Your garden can be a manifestation of your own creativity. It is no longer a place where you plant fruits and vegetables. If you would like to add a little more life and enhance the look of your garden opt for interesting garden designs.
Before you go ahead with some garden designs, you may like to keep some guidelines in mind to for better synchrony of your surroundings:
The Golden Rule
The key to innovative garden designs is a simple rule. THINK BEFORE YOU PLANT. Plan your garden in sync with the look of your house to make a cohesive unit that is in harmony with each other.
Discover The Purpose
Prior to finalizing your garden designs, you may like to consider how the garden would be used. Would you like to enhance the view of the house or would you like to entertain guests? Would little children be comfortable playing in your garden or would senior citizens love taking a walk there? Would your garden occupy private space or would it be in public view? It would really help if you finalized the main purpose of your garden, and then proceeded to design it.
Landscape Matters
Opt for garden designs that compliment the landscape and the house. It is important to remember that the house is the most important part of the landscape and the garden needs to be designed in harmony with the house and the surroundings. Then the different elements of the house and the garden can connect better to provide an interesting style to the house and the landscape.
Choose Your Garden
You have a choice of formal, a semi formal or natural garden designs. A formal garden has the plants and shrubs arranged symmetrically around two axis, which provide a cross with the pool or a gazebo at the center. These gardens are usually adorned with evergreens, hedges or walls and have a hard surface terrace. A semi-formal garden also works on the same axial plan as the formal one; however the garden designs are a little less rigid. In many instances, the hard surface terrace is replaced by grass or evergreen shrubs. Besides, you may also see flowers, vegetables or herbs spilling out of the beds.
Natural garden designs follow the intrinsic landscape. They usually meander around the surroundings and have a casual or softer look. The architectural style of the house, the budget and the personal preference of the owner may eventually decide upon the design of the garden.
Create A Theme
Most garden designs are usually creations of the owners or the gardeners mind, and you have a range of themes to choose from. Let your creativity decide the theme; just make sure that it compliments the overall landscape and the style of the house and garden.
Play With Colors
Colors play a very important role in garden designs. With practice and experimentation you will be able to understand the essence of combining colors. However, you may begin by referring to the color wheel, where colors are arranged according to their relationships with each other. Most color wheels contain 12 colors only, but you may be able to color coordinate the plants and flowers better a violet-red to red to orange-red, in the same order as they appear in the color wheel. Move Around.
Garden designs should be able to accommodate free movement. Designing walkways, pathways or driveways are very important aspects. To make the view of the garden interesting, you can expose vistas that would make a pleasant view. This may encourage visitors to get off the path or driveway and take a closer look at the garden.
Drainage
Drainage is another important factor in garden designs. A sound drainage system will ensure hygiene and maintain overall garden health. On the other hand an unsound drainage system will destroy your garden.
If you are not happy with your existing garden design, follow these guidelines and spice up your view! Add your imagination and creativity to these simple guidelines and create garden designs that will make you proud.
Get all of the latest in garden design know how from the one and only true gardening resource at http://www.gardendesignadvice.com/ Be sure to check out our garden design pages on our web site.
Tuesday, 1 June 2010
Friday, 28 May 2010
Green Tongues – Quotes about Gardening
From the gardener who tends a single geranium in her windowsill, to the one who supplies bountiful bouquets of roses to floral shops, many people have spoken many words about the art and skill and benefits of gardening. Let's listen in to some of their voices, historical and contemporary, for in them we may discover the gardener deep within the soil of our soul:
Gardening gives one back a sense of proportion about everything - except itself. ~May Sarton, Plant Dreaming Deep, 1968.
The most noteworthy thing about gardeners is that they are always optimistic, always enterprising, and never satisfied. They always look forward to doing something better than they have ever done before.--Vita Sackville-West, 1892 - 1962.
My green thumb came only as a result of the mistakes I made while learning to see things from the plant's point of view. ~H. Fred Ale.
I have found, through years of practice, that people garden in order to make something grow; to interact with nature; to share, to find sanctuary, to heal, to honor the earth, to leave a mark. Through gardening, we feel whole as we make our personal work of art upon our land.--Julie Moir Messervy, The Inward Garden, 1995, p.19.
Gardening requires lots of water - most of it in the form of perspiration. ~Lou Erickson.
As the biocentric view suggests, the garden prospers when control is balanced by equal measures of humility and benevolence. A balance is struck. Control, servitude, respect, imagination, pragmatism, an ecological conscience, compliance, and a certain measure of mysticism and altruism all meld together to provide nurturance. Try to separate the various aspects into their constituent parts - grant any one of them the status of fundamental gardening definition and one soon skews the entire process. Put them back together again in the service of the two-way street called nurturance, and we express the state of grace called gardening.--Jim Nollman, Why We Garden: Cultivating a Sense of Place, 1994, p. 106.
There can be no other occupation like gardening in which, if you were to creep up behind someone at their work, you would find them smiling. ~Mirabel Osler.
The home gardener is part scientist, part artist, part philosopher, part plowman.
He modifies the climate around his home.--John R. Whiting.
Gardening is a matter of your enthusiasm holding up until your back gets used to it.--Unknown.
Gardening is an exercise in optimism. Sometimes, it is a triumph of hope over experience.--Marina Schinz.
The best place to seek God is in a garden. You can dig for him there. ~George Bernard Shaw, The Adventures of the Black Girl in Her Search for God, 1932.
Science, or para-science, tells us that geraniums bloom better if they are spoken to. But a kind word every now and then is really quite enough. Too much attention, like too much feeding, and weeding and hoeing, inhibits and embarrasses them. ~Victoria Glendinning.
In gardens, beauty is a by-product. The main business is sex and death. ~Sam Llewelyn.
The greatest gift of the garden is the restoration of the five senses. ~Hanna Rion.
In my garden there is a large place for sentiment. My garden of flowers is also my garden of thoughts and dreams. The thoughts grow as freely as the flowers, and the dreams are as beautiful. ~Abram L. Urban.
It is good to be alone in a garden at dawn or dark so that all its shy presences may haunt you and possess you in a reverie of suspended thought. ~James Douglas, Down Shoe Lane.
Weather means more when you have a garden. There's nothing like listening to a shower and thinking how it is soaking in around your green beans. ~Marcelene Cox.
God made rainy days so gardeners could get the housework done. ~Unknown.
I used to visit and revisit it a dozen times a day, and stand in deep contemplation over my vegetable progeny with a love that nobody could share or conceive of who had never taken part in the process of creation. It was one of the most bewitching sights in the world to observe a hill of beans thrusting aside the soil, or a rose of early peas just peeping forth sufficiently to trace a line of delicate green. ~Nathaniel Hawthorne, Mosses from and Old Manse.
Don't wear perfume in the garden - unless you want to be pollinated by bees. ~Anne Raver.
Take thy plastic spade,
It is thy pencil; take thy seeds, thy plants,
They are thy colours.~William Mason, The English Garden, 1782.
It is a golden maxim to cultivate the garden for the nose, and the eyes will take care of themselves. ~Robert Louis Stevenson.
Gardening is about enjoying the smell of things growing in the soil, getting dirty without feeling guilty, and generally taking the time to soak up a little peace and serenity. ~Lindley Karstens, noproblemgarden.com.
I know that if odour were visible, as colour is,
I'd see the summer garden in rainbow clouds.~Robert Bridges, "Testament of Beauty".
Unemployment is capitalism's way of getting you to plant a garden. ~Orson Scott Card.
How fair is a garden amid the trials and passions of existence. ~Benjamin Disraeli.
Our England is a garden, and such gardens are not made
By singing: -"Oh, how beautiful!" and sitting in the shade. ~Rudyard Kipling, "The Glory of the Garden".
You can bury a lot of troubles digging in the dirt. ~Unknown.
Garden writing is often very tame, a real waste when you think how opinionated, inquisitive, irreverent and lascivious gardeners themselves tend to be. Nobody talks much about the muscular limbs, dark, swollen buds, strip-tease trees and unholy beauty that have made us all slaves of the Goddess Flora. ~Ketzel Levine's talkingplants.com.
On every stem, on every leaf,... and at the root of everything that grew, was a professional specialist in the shape of grub, caterpillar, aphis, or other expert, whose business it was to devour that particular part. ~Oliver Wendell Holmes.
Half the interest of a garden is the constant exercise of the imagination. ~Mrs. C.W. Earle, Pot-Pourri from a Surrey Garden, 1897.
No two gardens are the same. No two days are the same in one garden. ~Hugh Johnson.
We have descended into the garden and caught three hundred slugs. How I love the mixture of the beautiful and the squalid in gardening. It makes it so lifelike. ~Evelyn Underhill, Letters.
I think that if ever a mortal heard the voice of God it would be in a garden at the cool of the day. ~F. Frankfort Moore, A Garden of Peace.
