"The New Victorian"—Please allow me to introduce myself

I admit it, I am affected. My style at its best pays homage to the Victorian and Edwardian influences around me. I gravitate. I was born 100 years too late. It is sad, but very true, and for some of my friends it is the same story.

In current magazines I read about the "New Victorian", "Victorian Style", even a style where "Marie Antoinette meets Out of Africa". I am boggled by what these magazines are trying to tell the public. Yes, the term Steampunk arises, but so does Gothic. GOTHIC? Steampunk, at least, references a world of steam power. How does Gothic fall into this style? Victoriana had Gothic influences—maybe, but Gothic as the defining the era? Never. I think these writers have seen one too many Harry Potter film, and decided Serious Black's family home is the epitome of a Victorian-Gothic fusion. Black was a popular color during the period, granted, but to define it only as Gothic? I think not. Have these writers studied design history at all? How does a television set become Victorian?

I myself am a student of art history and design. I am avid reader and make notes on notes in books and on post-its that hang from pages. Televisions are not Victorian by the way.

Movies such as Sherlock Homes (the nice new one with Robert Downey, Jr.—I hear a sequel is in the works), The Young Victoria (hint hint), Howard's End, A Room with a View (Edwardian), and Age of Innocence inspire by their beauty and attention to detail. Merchant Ivory Productions are great for those who are gaga about details—and look at the era. They have adapted authors or stories from the period. The Victorian era was when???? That's right, during the reign of Queen Victoria.

Now honestly, I have more of a Steampunk/Victorian aesthetic myself. I like the ideas that H.G. Wells, Jules Verne and others wrote about in their world of the future. Even Mary Shelley had some ideas. I am tossed between homage and reinvention—this is a typically Victorian attribute. I am a gardener; I enjoy antiques and object d'art; preparing fine meal and presenting it. Paintings, rugs, books and many lamps are displayed throughout. I like things that recall a bygone era, but I also enjoy functionality. In trying to replicate an era I may sometimes mimic it. I like using the feel of it and translating that into small projects and the design of my home—or rather the redesign of my home. I like indulgences such as the Opium Den, Neoclassicism, romantic motifs of the rococo style, the age of Empire, and the eye of the intrepid Victorian global traveler.

Victorian style is about acquisition, about being au courant (be the first in your county to own a Cattleya orchid!), about bringing the world into your home—be it through art, books, evocative objects, plants, and souvenirs. Gardeners understand about acquisition. The Victorians were just more skilled at the presentation of it.

Victorians loved natural things. They worshipped nature. They collected it. Plants—ferns, tropicals, flowers—the plant explorer's next Wardian caseful of treasures. Wall papers from the era can look more like a lepidopterist's text book than something that might grace the walls of a home. And when it came to decorating, they wanted the interiors to reflect this affinity for nature as well. Homes were decorated in natural shades and hues. A variety of greens from deep forest to moss and lichen. Browns were used, a wide variety of them. Rusty reds, sienna, and earthy ochre were standards. Reds that were bright were often used. Yes, there was the frill and the high compliment colors. Draperies of olive and pink, lilac and mustard with hints of baby blue. And trim, if you couldn't afford fancy hardwoods you painted them to either mimic woodgrain texture or color —mahogany was the rage. Let us also keep in mind while I describe these colors, the lighting in homes was much different—gas, oil lamp, maybe a bare bulb with an amber filament. It was the fashion and meant to look good. We often look back at other eras and wonder what designers were thinking, but in the Victorian age one surrounded oneself with the things one loved most, and designed rooms to make collections look their best.

