look at the pros and cons of live lawns versus artificial turf.
Where do you stand on this issue? Tell us in the comments section below.
Our London editor Christine Hanway’s backyard has lush green grass—real or fake? Read on to find out. But first, the backstory.
Turf Grass Lawns: Drawbacks
Velvety green lawns come at a cost to the environment. They account for one-third of all residential water use and pose an environmental disaster in dry climates. Our efforts to maintain lawns–mowing, blowing, and trimming with gas- and electric-powered tools–create air pollution that far outstrips the oxygen-producing benefits of grass. If you use fertilizers on grass, the chemicals pollute the groundwater.
The issues surrounding the environmental impact of real turf have caused some municipalities to restrict the size of lawns in new projects. For instance in Mill Valley, CA regulations allow only 500 square feet of real grass for a new home or major remodel. Will we soon have grass police?
Turf Grass Lawns: Benefits
“A lawn is a beautiful, emotional thing, like a pool, and it has an emotional value. It makes a garden look beautiful and serene,” says environmental crusader Sally Dominguez, who invented the Rainwater Hog rainwater catchment tank.
A transplant from drought-plagued Australia, architect Dominguez says, “Don’t give up your lawn. My take on it is this: When we moved here from Australia, we went to a house for a cocktail party and saw this lush lawn. My kids and I couldn’t believe it. It looked so rich and inviting, we all immediately took off our shoes and walked in it.”
Rather than get rid of real lawns, Dominguez recommends recycled laundry and shower water–known as graywater–to water our lawns. If you stick with organic fertilizers and can tolerate a less-than-perfectly-green lawn, you don’t have to feel guilty about having a patch of real turf, she says.
A true outdoor carpet, artificial grass directly addresses the primary environmental concerns of real turf. It requires no watering, no mowing, and no feeding. Some manufacturers use recycled materials, such as old tires or plastic bottles. And, while expensive, the life expectancy of artificial turf can be upwards of 25 years, making it a less costly alternative to real turf over its life span. For a crash course in artificial turf, see Hardscaping 101: Artificial Grass.
We can’t ignore the aesthetic value of synthetic turf. Available in an array of blade lengths, colors, and textures (including variegated strands), the new generation of synthetic grass can fool most.
“I love my artificial grass. They have come a long way with the design, texture, and color,” Chambers says, “There is no way you can tell my lawn is fake unless I confess.”
How has the synthetic grass fared in Chambers garden? “I’ve had my artificial grass for almost two years, and it still looks like new—no maintenance, no fuss, no gophers, and no water,” she says. “While the cost was very high to install, I’m certain it’s paid for itself by now. Best of all, it looks amazing all the time.”
Artificial Grass: Drawbacks
While synthetic grass may look and feel like the real thing some simply can’t get past the fact that it’s plastic. It is hailed for its water-saving benefits, but artificial turf has its own environmental drawbacks. It is a petroleum-based product that creates pollution and waste in the manufacturing process. And, while it is often made partially with recycled materials, it is not biodegradable. After a long life of from 15 to 25 years, it will, ultimately, end up in a landfill.
Critics point to synthetic turf as an environmental heater. It absorbs heat and feel hot to the touch in direct sun. Pet owners give synthetic grass a mixed review. It does not absorb animal waste (but is permeable so liquids pass through to the ground underneath).
In California, our architecture is young. We joined the Union in 1848 and since then have endured so many biblical calamities in the form of fires and earthquake that it’s a shock to find any building with a history that dates to 1850—much less a grand Spanish-style mansion with a pillared front porch and a terra cotta tile roof, presiding over Sonoma County’s velvety green, rolling vineyards.
So you can understand how the hacienda at Scribe Winery sets the tone for the rest of the landscape. When landscape architects Alain Peauroi and David Godshall of Terremoto LA took on the job of creating new gardens to surround the grande dame that brothers Adam and Andrew Mariani purchased in 2007, they realized no ordinary garden would do.
The hacienda, rebuilt after an earthquake in 1906, had been abandoned for 20 years before the Mariani brothers bought the winery.
“How does one do ‘landscape architecture’ in a place where wild coast live oaks cascade down from the foothills and crash into grapevines?” wondered David Godshall. “How do you build a garden in a place where culture and wilderness physically touch?”
