When I was 16, my very first job involved placing tiny stems of flowers in bud vases and I took it very seriously, carefully deciding which direction each stem was going to lean. It seems almost too easy, but to this day I’m convinced that there is a real art in the placement of a single stem. Here are ten ceramic and glass bud vases for displaying one or two stems of your liking.
See more ideas for floral arrangements (and more of our favorite Vases):
Everything you need to know about lavender is a lot. Remember the Encyclopedia Britannica? The final hardcover edition—with 32 alphabetized volumes and 32,640 pages of cold, hard facts—was about the amount of space it would take to cover all aspects of the endlessly fascinating and fragrant flowers that belong to the lavender family.
At Gardenista headquarters, we don’t have the 100 full-time editors and 4,000 contributors (including Pulitzer Prize winners and the odd U.S. president) that Britannica boasted in its heyday. But we do have personal experience to call upon. As I type, five of my favorite lavenders are thriving in my garden in northern California (USDA zone 10a, where average winter temperatures don’t dip much below 38 degrees Fahrenheit).
Not all members of the Lavandula clan are equal (some have refuse to grow in my garden, which we’ll address later). So let’s start with the general tips. Here’s what lavenders like: Sun. Warmth. Well-drained soil (lavenders are drought tolerant and, once established, can go weeks without water).
Here’s what lavenders hate: Cold. Fog. Wet roots. Snow. Ice.
With that in mind, here’s a closer look at five of my favorite kinds of lavender, currently blooming in my garden:
Photography by Leslie Santarina except where noted.
In early spring (March), tender, young lavenders have soft stems, velvety leaves, and delicate, tight flower buds. Later in the growing season, at the height of the summer these same plants will look battle-weary, with browning leaves at the base of long, bare stems—and big, fat flowers.
Here’s a cheat sheet about lavenders, for when you’re shopping at a plant nursery.
Colors: In addition to the soft, dusty purple shade that lends lavender its name, cultivars can flower in deep purple, blue, pink, or white hues. Purple tones are dominant.
Growing conditions: Lavenders are perennial flowers in USDA growing zones 5 to 10. To review, they like a Mediterranean climate: dry, hot, and sunny.
Companion plants: In the garden, lavender works well if planted in clumps or as a low hedge. It mixes well with roses (they like the same growing conditions, and lavender’s bushiness will hide spindly, thorny stems) and with wildflowers like poppies and Echinacea. In an edible garden, lavender’s strong scent can distract aphids and other pests from the vegetables.
In my experience jagged lavender, with its feathery green leaves, needs more water than some other, stiffer-looking varieties. A couple of years ago, I lost three plants that were in the driest part of my garden; my current crop is happier near some large citrus trees, at the edge of a shady spot where the sun is filtered (for nearly half the day) through the canopy of an orange tree.
With a strong scent, gray French lavender will repel deer and is prized by herbalists. This is an elegant, graceful lavender that looks lovely when you tie a bunch of stems into a bundle.
Tip: when shopping for gray French lavender, it’s important to pay attention to the variety; you can find dwarf cultivars of gray French lavenders for the front of the border. Rely on larger, shrubbier types such as L. dentata candicans to fill holes in the summer garden.
Not all white lavenders look the same: the variety in my garden has gray leaves with jagged edges. The popular cultivar Lavandula x intermedia ‘Alba’ resembles its purple cousin ‘Provence’, a prolific bloomer that trains well as a low hedge.
With distinctive bunny-ear flowers, Spanish lavender’s fragrant foliage frequently finds its way into it essential oils or potpourris.
Now for the bad news: I’ve never had any luck growing English lavender (such as ‘Munstead’ and ‘Hidcote’) and my suspicion is my climate is too hot and sunny for them. If you have any experience with those varieties (or other favorite lavenders), I’d love to hear your feedback in the comments below. (We know it’s hard to find the comments section, but it’s there!) I am always looking for new varieties to grow—and to assign my team of former U.S. presidents and Nobel Prize winners to research.
If you live in a Mediterranean or other warm climate, you (always) need more lavender in your garden. For garden companions and planting ideas, see our Garden Design 101 guides, especially Perennials 101: A Field Guide to Planting, Care & Design. And see more ways to add lavender to an herb garden:
Finally, get more ideas on how to successfully plant, grow, and care for lavender with our Lavender: A Field Guide.
In the midst of foreboding international news, Brits are currently lapping up every frothy detail of the impending nuptials of Prince Harry and his American bride-to-be, Meghan Markle. The latest is the couple’s choice of wedding florist.
Last weekend Philippa Craddock was chosen for one of the most important jobs for the May 19 royal wedding—organizing the flowers for St. George’s Chapel and St. George’s Hall in Windsor. It’s the icing on the cake for the self-taught Sussex and London-based florist, who launched her business just under a decade ago. Craddock has quickly built up a reputation as one of London’s top event florists, bringing her signature glamour to Tiffany, Dior, Jo Malone, and Selfridges (where she has also had a shop since 2015.)
But how will Craddock tackle the grand setting of St George’s? For clues about what to expect, we turned to her Instagram feed.
Photography via @philippacraddock.
The young couple will no doubt have been lured by Craddock’s extremely fashionable client list as well as her romantic and naturalistic approach.
In the past Craddock has talked of her own passion for seasonal “wild and loose” arrangements and her designs have included luxuriant boughs dripping in flowers and foliage suspended over tonal table arrangements as well as opulent floral walls and ceilings.
But how will Craddock tackle the grand setting of St. George’s? The extraordinary Gothic structure, with its towering vaulted stone ceiling, has hosted royal weddings and Christenings (including Prince Harry’s) for centuries and has been closely associated with British royalty ever since it was commissioned by Edward III in 1348.
The news of Craddock’s appointment was accompanied by a flurry of tweets from Kensington Palace, which gave us a taste of what to expect on the day—and it sounds like a luscious and typically English spring theme.