Last night, there came a frost, which has done great damage to my garden.... It is sad that Nature will play such tricks on us poor mortals, inviting us with sunny smiles to confide in her, and then, when we are entirely within her power, striking us to the heart. ~Nathaniel Hawthorne, The American Notebooks.
Despite the gardener's best intentions, Nature will improvise. ~Michael P. Garafalo, gardendigest.com.
Many things grow in the garden that were never sown there. ~Thomas Fuller, Gnomologia, 1732.
In order to live off a garden, you practically have to live in it. ~Frank McKinney Hubbard.
Give me odorous at sunrise a garden of beautiful flowers where I can walk undisturbed. ~Walt Whitman.
Gardens always mean something else, man absolutely uses one thing to say another. ~Robert Harbison, Eccentric Spaces, 1977.
Gardens... should be like lovely, well-shaped girls: all curves, secret corners, unexpected deviations, seductive surprises and then still more curves. ~H.E. Bates, A Love of Flowers.
I never had any other desire so strong, and so like to covetousness, as that one which I have had always, that I might be master at last of a small house and a large Garden. ~Abraham Cowley, The Garden, 1666.
One of the most delightful things about a garden is the anticipation it provides. ~W.E. Johns, The Passing Show.
Earth is here so kind, that just tickle her with a hoe and she laughs with a harvest. ~Douglas William Jerrold, about Australia, A Land of Plenty.
I have never had so many good ideas day after day as when I worked in the garden. ~John Erskine.
Green fingers are the extension of a verdant heart. ~Russell Page.
There is no gardening without humility. Nature is constantly sending even its oldest scholars to the bottom of the class for some egregious blunder. ~Alfred Austin.
It is utterly forbidden to be half-hearted about gardening. You have got to love your garden whether you like it or not. ~W.C. Sellar & R.J. Yeatman, Garden Rubbish, 1936.
A garden was the primitive prison, till man with Promethean felicity and boldness, luckily sinned himself out of it. ~Charles Lamb, 1830.
Let no one think that real gardening is a bucolic and meditative occupation. It is an insatiable passion, like everything else to which a man gives his heart. ~Karel Čapek, The Gardener's Year, translated by M. and R. Weatherall, 1931.
Most people who possess anything like an acre, or half of it, contribute weekly to the support of a gentleman known as Jobbing Gardener. You are warned of the danger that he may prove to be Garden Pest no 1. ~C.E. Lucas-Phillips, The New Small Garden.
Tomatoes and squash never fail to reach maturity. You can spray them with acid, beat them with sticks and burn them; they love it. ~S.J. Perelman, Acres and Pains, 1951.
I appreciate the misunderstanding I have had with Nature over my perennial border. I think it is a flower garden; she thinks it is a meadow lacking grass, and tries to correct the error. ~Sara Stein, My Weeds, 1988.
It takes a while to grasp that not all failures are self-imposed, the result of ignorance, carelessness or inexperience. It takes a while to grasp that a garden isn't a testing ground for character and to stop asking, what did I do wrong? Maybe nothing. ~Eleanor Perényi, Green Thoughts, 1981.
The kiss of the sun for pardon,
The song of the birds for mirth,
One is nearer God's heart in a garden
Than anywhere else on earth.~Dorothy Frances Gurney, "Garden Thoughts".
I don't think we'll ever know all there is to know about gardening, and I'm just as glad
there will always be some magic about it!--Barbara Damrosc.h
Gardening is civil and social, but it wants the vigor and freedom of the forest and the outlaw. ~Henry David Thoreau.
It is always exciting to open the door and go out into the garden for the first time on any day.--Marion Cran.
Gardening is a kind of disease. It infects you, you cannot escape it. When you go visiting, your eyes rove about the garden; you interrupt the serious cocktail drinking because of an irresistible impulse to get up and pull a weed. ~Lewis Gannit.
Gardening is any way that humans and nature come together with the intent of creating beauty.--Tina James, 1999.
When you have done your best for a flower, and it fails, you have some reason to be aggrieved. ~Frank Swinnerton.
Show me your garden and I shall tell you what you are.--Alfred Austin.
A garden really lives only insofar as it is an expression of faith, the embodiment of a hope and a song of praise.--Russell Page, The Education of a Gardener, 1962.
The best fertilizer is the gardener's shadow. ~Unknown.
Gardening is a labour full of tranquility and satisfaction; natural and instructive, and as such contributes to the most serious contemplation, experience, health and longevity.--John Evelyn, 1666.
By the time one is eighty, it is said, there is no longer a tug of war in the garden with the May flowers hauling like mad against the claims of the other months. All is at last in balance and all is serene. The gardener is usually dead, of course. ~Henry Mitchell, The Essential Earthman, 1981.
What a man needs in gardening is a cast-iron back, with a hinge in it. ~Charles Dudley Warner, My Summer in a Garden, 1871.
Gardening is the art that uses flowers and plants as paint, and the soil and sky as canvas.
--Elizabeth Murray.
Copyright © 2006, Ian White Access 2000 Pty Ltd
Author Ian White is founder of Housecarers House Sitting Directory. Find a live-in house sitter to care for your home, garden and pets while you are away =>http://www.housecarers.com
Gardening gives one back a sense of proportion about everything - except itself. ~May Sarton, Plant Dreaming Deep, 1968.
The most noteworthy thing about gardeners is that they are always optimistic, always enterprising, and never satisfied. They always look forward to doing something better than they have ever done before.--Vita Sackville-West, 1892 - 1962.
My green thumb came only as a result of the mistakes I made while learning to see things from the plant's point of view. ~H. Fred Ale.
I have found, through years of practice, that people garden in order to make something grow; to interact with nature; to share, to find sanctuary, to heal, to honor the earth, to leave a mark. Through gardening, we feel whole as we make our personal work of art upon our land.--Julie Moir Messervy, The Inward Garden, 1995, p.19.
Gardening requires lots of water - most of it in the form of perspiration. ~Lou Erickson.
As the biocentric view suggests, the garden prospers when control is balanced by equal measures of humility and benevolence. A balance is struck. Control, servitude, respect, imagination, pragmatism, an ecological conscience, compliance, and a certain measure of mysticism and altruism all meld together to provide nurturance. Try to separate the various aspects into their constituent parts - grant any one of them the status of fundamental gardening definition and one soon skews the entire process. Put them back together again in the service of the two-way street called nurturance, and we express the state of grace called gardening.--Jim Nollman, Why We Garden: Cultivating a Sense of Place, 1994, p. 106.
There can be no other occupation like gardening in which, if you were to creep up behind someone at their work, you would find them smiling. ~Mirabel Osler.
The home gardener is part scientist, part artist, part philosopher, part plowman.
He modifies the climate around his home.--John R. Whiting.
Gardening is a matter of your enthusiasm holding up until your back gets used to it.--Unknown.
Gardening is an exercise in optimism. Sometimes, it is a triumph of hope over experience.--Marina Schinz.
The best place to seek God is in a garden. You can dig for him there. ~George Bernard Shaw, The Adventures of the Black Girl in Her Search for God, 1932.
Science, or para-science, tells us that geraniums bloom better if they are spoken to. But a kind word every now and then is really quite enough. Too much attention, like too much feeding, and weeding and hoeing, inhibits and embarrasses them. ~Victoria Glendinning.
In gardens, beauty is a by-product. The main business is sex and death. ~Sam Llewelyn.
The greatest gift of the garden is the restoration of the five senses. ~Hanna Rion.
In my garden there is a large place for sentiment. My garden of flowers is also my garden of thoughts and dreams. The thoughts grow as freely as the flowers, and the dreams are as beautiful. ~Abram L. Urban.
It is good to be alone in a garden at dawn or dark so that all its shy presences may haunt you and possess you in a reverie of suspended thought. ~James Douglas, Down Shoe Lane.
Weather means more when you have a garden. There's nothing like listening to a shower and thinking how it is soaking in around your green beans. ~Marcelene Cox.
God made rainy days so gardeners could get the housework done. ~Unknown.
I used to visit and revisit it a dozen times a day, and stand in deep contemplation over my vegetable progeny with a love that nobody could share or conceive of who had never taken part in the process of creation. It was one of the most bewitching sights in the world to observe a hill of beans thrusting aside the soil, or a rose of early peas just peeping forth sufficiently to trace a line of delicate green. ~Nathaniel Hawthorne, Mosses from and Old Manse.
Don't wear perfume in the garden - unless you want to be pollinated by bees. ~Anne Raver.
Take thy plastic spade,
It is thy pencil; take thy seeds, thy plants,
They are thy colours.~William Mason, The English Garden, 1782.
It is a golden maxim to cultivate the garden for the nose, and the eyes will take care of themselves. ~Robert Louis Stevenson.
Gardening is about enjoying the smell of things growing in the soil, getting dirty without feeling guilty, and generally taking the time to soak up a little peace and serenity. ~Lindley Karstens, noproblemgarden.com.
