Longwood Gardens Holiday Lights

Okay, so if you haven't been to Longwood Gardens during the holidays before and you live within a few hours' drive, just go.  Now.  Enough already.

The best time to get there is around 3:30, so you have an hour and a half or so go explore the grounds.  Then as it gets dusky, check out the beautiful conservatory.  After you've warmed up, your walk out of the conservatory is through the beautiful collection of trees lit with twinkle lights.

Longwood's been lighting their trees like this for years - long before it became a bit more trendy to outline the branches so clearly.  And the work here is done masterfully.

My camera work, what with no tripod and cold fingers...not so much.

Still, hopefully you get the idea and visit this beautiful display!

Okay, that wraps up Planted Cloud for 2011.  Thanks for reading!  Have a wonderful holiday season and see you in 2012!

Living Wreaths

Longwood's conservatory had two beautiful living wreaths I had to share.  They are a bit of a challenge to make at home, but certainly not impossible. 

Above, a wreath with asparagus and maidenhair ferns and orchids.  This is pretty amazing.  Since these orchids are epiphytic, growing on a wreath structure makes perfect sense.  However, the wreath is HUGE - at least 5' diameter.  Scaling this down would be difficult, though possible if you could use smaller Oncidiums.

This here is a favorite of mine, and I don't know why it's not more popular with high-end florists.  It's a wreath made of herbs.  Specifically, parsley, thyme, oregano, rosemary and sage.  Kalanchoe plants provide the red "ribbons."

Though beautiful, I can't see this lasting more than a few weeks in the best conditions (i.e., high, high amounts of sunlight).  But still, what a great Thanksgiving gift to give to someone - a living herb garden/holiday wreath.  And of course, if you live in California or other Mediterranean climates, this would thrive outside!

Longwood Garden's Wildlife Tree

It's awful how little I've been blogging lately.  To be sure, a New Year's Resolution will be to keep on top of the blog!  Luckily for these last days leading up to Christmas, I have a few photos I snapped last January at Longwood Gardens.  Thankfully, I decided to hold on to them to post this year before Christmas, rather than last year after.

First up is this wonderful wildlife tree.  I think this is about the best craft activity school kids could do in the winter, and not just during the holidays.

The ornaments are made out of seed and dried fruit and cinnamon sticks.  They are tethered to the tree with biodegradable string.  Almost all of it is bird food.

They are also quite pretty.

Epimedium

I can't believe I have not blogged about Epimedium since May 2008.  I felt for sure I had touched on this plant since starting Planted Cloud.  In any case, I was in Dumbarton Oaks a few weeks ago and was struck once again at how lovely the fall color is on this herbaceous groundcover.

Back in 2008, I did touch on the medicinal history for Epimedium -- the common name is barrenwort, and it was presumed that ingesting this would help with impotence, thus solving the 'condition' of barrenness.

I'm not naming a species here, as there are over 60 in cultivation.  Most commonly however would be E. x rubrum.  Below is one such species in the spring.  You can see how strikingly different even the greens are among these two specimens in spring and fall.  Regardless of species, Epimedium usually has chartreuse new leaves that are somewhat soft in texture.  By autumn, the leaves become more leathery and darker green.

Puakahi, Oahu

On Halloween, I arrived in Honolulu for my two-week work/vacation.  My first night in Hawaii, I was fortunate enough to be a guest at the home of the local landscape architect with whom I was collaborating.  Despite the jetlag, the first order of business, upon arriving at his and his wife's home, was a quick tour of their garden, accompanied by their sweet dogs.

The site rambles down a hill on the north side of Oahu, and grass paths were terraced out of the slope.  

When the path changes direction or pitch, these intersections are punctuated with fountains, significant trees or other garden follies.

Since the grade descends behind the house, the bedrooms are on the ground floor and open out to the pool terrace.  Above, my wonderful hostess smiles out from the living/dining area balcony.

A small pool structure is perfect for a drink or a poolside meal.

Balinese columns support planters of orchids.

The view of the pool and the harbor beyond from the upper balcony.

This property is made available for rent for Hawaiian vacations or weddings,  You can find more information here: http://www.puakahi.com

Holiday Wreaths '11

Last year, I posted a how-to on wreathmaking. I know for a fact that at least two people read that post, because this year my mom and my sister asked me for help making their own wreaths.  So the Tuesday before Thanksgiving we got together for a little craft party.

I bought all the goods from Michael's crafts, with these requests: My sister wanted to do something unconventional, with non traditional holiday colors. My mom wanted a boxwood wreath (using boxwood cuttings from her garden).  I wasn't sure what I was going to make.

I saw the above for sale at Michael's and liked the idea of it; I decided to use that as a guide, only I'd scale back the....bling.  I bought fake lemons for my mom and pink and blue Christmas balls for my sister. And I bought wine.  Beaujolais Nouveau in fact. (For the record, the food was tasty too - whole wheat pasta in a butternut squash sauce with toasted walnuts and a salad of shaved Brussel sprouts with pecorino and toasted walnuts).

Above, mom gets started with wire, boxwood and wreath frame.

While Tina starts plotting out placement of ornaments on her foam wreath, using toothpicks to do preliminary placement.

Meanwhile, I took a grapevine wreath and painted it with silver shimmer spraypaint.

Tina's progressed beautifully, though I underestimated how many ornaments we'd need.

Mom's placing an "H" ornament of silver bells on the wreath.

Tina's finished wreath is above - it's Katy Perry's dream wreath, candy colored and fun.

