University of Tennessee, Don founded Shadow Nursery in 1973 on 160 acres in gently rolling Middle Tennessee.Today, it covers more than 800 acres. Don holds a deep appreciation for animals as well as plants. On the grounds of Shadow Nursery he became the first private individual to successfully wean Chinese red panda cubs, and this year he proudly oversaw the birth of a baby Brazilian tapir.These are among 600-plus mammals and birds in 60 different species that Don nurtures along with his beloved plants. Never one to rest, Don is constantly expanding his program. He regularly travels to Japan to comb nurseries for exciting plants.What’s new for 2006? More dogwood selections of course and an exceptional columnar boxwood, as well as Halesia diptera ‘Southern Snow’ (twowinged silverbell) with large flowers produced in profusion before the foliage emerges. Don concentrates on plants that are useful to gardeners, either for their beauty or their unique ability to fill a niche. In doing so, Don Shadow fills a unique niche in American horticulture.—C. COLSTON BURRELL C. Colston Burrell is a garden designer, photographer,naturalist and award-winning author. His latest book is Hellebores:A Comprehensive Guide,co-authored with Judith Knott Tyler (Timber Press,2006,$34.95).Cole lectures internationally on design, plants and ecology. fyi The “Don Shadow Signature Collection” of noteworthy and underutilized plants, sold through Greenwood Nursery, is available at www.greenwoodnursery.com
50 MARCH 2006 One touch of nature makes the whole world kin—WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE abroadON THE ROAD WITH GARDEN DESIGN has undergone a transformation. Unusual for a British hotel, the garden has been as carefully considered as the interiors (very sumptuous, designed by Fox Linton Associates), so landscape architect Michael Balston had to do something equally special with the remnants of the original gardens.This included bringing a huge walled garden slowly back to life and replanting a once-glorious grove of cedars. Balston, a Chelsea Flower Show Gold Medalist and Royal Horticultural Society judge, says, “The old and new dialogue was as important outside as inside, so we overlaid the 18th- and 19th-century design with a 21st-century garden.” This means a clever mix of small, intimate spaces, scent-filled terraces and dramatic vistas.The ambitious stepped canal that divides the garden from the parkland sets the tone. Softening this simple, almost severe construction of stone, water and fountains is a marvelously fluid herbaceous border with yew hedges planted on the slant and running down one side.Ancient trees have been retained where possible to give historical context, while Nathalie Decoster’s contemporary bronze sculpture and Gregory Ryan’s PITCH YOUR BASE CAMP Would Watford top your list as a base for a garden trip to the U.K.? Probably not. I needed to be convinced, too. I could imagine somewhere in Gloucestershire maybe, Somerset or Cornwall. ButWatford, about 20 miles from London, a notoriously unattractive snarl of motorways and transport links—what can it possibly offer? Well,The Grove for one thing, which, the owners say, is a “groovy grand” hotel. It has an 18-hole golf course designed by Kyle Phillips that is all set to stage the World Golf Championships in 2006.The red-brick mansion, formerly home of the Earls of Clarendon, dates from the 18th century and was once an incredibly fashionable place to stay. Guests included the artist George Stubbs, who painted some of his famous horses at The Grove. During the past nine years it THE DOLLAR MAY SINK, THE NATIONAL DEBT GROW LIKE KUDZU; BELTS MAY BE TAKEN IN A NOTCH, A few items cut from the grocery list—but luxury is an essential. Be it a pink pashmina or a cruise for two, the modern disposition is to demand the best and cut back on the basics.When it comes to hotels, horticultural riches to enjoy along with the vintage wines and high-thread-count sheets are what attract the haute horticulturist. And in England a new breed of “luxury modern” hotel is waiting for you. If the idea of a country retreat where the gardens are as glamorous as the interiors tempts you, try The Grove, Hertfordshire, or another of our top picks. Here:The Grove, Hertfordshire, a “groovy grand” hotel with gardens designed by Chelsea gold medal winner Michael Balston. Luxury English Garden Hotels
To enter: For the Golden Trowel Awards (open to amateurs and professional landscape designers and contractors), please fill out the form below and return it, along with your completed entry, by June 1, 2006 to Garden Design, attention Golden Trowel, 460 N. Orlando Ave., Suite 200,Winter Park, FL 32789.Your entry should include the following: Your story: Send us a written account. Include your inspiration, the planning and what you started with, the planting, the achievements and the setbacks of your garden. Be as specific and creative as you can. Submissions must be typewritten on white 8 1 ⁄2- by 11-inch paper only. Handwritten submissions or those sent via e-mail, disk or CD will not be read. Garden plan: Send us a drawing of the layout of your garden, indicating major beds, trees, walkways, lawn, hardscapes, structures and other features.We’ll accept anything from a professionally rendered drawing to a homegrown sketch. Be as detailed as reasonably possible, but keep the plan simple to interpret. Include a list of key plants by common or Latin name. Photography: Submit enough prints to explain the garden, including overall scenes, plant beds, structures, furniture, outdoor kitchen or living areas, etc. Label these prints with corresponding details. (Hint: Copy and enlarge actual snapshots on a color copier, or photograph the images with a digital camera and print them out on a color printer to allow more room for labeling.) Submissions on disk, CD or email will not be viewed.Also include slides of your garden and its features for publication in Garden Design magazine if you win. Images for possible publication must be high-quality color 35-mm slides or larger transparencies only. No dupes. Name Address Phone Fax E-mail All materials become property of World Publications LLC, may be used in print and electronic formats in perpetuity and will not be returned. Photographers will not necessarily be credited upon publication and will not necessarily receive remuneration. By your entering this contest, World Publications assumes you have rights to all provided images and have granted Garden Design magazine all rights to publish said images at the magazine’s discretion. ENTRY FORM DEADLINE JUNE 1, 2006 Please complete and mail with entry materials to Garden Design, 460 N. Orlando Ave., Suite 200,Winter Park, FL 32789 ANNOUNCING GARDEN DESIGN’S 2OO6 GOLDEN TROWEL AWARDS Open to all home gardeners and do-it-yourself designers as well as professional garden designers, landscape contractors and landscape architects. Winning gardens will be presened in an upcoming issue of Garden Design magazine. Monrovia will award a $1,OOO GIFT CERTIFICATE to the amateur whose garden demonstrates the most creative use of plants. SPONSORED BY H ORTICULTURAL CRAFTSMEN ® SINCE 1926
52 MARCH 2006 One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things—HENRY MILLER abroad YOU COULD ALSOTRY: Whatley Manor LikeThe Grove,Whatley Manor near Malmesbury in Wiltshire (two hours west of London) is one of a new breed of luxury hotel for the U.K.Whatley is stylish (green ostrich leather in the bar), earthy (a real kitchen garden) and traditional (a stone manor house) all rolled into one.An entry courtyard filled with billowing lavender bodes well for the rest of the gardens that, inspired by the original 1920s layout, are lavishly old-school in style, leavened with contemporary sculpture by Simon Allison. See www.whatleymanor.co.uk. Barnsley House For many years the home of gardening legend RosemaryVerey (1919-2001), Barnsley House in Gloucestershire is a kind of shrine to her vision of the English-country-house garden style, visited by devotees the world over.AfterVerey’s death, the house was sold amid a chorus of doom that the garden would be lost. Far from it—the house is now an exclusive hotel with an excellent restaurant. Guests can stroll the gardens after lunch, and visitors can join one of the frequent guided tours in summer. See www.barnsleyhouse.com. Gravetye Manor One of the great historic gardens of England, Gravetye Manor in West Sussex was once the home of William Robinson (1838-1935), a driving force of the English gardening tradition and author of The English Flower Garden and TheWild Garden.The house, surrounded by formal gardens and woodland, has long been a renowned luxury hotel, and in spring guests will see drifts of naturalized daffodils, bluebells and wildflowers, as well as immaculate borders. A perimeter footpath is open to the public on Tuesdays and Fridays. See www.gravetyemanor.co.uk. Le Manoir Aux Quat’ Saisons French owner and chef Raymond Blanc is practically an honorary Englishman for his contribution to the revolution in English cuisine of the past 22 years. Blanc caught the English obsession with horticulture and is now as well-known for his extensive organic kitchen garden that supplies his luxury hotel and restaurant.A Japanese tea garden and Malaysian garden are also open. Modern sculptures are featured throughout. See www.manoir.com. aluminum water wall provide some startling and thought-provoking moments. More homely touches show this garden takes nature seriously, with bird feeders and nest boxes, as well as immaculate topiary and elegant pots of lilies.A restored glasshouse in the walled garden is the longest I think I have ever seen. There is more than enough to occupy your time at The Grove with the garden, sport facilities, spa and delicious food. Eating is ultrarelaxed: A welcome theme of light, fresh ingredients simply dealt with avoids the often overcomplicated hotel style. But to return to our original theme of garden visiting, many great examples worth seeing are nearby.Waddesdon Manor, run by The National Trust, you must include. Give yourself a day to absorb this Rothschild gilded mansion designed in the French chateaux style, with high Victorian gardens (including outrageously OTT bedding schemes and a Rococo aviary) and a house that’s almost overendowed with paintings and treasures.The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, are within very easy reach of The Grove, and in addition to the classic plant collections and spectacular glasshouses some special event is always going on. Spring 2006 should see the new Alpine House opened.—JANE NEWDICK Above, clockwise: Stepped canal at The Grove; formal garden at Gravetye Manor; tea at Whatley Manor; Le Manoir Aux Quat’ Saisons; a room at Barnsley House. fyi: The Grove,Watford, Hertfordshire: www.thegrove.co.uk.Waddesdon Manor, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire: www.waddesdon.org.uk. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey: www.rbgkew.org.uk. Michael Balston works on large-scale and private projects in the U.K. and the USA. See www.balston.co.uk.