I know that if odour were visible, as colour is,
I'd see the summer garden in rainbow clouds.~Robert Bridges, "Testament of Beauty".
Unemployment is capitalism's way of getting you to plant a garden. ~Orson Scott Card.
How fair is a garden amid the trials and passions of existence. ~Benjamin Disraeli.
Our England is a garden, and such gardens are not made
By singing: -"Oh, how beautiful!" and sitting in the shade. ~Rudyard Kipling, "The Glory of the Garden".
You can bury a lot of troubles digging in the dirt. ~Unknown.
Garden writing is often very tame, a real waste when you think how opinionated, inquisitive, irreverent and lascivious gardeners themselves tend to be. Nobody talks much about the muscular limbs, dark, swollen buds, strip-tease trees and unholy beauty that have made us all slaves of the Goddess Flora. ~Ketzel Levine's talkingplants.com.
On every stem, on every leaf,... and at the root of everything that grew, was a professional specialist in the shape of grub, caterpillar, aphis, or other expert, whose business it was to devour that particular part. ~Oliver Wendell Holmes.
Half the interest of a garden is the constant exercise of the imagination. ~Mrs. C.W. Earle, Pot-Pourri from a Surrey Garden, 1897.
No two gardens are the same. No two days are the same in one garden. ~Hugh Johnson.
We have descended into the garden and caught three hundred slugs. How I love the mixture of the beautiful and the squalid in gardening. It makes it so lifelike. ~Evelyn Underhill, Letters.
I think that if ever a mortal heard the voice of God it would be in a garden at the cool of the day. ~F. Frankfort Moore, A Garden of Peace.
Last night, there came a frost, which has done great damage to my garden.... It is sad that Nature will play such tricks on us poor mortals, inviting us with sunny smiles to confide in her, and then, when we are entirely within her power, striking us to the heart. ~Nathaniel Hawthorne, The American Notebooks.
Despite the gardener's best intentions, Nature will improvise. ~Michael P. Garafalo, gardendigest.com.
Many things grow in the garden that were never sown there. ~Thomas Fuller, Gnomologia, 1732.
In order to live off a garden, you practically have to live in it. ~Frank McKinney Hubbard.
Give me odorous at sunrise a garden of beautiful flowers where I can walk undisturbed. ~Walt Whitman.
Gardens always mean something else, man absolutely uses one thing to say another. ~Robert Harbison, Eccentric Spaces, 1977.
Gardens... should be like lovely, well-shaped girls: all curves, secret corners, unexpected deviations, seductive surprises and then still more curves. ~H.E. Bates, A Love of Flowers.
I never had any other desire so strong, and so like to covetousness, as that one which I have had always, that I might be master at last of a small house and a large Garden. ~Abraham Cowley, The Garden, 1666.
One of the most delightful things about a garden is the anticipation it provides. ~W.E. Johns, The Passing Show.
Earth is here so kind, that just tickle her with a hoe and she laughs with a harvest. ~Douglas William Jerrold, about Australia, A Land of Plenty.
I have never had so many good ideas day after day as when I worked in the garden. ~John Erskine.
Green fingers are the extension of a verdant heart. ~Russell Page.
There is no gardening without humility. Nature is constantly sending even its oldest scholars to the bottom of the class for some egregious blunder. ~Alfred Austin.
It is utterly forbidden to be half-hearted about gardening. You have got to love your garden whether you like it or not. ~W.C. Sellar & R.J. Yeatman, Garden Rubbish, 1936.
A garden was the primitive prison, till man with Promethean felicity and boldness, luckily sinned himself out of it. ~Charles Lamb, 1830.
Let no one think that real gardening is a bucolic and meditative occupation. It is an insatiable passion, like everything else to which a man gives his heart. ~Karel Čapek, The Gardener's Year, translated by M. and R. Weatherall, 1931.
Most people who possess anything like an acre, or half of it, contribute weekly to the support of a gentleman known as Jobbing Gardener. You are warned of the danger that he may prove to be Garden Pest no 1. ~C.E. Lucas-Phillips, The New Small Garden.
Tomatoes and squash never fail to reach maturity. You can spray them with acid, beat them with sticks and burn them; they love it. ~S.J. Perelman, Acres and Pains, 1951.
I appreciate the misunderstanding I have had with Nature over my perennial border. I think it is a flower garden; she thinks it is a meadow lacking grass, and tries to correct the error. ~Sara Stein, My Weeds, 1988.
It takes a while to grasp that not all failures are self-imposed, the result of ignorance, carelessness or inexperience. It takes a while to grasp that a garden isn't a testing ground for character and to stop asking, what did I do wrong? Maybe nothing. ~Eleanor Perényi, Green Thoughts, 1981.
The kiss of the sun for pardon,
The song of the birds for mirth,
One is nearer God's heart in a garden
Than anywhere else on earth.~Dorothy Frances Gurney, "Garden Thoughts".
I don't think we'll ever know all there is to know about gardening, and I'm just as glad
there will always be some magic about it!--Barbara Damrosc.h
Gardening is civil and social, but it wants the vigor and freedom of the forest and the outlaw. ~Henry David Thoreau.
It is always exciting to open the door and go out into the garden for the first time on any day.--Marion Cran.
Gardening is a kind of disease. It infects you, you cannot escape it. When you go visiting, your eyes rove about the garden; you interrupt the serious cocktail drinking because of an irresistible impulse to get up and pull a weed. ~Lewis Gannit.
Gardening is any way that humans and nature come together with the intent of creating beauty.--Tina James, 1999.
When you have done your best for a flower, and it fails, you have some reason to be aggrieved. ~Frank Swinnerton.
Show me your garden and I shall tell you what you are.--Alfred Austin.
A garden really lives only insofar as it is an expression of faith, the embodiment of a hope and a song of praise.--Russell Page, The Education of a Gardener, 1962.
The best fertilizer is the gardener's shadow. ~Unknown.
Gardening is a labour full of tranquility and satisfaction; natural and instructive, and as such contributes to the most serious contemplation, experience, health and longevity.--John Evelyn, 1666.
By the time one is eighty, it is said, there is no longer a tug of war in the garden with the May flowers hauling like mad against the claims of the other months. All is at last in balance and all is serene. The gardener is usually dead, of course. ~Henry Mitchell, The Essential Earthman, 1981.
What a man needs in gardening is a cast-iron back, with a hinge in it. ~Charles Dudley Warner, My Summer in a Garden, 1871.
Gardening is the art that uses flowers and plants as paint, and the soil and sky as canvas.
--Elizabeth Murray.
Copyright © 2006, Ian White Access 2000 Pty Ltd
Author Ian White is founder of Housecarers House Sitting Directory. Find a live-in house sitter to care for your home, garden and pets while you are away =>http://www.housecarers.com
Wednesday, 26 May 2010
Creating Ambiance With Gardens
During his 40-year career as a garden writer and photographer, Derek Fell has designed numerous garden spaces, many involving his wife Carolyn. The best example of their work can be seen at their home, historic Cedaridge Farm, in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. There, they have designed more than twenty theme areas, including shade gardens, sunny perennial borders, tapestry gardens involving trees and shrubs, a cottage garden, herb garden, cutting garden and an ambitious water garden.
Derek worked as a consultant on garden design to the White House during the Gerald Ford Administration. Derek designed Ford's 'Win' garden, following his 'Win Speech', advising the nation ten ways to fight inflation.
Many garden designs by Derek Fell have been implemented without inspecting the site. The great late architect Frank Lloyd Wright designed beautiful homes for his clients, entirely from photographs without the need for a site inspection.
Fell's garden spaces have been featured in newspapers, magazines, books and also on television, including Architectural Digest, Gardens Illustrated, The Garden (the magazine of the Royal Horticultural Society), Country Gardens, HGTV, QVC and PBS.
Derek has authored more than sixty books and garden calendars, including 550 Home Landscaping Ideas (Simon & Schuster), The Encyclopedia of Garden Design (Firefly Books), The Complete Garden Planning Manual (Friedman), Garden Accents (Henry Holt) and Home Landscaping (Simon & Schuster).
Curb appeal and ambiance are important to brighten up your propoerty or prepare it for sale. Feel free to ask Derek any garden related questions regardless of how big or small.
SOME GARDEN TYPES
Water Garden. Water is the music of nature. It can be tricked over stones, cascaded from a great height so its crashes onto rocks. It can fall in a solid sheet or as silver threads. A beautiful water garden with waterfalls and stepping stones can be located in sunlight or shade. The water garden shown here is located at Cedaridge Farm. It includes a pool for dipping, and it features both a collection of koi and hardy water lilies. A popular water garden design features a koi pool fed by a series of waterfalls, and the water re-circulated through filters to keep the water clear.
