Pure Bliss at Dumbarton Oaks

Tucked into a quiet Georgetown residential neighborhood in Washington DC is Dunbarton Oaks, the home and gardens of the late Robert and Mildred Bliss. It was the gardens that I sought on a visit last week to recharge my batteries after a rather harsh first winter in New Hampshire.

Originally part of a land grant by Queen Anne in 1702, Mr. and Mrs. Bliss, purchased the estate in 1920, remodeled the 1800 era home and called it Dumbarton Oaks from the original Rock of Dumbarton land grant and the mighty oaks on the property.

Begining in 1921, Mildred Bliss began working with noted Landscape Gardener (as she preferred to be called) Beatrix Farrand for over 20 years to design the hillside garden retreat. Both women were well traveled and brought a European flair to the garden ‘rooms’ of Dunbarton Oak.

Strolling along the walks and through the terraced gardens with a sister from California and a brother and wife from Richmond, I felt I could have been touring Italian or English gardens filled with perennials, enclosed by high and low stone or brick walls, spring flowering trees, shrubs, vines and adorned with water features, fountains, seating areas, iron gates, urns, finials and vases.

We began our adventure at the Arbor Terrace where a reflecting pool and an ancient wisteria with purple blooms dripping through a teak pergola framed a billowing cloud of chicken wire holding thousands of lead-crystal pendants. My California sister had expressly chosen this garden because of the “Cloud Terrace” display, the third in a series of temporary art exhibits by environmental artists. I must admit it was alive with movement, color, light, and sound. We sat beneath the wisteria pergola and watched as the sun appeared and disappeared and breezes moved the 10,000 crystals. A variety of colors twinkled and sparkled in the cloud and water.  Yes, we were awed by this work of art and were happy to be able to see it as it will be removed soon.

I loved seeing the stone and brick steps and pathways adored with pink from crabapple, cherry, and magnolia tree blossoms. It was as if little flower girls had sprinkled them for a bride who will soon approach her groom in this spiritual place.

Our timing was perfect to witness the splendor of blooming Japanese Wisteria that tumbled over walls throughout the different garden areas. It was breathtaking.

The Pebble Garden, a wonderful pebble mosaic sort of brought out the kid in me, enticed me to explore every curve and design. This was a later garden design, changing Farrand’s original design as the tennis court area.

Pathways ushered us from one garden room to the next. The Prunus Walk overlooked The Kitchen Gardens with attractive garden houses with terracotta tile roofs. Admiring the space, I thought of Thomas Jefferson who would have enjoyed exploring the vegetation in this garden.

The Prunus Walk of flowering plums stretched from the Herbaceous Borders to Cherry Hill. Beneath the trees grew a healthy groundcover of my favorite pink and yellow Epimedium.

Very Virginia, I felt at home on The Box Walk that took us gently down a 40-foot drop.

Walkways made from brick and stone designs continued around the estate leading us to various seemingly secret gardens.

We were happy to see that blooms seemed to be the theme on this warm spring day but I could tell that this was a garden for all seasons.

Just past peak blooms was Forsythia Dell, which must have looked like butter with an acre of happy forsythia melting down a acre of a hillside. Pathways led inside and above inviting visitors to discover a small terrace and seating.

Beautiful benches and seating areas were plentiful in almost every garden.

The Ellipse, a more formal garden containing an antique Provençal fountain surrounded by double rows of American Hornbeans, equally spaced and pleached to 16′ tall, invited us to explore.

Sculptor Patrick Dougherty’s “Easy Rider” stick creations gives movement to this peaceful but static garden space. This was fun for my California sister as she had played in one of Dougherty’s sculptures on a visit to Maui.

I love this: A private pool and terrace for employees and volunteers ONLY. How cool.

I hated to leave Dumbarton Oaks but it was approaching closing time. We exited the way we entered, along the drive on the East Lawn with the impressive spreading Katsura tree  (Cercidphyllum japonicum), planted in the 1800′s. Batteries recharged, we left with big smiles and appetites.

Any visitor to Washington DC who appreciates garden design is certain to enjoy the exquisite gardens of Dunbarton Oaks. It is 10-acres of pure Bliss.

There’s a new seedling in the garden!

A week ago,we were blessed with a new seedling in the family garden… a healthy new grandson. This tiny little sprout has drawn me away from my regular duties of gardening, blogging, etc. to spreading a bit of assistance wherever it’s needed for my daughter and her now family of three.

