Ken Druse REAL DIRT Newsletters

Gargoyles at the Bridge & Ken Druse Designs for Seibert & Rice

This newsletter was originally published September 9, 2005 in conjunction with a story I wrote for the September 2005 issue of House & Garden magazine.

Greetings again,

In this issue of the newsletter, I encourage you to stretch your wings when it comes to choosing art/ornaments for your garden, to look beyond the familiar cast-concrete figures seen at garden centers. Search instead for unique items to include in your landscape, whether it is a lovely piece of sculpture created by a local artist or some whimsical “found-object” that you feel enhances your living creation.

The gargoyles in my garden (pictured above and again in the newsletter below) look like priceless antiques, but they are, in fact, marvelous reproductions from the originals at Rosslyn Chapel in Scotland (yes, that is the location for the climactic scenes from the book The Da Vinci Code). I wrote about Jon Stogner, the artisan who cast them, in the September, 2005 issue of House and Garden magazine, which is available on newsstands for just a few more weeks.

Jon Stogner’s wholesale factory, Vessels, in Birmingham, Alabama is a treasure trove of architectural ornaments, sculpture and statuary for the garden. Stogner has the eye of an artist but prefers to describe himself as “the ornament equivalent of a plantsman.” I hope you enjoy the magazine article and that you will also visit his web site where you will find many more examples of his work.

Ken

You can reach Jon at:

Vessels, Inc.
901 33rd Street North
Birmingham, AL
205-324-6464
http://www.theelegantearth.com

photos below: Jon Stogner and examples of his work.

    

ORNAMENTS AS UNIQUE AS THE GARDEN

Gardens are works of art, living sculpture, if you will. And traditional, “solid” forms of sculpture have been used in gardens from the very beginning. Every self-respecting Roman patrician commissioned his share of two-ton bric-a-brac. Inspired by the Ancients, the British began filling their grand landscapes with classical ornament. Some of these were the real things, bought while taking in the sights on the “Grand Tour” of the Continent, but most were recreations. After all, the Romans were copying the Greeks. Aristocrats went so far as to produce instant marble ruins recalling the decrepit monuments of the Roman Forum. These somewhat frivolous garden shelters--aptly named “follies”--were built to punctuate instant rolling hills and beside freshly dug lakes created during the Romantic Landscape Movement of the 18th Century.

Art in the garden takes many forms and I am intrigued by the ingenuity, skill and risk that many gardeners are willing to take. Because creating is a very personal process and every time we invite visitors into our gardens we open ourselves up to evaluation from another’s point of view and sense of taste.

I encourage you to have confidence in your own likes and dislikes, your own personal style. Be open to new possibilities and willing to experiment with those objects that please your eye and delight you.

Whimsical “found” objects are in my garden along with the beautifully crafted, antique-looking gargoyles (pictured at the top of the newsletter and in a close up down below). Others may not always appreciate my taste, but a beautiful or interesting object has intrinsic value apart from its utility.

This gate was constructed from an old iron bed frame I found at a tag sale.

This unique “species” of bamboo was created by my friend, sculptor and ceramic artist Marcia Donahue. Although they are completely fanciful, people often have to walk up and touch them before they know for sure that they are not living plants. Marcia even included a little runaway sprout some three feet from the clump. Even Bambusa ceramica is invasive, it seems.

Marcia Donahue is a gifted gardener as well. You can read a 1999 interview of Marcia in the online journal Works & Conversations.

The exquisite carved face by Marcia lies peacefully beside one of the Rosslyn gargoyles from Stogner. What most people may not realize is that the word gargoyle shares the same root as gargle: an Old French word gargouille meaning throat or gullet. Since gargoyles were, in fact, architectural features along the roofline of buildings specifically designed for directing rainwater out and away from the building, all gargoyles feature gaping mouths. Other carved creatures used as architectural ornament or symbolism are properly labeled grotesques.