1OO 55 way hot the The most exciting plants for 2OO6, brand new and insiders’ top picks. Check out what designers and avid gardeners are wild about this spring BY JENNY ANDREWS TOM MCWILLIAM
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57 ANNUALS [1] Alternanthera A shady garden isn’t limited to coleus and impatiens anymore. From ItSaul Plants comes a collection of tough, colorful Joseph’s coat with the enticing names ‘Cognac’, ‘Crème de Menthe’,‘Grenadine’ and ‘Partytime’. [2] Calibrachoa Callie™ Deep Yellow A new bright, clear color for Million Bells®. [3] Capsicum annuum ‘Black Pearl’ (Ornamental Pepper) An ornamental pepper with round, shiny black fruits that mature to red and striking black glossy foliage when grown in full sun.At 18 inches or more tall and a foot wide, it makes a great container plant.An All-America Selection for 2006. [4] Chrysanthemum ‘Killeen’ Mum flowers come in many colors, but the fresh, bright green of ‘Killeen’ is a totally new look. [5] Euphorbia ‘Dulce Rosa’ This poinsettia is for the garden not the holidays. Grow as a summer annual in the shade. Bright pink bracts on 2- to 3-foot-tall plants. [6] EuphorbiaVisions of Grandeur™ (Poinsettia) A plush new poinsettia for the holiday season from Ecke Ranch with large, full bract clusters in a delicate vanilla peach. [7] Hibiscus acetosella ‘Maple Sugar’ An improvement over‘Red Shield’, this tender perennial is typically grown as an annual for the color and texture of its blackish-purple, maple-leaf-shaped foliage. In cooler zones it will reach 3 feet (making it also a great container plant) and in warmer zones, up to 5 feet. Blooms late (in October) with dark magenta flowers. Zones 9 to 11. [8] Ipomoea batatas Sweet Caroline™ Series (Sweet PotatoVine) From North Carolina State University comes this series of smaller-leaved, compact (18 to 24 inches wide) sweet potato vines in light green, purple, red, bronze and variegated. Densely packed with foliage.Well-behaved companions for containers and garden beds. [9] Ocimum x citriodorum ‘Pesto Perpetuo’ (Basil) From Sunny Border Nurseries, this is the first variegated culinary basil. Light green leaves have creamy white edges. Columnar but compact and nonblooming. Perennial in Zones 9 to 11, but can be brought indoors over winter in cooler zones, keeping its flavor all year. [10] Osteospermum Tradewinds™ Pure Yellow Heat-tolerant African daisy with extra-large flowers in bright yellow that continue blooming into the fall. [11] Vinca Nirvana™ Series Big flowers in a wide array of colors, tolerant of heat and wet conditions and disease resistant—what more could you want in a vinca! Trailing varieties are great for containers. PERENNIALS [12] Baptisia Tough and dependable, many baptisias are blue, but the palette is expanding. Baptisia sphaerocarpa‘ScreamingYellow’ is bright yellow and compact; hybrid ‘Carolina Moonlight’.has.elegant creamy-yellow bloom spikes; Twilight.Prairie.Blues™ (shown) has fascinating mahogany flowers.Zones 5 to 9. [13] Bulbine frutescens Another great plant from South Africa, bulbine has airy spires of tiny orange or yellow flowers that nod in the breeze over bright green clumps of succulent narrow foliage. Hardy in Zones 9b to 11, it makes a great long-blooming annual in cooler zones. [14] Chrysanthemum‘Ryan’sYellow’ A glorious denouement for the growing season, this perennial mum is covered in the fall with soft yellow daisylike blooms with a warm peachy cast. Makes an attractive clump even without pinching. Zones 6 to 9. [15] Coreopsis‘Autumn Blush’ A new coreopsis fromTerra Nova Nurseries with flowers that change color. In summer they are peachy-yellow with a red eye; in cool spring and fall the blooms have a rosy blush. Zones 4 to 9. [16 ]. Dahlia.imperialis Though the tree dahlia has been around since the 16th century, it’s still a rarity in gardens.A late-fall and winter bloomer in Zones 8 to 10, with large lavender-pink flowers on towering stems up to 9 feet tall.‘Double or Nothing’ is a double-flowered form. [17] DendranthemaAutumn Crescendo™ Series (Chrysanthemum) From Rika Bronsther comes this series that has the appeal of standard pot mums but with larger flowers on hardier plants (Zones 5 to 9). They require less pinching to produce their profusion of gold, coral-peach and rose-pink flowers, and some of them change color as the flowers age. Look for ‘Bolero’,‘Rhumba’ and ‘Samba’. [18] DianthusWhetman® Star Series Bred by John Whetman in the U.K., Star dianthus bloom prolifically from spring through summer with bright spicy-scented flowers over compact mounds of dark green foliage. Zones 5 to 8. 3 13 Plush new poinsettia for the holidays, a shiny black pepper for a pot, the tallest dahlia you’ve ever seen, a coreopsis with flowers that change color the way hot1OO 8 2 12 ANDREA JONES, SUSAN A. ROTH, FISCHER USA, BODGER™ BOTANICALS, NORTH CREEK NURSERIES (2), PROVEN WINNERS®
[19] Echeveria runyonii ‘Topsy Turvy’ Silver-gray succulent with wavyedged leaves that twist and curve, forming a spidery 8- to 12-inch rosette. Flowers are yellow-orange. Zones 9 to 11. [20] Echinacea Echinaceas are still the rage, with new colors and forms every year.Two new cultivars join the outstanding Big Sky™ series from ItSaul Plants. Harvest Moon™ (pictured) has the golden color of a harvest moon, with 4-inch fragrant flowers on compact 30-inch plants.‘Twilight’ has rose-red flowers with red cones. FromTerra Nova comes ‘Fragrant Angel’ whose large fragrant blooms have bright white petals held horizontally. Zones 4 to 9. [21] Euphorbia cotinifolia ‘Atropurpurea’ This bushy tender perennial looks just like a smoke tree, with wine-colored foliage tinted purple and amber. Beautiful when backlit by the sun. Can reach 10 feet during a season in warm zones or can be pinched back to keep it shrubby. Zones 9 to 10. [22] Gaillardia x grandiflora ‘Oranges and Lemons’ Has the same ease of care and long bloom period as other blanket flowers but softer colors. Tangerine petals tipped in pale yellow surround an orange-and-yellow center.Very floriferous, it can have over 50 flowers on one plant at the same time. Compact plants are less than 2 feet tall and wide. Thrives in less-than-ideal conditions. Zones 5 to 10. [28] Gloxinia sylvatica The Bolivian sunset gloxinia does double duty, making a great houseplant or a real showstopper in the garden in warmer zones, where it is covered with deep orange flowers in late fall and winter. Zones 9 to 11. [29] Helianthus ‘Low Down’ (Sunflower) The shortest of the perennial sunflowers at only 8 to 12 inches tall. Forms a compact clump with willowlike shiny leaves, topped by numerous bright yellow daisy flowers in fall. Even a small-space garden can now have sunflowers. Zones 6 to 9. [30] Hemerocallis (Daylily) ‘Buttered Popcorn’ and‘Persian Carpet’ are the 2006 winners of the rigorous cross-continental.testing done.by.All-American Daylilies..The.former blooms golden yellow from midseason to frost.The latter has blooms 7 inches across, salmon pink with a rose halo. Zones 3 to 9. [31] Heuchera ‘Sparkling Burgundy’ Another great heuchera from Terra Nova, 58 with enormous 7-inch-wide, wine-colored leaves and delicate plumes of clean white flowers in spring. Zones 4 to 9. [32] Inula magnifica A supersized perennial, commonly called elecampane, with huge canoe-shaped leaves and 6-foot flower stalks marked with purple. Spidery yellow daisies, 4 to 6 inches wide, bloom in August and September. Zones 3 to 7. [33] Kniphofia ‘Green Jade’ Introduced by Beth Chatto in 1968 but still something of a rarity, this red-hot poker has long cylinders of icy lime green aging to cream, with only a few top buds a dusky orange. Zones 6 to 9. [34] Leucanthemum x superbum Broadway Lights™ (Daisy) An exciting new Shasta daisy from ProvenWinners. Large flowers open bright yellow, lighten to butter yellow and finally turn white, so the plant is covered with blooms in three shades. Sturdy stems reach 2 feet tall. Prolific bloomer, perfect for flower arrangers. Zones 5 to 9. [35] Phlox paniculata ‘David’s Lavender’ A lavender version of the popular white-flowered‘David’ summer phlox, with the same resistance to powdery mildew. Zones 4 to 8. [36] Sedum ‘Angelina’ Ground-cover stonecrop with brilliant yellow-green, needlelike leaves. Foliage is bronzy in fall. Yellow flowers in summer. Can be used at the front of the perennial border or trailing over the edge of a pot. Zones 3 to 11. [37] Sedum Mini Joy™ A miniature version The newest direction in container gardening is the monopot—that’s one inyour-face plant, pumped up to Schwarzenegger proportions and reveling in all its individual gorgeousness rather than sharing the limelight with hangers-on.This could be the plant breeders’ response to design-minded folk who like to grow one kind of plant per pot and combine several different containers into one show-stopping display.A pot of naturally low-growing and compact plants won’t turn into a demanding diva that requires time-consuming pinching and staking to remain happy. Low-key mono-pot plants are also perfect for fancier containers that have a little of the show-off in them; the plants’ simplicity allows the pot to shine, too. [23] Achillea Gypsy™ White A waterfall of small, white button flowers and heat tolerant to boot. [24] Angelonia Serena™ Series Plants branch well without pinching to produce full, compact plants. In lavender, lavender pink, purple, white and a mixture. [25] Lantana Bandana™ Series In cherry, pink and rose, the well-branched plants make compact mounds. [26] Euphorbia Diamond Frost™ Nonstop frothy white flowers like baby’s breath. [27] Oxalis Charmed™ SeriesVelvety purplish-black or frosted-green leaves and pink-tinged flowers are a great texture and make a dramatic focal point.—RAY ROGERS HOT BOX mono-pot mania 31 26 22 33 35 the way hot1OO TERRA NOVA NURSERIES, PROVEN WINNERS®, ANDREW LAWSON, WALTERS GARDENS, K. VAN BOURGONDIEN AND SONS, FISCHER USA, SAXON HOLT, ITSAUL PLANTS, ANDREA JONES, TOM MCWILLIAM
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60 F O R A L I S T O F P L A N T S O U R C E S G O TO W W W. G A R D E N D E S I G N . C O M Thanks to the staff at Harry P. Leu Gardens in Orlando, Florida, for allowing us to photograph plants on their beautiful grounds; and to Twyford International, Lake Brantley Plant Corporation and Blooming Nursery for lending us plants in their prime.
