Last week’s posting on Shed design tips yielded response from two of the U.K.’s shed experts who have their own awesome blogs. I first discovered Readersheds last spring, while working on “Stylish Sheds and Elegant Hideaways,” my book project.

So it is with great delight that I can share the first of two Q&As with my British Shed Pals. Appearing here is my email conversation with the “Prince of Sheds,” aka Uncle Wilco. Uncle Wilco runs a popular web site: www.readersheds.co.uk (he blogs at shedblog.co.uk).

Q. Please share your bio with us:

A. I am Uncle Wilco and I am a sheddie. I’m 36 and I live near Pontypridd (where singer superstar Tom Jones comes from ) in South Wales in the U.K. I’m not sure if Tom has a shed; I’ve never had a reply from him. But I love sheds!

Q. When/how did you launch readersheds.co.uk?

A. Readersheds started as an idea in early 2000. I was looking for information about building a garden shed, but could not find much online, so I thought I might as well start a website, where people “shared their sheds” and told us how they went about it.

Ironically, the shed I went with in the end was ordered online and I just erected it instead of building from scratch. But the idea for “readersheds” had started and it just took on a life of its own! The shedblog.co.uk came later, but has been great in promoting Shed Week (details on this below)! And my general musings on shed-related matters.

Q. What was your first introduction to a shed? Did you grow up with a tool shed or potting shed in your backyard?

A. My grandfather (who turned 90 in November) used to have a big allotment garden in the Welsh Valleys. There he used to grow vegetables – and of course (it) was a place the men used to go to escape the wife!

All the allotmenters had sheds they built from scrap wood and anything else they could find. They were recycling before it was fashionable. I used to spend a lot of time there when I was younger. I don’t recall my parents having a shed, but my dad had a garage converted into a wood-shop, so the idea was there!

Q. Please describe your own shed.

A. I have two. Technically, one is a normal garden shed, but it is the hub of my ‘shed empire.’  The other one is a summerhouse, which is Mrs. Uncle Wilco’s domain, so is not on the site yet, but very soon.

Q. Tell me about the response you’ve had, both in the U.K. and around the globe.

A. It was slow to start with, but I never did any advertising or Search Engine Optimisation really for the site. Over the past three years the site has gone from strength to strength in terms of global visitors. And of course sheddies from most continents have shared their sheds, from your basic off-the-shelf to unique cabins and buildings of beauty.

Q. How many readers have posted photos of their sheds on your site?

A. We have around 730 sheds on the site currently, with around 100 that have been added since “Shed of the Year 2007,” but we are looking for many more and your readers can share their sheds here.

Q. When did you start the Shed of the Year competition?

A. 2007 was the first year, but I had a small shed competition a few years ago. I can’t wait for Shed of the Year 2008. Not sure if we can top last year’s winner: Tony’s Roman Temple Shed. We have a good selection so far, but we have six months to go, so hopefully we will have some unique sheds.

Q. Tell me about the National Shed Week – it seems like it has been wildly popular with great press coverage.

A. I decided that here in the U.K., we should have a week that celebrates all things sheds. I tried to petition the U.K. government, but to no avail, as they said the idea “was intended to be humorous, or have no point about government policy.”

So I thought, well I have a shed site so I will run it myself. National Shed Week was born with the aim of getting sheds recognized. [Editor’s note: National Shed Week is scheduled to begin July 7, 2008.]

I think having U.K. property guru and sheddies favourite Sarah Beeny signed up as a judge may have helped with the press coverage, but of course the British have a love affair with the shed, so really it’s just snowballed. I was lucky to do a few radio interviews. I got the impression they thought I was a nutter . . . ! But at least people realise that I have a passion for sheds, so that’s all that matters.

Q. What do you plan next?

A. Well, Shed of the Year 2008 is my next big thing. I hope to be more organised than this year – in fact I have already signed up four judges including TV property guru Sarah Beeny, the famous wind-up radio inventor Trevor Baylis, Alex from shedworking.co.uk and renowned beach hut expert Dr. Kathryn Ferry.

I hope we get lots more unique sheds on the site, as they are the lifeblood of Shed Week! I am talking to sponsors at the moment, so we should have some great shed prizes to give away as well.

After 2008, well, not sure. Hopefully, 2009! And then, Shed World Domination.

Alex, barefoot at the beach

“We have snow in Seattle!” my friend Robyn exclaimed, her voice coming through my cellphone headset.

It was in the low-70s. I was driving home, south on Highway 101 with the Pacific Ocean and the afternoon sun over my right shoulder. It was December first.

Life is certainly a study in contrasts. While my heart is constantly in the Pacific Northwest, and while I can just picture the beautiful fluffy snow landing ever so gently on the railings surrounding Robyn’s decks, the reality is: I’m here. And this week, I’m enjoying the beginnings of winter, Southern California style.

On Saturday, a road trip was called for. We hopped in the Subaru and headed north, up the Ventura Freeway in the sunshine…(yes, like the song), to Seaside Gardens in Carpinteria.

This is a very cool place. Not only is there an amazing selection of not-so-common landscaping plants here, there is an abundance of design ideas presented in the display gardens. Located just a stone’s throw from Santa Claus Beach, where my son Alex and I stopped on the way home to dip our toes in the sand and saltwater, and watch the kite-surfers, Seaside Gardens is arranged like a small botanical garden.