Abundant and naturalistic displays will be the order of the day, with locally sourced foliage from the gardens and parkland of the Crown. The royal parks in London alone cover 5,000 acres and Windsor Great Park covers the same acreage again. The latter is a stone’s throw from the venue and has ancient woodland, and Craddock and her team (which will include florists from St. George’s Chapel and Buckingham Palace) will forage beech, birch, and hornbeam in addition to sourcing wildflowers from royal parkland.
Flowers will be seasonal, including Meghan’s favorite peonies, along with foxgloves and white garden roses—in a fitting nod to the stunning white garden that was created at Kensington Palace in Princess Diana’s memory last summer.
Perhaps Harry will follow in his brother William’s footsteps and call in some horticultural favors from his father’s lavish gardens at Highgrove House too. Prince Charles’s beautiful wildflower meadows and expansive 15 acres of formal gardens are set in an estate of over 1,000 acres.
Whatever the bride chooses, her wedding bouquet is sure to follow royal tradition and include myrtle—a symbol of love and hope and a tradition that dates to 1840, when Queen Victoria married Prince Albert. The wedding flowers are also likely to influence what other less regal brides choose for their own ceremonies in the coming months and years.
According to Brides magazine, William and Kate’s 2012 wedding flowers inspired couples for years after the big day (especially the avenue of 20 field maples that brought the outdoors into Westminster Abbey). Let’s hope Harry and Meghan—and Philippa Craddock—can pull off something just as gorgeous.
With wedding season under way, see more inspiration and our favorite wedding flowers:
Welcome to Key West, where a 4-foot-high white picket fence is part of the everyday landscape. By law.”In Old Town, our historic architectural review commission has jurisdiction and you have to do the white picket fence unless they say you can do something else,” says Florida-based landscape architect Craig Reynolds. And why would they?
But if you’re a homeowner (or a landscape architect), cookie-cutter conformity might not be your idea of curb appeal even when a house is designated “historic.” Luckily there’s a design loophole that will allow you to stick out instead of fitting in: It’s called a monster banyan tree.
Photography by Tamara Alvarez, courtesy of Craig Reynolds Landscape Architecture.
For a client who also lives in Denmark, the mandate was to make a new tropical garden and the two new wings that were recently added to either side of the house look as if nothing was new. (Key West-based architects Bender & Associates gave the new wings peaked roofs, to echo the silhouette of the original gabled roof.)
With a mature banyan tree to work around, Reynolds “really didn’t have to add a lot of extra plants. The tree really made the front garden.” Banyans are epiphytes that begin life in a host tree. As a banyan grows, its aerial roots look as if they’re dripping as they reach down toward the ground.
As for the new picket fence? When Reynolds designed it, “we gave the pickets flat tops as part of our response to the architecture.” As visitors walk through the gate, a brick path leads to the front door; on the left and right are gravel walkways that lead to the back garden and the swimming pool.
Key West’s historic architectural review commission also requires swimming pools to be located on the back half of a property. “They’re trying to control how things look from street,” says Reynolds.
For a clean, uncluttered look, Reynolds edged the brick path with Mexican river rocks and planted Aglaonema ‘Silver Bay’, with variegated leaves to pick up and reflect the filtered sunlight.
“We crammed in a lot of palms around the pool area because the homeowner wanted it really full—he didn’t want to see a guest cottage that is behind the house,” says Reynolds. “He wanted it very full to look like a jungle; those fronds fall over the pool and you feel like you’re in a river somewhere.”
With palms and other tropical plants strategically sited on the property, the garden appears much larger than its true size. “It’s a typical lot, probably 100 feet by 100 feet,” says Reynolds.
See more of Reynolds’ work at Key West’s Secret Garden: A Modern Landscape for an Author’s Victorian Cottage. For more design ideas and growing tips for our favorite tropical plants, see our curated guide to Tropicals 101, including:
Blueberries were the first fruit I grew in my first Brooklyn garden on a tiny fifth-floor terrace in Brooklyn. I expected a lot from my collection of potted plants, which were squeezed into just 66 square feet of space (along with a table and chairs, and a barbecue). Each had to deliver as much as possible in terms of seasonal interest. There was no space to host a plant with only one seasonal card to play.
The blueberry did not let me down: there were its exquisitely pretty bell-shaped flowers in spring, powdery blue fruit in summer, and spectacular red foliage in fall. I fell in love. My shrub moved—twice—when we did, and I now grow three blueberry bushes in-ground, in a semi-shady backyard with a naturally low pH.
Read on to learn how to grow your own blueberries at home, for year-round pleasureand summer eating.
Photography by Marie Viljoen, except where noted.
In terms of blueberries, and for most gardening purposes, we will consider three easily available North American species plus their hybrids: the well-known highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum), tough lowbush (Vaccinium angustifolium), rabbit-eye (Vaccinium virgatum), and the hybrid southern highbush blueberry. Each has its own set of characteristics suiting it to different regions. And because blueberries are thoroughly domesticated, many cultivars of each are available in the nursery trade.
While they are known mainly for their sweet and beautiful fruit, blueberries are shrubs with significant ornamental appeal, and are effective planted as specimens in a mixed border, as a hedge, or as simple kitchen garden powerhouses. Bees and other pollinators love the flowers, and a blueberry presence in your garden will support and encourage local biodiversity.
Above: In my current New York garden, the pH is 5.4. This is lucky: One thing all blueberries have in common is the absolute requirement of acidic soil (with a pH of between 4 and 5.5). While garden soil with a high pH can be amended, it is best to plant blueberry bushes in a naturally acidic environment. Blueberries thrive with plenty of organic matter, consistent as well as plentiful water, and good drainage. The shrubs will fruit prolifically in full sun (six hours or more of direct sun) but will produce fruit in dappled, high shade, or semi shade.