61 of one of the most popular perennials of all time—Sedum‘Autumn Joy’—with sturdy stems and salmon-pink flowers in late summer. Less than 2 feet tall, it can be used in the garden or in a container. Zones 3 to 9. GRASSES AND SEDGES [38] Carex berggrenii Diminutive, 4-inchtall evergreen sedge with metallic toffeecolored grassy leaves. Native to bogs in New Zealand but doesn’t require wet soil. Spreads slowly to form a dense mat. Use as edging or tuck between stepping stones or into trough gardens. Zones 5 to 9. [39] Cyperus alternifolius The 5-foot-tall umbrella sedge is a familiar addition to water gardens. Newer dwarf selections like ‘Gracilis’ (18 to 24 inches) make great textural additions to containers and can be grown as houseplants. Zones 9 to 11. [40] Melinis nerviglumis Pink Crystals™ One of the most beautiful grasses on the market and worth tracking down to add to the border, despite its tender status. Ruby grass has nodding flowers of bright pink and silver that sparkle over tidy 2-foot clumps of bluish leaves that have a purplered tinge in fall. Zones 7 or 8 to 11. [41] Miscanthus sinensis ‘Gold Bar’ From Joy Creek Nursery, a dwarf striped maiden grass with as much gold as green on the narrow foliage, making it shimmer in the summer border. Matures at 5 feet. Burgundy flowers appear above leaves in October.‘Super Stripe’ is a taller version. Zones 5 to 8. [42] Muhlenbergia capillaris This native grass has grown steadily in popularity and is so tough, it’s even used in highway plantings. Regal Mist™ produces spectacular clouds of dusky-pink blooms in the fall. New selection ‘White Cloud’ has see-through white flowers. Zones 7 to 10. SHRUBS [43] Callicarpa (Beautyberry) Stunning autumn display of purple berries clustered along the stems of beautyberry will stop traffic. C.dichotoma‘Issai’ produces an abundance of metallic-violet fruit. ‘Early Amethyst’ fruits before other types.‘Dark Star’ is more compact at 5 feet tall and wide.The native C.americana(shown) is hard to beat with balls of beadlike berries extending 2 to 3 feet along the stems.A flower arranger’s dream. Zones 6 to 9. [44] Deutzia gracilis Chardonnay Pearls™ Pearllike buds open to delicate sprays of starry, white, fragrant flowers in late spring. Narrow, toothed, lemon-lime foliage glows in the garden all season.A new look and compact form (to 3 or 4 feet) for an old garden favorite. Zones 5 to 7. [45] Hydrangea arborescens ‘Ryan Gainey’ Introduced by Shadow Nursery in Tennessee, this smooth hydrangea.improves.on.the.popular ‘Annabelle’ with thick, sturdy stems that support the full heads of white flowers even after a rain. Zones 4 to 9. [46] Mahonia x media The candelabras of rich yellow flowers, 10 to 14 inches long, on these mahonia hybrids are spectacular in late winter and early spring, maturing into waxy black fruit. Glossy evergreen foliage is hollylike. Grows 10 to 15 feet tall. Look for‘Faith’,‘Hope’,‘Charity’,‘Winter Sun’ and‘Lionel Fortescue’. Zones 7 to 9. [47] Rosa Home Run™ Like the groundbreaking, low-maintenance Knock Out™ shrub rose but with brilliant red single flowers covering the mildew-resistant, compact, 3-foot shrubs beginning in early summer. From Tom Carruth atWeeks Roses. [48] Rosa Rainbow Sorbet™ A glowing floribunda in shades of bright orange, yellow and red. An AllAmerica Rose Selection for 2006,.introduced.by Conard-Pyle Company and Star Roses. Other 2006 winners are floribunda‘Julia Child’ and grandiflora Wild Blue Yonder™ from Weeks Roses and hybrid tea Tahitian Sunset™ from Jackson & Perkins®. Chocolate is hot! If you’d like to try a new “peacemaker” color, i.e., one that plays well with others, and you’ve explored green and played with gray (“silver”) and black plants, join the cutting-edge designers and avant gardeners who use chocolate-toned leaves and flowers in beds and containers. Far from being dull, chocolaty foliage and flowers offer hints of red, green, orange, bronze and black, which subtly complement brighter hues.And if creating sharp contrasts stirs your senses, try pink, chartreuse, lemon yellow, terra-cotta, scarlet, white and even lighter shades of blue and purple with any of the treats from this box: [49] Rodgersia pinnata ‘ChocolateWings’ Changing shades of chocolate, green and bronze; heads of pink to burgundy flowers. Scrumptious! [50] Heuchera ‘Chocolate Ruffles’ Chocolate and burgundy foliage spritzed with cream blooms. [51] Carex ‘Milk Chocolate’ Leaves like long “shavings” of rich brown take on orange and green highlights in autumn. [52] Geranium ‘Chocolate Candy’ Mounds of dark chocolate leaves and months of fondant-pink flowers. [53] Baptisia ‘Chocolate Chip’ Spikes of brown peaflower buds open to reveal butter-yellow centers.—RR HOT BOX chocolate indulgence 42 41 48 52 46 the way hot1OO TOM MCWILLIAM (2), JERRY PAVIA, JOY CREEK NURSERY, MARCUS HARPER, CONARD-PYLE CO., JOHN GLOVER
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63 [59] XSinocalycalycanthus (Spicebush) Two introductions from the JC Raulston Arboretum in North Carolina combine the best qualities of native and Asian spicebush species. XSinocalycalycanthus raulstonii ‘Hartlage Wine’ (shown) blooms with a profusion of large claret-red flowers resembling water lilies in late spring on robust 8-foot shrubs. XSinocalycalycanthus‘Venus’, Developed by Tom Ranney, has large white flowers that splay open like star magnolias, with yellow and purple centers and an enchanting fragrance of strawberries, melon and spices. Large shiny leaves have a tropical look.Very heat-tolerant. Zones 6 to 8 for both. VINES [60] Mandevilla Sun Parasol™ Mini Crimson A new addition to the Sun Parasol™ series from Suntory, with smaller flowers and leaves on bushy plants. Mini Crimson has 3-inch carmine-red flowers produced in profusion. Blooms a month earlier than most mandevillas. Zone 11. [61] Millettia reticulata Often called evergreen wisteria, this unusual vine blooms in spring with clusters of reddish-purple flowers that have a camphor scent. Hardy to Zone 9. Ropelike stems require a sturdy trellis. [62] Nasturtium tuberosum var. lineamaculatum ‘Ken Aslet’ A late-blooming cousin of the annual nasturtium, this tender climber (Zone 7) produces masses of spurred orange-scarlet flowers over fanshaped blue-green leaves. Tubers (the species is a food crop in its native Andes) can be stored over winter in cooler zones. [63] Thunbergia Smoothie™ Series Colors of this new series have more depth than the traditional black-eyed Susan vine.Apricot Smoothie is orange with burgundy overtones and eyes; Raspberry Smoothie is lavender-pink. Fast growing to 6 feet, this tropical is covered with blooms until frost and can be trained on a trellis or planted in a hanging basket. Zones 9 to 11. [64] Wisteria frutescens ‘Amethyst Falls’ Unlike its aggressive Asian cousins, this native wisteria is well-behaved, with small compact flower clusters of lavender blue that bloom later (so they avoid.late.frosts) and.dainty.leaves that.emerge.silver. Its.shorter.stature and.slow.growth make.it.suitable even.for.limitedspace gardens. Often reblooms in summer.A winner of the 2006 Gold Medal Plant Award from The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society. Zones 5 to 9. TREES [65] Acer shirasawanum ‘Autumn Moon’ (Japanese Maple) A golden full moon maple similar to the coveted‘Aureum’ but more vigorous and tolerant of full sun, heat and humidity. Nearly round leaves are bronze in spring, lemonyellow in summer and brilliant red and orange in fall. Forms a small rounded tree to only 5 feet in 10 years. Zones 5 to 8. [66] Cercis canadensis (Redbud) The word in redbuds this year is “compact.”Two new introductions from Don Shadow are the first dwarf versions of this popular native Like the Doublemint Twins of advertising fame (remember them?), you can double your pleasure with reblooming plants.These amenable sorts do their thing earlier in the season, take some time off from flowering and then bloom again before the season ends.While it’s nice simply to have seconds at a floral banquet, it’s even more of a treat to surprise garden visitors with a startling, take-a-second-look combination of, say, irises and chrysanthemums. Because rebloomers expend more flower-directed energy than once-bloomers, give them extra fertilizer and water between the two displays to increase their potential to extend the gardening season. [54] Reblooming Iris Also called remontant iris. Once limited to only a few varieties, there has been an explosion of rebloomers in the past few years. Climate can affect the reliability of repeat blooming, so select a cultivar that performs well in your area. Pictured: ‘Autumn Circus’. [55] Reblooming Daylilies Many, many selections to choose from, in every possible color and bloom size. Pictured: ‘Always Afternoon’. [56] Digitalis‘Spice Island’ Tasty peach-tinted yellow thimbles with rusty spots. [57] Verbascum ‘Blushing Bride’ Lavender and pink “blushing” to darker shades. Compact with profuse flowers.A magnet for butterflies. [58] Penstemon ‘Party Dress’ and ‘Sweet Grapes’ These tough 2006 introductions from Terra Nova just keep on flowering.—RR HOT BOX the come-back kids 59 44 65 Iris that bloom over and over, a spicebush with water-lily flowers, an orange-scarlet nasturtium climber, redbuds that stay compact the way hot1OO 62 ANDREA JONES, WALTERS GARDENS (2), PLANTHAVEN, RICHARD HARTLAGE, PROVEN WINNERS®, HERONSWOOD NURSERY, FORESTFARM, STEPHEN PATEGAS
