Ayrlies Garden

Friday 28th, Bright sun 70's

After a stop for some petrol and meat pies, we arrived at Ayrlies, Bev McConnell’s garden in Whitford, southeast of Auckland. Unfortunately Bev was not at the garden as she was with family for the holidays. Her head gardener, Morag met us and set us on our way. We had the entire garden to ourselves. At first the garden was a subtle landscape garden, complete with pools, falls and bridges leading you down into a valley, still with no home in sight.






As we reached the lower portion of the property with views to the northwest, the paths beckoned us on. Under the canopy of huge California redwoods, we began to emerge, following paths that meandered gently upward through increasingly intricate and colorful beds.





The shear amount of plants was astounding, the high light and cool temperature here keeps the blooms lasting a very long time. This mix of climate and light yields combinations of blooms that we wouldn’t usually see back at home. The paths wound seemingly without reason or intent, yet as we walked them we were drawn to a meadow area, just to the rear of the house.
The plantings around the house were lush by our standards; Bromeliads, succulents and other things that make us go oooh.







To one side of the house is the pool, again lushly planted. A very good example of how the landscape, or garden can tie sometimes two disparate elements together.






Leaving the house by the main drive, one is taken across a great lawn, crowned by a high terrace with a bench, accessed by a set of Lutyens inspired steps, to yield yet one more view down into the valley in which Ayrlies is nestled.

Auckland Botanic Garden

In an attempt to play catch-up, i'll be posting text first, images hopefully will follow and be added as soon as possible.

Friday 28th, Bright sun, 80°

We slept soundly last night, no surprise, and awoke early. The short drive to Auckland Botanic Garden south of the city was interrupted only once by a wrong turn, my fault, on the way. My excuse, Agapanthus planted in the median of the motorway in full bloom, stretching the better part of a mile.


Upon arrival I instinctively asked if there was any horticulture staff on duty that we calls speak to and sure enough, a section curator, Brooke Stark, was happy to speak with us.


A Canadian by birth, she had let Vancouver for Auckland and ended up at the garden. Very generously, she spent the better part of an hour with us giving an over view of the garden. Again people in the garden, kids, dogs, balls and bikes, but that’s how they do it here. Very well done, nice attention to detail good maintenance, free admission, part of the parks system of Auckland. Unfortunately the light was so bright that photography was tough, but we had work to do.



I was most taken by the native plant area, not in a composition of natural communities, but laid out stylistically, creatively. Close to that was the cultivar of natives’ area, again laid out with design in mind and an emphasis on color and texture.

There was a section devoted to rose trials, that was not akin to dental work, there were ongoing trials that upon passing a five year trial, was planted into and integrated or mixed landscape with other suitable plants not just rose. This also served as an example garden so the novices could begin to understand how to mix roses in their landscapes for aesthetic and cultural benefit.
A small landscape tree area featuring trees for the landscape as well as for street tree use in today’s smaller properties.
And a children’s garden that was planted nicely, and based on a Maori legend, interpreted by plants and was well done.
Several other areas of which we spent some time, but alas we were off to the next stop.

"I Got The Power"

For all of those who doubted me, a brief explanation.
When our luggage was returned us late Friday afternoon, after a trip to the airport to explain our patience policy to the baggage professionals, we though all was well. We should have known better. We realized quickly that the voltage converter on which we were depending to charge our cameras, computers, and phones was not up to the task of doing any one of these items.
That being said, these postings will be after the fact as we have just secured the electrical items we need today, Monday Dec 31st, to complete the charging circuit. Our laptops were drained, the cameras were limping along at the end of battery life, and our phones don’t work here.
So now we are up and running, posts should come at a more reasonable pace.

The Land Down-Over

Thursday, Dec 27th
Sun, high clouds, 75°

We arrived this morning, later than we had expected, due to a cancellation of the flight that would get us to the west coast to make our connection on Christmas Day. Instead of seeing San Francisco’s new international terminal, we, after some wrangling had the opportunity to visit Los Angeles terminal instead. In hindsight the Philadelphia airport doesn’t look all that bad. Twelve hours is a lot of time to be doing anything, especially looking at the seat back in front of me. Tedious, yet uneventful as fights should be.
When we were the last two standing at the baggage carousel, we new that we were truly blessed, by the spirit of holiday travel. It seems the spirit failed to put our luggage on the plane. Good times.
Auckland is a bustling city; we strolled down to the Victoria Park, from our accommodations in the Posonby District, trendy, and with plenty of dining options for tonight. We continued to the waterfront and Ferry Terminal areas, which then led us uphill to our eventual destination of Albert Park.
This is a really wonderful city park established in the 1800’s by the British Parks Department. Some of the specimens are colossal, the bedding schemes Victorian and a bit predictable in terms of layout, but the color blends and palette of the beds reveal that somebody there knows plants and how to display them. But mostly, people. In the park sitting, strolling, running, napping. Using this wonderful urban green space.
I must apologize for not having any images to accompany this post. My cables to do this are packed neatly next to my hiking boots under my shower bag in my duffel, you get the idea.