We were lured by the colorful postcard that arrived in the mail box, inviting us to a holiday open house (complete with hot cider and hors d’oeuvres). Weather report: Intense sun, powerful wind. No potted plant over 2-feet-tall was immune from the swift breezes coming inland from the ocean.

But we had fun nonetheless. Shopped for succulents: we brought home lots of 2-inch pots of echeverias for $2.49 each, plus we snagged four really enticing 4-inch pots of Sedum hispanicum‘Purpureum’ (delicate 1- to 2-inch high groundcover stonecrop that spreads up to 18-inches…unfortunately, I’m afraid the rabbits might like this one, time will tell).

Map depicts the wonderful display areas at Seaside Gardens

We took a breezy tour through the display gardens, spotting plants that caught our eyes and snapping photos to capture the moment. No thoughts of buying a Christmas tree, yet. But planting a sedum wreath, maybe!

Abyssinian banana-tree-hugger!

Surrounded by Cycads

20 Toes…can’t resist!

A nice surprise arrived in my email in-box last week. It was a note from someone who has discovered shedstyle.com: 

Dear Debra, My husband and I are building a potting shed. We have a footprint and general design concept.  What we haven’t been able to find are ideas or samples of interior space allocation.  I’ve preordered Stylish Sheds and Elegant Hideways from Random House but now is the time I most need some of your knowledge/experience.  Is there another source (I’ve also read your internet magazine) that you can direct me?  Is there any information you can provide? I’ve literally been hoping for this building ever since my husband and I bought our home – 27 years ago.  I’d really appreciate your help. Thank you! (signed, MARY) 

Wow, thank you, Mary! She actually pre-ordered Stylish Sheds and Elegant Hideaways! Very exciting news, especially since it won’t be on bookstore shelves until April 29, 2008. Mary’s note prompted me to think about what kind of Shed Design Checklist I would give a nascent shed-builder.  

Here are some general tips: First, of all, remember that there are infinite ideas to play around with. Think carefully about the interiors. So many people build gorgeous pieces of architectural wonder but then leave the shed’s inside ordinary-looking, dusty and filled with cobwebs. Even a functioning potting shed should be beautiful and reflect your own style. 

Pegboard walls and exposed rafters give this shed a barn-like feeling, while a cozy area rug and rocking chair ensure comfort

Treat the interior space allocation as you would design any room of your house. What will you do with the wall? It’s fine to leave the rafters and studs exposed, but can you paint them or mount shelves or hooks for displaying collections? One woman I know lined the walls of her potting shed with pegboard and hung from it all her antique gardening tools.  

Kathy’s potting counter

If you want a work counter or potting bench, consider the dimensions and proportions of the interior counters that feel best to you. Is your kitchen counter the correct height and depth? Do you like it deep enough to allow room for stacks of flowerpots or rows of gardening books to be displayed across the back? Is there storage room underneath?

Some of the most attractive countertops I’ve seen are covered in a sheath of copper or zinc. Kathy Fries, a Seattle gardener who has no fewer than four “shed” structures on her property, bought a salvaged section of classroom cabinets (probably used in a high school wood-shop or science class), complete with countertop and storage bins — voila! The perfect potting bench for her garden house.

Windows: Can you add a valance or lace panels? Can you make sure there’s a nice deep ledge for potted herbs or anything else that makes you happy? Windows should definitely be operable so you can adjust temperatures, create ventilation and — most important — hear the sounds of your garden while inside the shed. Swishing grasses, the whir of a hummingbird, bird-songs and a fountain’s trickling water are essential sounds you wouldn’t want to miss.

Doors: Just as with your home, you want the threshold and portal that lead from the “external world” to your “inner sanctum” to be symbolic of powerful and nurturing emotions: shelter, safety and haven. Don’t settle for an ordinary door from the big-box home center when you can do a little hunting to find something special. A salvaged door, especially one with glass, is a nice choice. You can add color or (as we did in our Seattle garden) allow the elements to continue the peeling process that reveals decades of life.

Floor: Remember this is an outdoor structure. It’s okay if you have a cement floor, but perhaps you should paint it and put a drain in the center so any gardening projects can be easily cleaned up. I’ve visited numerous sheds with wood plank flooring, vinyl tile, terracotta tile, flagstone, wall-to-wall carpeting and the aforementioned concrete. It really depends on the function of the room. 

Space-planning: Even if this is going to be a space for working on gardening projects, designate one wall or corner for R&R; A bench with cushions, a wicker chair and good reading lamp (of course, this means electricity), a desk for your reference books, correspondence or even a small tea party. Again, look to the room-like proportions of your home. One couple we interviewed/photographed for the book built their tea-house on the exact proportions of their dining room because to them, it was a comfortable space. 