Popular and plump highbush blueberry fruit cultivars are what we typically see at market. True to their name these long-lived shrubs can grow tall, upwards of eight feet. While highbush blueberries are self-fertile, they will bear more fruit if you plant more than one cultivar (this is the name that appears capped in ‘Single Quotation Marks’ on a plant’s label), for cross-pollination.
Lowbush blueberries are the fruit for frigid winters. With a compact growth habit and smaller but flavorful fruit, they are the shrub of commercial fruit production in the chilly Northeast. The shrubs grow to a height of two feet. They are self-fertile, but for optimum fruit set, plant more than one cultivar.
Like all blueberries, lowbush shrubs provides a burst of hot fall color.
There are now many so called half-high hybrid blueberry cultivars available at nurseries. They are a cross between highbush and lowbush, combining the best qualities of each for a blueberry adaptable to a wider range of conditions.
Native to the southeastern states, tough rabbit-eye blueberries are suited to warmer winters and can take some dry spells. They dislike cold snaps and are hardy from USDA zones 8 to 10.
A cross between northern highbush and heat-tolerant blueberries native to the South, these relatively new hybrids are bred for more resilience and less fuss; the result is a plant that does not require a seriously cold winter to produce fruit. It also tolerates periods of heat and water stress better than its northern cousins. New cultivars are arriving at nurseries as this blueberry becomes popular. Plant more than one cultivar for best fruit production (southern highbush can cross pollinate with northern highbush, too). These hybrids are hardy from zones 7 to 10.
Planning a garden? See more about at Blueberries: A Field Guide to Planting, Care & Design and Everything You Need to Know About Edible Gardens. Don’t miss:
In the Belgian town of Tielrode, two artists transformed an inherited property, a former inn and café, into a nature retreat called Good Repose. A major part of the renovation was the south-facing courtyard and its semi-covered terrace structure. In quintessential Belgian fashion, the owners landscaped the courtyard with gravel, whitewashed and plastered the brick walls, and designed the exterior space with a suite of artful outdoor furniture. Here, we dissect the peaceful look, from the chairs and mini-BBQ down to the sturdy ceramic tableware.
If you’re designing a gravel courtyard, start with our Hardscape 101 guides for Gravel 101 (including Pea Gravel and Decomposed Granite) and 10 Things Your Landscape Designer Wishes You Knew About Gravel (But Is Too Polite to Tell You). For more of our favorite gravel gardens to co-opt, see our posts:
Anything you buy for your home should be well made and useful as well as beautiful—that’s a Remodelista mantra. But that doesn’t mean you have to spend more than you can afford on pricey items. See five of the Remodelista editors’ favorite stylish alternatives to expensive interior design:
“Lately one high/low hack has been popping up everywhere we look: using bits and pieces of discarded or leftover marble around the house for a luxe look on a budget,” writes Annie, who rounds up 14 marble hacks in this week’s High/Low post.
Sometimes little luxuries make all the difference—like a well-made, $40 broom that will last a lifetime and bring you pleasure with its quiet purposefulness every time you sweep the floor. see more in this week’s Steal This Look post.
In this week’s Remodeling 101 post, Barbara goes beyond the debate over Gas vs. Electric to offer an encyclopedic guide to kitchen stoves and cooktops. Solid top cooktops, smooth tops, induction—which one is right for you?
Paris-based architects Hélène Pinaud and Julien Schwartzmann offer step-by-step instructions to make a tiled tabouret that they describe as “a small piece of furniture that will find its place on your balcony, in your garden, or your living room to give it a swimming-pool atmosphere.” See more in this week’s DIY post.
In recent years, Scandinavian countries have been lauded as leaders in design. Among admirers of a minimalist design aesthetic, Scandinavian fashion, graphic, and interior design have been praised for their approach to daily life. But have you noticed gardens are missing from the mix?
Six years ago, I met landscape designer Annika Zetterman for a cup of coffee in a Stockholm cafe, where she spoke passionately about her love for Nordic gardens and how she wants to bring Scandinavian garden design to the forefront. Now with her new book, New Nordic Gardens: Scandinavian Garden Design, Zetterman is shining a light on the brilliance of landscape design throughout Sweden, Denmark, Norway and even Finland.
Photography by Annika Zetterman.
What makes Scandinavian gardens special? The author explains in the forward, “The characteristics of Scandinavia—how our particular mentality and rural heritage is translated and reflected—can be found in all aspects of a garden. The implementation of hard landscaping is one of the elements where this can be seen. We see beauty in the bare and the exposed, and treat materials with the utmost respect. The definition of sustainability, a word widely used today, has always been fundamental to Scandinavian identity. We had to work hard in a harsh environment, and everything had to be made to last.”
The book is divided into nine sections, each a distinctive trait of Scandinavian landscaping. From “Open” to “Silent” to “Simple,” Zetterman breaks down the elements of Nordic landscaping. The bold lines and architecture, stemming from granite and boulders of the sometimes harsh landscape, are paired with soft and wild plant materials that blend seamlessly with the natural vegetation of these northern climates. Zetterman is quick to point out that Nordic gardens go beyond trends, and are more than just a matter of simplifying.
“Consequently simplicity in Scandinavian garden design doesn’t equate to achieving quick results, taking short-cuts or merely subtracting clutter,” Zetterman writes. “The priority is always careful execution and high-quality results. With this simple expression every element has meaning, adding significance to the design. In the end simplicity is about being direct and working with materials in an honest way; turning every single stone in a dry stone wall to show its best side.”
Zetterman treats nature with respect, looking to extend natural landscapes into landscape architecture, and carefully and thoughtfully building and fine-tuning each element, from a roof shingle, to a granite pathways, to a swimming pool layout. A respect for nature is a key feature of Nordic garden design. From summer houses, to saunas, to forest mushroom picking, nature is a sort of religion in Scandinavia—most certainly not a trend, a phase, or a new phenomenon.