Sunny Perennial Border. This can be formal or informal, square, rectangular, round and kidney shaped, in the form of an island bed or backed against a decorative hedge, wall or fence. Plants can be chosen to produce a parade of color through all the seasons, or concentrated for a particular season. Color themes can be polychromatic like a rainbow, monochromatic (for example all white - perfect for a wedding), or it can feature an Impressionist color harmony, such as yellow and purple; orange and blue; red, pink and silver; blue, pink and white; even black and white or black and orange (one of Monet's favorites). A popular perennial garden design is two parallel border with a grass path leading to a focal point such as a sculpture or gazebo.
Tropical Garden. You do not need to live in a frost-free area to have a beautiful tropical garden. At Cedaridge Farm we have two - one is a tribute to the design philosophy of the late Roberto Burle Marx, who designed dramatic tropical gardens around Rio. It is in a lightly shaded area and features plants that are hardy (like 'Sum & Substance' hosta) but look tropical and tender plants that are tender (like banana trees and tree ferns) that either need moving indoors during winter or can be discarded like annuals at the end of the season. Our second tropical space is a patio with tropical plants grown in containers.
Shade Gardens. We design two kinds of shade gardens - one where the plants provide mostly foliage interest (like ferns, hostas, heuchera and hakone grass), and plants that flower well (like impatiens, coleus, and lilies), or a combination of the two.
Woodland Garden. Whether you have existing woodland or you need to create a woodland from scratch, the result can be sensational. Decide whether you want deciduous trees that provide fall color or evergreens that stay green all winter, or a mixture. At Cedaridge we made a 'cathedral' garden where the existing trees are trimmed high so the trunks look like the columns of a cathedral, and the branches arch out to meet overhead like the vaulted ceiling of a cathedral. Below, we provide two more layers of interest, at ground level and the under-story.
Vegetable Garden. We can design you an easy-care garden of raised beds where vegetables are planted in blocks or an edible landscape where edibles are grown for ornamental effect. We can provide the plan for a garden that was approved for the White house during the Ford Administration where Derek Fell worked as a garden consultant. Derek Fell's book, "Vegetables - How to Select, Grow & Enjoy", won a best book award from the Garden Writers Association.
Herb Garden. The herb garden at Cedaridge Farm is a 'quadrant design', feature in numerous calendars and books, including Derek Fell's 'Herb Gardening for Beginners.' We can also provide a cartwheel design or a parterre herb garden for bountiful harvests of fresh herbs. The Herb Garden can also do double-duty as a vegetable garden.
Cutting Garden. The cutting garden at Cedaridge Farm features bulbs such as tulips and daffodils for spring, and ever-blooming annuals to follow the bulbs so armloads of flowers can be harvested from April through October.
Victorian Garden. A garden with romantic overtones! Imagine a white gazebo framed by mostly white flowers for a wedding in the family. Or choose from among several color harmonies, such as yellow and blue, red, pink and silver, or blue, pink and white.
Cottage Garden. You don't need a cottage to have a cottage garden. But if you do, such as a guest cottage, why not wrap it in shrub roses and climbers, plus those delightful English cottage garden plants like poppies, sunflowers and pinks. We also like to include plants to attract butterflies and hummingbirds.
Stream Garden. Lucky you if you have an existing stream to be landscaped. At Cedaridge Farm we have a stream, but when we moved here it was overgrown with poison ivy and brambles. Today it is criss-crossed with bridges, and beds of moisture-loving plants like astilbe and water iris. If you don't have a stream, but would like one, we can create a design where the water is re-circulated along one that's man-made but looks natural.
Orchard. You don't need a lot of space for a productive orchard. By making the right choices, fruit trees can be grown in containers or espaliered against fences and walls to save space. Peaches and apples can be trained over arbors. Just a few plants of small fruits like strawberries and raspberries can be highly productive.
Bog Garden. Ideal for soils that tend to remain moist all season, bog gardens can be extremely colorful and highly imaginative, incorporating stepping stones and bridges to cross wet areas, and growing some of nature's most diverse plant families, such as water iris, Japanese primroses, astilbe and waterlilies.
Japanese Garden. The problem with many Japanese gardens is a tendency to use pseudo-Japanese elements such as Chinese dragons. Derek Fell has twice traveled to Japan, has written award-winning articles about Japanese garden design, and has the experience to design authentic-looking spaces in the Japanese tradition using elements of Zen or Feng Shui, or a combination of the two disciplines to create a magical space.
Italian Garden. Although Italian gardens can be highly ostentatious, requiring steep slopes to achieve the best effect, like the Villa d'Este, near Rome, small spaces can achieve the aura of an Italian garden. Derek Fell has not only visited some of the finest Italian Gardens, such as La Mortola on the Italian coast, and Boboli overlooking Florence, he has toured and photographed the Vatican Gardens.
French Formal Garden. The elaborate style of Versailles Palace and Vaux le Vicompte, may be beyond your means, but elements of French garden design, such as a parterre garden, can be incorporated in small spaces.
Monet's Garden. This beautiful artist's garden north of Paris contains more than a hundred special planting ideas to create what Monet considered his greatest work of art. Moreover, his planting ideas have undoubtedly inspired more new garden design than any other garden. Monet's arched bridge, his waterlily pond, his arches leading to the entrance of his house, and his color harmonies are just some examples of Monet's innovation that people today like to emulate.
Tapestry Garden (Trees & Shrubs). The great French Impressionist artist, Paul Cezanne's garden, in Provence, is composed mostly of trees and shrubs, not only as a labor saving device, but to provide a tapestry of color from leaf colors, leaf texture and leaf shapes. What could be more appealing than to look out of a window of your home at a rich foliage panorama, including all shades of green from light green to dark-green, plus blue, silver, gold, bronze?
Hillside Garden. Even dry hillsides can make beautiful rock gardens, with paths twisting and turning in a zig-zag to create a visual adventure from the top of the slope to the bottom. They can be terraced and threaded with streams to create waterfalls and planted with some of nature's most beautiful plant forms. Bridges, benches and belvedere are some of the structural elements that can add interest to a hillside.
Please visit http://www.derekfell.com to learn more or contact Derek directly.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Derek_Fell
Derek worked as a consultant on garden design to the White House during the Gerald Ford Administration. Derek designed Ford's 'Win' garden, following his 'Win Speech', advising the nation ten ways to fight inflation.
Many garden designs by Derek Fell have been implemented without inspecting the site. The great late architect Frank Lloyd Wright designed beautiful homes for his clients, entirely from photographs without the need for a site inspection.
Fell's garden spaces have been featured in newspapers, magazines, books and also on television, including Architectural Digest, Gardens Illustrated, The Garden (the magazine of the Royal Horticultural Society), Country Gardens, HGTV, QVC and PBS.
Derek has authored more than sixty books and garden calendars, including 550 Home Landscaping Ideas (Simon & Schuster), The Encyclopedia of Garden Design (Firefly Books), The Complete Garden Planning Manual (Friedman), Garden Accents (Henry Holt) and Home Landscaping (Simon & Schuster).
Curb appeal and ambiance are important to brighten up your propoerty or prepare it for sale. Feel free to ask Derek any garden related questions regardless of how big or small.
SOME GARDEN TYPES
Water Garden. Water is the music of nature. It can be tricked over stones, cascaded from a great height so its crashes onto rocks. It can fall in a solid sheet or as silver threads. A beautiful water garden with waterfalls and stepping stones can be located in sunlight or shade. The water garden shown here is located at Cedaridge Farm. It includes a pool for dipping, and it features both a collection of koi and hardy water lilies. A popular water garden design features a koi pool fed by a series of waterfalls, and the water re-circulated through filters to keep the water clear.
Sunny Perennial Border. This can be formal or informal, square, rectangular, round and kidney shaped, in the form of an island bed or backed against a decorative hedge, wall or fence. Plants can be chosen to produce a parade of color through all the seasons, or concentrated for a particular season. Color themes can be polychromatic like a rainbow, monochromatic (for example all white - perfect for a wedding), or it can feature an Impressionist color harmony, such as yellow and purple; orange and blue; red, pink and silver; blue, pink and white; even black and white or black and orange (one of Monet's favorites). A popular perennial garden design is two parallel border with a grass path leading to a focal point such as a sculpture or gazebo.
Tropical Garden. You do not need to live in a frost-free area to have a beautiful tropical garden. At Cedaridge Farm we have two - one is a tribute to the design philosophy of the late Roberto Burle Marx, who designed dramatic tropical gardens around Rio. It is in a lightly shaded area and features plants that are hardy (like 'Sum & Substance' hosta) but look tropical and tender plants that are tender (like banana trees and tree ferns) that either need moving indoors during winter or can be discarded like annuals at the end of the season. Our second tropical space is a patio with tropical plants grown in containers.
Shade Gardens. We design two kinds of shade gardens - one where the plants provide mostly foliage interest (like ferns, hostas, heuchera and hakone grass), and plants that flower well (like impatiens, coleus, and lilies), or a combination of the two.