Now how do we, as a consumer-based culture, reflect this new "Victorian Style'"? Are we being guided by someone who lives is an apartment and has a friend with a begonia in the kitchen window? That writer writes about what they see, what they assume quickly, without research. Has this new mania for old Victorian been a long time coming, but has important, useful information been left in some editor's trashcan, in favor of printing articles that read like ads? As far as I know the Victorian Style never left. I grew up in a house where my mother would paint or refinish her finds—mainly Grand Rapids oak pieces; they were all over our home. Old lamps, taxidermy from my father's college hunting exploits, arrangements, house plants, walls covered in old plates, a hall lined in hand tinted photos, bird cages, spittoons, antique flat irons, oriental rugs, knickknacks, baskets, fossils, and other details too numerous to mention. My mother had the Victorian Style down even with her big hair, Oleg Cassini outfits, and Pucci print scarfs. I have my own interpretation—maybe it is lighter, maybe more romantic, maybe I like too much? That is the Victorian way.

Monrovia's Demise May Be a Sign That Corporate Owned Nurseries Just Don't Grow

I keep reading these articles and blog postings about Monrovia. 'The Death of Monrovia', 'Goodbye to Brand Names'- I have a few thoughts about that and I feel comfortable sharing with you. I know you may, or may not agree.

Poor, poor Monrovia.
I really want to say that some people are only half informed. Sometimes even me.
Monrovia may have to sell their product to the box stores. If they do decide to go this route then they should choose to strip off all the Monrovia taggage and Monrovia pots should be replaced with basic black.
This quick sell is the fast way the banks are seeing that Monrovia can save itself, but maybe the bank just doesn't look at reality.
The reality is most box stores do not have to pay for the plant until it is purchased. They have that much buying power. The box store will not take care of the plant. Box stores tend to put their "garden center" on the sunny end of the building where plants can sit and bake on the concrete. Sales associates, which are basically cashiers, do not have to water plants. I have been to Home Depot and watched as a lonely cashier just sat in their "toll-booth" style cash-wrap and watched the plants droop, wither, and expire.
A friend of mine who happens to work at Lowe's, and sometimes works for me when she wants plants, told me one day, "If a plant is wilting, or even a group of them, we are not allowed to water them. We are not allowed to get out a hose and fill a bucket and drench a plant we can see is struggling." This is exactly how box store management sees things. So this may turn out be a loss for Monrovia, not a real benefit.

Many have written Monrovia products give IGCs an edge. I say yes and no.
They have a beefy minimum to open an account with, and they sell to places such as ACE Hardware giving them a percentage off because they are a buying group. All this, while people who work at most ACE Hardware stores are comparable to those working in the box stores. Admittedly there are a few ACE stores that take a garden center approach and commit staff to it. I worked in one myself, so I know what I am speaking about in this instance.
That percentage off which Monrovia offers buying groups allows places like ACE Hardware to undersell IGCs. They do not offer the percentage off to small Mom & Pop retailers.

Monrovia is facing what a lot of large production nurseries are having to face. When the times were good they expanded and expanded. They over-expanded like so many. More land, more plants in production, more personnel to take care of the plants. This also results in more fuel, more pest and weed control labor, and more chemicals being used- all at greater costs.
So, Monrovia needs to cut personnel-which they did- but not the high cost executives and administration. Lots of the little guys went- mid management as well. Popagation people, nursery labor, people who tend the plants and make the nursery facilities look neat and clean.

Suggestions.
Liquidate some plant materials-maybe large items or decorative/ornamental perennial lines which may have royalty cost associated with them. Keep items such as basic perennials- day lilies and such.
Liquidate some of the land. Yes, they bought it high. They can also pay the bank some of the money and keep their doors open while taking a smaller loss.

Now don't think me a hard ass.

Yes, Monrovia is a name brand recognized nationwide. The name a lot of people equate with quality- that is what they have going for them.

In reality, the market has cut back. Plants are luxury goods.
Housing has slowed and people are not working on their homes as much.
The financial resources are not there as banks are not lending for home building or many improvements.
Most home owners have already planted trees and basic shrubs and they have moved on to inexpensive, quick seasonal color. They may add a few special items to their landscape, but the key word is few.

I feel sorry if a trusted name like Monrovia goes to the wayside (no pun intended). They have helped to build what America views as a reliable name in nursery products. The bank will not get their money back if Monrovia closes entirely. Liquidators will be sent in and blocks of plants auctioned off for pennies on the dollar.