Chanticleer, the pleasure is all ours

A Pleasure Garden, the tag line leaves many first timers scratching their heads as they enter. Some get it almost immediately, some a bit later when it sneaks up on them, a few never will.
The garden to which I have the pleasure of being employed by for the past now fourteen years resides just west of Philadelphia, in the rural countryside of Delaware County, Pennsylvania.
The property, originally some 17 acres, was purchased as the summer home of the Rosengartens, Adolph, and his wife Christine. Mr. Rosengarten was head of the pharmaceutical company Rosengarten and Sons. Their son Adolph, Jr., left the property to be enjoyed as a public garden.














The garden has become a destination for those who appreciate the art of horticulture. It is a garden that appeals to keen plants people, It delights novices and inspires those with reasonable experience in the garden. It provides an intangible yet positive experience for those who know nothing of the art, yet “liked something about this”.














I have had the privilege to work with quite a few dedicated horticulturists in my tenure at Chanticleer. The staff of which I am a part of today is playing at the top of their game. My seasonal goal is just to keep up with the energy, enthusiasm and creativity of those that I work with. Strong aesthetic principals and creative vision instilled by Christopher Woods, Chanticleers’ first executive director, resound with me daily. Bill Thomas, our current executive director, continues a legacy of staff development, support of travel and creative growth. Bolstered by the support of a non intrusive yet keenly interested board of directors, the horticulture staff as well as the administrative team work to constantly to build maintain and refine this garden of pleasure.














Chanticleer is not collections based, as are many gardens and arboreta. Yet the landscape is bursting with color, texture and diversity. Nor are we education based, as are other gardens in the area, yet the lessons and experience we provide carry the visitor thru the seasons.














We pride ourselves on being aesthetics based. No labeled plants, few and subtle signs guide you gently through our garden performance, make no mistake, this is not real life, it something much more.
I encourage you to follow the link to the Chanticleer website where much more information will be provided. Lastly, I ask you to experience the garden, and see why for me it is and long has been so much more than just my job.

The Fruits Of Our Labor

Sitting inside this cold wet morning, the second weather event of the winter season passes overhead, thankfully for us as rain and not as snow, like the first time. Looking out the window gives me the first real glimpse as to what the winter garden looks like this year. Nearly all of the deciduous plants have shed their leaves, leaving only those well chosen, either evergreen or otherwise interesting additions to our landscape. Fall color is vital, but can be fleeting; yet the winter interest will be with us for a much larger portion of the season, particularly in the north.

My last post told you that Lindera salicifolia was the first addition to our landscape, more so by the generosity of a friend than by any grand plan, although it still would have been an early addition. The second and planned item would immediately reinforce the idea of multi season effect, massing of like colors and textures for immediate and ultimately more dramatic effect. The obvious choice, Ilex Verticillata, the Winterberry Holly.
Native to a wide range of the eastern United States, partial to moist or lowland soils, yet quite tolerant of drought, once established. This multi-seasoned, multi-stemmed shrub has always been a favorite of mine. Growing to a height of 10 to 12 feet in several years, this plant is easily pruned back in late winter, to keep in scale for your individual landscape need. This pruning will actually stimulate a vigorous bloom with an abundant fruit set to follow and carry through the winter season. Preferring full to nearly full sun for best fruit production, it will grow in the deepest of shade as well, but with a clearly compromised fruit display.
Deep green foliage adorns the plant for most of the season until the chill of late autumn briefly turns them a pale yellow tone, only to fall soon after. What is revealed however is the reason we chose this plant for the winter garden. As a deciduous holly, it is different than most of its evergreen relatives in the genus Ilex. Setting it further apart is the fact that it has no thorns whatsoever, making this a great plant to live with. They can be used closer to our living spaces with out the threat of being poked or scratched, and have the advantage of displaying the fruit closer that we would normally want a holly.
Fall cleanup always makes me appreciate the decision, as I don’t have to clear by hand thorny leaves, that most of the other still worthy, landscape hollies yield.

More and more Winterberry selections are available, yet two always rise to the top in my estimation, Ilex verticillata ‘Winter Red’ and Ilex verticillata ‘Winter Gold’. Both female plants, as are all fruiting hollies, a pollinator may need to be present in the landscape to insure pollination and thereby fruit set. Consult your local nursery or garden center as to which pollinator is best for your region.

