Garden Design Wisdom from Bill Thomas of Chanticleer

Story and Photos by Sarah Leach Smith, Visitor Services Coordinator

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that spring has definitely sprung in Durham! Albeit a little earlier than anticipated, the spring bulbs, flowering trees and warm weather are a welcome sight after a cold winter. The buzzing and blooming Duke Gardens set the perfect scene for an in-depth tour and design discussion with Bill Thomas, executive director of Chanticleer Garden in Wayne, Penn., as part of our “Garden Inspiration” workshop on March 18. The workshop was made up of a mix of visitors and staff alike, and we started with introductions and motivations for attending.

Bill began the design conversation by emphasizing the importance of identifying strengths and weakness of your property first before getting too wrapped up in your design and plant selection. What is the topography like? How much sun exposure do you get? What kind of soil do you have, and what are the existing plants? Which of the existing plants do you want to keep? With this arsenal of preparatory questions in mind, our “roving classroom” began.

We entered through the main gate, taking in the gorgeous cherry blossoms on the way. At this point, Bill shared an interesting story from a Japanese moss garden he had visited. Before visitors were allowed to enter the garden, they had to “get in the mood” for the garden, Bill recalled. To do this, visitors had to spend about a half hour studying and writing some specific Japanese characters. This practice was meant to prepare their minds and bodies for the experience they were about to have in the gardens. Bill found this incredibly interesting, as it is a practice that you definitely do not see at most American gardens. “Wouldn’t it be nice if there were a place for people to get quiet and get into the ‘garden mood’ before they entered?” This question posed by Bill was one of my biggest takeaways from the workshop. How can we do a better job of this at American gardens?

As we walked down the perennial allée and into the Blomquist Garden of Native Plants, Bill did an excellent job of engaging the participants by asking about their personal gardens as well as answering questions that everyone had as we moved through different areas of the Gardens. 

One specific topic that came up had to do with perennial plantings under trees. One of the things that Bill had shared in his lecture the previous evening was how Chanticleer had handled keeping visitors off the roots of some of the oldest trees. One of the photos he showed was of a perennial planting under a tree, so workshop participants were curious to find out more about this strategy. 

“The tree is the most important thing,” Bill said. “That should take priority over whatever you plant underneath, since it will live longer than an herbaceous perennial.” He also said that it depends on the tree, since different trees can have different root structures. Basically, if you are considering planting under a large tree, do a little bit of research first to make sure you are pairing the right perennials with the right tree, and allowing plenty of room for the tree’s roots to thrive.

We wandered through the Terraces and admired the incredible color and texture combinations created by curator Mike Owens and horticulturists Jan Watson and Heather Seifert. We made our way up to the new Japanese garden, Pine Clouds Mountain Stream, by way of the Fisher Amphitheater, where several loblolly pines have just been planted to enclose the space a bit more. A chat with stonemason Brooks Burleson provided a pleasant break in the shade by the red arched bridge. 

The roving classroom ended with a visit to the Charlotte Brody Discovery Garden and a pause in the Spring Woodland Garden to observe the progress on the new overlook feature. As we sat down for a tasty lunch on the terrace, Bill shared more about projects at Chanticleer. Their most recent garden addition has been an elevated walkway to accommodate the steep slope of the garden’s hillside. We also introduced Bill to the Duke-UNC basketball rivalry – a topic that we all quickly digressed to, given the time of the year!

 

It was wonderful to spend this time with Bill. Not only was his lecture about Chanticleer awe-inspiring, but the thoughts and ideas he had to share were incredibly refreshing. We wish him the best in the promotion of his new award-winning book, The Art of Gardening: Design Inspiration and Innovative Planning Techniques from Chanticleer, and look forward to visiting Chanticleer in person sometime soon!

Creating and Caring for a Bonsai Plant

Azalea bonsai
Photo courtesy of Harold Johnson

By Kaitlin Henderson

Bonsai plants are known around the world -- many people have seen the tiny plants in shallow pots, though most of us know little about their origin or care. If you're curious to learn more about the history and traditions of bonsai, as well as how to grow one yourself, consider taking Duke Gardens' "Create Your Own Bonsai Plant" workshop on March 14 with Harold Johnson, of the Triangle Bonsai Society.

Johnson has been working with bonsai since he and his wife bought one at a market more than 20 years ago. Unfortunately, at that time he didn't know how to properly care for the plant, and it died. Soon after, he found a class on bonsai, and he has been hooked ever since.