myrtles at Zones 6 to 9. [71] Liquidambar styraciflua ‘Slender Silhouette’ (Sweet Gum) An exclamation point in the landscape, perfect for formal gardens or in a narrow bed beside a tall structure. 60 feet tall at maturity but only 6 feet wide. Fall colors are yellow, peach and purple. Nearly fruitless.Another Don Shadow introduction. Zones 5 to 8. [72] Magnolia ‘Sunsation’ This magnolia blooms later and can escape frost damage. Creamy yellow flowers with rose tints are 6 inches across and abundant. Begins blooming at a young age. Form is symmetrical like a Bradford callery pear. Zones 5 to 10. TROPICALS [73] Chlorophytum amaniense ‘Fire Flash’ A relative of spider plant and just as easy to grow, the center of the mandarin plant glows with orange leaf bases and midribs.Wide, shiny dark green leaves form a handsome rosette. [74] Cordyline Several recent introductions of New Zealand cabbage tree offer color, texture and drama for containers and warmtree.‘Ace of Hearts’ has small heart-shaped leaves one-half normal size.At 10 years old, the parent plant is only 12 feet wide and 11 feet tall.‘LittleWoody’ has dark leathery leaves. Zones 4 to 9 for both. [67] Cercis canadensis ‘Hearts of Gold’ New cultivar of the native redbud with three seasons of interest—red-tinted new leaves and magenta blooms in spring, golden leaves in summer and bright yellow fall color. From breeder Jon Roethling. Zones 5 to 9. [68] Edgeworthia chrysantha Silvery buds in winter open into golden fragrant flowers on the giant leaf paper plant beginning in mid-January and continue till April. Lovely small tree (to 6 feet) for Zone 7 and warmer.‘Red Dragon’is a red-flowered form. [69] Lagerstroemia indica ‘Whit II’ (Dynamite®)The reddest crape myrtle on the market, with 12-inch panicles of crimson buds opening to cherry-red blooms that keep coming into the fall.Thick, dark green leaves have a reddish tinge when young—a great combination with the flower color. Highly resistant to powdery mildew. Zones 6 to 10. [70] Lagerstroemia fauriei ‘Fantasy’ Elegant vaseshaped Japanese crape myrtle with bright white flowers and peeling, orange-red bark. Pest-free and more cold hardy than many crape 64 climate gardens.‘Red Sensation’ and ‘Red Star’ have reddish leaves and greater hardiness than their green relatives, to Zone 7. ‘Sundance’ has green leaves with a base and veins of red.‘Peko’ is lime-green.‘Atropurpurea’ (shown) has purplish-bronze leaves. [75] Homalocladium platycladum Called ribbon plant, this oddity from the rain forests of the Solomon Islands has leathery, compressed, jointed stems that look like flattened bamboo, though it’s in the buckwheat family. Zones 9 to 11. [76] Kalanchoe thyrsiflora Large pancakeshaped leaves are stacked to form a striking rosette of bluish green blushed with rose along the edges. Descriptively named flapjacks, paddle plant and desert cabbage. A succulent native to South Africa that needs virtually no care. Zones 9 to 11. [77] Microsorium musifolium ‘Crocodyllus’ Dramatic Australian native fern with oversize undivided leaves textured like reptile skin. Individual fronds make unusual additions to flower arrangements. [78] Philodendron scandens‘Brasil’ A variegated form of the popular and ultraeasy heart-leaf philodendron, with splashes of light and dark green, cream and yellow. [79] Polypodium podophyllum Green Wave™ Exciting new fern with dramatically upright leaves with wavy edges. Heat got you (and your plants) down? While Northerners and Midwesterners continue to seek out increasingly cold-tolerant garden possibilities, Southerners and many Westerners have fretted for years as their plants swoon or die as the heat and humidity go up and stay that way for weeks or months. Recently, the American Horticultural Society and several hot-climate institutions have heard the call, responding with the AHS Heat Zone Map and an ever-growing number of plants that don’t give up during hot days and sticky nights. Armed with knowledge about the heat tolerance of plants and supplied with new heatresistant offerings, virtually anyone can extend gardening’s pleasures well into summer and even beyond. [80] Icicle® Pansy Extremely cold-tolerant, this series of pansies will stand some heat and drought, too.Available in 16 solid and combination colors and several mixes. [81] Coleus Series from Lake Brantley Plant Corporation Each named after a Florida city, these coleus take heat and sun and don’t produce many flowers (which can spoil the foliage display). Pictured above is ‘Yalaha’. [82] Fuchsia Angel Earrings® In shades of pink, white and purple, these new introductions are perfect for containers, hanging baskets, windowsills and borders. [83] Lobelia Laguna™ Series Masses of diminutive, striking dark blue, light skyblue, pink or white flowers. [84] Nemesia Sunsatia™ Series In cranberry, coconut, lemon, pineapple, peach and banana colors, these plants have real “wow” appeal.—RR HOT BOX heat of the moment 75 78 81 82 the way hot1OO SUSAN A. ROTH, TOM MCWILLIAM (5), JACKSON & PERKINS®, FERNLEA FLOWERS LTD., STEPHEN PATEGAS
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66 F O R A L I S T O F P L A N T S O U R C E S G O TO W W W. G A R D E N D E S I G N . C O M
67 BULBS [90] Agapanthus‘Cold Hardy White’ The hardiest of agapanthus, this cultivar is perennial to Zone 5 with winter protection. Blooms profusely in summer with crisp white flowers. Introduced byArrowheadAlpines of Michigan.A 2006 Mail-Order Gardening Association GreenThumb Award winner. [91] Begonia boliviensis Brilliant orangered bells 2 inches long cascade from 2-footwide clumps of angel-wing foliage. Blooms throughout the long hot summer if given some shade and watered well.‘Bertini’ was bred for containers.‘Bonfire’ is a new, vigorous, long-blooming form. Zones 7b to 9. [92] Caladium The latest trend in caladiums is sun-tolerant, compact forms such as the Florida Series with thicker, more substantial leaves. Look for ‘Florida Sweetheart’, ‘Florida Fantasy’, ‘Florida Red Ruffles’, ‘Florida Sunrise’, etc. Zones 10 to 11. [93] CannaTropicanna® Black The newest of the popular Tropicanna® series from AnthonyTesselaar Plants, this one with ebonypurple foliage and scarlet flowers. Leaves are much wider and more rounded than those of other black cannas. Zones 7 to 10. [94] Colocasia esculenta ‘Nancy’s Revenge’ A big elephant ear with high drama. Large leaves over 2 feet wide emerge green, but as temperatures rise they are soon centered and veined with creamy yellow. Zones 8 to 11. [95] Dierama pulcherrimum Iris family relative with pink, magenta or white bell-shaped flowers that dance on the ends of 3- to 6-foot wiry stems above 2-foot clumps of swordlike foliage, inspiring the name angel’s fishing rod. Zones 7 to 10. [96] Lilium formosanum This heirloom bulb is back in vogue.The Formosa lily fromTaiwan reaches 6 feet tall, with pencil-thin leaves the length of the stem. Big white trumpets open in summer, 5 to 7 inches long with a rich fragrance. Zones 5 to 8. [97] Lycoris radiata (Spider Lily) A nice surprise in the early-autumn garden, spider lily’s red, sea-urchin-like flowers emerge on 15-inch leafless stalks, just as the garden is changing from green to gold. Hardy from Zones 6 to 10, but winter clumps of narrow foliage might need protection in cooler regions. [98] Muscari macrocarpum ‘Golden Fragrance’ This new, hardier strain with brighter flowers has made this rare species of grape hyacinth attainable. Sulphur-yellow tubular flowers with a purple crown, with a fragrance of gardenias and bananas. Zones 4 to 9. [99] Narcissus ‘Dainty Miss’ Only 14 daffodils have ever been given the Wister Award from the American Daffodil Society, and this is the 2006 honoree, from breeder Grant Mitsch. Elegant white perianth is round and flat, with a neat green-eyed cup. [100] Tulipa clusiana The dainty lady tulip is one of the few tulips that will perennialize (especially in the South), thriving in dry soils.White pointed petals are striped with red on the diminutive 2- to 3-inch blooms on stems 8 to 10 inches tall. ‘Cynthia’ (shown) is yellow and red. Zones 3 to 9. Have you discovered Slow Food? Devotees of this emerging trend appreciate the healthy pleasures of visually appealing, non-cookie-cutter meals based on the freshest ingredients. It takes only moments to bring fruits and vegetables grown in your own garden into your kitchen, and you don’t need to spend huge amounts of time raising them. Grow tasty fruits and vegetables on a small patch of ground or even in containers. As a bonus, you can feast your eyes on these beauties while you’re waiting for your crops to mature.They might even entice fussy family members to eat their vegetables! [85] Cauliflower ‘Veronica’ A green romanesco type of cauliflower. Chartreuse cone-shaped florets in a fascinating spiraling fractal pattern. [86] Mesclun Mix Trendy combinations of lettuces and other leafy salad greens grown as a mix and picked young. [87] Eggplant ‘Mohican’ Dwarf and bushy. Produces lots of oval fruits, creamy white with purple stripes, maturing at 5 to 6 inches long. Easy in sunny containers. [88] Tomato ‘Green Grape’ Medium-sized, amberyellow cherry tomato with grapelike clusters. Makes a statement in salads. [89] Beet ‘Bull’s Blood’ Heirloom selection provides both great baby beets and tasty (and attractive) dark metallic-red leaves. Scatter seeds in flower borders or containers.—RR HOT BOX good enough to eat 95 85 Big elephant ears with high drama, a bulb with a fall surprise, eggplant for a sunny container, sun-tolerant caladiums, an award-winning daffodil 90 94 100 the way hot1OO ANDREA JONES (2), JOHN GLOVER, HIGH COUNTRY GARDENS, BRENT AND BECKY’S BULBS, SUSAN A. ROTH, ROB CARDILLO
