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Locally Grown Sustainable Specialty Cut Flowers

Tracy — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 03:07:43 +0000

New to the plant scene at Hiddenhaven are exciting specialty cut flowers. This past season we grew 5,000 amazing sunflowers in our field. Ten different cultivars were tested. Two plantings occurred with the first on May 10 and the second on June 1, 2010. A light application of chicken manure was spread prior to planting and llama manure was placed between a few of the rows after planting. Seeds were hand planted 6 inches apart for non-branching varieties and 12 inches apart for the branching types. Harvesting started July 6th and continued until August 20th. These beauties touched so many lives bringing smiles and joy to all. Due to popular demand I’ll be growing them again this year but have upped the numbers to 6,000 and 12 different varieties—this could easily get out of hand!! Order you seeds now to bring some sunshine into your gardens.
In addition to the sunflowers 80 spectacular heirloom and specialty dahlias were grown in a new cutting garden test plot along with zinnias, cosmos, Craspedia globosa (billy buttons), Trachelium caeruleum , and Gophrena ‘Fireworks’ to name a few. For early cutting a few of my favorites that were incorporated right into the mixed beds were Verona, Peach Blossom, and Willem Van Oranje tulips. Signs of their return are just starting to peak through the soil. Enjoy the images! I’ve provided you with some sources as well so you can experience the joy of these cut flowers first-hand. If you are a specialty floral designer or event planner and would like to purchase some of these unique cuts contact me at tracyda@midohio.net.

Backlit Blonde

Dahlia "Kaiser Wilhelm"

Dahlia "Little Beeswings"

Dahlia "Winsome"

Dahlia "Winsome" - up close

Double Quick Orange

Sunrich Gold

Sunflower Harvesting

Sunflowers 1

Sunflowers 2

Sunflowers 3

Strawberry Blonde

Pro Cut Yellow Lite

The Joker

Tulip Peach Blossom

Tulip Verona & Peach Blossom

Tulip "Willem Van Oranje"

Zinnia "Benary's Giant Wine" et al

Zinnia "Uproar Rose" & Cosmos

Cut Flower Sources

*Baker’s Acres Greenhouse 3388 Castle Road Alexandria, OH 43001-800-934-6525 www.bakersacresgreenhouse.com
*Old House Gardens Heirloom Bulbs Ann Arbor MI 734-995-1486 www.oldhousegardens.com
*Brent and Becky’s Bulbs Gloucester VA 877-661-2852 www.brentandbeckysbulbs.com
*Wildseed Farms Fredericksburg, TX 1-800-848-0078 www.wilseedfarms.com for large quantities of poppy seed!
*Johnny’s Selected Seeds Winslow Maine 1-877-564-6697 www.Johnnyseeds.com Large selection of sunflowers!

Design Focus: Small Enclosed Gardens

Tracy — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 11:25:29 +0000

PLEASE JOIN ME: Monday November 8, 2010 3:30pm ET on Martha Stewart Living Radio on Sirius Satellite for the Living Today Show as we discuss Small Enclosed Gardens!

DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS:

Organize space clearly and creatively
Especially important in enclosed small gardens: Connect architecture of the house to the garden (Style)
Provide strong structural outline – extending the walls of the house to the garden with either living or nonliving boundaries for privacy and intimacy.
Utilize vertical space for vines and /or espalier. Trellis can be attached and a cutout or mirror(s) can hint at distant or not-so-distant spaces.
Select plants appropriate to the period or style of the home. They should have at least two seasons of interest if not more
Cooler colors make an area appear larger but may not be desirable in all seasons.
Planting smaller leaved plants in the background or finer textures increases the feeling of space.
Change of levels and bricks placed on their narrow sides also create greater depth.

RECTOR RESIDENCE, GERMAN VILLAGE, OHIO

OVERVIEW: Beautiful historic home built in 1895 in the charming German Village district of Columbus, Ohio. Client is an enthusiastic gardener but the overall design of the garden needed an update from the existing 20 year old plan. Key elements include: A keen sense of place. Heirloom, native, and fragrant, plants many which were available from local nurseries during the period in which the house was built. Mirrors placed in garage windows and gothic art piece reflect the space and increase its apparent size substantially. Custom made wooden window boxes scrolled with the same engraving that is above some of the windows on the home. Custom made trellis for utilization of the vertical space on the fence and for hiding the air conditioning units. Espalier fruit and ornament trees. Beautiful neat, and uniform, living walls for intimacy. Old Oak whisky barrel installed as rain barrel.

SITE EVALUATION: Small enclosed garden approximately 30’ x 25’ including a 14’ x 14’ brick patio in the center. English ivy had taken over the garden and had developed into a mature deeply rooted woody plant that required the entire season to eradicate before establishing the new garden. Most of the other existing plants were overgrown and dated. A soil test indicated 8% organic matter content – which is a good star – however the ph was high, even for this area, at 7.6. Beds were amended with 4” of a blend of different organic matter (See The Well-Tended Perennial Garden). Sun patterns performed by the client in the peak of the growing season revealed that most of the bed spaces receive only 1-4 hours of sun except for a couple raised beds near the house which receive about 7 hours of sun. The garden is in a protected USDA hardiness Zone 5/6. One of the main challenges was installing the large plants and irrigation into such a small space.

