Gifting

The bitter cold and snow we’re experiencing right now has me thinking about (and wishing for!) warmer days in the garden. Since gift giving time is right around the corner, I thought I’d offer up some ideas. You may have a loved one that would appreciate a gardening related offering, or you may see some ideas to add to your own wish list!

Today I’ll present a few ideas that you may be able to acquire on-line or with a quick phone call---no braving the cold necessary!

1. A subscription to a magazine. A great gardening magazine is educational, inspirational and entertaining. There are many fine how-to publications out there such as Fine Gardening, Horticulture, and Organic Gardening that are chock-full of great information. Some regional home and garden magazines do a good job, too. I especially like Sunset for the western US. However, two of my favorite occasional splurges are Garden Design and Gardens Illustrated. Garden Design is pure eye-candy with lots of outdoor, and outdoor themed, living products and (mostly) estate type gardens featured. Gardens Illustrated is from Great Britain and is a refreshing and beautiful take on European style gardening. I love browsing the ads, reading the copy (often quite informative if not applicable to my region of the world), and drooling over the beautiful photos. Single copies of all of these magazines are available at larger newsstands, like Barns & Noble, and would make great stocking stuffers.

2. A membership to a botanical garden or arboretum. Nothing beats the opportunity to see mature plants in a naturalized setting, something the garden center can’t always offer. These organizations often offer classes, docent tours, lectures, concerts, and volunteer opportunities as well. A membership is a gift that can be enjoyed all year, and keeps your gardener in touch with the seasons. Here’s the link to Denver Botanic Gardens.

3. A membership to American Horticultural Society. This organization was never on my radar; like many things in the horticultural "establishment," it is located in the eastern US and I never thought it could have much relevance for me either personally or professionally. However, I decided to join up about two years ago and have been very pleased with the return on my $35.00 annual dues. Their website is fantastic, but I especially like their magazine. The articles cover all aspects of horticulture, including landscape design, and are well written and with enough detail (though not textbook-like snooze inducing) to make them a cut-above your grocery store variety publication. The most recent issue included “America’s Evergreen Hollies,” “Gardens for Recovery,” and a profile of American plantsman Allen Bush, among other things. As a landscape professional for nearly 30 years now, it was refreshing to find a new resource and a fresh perspective on gardening!

I hope this gift idea list gives you a few ideas to consider. More to come!

Eeeeek a Mouse!

So the other evening I'm looking out my office window and notice a little mouse feasting on the crumbs beneath the bird feeder. He scurries around, popping down one hole in the snow and back out another. Before long, there's a second one! They're having a great time, running over and under the snow in --pretty much--broad daylight.
Before I know it, one of the mice has climbed right up the side of the house and onto the window ledge and is peeking inside.
"Wanna come out and play?"
"Thanks, but no."

Last of the Series

Hydrangea quercifolia, oakleaf hydrangea

Our last stop on our recent tour of New Mexico was Albuquerque, a bustling, 300 year old city that originated on the banks of the Rio Grande River and now spreads east into the foothills of the Sandia mountains. We enjoyed a stroll through the Rio Grande Botanic Garden. Although modest in size, I think this garden does a good job of showing native, adapted, and introduced (hardy) plants in a variety of settings. The newly established Japanese garden uses the native cottonwood bosque, that borders the flood plain of the Rio Grande, as a visual backdrop and also to moderate (cool and calm) the high desert climate.
I doubt that this garden looks anything at all like a garden in Japan, but it has the essence of an Asian garden and presents design elements that could be incorporated into a home setting.
A stone bridge over a small watercourse in the Japanese garden, above.
Loved these cool, welded iron rose towers! Jim is 6'1" tall; as you can see, the towers that
create this "rose room" are 12' tall! They alternate with 6' tall towers to create a totally enclosed space. Climbing roses are the featured plants. The bowl in the center is a simple fountain (empty for winter).
I also liked this quiet spot built and furnished with regionally appropriate materials.

The reasonable entry fee ($7.00 ea) for the botanic garden also included entry to the adjacent aquarium. A small, but interesting "tour" of the aquatic ecosystems found in the Rio Grande River from Albuquerque to the Gulf of Mexico. The tour culminates with this tower of jellyfish and a giant shark and ray tank. Very fun to watch, and a wonderful docent on hand to answer questions and offer fun tidbits of information.
Moon jellyfish
Great info about these beautiful creatures here.

Then and Now

There's Jim, stepping out of the original Mercury space capsule at the New Mexico Museum of Space History in Alamogordo. We were a bit short of time that day, so we just wandered around their outdoor "sculpture garden" of stuff that goes really fast.
I was taken with the construction details. Welds that will hold and screws/bolts that won't come loose.
The beautiful patinas created by tremendous heat and force.
The lines, patterns, and forms all designed for a specific function.
From these early beginnings to today's safe arrival home of the space shuttle Atlantis. Amazing!

Wordless Wednesday

For more information about this weird and wonderful place, click here.
Note: no color or light alterations were made to these photos which were taken at mid-day on November 19, 2009.