Marcia Donahue
Our Own Stuff Gallery
3017 Wheeler St.
Berkeley, CA 94705
1-510-540-8544

I often find myself moving objects around in my garden the way others feel the need to rearrange a living room until it feels “just right”. One nice thing about garden ornaments is that even if they are very heavy they don’t throw down roots and are more easily moved than most plants.

I love making sculpture as much as gardening. I created my sculpted head of the demigod Pan for a specific spot in my garden. It was to go in a green niche so that as you walked over the stone bridge, you would be eye to eye with him. However, when I finished the sculpture I got derailed and he ended up in a different spot altogether: atop a tall plinth, out in the open. But propping him there just didn’t seem right; I didn’t think the effect was subtle enough and moved him twice (at least) before he ended up in his current location. Ironically, the resting place, if not final, turned out to be much more prominent—and just about where I had planned to put him in the first place.

Ken's Design for Seibert & Rice

I am pleased to announce that my first design for the company Seibert & Rice will be available this winter. I call it “Pepper Pot” and it stands over thirty inches tall. For a copy of their catalog you can go to their web site, www.seibertandrice.com

Seibert & Rice
P.O. Box 365
Short Hills, NJ 07078
973-467-8266

Take Pictures Only

I recently had the privilege, along with other plant-obsessed nature lovers, of visiting the Pine Barrens of New Jersey. Led by The Nature Conservancy and state botanists and naturalists, we embarked on a "plant safari" searching out rare and threatened native orchids. I write about this remarkable experience in the September 22nd, 2005 House & Home section of the New York Times.

While the object of our field trip was to view wild orchids, we saw some other fascinating--some might say bizarre--plants that thrive in dry sandy soil or moist boggy conditions. In this posting I share a few photographs of the marvelous and curious flora not found in your average suburban garden.

    It was a very hot and humid morning in New Jersey when I joined eleven others at the Nature Conservancy's Pine Barrens office. Our guides had promised to show us rare, late summer orchids, but before we embarked on our journey those of us who were not state or conservancy officials were handed blindfolds.     Blindfolds?
   
    I was amazed to learn that orchids growing in south-central New Jersey are still being poached--stolen to sell to rare-plant collectors. Poaching, along with disappearing habitat,are the main reasons these native orchids are rare and now fiercely protected by the naturalists and botanists familiar with the Pine Barrens.

 Plantanthera clavellata "Green wood orchid"

    "People think that removing a plant from the wild and planting it in their garden actually helps preserve it," said Neill Heath, one of the conservationists leading the group. "But in truth, you are reducing the wild population, and endangering the species." Volunteer Linda Kelly, an ecologist/botanist and our safari guide, had stronger words, "Any removal of rare plants from the wild is poaching, regardless of the motive."

    I was deeply moved when our guides lead us to a spot where we got to see the rarest of the rare--the endangered yellow-fringed orchid, Plantanthera ciliaris. These flowers were similar to the white fringed orchid, but in a bright citrus-orange color. There may be as few as 20 known plants in New Jersey, and we were looking at a half a dozen of them.

    We saw other remarkable plants that day, such as the carnivorous round-leaf sundew, Drosera rotundifolia. These and other species like the pitcher plant I grow in my garden, Sarracenia flava evolved into carnivorous insect traps in order to supplement the nutrient lean soil of moist habitats.

Drosera rontundifolia, Carnivorous sundew
    This tiny, seemingly insignificant plant is part of the ecosysytem found in the Pine Barrens. It attracts insects with a sticky secretion, then traps them with leaves that fold inward, and then slowly "digest" its prey.

The fading autumn leaf, or "pitcher", of the carnivorous pitcher plant, Sarracenia flava

    In spite of the heat in the Pine Barrens, each time our guides told us we could remove our blind folds the site of these rare jewels caused me to instantly (if momentarily) forget any physical discomforts; so consuming were my emotions; a mixture of delight, awe, and reverence.

    It is a common human response--"I gotta have that!"--when seeing something this rare, this
beautiful. But at what cost?