STYLE: The house and neighborhood dictate a European/German influenced historic style. German gardens are typically neat, and orderly with an emphasis on fruit and vegetable culture along with a love for flowers. Houses are frequently adorned with ornamentals and there is an interest in new plant material along with a high degree of craftsmanship in stone, wood, and iron.

FUNCTION: Gardens are primarily for the personal enjoyment of the clients. However due to their highly visible location along a sidewalk leading to a large park they are viewed and enjoyed by many of the residents of the community.

COLOR, TEXTURE & FORM: In the spring the colors will be cooler and softer including pinks and whites but the client’s passion for bright saturated hot reds and oranges will dictate the palette for summer and autumn. Variegated foliage and yellow foliage will also be part of the colorful picture.

PEAK SEASON OF INTEREST: Spring, summer and autumn would be the seasons the garden would be enjoyed.

PLANT SELECTION: Colleague and friend Denise Adams author of Restoring American Gardens (Timber Press) was contacted for suggestions on plants which would fit the period and location. She provided a plant list for the Columbus Nursery which was located three quarters of a mile south of town on High Street (German Village) and was established in 1855. I used the list to help drive the plant selection. Native and fragrance were also part of the criteria for many of the plants.

WOODY PLANT LIST (more woodies and all the herbaceous to come in spring)
3-Calycanthus floridus ‘Athens’ Athens Sweetshrub
12-Carpinus betulus ‘Fastigiata’ Upright European Hornbeam (used as living wall)
1-Clematis terniflora Sweet Autumn Clematis
3-Daphne x burkwoodii ‘Carol Mackie’ Carol Mackie Daphne
5-Deutzia gracillis ‘Nikko’ Nikko Deutzia
6-Hydrangea paniculata ‘Limelight’ Limelight Hydrangea
2-Lonicera periclymenum ‘Graham Thomas’ Graham Thomas Honeysuckle
1-Magnolia grandiflora ‘Bracken’s Brown Beauty’ (espalier) Bracken’s Brown Beauty Southern Magnolia
1-Magnolia x ‘Jane’ Jane Magnolia
1-Malus ‘Gala’ Gala Apple (espalier)
1-Passiflora incarnata Passion Flower
1-Pyrus ‘Kieffer’ Kieffer Pear (espalier)
3-Rhododendron viscosum Swamp Azalea
3-Schizophragma hydrangeoides ‘Moonlight’ Moonlight Japanese Hydrangea Vine
3-Symphoricarpus x doorenbosii ‘Marleen’ Marleen Snowberry

ENJOY THE GALLERY OF BEFORE, DURING, AND AFTER OF PHASE I OF THE INSTALLATION!!

DESIGN BY DISABATO-AUST/INSTALLATION AND CONSTRUTION BY HIDDEN CREEK LANDSCAPING INC. PLEASE CONTACT US FOR DETAILS ABOUT OUR WORK.
tracyda@midohio.net For more design lessons from Tracy see: The Well-Designed Mixed Garden.
Copyright 2010 Tracy DiSabato-Aust

Budapest Bound

Tracy — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 11:00:51 +0000

Follow Tracy and Team USA at Triathlon Worlds in Budapest – photo by Jared Langston

Budapest Bound for Triathlon Worlds!! Follow my daily blog for Team USA as we compete at the Triathlon World Championship in Budapest Hungary. Click on the picture to the left, or go to usatriathlon.org for more information. Also see my triathlon page for 2010 race results updates.

Growing A Greener World

Tracy — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 05:07:30 +0000

Tracy and Joe in gardens at Hiddenhaven
[ photo by Carl Pennington ]

I had the opportunity to have Joe Lamp’l aka Joe Gardener visit me in my gardens at Hiddenhaven and film a segment, on pruning perennials, for his new gardening series on PBS called “Growing A Greener World”. We had a blast and it was such an honor to spend time sharing my craft with such a knowledgeable fellow gardener. We hope you enjoy watching the video and reading Joe’s article. Check out his informative site at www.joegardener.com and be sure to watch “Growing A Greener World” which airs in every state on most PBS stations.

Tracy being filmed by Carl Pennington pruning Phlox paniculata [ photo by Joe Lamp'l ]

The mission of the show is to travel the country, telling the story of how people, places and organizations are using the garden and eco-friendly practices to promote environmental stewardship and how viewers can apply these same principles to make a difference in their own little corner of the world. The program covers organic/sustainable gardening and also features a cooking segment each week with fresh in-season ingredients….Cool!

Updates and events

Tracy — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 17:15:43 +0000

Hi! I just wanted to let you know the triathlon page on my website has been updated. Also, check out the article in this month’s Columbus Monthly – “Fitness Freaks At 50″. Come and join me at the The Central Ohio Home & Garden Show – Ohio Expo Center, this Saturday Feb. 27, 1pm & 3pm for Design and High-Impact, Low-Care Plant talks. For more info and an article featuring “Tracy’s Trophy Plants” visit www.dispatchhomeandgarden.com page 34.