Here’s the answer to those questions:
Photography courtesy of Terremoto LA except where noted.
Sonoma is an enchanting place, and Terremoto took full advantage of warm temperatures, a lack of humidity, and the magical quality of light to create “a microcosmic daydream” of northern California, said Godshall.
The hacienda makes a grand entrance. To reach it, turn off Napa Road and drive down a long allée of palms.
“We planted a wild garden that will be a place where landscape ecologies meet,” said Godshall. “Coast live oaks are confronted by palms, artichokes run wild, native buckwheat will stumble into twining white roses, and dune grasses will sweep into the edible garden.”
Napa, CA-based Cello & Maudru oversaw construction of the new hardscape elements.
After
“There is beauty and meaning in the provocative moments when horticultural worlds collide, and so that, in a nutshell, is what this landscape project is about,” said Godshall.
A gentle slope, paved in gravel, leads to the hacienda’s entrance.
Prominent among the succulents on site are what Godshall calls “floating feral agaves” (and their offspring).
In restoring the hacienda, the Mariani brothers worked with architect David Darling of San Francisco firm Aidlin Darling to “preserve the patina” of its past, Andrew Mariani recently told Architectural Digest.
Inside the hacienda, “in addition to extensive structural work and an upgrading of all its systems, the project involved a careful uncovering and preservation of its many layers, which mark the passage of time,” said the architects.
Scribe’s dreamscape of low-water plantings sacrifices nothing to sustainability. If you’re designing an environmentally friendly landscape, find design tips in our curated Garden 101 guides and inspiration from more of our favorite gardens:
With the official start of outdoor dining season weeks away, it’s time to take stock. We’ve rounded up a selection of rectangular wooden tables suitable for dining in the open air. They all meet the requirements for longevity, capacity, simplicity (and in some cases, expandability). Here are 10 favorites:
Are you designing or updating a dining area on an outdoor deck or patio? For tips and inspiration, see our curated guide to Decks & Patios 101. And if you’re in need of a different size or style of outdoor table, see:
Plum trees open and close the growing year. They are among the loveliest and earliest trees to blossom after winter, and their fruit is one of the last to ripen in late summer. In Japan plums are celebrated for their blossoms, with ume festivals preceding the more famous Hanami (cherry blossom festivals) by a couple of months.
Continue reading to learn more about what plums are which, and how to grow them.
Billowing with white blossoms, the common or European plum is Prunus domestica. The fruits of its numerous cultivars and subspecies are yellow- or green-fleshed. They are usually used commercially for drying or canning because they have a short season and do not travel well. Grown at home, though, common plums are a good choice because they only have to travel from the tree to your mouth; their flavor is highly valued. Common plums include the subgroup of famous gages (think greengage). As they are mostly self fertile, you only need one tree for fruit production. They are hardy from USDA zones 5 to 8.
Damsons and mirabelles are closely related to P. domestica although there is disagreement about whether they are subspecies or different species altogether. Gorgeously dusky-fruited damsons are widely available, but mirabelles are the (online) subject of some confusion, in the US: Although a trade agreement with France prohibits the import of the fruit, it is entirely legal to grow and sell mirabelles within the US. These plums are hardy from USDA zones 5 to 7.
The fruits usually found in supermarkets, month in, month out, are cultivars of Prunus salicina, or Japanese plums.
The blossoms of P. salicina vary widely in terms of color, and their fruiting season is longer.
Japanese plums are usually not self fertile, so two or more trees are necessary for fruit-set. They are hardy from USDA zones 5 to 9.
Then there is Prunus spinosa, the celebrated sloe or blackthorn of English hedgerows. Knitting itself into thorny thickets (or living fences, depending on your point of view), the large shrub’s pure white blossoms open in succession across western and northern Europe to signal the end of winter.
Sloe bears the small, darkly intense fruit famous for infusing sloe gin. It is traditionally gathered after the first frost. The plants “sell like hotcakes,” say the purveyors at Forest Farm, Oregon. Get them while you can. Sloes are hardy from USDA zones 4 to 9.