On the potting shed in my former Seattle garden, designer Jean Zaputil used salvaged French doors donated by a contractor-neighbor. The weathered mailbox became the perfect planter-box for daffodils and a rose hip wreath hangs on one door

Here are some other questions to ask yourself:

• What activity draw us outdoors? Are you creating art, making music, writing, gardening, arranging flowers, playing with children, stargazing, entertaining friends, seeking solitude or meditating?
• What role will the structure play in the landscape? Is it a design focal point or is it intentionally hidden from view? Will it be a surface or “wall” in the garden for climbing vines or roses? Will you use it as a gallery for hanging objects, mirrors, artifacts? Will it hide or disguise an unsightly view (such as the back of a neighbor’s garage)? Is it for pure function or pure folly…or a little bit of both?
• To create an appropriate shelter or structure to house your activity, take time to address these functional choices: placement (where will you site the structure? how will it be oriented?); size and scale (check your local building codes to determine the maximum size allowed without a construction permit; it is often around 100 square feet); what materials will complement your home’s architecture? what utilities do you need (electricity, water, heat?); and, of course, the fun part: how will you decorate, embellish and adorn the structure?

In her book Hideaways: Cabins, Huts, and Tree House Escapes, French author Sonya Faure explores some of the emotions that the word “hideaway” can conjure. I’d like to share them here:

“The dictionary defines a hideaway as ‘a secluded spot.’. . . There are plenty of synonyms for the word, most of which emphasize its protective function: cover, den, haven, hideout, refuge, retreat, sanctuary, shelter. . . . The noun ‘hut’ and the verb ‘to hide’ share the same Indo-European root – skeu – meaning: to cover or to conceal.”

In the end, your shed should be designed for your private and personal delight. It is the place where you will feel safe, feel free to create and contemplate, and take refuge from the everyday demands of life. “Shed” also is a verb that has several meanings, most of which hint at “letting go” (as in shedding tears, sending forth, losing by a natural process). There’s something very symbolic in that notion as well. We “shed” our burdens, our cares, our sadness or pain, when we can escape into our secret backyard place.

I joined Lili Singer on a tour through Theodore Payne Foundation’s native plant nursery

Thank goodness for friends who will host me when I have an urge to take a plant excursion. On Tuesday, I visited Lili Singer, gardening personality extraordinaire who is a beloved radio and newspaper personality and longtime advisor to Southern California plant-lovers.

Lili has taken on special projects at The Theodore Payne Foundation for Wild Flowers and Native Plants in Sun Valley, Calif., a short drive off of Hwy I-5 , near Burbank Airport. Her pieces appear frequently in the Los Angeles Times Home section, she has a loyal following of students most Thursdays at the LA County Arboretum, and she is a board member of Southern California Horticultural Society. We met in August 05 when I came to LA to give a lecture for SCHS … then, a month later at the Garden Writers annual meeting, I really got to see what type of plant maven she was during the day we cavorted around the private landscapes of Vancouver, BC with a few other intrepid souls.

When I knew I was going to trade my Seattle zip code for a SoCal one, I also realized I would soon live in a state where I had several GWA friends and acquaintances, including Lili.

At the Theodore Payne Foundation, I tried to set aside any thought of my beloved NW garden and all the plants I can no longer grow because I now live in SoCal. Instead, I am looking closely at the amazing native plants available to me. Not really a botanical garden; Theodore Payne is a nonprofit nursery, seed store and bookstore for California native plants. Open to the public, Theodore Payne provides extensive plant information and advice in its nursery sales yard and through classes and public programs. Founded in 1960, the organization sponsors the free “Wildflower Hotline,” which alerts callers to the locations of seasonal wildflowers such as golden poppies and lesser-known but equally dazzling displays that embroider the hills and canyons of California (818-768-3533, March-May).

Outreach and volunteer coordinator Lisa Novick, Lili’s colleague, asserted that California has 6,000 native species to offer me. Wow. That’s something like three times what most states have!

While I lamented all the plants I couldn’t grow anymore, Lisa gently redirected the conversation, telling me that Seattle (and its plants) was like my “first love” to which all subsequent garden Zones will be compared. She observed that I’m still pining for that romance as I evaluate every subsequent suitor (plant, garden) to my original passionate relationship. “They’re never going to be the same; they’re different, and you need to enjoy the beauty of the difference,” she pointed out.

Nursery areas are enclosed in deerproof fencing and netting

I’m trying, okay? It’s hard to get my former lush, green, exuberant environs out of my system. Lili walked me through the Theodore Payne Nursery, a meandering series of paths that are nestled right up into the edges of LaTuna Canyon (this is a 22-acre parcel, complete with Flowerhill, a trail winding through chaparral and seasonal wild flowers). Plant sales areas are divided by category, just like any good nursery (groundcovers, perennials – oh, and “chaparral shrubs,” now that’s a category that Swanson’s Nursery doesn’t carry!).

This is a busy, busy nursery for wild and native plants of California. If you log onto Theodore Payne’s website, you’ll see its extensive plant, bulb and seed list, updated weekly. Many of the plants are propagated on site; others are supplied by reputable growers of California natives.

I zeroed in on a stunning evergreen specimen called Woolly Blue Curls (Trichostema lanatum), which looks like a long-needled rosemary but with the velvety purple-blue flower spikes of a Mexican sage. It’s a hummingbird and bumblebee favorite, according to California Native Plants for the Garden, the lovely reference that my Seattle book group gave me as a going-away gift when I moved. Ah, a new crush! Can’t wait to see how this relationship evolves once I get my very own ‘blue curls’ planted at home.

Bulbs have been very hard to give up with my move south; I’m kind of lost without my fall ritual of scrambling to plant as many tulip, allium, narcissus and grape hyacinth bulbs as time allows – usually in the pouring rain on Thanksgiving, while the turkey is roasting.

A new version of that November bulb ritual might look like this: Deb in t-shirt, capri pants and flip-flops, a small envelope of native bulbs in hand, planting clusters of three pearl-onion-sized bulbs in pots. With names like Firecracker Flower (Dichelostemma ida-maia), Ithuriel’s Spear ‘Queen Fabiola’ selection (Triteleia laxa), and Yellow Mariposa Lily ‘Golden Orb’ (Calochortus), I’m eager to see what delicate beauties arrive next spring.

One caveat with these native bulbs: They do NOT like any water in Summer or Fall. That’s of course when California’s wild areas are dry anyway; but move into the typical suburban backyard where occasional summer water is needed, hmmm. Guess there won’t be room for these bulbs at the front of my perennial beds.

Lili suggests I grow these in pots, at least this first year….that way I can enjoy them next spring when they bloom (photos are promised, here) and when the flowers fade, I can move the pots to the side of the house and let the bulbs stay warm, dry and content.

Warm, dry and content. That’s a noble thought for my own life, too!

A selection of native California plants, happily growing in a potted garden display

In September, I was a lucky participant in a two-part writing class with Paula Panich. The focus of her class, “Ever Changing/Never Less Than Whole: Writing the Getty Garden,” was perception. She wanted us to consider how, as writers, we truly perceive the world around us.

Paula spent about six months between March and August visiting the Getty Center’s famed Central Garden several days each week. She took photographs and made notes, but didn’t start writing, even after she’d practically memorized each plant in the garden. Similarly, Paula wanted us, her writing students, to “see with intelligence and sharpness; to notice; to be open to surprise and delight – to smell with your eyes, hear with your nose, touch with your ears, taste with your hands.” In other words, she urged each of us to respond on the page with our whole bodies, hearts, minds, spirits.

Most writing courses are very task-oriented. You get an introduction and do some nifty exercises; then you have an assignment, a very tangible assignment (like conduct an interview and write a profile or write a description of a garden and then analyze the adjectives).

Celebrating Paula’s birthday in early November

But Paula is a thinking writer’s writer. Enough of that linear, journalistic stuff that’s safe and straightforward. She jolted me out of my comfort zone with a gentle plea (and then a downright challenge) that I change the way I see the world. “If we could only turn off our brains and use our eyes alone,” she said quoting Picasso.

The idea of using our senses to write appeals to me. In writing about well-designed landscapes, I often try to highlight the sensory elements such as fragrance, the music of water, the visual allure of tall grasses dancing in the wind, the strokable lamb’s ears, the tart taste of blueberry on one’s tongue. So following Paula’s coaching, I tried very hard not to THINK but to look, smell, listen, touch, taste and observe. “Things that seep through your feet have a voice and intelligence,” she said, quoting the artist Ann Hamilton.

After a one-hour break during which we wandered the Robert Irwin-designed garden, took notes, absorbed the environment (I sat on the lawn and rested my back against the warm limestone block walls of the museum while studying the copse of sycamores), we regrouped and discussed the practice of writing. Something Paula asked really shocked me to consciousness: “Do you approach your work with reverence, or do you give it the back of your hand?”

Hmm. What a compelling thought. So often I approach my work as a must-do, rather than as a sacred privilege. I’m glad she made me face that question and invited an honest response.

Paula gave her students a writing assignment for the second session, which was scheduled two weeks later. She asked participants to write a piece in response to the garden, a poem, article, critique or essay. To another student and me she said: I’m throwing down the gauntlet to you two. An article comes easy (we were both published features writers) so your challenge is to write a piece of fiction!

Yikes. Fiction? Huh? Not for me, I’m not a “creative” writer, I keep telling myself, repeating what I’ve said since my college newspaper years. That fiction stuff is strictly uncharted and uncomfortable territory. But for Paula, I would do anything. She knew just what kind of challenge I needed to nudge me off of that comfortable perch.

A week later, I found time to return to the Getty Gardens. I got some lunch at the cafe (the perfect procrastination move) and observed an interesting guy eating his lunch. I started writing about him. Not sure where this little paragraph will end up, but here’s what I wrote:

“He was having a bottle of AltaDena milk with his lunch. This seemed a bit in contrast to his graying ponytail, worn denim shirt and wire-rimmed glasses.”

Okay, that wasn’t so bad. But then my soup bowl was empty and it was time to get moving. I had an hour before having to race home to (what else?) meet the school bus.

So I found a comfy spot on the lawn and again leaned back against the warm stone, and just started writing about the garden….and wow- just like those famous novelists say in interviews about the “craft” of fiction-writing – the character Flora presented herself to me. Oh, but first before I introduce her, I have to mention the brilliant writing-coach trick Paula played on me. When she gave me the “fiction challenge,” she mentioned having overheard a Getty docent who was leading around a group of school children. “I heard her tell the children that there is one person who gets to work in the garden AT NIGHT when no one else is here,” Paula said, almost secretively. “And that person has to clap very loudly to scare away the deer that would otherwise come into the garden and eat the plants.”

Paula was so enchanted by this notion that she even tried to track down its veracity. To this day, she doesn’t know if it was true or pure nonsense, but she likes the imagery of a person alone in the garden at night. So she suggested this tale as a possible starting point for my story. Well, I kind of took it and ran with it….but of course, so far, I haven’t figured out how to work in the hand-clapping or the appearance of deer in the garden. But here is what I did write. It’s a start. It wasn’t as painful as I feared; in fact, I have a warm affection for my protagonist. Maybe I’ll finish this tale some day. But as it stands, as a short piece, I like it.

The Moonlight Gardener

Follow the maze from the center through the garden. That was her idea at least. Flora knew she couldn’t really walk the Robert Irwin azalea labyrinth, but mentally, she would take its journey.

She was alternately mesmerized by its beautiful pattern and frustrated with its abrupt dead-ends. It appeared symmetrical when it really wasn’t. In a garden designed as perfection, Flora knew its beauty was in the imperfection. Otherwise, why was she here?

The petite gardener, who worked with mostly burly guys, stuffed a ponytail under her baseball cap and shoved her Felcos into the back pocket of her jeans. This ritual so familiar and mindlessly repeated had formed a pruner ‘outline’ on the faded denim. Like an etching that you would want to touch.

Working mostly alone, Flora felt she knew many of the garden’s trees, flowers and leaves on a personal level. She conducted silent conversations in her head, talking to each plant, saying: “Oh, you have been busy with the pollinators,” or: “Your orange blooms look exotic against the purple foliage of your companion.” She wondered whether if by listening closely enough she could hear – really hear – a plant’s response. In reality, her plant-conversations were mostly nonverbal exchanges.

Flora believed this artist-designed garden was never finished because of Nature’s nonhuman hand. Perhaps this is why, after 10 years, when the garden’s sycamore trees had grown to thirty feet tall, Flora’s supervisor created the Moonlight Crew.

Once a week she and two others clocked in at closing, prepared to work through the night. Now, Flora’s journey is ceremonial. She arrives for work early, thirty minutes before the last guests leave. As the crowds walk down the limestone steps, she ascends, hugging the hand rail and feeling almost invisible to the museum goers. Yes, it is a job. But it is also an honor to be the Getty’s plant steward, she reminds herself.

Bougainvillea, just beginning to leaf out in early springtime, to create magenta canopies on sculptural umbrella-like forms

Flora checks into the shed where the landscaping crew’s tools are stored. Hauling loppers and ladder, under moonlight or cloud cover, she comes to the magical garden. The gardeners work on hard-to-tackle jobs, the ones the administration doesn’t want the public to see: “editing” the sycamore leaves to create a dappling effect, or standing on a tall ladder to clip the bougainvillea “umbrellas.” Silent and almost prayerful, they tend, groom and haul away the remnants of too-vigorous California plant growth.

It was during her overnight shift that Flora first really noticed the power of Irwin’s complicated maze. Before, under the intense noonday sun, it had just been a group of curved hedges, tedious to clip. But when viewed at night, the vegetation almost vibrated with energy. There is a rhythm to the repetition of shapes, especially at nighttime when the silhouettes of arcs and crescents appear long before you notice the color or texture.

For Flora, the series of circles-within-circles is a living reminder of the paradox of a gardener. No clear path; organic, repetitive, incomplete. We bring life, but can’t prevent death; we tend, but can’t control; we admire, but it is a fleeting admiration. Beauty ends and then we wait for it to begin again.

Southern California Garden Writers members convene – 150-feet in the air above Orange County’s Great Park; from left: horticulturist Heike Franzen, me, author and houseplant expert Julie Bawden-Davis, and freelance writer Katie Bloome.

Gather together 30 gardening communicators for a day of networking and idea-sharing and you are guaranteed to have fun, inspiration and even a little controversy as opinions and ideas are swapped. The date: Sunday, November 11th. The venue: Roger’s Gardens, one of the country’s preeminent independent retail nurseries located in the coastal town of Corona del Mar.

Before we settled down to hear from three fascinating speakers, the group of writers, television and radio personalities, photographers, plant experts and horticultural vendors convened at Orange County’s Great Park in nearby Irvine. According to horticultural consultant Tom Larson, who is an advisor to this mammoth, 20-to-30 year endeavor, the Great Park is large enough to encompass Central Park, Balboa Park and Golden Gate Park in its acreage.

The 72-foot diameter balloon took us several hundred feet in the air and provided visibility of 20 miles.

Yes, it is a decommissioned military base, but once we boarded the bright orange hot-air balloon and ascended several hundred feet above the barren scene, we started to “get” the vision of the Irvine city fathers, environmental pioneers and community activists determined to create something very special in the midst of overdeveloped Southern California.

This ambitious endeavor will include a mind-boggling array of horticulture, sustainable agriculture and native habitat in a several hundred acre “park.” Where Marine jets once took off and landed (the base was built in 1942 on the site of what once served as growing fields for popular California crops) will soon be a living, “green” community hub. 

New York-based landscape architect Ken Smith’smaster plan includes a 2.5-mile tree-lined “canyon,” a lake and botanical garden, picnic lawns, amphitheatre, sports parks and wildlife corridor for migratory terrestrial and aviary animals. A conservatory “bridge” will span the lake; 150,000 native trees are being grown for planting; conservation and sustainable design practices are in place. Eighty percent of the demolished building material (steel, aluminum, wire, sheet-rock, concrete from the military base) will be recycled. Whew.

Nan Sterman, San Diego-based gardening personality, author and designer, and national GWA Director-extraordinaire planned this amazing day for all of us.

Planners are bringing together plants and people, providing urban land for small-scale organic farmers, growing landscaping plants that support wildlife and nurture people, and recycling water for irrigation. It is truly amazing that voters several years ago rejected a proposal for yet another international airport in favor of reclaiming this land for community use. If you come to Orange County, you need to make time to visit – and return (as this will be one of those multi-decade endeavors). The investment is for future generations and I find that exciting and inspiring.

In the interim, while development is underway, the Great Park planners are turning over several acres of land to two food bank operations, Community Action Partnership and Second Harvest, with the goal of growing nutritious, wholesome produce for the community’s homeless population and others facing hunger.

Back at Roger’s we settled in for “News You Can Use: Industry & Environmental Trends for Garden Writers – All About Plants, Gardens and Garden Communications.” Three Southern California experts shared their insights:

News from the Wholesale/Grower World: Plant trends with Nicholas Staddon (director of New Plant Introductions, Monrovia Growers)

Nicholas highlighted the following trends:

Plant “Branding”

Native plants (with a region-by-region focus)

Awareness of Invasives (see Carl Bell, below)

Waterwise plant choices

Tropicals-and-arid plants together

Minimalist gardening (doing more with less)

News for the Environment: Invasive Plants in Southern California with Carl Bell (UC Cooperative Extension)

Claiming, “there are no good weeds; there are no bad plants,” Carl highlighted the forthcoming “PlantRight”initiative that will be rolled out statewide in February 2008. The program will encourage consumers and retail nurseries to “Keep Invasive Plants In Check,” and voluntarily stop the sale and planting of known invasives.

One of the smartest features of the program is to suggest to home gardeners non-invasive plant alternatives to the garden thugs. Carl offered these definitions to guide the discussion of “what is an invasive plant?”

EXOTIC:

to a gardener, it means “foreign, tropical, interesting, cool”

to an environmentalist, it means a “bad, foreign, invasive pest”

to a regulatory agency, it means “a foreign organism that is likely a pest (although other governmental buzzwords include “alien” and “noxious,” a legal term that requires eradication, containment or control.

NATIVE/INDIGENOUS:

“Evolved in that location, present without any influence of humans (in California environmental organizations like the California Native Plant Society, Audubon, Sierra Club, “native” is regarded as specific to a region or area of the state)

NON-NATIVE/NON-INDIGENOUS:

“Introduced by humans, either accidentally or intentionally”

NATURALIZED:

A non-native plant that has established a stable, reproducing population in an area after introduction. Naturalized plants do not necessarily invade other areas. This term is used essentially the same way for gardens or natural habitats.

INVASIVE:

A naturalized plant that is spreading out from the location where it was introduced. Rapid or slow, its spread can be aided by disturbance or not, and it can have mild to drastic impacts on the native flora/fauna.

WEED:
Any plant that is objectionable or interferes with the activities or welfare of humans; invasive plants are a special category of weeds.

Other resources:

The St. Louis Declaration on invasive plant species

Cal-HIP (California Horticultural Invasives Program)

An awesome centerpiece of “Retro Succulents” from EuroAmerican Propagators — illustrates one HOT plant trend

News from the Retail Nursery World: What’s Hot and What’s Not in Home Gardening with Ron Vanderhoff (Nursery manager, Roger’s Gardens):

Ron is a veteran nurseryman and garden writer whose popular weekly column “The Coastal Gardener” appears in Orange County’s Daily Pilot newspaper. Here is his inside-scoop on the ins-and-outs of gardening trends:

NOT: “Gardening”  vs. HOT: “Gardens”

According to Ron, yesterday’s definition of a garden was a place where one would “grow” and “care for” plants; a place of enjoyment and work (emphasis on “work” as a verb)

While today’s definition of a garden is a “living space” that’s also a place of enjoyment and relaxation (emphasis on “relaxation” as an experience)

Other HOT trends:

Inside-Out: The walls of our homes have come down; homeowners are now “exterior design” experts; plants only account for one-third of spending on outdoor living

About a month ago, I gathered with 500 or so of my closest friends to attend the annual Garden Writers Association symposium in Oklahoma City. We were treated to some amazing experiences, including a Country Western jam session under the stars, tours of private and public gardens, great speakers and workshops, lots of new plants, design inspiration and story ideas. And good friends, many of whom I see only once a year. For me, that’s the best part.

There were lots of goodies in our complimentary backpack, a multi-zippered number that sports the logo of Garden Writers Association and Total Environment, an Oklahoma City landscaping firm that sponsored many of our events.

Oklahoma rose rocks, resting on a gravel-lined tray. Nature, elevated to a higher art form.

Tucked inside was the very coolest gift of all. A rock. Yup, an earthy chunk of Oklahoma’s geological history. Round, reddish-brown, and measuring about 2 inches across, the rock was naturally formed and resembles a rose with a swirl of petals around the edges. I am fascinated by this little chip of stone.

“Rose rocks,” we soon learned, are an Oklahoma specialty. I’m so impressed that Oklahoma members of GWA’s host committee hand-collected hundreds of rose rocks to share with us, their visitors. I will cherish this special piece of their world and I can’t resist holding it in my hand and looking at this beautiful natural phenomenon. I just mentioned my fascination with the souvenir rock to a fellow GWA member who clearly wasn’t as excited about it as me. She said, “Oh, when I saw that, I wondered if it was an animal, vegetable or mineral. I thought it was edible.”

Well, my dear, uninitiated, rose rock-ambivalent friend, let me I quote here from the Oklahoma Geological Society brochure that came with our 2-inch specimen:

“Rose rocks, the reddish-brown sandy crystals of barite that resemble a rose in full bloom, are more abundant in Oklahoma than anywhere else in the world. They have been reported in small quantities in California, Kansas, and Egypt, but are in greatest concentration in the Permian Garber Sandstone in a narrow belt that extends 80 miles through the central part of Oklahoma between Pauls Valley and Guthrie.

“The rose-like appearance of the rock’s petal-shaped clusters is due to the intergrowth of crystals of barite (a mineral compound of barium sulphate, BaSO4) as a cluster of divergent blades. Barite was precipitated in interconnected voids in the rock, probably from barium-rich marine waters that covered the Permian Garber Sandstone during or shortly after its deposition about 250 million years ago.”

So, in other words: a quirk of nature, 250-million years ago, started this geological oddity that surprises us today. Awesome to think about.

Here are some other nifty rose-rock facts:

Most rose rocks are 1/2 to 4 inches in diameter and consist of 5 to 20 radiating plates.

The largest known single rosette is 17 inches across and 10 inches high and weighs 125 pounds.

Clusters of rosettes 38 inches tall and weighing more than 1,000 pounds have been discovered.

Gov. Dewey F. Bartlett declared the rose rock the official Oklahoma state rock in 1968.

We saw some larger rose rocks specimens on display in a few gardens, arranged on trays or in a curio cabinet like a Natural History Museum exhibit. Wow, these are cool. What’s a rock-lovin’ girl to do once she’s back home in LA? Hmmm. You bet. I checked eBay and typed in a search request: “Oklahoma Rose Rocks.” Lucky me, I found someone selling five batches of 2 rocks each and I was able to snap them up (and no, MA, you cannot have them. get your own rocks).

My little gathering of rose rocks, which for some reason make me very happy. Note the tiny, joined rosette pairs in the lower right

While awaiting my box of of rose rocks to arrive from Susan, the Oklahoma gal who sold them to me over the Internet, we swapped a few emails. I told her how fascinated I was with these perfectly-formed geological specimens. And she shared this funny recollection:

“…by the way, in my younger days, my grandfather used to curse these rose rocks, because they came up all over the place, especially in his rose beds! now people want them! i even have one that is 2 feet around and weighs 28 pounds! in my rose bed!!! thanks so much & God bless you!”

Upon closer inspection, they really do look like roses!

I’m eager to learn lots more about gardening in Oklahoma, especially after spending five days there in late September and early October. Luckily, I have a new guide in Dee Nash, a fellow GWA who shares her experiences living in a log house, gardening in Oklahoma and writing about it at www.reddirtramblings.com.

Debra and Lorene – in front of the Euphorbia ingens

Friday, October 19th was not only a gorgeous, sunny, blue-skied, 72-degree Southern California day, it was the birthday of my dear friend Lorene Edwards Forkner. And we celebrated our mutual love of gardening by taking in a morning at the famed Lotusland in Montecito, outside Santa Barbara. The day was the first of a whirlwind, three-day extravaganza that involved too much driving (I logged 600 miles on my Subaru odometer), but treated us to rare hours of time to talk with one another. We also met with old and new gardening acquaintances in San Diego, but more on that in my next entry.

Lorene and I go way back – to the late 1970s when we were both undergraduates at Seattle Pacific University; she, a talented fine arts major; me, a fabric-obsessed textiles-and-clothing major. Who would have guessed that we would both end up in horticulture? (but in some strange way, painting and textile design both influenced our lifelong interest in plants and gardens).

We reconnected in the late 1990s at none other than the Northwest Flower & Garden Show, the year when Lorene was one of the gold-medal designers of a garden for the Washington Park Arboretum (she went on to win another gold medal and “best in show” a few years later for a display garden representing Fremont Gardens, the specialty nursery Lorene ran for 13 years).

The Mediterranean style architecture of the 1920s is a backdrop to massed planings of mature cactus, including golden barrel cactus.

I so miss my Seattle girlfriends, so having Lorene in town made this a special day. As she had never before been to Lotusland, we simply had to go. It is on the list of Gardening Meccas that one must visit in life. Even if the spectacle of outrageous plantings is not your thing, there is a lot one can learn from the free-spirited garden style expressed by the late Madame Ganna Walska, who spent more than four decades creating this extraterrestial landscape and who died in 1984.

A pleasing juxtaposition of form, color and texture

Opuntia gosseliniana v. santa-rita

Agave gypsophila

Today, the 37-acre botanical garden is a place to study subtropical and tropical plant collections including rare cycads, cacti, palms and euphorbias.

The pool, lined with shells, in the Aloe Garden

A favorite quote from our docent sums up Madame’s approach to gardening: “She always wanted more of everything.”

You need to plan ahead for a visit to Lotusland, including reserving a place in a docent-led group tour that takes about 90 minutes. The fee is $35 per person and there are AM and PM tours. Being with a docent is a little bit frustrating, although Lorene and I were lucky to be with a pretty patient guide (I had the unfortunate experience last year getting stuck with the Docent Nazi who rushed me when I wanted to take photos and stood there pontificating about Madame Walska when I was ready to move on). But by and large, the docents at Lotusland are really smart and passionate about this rare botanical treasure.

The secret to seeing Lotusland at your own pace, though, is to join as a member. For a $75 annual membership, you can schedule a self-guided visit up to six times a year, plus participate in members only events.

Reading great garden writing is one of life’s joys. And one of my favorite pastimes is to spend time savoring the words written by friends and fellow garden writers.

Here are two books I recently reviewed for Pacific Horticulture magazine (an important resource for anyone who gardens in the West).

The Bellevue Botanical Garden: Celebrating the First 15 Years, by Marty Wingate (2007, The Bellevue Botanical Garden Society), 9×12 inches, 112 pages, $19.95. To order: Bellevue Botanical Garden.

“The moment you enter the garden, you will sense that the BBG is as personal as a beloved private garden,” writes Nancy Davidson Short in her back-cover tribute to this book. Indeed, in author Marty Wingate’s colorful narrative of this relatively young garden, the passion of its supporters’ “ownership” influences all aspects of the Bellevue Botanical Garden’s inception and evolution.

To celebrate the garden’s first 15 years, the BBG Society asked Wingate and book designer Virginia Hand to sift through decades of archival material dating back to the 1940s, conduct first-person interviews, and edit hundreds of images contributed by volunteer and professional horticultural photographers. The result is a timely and timeless document that captures the roots of BBG – from the gift of land by benefactors Cal and Harriet Shorts to the partnership between the BBG Society and the City of Bellevue’s Parks Department.

Revealing her talents as a garden tour guide and garden writer, Wingate escorts her readers through BBG’s multilayered narrative, stopping at important venues to recount a small historical detail, or focusing closely on noteworthy plant specimens. She enthusiastically retells the story of this “living jewel” and its influence on regional, national and international audiences who number 300,000 visitors each year.

The book’s most inspiring section covers “The Gardens” — including the Entrance Garden, Northwest Perennial Alliance Borders, Yao Japanese Garden, Shorts Ground Cover Garden, Waterwise Garden, Alpine Rock Garden, Fuchsia Garden, Native Discovery Garden and Lost Meadow/Loop Trail.

Illustrated with exquisite photographs of plant combinations and garden portraits, the history of these specialty gardens is also shared through interviews with key volunteers who helped design, install, tend to and nurture their creation.

And ultimately, that’s the heart and soul of this book: How members of the gardening community – from avid lay gardeners to professional landscape designers and horticultural educators – turned the dream of a botanical garden into a beautiful reality for the public.

California Gardener’s Guide, Volume II, by Nan Sterman (2007, Cool Springs Press) 7×10 inches, 271 pages, $24.95. To order: Plant Soup.

In the interest of full disclosure, I admit to being more than a little familiar with the format of Nan Sterman’s excellent new book, California Gardener’s Guide, Volume II. In 2005, Mary Robson and I coauthored the Washington and Oregon Gardener’s Guide, its Northwest cousin.

I am a newcomer to California, having relocated to Ventura County in August 2006. And I’ve been waiting for this book ever since. Having given up my Seattle garden, along with plants like hostas and hellebores that loved shade and moist growing conditions, I’m faced with a new backyard, a tabula rasa for a novice to California gardening. Like many gardeners, I want to grow and nurture plants that are appropriate for my surroundings, including ornamental natives.

Sterman, a California gardening expert who embraces sustainable practices such as designing with drought-tolerant plants, serves up her top recommendations: 186 plants for California’s diverse growing areas.

This is no small task, as Sterman notes in her introduction: “From north to south and east to west, there are dramatic differences in vegetation, geology, topography and climate.”

Before revealing her recommendations for the “best of the best” — annuals/biennials, bulbs, fruits, groundcovers, herbs, ornamental grasses, perennials, shrubs, succulents, trees and vines — Sterman introduces the beginning gardener (or California newbies like me) to the state’s five primary growing regions. She includes useful charts that outline average annual rainfall, maximum and minimum temperatures for each region, including: the coast, inland valleys, the Central Valley, low deserts and high deserts.

With Mediterranean conditions accounting for much of the state’s geogrpahy, Sterman zeroes in on native plants and those from other Mediterranean regions adapted to California’s low-water conditions. She also covers “thirstier” plants, edibles and ornamentals that are noteworthy for their “return on investment” (fruit, berries or fragrance). In the one-page plant profiles, Sterman makes note of species with low water, moderate water and high water needs. Useful icons also indicate whether the plant attracts butterflies or hummingbirds, supports bees, is edible, fragrant, produces fruits, is long-blooming or appropriate as a cut flower, provides food or shelter for wildlife, has colorful foliage, is drought tolerant, a good container plant, grows well in Mediterranean conditions, adds a tropical look to the garden, tolerates coastal conditions and is a California native.

I really appreciate the “zone” graphic which shows a tiny map of California on each page (this is a clever feature that I wish Mary and I had used in our version of the state plant guide). The map is shaded to allow readers to tell at-a-glance whether a plant is hardy for the region in which they live; Sterman also includes the estimated minimum temperature for the plant.

Now I can take the California Gardener’s Guide along on plant-shopping excursions and use it to find something other than the ubiquitous agapanthus (okay, we thought that was a “rare” plant in Seattle: now I see it growing in clumps at the corner gas station!).