Woodland Garden. Whether you have existing woodland or you need to create a woodland from scratch, the result can be sensational. Decide whether you want deciduous trees that provide fall color or evergreens that stay green all winter, or a mixture. At Cedaridge we made a 'cathedral' garden where the existing trees are trimmed high so the trunks look like the columns of a cathedral, and the branches arch out to meet overhead like the vaulted ceiling of a cathedral. Below, we provide two more layers of interest, at ground level and the under-story.
Vegetable Garden. We can design you an easy-care garden of raised beds where vegetables are planted in blocks or an edible landscape where edibles are grown for ornamental effect. We can provide the plan for a garden that was approved for the White house during the Ford Administration where Derek Fell worked as a garden consultant. Derek Fell's book, "Vegetables - How to Select, Grow & Enjoy", won a best book award from the Garden Writers Association.
Herb Garden. The herb garden at Cedaridge Farm is a 'quadrant design', feature in numerous calendars and books, including Derek Fell's 'Herb Gardening for Beginners.' We can also provide a cartwheel design or a parterre herb garden for bountiful harvests of fresh herbs. The Herb Garden can also do double-duty as a vegetable garden.
Cutting Garden. The cutting garden at Cedaridge Farm features bulbs such as tulips and daffodils for spring, and ever-blooming annuals to follow the bulbs so armloads of flowers can be harvested from April through October.
Victorian Garden. A garden with romantic overtones! Imagine a white gazebo framed by mostly white flowers for a wedding in the family. Or choose from among several color harmonies, such as yellow and blue, red, pink and silver, or blue, pink and white.
Cottage Garden. You don't need a cottage to have a cottage garden. But if you do, such as a guest cottage, why not wrap it in shrub roses and climbers, plus those delightful English cottage garden plants like poppies, sunflowers and pinks. We also like to include plants to attract butterflies and hummingbirds.
Stream Garden. Lucky you if you have an existing stream to be landscaped. At Cedaridge Farm we have a stream, but when we moved here it was overgrown with poison ivy and brambles. Today it is criss-crossed with bridges, and beds of moisture-loving plants like astilbe and water iris. If you don't have a stream, but would like one, we can create a design where the water is re-circulated along one that's man-made but looks natural.
Orchard. You don't need a lot of space for a productive orchard. By making the right choices, fruit trees can be grown in containers or espaliered against fences and walls to save space. Peaches and apples can be trained over arbors. Just a few plants of small fruits like strawberries and raspberries can be highly productive.
Bog Garden. Ideal for soils that tend to remain moist all season, bog gardens can be extremely colorful and highly imaginative, incorporating stepping stones and bridges to cross wet areas, and growing some of nature's most diverse plant families, such as water iris, Japanese primroses, astilbe and waterlilies.
Japanese Garden. The problem with many Japanese gardens is a tendency to use pseudo-Japanese elements such as Chinese dragons. Derek Fell has twice traveled to Japan, has written award-winning articles about Japanese garden design, and has the experience to design authentic-looking spaces in the Japanese tradition using elements of Zen or Feng Shui, or a combination of the two disciplines to create a magical space.
Italian Garden. Although Italian gardens can be highly ostentatious, requiring steep slopes to achieve the best effect, like the Villa d'Este, near Rome, small spaces can achieve the aura of an Italian garden. Derek Fell has not only visited some of the finest Italian Gardens, such as La Mortola on the Italian coast, and Boboli overlooking Florence, he has toured and photographed the Vatican Gardens.
French Formal Garden. The elaborate style of Versailles Palace and Vaux le Vicompte, may be beyond your means, but elements of French garden design, such as a parterre garden, can be incorporated in small spaces.
Monet's Garden. This beautiful artist's garden north of Paris contains more than a hundred special planting ideas to create what Monet considered his greatest work of art. Moreover, his planting ideas have undoubtedly inspired more new garden design than any other garden. Monet's arched bridge, his waterlily pond, his arches leading to the entrance of his house, and his color harmonies are just some examples of Monet's innovation that people today like to emulate.
Tapestry Garden (Trees & Shrubs). The great French Impressionist artist, Paul Cezanne's garden, in Provence, is composed mostly of trees and shrubs, not only as a labor saving device, but to provide a tapestry of color from leaf colors, leaf texture and leaf shapes. What could be more appealing than to look out of a window of your home at a rich foliage panorama, including all shades of green from light green to dark-green, plus blue, silver, gold, bronze?
Hillside Garden. Even dry hillsides can make beautiful rock gardens, with paths twisting and turning in a zig-zag to create a visual adventure from the top of the slope to the bottom. They can be terraced and threaded with streams to create waterfalls and planted with some of nature's most beautiful plant forms. Bridges, benches and belvedere are some of the structural elements that can add interest to a hillside.
Please visit http://www.derekfell.com to learn more or contact Derek directly.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Derek_Fell
Friday, 21 May 2010
A Few Gardening Tips For You
Below are some gardening tips that I feel are worth mentioning, and may possibly get you on your way to earning your green thumb. There are never to many gardening tips and I will just brush up on a few to get you started. I am sure if you do a search in Google for "gardening tips", you will have more at your disposal than you can ever ask for.
You could also try garden magazines and books and even gardening clubs. There is plenty of knowledge to go around. The list below will sum up tips on planning your plot, soil preparation, mulch, compost and the watering of the plot.
Garden Tip Number 1
Always plan out your garden before you start digging away at your yard. A good way to start is to take a long look at your garden a try to picture your finished product. Take into account the hight the plants can grow to, the sun spectrum, and the proximity to a water source. Once you see a place you like take a seat and start your gardening plot plan on paper. This way you can get more detailed and include things that you may forget otherwise. Make sure to include in your plans the proximity of your garden hose or garden hose reel and fixture.
Garden Tip 2
Possibly the most important tip of all is correct soil preparation and mixture. It is extremely important to use the non toxic soil nutrients when you are growing anything that you plan on eventually consuming.If you are growing vegetables in your garden then a homemade compost is by far the best fertilizer for your garden. The results will speak for themselves. It is not as hard as you think. Do some research and you would be surprised. If compost is not available the next option is mulch. If you are going to go with this rout, it is best to look for soft woods such as redwood or spruce. Softer woods have an easier time breaking down and spreading the nutrients to the soil in the bed. If you are not growing vegetables there are loads of fertilizers that can fit your project. Just go to your local nursery and they will lead you in the right direction. When you decide on your fertilizer, make sure everything is mixed well and aerated properly. A garden tiller can make this part of the job a lot easier but is not necessary.
Garden Tip 3
Once your plant area is picked out and the soil in properly spread in your garden, you can then start laying your plants in the pattern you thought up in your plans. Laying the plants out can give you a better picture of your end results. It is also best to arrange the plants from the largest growing in the back and decreasing toward the fron of the garden. You can group the plants together according to characteristics. This way you can get the most out of your area with all the plants getting the full benefit of the suns rays. This alone can make a huge difference.
Garden Tip 4
It is always best to use gardening sprinklers but this is not always possible for your first garden. If you cannot afford garden sprinkler you can still automate the garden with a hose attachment sprinkler.You can use timers that attach to the hose fixture and place the sprinkler wherever needed and this can make the watering automated also. You might still need to use the garden hose here and there. If you don't mind watering than a garden hose and garden hose reel setup can work nice and fulfill all the necessary watering you need.Another option is the drip irrigation systems although this will also cost you a little more.
Though the above tips are very important for the basics of your garden you can get a lot more from doing your own research on the internet search engine, ordering a book, or joining a garden club. Ordering a magazine or joining a club can help a lot as you get new informative tips every month. I hope the tips are helpful and wish you good luck on your green thumb quest. You will be there before you know it.
Simon Moris is a horticulture specialist with more than a decade experience. For more Gardening Tips visit his site at: http://www.ourgardensource.com/Gardening/Gardening-Tips.php
You could also try garden magazines and books and even gardening clubs. There is plenty of knowledge to go around. The list below will sum up tips on planning your plot, soil preparation, mulch, compost and the watering of the plot.
Garden Tip Number 1
Always plan out your garden before you start digging away at your yard. A good way to start is to take a long look at your garden a try to picture your finished product. Take into account the hight the plants can grow to, the sun spectrum, and the proximity to a water source. Once you see a place you like take a seat and start your gardening plot plan on paper. This way you can get more detailed and include things that you may forget otherwise. Make sure to include in your plans the proximity of your garden hose or garden hose reel and fixture.