Ilex verticillata ‘Winter Red’ has long been the best choice for landscape use in the Mid Atlantic region. The deep red fruit persist long into the late winter, likely because it tastes worse than most winterberry cultivars, and the birds forgo it until the very end of the season. Straight species or natural populations are often denuded much earlier in the season, so if your conscience bothers you can plant some straight species mixed in your landscape for bird forage.
Durable and dependable, Ilex ‘Winter Red’ has long been one of the landscape plants, that I couldn’t garden without.





The selection ‘Winter Gold’ is a bit more recent, and is actually a selection of Ilex ‘Winter Red’. This means that it will do everything that ‘Winter Red’ will do, but with a different colored fruit to increase your landscape color palette. Closer to apricot than gold in my estimation, Ilex ‘Winter Gold’ teams wonderfully with evergreens and the burnished browns and bronzes of the winter landscape, such as Acer griseum, the Paperbark Maple, and Microbiota decussata, the Siberian carpet cypress.

Either choice you make will be the right one between these two hollies, think about your own color preferences, and whom they will be performing with in the winter chorus that is your landscape.


Travel Update: New Zealand here we come! December 25 to January 17, North and South Island. Gardens, Parks, Nurseries and natural areas......High summer. Stay tuned for updates as we travel.

Spicing up your fall landscape

Lindera obtusiloba and Lindera salicifolia

The group of plants known by the genus Lindera, are more commonly and collectively referred to as spicebush. Two examples of this group really excel in the fall landscape. Oddly enough neither of them is the native Lindera benzoin, the common spicebush native to the Mid-Atlantic region.

The first, Lindera obtusiloba or Japanese Spicebush, has wonderful coarse lobed medium green leaves for most of the season that turn a wonderful clear yellow for a period in the autumn. Sited in partial to full sun, the fall color will be optimized. Male and female plants offer slightly different characteristics. Male flowers are larger in the early spring, still quite small relative to the size of the plant. The female plants however set a very nice black fruit that persists into the winter, each though presenting a brilliant fall display. Multi stemmed to 6 to 8 feet, rounded in habit, this tough plant can be cutback or thinned quite aggressively if need be once it is fully established.

Lindera salicifolia, sometimes sold as Lindera glauca var. salicifolia, is the Willow-leaf Spicebush. I was introduced to this plant several years ago at the garden where I work, Chanticleer, again at the Scott Arboretum and fell in love with it. A friend, Andrew Bunting, also curator of the Scott Arboretum, helped us move into our current home about 8 years ago. Upon his arrival he unloaded a large Lindera salicifolia as a moving in present. So this plant was in fact the first element added to our landscape.

This plant, also multi stemmed, to a bit larger size, 8 to 12 feet in most cases, can also be thinned or rejuvenated if necessary. My own problem is when to reduce this plant in my own landscape. I love what this plant does for me very day of the year. Medium green oblong, willow like leaves adorn the plant from late spring through the season, wonderful screening plant in full sun, a bit thinner in some shade.
But when the days shorten, the nights cool, the display begins to change. Zinfandels, merlots, clarets, and all the good reds are represented in the fall foliage of this plant. As the fall progresses, the colors slowly fade to a tawny brown. Jet-black bead like fruit set earlier in the season is now fully ripe and apparent, yet the foliage does not drop. And so it goes, all through the winter season, snow and ice, unable to dislodge the tan foliage from this plant. Still doing a magnificent job of screening, yet without true evergreen foliage. I find the cut branches to be a great addition to seasonal arrangements and decoration. Finally, one day in late spring, after the small but abundant yellow flowers have past, the newly emerging foliage force off the old leaves in the course off about two days. It’s quick and painless, and almost immediately the plant is working for me in my landscape. Tell me, when do cut this back? When do I do with out it? So I let it grow.


Stay tuned,Exciting travel plans on the horizon!

Melianthus major

Melianthus major, my single favorite plant for seasonal container combinations, and dramatics in-ground bedding combinations. The coarse teeth that define the leaf margin offers a fine texture yet the overall effect of the plant is bold and undeniable. The silver green color of Melianthus lends itself to many garden situations. The tropical garden enjoys its textural contributions while a full sun garden sight will bring out the metallic and architectural nature of the plant.
Prefering cool and bright situations, the plants is remarkably tolerant if these conditions are not met. Not winter hardy in zone 7, cut back and kept in non freezing cool situation one can often bring this plant through the winter. Lucky gardeners on the west coast can enjoy this plant nearly all year long, either in ground or in a container.