Chanticleer’s Cutting Edge

As most of you know by now, my favorite public garden on the East Coast (or in the continental US, for that matter) is Chanticleer Garden, in Wayne, Pennsylvania. I’m looking forward to this fall’s annual pilgrimage to the Master Garden Photography Workshop there in early October.

One of the many delightful aspects of the garden is its inspired use of cut flowers in (among other places) its public restrooms. Over the last couple of years, whenever I’ve visited, I’ve shot images both of the current “bouquets” in those areas as well as from the Cutting Garden itself. Here’s a sampling of the combinations I’ve found throughout the garden.

Let’s start with a ‘vignette’ of masterfully chosen perennials which begged to be photographed as well as serving as fodder for bouquets: sunflowers, liatris, lilies, and goodness knows what else:

An enormous sunflower anchors a gorgeous combination of summer flowers in the Cutting Garden at Chanticleer in July 2010. I like this image so much I've framed it and hung it in my own home.

Other summer shots from the cutting garden, cropped for effect in some cases:

An image from the Cutting Garden in August 2010

Ditto.

Lilies, rudbeckia, and other annuals in the Cutting Garden in August 2010.

And now, the masterpieces created from the Cutting Garden. Please note (ahem) that at least one of these photos was shot in the men’s restroom (albeit before the garden opened to the public).

The restrooms at Chanticleer always have amazing cut flower bouquets at the washbasins.

In the other bathroom.

A late summer/early fall arrangement.

And visitors are always greeted with astonishingly beautifully arranged cut flowers in the outdoor visitors’ gazebo.

Gorgeous. What else can I say?

Chanticleer is open until the end of October. If you’re in the area, or within an easy drive, don’t miss it.

Garden Shoots will be on hiatus until early September.
See you in the fall!

Seeing the Garden in Black and White

Recently a client asked me to photograph his wife’s garden for the purpose of surprising her with a few prints of it. Since this is the direction in which  I would like to head my efforts as I contemplate retiring from landscape design work, I was only too happy to oblige.

The garden (designed by his wife) is lovely, a shady paradise less than a block away from me. But after I processed about a dozen images for possible prints, he asked if I could convert some of them into black and white or sepia. I’d never done this before, and was skeptical. But what I found as I experimented with the images from their garden and others I’ve shot in the last couple of years opened my eyes to a new way of thinking about photographing gardens.

Here are two photos from a recent garden shoot (different garden), first the color and then the black and white version.

Epimediums and ferns in an early spring garden image.

Rendered in black and white, the image is more about shapes and textures.

Here’s another pair, from the same garden, with more contrast in the tonal range this time.

Euphorbia and an unidentified broadleaved perennial (cimicifuga?) offer contrast in color, shape and texture.

Greater dark and light variation in this image makes it more dramatic as a black and white photo than the previous example, I think. But somehow I like the ferns and epimedium shot more.

The last set from this garden is probably my favorite.

The client had asked for some photos of the variegated ginger, a slow-growing but spectacular groundcover for shade.

The same image converted to black and white.

This project sent me searching back through older images for some I could experiment on. Here’s a shot from last summer’s trip to Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens, not featured in my post on “The Luminous Lotus.”

A partially-opened lotus flower shot at Kenilworth Gardens in Washington DC last summer.

Ever so much more appealing, I think, in the black and white version – which surprised me.

The same image in black and white.

In the second image, the veins on the lotus petals stand out more and the whole flower seems to float against a darker background – and the water drops on the leaf behind the flower really shine.

I’ll close with a hybrid – an image originally taken in color (as all of these were), converted to black and white in Silver Efex Pro, and then the underlying color layer ‘revealed’ through the use of a layer mask.

A red azalea against a wooden fence and live oak covered with Spanish moss at Magnolia Plantation in Charleston SC

A black and white version of the same image. Without the azalea in color, this would look dull. Trust me.

I vacillate between liking this final image and thinking it looks too gimmicky. But I thought I would include it because it shows something a little different from straight color and straight black and white.

Silver Efex Pro (now available in an upgraded version, which I don’t own) is a versatile program that can be used as a stand-alone or integrated into Lightroom and Photoshop. It offers more variants than you can imagine in terms of different “looks” for black and white images, including sepia, infrared, and a variety of custom effects you can create yourself. For what I do, I don’t envision using it more than occasionally, but I found it easy to use and more flexible than the black and white options available in Lightroom.