68 Lisa Eisner decorated the outdoor fireplace area in her garden in bohemian chic—drawing on indoor furnishings from the ’60s and ’70s. Top right: Lisa and Eric Eisner, seated, worked with Art Luna to redesign their Bel Air, California, garden.
69 L.A. SOUL ...and English sensibility. Landscape designer Art Luna brings structure and order to a lush Bel Air canyon garden BY DONNA DORIAN P H OTO G R A P H S B Y V I C TO R I A P E A R S O N
70 ong before Art Luna had a reputation as a first-rate landscape
as the swank celebrity hairdresser that he still is today. I once asked him what he thought the oddball relationship between landscape designer and hair stylist was all about. “Looking at a quarter of an inch all day long,” he replied. But seeing the dappled light gleaming through the long allée of tree ferns Luna divined in Lisa and Eric Eisner’s canyon garden in Bel Air, I felt the kinship between his two professions was not just an acute attention to detail. More, it seemed like the shared hand of a sculptor who discovers the soul hidden in a stone, in a shape—or here, in a place. Relying on a mix of unusual plants, he cut and reorganized and reshaped what was already on site.What emerged from the wildness is an English-styled garden with subtropical plantings, a kind of tropical rain forest composed of allées and vistas and a unique sense of place. Built in 1937, the Eisners’ house was designed by Cliff May, the grand master of the California ranch house, who for this site provided a hacienda-style residence inspired by Mexican architecture. May also seems to have had a serious knack for site planning: Placing the house close to the road allowed room for ample, uninterrupted grounds at the back. “With a stream running along the back of the house and a hillside enclosing it in the rear, the canyon is wrapped in wind and damp, cool air. It is always moving,” says Lisa Eisner. “It’s like an ocean.” It wasn’t just any piece of land, either. The towering sycamores, tree ferns, dwarf bamboo and pittosporum long ago found a home on the property, and were part of a garden originally accompanying the house. But in the 18 years the Eisners have lived here, a number of high-powered land71 designer, Los Angeles knew him Left: Huge sycamores bring an architectural presence to the yard. Top right:Tree ferns and California-made Bauer pots flank the entrance to the fireplace area. Below: Lisa Eisner mixes Asian, Italian and California style pottery on a terrace.
72 scape architects have left their mark on the place.The heart of the garden is an outdoor fireplace pit, where Lisa, with unstudied derring-do and whimsy, brought out a huge velvet circular sofa, high-backed rattan chairs, and a birdcage that belonged to that most revered of L.A. designers,Tony Duquette. “The pit creates this mysterious ‘what is it out there?’” says Luna.The curiosity is satisfied via a stone path that leads from the house to the terrace. Beneath the porches, Lisa conjured up exotic dining rooms and elsewhere decorated the gardens with lanterns and California-made pots by Catalina and Gladding, McBean. But even with Lisa’s inimitable way of bringing outdoor living into the garden, in general it hadn’t aged well. “It had no structure, no breathing room,” says Luna, “so I knew we needed to edit.” After his first visit, Luna started talking to Lisa about the Australian tree ferns (Alsophila australis)—the truly majestic plants on the property. Unusually large, between 50 and 60 feet tall, they were scattered in bunches everywhere. “I told her my golden rule: If a plant is already working on a property, add more,” Luna says. So he moved the tree ferns to form a line on both sides of the stream, creating an allée running lengthwise across the property.To enhance its architectural quality, he planted an understory of bromeliads (Alcantarea imperialis) whose burgundy undersides add splashes of color and contrast. Because Lisa finds it difficult to throw anything out, she closed her eyes when Luna cut down sycamores and rambling bougainvillea, but after he did, she realized Left: A quirky but stunning juniper topiary is set in a California-made Gladding, McBean pot in front of the pool. Right:The back of the house is surrounded by a porch where Lisa has created an outdoor dining room sprinkled with a collection of lanterns.
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74 Mysterious and alluring, the tree fern allée that runs across the yard is underplanted with large bromeliads. Right:The fireplace area is surrounded by a hillside covered in mown bamboo.
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76 LISA EISNER, whose garden is featured on these pages, is a documentary photographer and founder of the photo book house Greybull Press. Her thoughts on the relationship between gardens and photography: Use photography to design your garden.When I find it difficult to photograph something well, I often rethink the design of that area. Use photography to connect to your garden. It’s my way of being in nature—of really looking at it. For details on Eisner’s upcoming exhibit, see www.mbfala.com. VICTORIA PEARSON, who photographed the Eisner garden, shoots fashion, travel, interiors and gardens. On photographing the latter, she says: Don’t get distracted by a pretty plant.The quality of a photograph is all about the light.What I love about natural light is that it’s different wherever you go—it’s key to revealing the beauty of everyday things. Composition is all about balance. For this story, the first photos I took the art of garden photography
77 it was for the good. Luna knew she wouldn’t let him just banish the agaves. (“Big agaves are like suntan lotion in California. Everyone uses some,” he said.) Again, he just rethought how to place them. His move was to get them out of the garden and hauled up the hillside, where he grouped them together in staggered rows creating a poolside vista of pure pizzazz. Meanwhile, dwarf bamboo (Sasa pygmaea ) had gone on a rampage, building a wall of foliage behind the fireplace pit. Instead of taking on the endless battle to banish it, Luna made a subtle move—he mowed it down like grass. Now a hip bamboo crewcut outlines the mounding rise of the hillside behind the fire pit and along the far side of the walkway that meanders to the pool, letting the shape of the land and the light streaming through guide the way. “I didn’t want a manicured garden—I wanted something natural that you could let morph into whatever it was supposed to be,” says Lisa.As it turned out, the Eisners and Luna were perfect partners; their wants for the garden worked in tandem. Luna’s aim—and his success—was to give the place the subtle structure of an English garden. “You don’t even realize you are in a structured English sort of garden until you are right in the midst of it,” he reflects. “It was all about uncovering the soul of this place and letting the property speak to us.” Left: Lisa Eisner took this atmospheric photograph beneath her tree fern allée.Top right: To create a quiet space, Art and Lisa took a Japanese approach to designing this pond and set a beautiful flat stone in its center. Below:Agaves climb up the hillside. were of the fireplace pit because the staging was already in place. Because there are only a few peak hours to photograph outdoors, be strategic. Garden photography is best in the very early morning and the very late afternoon, when the light is low. Save the afternoon for shooting in the shade.
Ceramic Zillij tiles, white plaster anakch, silk fabrics, and foliage plants at the Riad Enija are typical accoutrements of the lush courtyards of Morocco. Top right: Donna Dorian and Topher Delaney at Jardin Majorelle. Below right: Delaney’s sketch of the night sky in the Atlas Mountains.