North America has its own native plums, of course. Native to northeastern shorelines beach plum (Prunus maritima) shrubs burst into a froth of white bloom in early spring. The sprawling shrubs are very hardy and also more drought tolerant than most plum species. Their purple, cherry-sized fruit ripens in early fall. Hardy from USDA zones 3 to 7.
A twelve- to eighteen-inch beach plum is $8.95 from Oicos Tree Crops
Keep It Alive
Plum flowers are susceptible to frost; it is important to position your new tree or trees in a spot sheltered from biting wind.
Plums love plenty of moisture, but well drained soil is essential.
To improve drainage add compost to the pot (and make sure it has drainage holes) or to the hole when planting your tree.
Mulch newly-planted in summer to prevent moisture loss (but do not mound the mulch against the trunk, or it will lead to rot).
Indigenous plums will tolerate local conditions.
Cheat Sheet
If you are not sure what is in bloom near you, look closely at the petals: plums have rounded petals; cherry petals each have a tiny cleft at the tip (and peaches, blooming in between, have teardrop-shaped petals). Plum blossoms also grow tightly against the branches, while cherries have noticeable stems.
Three weeks before last year’s hurricane, Key West–based landscape architect Craig Reynolds completed a new tropical garden for one of the best-known Victorian cottages in the island’s historic Old Town district.
The property is on a quiet lane where five houses share a handful of parking spaces; visitors arrive on foot. In addition to being tucked away, the house has a provocative provenance. It was formerly owned by Nancy Friday, author of the best-selling 1973 book My Secret Garden: Women’s Sexual Fantasies, suggesting a theme for the new landscape: the secret garden.
When the hurricane hit, “trees went down on one side of the property,” says Reynolds. But six months later you’d never know it. The secret garden’s owner, whose primary residence is in New Jersey, decided “we should just keep going, to replant trees, and fix the garden,” Reynolds says. Here’s the result.
Visible at the left of the gate, a single piece of Miami oolite was set on level, compacted ground to create a tiered effect, softened by plantings. Beyond the gate, a winding brick path leads to the front door.
A brick path is edged with layered tropical plants including at left Anthurium ‘Hot Rio Nights’ and on the right Kimberly Queen Boston ferns behind a low edging of mondo grass.
Specimen plants, including at left a gum palm (Dioon spinulosum) and in the foreground Elephant Ear (Alocasia ‘Portora’), create a dramatic tropical backdrop for the house.
In front of the oolite wall, a mulch of black Mexican river rock serves the dual purpose of being decorative while directing rainwater flow.
The new pool replaced “a kidney-shaped pool that was super ugly,” says Reynolds. “With stone on the coping and the coping material, which is volcanic Cantera stone from Mexico, we tried to make it look like an old lagoon that has been there forever.”
“The owner wanted to have private areas and little narrow paths and views and peeks, and at the same time have a landscape that was very lush with lots of shade,” says Reynolds.
For more design ideas and growing tips for our favorite tropical plants, see our curated guide to Tropicals 101, including:
The flower frog is the florist’s best friend, creating a secure base for flowers that would otherwise flop.
We’ve rounded up 10 flower frogs in two styles—with sturdy holes to hold soft stems or with spiky metal programs to spear spindly stalks or woody twigs.
With their watercolor-paint petals, anemones are one of the daintiest spring flowers. Part of the ranunculus family, and sporting leaves that bring to mind parsley, anemones have a delicate charm and are sometimes called windflowers. Traditionally, as a cut flower, I’ve paired them with other spring delicacies, such as grape hyacinth, narcissus, and other ranunculus. For a more modern look, I’ve paired them here with ingredients that evoke a Mediterranean climate (in late winter or early spring) and arranged them in a terra cotta clay vase.
Anemones will close in the cold and open with light and warmth. Purchase them when they are at least halfway closed, as they will open very quickly, particularly as they are handled and arranged. In a cool environment, out of direct light, they will last for a week. Of course, you must re-cut the stems at an angle, and provide them with fresh water in a clean vase (the best way to ensure long-lasting cut flowers).
Like tulips, they grow taller in the vase, so watch your arrangement change and develop as the days go by. The way the flower changes over the days just adds more interest to the arrangement.