Before we know it, he’ll be stomping through mud puddles and trying to pull the dog’s tail, however, I’m truly looking forward to teaching another little one the joys and benefits of gardening and doing one’s duty in caring for this earth. I hope we can plant a ‘baby tree’ soon to grow with this little one the way my parents did for us. My siblings and I recently visited the Warwick (now Newport News) VA home where we were raised and the fully grown trees were a testament to our ages!

“A garden of love grows in a grandmother’s heart.”  Author Unknown

Wordless Wednesday

Excited being able to grow lupine! They did not like my Virginia gardens.

A Touch of Eden

Just about a mile from where we live, there are several large greenhouses on the UNH campus that are used in the agriculture, horticulture, and science departments for classrooms, research projects, breeding, Integrated Pest Management, organic gardening, sustainability studies and more. When I read they were opening the greenhouses to the community last week, we jumped at the opportunity to tour them, learn from professors and master gardeners, plus get a little break from the late winter bleakness.

Yes, there were crowds. We wandered and squeezed around people through the several greenhouses that were all connected to one building where educators, students, master gardeners were set up to answer questions or tell a little about the plants, the greenhouses and how they were managed. There were greenhouses devoted to annuals, some perennials, to crops, to herbs, to exotics and some where only students and staff were allowed entrance.

Hallways were arranged with attractive display gardens… pots, wall hangings, vertical gardens, tulip landscapes and horticulture students like Zack (below), tired from a late night getting ready for the open house, but ready to answer questions.

Zach yawned a bit but he was ready to chat...

We realized that some greenhouse had lots of healthy tomato plants and herbs for sale… CHEAP… and folks were buying and buying.

Other greenhouses held succulents, gorgeous exotics, and all those carnivorous pitcher plants, and orchids, some labeled, others not. There were ferns, a small pond, bananas, oranges… Pinch myself.  Is this Eden?

Flamboyant pitcher traps (Sarracenia levocphylla)

Another pitcher plant (Nepenthes x ventrata) from the Philippines

Orchids galore! (Paphiopedilum insigne)

Pitcher Plant with little bugs inside

Flamingo Flower or Boy Flower (Anthurium scherzerian)

Venus Fly Trap (Dionaea muscipula)

The melon greenhouse was filled with a variety of plants, all grown vertically. Fruits were supported in little hammocks. What a great idea!

And yes, like many others, we did succumb to the lure of healthy, large herb plants.  So we left after an hour and a half with a Tiny Tim tomato plant and some dill…. all for a good cause to raise funds for a trip for the students, we were told.

Now to keep them healthy until May 20 when the last frost is over in these parts…..

Forsythia in bloom…

Plenty of people I know look down their noses at forsythia. I admit that I once dug up and discarded a lovely forsythia shrub because I was influenced by negative opinion from a more experienced gardener. But I’m more confident now and I plant what makes me smile and forsythia really makes me smile. It brings back memories of my childhood, the full, naturally arching boughs that invited playtime beneath the branches.  It’s just beginning to bloom in this yard and although someone has pruned it into a sad light bulb shape, those tiny yellow blooms still capture the magic of spring.

They fibbed….

My grandfather loved roses. He grew beautiful prize-winning roses. My mother, a knowledgeable gardener, followed suit and grew roses for pleasure. But NEVER, EVER did I want a rose garden. I witnessed the time it took my mother to tend to her roses, examining leaves for fungus or insects, pruning, deadheading, picking off the Japanese beetles and plunking them into soapy water. (She never knew that when she walked away I dumped them out and rinsed them with the hose. Playing with Japanese beetles was great entertainment for a youngster with no TV, video games or smart phones in the late 50′s)

Years ago, a landscape designer friend opened the back of her car and unloaded 3 healthy red single Knock Out roses (Rosa x ‘Knock Out’) for me. “You must have these,” she said. “Disease resistant, insect resistant, no deadheading, no pruning, blooms all summer….  Carefree!”  I was grateful and appreciative but I was a little reluctant and wary. Carefree, indeed….

Carefree and continuous blooming were the two thoughts that stayed with me as I planted the three rose bushes center stage in my sunniest garden. The instructions read, “….compact plant, 3-4 feet tall and wide.”  I played it safe and planted a little further apart, two side by side and one slightly angled behind.