Spiranthes lacera "Slender ladies' tresses" orchid

    As I travel around the country speaking to various groups, and in all of my books, I stress my version of the "horticultural Golden Rule": We gardeners should always strive to improve the health of the earth, leaving the places we live better off than we found them. This idea not only applies to our actions in the garden, but also to our treatment of the world outside our garden's gates.

     We gardeners have a special connection to the earth, which makes us the ideal advocates for the natural world. We have a stewardship to honor:

• We must educate ourselves.
• We must speak out against harm to the environment, doing whatever we can to limit sprawl, preserve open space and protect the few natural areas we have left in this country.
• We should join local chapters of native plant societies dedicated to protecting local threatened species.
• When we see a beautiful plant in the wild, we should take pictures only.

    Larger conservation groups are a rich source of informations and advice: the New England Wild Flower Society is one of the best in the U.S. and the North American Native Plant Society is a great resource in Canada. The Native Plant Conservation Campaign web site provides a list of local chapters that can provide you with information regarding native plant enthusiasts in your aarea.

    And most importantly, when purchasing wildflowers for your garden, be sure they are nursery propagated plants not just "nursery grown". Look for the claim nursery propagated and if you do not see it ask the nursery owner or manager where their  wildflowers came from. And if you see threatened species for sale at big box stores, do not buy them.

    The best way to procure wildflowers for your garden is through native plant societies and plant sales conducted by conservation groups and botanic gardens. If you are smitten with our native orchids or carnivorous species, two reputable nurseries, California Carnivores and Vermont Ladyslipper Company, Ltd. offer commercially propagated plants. Purchasing plants from reputable nurseries like these actually helps to stabilize populations of threatened species in the wild.

    Finally, in the recent Timber Press edition of my book The Natural Habitat Garden you will find inspiration and guidance for creating habitats for local native species.

    It is a trite saying, but when it comes to our dwindling natural habitats it is all too true: "if you aren't a part of the solution, then you are very likely part of the problem."

 

Holiday Plants

This newsletter was originally sent on December 28th, 2005.

Thank you for subscribing to Ken Druse/REAL DIRT Newsletter, and sharing it with your friends.

And most of all, my fondest wishes for a Joyous Holiday season and Happy, Peaceful, and Successful Gardening Year!

Ken

  Paperwhite Narcissus
Yes, Some Do Smell Lovely!

Nothing could be simpler to grow indoors than paperwhite narcissus. No chilling is required, no requisite number of hours in a dark, cold closet; simply place them in a 6-8 inch deep, closed vessel with a few rocks, add water and watch them grow.

But some people tell me that they have stopped purchasing paperwhites, siting the objectionable aroma. I must admit that I like the scent, but do understand it can be too strong for some noses.

There are, however, many varieties of paperwhites, and my radio co-host, Vicki Johnson, has grown nearly all of them and declares that only a few of them emit a strong, musky fragrance and that others can fill your room with a very pleasant, sweet perfume.

Ask your local nursery for named varieties, or be sure to order from catalogs offering named paperwhites. Here is a list of the paperwhites Vicki recommends for their fragrance:

'Chinese Sacred Lily' has white petals and a gold cup. It is perhaps the oldest variety of paperwhite on the market. It may not produce as many flowers as some but its marvelous fragrance makes this one a favorite.

'Grand Soleil d'Or' has gleaming yellow petals with a golden-orange cup, is slower growing but its delicate fragrance makes it another of Vicki's favorites, even though there are fewer flowers produced on each stalk. Want more flowers: plant several of these bulbs together.

If it is a pure white narcissus you are after, Vicki recommends that you look for 'Galilee'. It has a very mild, musky aroma that will not overpower.

Like all our other Holiday plants, they will grow best and flower longest in a cool, bright location. So place paperwhites near a window where you will see them frequently, but not necessarily in the same room you keep warmest on cold winter days and evenings.