Place larger flowers at the bottom of the arrangement, and lighter, more delicate blossoms at the top of the arrangement, to balance it visually.
So many flowering bulbs, so many ways to use them effectively in a flower bed or container garden. See more of our favorite combinations:
When the British garden writer Christopher Lloyd declared that “gardening, like living, should be fun,” he must have been thinking about cottage gardens. With their tight jumble of ornamental flowers, edible herbs, and fruit trees, the best cottage gardens have informal, idiosyncratic layouts that are like fingerprints: each could belong only to the gardener who designed it.
Thank you, England, for inventing the cottage garden seven hundred years ago, on tiny plots of land where families crammed in as many plants as possible to produce necessities (food, medicine, and plants to lure bees and other pollinators to crops). The original intent was practical, but the result always has been charming.
Spring is upon us. Maybe you’re planning a new cottage garden. Or scheming to jam a few more flowers in a garden bed where the overflow already is flopping onto the path. Either way, keep reading for our tips on how to design (and accessorize) a cottage garden, how to select flowers and herbs (and help them thrive in nearly any climate), and for a list of favorite cottage garden must-grow plants in our curated Garden Design 101 guides to Perennials, Annuals, Edibles, and Trees.
Layout & Design
Brick walkways, old walls, rose-covered arbors, built-in benches, and informally rambling flower beds are quintessential design elements in a cottage garden. See more at 10 Ideas to Steal from English Cottage Gardens.
Let us not forget the picket fence, the single most emblematic hardscape element of the cottage garden. See more in Hardscaping 101: Picket Fences.
Ornamental & Edible Companions
There’s nothing out of place about a formally clipped boxwood or two standing sentry at the edge of the vegetable patch. See more design ideas in and Edible Gardens 101: A Design Guide.
Perennial & Annual Flowers
This month, we’ve added nearly a dozen new plant growing guides to our Garden Design 101 section, including more of our cottage garden favorites: see our field guides for Hollyhocks, Bellflowers, and Sweet Peas. See more in our curated guide to Annuals 101.
Vintage pots and planters with a patina (and by the way, rust counts) add a casual informality to a cottage garden. See more ideas for vintage (and vintage lookalike) planters in 10 Ideas to Organize the Perfect Potting Shed.
Australia-based design house Lepaar transforms prosaic products into objects of desire.
Lepaar’s collection of garden hoses, appropriately named the Gardenlust line, have handmade brass fittings and nozzles designed by master coppersmith Australian coppersmith Louis Berczi. Hard-wearing recycled rubber and a custom manufacturer’s formula make the hoses flexible and resistant to kinks:
Above: Available in three colors including ivory, a 32-foot Luxe Hose And Hook is $110 AU.
Above: A brass nozzle “is a joy to use with variable range and spray that is easily controlled with just one hand,” says Lepaar.
One of the many things I have learned this year as a volunteer working with the tireless organizers of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden plant sale is that shade is the norm in the backyards of brownstone neighborhoods. That fact underlies the choices made by landscape designer Joan McDonald of Gardens by Joan, who is in charge of ordering the thousands of trees, shrubs, and perennials that will be on sale at the annual event (May 9 and 10). For gardeners with shady backyards, McDonald orders dazzling blooming shrubs such as as mahonia, camellia and the stalwart of the woodland landscape: rhododendron.
Many gardeners prefer showy sun lovers like poppies, peonies and roses, but those plants often don’t thrive in small plots that are surrounded by big trees, tall fences, and shadow-casting buildings.
So McDonald, a practical woman, ups the number of shade lovers. More brunnera, less gallardia. More hellebores, less salvia. And while shade plants are often considered to be more subdued than sun plants, that is not always the case.
Rhododendrons and their close relatives, azaleas, have been treasured by generations of gardeners for their spectacular but short-lived flowers. In fact the name rhododendron comes from Greek words that mean “rose tree.” Modern gardeners seeking plants that offer four-season interest sometimes bypass them as not sufficiently appealing except when they are in bloom. However, as fans of these plants point out, with some effort and judicious research, rhododendron varieties can be found that will provide important enhancements to the garden well beyond their blooms.