Zetterman explains, “In Scandinavia it is viewed as a privilege to be close to nature, and we have an enormous respect for our surroundings—the forests, lakes, fields and mountains. We are born and raised close to nature, acquiring knowledge of how to treat our surroundings and how to respect and care about the wild.”
In New Nordic Gardens, Zetterman walks us through each element of Nordic garden design, explaining how you can bring the approach of Scandinavian design to your own garden. She outlines the materials such as granite, gravel, and concrete—as well as special elements including outdoor showers and saunas, which are characteristic of the indoor-outdoor lifestyle of the north.
Zetterman delves into light and lighting, highlighting the importance of dark spaces in contrast with installed lighting and how to create the most impact by playing with light and dark elements throughout the garden:, “The key to a successful lighting composition is to leave some areas unlit. Balancing illuminated spaces with darkness creates dynamic contrast, and the space will resonate with tranquil unity.”
See more ideas for Scandinavian garden design in 10 Garden Ideas to Steal from Scandinavia and if you’re designing a new garden or rehabbing an existing landscape, start with our Hardscape 101 guides to Decks & Patios, Pavers, and Perennials: A Field Guide to Planting, Care & Design.
Among the things on our radar as we head into Sustainable Design week? A hotly anticipated plant fair (the premiere plant event in Brooklyn this spring). Plus, Michelle’s take on the kitchen design element we should live without. Take a look.
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If the world of gardening has rock stars, Piet Oudolf qualifies as Mick Jagger, David Bowie, and Prince rolled into one. The Dutch landscape designer—whose work is instantly recognizable for its dreamy romanticism and oft-copied for its emphasis on sustainable, sensible plantings—makes it look so easy. But is it?
We’ve dog-eared Oudolf’s books. Hummelo and Planting: A New Perspective are our two gardening bibles (and we quote from both below). Reading them, you learn that signature Oudolf style calls for drifts of grasses, perfectly appropriate perennials, and garden beds that look beautiful even in the depths of winter. Here are 10 of Piet Oudolf’s best ideas to steal for your own garden.
Photography via Hummelo, courtesy of The Monacelli Press.
Flowers fade. Oudolf chooses plants more for shape and texture than for their blooms. Stripped bare, stalks, stems, and seed pods become architectural elements in the garden. The secret: Embrace decay instead of rushing into the garden with your pruners at the first sign of wilting.
To create a four-season garden, start by planting perennials and grasses that thrive in your USDA Plant Hardiness Zone (if you don’t know your zone, enter your zip code here.) The hardier the plant, the better it will withstand changes in weather. (Avoid perennials “that collapse into mush with the first hard frost,” says Oudolf.)
After flowers wither, leave the plants in place instead of cutting them back. Sturdy stalks and dried seed pods will stand up to frost and snow, coated in white, will take on an ethereal otherworldliness.
For a similar look: Choose perennials and grasses that grow to a height of two to three feet, so their stalks and stems will stick out of the snow in a distinctive way. By late winter, when stalks break off or start to look scraggly, sad, or deflated, cut back everything to the ground.
Grasses set a mood in a garden, like candlelight at a dinner party. Plant grasses in masses to create a soft, blurred background for other plants. It’s a romantic, forgiving look, not unlike the effect you get from rubbing Vaseline on a lens before snapping a photo.
Oudolf says perennials fall into two categories: structure and filler plants. (The difference between the two is structure plants provide “clear visual interest until autumn at least” and filler plants are “only used for flower or foliage color, becoming formless or even untidy after mid-summer.”)
About 70 percent of a garden should be filled with structure plants; the other 30 percent can be filler. For structure, choose repeat bloomers, long-season perennials, and grasses.
The secret to getting a similar look: “Good repeating plants need to have a distinct personality and a long season of interest, or at least disappear tidily or die back discreetly,” says Oudolf.
Some of his favorite repeating plants are Salvia pretensis ‘Pink Delight’ (for color, structure, and tidiness); Hosta ‘Halcyon’ (because it looks good from spring to fall), and Aster oblongifolius ‘October Skies’ (which flowers late, in tidy mounds).
Oudolf draws a comparison between matrix planting and fruitcake: both are shaped like rectangles, and studded with treats. Good fruitcake depends on good batter. A good matrix planting depends on background plants that are “visually quiet, with soft colors and without striking form,” says Oudolf. Grasses are an obvious choice; they can occupy the space for a long period of time, year-round perhaps, without having to be replaced.
Within the matrix, plant a few visual treats that will bloom in succession over the course of a year: a clump of irises to bloom in spring, perhaps, followed by poppies in summer and sedums in late summer and asters in autumn.
When appropriate, Oudolf plants native species, but never just for the sake of planting natives. “It is important that planting schemes for biodiversity combine species which really support wildlife effectively as well as those which simply look good and tick the ‘native’ box,” he says.
When choosing native species, ask: Is this a plant that bees like? What about birds? Or butterflies?
When designing a garden, keep it simple: Two or three layers are enough, says Oudolf. The idea of layers is to help the eye “read the confusion of leaves and stems in front of you” to make sense of the garden. Evergreen shrubs in the background and perennials in the foreground, for instance, are enough to create distinct visual focal points.
Borrow landscape features–your neighbors’ trees, or a distant mountain–and make them part of your garden by keeping plantings low and uniform. With that approach, the foreground can become a backdrop.
Life is a cycle, the garden reminds us, and every phase of it is beautiful. “Gone are the days when brown and yellow foliage was seen as compost material to be cleared away as quickly as possible,” says Oudolf.
Planting a perennial garden? See our curated Garden Design 101 guides, including Perennials: A Field Guide to Planting, Care & Design. For more of Oudolf’s gardens, see:
N.B.: This is an update of a post published November 15, 2015.