However, even when they grow right next to a south-facing window, the short daylight hours can mean tall, leggy paperwhites and you may need to give them some support to keep them upright. Vicki grows hers in a tall, clear glass vase, for instance, nestled in several inches of polished beach pebbles or other attractive stones or glass marbles (it is not necessary to plant them in potting soil). Or, when planted in a bowl or pan (6-8 inches deep to accommodate the substantial root system that will develop), she loosely ties the greens and stems together with a bit of raffia or ribbon; this is often enough to keep them from sprawling over the tabletop. Keep the roots covered with water; this helps to keep them upright as well.

Paperwhites will flower 4-6 weeks after potting up, depending on room temperature. They grow fastest in a warm room, but will definitely need support to keep them upright and the flowers will wither more quickly. A pleasantly cool room will mean slightly slower but shorter growth and the flowers will stay fresh longer.

  The Truth About Poinsettias
And Why Christmas Cactus Is A Favorite

I'm afraid that the best way to deal with a poinsettia after the colorful bracts have faded (or when they are looking limp and puckered) is to carry the plant to the trash or compost pile and get it out of sight, and hopefully, out of mind.

If you are gluten for long, drawn-out punishment, the plant can be brought back into bloom next year, but it will never look like it did when you first received it. One reason is that these plants have been sprayed with a chemical growth-retardant that keeps them compact and stocky. They will grow long and lanky indoors.

To get your plant to bloom again, you will have to simulate its natural conditions in Mexico. The plants need twelve continuous, uninterrupted hours of darkness for 40 days. There are ways to provide this requirement. For example, give over an entire room of your house; build a moveable cardboard box that fits snugly against a window that is far from streetlights or car headlamps, and that can be removed during the day for watering, and...

Really, steel yourself. Compost is the answer.

I think the best holiday gift plant is the Christmas cactus. Remove the foil. Remove the foil. Water thoroughly when the top half inch of soil feels dry and do not allow the plant to stand in a saucer of water. I keep mine outdoors in the summer, and in August, move it to a spot with bright light but out of there reach of the raindrops. I only water if the leaflets begin to wrinkle, and let the natural darkness of the shortening daylight hours and lowering temperatures outdoors do the rest. Under cover, the plant can even be left outdoors when the first light frost falls. But if you can, bring it indoors just before frost is expected. By then, you may see some flower buds already forming. That's it. Don't worry, the requirement for less daylight is no where near as strict as it is for the poinsettia.

Ken's Garden in Winter


The garden is gorgeous in its winter dress, but our holiday snow has disappeared as mild temperatures, grey skies and periods of rain swept in for the week.

If,like me, you are suffering from an early case of cabin fever, and pine for a little hint of spring, please take a "virtual tour" of my New Jersey garden by clicking on the link below.

And if you need to escape even further into gardening, may I suggest one of my books?

An Artist in the Garden

This newsletter was originally emailed to subscribers on December 1, 2005 in coordination with Ken's article in the House & Home section of the New York Times.

Hello again,

In this issue, I would like to share a few thoughts, and a beautiful garden.

This is just about the quietest time of year in the garden. The house plants are all setlled in after their summer vacation outdoors and seem to have acclimated to the low light and dry, indoor heat from the furnace. In most years, here in the northeast, the frost would be on the ground every morning and the soil would be frozen about a half-foot into the earth by now, but our fall has warm and freezing temperatures have just arrived. All the deciduous shrubs have been planted (nearly). The next big thing? Catalogs arriving in January.

So it seems like a great time for a garden vacation, or at least a gardener's virtual holiday. If you are not headed off to enjoy springtime in New Zealand, check out my story, today, December 1, in the House and Home section of the New York Times. The article is about a garden in the Sonoma Valley designed in the Moorish style by artist Brandon Tyson. Brandon is a real plant-freak, and describes his work as "plant-driven."

Please e-mail the Times article to friends through their "e-mail this article" link the Times website -it's free--and a lot of "hits" may lead to more articles on gardening in America's number one newspaper.