Bonsai involves both artistic creation and horticultural practice, and Johnson says he enjoys both sides: "the opportunity to tell a story with the design of my bonsai" as well as "the science and art of keeping the tree alive and thriving." Plus, he says, the act of practicing bonsai is just as rewarding as the plants themselves: "Working with bonsai transports me to a quiet, peaceful place, a contrast with my usual go, go pace."

What exactly defines a bonsai is hard to put into words, Johnson says, but he has some clear ideas. Firstly, it's not simply creating miniature trees. Bonsai plants are designed to create a feeling within you when you look at them. What that feeling is depends on the artist's intentions. Johnson provides the contrasting examples of a tree that is "full, pleasant, no abrupt changes in outline and soothing as you contemplate it" with that one that has "extremes in shape, sparse foliage, sharp angles of the trunk and branches and leaves you with a desire to do something for the tree." Both can be bonsai.

Bonsai can tell stories, as well. Bonsai artists can "show surface roots to indicate age of the tree" or "have the apex of the tree as a sharp, dead, white point to have the viewer see a tree with damage from lightning or other forces of nature."

Bonsai is more than just artistry, though. It's an art form practiced through a living plant, so people working with bonsai need to have a firm grasp of horticulture. When creating a bonsai, you need to know how the plant will respond to pruning and what it needs to thrive. The environment of a shallow pot is much different from a landscape or even a typical container, and the needs of the plant are different as well. "A dead, artistically designed tree in a bonsai container is not a bonsai," Johnson points out, it's just a dead plant.

Junipers are the most common plant used for bonsai, but Johnson stressed that virtually any shrub or tree can become beautiful bonsai in the hands of a bonsai artist. These include pine, maple, elm, azalea, crab apple, holly and bald cypress, to name a few.

In Johnson's workshop, he'll share his knowledge of the history and traditions of bonsai and help participants develop their own artistic and horticultural techniques to create unique, personal bonsai. Those participating in the class will receive their own juniper tree and all the other materials needed to start a bonsai. Under Johnson's guidance, participants will begin transforming this plant into a bonsai by designing, pruning, wiring and planting it. Students will leave with the knowledge of how to continue their bonsai creations over the coming years.

BONSAI: Create your own bonsai plant will take place Saturday, March 14, from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. For more information or to register, call 919-668-1707 or email gardenseducation@duke.edu. 

Kaitlin Henderson is a graduate student in Duke's Master of Arts in Liberal Studies program.

Summer Landscape Plants

oakleaf hydrangea

photo by Jason Holmes

By Jennie Carlisle

Plants are the bread and butter of good landscape design. Ornamental plants can be used as either an accent or focal point in a yard or garden—adding shape, color, texture and fragrance. Their flowers, foliage and fruit provide seasonal flare. Beyond just looking good and smelling nice, ornamental plants add value to a property.

With so many choices available at local nurseries and garden centers how do you go about picking the right ones for your landscaping needs?

Landscape architect Bobby Mottern, Duke Gardens’ director of horticulture, leads a series of seasonal workshops at the Gardens that focus on dozens of plants that are ideal for gardeners in our region. The latest installment, “Landscape Plants for North Carolina Gardens: Summer,” will run for four Thursdays—May 31 to June 14 and June 28—from 10:30 a.m. to noon.

Mottern shared some thoughts about some of the plants he’ll discuss in the workshop, and tips for selecting them.

What are your favorite plants to use in landscaping? “I like plants that are easy, plants that tolerate many conditions, plants that look great and that provide multiple points of interest. I love oakleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia). It’s a big shrub with bold, textured, large leaves that turn brilliant red in the fall, and it has huge white flowers in the summer. Chaste tree (Vitex agnus-castus) is also a nice large shrub that has 8-inch long blue flower spikes in June and July. It’s also deer tolerant. I also love torch lily (Knifophia uvaria), which is a June-blooming perennial with tall spikes of orange, red or yellow flowers that attract hummingbirds and butterflies.

Are there any new plants on the market we should know about? Yes, new introductions are available every year. A relatively new panicle hydrangea is called ‘Limelight’ for its lime-green foliage. A new dwarf butterfly bush called ‘Blue Chip’ is now quite popular, and coneflowers are available in a variety of colors other than the traditional pink/lavender shades.

Do you have any other suggestions for finding and growing ornamental plants? Be adventuresome.  Always be willing to try new and unusual plants, and share plants with your friends. Perennials always need dividing, and seedlings of certain plants need transplanting. Plants are a great gift and it’s always nice to have a story associated with your plants. I still have plants in my yard that my grandmother grew!

REGISTRATION: To register for Mottern’s class, or for more information, please call our registrar at 919-668-1707. The  class is limited to 15 students, so there is plenty of time for addressing gardeners’ questions and concerns. The fee is $105; $85 for Gardens members. For information about other classes and public events at Duke Gardens, please go to gardens.duke.edu.