South American Gardens and Landscapes: Lessons for North American Gardeners

Tracy — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 12:04:30 +0000

South American Flower

View the image gallery here

Recently I had the opportunity to speak in Montevideo, Uruguay and Buenos Aires, Argentina. I was fortunate to also be able to visit several gardens there as well as tour Machu Picchu in Peru. I want to thank my hosts Pilar de Arteaga de Pereira, who worked diligently with me for 2 years to arrange this lecture, and her fellow members of the Garden Clubs of Uruguay as well as Sonia Blaquier and the members of the Horticulture Society of Argentina. It was a great honor to speak in both countries to such keen groups of gardeners about mixed garden design and color theory from my book The Well-Designed Mixed Garden. Also what a chance in a lifetime for my husband Jim and I to spend time in our hosts homes and gardens and get to know firsthand the life and culture of these kind, warm and generous people. Machu Picchu is such a sacred, majestic place that words can’t even describe its beauty and impact. Enjoy a few of my images and note the uncanny connections between the design elements of these ancient ruins and the design elements found in S. American gardens today.

View the image gallery here

Some Key Points

The style of the gardens closely match the personality and style of the owners
Outdoor kitchens were prevalent and expressive of the S. American gardener’s passion for life
In Uruguay and Argentina form and line were key garden elements
Incredible the connection between form and line in Peru at the Inca Ruins in Ollantaytambo and at Machu Picchu (terracing) and the form and line used in garden settings (steps and terracing)
Machu Picchu
Note the framing of views at Machu Picchu and the framing of views/entrances in garden settings
Enjoy the same forms of the mountains and rooftops at Machu Picchu as the shrub and topiary forms in an Argentinean garden
Design Principles of Order (Balance & Mass Collection), Unity (Dominance, Repetition & Interconnection) and Rhythm (Repetition, Alternation, & Gradation) are prevalent in gardens and ruins.
Spectacular studies of light and distance and its effect on color, texture and form are possible
Key Plants: Orchids (over 300 species in Machu Picchu reserve), Bromeliads, succulents (Kalanchoe thyrsiflora, Aeonium arboretum ‘Atropurpurea’), Petrea volubilis (Bluebird Vine), Tea Roses, Eugenia, Photinia, Pittisporum
Markets and Farming: Epitome of locally grown—everything is used from all parts of plants, to Llama fiber and dung, for dyes, weaving, compost and fuel etc. Crops include numerous beans, potatoes, and corn.

View the image gallery here

The Well-Designed Mixed Garden Now Available in paperback for a great low price!!

Tracy — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 11:58:50 +0000

Some people’s eyes glaze over when the subject of conversation turns to garden design. And you can’t blame them — “design speak” can sound like a lot of highfalutin gobbledygook. So it’s a cause for celebration when you come across a writer who can communicate the elements of garden design clearly and effectively. And if that writer can also instill in the reader a sense of joy and enthusiasm for gardening, it’s time to uncork the champagne.

These admirable qualities can be found on every page of The Well-Designed Mixed Garden: Building Beds and Borders with Trees, Shrubs, Perennials, Annuals, and Bulbs, Tracy DiSabato-Aust’s masterful guide, now available in an affordable paperback edition. In part 1, she discusses the rationale for planting a mixed garden (beauty! variety! a long season of interest!), explains the design process and the principles of good design, and elucidates the complex ways in which color, texture, and form interact. Part 2 provides examples (including both photographs and design plans) of small, medium, and large mixed gardens, and part 3 consists of an encyclopedia of 27 plant combinations.

As if that weren’t enough, the appendices brim with useful information. There are extensive charts that list the design characteristics and cultural needs of 743 plants; 33 lists of plants by specific design traits (for example, blue flowers, variegated foliage, bold leaf texture); and 5 lists of plants by maintenance requirements. By any measure, it’s a very generous package.

So if, in the past, discussions of garden design have made you want to leave the room, it’s time to come back in. Tracy’s talking, and she’s worth listening to.

Garden Pests and Diseases

Tracy — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 12:52:12 +0000

Tracy provides solutions regarding pest problems, insects, identification of healthy and ailing plants, chemical pesticides, and critter control.

Pests, Weeds & Plant Disease: Garden Pests And Diseases

Hue and You in the Garden – Part 2

Tracy — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 13:30:33 +0000

Learn how to effectively paint your garden in plants, the second of our two-part series of using color in the garden.

Click here to view the article (~15mb pdf)

Garden staking

Tracy — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 13:15:36 +0000

Tracy’s back with more advice on: What is garden ‘staking’? | What is ‘pea staking’? | When is the best time to stake my flowering plants? | What should I use to stake my plants? | How do I stake a plant with a single upright stem? | How do I stake full bushy plants? | How do I stake perennials that have fallen?

Gardening Basics: Garden Staking