Other rhododendrons are usually evergreen and so will provide color in winter. With somewhere around 900 to 1000 species, this genus comes in all sizes and shapes from creeping ground covers to giants that tower 80 feet or more. They can be massed in formidable hedges and screens. Varieties can be found with leaves of many shapes, colors, and sizes, and they can be mixed in borders to provide interesting textural backgrounds for perennials and annuals. New growth on some rhododendrons is striking and colorful and some varieties have peeling bark and leathery leaves with furry or silvery undersides. Indeed the claim on the website of the American Rhododendron Society that “you can find a rhododendron to fit any specific garden need” does not appear to be an exaggeration.
Experts caution that rhododendrons are quite particular about their environment and can be susceptible to various insect attacks and diseases such as powdery mildew and rust if their cultural needs are not adequately met. Before you add a rhododendron to your garden, make sure you can provide the conditions that will ensure a healthy plant.
Cheat Sheet
Select plants that are bushy, with at least four main branches at the base.
To make sure that you get the flower colors you want, buy rhododendrons when they are in bloom.
Plant in a sheltered area away from direct sun and wind, both of which can burn delicate leaves.
Avoid planting in deep shade. Rhododendrons need some sunlight to flower.
Deadheading spent flowers is not necessary but is easily done and is aesthetically pleasing to many gardeners.
Keep It Alive
Rhododendrons do not like extreme temperatures and grow best in USDA zones 5 to 8.
Plant in acidic soil, moist but well-draining.
Rhododendrons like plenty of humidity and should be well watered but not saturated.
Except in the case of damaged stems or branches, rhododendrons do not normally need to be pruned.
Rhododendrons have shallow root systems and should be mulched to prevent the roots from drying out.
Rhododendrons and azaleas have similar cultural requirements and are often planted together. Experts differ in their theories about exactly what makes these plants different from each other. When buying azaleas, you may notice that their official Latin names contain the word “Rhododendron.” For instance the orange-flowered native flame azalea has the Latin name Rhododendron calendulaceum which reflects the fact that, although azaleas once belonged to their own totally separate genus, scientists later folded them into the Rhododendron genus. To put it another way, all azaleas are Rhododendrons but not all Rhododendrons are azaleas. Generally speaking, azalea plants tend to be smaller than rhododendrons and have smaller leaves. Unlike most rhododendrons, which are evergreen, many azaleas are deciduous. Azalea flowers usually have five stamens (pollen producing male flower parts) while rhododendrons have ten.
To add to the confusion, there is also a type of Rhododendron known as the vireya. These are tropical plants that have similar cultivation requirements to orchids. Natives of South East Asia, vireyas often grow in cloud forests as epiphytes high in trees. They require a frost-free environment and are often grown in greenhouses or as houseplants. Although vireyas are not nearly as well known as rhododendrons and azaleas, it is estimated that as many as one third of all rhododendron species are vireyas.
Read more design and care tips at Rhododendrons 101: A Field Guide and get ideas on how to plant, grow, and care for more of our favorite shrubs and hedges with our Shrubs: A Field Guide. To see how mature shrubs will look in your garden, read:
Autumn in April is business as usual in Australia. Why have it any other way? As these gardens show, there is a liberation from being closer to the east than the north. Here are 10 modern ideas to steal from a continent unhindered by centuries-old garden traditions:
Water Conservation
Billabongs
Known outside of Australia as an oxbow lake, a billabong is an area of water cut off from the river flow. Filling up every year, they also dry up rather quicklyand a garden billabong can be an improved version. Surrounded by three stories of planting, a sense of enclosure is created. Incorporating billabongs into a design approach is a useful way to capture water while creating a happy ecosystem. Frogs, insects, birds, and mammals will be instantly attracted.
Sustainable Design
Sustainability is about more than recycling and zero waste; water conservation and home-made energy are incorporated into the best designs across the continent. Offset by of tall trees and water, solar panels have never looked so good.
Uninhibited Floristry
Without the baggage of traditional horticulture, florists, flower decorators, and flower artists (call them what you will) have a freewheeling approach which is admired by people working in the same field, in places like England. Australian flower people also know how to exploit their own visual opportunities and camera talent is closely linked with floristry. See also @afloralfrenzy, @poppies_flowers, @jardinebotanic, all on Instagram.