Sarah P. Duke Gardens creates and nurtures an environment in the heart of Duke University for learning, inspiration and enjoyment through excellence in horticulture. The Gardens is at 420 Anderson St. 

Jennie Carlisle is an events assistant at Duke Gardens. This column first appeared in the Durham Herald-Sun.

Landscape Plants for N.C. Gardens: Spring

By Kate Blakely

As the last frost date approaches next week, our urge to plant is strong. But some plants fare far better in the Triangle than others, as gardeners often learn by trial and error.

If you’d like some guidance in selecting the best plants for this region and growing them successfully, we’ve got the perfect class for you. “Landscape Plants for North Carolina Gardens: Spring” begins this week and runs for four Thursdays from 10 a.m. to noon.

Robert Mottern, Duke Gardens’ director of horticulture, will teach the class. He shared a few tips to help get you started with soil preparation and plant placement.

The soil in the Triangle area is almost all clay. Clay-based soils can serve as rich ground for gardening, Mottern says, but it has to be loosened to facilitate strong root growth. You must also incorporate organic matter. That means amending the soil with composts, manures and sometimes sand.

Clay does a good job of holding nutrients and water. However, the soil structure of clay can make these nutrients and water unavailable to plants. Adding organic matter and some sand helps break up the clay, releasing vital nutrients and improving moisture availability that encourages root growth. Worms like a loose, moist soil as well, Mottern says. Their natural processes amend the soil as they assist in breaking down organic matter.

Mottern likes composted manures like Black Cow, and other organic sources of fertilizer. Composted products have much of their nutrient base already available for plants. You never want to add fresh kitchen waste or lawn clippings to your soil. Add these to your compost pile and make sure they are already broken down at least half-way before amending your soil with them.

Organic amendments are preferable to synthetic, Mottern says. They generally carry a low nutrient load and break down slowly in the soil, keeping plants and soil microbes in a state of harmony. Synthetic fertilizer can overload the soil with nutrients, thus encouraging rapid, unhealthy plant growth. If overused, these nutrients pollute stormwater runoff and contribute to algae blooms in our streams and wetlands.

Be mindful of temperature changes and your plants’ exposure. Freezing temperatures affect many plants, and low-lying areas tend to act as cold air sinks during the winter. A lower space can be 2 to 3 degrees cooler than surrounding higher ground. That makes a difference to many plants when the thermometer approaches freezing. Boulders, paving and building walls all help retain heat. Help protect cold-sensitive plants by planting them near these features. Orienting them facing south also helps, for maximum sun during the winter months.

If you’d like to learn more about planting, and about dozens of plant species that will fare well and look fantastic in your gardens, consider signing up for “Landscape Plants for North Carolina Gardens.” The class is limited to 15 students, so there is plenty of time for addressing gardeners’ questions and concerns. The fee is $105; $85 for Gardens members. Mottern’s summer plant class in this series (focusing on different plants) will run on Thursdays from May 31 to June 28, also from 10 a.m. to noon.

To register for this or other classes, or for more information, please call our registrar at 919-668-1707, or send an email. For more information about other classes and public events at Duke Gardens, please go to gardens.duke.edu.

Sarah P. Duke Gardens creates and nurtures an environment in the heart of Duke University for learning, inspiration and enjoyment through excellence in horticulture. The Gardens is at 420 Anderson St.

Columnist Kate Blakely is a graduate student at Duke Divinity School and a work-study assistant at Duke Gardens. This column first appeared in the Durham Herald-Sun.

Photo workshop: Learn from the Masters

Photo by John Wigmore

By Jennie Carlisle

Ever look at the fabulous landscape and plant photographs that you see in magazines and wonder what the secret is? Luckily for us there is no secret, and you don’t need top of the line equipment to make a great picture. I spoke with professional photographers and business partners Mark Riedy and John Wigmore, who will be leading a 3-week series of workshops beginning Saturday about what photographers can do to improve their ability to visualize and make good photographs.

A great photographer can take a spectacular photograph with a point-and-shoot camera. It is the vision and skill of the photographer, not the tool, that makes a picture.

Learn to Look

Looking at great photographs is important for developing an eye for what makes a compelling image and for becoming more sensitive to the way that a camera sees and how it is different from the way that we see.

If you spend time studying the pictures in garden magazines and visiting local photography exhibitions, you are already doing this. To get more out of looking at pictures, try this exercise. Ask yourself what is the story being told by an image? How does the photographer convey this? Is the arrangement of the formal elements in the picture pleasing? Why or why not? How does the photographer use color, contrast and texture?

