Magnolia Plantation and Cemetery

Our Charleston workshop began on a chilly, damp day at Magnolia Plantation, a short ride from our hotel. We were there when the gates opened at 8 am. Unlike my last visit, the cold spring weather had delayed blooms on most of the azaleas. So we set out to find other scenes to capture.

The “plantation” building at Magnolia Plantation, seen from a distance, with a borrowed 70-200mm f/2.8 lens. Thanks, Alan!

As you can see, most of the deciduous trees hadn’t broken bud yet. The exceptions were some wonderful crabapples (I think), like those barely visible on the left side of the photo above. Behind the plantation, tucked away in a hidden nook, I found some others.

A fall of crabapple blossoms, in two colors, behind Magnolia Plantation

Azaleas were just starting to bloom.

Pink azaleas were among the few in bloom at Magnolia Plantation

The Oak Allee at Magnolia Plantation, with the single azalea in bloom I could find near it.

Fire-engine-red azaleas begged to be photographed, so I obliged.

Later that week, we visited another destination with ‘Magnolia’ in its name – Magnolia Cemetery. Some of the graves date back to the 1700′s, and the general feeling is one of mystery (aided by the huge live oaks dripping in Spanish moss). Some of my fellow workshop members broke out their infrared cameras once the sun got high; not having one, I tried to stick to less sunny areas but the light was tough.

A quiet dirt path leading through the cemetery

The ironwork around the gravesites was intricate and impressive. Rusted, too.

Beautiful rusted ironwork surrounded the gravesites of Confederate soldiers at Magnolia Cemetery.

But my favorite image is probably this one, with the river in the background and a mysterious stone obelisk anchoring the right side of the photo, balancing the graves to the left.

Early morning sun illuminates the surroundings at Magnolia Cemetery.

For more of Magnolia Plantation, visit my 2010 post, Charleston Redux – Magnolia Plantation.

Small Treasures in Charleston

Part of the “skyline” of downtown Charleston not far from Battery Park and Rainbow Row.

Time to visit Charleston – at least as I saw it in mid-March this year. This city is truly a photographer’s paradise in terms of the diverse subject matters there are to explore and try to capture with your lens(es).

Although I first visited this area in 2009, this workshop exposed me to so much I had not seen before. And this time I was using a new camera, bought only two weeks beforehand, a Nikon D600. Shooting full-frame at last, and with images captured at 24 MB each, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Fortunately, I wasn’t disappointed – the D600 is a champ! Aside from needing to clean some dust spots off the sensor one night (in my hotel room, under controlled conditions, thankfully), I was really impressed by the detail it captured.

One of the afternoons (and one morning) were spent wandering around downtown Charleston on our own. Most of the houses are townhouse style and sit right on the sidewalk. So the homeowners seem to take pride in dressing up their windows with beautifully-planted containers. Even in relatively chilly conditions, the plants seemed to be doing just fine, and brightened up the scene quite a bit.

A window box on a townhouse near Rainbow Row

Another window box, immaculately kept.

Even businesses “dress up” their window boxes.

This image was one of my favorites, not so much for the flowers as the overall ensemble.

The shutters and door colors match, but the anchor on the wall makes this image. At upper left, a crape myrtle that has yet to leaf out adds an air of mystery.

Charlestonians who live downtown have small gardens that are not unlike those here in Georgetown. They may be postage-stamp-sized but quite glorious. In spring each year, the city holds a “Festival of Houses and Gardens,” which allows entry into some of these wonders. And this year, for the first time, The Garden Conservancy held an Open Days event which included a baker’s dozen of what are surely fabulous gardens, on May 25th.

I had to be content with small glimpses into some courtyard gardens, which were lovely indeed.

A carefully and beautifully-designed courtyard garden visible from the street in downtown Charleston. Captured with Camera+ by my iPhone5 and processed in Photoshop.

Part of a small Charleston garden, visible through a gate.

Another peek into a courtyard garden.

Crabapples in bloom in a side garden.