Metal landscape edging is the little black dress of a garden: elegant, strong yet understated, tailored and timeless. A long-time design secret of professional landscapers, metal has edged its way into the amateur home garden to offer a clean-cut and practical solution to keep plants and materials in place.
Is metal landscape edging right for your garden? Read on.
For more of this project, see Before & After: From ‘Fishbowl’ Townhouse Garden to Private Oasis in Manhattan.
Metal edging works hard without calling much attention to itself. This unassuming material offers many benefits:
Foras Studio (as shown above) used metal edging around planting beds and pathways in a geometric Brooklyn garden. For more of this garden, see Steal This Look: Modern Brooklyn Backyard on a Budget.
For metal edging, the choice typically is between steel and aluminum.
Steel is the stronger of the two. Despite its thin profile, it holds its shape, pushes back against eroding earth and ground movement, and won’t bend under the pressure of a rogue car tire on a gravel driveway.
Untreated, it starts out silver in color and develops a desirable rust patina that blends in well with any garden. Yes, it corrodes, but at such a slow rate that even in its thin form it takes something like 40 years to rust through.
Heavy-gauge aluminum does not rust, making it an appealing choice for some. Because it is softer than steel, it is a good contender for curvaceous installations, but also more susceptible to dings. Aluminum lacks the strength of steel, which may not be an issue for most flat residential applications.
For more of her garden, see Garden Visit: Julie Farris’s Rooftop Meadow in Brooklyn.
Above: Much stronger than bender board, metal landscape edging offers a thinner profile, typically from 1 to 2 mm (about 1/8 inch thick). Because it is produced with a uniform thickness and weight, metal offers a structural strength not found in other materials. It can even be used as paver edging.
Metal landscape edging typically comes in long strips (eight to 10 feet) that have overlapping connections. The standard heights range from three to five inches high, the choice of which depends on how much protrusion above the soil is desired. For stability and to best contain creeping grass roots, it is recommended to submerge metal edging two to three inches below grade. This usually will allow a sufficient edge above ground to retain mulch or gravel.
To install, check your soil. If it’s fairly soft, you can simply use a wood block placed on top of the edging to pound it to the desired depth. If the soil is hard, first dig a slim trench in which to bury edging. Some metal edgings come with built-in anchors or slots for inserting metal stakes, which makes installation even easier.
More expensive than bender board or plastic edging products, metal edging is still an economical option. Part of its value rests in its longevity. For off-the-shelf metal edging, prices generally range from $2.50 to $6.50 per foot depending on thickness, height, the anchoring system, and brand. It can be found at home improvement stores, landscape suppliers, and online. Some of the major brands include Col-Met and Ever Edge for steel edging; Permaloc for aluminum; and Sure-Loc, which offers both aluminum and steel edging products.
Cast iron edging for lawns and gardens has been around for centuries. Typically resembling small fencing in classically ornamental designs, cast iron edging is as easy to install, as durable, and as maintenance-free as low-profile metal edging. Looks come at a price; cast iron edging is far more expensive than standard metal edging. Consider sleuthing at garden and architectural salvage yards.
If you’re embarking on a landscape project, see our Hardscape 101 design guides, including Gravel 101. For more inspiration, see:
The charms of wisteria are almost impossible to resist. Lounging languorously over a fence or pergola, the perennial flowering vine will beckon to you with her heady perfume. Before you know it, her nodding, pendulous blooms have hypnotized you. Soon you are rushing to the nearest garden center, determined to own her, but be warned. This climber has a mind of her own.
Welcome to Throwback Sundays: Readers’ Favorite Posts from the Past
You are not the first to succumb. Marco Polo was an early conquest. He brought wisteria seeds out of China in the 13th century. But you would be wise to take the time to get to know this beauty before you commit to her. Like a Jezebel, she will steal your heart and then, after you are weakened and besotted with love, she will set about to dominate your garden and, if possible, your house. Take this caveat to heart: She is fully capable of attempting to murder your other plants.
Read on for tips to grow and care for wisteria without letting it take over your garden (or your life).
Wisteria’s background is actually quite innocent. Wisteria is a genus of about 10 species of woody, deciduous twining vines. Eight are Asian and include W. floribunda from Japan, and W. senensis from China. W. frutescens, the often less fragrant and floriferous American type, is a native vine and often recommended as an alternative to the Asian varieties which are on the USDA list of invasive plants.
Wisteria owes its ability to twine readily around a support to the fact that it is a member of the Fabaceae or legume family. Along with its gorgeous flowers, this vine produces large seed pods. In the early 1800s, collectors imported seed from China and Japan to the US and Britain. However, plants grown from the seed produced disappointing flowers. When plant collectors later brought home cuttings made from layering or grafting, the plant thrived and bloomed abundantly like its predecessors in Asia.
If you have plenty of sun, lots of room and a very sturdy support, this is not a difficult plant to grow. It is hardy to zone 5 and likes good drainage and a slightly alkaline soil. It thrives in a spot protected from strong winds and needs plenty of water when it is in bloom. Avoid feeding with high-nitrogen fertilizer as legumes fix their own nitrogen and adding more will reduce flowering.
Plan to enjoy your wisteria for a long time. Plants in China have been known to live 250 years. And here in Brooklyn, the vines in the Cranford Rose Garden at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden are thought to be about 100 years old. A glance at their massive, gnarled woody trunks would seem to prove that point.
Buy yourself a heavy duty pair of pruning shears because, if you do plant this climber, you will need to become a virtuoso pruner.
See a simple technique to dye fabric at DIY: Make a Natural Dye from Wisteria.
What to do with an armload of wisteria vines? We tamed them with clippers, an X-Acto knife, and a vase from Ikea.