Keep a Low Profile
Eucalyptus
Fondly known as gum trees, 700 species of eucalyptus provide the lofty canopy in Australian landscapes, as iconic as the middle-story tree fern. For more, see Kidnapped: The True Story of Eucalyptus.
No Plant Too Weird
With a preferred emphasis on native, local species in modern Australian gardens, things are bound to get a little unusual. Unlike the highly cosseted and not-always-convincing attempts at tropical planting in northern climes, the plant choice here is a natural partner to vitality and innovation. “We are really lucky in Australia,” says Charlie Lawler of Loose Leaf florists in Victoria. “Everything from tropical plants to alpine scrub grows here.”
Recycle and Reuse
Ikebana Influence
It is clear that Australian horticulturalists take more from their closer neighbors in Japan than they do from their colonial ties with Great Britain. The art of ikebana (and its Korean relation kokozi) is characterized by a use of living plants in arrangements, with an exploration of negative space and asymmetry.
“We love using big-leaved plants like Monstera,” says Charlie Lawler. “It easily turns any space into a jungle.” Lawler and his partner Wona Bae at Loose Leaf have turned these into Monstera “chandeliers,” with the addition of fig leaf branches. Their shop and studio space in Collingwood, on the outskirts of Melbourne, is also a venue for workshops and for Wona’s weaving. She uses living material on the grand scale, creating wreaths which she could fit into several times, and nests for imaginary giant birds (or humans for that matter). Some of their creations are very small; they are all exquisite.
Tropical Jungles
Most of us can only dream of the huge variety of plants available to Australians, subtropical or otherwise. Here, Brachichyton acerifolius, (L), mingles with Elephant Ear or Colocasia and the spiky Sydney native Doryanthes excelsa. The summer humidity and mild winters of the subtropics are ideal conditions in which jungly plant communities can thrive.
In the 19th century Austrian furniture maker Michael Thonet, the inventor of the bentwood style, brought his five sons into a family business that thrives today. In addition to the gracefully curved designs that made Thonet a household name, Vienna-based Gebrüder Thonet also manufactures new styles—and the company’s classic outdoor furnishings (which look just as happy in today’s gardens).
We’re particularly partial to the simple lines of the dining table, chair, and bench in the Garten collection. “Each item is made with the original knotted structure designed in the late 19th century. The result is a high quality, natural, modern, and practical look, that is simple to assemble,” notes the manufacturer.
The outdoor dining season looms; get more inspiration and ideas from our design guide for Decks & Patios 101 and browse our collection of Dining Furniture. Our most recent roundups include:
Alpine Strawberry, Fragaria vesca: “Fraises des Bois”
It’s a romantic flower, the little woodland strawberry or fraises des bois. The white blossom-like flowers perfectly complement fresh, trifoliate leaves, with scarlet jewels of fruit appearing at the same time. They flower and fruit throughout summer, providing a cheery edging to steps, or along fences. Grown in rooty soil under espaliered fruit, Alpine strawberries combine with forget-me-nots to cover the ground with red, white and blue, and lots of green.
Wild strawberries and forget-me-nots are a labor-free combination, though both will need thinning out from time to time.
Wild strawberries bring out the child in you, easy to pick as you go about your business, or specifically harvested to add to cereal, or pancakes, or dessert.
They are very sweet, yet acidic; they are like a homeopathic droplet of true strawberry. Highly sought after by restaurants, alpine strawberries are strictly garden-to-table with minimal travel between, since they squash easily and lose their luster.
Fragaria can be a purely decorative ground cover, if fruit is not a priority. Beth Chatto includes Fragaria chiloensis in a woodland tapestry, its vitality in winter a good foil to pulmonaria, scilla and snowdrops. The evergreen presence of wild strawberries distracts from the leaf die-back of spring bulbs.
Cheat Sheet
• A member of the rose family, F. vesca’s delightful white flowers are like miniature apple blossom, heralding spring. • Spreading via runners, the perfectly formed little plants are easily lifted and moved around or given to friends. Very pretty in pots and window boxes. • As a ground cover, Alpine strawberry mingles with other evergreens such as small leafed periwinkle (Vinca minor) and semi-evergreen forget-me-not (Myosotis).