79 Return to paradise Style editor Donna Dorian and landscape architect Topher Delaney discover and share the secrets of Morocco’s hidden gardens BY DONNA DORIAN
80 From top left, clockwise: Dorian and Delaney with Moroccan friends.The Marrakech marketplace. A rose-petal-filled marble fountain punctuates a Zilligtiled pool. A Berber woman in the Atlas Mountains. The courtyard fountain and gardens at Riad Enija. Bougainvillea wraps an archway. Moroccan craftsmanship.
81 The Courtyard Gardens of Marrakech Arriving in Marrakech the day after Christmas, we drove along desert-lined streets, then past the ancient walls of the city, stopping at Place Jemaa-El-Fna, the city’s main marketplace, where we had to walk the rest of the way on foot.The square plunged us into the city’s exuberance, spun from its melding of Arab, Berber and French.Teeming with men in jalabas, curling snakes, screeching motorcycles, drummers, dancing monkeys, horses, carts piled high in pyramids and aromas of spices and dates, the scene eventually became a warren of narrow streets. I knew I could never find my way back alone. Finally, our guide stopped in front of a huge door in a nondescript alley.We knocked. A great number of people welcomed us, then the elegant Swiss hotelier, Ursula Haldimann, ushered us through the fabulous Riad Enija.Almost immediately we found ourselves walking through a series of outdoor courtyard gardens—roofless rooms wildly ornamented with foliage plants, marble fountains and pots, lanterns, birdcages and fantastic hand-carved furnishings upholstered in Moroccan silks. “So this is what the guidebooks meant by a riad,” I said to myself. Implying a lush garden, “riad” actually refers to a city dwelling and its inner patios as a whole.The ancient houses of Marrakech were almost all designed in this manner— some grander than others, of course—and over time a large number have been translated into historic courtyard-style hotels, offering an entrance to Moroccan life. A few days later, we spent a morning going from one riad to another. It was our way of taking a garden tour of the city. Each courtyard was centered around a water feature. Marble Last winter, my dear friendTopher Delaney, a brilliant landscape architect and an all-around formidable kind of gal, asked me to come with her to check out the gardens of Morocco.Think “Thelma & Louise” on the lookout for gardens, not guys. For us, everything about Morocco seemed exotic—the desert, the mysterious courtyards, a legacy of garden design that has influenced the world, that intense Majorelle blue. For Topher, Morocco also held a curious, almost atavistic allure. She told me her mother had been a pied-noir—a “black foot,” a term applied to the French who emigrated to Africa. In the years precedingWorldWar II, her mother’s family had moved to Morocco.Then during the war,Topher’s mother was assigned to G2, an intelligence section working to break the German code, where she met Topher’s father, an assistant to de Gaulle. Topher had never been to Morocco herself, and the trip became a kind of homecoming, which she patched together in her own self-styled way. I have to mention just one tendency: Wherever we went, she kept an eye on the flooring. She discovered that with the use of no more than four different colored square tiles, each floor pattern composed an array of geometric configurations—triangles, diagonals, squares and rectangles. I knew thatTopher had often embedded bar codes into her patio and pool designs; now I knew why.Throughout the trip, “breaking the codes” became our game. For me, the trip was a real eye-opener, which would have been impossible without Topher’s perfect French and her discerning eye for landscape design.What we were looking for and what we found was a common language in Morocco’s gardens—riads hidden like women beneath chadors, orchards made for a king, desert oases—which we comprehended and DONNA DORIAN (3); RICHARD FELBER (1); ANDRE BARANOWSKI (1) translated as a microcosm of the Moroccan take on the world.
82 La Majorelle:Mecca in Marrakech On our first full day in Marrakech, we made our hajj to the Jardin Majorelle, certainly Morocco’s most renowned garden. Even if you don’t realize it, you know Majorelle blue—the vibrant deep azure Moroccans believe wards off evil spirits—and hence paints the Majorelle buildings, pools and pots. An in-town riad on a grand scale, La Majorelle is a complicated place with no clear routes and a rather staged, often mislabeled botanical collection. Begun in 1927 by the French painter Jacques Majorelle, the garden established him as one of the great plant collectors of his time.After his death,Yves Saint Laurent—Algerian by birth—and Pierre Berge acquired the garden, by then in great disrepair, and asked the American garden designer Madison Cox to attend to its restoration. But its glory days are gone.“It looks like a woman with too much make-up,” saidTopher.These days it just seems filled with too much—too many plants, too many pots, too many paths, too many tourists, too much blue. A Garden Fit for a Prince I much preferred our visit to La Mamounia, one of the great hotels of the world.Winston Churchill made a habit of staying there to paint its noble gardens. In the 18th century, the land, part of an extraordinary park outside the casbah, was presented to Prince Moulay Mamoun as a wedding gift from his father.When in the 1920s it became clear that Marrakech needed a hotel to host European travelers, the park was the obvious choice. La Mamounia’s glamour resides in its historic orchards. Surrounded by the casbah fortifications, which are covered in huge clipped hedges of bougainvillea, the grounds are planted in groves of olives and citrus whose heady aromas permeate the garden. Topher found it altogether enchanting and has since found herself designing an heirloom fruit orchard in the Napa Valley. For me, it was about the mingling fragrances of olives and oranges, which seemed to carry me away. I felt as though I could fly. fountains were filled with rose petals (the Moroccans sprinkle rose petals everywhere—in their fountains, on their bed pillows, on the tables at breakfast and dinner). Other courtyards were dominated by long shallow pools of water. It wasTopher who first recognized that each seemed to re-create an oasis, those miraculous, fertile patches in the middle of the desert born from a spring and shaded by palms. Fascinated by the courtyards’ balance of exotic beauty and calm, I realized that these outdoor rooms were really quite different from those in the West. Altogether functional in their ability to offer a household a place to grow fruits and herbs and find shade and water, they were also more than literally “inner gardens.”They were places intended for spiritual retreat. Have we forgotten about that in our gardens? Have I? I remembered reading in Arnaud Maurières and Éric Ossart’s wonderful book Paradise Gardens, “Every gardener wants to re-create the Garden of Eden.”The Moroccans, inheriting a tradition begun centuries ago in the East, are still busy working at it. These were paradise gardens, places where the divine and the secular come together, where mystic and carnal love meet. (Don’t get the wrong idea, guys.) “A garden is a process, just like all spiritual work is a process,” saidTopher. I don’t think she meant just the making of a garden, but the being in a garden. “These are places made to connect to a right life.” “In Morocco, I found drawing really bound my attachment to the land —especially the patterns of the fields” —TOPHER DELANEY DONNA DORIAN (5); RICHARD FELBER (1)
From top left, clockwise: Delaney in an outdoor shower.The famous blue Jardin Majorelle. Hotel La Roseraie in the Atlas Mountains. Delaney gets a haircut at the flea market. La Mamounia surrounded by Marrakech’s ancient casbah. An olive tree allée at La Mamounia. Delaney’s rendering of undulating geometry in the fields outside Meknes.
84 “Westerners are always borrowing design tips from Morocco. But why not their gardens? Imagine a California kitchen garden designed around palms” —D O N N A D O R I A N Moroccan Kitchen Garden We discovered that MoroccanArabic includes numerous words to describe gardens. In contrast to the urban courtyard riad, La Mamounia for example, is a bustan, an immense ornamental garden in the city.We visited another bustan the next day in the Marrakech suburb of La Palmeraie, which takes its name from the ancient palm grove that abuts the city.We went there to meet Meryanne Loum-Martin, a well-known hotelier, and her husband, Gary, an American ethnobotanist, at their chic country residence and guesthouse, JnaneTamsna. We found that Gary, who teaches at the University of Kent, England, had planted a number of gardens around the house that wove together local ecology and his interests in enlarging the region’s plant vocabulary and traditional cultivation techniques. For example, his flourishing orchard and vegetable garden—an arsat—were designed beneath a small grove of date palms (Phoenix dactylifera).The palms have deep fibrous roots TIM BEDDOW (1); DONNA DORIAN (2)
85 Here:The ornamental kitchen garden at Jnane Tamsna is organized around palm trees. Inset: Unripened dates hang from a palm. Opposite: Oranges and pomegranates grow side by side in the Atlas Mountains.
86 From top left, clockwise: Delaney is inspired by a blue-green acacia. Hotel La Roseraie is renowned for its beautiful gardens. Jnane Tamsna is designed in contemporary style.An oud player.A typical Moroccan archway.Atlas Mountain landscape. Heavily laden camels.A romantic terrace setting at La Roseraie.