That’s it for this post. Next time – a visit to two “Magnolia” locations: Magnolia Plantation and Magnolia Cemetery.

Glowing Embers – A Winning Japanese Maple for Sun

As many readers know, a couple of years ago I had to take down a gorgeous crabapple tree in my front yard that was failing. And because I also had lost a 90-foot beech tree shortly before, on the other side of the front yard, the site had turned from shade to fiercely sunny.

In considering what to plant to replace the crabapple, I did some research and settled on a Japanese maple called ‘Glowing Embers.’  Usually you don’t plant Japanese maples in full sun – they prefer dappled shade. But this one is different – it takes full sun and high heat, and is a vigorous grower to boot. Developed by Dr. Michael Dirr, the dean of woody plants, ‘Glowing Embers’ received the Georgia Gold Medal Winner award in 2005. Ultimately it will reach 20-25′ high, a bit smaller than my crabapple was, but it will help provide shade to the eastern side of the house.

I planted it in November 2011, when all I could see to appreciate was its bark, which in winter has kind of a reddish cast to the branches, something I haven’t read about in online descriptions.

Taken with my iPhone, this image of the tree with its branches tied up on its way to the planting hole shows a reddish tint to the bark.

I’ve even had one designer colleague ask me if this was a ‘Sango Kaku’ maple, which are noted for their red branches. It’s not that intense, but it’s pretty impressive.

I loved the shape of my tree in winter, and took this image of it during a light snowfall.

‘Glowing Embers’ in snow.

In spring and summer, this tree has lovely light green leaves (a choice I favored because my house is red brick and I wanted it to stand out against that background).

A close up of the leaves as the little “whirlybirds” (oops, technically that’s “samaras” to us plant geeks ) start to appear. (iPhone 5 photo)

Acer palmatum ‘Glowing Embers’  last spring. I gave it extra water during the summer.

But it was in the fall that I fully appreciated ‘Glowing Embers’. The leaves can turn a variety of shades on the same tree, which explains how it got its name. And from tree to tree, it can take on a different aspect. Here are two photos, one from my specimen and another from a ‘Glowing Embers’ planted in a client’s garden.

A close-up of the leaves on my tree as they started to turn.

A ‘Glowing Embers’ planted in a landscape client’s garden, showing a slightly different range of colors on the leaves in autumn. Some of the reddish leaves had a purple tone to them.

What will the future bring? I’ll close with an image provided courtesy of the Georgia Botanical Gardens, of a mature ‘Glowing Embers’ in the fall at its Callaway Building.

© Contributors to
The State Botanical Garden of Georgia, 2007

I have no idea how long mine will take to get this large, but I hope it will be while I still call Thornapple Street my home.

An Artist Down the Road

In early March, the day of our “kick-off” meeting of all the crews and staff at Landscape Projects’ Poolesville, MD location, the other designers and I took a small road trip. Two miles away from our company’s physical plant, in Beallsville, sits Alden Farms, a local annuals-and-perennials garden center that happens to be owned by an accomplished sculptor.

David Therriault, the sculptor/gardener/entrepreneur in question, has been working with various kinds of “found” stone and metal for a number of years. What I loved about his work was its variety and how he combines different materials into a beautiful, cohesive work of art. Some of them are stand-alone sculptures of different sizes; some are water features. I saw at least a dozen I could envision incorporating into a garden.

If you’d like to contact David about his work, he can be reached via the Alden Farms website. If you live in the Montgomery County area, it’s worth a trip. But don’t be surprised if some of these works are gone when you visit, because I’m planning to take a client there soon, and she has a very large garden.

One of the water feature sculptures at Alden Farms

This piece, called “Shell,” could be used indoors or outdoors.

The stone used here is sandstone, etched with a beautiful design.

Some of the delightfully whimsical items available for sale at Alden Farms are by other artists.

One of my favorite works, this piece has metal insets and two different kinds of stone.

A detail from another water feature.

Inside David’s studio, this work caught my eye.

Another sandstone piece with a “yin-yang” flavor.