Garden Tip 2
Possibly the most important tip of all is correct soil preparation and mixture. It is extremely important to use the non toxic soil nutrients when you are growing anything that you plan on eventually consuming.If you are growing vegetables in your garden then a homemade compost is by far the best fertilizer for your garden. The results will speak for themselves. It is not as hard as you think. Do some research and you would be surprised. If compost is not available the next option is mulch. If you are going to go with this rout, it is best to look for soft woods such as redwood or spruce. Softer woods have an easier time breaking down and spreading the nutrients to the soil in the bed. If you are not growing vegetables there are loads of fertilizers that can fit your project. Just go to your local nursery and they will lead you in the right direction. When you decide on your fertilizer, make sure everything is mixed well and aerated properly. A garden tiller can make this part of the job a lot easier but is not necessary.
Garden Tip 3
Once your plant area is picked out and the soil in properly spread in your garden, you can then start laying your plants in the pattern you thought up in your plans. Laying the plants out can give you a better picture of your end results. It is also best to arrange the plants from the largest growing in the back and decreasing toward the fron of the garden. You can group the plants together according to characteristics. This way you can get the most out of your area with all the plants getting the full benefit of the suns rays. This alone can make a huge difference.
Garden Tip 4
It is always best to use gardening sprinklers but this is not always possible for your first garden. If you cannot afford garden sprinkler you can still automate the garden with a hose attachment sprinkler.You can use timers that attach to the hose fixture and place the sprinkler wherever needed and this can make the watering automated also. You might still need to use the garden hose here and there. If you don't mind watering than a garden hose and garden hose reel setup can work nice and fulfill all the necessary watering you need.Another option is the drip irrigation systems although this will also cost you a little more.
Though the above tips are very important for the basics of your garden you can get a lot more from doing your own research on the internet search engine, ordering a book, or joining a garden club. Ordering a magazine or joining a club can help a lot as you get new informative tips every month. I hope the tips are helpful and wish you good luck on your green thumb quest. You will be there before you know it.
Simon Moris is a horticulture specialist with more than a decade experience. For more Gardening Tips visit his site at: http://www.ourgardensource.com/Gardening/Gardening-Tips.php
Friday, 14 May 2010
Tulip Divisions - Garden Tulips and Their Identities
Tulips are classified into 15 tulip groups or tulip divisions.
There are an enormous number of large-flowered hybrids and these are classified into 11 of these divisions, according to flowering time, plant shape, flower size and form.
Species and species hybrids make up the four remaining groups.
Let's look at each group!
Division 1 - Single early tulips
This tulip division flowers have rounded petals forming small deep cup-shaped single flowers, which sometimes open flat in full sun.
They flower in mid spring.
They grow to 25-60cm (10-24in) high
Their stems are thick so they can handle the wind and rain.
They are excellent used as bedding plants.
Some varieties can be forced indoors.
Popular Single Early tulips are 'Apricot Beauty' (apricot-pink), 'Bestseller' (copper-orange), 'Generaal de Wet' (golden-orange), and 'Ruby Red' (scarlet).
Division 2 - Double early tulips
These have large double flowers resembling peonies.
They flower in mid spring and are long-lasting.
They grow to 25-30cm (10-12in) high.
They are good for mass bedding layouts or containers.
They prefer a sheltered site.
Popular Double Early tulips are 'Electra' (cherry-red), 'Mr Van de Hoef' (golden-yellow), 'Oranje Nassau' (orange-red), 'Peach Blossom' (rose pink) and 'Schoonoord' (white).
Division 3 - Triumph tulips
These are sometimes referred to as Mid Season tulips in bulb catalogs.
They have large, single, angular flowers.
They flower in mid spring and are long-lasting.
They grow to 40-60cm (16-24in) high.
They can handle the wind and rain so can be used as bedding plants in exposed sites.
Popular varieties include 'Attila' (violet-purple), 'Bellona' (golden-yellow), 'Garden Party' (white and carmine-pink), 'Kees Nellis' (pink and yellow), 'White Dream' (white) and 'Orange Bouquet' (red-orange) which has several flowers on each stem.
Division 4- Darwin hybrids
These have large, round brilliantly colored flowers.
They flower in late spring.
They grow to 55-70cm (22-28in) high on strong stems.
Their colorful flowers make them ideal for the main focal point of a display.
Popular hybrids include 'Apeldoorn' (rich red), 'Big Chief' (pink with white), 'Elizabeth Arden' (salmon pink), 'Olympic Flame' (yellow and red) and 'Red Matador' (scarlet).
Click here to check out premium Dutch Tulips at Brecks
Division 5- Single late tulips
These are sometimes referred to as May flowering tulips.
They have squared-off, oval or egg shaped flowers.
They flower in late spring.
They grow to 65-80cm (26-32in) high.
These are usually used in bedding or border layouts.
Popular varieties include 'Avignon' (red), 'Golden Harvest' (lemon yellow), 'Queen of Bartigons' (salmon-pink), 'Queen of Night' (maroon black) and 'Sorbet' (white and red).
Division 6- Lily-flowered tulips
These have long single flowers with pointed petals, often curving out at the tips.
They flower in late spring.
They grow to 50-65cm (20-26in) high.
They prefer a sunny site.
Popular varieties include 'Aladdin' (crimson and yellow), 'China Pink' (soft pink), 'Maytime' ((mauve lilac with white edges), 'Red Shine' (deep red), 'West Point' (yellow) and 'White Triumphator' (white).
Division 7- Fringed tulips
These have flowers similar to those of the Single late group but with fringed petals.
They flower in late spring.
They grow to 55-80cm (22-32in) high.
Popular varieties include 'Arma' (cardinal-red), 'Burgundy Lace' (wine-red) and 'Fringed Beauty' (red and yellow).
Division 8 - Viridiflora
They are also known as Green tulips.
These are similar to the Single late tulips but the petals are partly green.
The flowers appear in late spring.
They grow to 23-60cm (9-24in) high.
Popular varieties include 'Artist' (apricot-pink and green), 'Golden Artist' (orange-yellow and green), 'Groenland' (green-edged rose) and 'Spring Green' (lemon-yellow and green).
Click here to check out premium Dutch Tulips at Brecks
Division 9 - Rembrandt tulips
These have large single flowers with petals streaked or blotched with a second color which is caused by a harmless virus.
The flowers appear in late spring.
They grow to 45-75cm (18-30in) high.
Among the varieties available are 'lnsulinde' (violet and yellow), 'Lotty van Beuningen' (lilac, purple and white) and 'Jack Laan' (purple, yellow and white).
Division 10 - Parrot tulips
These have large, often bi-colored, flowers with frilled and/or twisted petals.
They flower in mid and late spring.
They grow to 50-65cm (20-26in) high.
Their stems are often too weak to support the large unsheltered flowers and so staking is sometimes necessary.
They prefer a sheltered position
Popular varieties include 'Black Parrot' (purple-black), 'Fantasy' (pink), 'Flaming Parrot' (yellow flamed red) and 'White Parrot' (white).
Division 11 - Double late tulips
These are sometimes called Peony-flowered tulips,
They have large showy flowers, resembling peonies.
They flower in late spring.
The plants grow to 40-60cm) (16-24in) high.
They prefer a sheltered position.
Popular hybrids include 'Angelique' (pale pink), 'Gold Medal' (golden-yellow) and 'Mount Tacoma' (white).
Division 12 - Kaufmanniana hybrids
These are also known as Waterlily tulips.
They have long, often bi colored, flowers.
They flower in early spring.
They grow to 10-25cm (4-10in) high,
These tulips are ideal for rock gardens, containers, or along the edges of orders.
Popular hybrids include 'Heart's Delight' (carmine-red, white and yellow), 'Johann Strauss' (red and white) and 'The First' (white tinted carmine-red).
Click here to check out premium Dutch Tulips at Brecks
Division 13- Fosteriana hybrids
These have large, long flowers.
They flower in mid spring.
They grow to 20-40cm (8-16in) high.
Their brilliant eye-catching colors make them good for focal planting.
Popular hybrids include 'Cantata' (deep scarlet), 'Orange Emperor' (pure orange), 'Rockery Beauty' (orange-red) and 'Purissima' (white-yellow).
Division 14- Greigii hybrids
These have lovely colorful flowers with maroon or purple-brown veined or spotted foliage.
They flower in early to mid spring.
They grow to 23-50cm (9-20in) high.
As most are short, they look best in rockeries and containers.
Popular hybrids include 'Cape Cod' (bronze-yellow and apricot), 'Dreamboat' (amber yellow), 'Plaisir' (creamy white with red stripes), 'Red Riding Hood' (carmine red) and 'Toronto' (salmon-orange).
Division 15- Species tulips
The flowers of this final tulip division tend to be smaller and more delicate in form than the garden tulips. They are ranging from 7.5-45cm (3-18in) in height. Those listed below are the most readily available species, though others are sometimes sold by specialist bulb growers.
Tulipa clusiana (known as the lady tulip)
The clusiana 'cynthia' has red pointed petals flushed yellow with grey-green leaves that are upright and very narrow.
They flower in mid spring.