That was that. For two years, they were true to form. They did bloom heavily from June to Thanksgiving or until a killing frost. The shape of the shrub was naturally round. I never deadheaded. I never pruned. Japanese beetles visited occasionally but did not swarm. No black spot. No mildew. No aphids. I got compliments. I beamed. Eventually this became my new ‘Red Garden.’

Just as the directions read, they reached 3 feet tall after a year, then 4 feet tall the next summer, but they continued to grow…. 5 feet, 6 feet, 7, 8, 9, 10 feet tall. Eventually two grew together appearing as one massive bush. They have withstood hurricanes, salt water spray, Nor’easters, and an earthquake, and they’re still growing. I do not prune. I do not spray. I do not deadhead and I don’t fertilize.

They ‘fibbed’ about the 4 foot height but it’s all good: It is a favorite hangout for birds in the garden; I have lovely cut flowers from June to Thanksgiving; they provide great curb appeal as people point and ask about them before getting out of their cars; and this summer they provided a profusion of blooms as a backdrop for a wedding reception and photographs.

K.I.S.S. in the garden. What more could a gardener want?

Ann Hohenberger, The Garden Club of Gloucester

A Hot Spot in the Garden

It’s been just over a year since we experienced a severe heat wave in Tidewater when temperatures topped 106˚ for several days in a row.  I survived only because I could escape to the comfort of the home but the garden suffered greatly. Water wasn’t enough to help in some cases. The worst casualty was a section of a bed of juniper (Juniperus c. ‘Blue Pacific‘) that endured the baking sun from sunrise to sunset.

Since I did not want to subject more junipers to this less than ideal location in the garden, I looked around for something else to fill the hot and dry bare spots. Sedum! Of course! Most sedums love the sun and will tolerate our coastal exposure. There are about 400 different species of sedum out there to choose from but I was attracted to Sedum ‘Gold Mound’ with its bright green needle-like foliage. It’s a low growing spreading sedum that will fill spaces around rocks or garden objects with soft mounds.

Gold Mound grows to about 8-10 inches tall and is relatively pest and disease free. This summer it spread gracefully around rocks, mingled beautifully with tuffs of grasses and has integrated with the surviving juniper creating contrasting shades of green. By the end of the summer, the sedum had snuggled into almost every crevice and was a focal point in this little garden. Garden objects and large rocks brought from other borders around the yard found their way to these bright green mounds, the happiest of whom is Peter who stands tall over the sedum welcoming visitors to the garden.

Peter

Ann Hohenberger, The Garden Club of Gloucester

It’s a small, small, small world…

I have a few aphids on some of my beautiful Shasta daisies (Leucanthemum ‘Becky‘), daisies that have flowered profusely throughout the summer. I know aphids can overtake and cause havoc in the bed of daisies but I needed to know how much of a problem I had.

Shasta daisies

Insects buzzed and circled around my head yesterday as I knelt to check out the aphids that traveled along stems beneath the blooms. These insects will suck the sap out of leaves, tender stems and the flowers, and they will transmit diseases like fungus and mold. I saw no signs of wilting leaves or buds. And I saw very few aphids. Now the question, “Should I treat these flowers with an insecticide?” That’s a question that every gardener faces when insect pests invade their gardens. Insecticides would certainly take care of the aphids, but….

… what damage would the insecticide do? The answer to that question comes by observing your garden. There is a small world of insects living there, good ones and pests. Insecticides will kill all insects, benign insects as well as insects that are the natural predators of pests such as ladybugs, praying mantis, assassin bugs, spiders and more.  Let’s take a closer look at the small world around these daisies.

Hover Fly - click photo

The hover fly is a common fly in our area. It gets its name from their ability to hover in midair, then dart here and there, sometimes backwards. The adult does not sting and feeds on pollen and nectar and they are important pollinators but their larvae are very important predators of aphids, thrips, and other caterpillars. These are excellent insects for the garden. Insecticides would eliminate them.

Green Bottle Fly - click

The green bottle fly (Lucilia sericata), also called a blowfly, is a scavenger of all things decomposing and will lay eggs in carrion, thus cleaning up what other animals cannot eat. Unless this fly invades your house or garbage and causes problems, it is not a threat to humans in the garden. It’s a natural pollinator attracted to the nectar of the daisy.

miniature ants - click photo

Almost too small to be identified as ants by my eyesight, the camera zoomed in on these miniature ants who are after food, too. These are benign insects that do no harm to the daisies and are food for other insects and birds.