Photo by John Wigmore

Learn the Methods

Beyond learning from looking at great photographs, learning the working methods of great photographers is important to developing your inner vision, according to Riedy and Wigmore. In their classes, they will demonstrate how to effectively use compositional elements like color, tone and contrast in order to create a stunning photograph.

Take the great landscape photographer Ansel Adams, for example. Adams’ work emphasizes tonal range and stark contrasts between black and white forms to convey the drama of the western landscape.

Eliot Porter, who was strongly influenced by Adams, is another photographer worth study and emulation. Porter’s work often takes on the story of the changing seasons. He conveys this story and heightens our interest in it by emphasizing the contrasting textures of his subjects and by showing off the rich hues of the natural world.

How might you introduce dynamic qualities like these to your photographs?

Photo by Mark Riedy

Put it into practice

Now that you're feeling inspired, it's time to take these techniques to the field. When you get to a spot you'd like to photograph, ask yourself what it is about this place or subject that draws you to photography it? What story does this place or subject have to tell? What is the best way to tell it?

Before picking up your camera, visualize the effects that different artistic decisions will have on a finished image. Walk around your subject and think about possible camera positions. Notice that by changing the position of the camera, an object can appear larger or smaller or closer or farther from the viewer.

The effects of shutter speed are also worth considering before beginning to shoot-particularly if your subject is moving. Capturing flowing water or long grasses swaying in a breeze with a slow or fast shutter speed, for example, yield images with different sense of time. Whereas a fast shutter speed of a subject in motion yields an image in which the subject appears frozen in time, a slow shutter speed yields a blurred effect that relates the subject's motion over a passage of time.

Photo by John Wigmore

Keep in mind the things that you found exciting about the images of other photographers and think about how you can incorporate some of those elements in your work.

And remember that practice is the key. As Adams relates of his own photographic process:

“In my mind’s eye, I visualize how a particular … sight and feeling will appear on a print. If it excites me, there is a good chance it will make a good photograph. It is an intuitive sense, an ability that comes from a lot of practice.”

For more advice on how to develop your vision, as well as a chance to practice, consider signing up for “Learn from the Masters.” The Saturday workshop series will run from 8 to 10 a.m. March 31 and April 7 and 14. The class is limited to 20 participants. The fee is: $95; $75 for Gardens members.

To register, please call 919-668-1707. For more information, please email our registrar. To learn more about classes at Duke Gardens, please visit the education/events page, or see a quick rundown on this blog post.

Sarah P. Duke Gardens creates and nurtures an environment in the heart of Duke University for learning, inspiration and enjoyment through excellence in horticulture. The Gardens is at 420 Anderson St.

Below are more stunning photographs from Riedy and Wigmore.

Photo by Mark Riedy

Photo by Mark Riedy

Photo by John Wigmore

Photo by John Wigmore

Vegetable Gardening Tips

Summer campers helped tend a
vegetable garden at Duke Gardens.
Let Duke Gardens help you grow
your own bountiful garden.

By Kate Blakely

Gardening tips always take on the perspective of the gardener. What the gardener cares about intimately shapes the information he or she is sharing. Vegetable gardening is no different. Amidst all the wonderful info about growing veggies, it’s the intent that makes each tip unique and special.

Vegetable gardener Andy Currin has lots of tips to share. Currin will teach a Spring Vegetable Gardening class that begins Thursday, March 22, from 6:30-8:30 p.m. and runs for three weeks. It’s part of Duke Gardens’ Vegetable Gardening through the Year series. Currin shared some tips for how to grow vegetables in a healthy, sustainable way.

Watch when you water. “Of all points of sustainability, the main component is efficient water use,” Currin said. A lot of folks will water their gardens, their lawns and their flowers during the heat of the day, when the sun is working hardest. “You lose more water to evaporation than will actually get to the plants to be useful to them,” said Currin. The best planet-friendly practice is to water in the early morning or after the sun starts going down.

If you want to eat organic, start organically. If you want to grow organic vegetables, you must be vigilant about everything involved, from soil to seeds. “Some of the seeds, if they’re not labeled as organic, could contain seed treatments that would be systemic,” Currin noted. This means that chemical compounds in the seeds will be found throughout the plant. “And that would be included in the vegetables that you’ll be eating. You really have to start with the seed, any soil amendments, anything like that. Everything has to be organic approved.”