Mom's is above -- very traditional, though I like the off center placement of the bow wrapped around cinnamon sticks.

And mine, above.  It really doesn't photograph well, but not counting drying time for paint, it took about ten minutes to make.

It's simply a grapevine wreath, with silver and red "berries" wired into it.  I would have added more gilt perhaps, but in person it's quite nice.

Long Bridge Park, Part II

Last May, I wrote a post about a construction field trip I took of Long Bridge Park in Arlington, Virginia.  Then in July, a reader submitted a photo of the construction's progress.  Well shame on that reader, for not sending some finished photos of phase I!  (Just kidding -- I know you've been busy!) 

 

Last Sunday, I finally went for a run through the park on what was a somewhat gray, dreary day. Above is a view from the southern entrance of the park.

Along the promenade, large concrete "benches" occur, though they aren't particularly inviting to me.  Concrete stays damp for so long, they aren't very usable in wet weather, plus they are a little...blocky or monolithic looking.  Though no doubt, the budget was friendly!

To the left of the promenade, a large stair leads to the sports fields.

While to the right of the promenade, people are actively enjoying views of the water and Reagan Airport.

Further down the promenade, a look to the left shows the rain garden.  I'm looking forward to seeing the plants in the summer.

While little kids happily look to the right at the passing train.

Another shot of the rain garden.

Finally, above, lighting at the sports fields.

Elaeagnus pungens

Last week, I gave my students a tour of Dumbarton Oaks, so we could catch the last of autumn color and see what was otherwise notable in the gardens. We were passing the shrub below with little interest until we were almost knocked over by the fragrance.

The fragrance was a touch more pungent than a gardenia, and incredibly strong.  I recognized the smell right away as an Elaeagnus.  This particular species is appropriately named Elaeagnus pungens. It's a large spreading evergreen shrub with rough scratchy green leaves and brown stems (the stems are worth noting since - as you can see in the above pic - it does muddy up the overall color of the plant).  The undersides of the leaves are silver with the occasional brown scale.

This time of year the plant is teeming with small tubular white flowers - the source of the fragrance.  The flowers are very easy to miss, were it not for their scent (and on an evolutionary angle, that makes sense - the fragrance is key in drawing in pollinators when the flowers are relatively unremarkable).

In April, cherry like drupes occur on the plant in modest quantities - they are easy to miss, though the birds usually find them.  Native to Japan, this plant is not as invasive as its cousins, E. umellata and E. angustifolia.

Washington Monument Ideas Competition

In case you missed it in the the paper this weekend, the Washington Post published results of the finalists for the Washington Monument Ideas Competition.  You can read about the submissions here and vote on the submissions here.

Na Pali Coast, Kauai

As I mentioned last week, after my work in Lanai wrapped up, I visited Kauai for four days and three nights.  Kauai is the oldest of the Hawaiian islands and thus the greenest.  In fact, it's called the garden island.  A stark change from the dry climate of Lanai and the Big Island,  Kauai typically receives rainfall and is inhabited by lush landscapes.  And by feral chickens.  Seriously, so many chickens. I have yet to see 'The Descendants' - appearing in theaters now - but I will be sorely disappointed if chickens don't have as much screen time as George Clooney.  (Obviously, George Clooney is a better screen presence - the chickens are just a great realistic detail to include.) 

Anyhoo. Speaking of movies, perhaps on a long shot, you saw 'A Perfect Getaway' with Timothy Olyphant, Mila Jovovich and Steve Zahn?  It's one of those action-y, suspense movies you could kinda watch for the third or fifth time on a lazy Saturday morning.  No chickens, but the Na Pali coast is featured pretty faithfully.  Which brings me to today's post.  (Finally.)

Na Pali Coast State Park is a 6000+ acre piece of land on the north shore of Kauai.  One of the most popular hikes is a 4 mile (round trip) hike to Hanakapi'ai beach. As you can see from the above pic, the hike is at times very, very muddy.  I felt badly for those without hiking boots, especially people who were absolutely destroying their bright white running shoes.  (But then again, a hike like this is well worth $100 or $150!).

The beach is only accessible by foot or boat and is devastatingly beautiful.

This hike was so much fun.  It was challenging, between the mud and some rocky areas, you do have to be somewhat mindful of where your foot lands.  Because of the level of difficulty, if you start up early enough in the morning (easy for those of us with jetlag), the trail isn't too crowded.

I think I'll be putting together a top five list about Hawaii before the year is out.  This hike is definitely on that list.

New Pics from the Honolulu Moderne, nee Edition Waikiki

Last year, I was able to work (at Deborah Nevins Associates, with Ian Schrager Company and Yabu Pushelberg) on the Edition: Waikiki hotel in Honolulu.  I spent about four weeks on site doing construction administration, which was an absolutely (stressful) great time.

Last week I got to revisit the site (now operated as an Aqua property.  That's a long story.), and see how the design is faring.  I was delighted to see everything looking good.

The Alexander Palms (Archontophoenix alexandre) look great, as does the beach morning glory near the pool (we originally used plumbago, which didn't handle the chlorine spray well). 

On the lower pool deck, the autograph trees (Clusia rosea) are faring beautifully, despite relatively petite planters.  The maintenance team will need to regularly root prune them now, however.

It was so fun to have a Mai Tai on the pool deck that I first saw as a raw concrete slab with CMU block planters.  The shot below is during tree placement in April 2010.

This is the same view from last week. 

Seriously - what a fun job it is to be a landscape architect!