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20.08.2024 - 18:49 / theprovince.com / Brian Minter
Reviews and recommendations are unbiased and products are independently selected. Postmedia may earn an affiliate commission from purchases made through links on this page.
In the rapidly changing world of gardening, it is important to get a sense of some of the new trends, and that is why I travelled to Columbus, Ohio, to attended Cultivate, America’s largest and most diverse horticultural show which is held every July. It’s here that folks present new garden products, concepts, ideas and technology. Major suppliers attend to provide access to many new plants, and plant breeders participate as well to provide background and insight about current and future breeding programs.
The first trend I noticed was in the area of garden design. Growers and plant suppliers always showcase their new introductions in beautiful plant displays, and this year there was a concerted effort to tie them into the concept of backyard escapes. Simple, yet elegant, outdoor structures were created and accessorized with comfortable all-weather furniture, and the new plants were integrated to enhance these comfort areas. The designers were connecting plants to a lifestyle. I thought it was a brilliant move, and ironically, at this very busy show, these areas that were meant for display only, were packed with show attendees who were looking for little spots where they could escape and recharge.
When featuring indoor living, designers used tropical plants that had taken a turn toward the unusual. Traditional tropicals had given way to crazy colours. Any plant with an unusual leaf form or variegation was front and centre. Speckled, splashed or spotted foliage was definitely in. Many of today’s sophisticated millennials are experienced indoor
Reviews and recommendations are unbiased and products are independently selected. Postmedia may earn an affiliate commission from purchases made through links on this page.
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Early autumn is a great time to enjoy the colour and beauty of late-flowering perennials, such as dahlias and asters, while also planning ahead for winter and spring. Borderline hardy plants benefit from protection in preparation for colder weather and tender potted plants like pelargoniums will need to be brought under cover if early frosts are forecast. Many spring-flowering bulbs can be planted over the next few weeks, and bare-root shrubs and trees ordered, ready to be planted in the garden from November onwards.
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A conversation with Sarah Price about how she designs her planting schemes is fascinating. She works in an unfettered way, with no specific planting plans but an intuitive sense of the plants that will work well together to form the nature-inspired compositions she is known for. Her gardens are like exquisite paintings, comprising layers of detail with a gentle succession of plants that provide interest for most of the year. This summer combination comes from Sarah’s own garden on the edge of Abergavenny. Here, she has created different areas and habitats, including a dry garden in the old walled kitchen garden.
If you’re a fan of the quintessential indoor-outdoor Western lifestyle that comes along with expansive floor-to-ceiling glass, a warm wash of natural light, breezeways that maximize airflow, and surrounding serene landscape, you can thank famed architect Cliff May. Regarded as the founding father of the iconic California ranch house, May’s work has been repeatedly published in Sunset since the 1930s. What made his work stand out at the time was how he designed homes not so much based on architecture but on the way people wanted to live in them. Making the most of the Western climate, his goal was to provide a closer relationship with nature through garden courtyards and blur the line between how we use interior and exterior spaces. May in turn created private sanctuaries where families could relax and enjoy a lifestyle of informal outdoor living. He invented the way most people want to live in the West, and his influence is felt throughout the region some 90 years later.
For our 2024 Idea House in the Kiawah River community on Johns Island, South Carolina, the natural surroundings proved a generous source of inspiration. This was especially true of the landscape design, notes Scott Parker, the project’s landscape architect and co-founder of Charleston-based DesignWorks. “One of the things that we wanted to do with the landscape and the garden design was really to ground it in the DNA of the Lowcountry,” he says. That meant tailoring their plant selections to mimic the maritime forest that covers parts of the property, as well as choosing more formal ones to reflect Charleston’s long-standing garden traditions.
Join us this summer as we explore some of the UK’s best 2-for-1 Gardens to visit in August, for fun days out with all the family. Whether it’s an adventure playground or woodland trail for the kids, or a rose garden or restored Elizabethan garden for the horticulturalists, there is plenty to enjoy at these gardens. Visit using your 2-for-1 Gardens card to save money on your trips to all these wonderful gardens.
Reviews and recommendations are unbiased and products are independently selected. Postmedia may earn an affiliate commission from purchases made through links on this page.