Watch (and help) the right bugs. Pollinators and predatory insects are the most beneficial. Currin has a “good list” and “bad list” of insects. At the top of the good list? Hoverflies. They are both a pollinator and a predatory insect, Currin said. Native bees also help out. The orchard mason bee, the bumblebee and the leaf cutter bee work to pollinate plants. Praying mantis, ladybugs and green lacewings also help. “They eat the bad guys,” said Currin. The bad guys? Aphids, thrips and squash bugs.

As part of your organic practices, make sure to complete any pest treatments around dusk, when the beneficial insects are not going to be out and about. That makes the least impact on the beneficial insect population. “Even organic treatments don’t really discriminate; they just take out everything,” Currin said.

Learn more: Want to know more? Consider taking Currin’s vegetable gardening classes at Duke Gardens. The class costs $75; $60 for Gardens members. If you can’t take the spring class (or in addition to it), consider the fall series, which runs from Sept. 20 to Oct. 4, also from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Please call 919-668-1707 to register. Please see our website for more information about classes and other public events at Duke Gardens.

Sarah P. Duke Gardens creates and nurtures an environment in the heart of Duke University for learning, inspiration and enjoyment through excellence in horticulture. The Gardens is at 420 Anderson St.

Kate Blakely is a graduate student at Duke Divinity School and a work-study assistant at Duke Gardens.

Class preview: spring geophytes

Ornamental onion (Allium)

Planning your spring and summer geophytes

By Kate Blakely
Photo by Robert Ayers

A robin singing, warmth in the wind, a sunshiny breeze, a bright little flash of green and yellow against the brown earth—this mild winter has been laced with signs of spring. So it seems a good time to talk about geophytes.

What’s a geophyte?

“The quick and dirty definition of ‘geophytes’ is plants with underground storage structures,” says Jason Holmes, curator of the Doris Duke Center Gardens, who’ll teach a class on spring geophytes on March 7.

Daffodils, tulips, crocus, gladiolas, dahlias, cannas, crinums and a host of other flowers fit under the term “geophyte.” All of these plants carry their food inside a storage structure such as a bulb or tuber.

Holmes will discuss a variety of spring geophytes in his class at Duke Gardens. But here are two for starters:

Winter aconite (Eranthis hyemalis): This little geophyte rises about 3 inches off the ground. Eranthis is a long way from home; it comes from the high mountains of Turkey. It has a pretty little buttercup-colored yellow flower. “They’re a rare oddity, a unique plant that you don’t find in a lot of gardens around here,” Holmes says. So if you see winter aconite bulbs, make sure to snatch them up and give them a home away from home in your garden.

Ornamental onion (Allium): These eye-catching geophytes also go by the name “drumstick onions.” Despite the food connotations of the name, Holmes does not recommend putting these on salad or in a stew. They’re best enjoyed in the perennial garden, and are among the Duke Gardens flowers that visitors are most curious about. Watch for a tall green spike with a purple ball of flowers on top, appearing from early to mid-May. At Duke Gardens, you’ll see them in the Doris Duke Center Gardens and in the Terrace Gardens.

If you’d like to enjoy spring-blooming geophytes in your garden next year, make sure to plant them in the fall. That’s probably the trickiest thing to remember about spring-blooming geophytes, Holmes says. Folks tend to look in stores for them at the time they see them blooming. “You just don’t find them then,” Holmes says. “You have to buy them in the fall to plant them for spring flowers.” However, you can plant summer-blooming bulbs now through April, such as lilies, gladiolas, cannas, and dahlias.

Bulbs typically need little care. When planting, people may add bone meal as a great source of fertilizer and maybe a little water. Most bulbs detect moisture in the ground and then flush their roots. Tubers should be watered in once planted.

Once the plants detect the right amount of warmth from sunlight and moisture, they begin to grow. Only cut back the foliage once it starts to turn mostly yellow or brown. Mix these geophytes throughout your perennial garden and other sunny shrubs for added flower power!

Want to know more? Consider taking Holmes’ class, “Plants of Distinction: Spring Geophytes,” March 7 from 1-3 p.m. The cost is $25; $20 for Gardens members or Duke staff or students. Holmes’ “Plants of Distinction” series will continue with “Alba: White foliage and flowers” on May 16 and “Hardy Plants with a Tropical Flair” on July 18. To register, or for more information, please call 668-1707 or email our registrar.

Sarah P. Duke Gardens creates and nurtures an environment in the heart of Duke University for learning, inspiration and enjoyment through excellence in horticulture. The Gardens is at 420 Anderson St.

Kate Blakely is a graduate student at Duke Divinity School and a work-study assistant at Duke Gardens. Robert Ayers is a volunteer photographer at Duke Gardens. This column first appeared in the Durham Herald-Sun.