The plants grow to 23-30cm (9-12in) high.
Tulipa praestans
The praestans 'Bloemenlust' has long red flowers with blunt petals.
Each stem has between two and five flowers accompanied by broad grey-green leaves.
They flower in early and mid spring.
The plants grow to 30-45cm (12-18in) high.
Tulipa tarda
The tarda has white narrow petaled flowers with a yellow eye, with up to five flowers on each stem. The narrow mid-green leaves form a rosette at flowering time.
They flower in early spring.
They grow to 10cm (4in) high.
You can find more detailed information about tulip divisions at
http://www.elegant-tulip-bulbs.com/tulip-divisions.html
Rob Young http://www.elegant-tulip-bulbs.com
There are an enormous number of large-flowered hybrids and these are classified into 11 of these divisions, according to flowering time, plant shape, flower size and form.
Species and species hybrids make up the four remaining groups.
Let's look at each group!
Division 1 - Single early tulips
This tulip division flowers have rounded petals forming small deep cup-shaped single flowers, which sometimes open flat in full sun.
They flower in mid spring.
They grow to 25-60cm (10-24in) high
Their stems are thick so they can handle the wind and rain.
They are excellent used as bedding plants.
Some varieties can be forced indoors.
Popular Single Early tulips are 'Apricot Beauty' (apricot-pink), 'Bestseller' (copper-orange), 'Generaal de Wet' (golden-orange), and 'Ruby Red' (scarlet).
Division 2 - Double early tulips
These have large double flowers resembling peonies.
They flower in mid spring and are long-lasting.
They grow to 25-30cm (10-12in) high.
They are good for mass bedding layouts or containers.
They prefer a sheltered site.
Popular Double Early tulips are 'Electra' (cherry-red), 'Mr Van de Hoef' (golden-yellow), 'Oranje Nassau' (orange-red), 'Peach Blossom' (rose pink) and 'Schoonoord' (white).
Division 3 - Triumph tulips
These are sometimes referred to as Mid Season tulips in bulb catalogs.
They have large, single, angular flowers.
They flower in mid spring and are long-lasting.
They grow to 40-60cm (16-24in) high.
They can handle the wind and rain so can be used as bedding plants in exposed sites.
Popular varieties include 'Attila' (violet-purple), 'Bellona' (golden-yellow), 'Garden Party' (white and carmine-pink), 'Kees Nellis' (pink and yellow), 'White Dream' (white) and 'Orange Bouquet' (red-orange) which has several flowers on each stem.
Division 4- Darwin hybrids
These have large, round brilliantly colored flowers.
They flower in late spring.
They grow to 55-70cm (22-28in) high on strong stems.
Their colorful flowers make them ideal for the main focal point of a display.
Popular hybrids include 'Apeldoorn' (rich red), 'Big Chief' (pink with white), 'Elizabeth Arden' (salmon pink), 'Olympic Flame' (yellow and red) and 'Red Matador' (scarlet).
Click here to check out premium Dutch Tulips at Brecks
Division 5- Single late tulips
These are sometimes referred to as May flowering tulips.
They have squared-off, oval or egg shaped flowers.
They flower in late spring.
They grow to 65-80cm (26-32in) high.
These are usually used in bedding or border layouts.
Popular varieties include 'Avignon' (red), 'Golden Harvest' (lemon yellow), 'Queen of Bartigons' (salmon-pink), 'Queen of Night' (maroon black) and 'Sorbet' (white and red).
Division 6- Lily-flowered tulips
These have long single flowers with pointed petals, often curving out at the tips.
They flower in late spring.
They grow to 50-65cm (20-26in) high.
They prefer a sunny site.
Popular varieties include 'Aladdin' (crimson and yellow), 'China Pink' (soft pink), 'Maytime' ((mauve lilac with white edges), 'Red Shine' (deep red), 'West Point' (yellow) and 'White Triumphator' (white).
Division 7- Fringed tulips
These have flowers similar to those of the Single late group but with fringed petals.
They flower in late spring.
They grow to 55-80cm (22-32in) high.
Popular varieties include 'Arma' (cardinal-red), 'Burgundy Lace' (wine-red) and 'Fringed Beauty' (red and yellow).
Division 8 - Viridiflora
They are also known as Green tulips.
These are similar to the Single late tulips but the petals are partly green.
The flowers appear in late spring.
They grow to 23-60cm (9-24in) high.
Popular varieties include 'Artist' (apricot-pink and green), 'Golden Artist' (orange-yellow and green), 'Groenland' (green-edged rose) and 'Spring Green' (lemon-yellow and green).
Click here to check out premium Dutch Tulips at Brecks
Division 9 - Rembrandt tulips
These have large single flowers with petals streaked or blotched with a second color which is caused by a harmless virus.
The flowers appear in late spring.
They grow to 45-75cm (18-30in) high.
Among the varieties available are 'lnsulinde' (violet and yellow), 'Lotty van Beuningen' (lilac, purple and white) and 'Jack Laan' (purple, yellow and white).
Division 10 - Parrot tulips
These have large, often bi-colored, flowers with frilled and/or twisted petals.
They flower in mid and late spring.
They grow to 50-65cm (20-26in) high.
Their stems are often too weak to support the large unsheltered flowers and so staking is sometimes necessary.
They prefer a sheltered position
Popular varieties include 'Black Parrot' (purple-black), 'Fantasy' (pink), 'Flaming Parrot' (yellow flamed red) and 'White Parrot' (white).
Division 11 - Double late tulips
These are sometimes called Peony-flowered tulips,
They have large showy flowers, resembling peonies.
They flower in late spring.
The plants grow to 40-60cm) (16-24in) high.
They prefer a sheltered position.
Popular hybrids include 'Angelique' (pale pink), 'Gold Medal' (golden-yellow) and 'Mount Tacoma' (white).
Division 12 - Kaufmanniana hybrids
These are also known as Waterlily tulips.
They have long, often bi colored, flowers.
They flower in early spring.
They grow to 10-25cm (4-10in) high,
These tulips are ideal for rock gardens, containers, or along the edges of orders.
Popular hybrids include 'Heart's Delight' (carmine-red, white and yellow), 'Johann Strauss' (red and white) and 'The First' (white tinted carmine-red).
Click here to check out premium Dutch Tulips at Brecks
Division 13- Fosteriana hybrids
These have large, long flowers.
They flower in mid spring.
They grow to 20-40cm (8-16in) high.
Their brilliant eye-catching colors make them good for focal planting.
Popular hybrids include 'Cantata' (deep scarlet), 'Orange Emperor' (pure orange), 'Rockery Beauty' (orange-red) and 'Purissima' (white-yellow).
Division 14- Greigii hybrids
These have lovely colorful flowers with maroon or purple-brown veined or spotted foliage.
They flower in early to mid spring.
They grow to 23-50cm (9-20in) high.
As most are short, they look best in rockeries and containers.
Popular hybrids include 'Cape Cod' (bronze-yellow and apricot), 'Dreamboat' (amber yellow), 'Plaisir' (creamy white with red stripes), 'Red Riding Hood' (carmine red) and 'Toronto' (salmon-orange).
Division 15- Species tulips
The flowers of this final tulip division tend to be smaller and more delicate in form than the garden tulips. They are ranging from 7.5-45cm (3-18in) in height. Those listed below are the most readily available species, though others are sometimes sold by specialist bulb growers.
Tulipa clusiana (known as the lady tulip)
The clusiana 'cynthia' has red pointed petals flushed yellow with grey-green leaves that are upright and very narrow.
They flower in mid spring.
The plants grow to 23-30cm (9-12in) high.
Tulipa praestans
The praestans 'Bloemenlust' has long red flowers with blunt petals.
Each stem has between two and five flowers accompanied by broad grey-green leaves.
They flower in early and mid spring.
The plants grow to 30-45cm (12-18in) high.
Tulipa tarda
The tarda has white narrow petaled flowers with a yellow eye, with up to five flowers on each stem. The narrow mid-green leaves form a rosette at flowering time.
They flower in early spring.
They grow to 10cm (4in) high.
You can find more detailed information about tulip divisions at
http://www.elegant-tulip-bulbs.com/tulip-divisions.html
Rob Young http://www.elegant-tulip-bulbs.com
Rock Garden Foundation Planting
There is still another use for a customized variety of the rock garden which has been taken little advantage of. This is referred to as "rock garden foundation planting."
There are a few such plantings effectively executed to feel content that there is a field here which has not yet been developed. In many sections where stones flourish and where ledges of rock gather out in the grounds around the home, such a planting is wholly suitable.
It gives a modification from the usual all evergreen planting and makes an innate looking finish for the base of a stone or a stucco residence. Furthermore, in the shade of northern and western exposures are surroundings utterly appropriate to many of the rock garden and alpine plants. Obscured watering may effortlessly be provided.