Other large nursery growers struggle at the moment Iseli Nursery has filed for Chapter 11 as of October 5, 2010. America's largest suppliers of roses Weeks Wholesale, and Jackson and Perkins have joined the ranks of  troubled nurseries. An article on todaysgardencenter.com, an anonymous reader know as Hort Guy commented. "The rose business is on the edge and the 'National Flower' could be without growers."
Who will grow these roses for Americans? I say the small growers will. Breeders will have to pick up and do the production work themselves. We will return to what our roots in the nursery business have always been- small nurseries, in house production, local suppliers.
Perhaps mail order will rise like a phoenix?

Maybe these unfortunate events will create a movement in localized nurseries with more of a personal and hands on approach to what they sell. Can this be the catalyst that moves the the nursery business away from corporate America?
So many of us have taken this stance with the farmer. We try so hard to support local farming, farmers markets, food co-ops. Should we ask this of the nursery trade and our gardening communities?

Support local nurseries, local tree growers, small greenhouses growers.

Thinking a bit more GREEN (an article on living the way I do)

Alright, something dawned on me as I was pondering what I could do to live more "green".

I thought I could just be using food tat I have grown, well, I do that and it's a bit limited because of the season. So I need to start canning, just not freezing things.

Then I had another revelation. I have been living the concept for years. I mean way back when I got my drivers license kind of years.

Getting my drivers license was like personal freedom. I could go to garage sales. I could gather and amass whatever I could get into my vehicle. I gathered yearly in the beginning and had sales of my own. I learned to take what I had and make a profit with it in one feel swoop.

Think about it, garage sales are sort of like selective recycling. I look around my house and try to find new furniture- well, it's new to me. Dishes? Found in a thrift shop. Glasses? Goodwill and other thrift shops. Tables, lamps, chairs, bed frames, more lamps, benches, vases, mirrors, objects and plant stands. Trash baskets, book cases, end tables. They all are used and I am reusing them.

I seem to have new kitchen things as I don't care for used spatulas and wooden spoons. I have pans that I have purchased, but all my cast iron is second hand.

Bedding and towels I buy new as well. I am not into used towels.

Books, most of them are second hand as well. DVDs- used. CDs- used.

I do not subscribe to newspapers, I borrow magazines or check them out of the library- for a treat from time to time I 'treat' myself to some publication. I am not big on paper towels, the one role I own is maybe 5 years old and kept in a drawer. Napkins are cloth, dish and bar towels are aplenty.

Even the house- I am wanting to move in a small Victorian cottage- think about it. When it comes time to fix the old girl up, yeah, I will use low VOC paints. I will look at more sustainable material. I will not feel bad that I slaughtered hundreds of trees to build my house. I will try to save as much of the material that I can. I will restore the floors. They are wood on both levels.

Tiles, vintage light fixtures, wool carpets and things to hang on the wall.

I will not stop buying things the way I have. I can always have my own garage sale and let someone else enjoy that I have used and no longer wish to live with.

Old Reliable has Been Updated Again!

I know the title sounds like it should be a car add, but it's not.
I am speaking about tall garden phlox, Plox paniculata. There are many, many hybrids now and some of the old standards still exist. I must rub it in that I do not particularly have a rust or mildew problem in my area so sometimes I don't watch for those that are resistant to such things, but most varieties on the market are.

I like most tall phlox, I do. They are dependable plants. I have had in my gardens such wonderful varieties as 'Mt. Fuji', 'Prince of Orange', 'David', 'Franz Schubert', and the wonderful variegated forms- Love the display of 'Becky Towe'.
For the nursery I have had at times 'Orange Perfection', 'Blue Paradise', 'Goldmine', 'Starfire'. This year I am going to be growing a subtle beauty named 'Jade'. Now when we hear the name 'Jade' we think green. Though these are not solid green flowers they do have an edge of pale celadon on crisp white petals making them very attractive to combine with other phlox and silvery plants.