87 going to morocco? Pacific Horticulture, among others, has special garden tours, including one to Morocco October 7-17. See www.pacifichorticulture.org. For daily direct flights from New York to Casablanca, call Royal Air Maroc reservations: 800-344-6726. For a comprehensive listing of the best riads in Marrakech, Fez and the Atlas Mountains, including those mentioned here, see www.travelintelligence.com. Call +44 (0) 20 7580 2663 or e-mail [email protected]. Diversity Excursions, Ltd. (www.diversity-excursions. co.uk), offers garden tours for guests who stay at Jnane Tamsna (www.jnanetamsna.com). Contact Gary Martin ([email protected] or [email protected]). For information on visiting Fez—how to rent or buy a house, the city’s architecture, restaurants, shopping etc.—call 212-61-564-364, e-mail [email protected] or see www.houseinfez.com. that allow them to thrive during dry seasons, and their towering fronds create microclimates of shade and humidity. Gary has also planted herbs, fava beans, asparagus, artichokes and citrus. Nearby a carob tree (Ceratonia siliqua) had sprung to life in a cluster of palm trunks, which fascinatedTopher, who was accustomed to seeing the carob as a specimen tree used to line city streets. Elsewhere on the property, Gary grows‘Iceberg’ roses, alfalfa, olive trees, glory bower (Clerodendrum fragrans) and jasmine, giving the whole place claim to becoming a bustan—a classic Islamic garden of poetry and romance. Into Nature’s Garden It wasn’t until Topher and I made our way into the countryside that it all began to come together. On our slow 40-mile drive out of Marrakech up to the Atlas Mountains, we met the flat desert landscape punctuated with opuntia and agave, then started to ascend into the mountains on an ancient, beautiful and terrifying road.After a while, we stopped at a roadside café, which looked across a scruffy road to a stream and green hillsides that gave way to snowcapped mountains.The light was incredibly clear.While we drank glassfuls of mint tea, a man started to play a mournful song on an old folk oud and sing, and there was nothing else but the noise of the rushing stream and the birds in the air.A few men arrived at the stream with their camels.We watched the men tend their camels and the camels drink out of the stream, and although we never said it to each other, we had found ourselves in what seemed the most beautiful place in the world, some ancient paradise that hadn’t changed since the beginning of time. Everything began to run into each other.Topher felt as though she had come home. “All Morocco is a garden,” she said. “The specific and the genDONNA DORIAN (7) eral, the garden and the landscape are really a single piece.”
Gracious entertaining spaces, a collection of Japanese maples and a working nursery rub shoulders in complete harmony in this Atlanta woodland 88 the green room BY DAVID M C MULLIN PHOTOGRAPHS BY RICHARD FELBER Left:A stream runs through Bill Hudgins’ woodland property in Atlanta. Early in the year the garden is a study in shades of fresh green, with clipped boxwood and giant ceramic pots contrasting with the natural forms of Japanese maples. Right:The terrace behind the house is a haven for entertaining.
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MOST SUCCESSFUL DESIGNERS IN ANY FIELD , IF THEY ’RE HONEST , could attribute their reputation as much to self-promotion as to the work they do. But Bill Hudgins is a quiet man.This Atlanta-based garden designer and owner of Lush Life, a swanky garden shop in the Buckhead neighborhood, is renowned for the quality of his work and his sophisticated eye.A chat with Hudgins yields little of his inner life. His demeanor is warm but shy. On the subject of his passions, however—gardens and collecting—he is sharp and definitive. “I’m true to myself—I do what I like,” he explains.And what he likes right now are Japanese maples. His garden, in a dark, leafy hollow on Atlanta’s north side, is host to more than 400 cultivars of Japanese maple, mostly varieties of Acer palmatum . Why maples? “Because I love their diversity. Plus I’m a collector, and Acer palmatum may contain the largest number of cultivars of any Acer species.” Of course, maples aren’t all Hudgins favors. Boxwoods are another obsession. He has 35 or 40 varieties gathered in a quirky and wonderful parterre in the outer garden. And he mentions hostas—the outsize varieties ‘Blue Angel’ and ‘Sum and Substance’ are particular favorites—which also make sense for a collecting spirit. It seems Hudgins has been accumulating things always. His story is quintessential. Small-town boy loves gardening, grows things (vegetables, flowers) in his family’s yard back home (south central Georgia), learns a love of plants and a love of nature, and develops a keen eye and a sophisticated aesthetic. An early collection was African violets—there were dozens—and another decade brought agaves and other succulents.Then the maples took over and became a permanent passion. His first collection was in his old garden in Decatur, Georgia.That smaller garden, with its woodland paths and layers of luscious foliage, became a perennial favorite of garden-club ladies and horticultural tours. His passion led to a successful garden shop—Lush Life (see story in Dirt section)—that overflows with garden art and antiques, topiaries and containers. Soon the phone was ringing off the hook. Eventually the shop outgrew Decatur and moved to swanky Buckhead, as did Hudgins and his partner, Jeff Ziegler—and the maples. “There was nothing here—just ivy, really, no planting,” Hudgins says of the site of his new home. “Woodland and big native buckeyes.” But he characteristically understates the thinking behind his choice.The 3-acre site is beautiful, with a charming, cozy house nestled along the banks of a clear, cold stream in the shelter of a towering hardwood forest. The approach to the front entrance brings the visitor over a wide and comfortable bridge; darters congregate in the swift water, and a lazy water snake is often seen coiled on a warm rock against the bank. 90 From top left, clockwise:A palm (Trachycarpus fortunei) in full flower by the terrace; group of Acer palmatum var. dissectum ‘Viridis’ in tall pots at the foot of the steps; a bonsai collection is taking shape in this Japanese-inspired area; giant terra-cotta pots climb the hillside. Below left: Hudgins with friends Pierre and Midge.
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93 The garden starts here, with meandering pathways that slide under and around an assortment of plants. On the lower slopes around the stream, Japanese maples predominate. They offer a huge diversity of mounded, weeping, upright or spreading forms, plus infinite variations in leaf forms and colors—spidery cut-leaf types in chartreuse to palmate forms in shades of plum. Ostrich ferns and shade-loving ground covers provide contrast, while tightly clipped boxwood balls, spirals and cones threaded through the garden serve as an organizing counterpoint to the feathery free form of the maples. The main path turns sharply skyward at the side of the house and climbs past the boxwood parterre and more maples, this time in a theatre-like nursery of tiers—row after row of meticulously maintained specimens in pots and boxes.Visitors then traverse a high ridge above the roofline with an overlook of the secluded back terrace, tightly gardened with brick floor, gurgling fountain, statues, specimens in terra-cotta pots and a large, mossy stone table that serves as the center of Hudgins’ entertaining universe.What sets this garden apart from most collectors’ gardens is that it is actually beautiful, a difficult feat to pull off for people with a passion for accumulating. “I know it’s cliché to say it, but nature inspired my design,” says Hudgins.And indeed, the garden is as gracious and effortless as an Appalachian glade. But it wasn’t made without effort—far from it.“When I found this place, I only thought of its potential. It never occurred to me how difficult it would be to garden here.” The soil was one thing—a local enemy of gardeners—a mix of sandy, hard-packed, yellow clay that yields to no spade and can be worked only with heavy equipment.Which leads to the other thing: no access.The pretty little creek that is the raison d’être of this site is also a barrier to all equipment except the wheelbarrow, so all soil-amending work has to be done by the back and the bone.The nursery site is some 50 or so stone steps straight up from the nearest flat landing, which means pots have to be carried in and out one at a time.This is a dedicated gardener. But life is not all work. Comfortable spaces carved out around the house accommodate a series of elegant terraces furnished with an eye for theatrical scale—huge pots, a palm tree, a pair of lions and wall masks spouting into a trough. Splashes of color—warm terra-cotta or the sudden flare of a row of white impatiens—bring a sophisticated edge to the virgin green. In fact, so restful is this room in the woods, towering trees shushing the birdsong and the distant trickle of water, that it’s hard to believe Hudgins ever leaves his chaise. He may stir to dress the stone table for dinner or to chase the cat away from the fish in the stone trough, but the driving passions of the plant collector seem far away and life is lush indeed. Lush Life, 146 E.Andrews Dr. N.W.,Atlanta, GA 30305. Call 404-841-9661. What sets this garden apart from most collectors’ gardens is that it is actually beautiful, a difficult feat to pull off for people with a passion for accumulating Left:A table setting of brilliant coral luminesces against the deep green of the woodland. In all things Hudgins’ eye is drawn to nature, so the Raynaud Limoges dinnerware in Cristobal, a pattern of shells and coral, has obvious appeal for him.The theme is continued by the use of shells at each setting instead of flowers.
94 japanese maple mystique A collector of plants is very often reluctant to identify his or her favorites. How can one pick a favorite child? But when pressed for a halfdozen or so of the best Acer palmatum varieties, Bill Hudgins doesn’t hesitate for a second. “Absolutely my favorite red is ‘Zinda Red’,” he begins. “And ‘Mikawa-yatsubusa’ is my favorite dwarf form.” He particularly favors the upright forms: “‘Shishigashira’ has a small, crinkly green leaf, and ‘Ojishi’ is a counterpoint to ‘Shishigashira’ with a wider leaf and more open branch structure. ‘Linearilobum’ is a graceful form with delicate narrow leaves.” Japanese maples (this covers Acer japonicum , A. palmatum and A. p. var. dissectum varieties, to name a few) are easy to grow in all but the coldest or most arid climates.They require average garden soil with filtered light in hot zones, consistent watering in times of drought, and a little patience, as many (but not all) are fairly slowgrowing.They also prefer shelter from wind. Japanese maples are also perfect for large pots, as Bill Hudgins demonstrates—just don’t allow them to become waterlogged. Hudgins considers spring to be the best season for foliage color. Autumn color can be glorious, but it is inconsistent in the South. “Last year many of the Japanese maples didn’t reach their peak until December,” he points out. Right: A spiral-trained specimen of Acer palmatum var. dissectum ‘Viridis’ by the greenhouse. Left, top: A graceful green centerpiece, A. p. ‘Ao-hici-gosan’ is hung with succulents and underplanted with ferns and hostas. Left, below:The bronzy tones of A. p. ‘Pixie’ stand out against the trim of the house.