Skipper Butterfly - click photo

This little butterfly could be the Yehl Skipper (Poanes yehl), a fairly uncommon skipper that is seen along the coast at this time of year, but I prefer my IDs to be confirmed by an expert. This fella would be done in by an insecticide.

Soldier Beetle - click photo

This soldier beetle or Pennsylvania leatherwing beetle (Chauliognathus pensylvanicus) is a cousin to the lightning bug. They are common in the garden and beneficial as a pollinator and a predator of aphids and other small insects.

sweat bee - click photo

A variety of bees visited the daisies and we all know we need those pollinators. Although the sweat bee can be a nuisance when it seeks out the salt in our sweat, it is considered a benefit in the garden due to pollination.

mystery insect - click photo

These tiny insects were unknown to me. These winged insects were the size of pepper flakes to the naked eye. I watched them through the camera lens become the meal of a few hungry crab spiders that lived around the petals.

The answer to the original question about insecticides is IPM (Integrated Pest Management). IPM is a sustainable method of management using biological, cultural, physical and some chemicals to minimize environmental damage. Using a insecticide for the aphids indiscriminately will have a negative and damaging effect on all insects that depend on this small ecosystem for life.  Because there is no sign of damage to the plants and the insects are a part of the food chain for predator insects, I will allow the aphids to live in the daisy bed and permit the natural system to work. But I will monitor the flowers for signs of disease or damage. If I must interfere, I will learn about the life cycle of the insect, how best to control it physically, such as picking off or pinching the colonies to kill them. My next step will be to spray soapy water beneath the blooms. And if all else fails, the very last attempt would be a careful use of pesticides, preferably the newer natural pesticides derived from botanicals.

It’s better to become familiar with IPM techniques and implement a regular monitoring program before using any biological controls. Read more about IPM here.

Ann Hohenberger, The Garden Club of Gloucester

Women Are Better….

… at choosing, arranging and tending to flower gardens, that is according to a 2011 poll by Roundup of 2,000 Brit gardeners.  Men agreed they were better suited for cutting the grass, looking after the vegetable garden, minding the patio and decking. They also admitted they were better at fixing and painting fences, digging and preparing the ornamental gardens beds, building a garden house or a greenhouse.

mister gardener's fence and vegetable garden

Women gardeners, on the other hand, acknowledged they were more skilled in the area of choosing plants, laying out the landscape plan and taking care of the flowers. They are more skilled at planting hanging baskets and choosing garden ornaments. Do you think the study would have the same results in the good old USA? According to ME, strengths in our gardens seem to be divided along these same lines.

Ann's playground

Whether men are better or not at gardening is irrelevant. I don’t think we are any better. I think they are just darn smart. Although the planning, buying and planting is great fun, it’s the weeding, trimming, deadheading that takes the most time. The Roundup survey found that tending the garden is the most consuming job with the average gal Brit spending about 9 hours a month making sure the garden is weed free, watered and trimmed. By the time I’ve filled three wheelbarrows with weeds and debris, mister gardener has finished his veggie garden maintenance, showered and sitting with a glass of wine watching me work.  Smart fella.

Ann Hohenberger, The Garden Club of Gloucester

It’s a Berry nice fall…

The last few mornings in Tidewater have been crisp and there’s no denying that fall has arrived. Most gardeners agree that one of the best parts of a fall garden are the colorful berries on shrubs and trees. Birds are migrating like crazy on this property and enjoying the berries as much as I am. They are filling their tummies with tons of berries and I am filling my mind with the beauty of a wide array of colors, shapes and sizes. Many plants for this landscape were selected just for the berries they produce. Here are a few in the garden today:

Poet's Laurel (Danae racemosa)

American Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana)

Heavenly Bamboo (Nandina domestica)

Heavenly Bamboo (Nandina domestica 'Alba')

Flowering dogwood (Cornus florida)

Other fall berries that I admire in my gardens are clusters of tiny blue berries on our Southern Wax Myrtle (Myrica cerifera), red coral honeysuckle (Lonicera semperviens) berries, bumpy red berries of the Kousa Dogwood (Cornus kousa chinensis), several varieties of cotoneaster with masses of berries that are still green, numerous viburnums, foster’s holly that cedar waxwings adore, red plump berries of the female Aucuba japonica, showstopper berries on several winterberries (Ilex verticillata), and one of the loveliest but a weed is the pokeberry, this one already picked clean of almost all berries by hungry birds.

Pokeberry (Phytolacca americana)

Ann Hohenberger, The Garden Club of Gloucester