See more tips and design ideas for growing wisteria in Wisteria: A Field Guide to Planting, Care & Design, and discover more of our favorite (and perhaps better behaved) plants in Vines & Climbers 101, including Creeping Fig 101 and Bougainvillea 101. For more flowering vines we love, see:
Finally, get more ideas on how to successfully plant, grow, and care for wisteria with our Wisteria: A Field Guide.
Landscaping ideas for sustainable gardens are in the forefront of designers’ minds—and concern about climate change has us all looking for ways we can help. Here is our guide to 16 eco-friendly ways to make a difference:
One of the most eco-friendly things a garden can do is decrease rainwater runoff. Consider a permeable surface if you’re doing a hardscape project, and use captured rainwater or gray water in the garden.
Landscaping ideas for surfaces that allow water to seep into the ground aid filtration and slow the flow into drains and waterways are gaining momentum. From a design perspective, permeable surfaces introduce the satisfying crunch of gravel underfoot and add a softer element to hard surfaces.
Our correspondent Ellen Jenkins thinks decomposed granite (aka DG) may be the ideal hardscape material: “”After I started looking into DG, I began to notice it everywhere: The pretty little path through the local recreation field that never gets muddy? Decomposed gravel. The soft, natural-looking gravel driveway, where the gravel stays put? Also decomposed granite. The mulch at the base of trees that keeps the ground weed-free? DG again.”
For everything you need to know before deciding if decomposed granite is the right material for your hardscaping project, see Hardscaping 101: Decomposed Granite.
Pea gravel–a small, fluid stone found near bodies of water–has an appealingly smooth texture, the result of natural weathering. Pea gravel comes in sizes from 1/8 inch to 3/8 inch, about the size of a pea, and in a range of natural colors like buff, rust brown, shades of gray, white, and translucent. If you’re trying to decide between decomposed granite and pea gravel, see Hardscaping 101: Pea Gravel.
Our East Coast correspondent Jeanne Rostaing grew up with a ribbon driveway–two strips of concrete with grass in between–in Memphis: “Ribbon driveways were a natural progression from the ruts carved in the ground by the wheels of wagons and, later, automobiles,” she writes. “It makes sense that if you’re driving your vehicle from the street to the garage every day, you’d want to avoid wearing deep, muddy grooves into your lawn. The simplest and most economical way to do that: paving the areas where the wheels go and leaving the grass in the middle.”
Nowadays ribbon driveways are back in fashion not only because of their eco-friendly permeability, but also because they’re visually pleasing. For more about designing and installing a ribbon driveway, see Hardscaping 101: Ribbon Driveways.
For more, see Ask the Expert: 7 Ways to Save Water in the Garden, from a Graywater Crusader.
Traditional turf is lovely to look at, but it’s a water hog. We’ve rounded up some of our favorite alternatives, from green ground covers to wildflower meadows to sow in the front yard.
For tips on sowing wildflowers in the garden, see our growing guides for Queen Anne’s Lace, Cosmos, Foxglove, and Nasturtiums. Browse our Field Guide archives for growing tips for flowers, vegetables, and herbs,
Create a garden where pollinators are welcome to help combat the rapid depletion of habitats. You can sow wildflowers, plant a pollinator garden, add native plant, or put a green roof on your house to give nature more of a chance.
For more about wildflowers, see The Woman Who Beautified America: Lady Bird Johnson’s Roadside Wildflowers.
Connect your garden to gardeners who have come before you by planting heirloom seeds that have been passed on for generations for their delicious flavor, scent or hardiness. Unlike hybrids, heirlooms will reproduce exactly like their parents.
If you’re designing an edible garden, see all our tips in Hardscaping 101: Design Guide for Edible Gardens.
Here are some of our favorite sources of heirloom seeds:
Above: Offering more than 225 varieties, Kitazawa is the oldest seed company in the US specializing in Asian vegetables. For more, see Seed Source: Kitazawa Seed Co.
Above: Connecticut-based John Scheepers Kitchen Garden Seeds sells a wide selection of heirloom vegetable and culinary herb seeds. Photograph by Erin Boyle.
If you’re designing a sustainable garden from scratch (or adding environmentally friendly features to an existing landscape), see our Hardscape 101 design guides for Decks & Patios, Designing with Gravel, and Pavers. For more inspiration, see:
After we posted a story about some of our favorite wooden window boxes, a reader named Chris asked us to suggest some metal window boxes, as well: “It’s hard to find simple, attractive ones; they all seem to have curlicues and dragonflies and whatnot.” For you, Chris, here are ten metal options for windowsills or balcony railings—including zinc-plated, Cor-ten steel, galvanized steel, and powder coated—with not an embossed dragonfly in sight.
Readers, is there a garden accessory or tool you’d like us to help you hunt down? Tell us about it in the comments section below and we will feature it in an upcoming 10 Easy Pieces post.
Wondering what to plant in your window box this spring? See our curated guides to Edible Plants 101, including growing guides for herbs such as Parsley, Chives, Sweet Basil, and Thyme. See more inspiration and companion plants for window boxes.
New England gardeners who look for native species enjoy the happy support of the New England Wild Flower Society, an organization dedicated to the study, preservation, and propagation of the region’s wild flora. Each spring I look forward to finding new inspiration at the society’s wilderness showcase, Garden in the Woods, where I also can purchase rare native plants for my own garden. (See: Walk on the Wild Side: A New England Native Garden for my virtual tour.)
This spring the society published a new guide, Native Plants for New England Gardens, with expert information and growing tips for 100 native flowers, ground covers, shrubs, ferns, grasses, trees, and vines ($18 at Amazon). To mark the occasion, we asked authors Mark Richardson, Director of the Garden, and Dan Jaffe, the official propagator and stock bed grower at the society, to share some of their favorite herbaceous perennials from the book. Here are some of their picks for the unsung heroes of the native New England gardens.
(NB: Many of these species are native to other parts of the northern and eastern US as well. Many of the plants listed here are available at Garden in the Woods in Framingham, MA, or at New England Wild Flower Society’s Nasami Farm in Whatley, MA. See the plant list for available varieties.)