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96 MARCH 2006 A gardener learns more in the mistakes than in the successes—BARBARA BORLAND sage advice A HOW-TO GUIDE FOR GROWING AND OUTDOOR LIVING Q I’ve read rapturous descriptions of sweet peas, so I tried them in my flower garden last year,with no luck at all.The plants were spindly and died before I got a single bloom.What’s the secret? —ELLEN DANTON, CINCINNATI, OH A Sweet peas are slow-growing and thrive when weather is dependably cool.The plants decline quickly once temperatures get much over 80 degrees.They need to be grown on a fairly tall wire trellis, like regular garden peas, and are better thought of as a fragrant cut flower than something that will make much of a show in a flower border. Climate is the main limiting factor. People do well with sweet peas either in places with winters so mild that freezes are very light or nonexistent or in the north where the summers never get very hot. In either situation, the plants can flower for two months or so. But where summers are hot, the bloom time usually lasts only a few weeks. In the South, people plant sweet peas directly in the garden in fall and pick flowers in late winter and early spring. Northern growers start them indoors and transplant them outdoors in spring once the danger of frost has nearly passed, a couple of weeks before you can set out tomatoes. You will need to follow the Northern program.About eight weeks before you plan to set seedlings outdoors, soak the seeds overnight and plant two seeds per 3-inch pot. Seeds germinate best at 60 to 65 degrees and can take a couple of weeks to a month to sprout.When the seedlings emerge, set them under grow lights or on a bright windowsill. Plant seedlings outdoors in rich garden soil (a sunny vegetable patch is ideal) as soon as night temperatures are dependably above 40 degrees. If hard frost threatens, SweetTalk HORT Q & A WITH JACK RUTTLE cover the plants with floating row covers or cloches. Before the plants get 6 inches tall, erect a wire or net trellis for them to climb. Once warm spring weather arrives, mulch the soil around the sweet peas with good compost both to feed the plants and keep the soil cool.And pick all the flowers regularly to prevent seeds from forming, which may inhibit continued blooming. Q What would be a good vine to cover the electric meter on the side of my house? — ANNIE WISOCK, PORTLAND, OR A Most vines are rampant growers and will get much too big for the spot. Many of them could also damage the siding on your home into the bargain.You need a vine that is a fairly weak grower and that tolerates hard pruning. Perhaps more important than the choice of vine is the trellis to support whatever you decide to grow. If you build a handsome latticework trellis around the meter hardware and then paint it to match your siding, the meter will be very effectively disguised year round, no matter what sort of vine you choose. My top choice of vine for a spot like this is one of the large-flowered clematis in what is called clematis group 3 or C, for example, Clematis‘Jackmanii’,‘Lady Betty Balfour’ or ‘Hagley Hybrid’.The pruning is simple:You cut it all down every year in early spring to about a foot above the ground.The new foliage will quickly cover the trellis, and the plant will produce spectacular flowers in Sweetpeas are best grown as a cut flower and given their own place in the garden rather than combined into a mixed border. ANDREA JONES
Annie’s Manhattan Beach Nursery & Florist Manhattan Beach, CA • PH: 310-376-0567 www.anniesfloristonline.com Barlow Flower Farm Sea Girt, NJ • PH: 732-449-9189 www.barlowflowerfarm.com Bath Garden Center Ft. Collins, CO • PH: 970-484-5022 www.bathgardencenter.com Big Red Sun Austin, TX • PH: 512-480-0688 www.bigredsun.com Boxwoods Gardens & Gifts Atlanta, GA • PH: 404-233-3400 [email protected] Burkard Nurseries, Inc. Pasadena, CA • PH: 626-796-4355 www.burkardnurseries.com Campo de’ Fiori Sheffield, MA • PH: 413-528-1857 www.campodefiori.com Condurso’s Garden Center Montville, NJ • PH: 973-263-8814 www.condursos.com Didriks Cambridge, MA • PH: 617-354-5700 www.didriks.com Dimitri’s Garden Center New York, NY • PH: 212-876-3996 www.dimitrisgardencenter.com DuBrow’s Livingston, NJ • PH: 973-992-0598 www.dubrows.com Fort Pond Native Plants Montauk, NY • PH: 631-668-6452 www.nativeplants.net Four Seasons Pottery Atlanta, GA • PH: 404-252-3411 www.4seasonspottery.com Gardenology Encinitas, CA • PH: 760-753-5500 www.garden-ology.com Gardens Austin, TX • PH: 512-451-5490 www.gardens-austin.com Grounded Garden Shop Encinitas, CA • PH: 760-230-1563 [email protected] Hursthouse, Inc. Bolingbrook, IL • PH: 630-759-3500 www.hursthouse.com International Garden Center El Segundo, CA • PH: 310-615-0353 www.intlgardencenter.com J & M Home & Garden Madison, NJ • PH: 800-533-5112 www.jmhg.com Joie de “Vie” Glen Ellyn, IL • PH: 630-790-9113 [email protected] Kimball & Bean Architectural and Garden Antiques Woodstock, IL • PH: 815-444-9000 www.kimballandbean.com Kolo Collection Atlanta, GA • PH: 404-355-1717 www.kolocollection.com Litchfield Horticultural Center Litchfield, CT • PH: 860-567-3707 [email protected] Lovely Manors Garden Design Center Phoenix, MD • PH: 410-667-1390 www.lovelymanors.org Lush Life Atlanta, GA • PH: 404-841-9661 www.lushlifehomegarden.com Marina del Rey Garden Center Marina del Rey, CA • PH: 310-823-5956 www.marinagardencenter.com Mostardi Nursery Newtown Square, PA • PH: 610-356-8035 www.mostardi.com North Haven Gardens Dallas, TX • PH: 214-363-5316 www.nhg.com Organized Jungle, Inc. Winter Park, FL • PH: 407-599-9880 www.organizedjungle.com Patios, Walks & Walls Grove City, OH • PH: 614-539-8100 www.patioswalksandwalls.com Plaza Design Eureka, CA • PH: 707-441-1380 www.plazad.com Pleasant Pools & Patio Chester, NJ • PH: 908-879-7747 www.pleasantpoolsandpatio.com Riverside Nursery & Garden Center Collinsville, CT • PH: 860-693-2285 [email protected] Savannah Hardscapes Levy, SC • PH: 843-784-6060 www.savannahhardscapes.com Smith’s Acres Niantic, CT • PH: 860-691-0528 www.smithsacres.com Southwest Gardener Phoenix, AZ • PH: 602-279-9510 www.southwestgardener.com Swanson’s Nursery Seattle, WA • PH: 206-782-2543 www.swansonsnursery.com The Bronze Frog Gallery Oakville, ONT • PH: 905-849-6338 www.bronzefroggallery.com The Dow Gardens Midland, MI • PH: 800-362-4874 www.dowgardens.org The Garden Market Carpinteria, CA • PH: 805-745-5505 www.thegardenmarkets.com The Treehouse Garden Collection Dunedin, FL • PH: 727-734-7113 www.treehousegardencollection.com Whiting Nursery St. Helena, CA • PH: 707-963-5358 www.whitingnursery.com Call today to find out how to become a GARDEN DESIGN retailer and be included in this list of exclusive retailers. The GARDEN DESIGN Retail Program offers you magazines for resale in your store and exposure for your shop in every issue of GARDEN DESIGN and on the web-site for one low annual cost. Call Jason Pietras today at 888-259-6753 Ext. 1189 for details. PREMIER RETAIL PARTNER DIRECTORY
JERRY PAVIA sage advice summer. Some kinds repeat bloom into fall. If large-flowered clematis have a weakness, it is that plants look a bit bedraggled and sparse in the winter. An alternative, evergreen climber that’s easily kept compact and can be shaped like billowing informal topiary on your trellis is winter creeper, Euonymus fortunei. Get a variegated type, which are more attractive and less aggressive.There are green and white and green and gold varieties; some turn purplish in winter.The plants are very adaptable and easy to train on a lattice trellis. Prune regularly to keep growth shapely and in bounds. Can be susceptible to scale and spider mites. Q I wish I could find New Guinea impatiens for sale in flats like regular impatiens, but they seem to be sold only as single plants, which are much more expensive.Why are New Guinea impatiens not grown from seed? — GAWES ROBERTS, MARIETTA, GA A You can grow New Guinea impatiens from seed, but you won’t be able to get the wide variety of single-color strains that you can with other annuals like marigolds, zinnias or, for that matter, regular impatiens. And you will rarely see seed-grown strains in garden centers. With New Guinea impatiens, breeders have been able to create a wide range of luscious flower colors, as well as foliage suffused with red or dramatically striped with yellow. But it’s difficult to produce seed strains that will come true to the parent colors.To make matters worse for the frugal gardener, recent advances in tissue culture have made it relatively cheap to produce massive numbers of these plants vegetatively, so the incentive to develop seed strains of New Guinea impatiens has diminished. If you want to try your hand at growing New Guinea impatiens from seed, keep a few tricks in mind.The seeds will need a relatively warm 70 to 75 degrees both to germinate and to grow.This can be hard to achieve in a home in late winter, so set the seed trays on a heat mat until the seedlings appear. Seeds can take a week or two to sprout.When you see the first green leaves, move seedlings into a greenhouse or under fluorescent lights; use the lights for about 15 hours a day, with the