Sometimes the principal purpose of the gardener may be not so much a rock garden as a compilation of rock plants. This in itself is a meaningful intention, for some of these small beauties are as readily grown as any perennials, and others are appealing because of the assorted difficulties implicated in effectively growing them. They are as useful as any other group of plants for their own qualities even aside from their use as substance for making a rock garden.
Often the novice starts out with no comprehensible idea as to whether his purpose is to grow rock plants or to fashion a bona fide rock garden. This is one of the things which should be decided prior to starting. If you simply want to grow rock plants, stones may be utilized as a resource for supplying appropriate growing elements. Additionally, several of the rock plants, and even a few of the alpines, may be grown flawlessly, particularly in a faintly raised bed, without a rock anywhere in the vicinity.
While this subject has been raised, it may be sensible to call interest to another type of simulated rock gardening. This is the heap of rocks, sometimes cautiously built up, sometimes freely thrown collectively with earth put over them, which is typically called a "rockery."
Such a mound of soil and stone may serve as a support for vines, such as English ivy, to jostle over, or for a few of the dry-soil annuals or perennials, but is in no way a rock garden, not even a small version of one. Even with the addition of a garden fountain or piece of statuary, this arrangement will not suffice as an authentic rock garden.
For the complete design and reason of a rock garden is to accumulate and preserve the dampness in the soil well beneath the surface, so that the far-reaching roots of rock and alpine plants may use the moisture, even though they appear to be growing in completely waterless soil. Regardless of any large statuary or outdoor water features that are supplemented, the moisture reserves will not magically appear. The rockery, on the other hand, is an idyllic configuration for not saving moisture.
When the spring rains are passing, the rockery will rapidly dry out right to the center, and only by frequent trenching, which would be deadly to many rock plants and alpines, can it be kept at all damp.
Sarah Martin is a freelance marketing writer based out of San Diego, CA. She specializes in home improvement, landscaping, gardening, and interior design. For an amazing selection of garden fountains and outdoor water features, please visit http://www.garden-fountains.com.
There are a few such plantings effectively executed to feel content that there is a field here which has not yet been developed. In many sections where stones flourish and where ledges of rock gather out in the grounds around the home, such a planting is wholly suitable.
It gives a modification from the usual all evergreen planting and makes an innate looking finish for the base of a stone or a stucco residence. Furthermore, in the shade of northern and western exposures are surroundings utterly appropriate to many of the rock garden and alpine plants. Obscured watering may effortlessly be provided.
Sometimes the principal purpose of the gardener may be not so much a rock garden as a compilation of rock plants. This in itself is a meaningful intention, for some of these small beauties are as readily grown as any perennials, and others are appealing because of the assorted difficulties implicated in effectively growing them. They are as useful as any other group of plants for their own qualities even aside from their use as substance for making a rock garden.
Often the novice starts out with no comprehensible idea as to whether his purpose is to grow rock plants or to fashion a bona fide rock garden. This is one of the things which should be decided prior to starting. If you simply want to grow rock plants, stones may be utilized as a resource for supplying appropriate growing elements. Additionally, several of the rock plants, and even a few of the alpines, may be grown flawlessly, particularly in a faintly raised bed, without a rock anywhere in the vicinity.
While this subject has been raised, it may be sensible to call interest to another type of simulated rock gardening. This is the heap of rocks, sometimes cautiously built up, sometimes freely thrown collectively with earth put over them, which is typically called a "rockery."
Such a mound of soil and stone may serve as a support for vines, such as English ivy, to jostle over, or for a few of the dry-soil annuals or perennials, but is in no way a rock garden, not even a small version of one. Even with the addition of a garden fountain or piece of statuary, this arrangement will not suffice as an authentic rock garden.
For the complete design and reason of a rock garden is to accumulate and preserve the dampness in the soil well beneath the surface, so that the far-reaching roots of rock and alpine plants may use the moisture, even though they appear to be growing in completely waterless soil. Regardless of any large statuary or outdoor water features that are supplemented, the moisture reserves will not magically appear. The rockery, on the other hand, is an idyllic configuration for not saving moisture.
When the spring rains are passing, the rockery will rapidly dry out right to the center, and only by frequent trenching, which would be deadly to many rock plants and alpines, can it be kept at all damp.
Sarah Martin is a freelance marketing writer based out of San Diego, CA. She specializes in home improvement, landscaping, gardening, and interior design. For an amazing selection of garden fountains and outdoor water features, please visit http://www.garden-fountains.com.
Thursday, 13 May 2010
Growing Flower Bulbs For Profit
Flower bulbs are the perfect crop for any grower. They're fairly easy to grow, and can bring you big profits. They can also multiply rapidly with the right amount of care. That's one of the many things that makes them so appealing. So how can you make good money growing bulbs? Here's how:
Flower growers make, on average, $20 to $30 an hour. It's simply a great business for anyone looking to turn their backyard nursery into a garden of profitable plants. In particular, bulbs continue to be top sellers. Marvin Joslin makes over $100,000 a year selling bulbs and flowers from the garden he started out in the country. He focuses on lilies, because they're hardy perennials that can grow in all four seasons. Plus, lilies grow into long-lasting cut flowers that are always top sellers.
In addition to lilies, there are many other bulbs that have something you probably didn't know about them:
*Daffodils - They're virtually immune to pests and disease.
*Iris - There are around 200 species in a variety of color and form.
*Tulips - These were once a holy flower in Turkey and Iran.
*Hyacinth - These are known for their delicate scent.
Plus, bulbs can be forced to grow outside of their normal season, which can be especially profitable. "Forcing" can cause bulbs to grow months before the normal cycle by simulating the natural conditions. Some popular bulbs for forcing include:
*"Paperwhite" daffodil for Christmas
*"Olaf" tulip for Valentine's Day
*"Anne Marie" hyacinth for Valentine's Day
*"Peerless Pink" tulip for Mother's Day
When you're ready to sell your flowers, you have many places you could try, such as the local farmers' market. These events continually draw big crowds eager to buy from local growers. Set up a stand or booth and get ready for the big profits. It's also a good idea to put out a mailing list that your customers can sign up for. That way you can keep in contact with your customers and let them know when and where you'll be selling your flowers next.
Or how about selling to hotels and restaurants. Many hotels and restaurants buy flowers to make their tables and entryways look nice. It's a simple way to bring class to any room. Plus, these restaurants and hotels will want to keep their tables and entryways looking classy, so you could see a lot of repeat sales.
Mail-order sales work well for many growers. The more exotic or unusual your bulbs, the better they will sell with a small classified in gardening magazines and newsletters. You can be growing flower bulbs for profit in no time. They're easy to grow, and can provide some beautiful results. Soon you could be making $20 to $30 an hour, or more, from growing flowers for profit. To learn more, read Growing Flowers for Profit, available at: http://extraincomebulletin.com
Flower growers make, on average, $20 to $30 an hour. It's simply a great business for anyone looking to turn their backyard nursery into a garden of profitable plants. In particular, bulbs continue to be top sellers. Marvin Joslin makes over $100,000 a year selling bulbs and flowers from the garden he started out in the country. He focuses on lilies, because they're hardy perennials that can grow in all four seasons. Plus, lilies grow into long-lasting cut flowers that are always top sellers.
In addition to lilies, there are many other bulbs that have something you probably didn't know about them:
*Daffodils - They're virtually immune to pests and disease.
*Iris - There are around 200 species in a variety of color and form.
*Tulips - These were once a holy flower in Turkey and Iran.
*Hyacinth - These are known for their delicate scent.
Plus, bulbs can be forced to grow outside of their normal season, which can be especially profitable. "Forcing" can cause bulbs to grow months before the normal cycle by simulating the natural conditions. Some popular bulbs for forcing include:
*"Paperwhite" daffodil for Christmas
*"Olaf" tulip for Valentine's Day
*"Anne Marie" hyacinth for Valentine's Day
*"Peerless Pink" tulip for Mother's Day
When you're ready to sell your flowers, you have many places you could try, such as the local farmers' market. These events continually draw big crowds eager to buy from local growers. Set up a stand or booth and get ready for the big profits. It's also a good idea to put out a mailing list that your customers can sign up for. That way you can keep in contact with your customers and let them know when and where you'll be selling your flowers next.
Or how about selling to hotels and restaurants. Many hotels and restaurants buy flowers to make their tables and entryways look nice. It's a simple way to bring class to any room. Plus, these restaurants and hotels will want to keep their tables and entryways looking classy, so you could see a lot of repeat sales.
Mail-order sales work well for many growers. The more exotic or unusual your bulbs, the better they will sell with a small classified in gardening magazines and newsletters. You can be growing flower bulbs for profit in no time. They're easy to grow, and can provide some beautiful results. Soon you could be making $20 to $30 an hour, or more, from growing flowers for profit. To learn more, read Growing Flowers for Profit, available at: http://extraincomebulletin.com
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