Crape Myrtles for Everyman

It is that time of year when wherever you look, crape myrtles are strutting their stuff. I’ve been known to favor them in certain design situations – when clients request them (assuming they have enough sun), when I want a tree whose size can be kept in check, and when I want four-season interest in a sunny site with no irrigation.

A trio of white 'Natchez' crape myrtle trees frame the entry walk to this house in Chevy Chase.

While ‘Natchez,’ which bears white blooms, is my personal favorite, one of my favorite instructors in my landscape design course used to say, “What’s the point of having a tree that flowers in summer when everything else is past bloom, if you can’t have COLOR?”

A pink crape myrtle, possibly 'Tuscarora'

Recently, however, I’ve been noticing how commonly these trees are used in commercial or public spaces, for screening or to provide a colorful setting for seating areas. Here is an “allee” of ‘Natchez’ crape myrtles lining a pedestrian/biking path in downtown Bethesda, Maryland.

A row of Natchez crape myrtles screens a parking lot from a bike path in suburban Maryland.

On my trip home last weekend from our local Giant grocery store in Silver Spring, I saw crape myrtles used in three different ways. One was lining the sidewalk in planter squares along two rows of restaurants, coffee shops and dry cleaning establishments. Anchoring this ‘allee’ were two other groupings. One was by some outdoor tables at a Caribou Coffee shop, screening patrons’ views of the busy street beyond.

Pink crape myrtles (cultivar unknown) provide a welcome screen for outdoor dining tables in busy downtown Silver Spring, MD

Across from it was this trio of beauties, surrounded by some Knockout roses and striped zebra grass, neither of which seemed to be performing as well as the crape myrtles.

Dark pink crape myrtles in a shopping center in Silver Spring.

The actual blossoms were a bit lighter than this picture shows (the trees were in full shadow at this point). But they were definitely a hot pink, as opposed to the lighter lavender-pink of the ones across the way at the coffee shop. Which led me to wonder why whoever designed these areas had chosen different cultivars, and ones that arguably clash in terms of their colors?

And even closer to home, here’s a small pedestrian island at a busy intersection that I see on my way to work most mornings.

A deep pink-purple crape myrtle in a small pedestrian island on the border between Washington, DC and Chevy Chase MD. Note the matching-colored phlox in the foreground!

I understand why these trees are popular. The many varieties developed at the National Arboretum over the years, named for various Native American tribes, are mildew-resistant and offer interest in all four seasons. They bloom at a time (late summer) when other parts of the garden may be past their prime; they thrive on hot weather and are drought-resistant, once established; they have great fall color

Fall foliage on crape myrtles is spectacular.

and exfoliating bark. Their down sides are few: the blossoms are messy when they fall, requiring diligence if you plant them near a patio or other hard surface; and they need to be planted (at least in this area) no later than the end of October (and even that is pushing it).

The Arboretum has a separate section where they trial these trees, and includes them also among the plantings in the Gotelli Collection, where they work surprisingly well. Here’s Lagerstroemia ‘Osage,’ photographed at the Arboretum several years ago,

An 'Osage" crape myrtle in bloom.

and a shot of its gorgeous exfoliating bark.

Exfoliating bark makes crape myrtles truly wonderful four-season trees.

I suppose their low-maintenance nature, and the ability to choose among cultivars ranging from shrub size to 20-30′ (‘Natchez’ and a few of the other varieties) is what accounts for their apparent increasing popularity outside of residential landscapes. I’d be interested to know if any readers in Zones 7 and warmer (where these trees are hardy) see them often outside of home gardens.

For more information on the care of Lagerstroemia, visit this part of the National Arboretum’s website.

Fourth of July Garden Furnishings

Over the Fourth of July weekend, I found myself in the vicinity of the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, spending time with a friend exploring little towns in Shenandoah County. We stumbled on a cute little store in Mt. Jackson, Virginia called Wetlands Trading Company. “Ponds, Carpentry, Landscaping,” reads their business card, and “Garden/Gift Shop, stone, Mulch, Pond Supplies.” In other words, something for everyone.

So this week, no in-depth look at plants, just some fun ideas you might like for your own garden. Enjoy!

The sun shines brightly on visitors to Wetlands Trading Company in Mt. Jackson, VA

Half-headed water feature at WTC

A tilted birdhouse and weathered peacock “sculpture” with Miscanthus in the outdoor area.

Indoor mermaids and seahorses add more whimsy to the store.

These eye-catching sun decorations come with blue or gold faces.

Three rabbit figurines greeting visitors – one with crooked sunglasses.

Sunglasses seemed to be a popular accessory for many of the wooden figures.