I just can't imagine a perennial boarder without late summer beauties such as Phlox paniculata. Some are deliciously fragrant and others are just shocking in color. Some are so fade proof in my hot desert sun that I love to design with them as well. They are hardy, rapid growers that will grow into a divisible clump within three years. And though the tag may say 18-22 inches, with a good spring mulching they should jump up to a good two feet or more by the end of the season.

To stake or not to stake? I should be staking mine, the winds we have out here are just disastrous at times, and if you get a good rain they could just turn into a heap of blooms flopping in all directions. So I might suggest creating some form of support for them by the end of the summer. When I say support it does not have to be some wire basket contraption, it could be something as easy as some twigs and garden twine. Subtle and organic is most often times less detectable as dark green wire hoops on rod-like legs.

If you like the cottage look- either English cottage or the Victorian American- these are highly recommended plants for your garden. Plant them behind daylilies (Hemerocallis) and along side Echinaceas to create a soft and colorful look. I think about using Orange Perfection with Silvermound Artemisia or Santolina in the foreground to give it a more electric look.

Geranium 'Orkney Cherry'

I have had a lot of success with this beauty here in Eastern Washington. Placed along driveways, sidewalks, gravel paths, and rockeries it has been very prolific. The color was described to me as burgundy chocolate but I find it to be more of a burgundy/violet foliage with hues of copper. There is almost this strange otherworldly feel to the color. I know this could be the result of both heat and soil, but it's simple marvelous.
This foliage is exceptional at creating a mood and then the violet pink flowers, small blossom but with a big punch add a sparkle to the overall effect. Just imagine the use of this with other bold and shocking colors, splashing through your perennial border and frolicking among the grasses.

This hardy geranium is one of my three favorites. Seriously, the foliage alone is worth everything. Tight mounds up to 10 inches high and maybe the plant gets 24 inches wide. I think this and Geranium Rozanne are the top two that I use and grow here at the nursery.

Hardy geraniums are excellent filler plants and add so much to both the residential and commercial landscape. Such versatile and useful plants.

Other suggestions that I read about was to use them in containers, baskets and window boxes. I think this would be great if you were in Western Washington, but this may not really be suited for the east side of the state. Well, let me rephrase that. They would last the growing season but being strong enough to be perennial in an unprotected container is something else altogether.


This is a Plant Haven introduction.

Hydragea quercifolia 'Amethyst'

Alright, just when I thought I was running out of quercifolia Hydrangea forms along comes this beauty.
Now the sales people are telling me this shrub is smaller and more compact, yadda, yadda, yadda.
Yeah, sure.
This shrub is medium sized at 6' x 6'. The blossoms are like 'Snow Queen' as they are held aloft and upright. They are creamy white and appear to have a nice shape to small sized heads.
What I feel is the real selling point is the fact that the flower heads turn such a dark and glowing shade of cherry amethyst when they age and dry. I am continually reassured that they hold their color, and that the rich burgundy and purple leaves set everything off.
Useful in shade plantings or as a spectacular foundation plant. I would recommend planting this somewhere where it might be noticed.
Attributed to Dr. Michael A. Dirr

Paint that desert!

Fallugia paradoxa, what a name! I sometimes can't resist a plant because of it's Latin name and how it roles off the tongue. Apache Plume, Turpentine Bush are a couple of common names this plant has.

This is fantastic and fascinating plant for a garden that is on the dry side. A a small to medium sized bush that has ghostly stems, fine foliage and glaring white flowers with sometimes a hint of pink in them. Now, yeah, it is a blooming machine once you establish it, but the most remarkable thing about this shrub is the when it goes to seed. This is where is earns the name of 'plume.' This shrub is all about the seed heads. I would liken them to the seed head of the Clematis, or that of Geum triflorum. Feathery and pink, wisping in the wind they create a glorious multi season interest to this once overlooked plant.

The leaves have a fine textural quality, or as I like to tell people quillity, as they are dark and small and lace-like. And when I say small I mean just that. This plant knows how to conserve it's own resources.

This is a glorious native of the American Southwest. Xeric, and grows 4-6 feet high and just as wide.