Photography by Dan Jaffe, unless otherwise noted.
Featuring vibrant purple-to-blue flowers, blue vervain, is not only beautiful, it also supports many native pollinators such as sweat bees as well as the caterpillars of regional butterflies. It’s happiest among the grasses in moist meadows or on the edge of wetlands, where the authors recommend pairing it with native rose milkweed and blue flag iris.
A great choice for the novice gardeners, Bowman’s root is a plant that “seems to thrive on neglect.” Featuring delicate, white, spring-to-summer flowers and thin and trifoliate leaves, the native forms large clusters from 1 to 3 feet high which are full of texture and movement. In the fall the foliage turns to seasonal reds and purples.
Though stunning, wild senna is even more important from an ecological standpoint as it “attracts and supports more bees than any other plant that blooms” in late summer. Standing at 6 feet tall, this giant is a bit aggressive. The New England Wild Flower Society recommends planting it among other robust plants that can withstand the competition.
It may surprise you to learn that most of the lupines that you see flanking New England’s highways are not native, but rather, western lupines. This displacement is unfortunate, as the native variety, sundial lupine, is the only plant that hosts the caterpillars of the Karner blue butterfly, which is now critically endangered due to loss of habitat.
Blue cohosh (Caulophyllum giganteum) is a plant that keeps on giving as it changes throughout the growing season. In spring its eggplant leaves and yellow flowers are among the first to emerge. In summer its gray-blue foliage provides a lively textural element. In autumn, blue cohosh’s vibrant blue fruits stand in striking contrast to more standard autumnal hues.
For more detailed information of the plants above, visit Garden in the Woods or purchase Native Plants for New England Gardens, $18. Also see:
The city beach in Auckland is one of New Zealand’s busiest. To minimize the impact of heavy foot traffic to a new restaurant at the historic Melanesian Mission building, Herbst Architects and Katie Lockhart relied on the surrounding landscape. Katie enlisted her brother Jared Lockhart, the landscape designer and co-owner of Garden Objects in Auckland, to build out the courtyard and to unify the project’s historic and modern architectural elements.
“I avoided straight lines and looked to soften and blur the junction between paving, gravel, and grass where possible,” he says. Working with a restrained materials palette of crushed limestone (also known as “hoggin”) and local New Zealand schist stone pavers, Lockhart came up with a creative solution inspired by a bach (pronounced batch), “the simple holiday houses on the north island of New Zealand—very relaxed, and nothing too flashy.” Here’s a look.
Photography by David Straight, courtesy of Jared Lockart Design.
If you’re designing a courtyard or outdoor dining space, see our Hardscape 101 design guides for guidance about Decks & Patios, Gravel Gardens, and Pavers. For more New Zealand landscape design, see our posts:
Rain barrels may not be the most glamorous of garden tools but with water shortages on the rise, they have quickly become a crucial component of the smart, sustainable garden. After you set up a system, it does the work for you (just attach a hose to irrigate your plants).
If you’re starting from scratch, we have some affordable solutions (primarily in plastic, though some are recycled). And if you’re looking for a long-term investment, we’ve rounded up rain barrels made of stainless steel and wood. Have a look at some of our favorites.
Bergenias labor under the unflattering name of elephant’s ears but deserve better—they are a great perennial plant to fill awkward spaces or end a border. Typically tolerated as tough ground cover plants, some small bergenias we recently noticed in Essex have much in common with young shoots of beetroot, burnished dark red in the cold.
The best varieties of bergenias lend themselves to garden design, whether cottage, exotic, or formal. Read on to see favorite varieties of bergenias and how to use them to great effect in a garden bed.
Photography by Britt Willoughby Dyer, for Gardenista.
Crimped, leathery leaves, resembing an old pair of shoes from the flea market, give bergenias a touch of the Victorian aunt. Indeed, Gertrude Jekyll’s first published photograph in 1885 was of a clump of bergenias on the edge of a wall, interspersed with spikes of yucca. The caption read: “Group of Broad-leaved Saxifrages on bank, showing effects of unity as compared with ‘dotty’ planting of borders.” This gets to the heart of the matter.
Bergenias work well when planted in a broad sweep, especially for somebody as short-sighted as Miss Jekyll. Her poor eyesight also meant that she peered at plants and what she found was texture.
Before spring really kicks in, bergenias come into their own, reflecting light and rain, and often burnished red in autumn. The smaller, neater varieties shown here would earn their place in a compact garden, providing contrast in leaf shape and color. The combination shown here is dynamic in autumn, winter, and spring. Other spring pairings: coppery bergenia with evergreen hellebore, Hedycarya angutifolia, or bergenia and Euphorbia wulfenii.
See more growing tips in Gardening 101: Bergenias.
Today the greatest promoter of under-appreciated bergenias is Beth Chatto. They are all over her garden, sometimes covering sizable areas en masse. Bergenias, she argues, are a bit like hostas, in the way their non-flapping foliage covers the ground as part of a tapestry of leaf texture. Their advantage is that they remain in winter, are generally left alone by slugs, and have more attractive, early flowers.
Most bergenias tough it out in summer drought, looking less tattered when they have good drainage. With increased moisture in autumn they perk up, turning a deep red in the case of hybrids such as ‘Irish Crimson’ (shown). They are at their best over three seasons and least instrumental in summer.
The case for bergenia’s “cabbage-like” leaves, is best argued in Beth Chatto’s Gravel Garden (£11.04 used on Amazon UK). They even have their own section: “A Passion for Bergenias.”
Bergenias get the elevation they deserve in a pot, and are particularly suited to this enclosed environment since they don’t require much attention. Think of them as giant alpines; they are saxifrages after all. When they bloom, bronze-green leaves are flattered by sturdy red stems and nectar-rich flowers. These are appreciated not only by bergenia fans but also by bees, early in the season.