Keep It Alive
• Although its shape and size says “edging” for a decorative kitchen garden, wild strawberry will take advantage, climbing into the beds and traveling across gravel. For neatness, grow runner-less Fragaria vesca ‘Alexandria’. • Alpine strawberries are easygoing in terms of soil, although they prefer damp and well-drained. They do well in shade but more sun will produce more fruits. Hardy to USDA zone 5. • Even if you think of Alpine strawberry as a weed, it is a good one, being both decorative and productive.
A little voyeurism can be useful when planning garden visits, and an under-gardener on Instagram, handy with a camera, is invaluable. Lee Behegan (@theplantboyy) began working at Lismore Castle in County Waterford, Ireland, when he was still at school. Now 20, he is “trusted with more horticultural jobs” and will be interning at Chanticleer Garden in Pennsylvania this summer. Here he shows us around.
Lee uses a real camera as well as his phone. His work day begins at eight in the morning and ends at four-fifteen, all year round. Gardening is something that he enjoyed doing with his grandfather, helping in the vegetable garden and competing with him in their annual sunflower competition.
The castle was built as an abbey and was repeatedly plundered by Vikings before being taken over by the Normans. Sir Walter Raleigh owned it for a while, followed by the Great Earl of Cork Richard Boyle in 1602. The garden designed for him at that time remains today in the upper terraces of Lismore, while the lower pleasure gardens were designed by the legendary Sir Joseph Paxton, whose role as head gardener did not preclude activities in castle design.
Paxton, the gardener at Chatsworth who was eventually knighted by Queen Victoria (for services to botany, engineering, architecture, etc.), played an important part in fashioning Lismore, working closely with the Sixth Duke of Devonshire (its owner), also known as the Bachelor Duke. The previous duke had been neglectful, allowing weed trees to take over the gardens of his properties. His son did the opposite, importing stone from Derbyshire to Ireland, and bringing Paxton over to design buildings, including the vinery shown here, but also less expected things, like a convent in Lismore: “The nuns doat on him,” wrote the Duke.
“The castle is hired out to visitors from around the world,” says Lee Behegan, with one wing saved for Lord and Lady Burlington, the next generation of Chatsworth Cavendishes. “The family are very interested in the gardens and love what we are doing.” In other words, the place is productive.
It is fortunate for this place that the Bachelor Duke took such a keen interest in the castle and its gardens, being an aesthete of impeccable style and much admired by the late Deborah Devonshire in her book Chatsworth: The House. In remodeling the castle from 1812 on, his intention was for something “quasi-feudal, ultra-regal.”
Autumn
“Beautiful Lismore Castle afforded us much pleasure.” Sounding like the diary entry of an 18th-century gentleperson, this is in fact the observation of Fred Astaire, in his maddeningly discreet autobiography, Steps in Time. He visited whenever his filming schedule allowed, since his sister, Adele, was married to Charlie Cavendish, younger brother of the Duke of Devonshire. You’d never guess it from Fred, but according to the late Deborah, Duchess of Devonshire, Adele loved to shock her English in-laws, while Charlie’s early demise was hurried along by drink.
Although the Devonshire estates have always passed to the eldest son, leaving them intact, it was useful to have some of the houses lived in by siblings, otherwise they went to waste. Charlie’s sister Maud wrote, in a letter quoted in Deborah Devonshire’s excellent book, The Garden at Chatsworth “We never really felt we had a home, as we had far too many.” Every January to March was spent at Lismore. “It was useless to try and garden, as we were never in the same place when the seeds or bulbs we planted appeared above ground.”
“The gardens have really changed in the last four years, since Darren Topps was appointed head gardener,” Lee says. “Each winter we tackle a big development in the garden and have been reaching record numbers of visitors.”
Winter
Winter is not as quiet as it looks. “This winter we relandscaped the castle courtyard,” says Lee. “This morning I was mulching the new beds we put in, with enriched compost.”
Spring
The gardens at Lismore Castle open again today, March 16. For information, see Lismore Castle.
Who doesn’t long for a dose of color by the end of a long winter? As yet another snowstorm hit the East Coast this week, the Remodelista editors went in search of hues to add warmth to interiors. Here are five ideas to steal.