 |
  | |
Plant Life By Valerie Easton
ClippingsFrom old favorites to new fascinations, we survey the landscape
Flora and Fauna finds new digs After 20 years in Pioneer Square, Flora and Fauna Books was booted out to make room for a video shop. If you have gazed as mournfully as I have into shop windows barren of enticing plant and animal books, take heart. David Hutchinson has moved his stock of quality new books — including field guides, keys and design books — to a new location. You can find Flora and Fauna Books at 3121 W. Government Way, three blocks from the East (main) entry to Discovery Park. Call the shop at 206-623-4727 for hours and directions. Praise for an endangered landmark The E.B. Dunn Gardens, designed by the famed Olmsted Brothers, is keeping pretty impressive company. The June/July issue of Garden Design magazine included this North Seattle landmark among 18 gardens they call "masterworks . . . worth visiting, studying and preserving for future generations." All, they emphasize, "are at risk and need our attention." Specific threats to the Dunn Gardens include subdivision and the aging of its eastern hardwoods and Douglas firs. The garden is open by appointment. To visit or learn how you can help, see www.dunngardens.org or call 206-362-0933. Hail the heat-loving heuchera My new favorite plant keeps its looks all winter long. Heuchera 'Caramel' is the first of these ultimate foliage plants that truly thrives in a full-sun location. I've planted a bunch alongside a terrace where their butterscotch-colored leaves look great against dark gray pavers. They came through late summer without a tatter and are still going strong at the end of the year. In and out for 2007 On the cusp of the new year, trend-spotting from the Garden Media Group brings us up to date on what's cool and what's not. The "in" list includes 24-hour gardens rather than daytime-only gardens and streamlined gardens in place of shabby-chic ones. Other items of note on the "in" list are a focus on foliage, oversized accents, fancy plants and designer veggies. What distinguishes "fancy" plants from basic plants? Grace Romero, plant expert at the displaced Heronswood Nursery, explains, "The new trend toward luxury plants seems to be following the vein of collecting rare wine or fast cars." The media group also predicts that "multitasking gardens" — ones that, for example, integrate ornamental and edible plants — will be "huge" this season. Why? Because, the report says, "People don't want just to work in their gardens, they want their gardens to work for them." For the complete 2007 trends report, see www.gardenmediagroup.com.
Hope and help for the real Heronswood What's happening with Heronswood is still the buzz six months after owner George Ball pulled the plug on the world-popular Kingston nursery. The idea of this Northwest treasure operating out of Pennsylvania strikes most of us as ludicrous. While Ball has tried marketing a "Heronswood Hydrangea Open" 3,000 miles away from the famed woodland garden, my guess is that most people just don't buy it — any more than they'll buy the plants. The nonprofit Pacific Northwest Horticultural Conservancy has formed with the goal of purchasing the old Heronswood Nursery property in order to preserve the plant collections. In October, chairperson Lee Neff and Richie Steffen from the Miller Botanical Garden met with Ball in Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, his asking price (rumored to have dropped to $9.9 million) is still far above a sensible or possible price. Still, Neff is heartened by the lack of offers for the property. The conservancy board is working on a fund-raising strategy and will continue to talk with Kitsap County about the requirements of running a horticultural-research-and-education center on the site. Check the conservancy Web site (www.weloveplants.org) for updates. Meanwhile, Heronswood founders Dan Hinkley and Robert Jones aren't languishing. Jones has returned to his profession of architecture and is designing houses. Hinkley is writing books, consulting and collecting — most recently on a trip to Vietnam for the Miller Botanical Garden. You can keep up with their doings at www.danieljhinkley.com. Valerie Easton is a Seattle freelance writer. Her e-mail address is valeaston@comcast.net.
|
|
PREV
Back to top