For more design and growing tips for bergenias, see Bergenias: A Field Guide to Planting, Care & Design and see our curated plant guides for more of our favorite Ground Covers and Perennials, including Bugleweed, Lilyturf, and Lungwort. Read more:
A rattan bar cart is an excellent investment in the sense that you can keep it outdoors for seasonal celebrations and roll it indoors in inclement weather. Plus, its retro-tropical silhouette is guaranteed to promote the use of colored cocktail parasols, hollow pineapples, and vintage “Welcome to Paradise” shot glasses.
Here are 10 of our favorite rattan bar carts, to kick off a long season of outdoor entertaining.
See more of our favorite furnishings for your outdoor space in our newly updated 10 Easy Pieces archives. Don’t miss our recent posts on Round Wood Dining Tables, Rectangular Wooden Dining Tables, and Folding Bamboo Benches.
See more ideas to create a serene outdoor space for dining, entertaining, and lounging in our curated Hardscape 101 design guides to Decks & Patios and Outdoor Kitchens. Get inspired by some of our favorite spaces:
Worm London is a floristry studio that is run out of a tiny basement in Stoke Newington, East London. The business began two years ago when friends Katie Smyth and Terri Chandler decided it was time to work for themselves at something they love. They started delivering bunches and books around London.
Now, their distinctive arrangements appear on the pages of Elle Decoration UK and Harper’s Bazaar, and on the tables of restaurants and supper clubs across the city. Their website describes them as “two girls, a stack of books, and loads of flowers.” Between early mornings at the New Covent Garden flower market and late-night launches, they’ve written a book, Wreaths: Fresh, Foraged & Dried Floral Arrangements. I caught up with them over coffee in their sweet-smelling studio.
Photography by Kristin Perers in Wreaths, courtesy of Quadrille Publishing.
Gardenista: How did Worm London begin?
Terri Chandler: Katie’s boyfriend, Paddy, introduced us. We could tell straight away that, creatively, we were really similar, and neither of us was happy with the jobs we were doing.
Katie Smyth: We’d both worked really hard for loads of different people, and we’d just gotten to a point where we thought: ‘Why don’t we do something for ourselves before we start having kids?’ We were both interested in floristry so, over a big Sunday dinner with friends, we decided to enroll in a course together. Both of us always gave our friends books and flowers as presents, and one of our friends said: “There’s your business! Do that.”
TC: We did a really cheap floristry course for a full day, once a week. The brilliant thing about it was you had to bring your own flowers. Katie and I would go to the flower market together and we’d pick all the unusual stuff we liked, so straight away we were starting to find our style.
G: How would you describe the Worm London aesthetic?
TC: We have a wild garden style. A lot of it stems from growing up in Ireland, I think [Katie is from Dublin, Terri is from an island off Cork]. When I was growing up, at the start of May, a big Catholic tradition was putting up your May altar for Holy Mary—collecting and arranging wildflowers. When I was a kid, that was really exciting. I think that has really inspired us both.
KS: There are always different textures and sizes to our bunches. And we’re not into symmetry in anything. We always stick something in at the end if an arrangement looks too perfect.
G: Why are we seeing more and more wreaths outside of the festive season?
KS: I think it’s because people are so much more aware of the seasons. With Instagram, people are so visually clued into it, especially through food. When rhubarb is in season, everyone knows about it. Flowers are following that trend.
TC: I’ve seen loads of spring wreaths around [Stoke Newington], which is really great. If you’re making one at home and you put it on your door, it always feels like a representation of who lives in that house.
KS: When we do workshops, you can really tell a lot about someone’s personality by the type of wreath they make. And it’s such a simple thing to make. You don’t have to be super-arty or anything—anyone can do them.
TC: We also like the thought of a wreath as an ever-changing art project. If you spend a day with somebody, and you pick up some nice bits and add them to your wreath, the flowers become a representation of that day. That feels special.
KS: Even in the book, the Christmas section is the last and smallest chapter. If you have a wreath base in your house, it can be a constantly changing project.
G: Your arrangements often include dried flowers. What’s the appeal?
KS: My mum went on a flower arranging course when I was young and came home with these crazy dried flower arrangements with pasta shells and poppy heads. They are still on our wall and they are just so dusty. But dried flowers are becoming really popular in a way that’s more refined than in the Seventies.
TM: I think it’s part of the home craft movement. People are now drying flowers themselves. The trend for perfect florist flowers has gone and the look is much more wild and natural—which is much more accessible now.
KS: There’s obviously a resurgence is self-sufficiency: brewing, pickling, bread-making. People are trying not to be as wasteful and dried flowers is part of that. We get asked so much now to do dried material, I think because they last forever and they can be done in some really interesting ways. We use dried tropical leaves which makes it much less twee than in the Seventies.
TM: Pressing flowers is really big now as well. That had gone totally out, but it’s so popular now. We get asked a lot for them on menus and cards.
G: What’s next in floristry, do you think?
KS: Some of the flowers that had a bad rep are coming back, such as gypsophila. Fashion is really leading the taste in flowers.
TC: Carnations too. They are hardy, they last out of water, and they come in all these new colors, like raspberry ripple. In fact, when you stand back and look at them, they’re actually really beautiful. Honesty is another really popular dried flower that’s really hard to get. And pampas grass. It divides opinion, but we love it. It’s like Birkenstocks: 10 years ago, no one was wearing them. Now they’re everywhere.
KS: There’s definitely also a big move toward really creative floristry that we’re seeing already. I think floral art is something we’re going to see loads of.
TC: We have a few projects in the book like that—mobiles, wall installations.
Less in the vase, more beyond the vase, really.
See more of our favorite floral trends (and our favorite flowers to grow in Annuals 101: A Field Guide to Planting, Care & Design:
