Dear Floral Friends,
As gardeners we spend more time thinking about light, or lack thereof, than your average person (I have no evidence to back up this statement, but it is a strong hunch). Having written one book about shade gardening and another about how to grow flowers in sunny places, it is often top of my mind.
The lack of winter light tends to affect gardeners since we are outdoors people. Here are a few ways that I use to get through the dark days of winter. See if any of these help you.
Light and the Gardener
As the days get shorter in the Northern hemisphere every hour of daylight is precious. At this time of year I re-arrange my schedule and go outside towards the middle of the day. In the summer when there are lovely long days I am in the garden in early mornings and late in the evening. There are fewer things to do in the garden at this time of year but with only a few hours of daylight you have to hurry out before dark.
Get outside—no matter the weather. Bundle up and get good clothes. Potter in your garden or go for a walk. I have just come inside after a couple of morning hours of pottering in the garden. (My English readers will be very familiar with this phrase, but for readers from elsewhere “pottering” means that I did a whole lot of nothing yet got a lot of little things accomplished—no major projects). I have found that being outside even for an hour a day really helps me get through winter.
Buy a sunlamp. These are designed to mimic the wavelengths of natural light. Put it next to your reading chair or over your desk. Get a couple of hours under the lamp each day.
Of course, the answer to this question has to include indoor gardening. Even if you grow a few houseplants, some paperwhites, an amaryllis, or an orchid, this gives you something to tend to. I have my potted plants in my garage for the winter (the garage has never been used for cars). On Saturday morning my treat is to go and play with my bay trees, rosemary, citrus trees, cardamon, and other herbs that are growing there under lights.
Line up your reading material. Winter is the time when I read most of my gardening books and catch up with the stack of magazines. These are a few from my current pile. If you want suggestions my blog this month has some of the ones that I am reading.
The last and very unscientific suggestion is to drink hot tea. Nothing seems quite so bad when you sit in front of a roaring fire with a teapot of tea and your favorite friend (human or animal) and dream about spring.
Next month, I will continue the theme of light in the garden.
Fall Garden Visit
One of my garden visits this autumn was to Monticello, former home of the second United States President, Thomas Jefferson. It is located just outside Charlottesville, Virginia on the edge of the Blue Ridge Mountains. You leave the center of the town and wind your way up into hills. I had to stop for a delicious lunch at the Michie Tavern (1784) only about a mile away from Monticello. There is a buffet lunch as they say, “patterned after the southern tradition.” I had pulled pork, mashed potatoes, and green beans. Garden visiting has to be fueled by good food and drink.
You enter the Monticello property in a different way from my last visit. The parking area is now tucked away at the bottom of the hill. A short minibus ride or a leisurely walk through the woods takes you up to the garden and house. I did not go through the house again on this trip, as I have been before. I wanted to spend my whole time wandering the gardens and soaking up the autumn sun.
Preserving Monticello
Like all historic gardens the chances of a garden surviving through several centuries is slim. The house may survive but the garden design, knowledge of what was growing there, and other garden details are often lost with the passing of the owner.
In the case of Thomas Jefferson, we luckily have his writings that have been used to find the plants that he grew. At Mount Vernon it was the work of Ann Pamela Cunningham and the Mount Vernon Ladies Association that preserved the house, outbuildings and structures. At Monticello it was the Levy family.
When I was at the garden, I did notice a reference to the Levys. Coincidentally, I recently noticed in the Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper that the Philadelphia Jewish Film Festival was showing a film about the way that the Levy family saved the property. The film is The Levys of Monticello and is directed by Steven Pressman. I have not seen the film, but it might be worth checking out to get a better picture of how Monticello was saved.
The Levys of Monticello
After the Levys passed Monticello on to the Thomas Jefferson Foundation in 1923, many people and groups have worked on planning, donating money, and tending the gardens. The Garden Club of Virginia has been involved since 1927 when they raised $7000 to save trees planted by Jefferson. The garden club continues to promote old gardens in Virginia during Historic Garden Week. This coming year it is held April 15th–22nd 2023.
My Garden Highlights
Historic Vegetable Garden
The entry path from the lower parking lot brings you in to the far end of the long vegetable garden. The historic vegetable garden is always a destination at Monticello, but I feel that the way that you approach it now gives it even more prominence.
Heirloom varieties of vegetables are a feature of the garden, each carefully labelled. On my visit I especially admired the squashes, tobacco, and indigo plants. The overlooking re-created garden pavilion is an iconic garden building. Such an amazing place to admire the view, and a lovely, sheltered place to sit and contemplate the garden. (Those of you who have read my previous emails will already know my obsession with garden outbuildings).
Mulberry Row
The vegetable garden is overlooked by Mulberry Row. This area was called Mulberry Row because of the line of mulberry trees that lined the lane and provided shade to the workers. Slave cabins, other dwellings, and tradespeople’s workshops were situated here. You can see the foundations of some of the buildings, and others have been re-created. From this path there is an amazing view beyond to the wooded valley below.
The House
Moving up the hill I walked around the exterior of the house. The architecture always amazes me. To take classical Italian thoughts of proportion and symmetry and to bring them to a wild hilltop in Virginia in the 1700’s—what an idea! From the dome that sits on top of the brick house, to the elevated porches, the sunken passageways to the cellars and kitchen, each part brings innovation and a fresh thought about design.
Of course, I was delighted to find a small café around the back of the house on the lower level. I was about to buy my usual cup of hot tea when a stranger in front of me paid for it. I thanked her profusely and said that I would pay it forward. Such acts of kindness just make your heart happy. Thank you to my lovely stranger.
The Flower Walk
I left my favorite part of the garden until last. It is like eating the best part of your meal at the end to have that perfect taste in your mouth. I wanted to walk away from Monticello with thoughts of flowers swirling in my brain.
The Flower Walk is a looped pathway that allows the visitor to perambulate among and between the oval flower beds that line the path. Many of the plants that Jefferson included in this garden were new to cultivation and as yet untested. He received plants and seeds from correspondents and then trialed them in his garden. I particularly enjoyed the annuals, many of which were still blooming well. I loved seeing Gomphrena in full bloom, the cup and saucer vine (Cobaea scandens), and Gaillardia.
The seed heads of some flowers like China asters were left on for harvesting. There was a lovely sign next to it, but still a visitor said “that looks a mess.” We have a long way to go educating the general public about the cycles of nature and seasons in the garden.
I would highly recommend a visit to Monticello, especially next year when the flowers and vegetables are in full growth. I have visited the gardens in December some years ago. The wicked wind blew across the garden, the little reflecting pond was icy, and the sunset at about five o’ clock was magnificent with red streaks in the western sky. Fabulous!
P.S. If you did not receive the previous newsletter, I am happy to send it to you—just drop me an email.
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In the News
I have been having lots of fun giving in-person lectures again.
I did a swing into the gorgeous Pennsylvania counties of Lancaster and Berks. If you don’t know this area of the country it is rolling hills, beautiful farmland and lovely farmhouses. Town and Country Garden Club and the Garden Club of Reading were my hosts. Thank you to both clubs. Especially to Vivian and DeeAnn who hosted me at the Pheasant Run Bed and Breakfast—check it out if you are ever in Lancaster, PA.
A longer trip took me to Jackson, Mississippi. The Garden Club of Jackson was so welcoming, and we had a book signing too.
Blog Post: Winter Reading Suggestions
If you are like me, the active part of the gardening year is so busy that there is little time left at the end of the day to read all the books and magazines that I have on my pile. Consequently, the time for reading is winter and then reading becomes one of my ultimate gardening pleasures. I like to read a mixture of how-to books, garden history, travel guides that show gardens that I must visit, and anything that brings a new angle to my gardening thoughts.
Note: I am not sponsored to promote books found in these newsletters. They are featured because I truly love them.
In the Garden: December Star
Yucca filamentosa ‘Color Guard’
At this time of year, I am grateful for splashes of vibrant, evergreen color that help lift up the general tones of taupe and beige. Enter the vibrant strap-like leaves of the variegated yucca. I admit that I wasn’t always a yucca lover—in actual fact I was a yucca hater—the leader of the “yucky-yucca club.” What turned me around was the easy care (almost no care) and its role in the garden as a butterfly- and hummingbird-attracting flower.
My yucca plants never get watered. The only maintenance that they get is occasionally pulling or snipping off the dead leaves at the bottom of their rosettes. Nothing else. The leaves are of good form and substance year-round but watch the spines at the ends. In June if you have a mature rosette of leaves you will get a 5 to 6-foot flower stalk with cream-colored flowers that attract pollinators.
The wild Yucca filamentosa is native to coastal areas of the southeast USA. The cultivar that I grow called ‘Color Guard’ has a yellow center to the leaves. It still has the characteristic filaments that peel off the edges of the leaves—hence the specific epithet filamentosa. One final piece of good news is that deer do not eat yucca.
Book Club: Onward and Upward in the Garden
The quote at the top of this newsletter was from the year and month of my birth, so maybe I have a special connection to it. It certainly resonates with me as to my attitude to gardening. I am always “running ahead” with my gardening ideas and plans.
My book selection this month was suggested by my friend and fellow gardener, Lee Threadgill of Jackson, Mississippi. She was nice enough to host me when I was there speaking for the Garden Club of Jackson. At breakfast where the table was laid with a lovely tablecloth, beautiful miniature flower arrangements of fresh flowers from her garden, and a few scattered garden books, we started chatting about favorite gardening books.
Lee suggested Onward and Upward in the Garden by Katherine S. White. She had kindly placed a copy in my bedroom. I agreed that I loved it but having not read it for a few years I decided to delve into it again.
Katharine S. White was fiction editor of The New Yorker for about thirty years, so she brings a literary touch to her subjects. The book is a series of essays written over the course of twelve years from 1958–1970. The essays were compiled into book form after her death in 1977 by her second husband, E.B. White (of Charlotte’s Web fame). What a pleasure to hear an educated author share her opinions about flower catalogs, flower arranging, gardening books, and garden history.
While some of the comments about specific plant catalogs or flowers is outdated, other sections provide fabulous historic information and context. As a garden historian, these are almost my favorite parts. For example, on page 37 you can read about Cecil and Mrs. Houdyshel. (As with many women at this time, her first name was not given but with the Internet I found out that her name was Ethel, and she was a specialist in African violets.) They grew rare plants in California and produced two brochures a year. The lead line began “Dear Floral Friends.” This is such a lovely beginning that I have used it at the opening of this newsletter as a tribute to the Houdyshels.
Each page brings a new delight and as each chapter is its own essay, you can dip into the book in any order. There are so many parts that I want to quote but I cannot leave without a trip into the world of books because Katharine loves some of the same ones that I do.
I was delighted to see quotes from Elizabeth Lawrence’s book, The Little Bulbs: A Tale of Two Gardens, from 1957. She says about the book, “Miss Lawrence, too, is a botanist and horticulturist; still better she is a writer with a sense of humor and a sense of beauty.” What high praise from one garden writer to another and how astute to see that this combination of attributes brings delight to the garden reader.
Note: I am not sponsored to promote books found in these newsletters. They are featured because I truly love them.
I will be speaking at Wing Haven on January 19th, 2023. Wing Haven Garden & Bird Sanctuary is combined with Elizabeth Lawrence’s Garden in Charlotte, North Carolina. Check out their website for more information. Come and see me if you are nearby. If you aren’t, there is an option to tune in over zoom!
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Bye for now,
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