Even on a 100 degree day this garden is a cool place to be. Only 15 years old this 36 acre botanical garden was built in the site of a city park which had fallen into disrepair. As a result mature cottonwood and elm trees provide shade all throughout the garden. The entry courtyard is spacious and decorative. You enter the garden through beautifully ornate bronze gates.
Category: Garden Articles
Fluttering By
Butterflies in my garden are an occasional delight. I grow some of their favorite foods, the desert milkweed and lantana, to encourage them to stop by. Still I wonder what I could to have more of these flying jewels in my garden all year long. As part of the Arizona Centennial Celebration Lola White is coordinating a Butterflies and Garden project with the goal of making Arizona the most butterfly friendly state in the nation. Her websitehttp://www.butterflyquest.net/ describes the project and provides a wealth of information about butterflies.
Celebrating Flora
Celebrating Flora
In ancient times much of the world paused from their work to celebrate flowers. The Roman Goddess Flora was celebrated in the spring. A Maypole was erected,with ribbons streaming down, hands reached up and the dancing began. Young women wore crowns of flowers in their hair. The beauty of life, flowers and fertility was thoroughly celebrated with the hope of a great harvest in the Fall. The celebration lasted several days with games, performances, feasting and drinking.
Landscape art
Painting in plants creates art. This art is the highlight of the Jardin Botanico in Madeira, Portugal. Landscape design is a combination of texture, color, structure, climate and patience. An artist working in oil must allow time for the canvas to completely dry. The garden painter working with a palate of plants must wait for the art to grow.
April Whimsy
Plant Whimsy
The sweetness of April arrives bringing spring’s green leaves, sprouts, blooms, and wildlife babies. The potential for delight could hardly be greater in any other month of the year. Garden visitors wander in with their expectations high. New gardeners, flush with knowledge, walk wide-eyed now identifying annuals, edibles and perennials. The serious horticulturalist seeks out specimens and hybrids, checking to see how last year’s new varieties survived the winter. Landscape designers explore the style and flow of the garden. Plant fans hurry in to see the collection of their favorites, be they bamboos, orchids, agaves or roses. There are so many opportunities to enjoy and explore a garden. Yet whatever category you find yourself, if you are visiting a garden in April, you want to be open to whimsy.
Shamrock Green
A Little Bit Irish
In March almost everyone claims to be a little bit Irish. It might be because of the music, the dancing or the festivities but really it is all about the green. In March dormancy gives way to spring green shoots of new growth and that is worthy of a party whatever your ancestry. Public green space is worth celebrating too, and Boston holds the distinction of establishing the first public park in the nation. What city is there more Irish than Boston? Boston Common was designated public green space in 1634. Yet there is also a public garden attached to the Common and it was the first created in the nation.
Promenade, 91st Street, Riverside Drive
Hearts & Flowers
Some of my favorite grade school memories are from Valentine’s Day. We decorated boxes with red paper hearts, pink ribbons and flowers. In the days leading up to the celebration we watched as classmates slipped envelopes inside and anticipated the sweetness the messages would reveal. The celebration of Valentine’s Day has spread around the world. The day has something for every sense; chocolates for taste, flowers for scent and beauty, romantic words and cuddles of affection, an infusion of delights engaging our emotions.
Garden of Useful Plants, Montreal Botanic Garden
A Year of Happy!
Inspired by a new year we follow a familiar path as we resolve to; spend more time with family & friends, learn something new, help others, eat better, exercise more, reduce stress, and save money. The list designed to inspire us to be our better selves often does just the opposite and creates more stress within the first month of the year. If only there was an easy way to achieve these resolutions! Well, “There is a garden for that!”
Rooftop Gardening
Up on the rooftop. . . .
Where will gardening grow as more than 1/2 the world’s population moves into urban environments? (citymayors.com) Urban living is associated with greater opportunities yet one cost of city life is giving up ready access to green space and gardens. Is the future a space age view like the Jetsons or will gardeners prevail and work green space into the picture?
Brooklyn Botanic Garden, NY
Grateful for Gardeners who keep the garden alive
November is a month for Thanksgiving and we celebrate it with a feast of food symbolizing the harvest celebration. Gardens, and those who tend them give us much to be thankful for throughout the year.