You will also be able to take a tour of the garden in a digital slide show narrated by me, just click on the Multimedia link on the Times web site.

Oh, and by the way, after you finish reading the paper, put your feet up, close your eyes, and take a virtual springtime tour of your own garden. And, if you like, visit mine on my web site.


  An Artist in the Garden

When Brandon Tyson took me through the garden he designed for clients in the wine country of Northern California, he dubbed the creation, “Moroccan Modern,” an allusion to plantings in a style and feeling similar to the arid climate of North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula that juts into the Mediterranean Sea; a climate similar to Northern California's Sonoma Valley.

Tyson's work typically includes jungles of tropical and subtropical flowers and foliage, and colorful swaths of ground-hugging succulents. Plants in his gardens grow right up to the edges of every path, so that anyone walking by can see them close-up, smell their perfume, or touch their fruits.

For this garden, he took a more formal, historically appropriate path. Moorish gardens have geometric layouts designed around a central water source, like a well or fountain (below, left), and the water flowed through channels to irrigate the plantings. Today, utility may have given way to beauty, but the Islamic style still inspires, and should be of special interest to gardeners working in small town spaces.

Unlike some garden professionals, Brandon never uses the unnatural and disrespectful term “plant material” when talking about his designs, relegating living things to a category like bricks and mortar. The correct terminology is "plants." And, in Mr. Tyson's case, thousands of them—though never ordered by the pallet or truckload; no, Tyson selects each variety and often has the most special ones grown for him at area nurseries.

Although he does not consider plants as mere “landscaping material” that does not mean he is averse to using them in masses to form "floors" or ground cover, “walls” or hedges, or other so-called “architectural elements.” For example, these Italian Cypress (below) are “exclamation points” that also form a see-through screen that sets the intimate garden space in front apart from the surrounding land in the background.

In the two-year-old garden in front of the house, he has created a “Persian carpet” in living color, with succulents and other plants weaving an otherworldly tapestry (below).

Working in a living medium could make some architects or designers nervous. After all, it is impossible to make an immortal statement when the primary components are changeable entities. “Of course plants die; we all die,” Tyson says, “The dying is as much a part of the growing as the living. We lose some, but we win a lot.”

Working in a living medium could make some architects or designers nervous. After all, it is impossible to make an immortal statement when the primary components are changeable entities. “Of course plants die; we all die,” Tyson says, “The dying is as much a part of the growing as the living. We lose some, but we win a lot.”

When Bad Things Happen to Good Gardens

This newsletter was originally published August 18th, 2005. The article referred to in this piece can be acessed (for a modest fee) in the New York Times archive.

Mid August in Ken's Garden

It has taken a couple of years to get it right, but I think my take on “fountains in the garden” (above photo) finally works. Besides, as you will learn in this issue, I often have too much of the real thing flowing through my garden!

In New York City and other major metropolitan areas, some people opt for a view from an apartment high-rise, while others seek terra firma: a house and a place to garden. Gardens everywhere have a variety of built in vulnerabilities, like suburban Japanese beetle infestations or urban Asian longhorn beetles. City plantings have insecurities unique to their environment. Consider community gardens growing in the shadow of high rise development; but even private gardens are not immune from “improvement.”

Four years ago, Brooklynites Kim Flodin and her husband Farhan Ali learned that a laundromat would be built on the empty lot next door They had no “air-rights” to protect them from a developer building on the commercially zoned plot outside of the bounds of the Historic Preservation District.

The garden, a 20 feet by 50 feet place featuring plants in raised beds, a tiny lawn and their own patch of sky, had been a refuge. Then came the news about the building’s massive wall that would close in their garden and rob a portion of sky—and of course, sunlight.
I learned about their story from my Brooklyn neighbor, Bill Fidelo, a garden designer who worked with Kim and Farhan, to come up with inventive solutions to their dilemma. “Thumbing their noses” at the intrusion upon their space, Bill and Kim came up with some creative ideas for incorporating the wall into the new garden.

I wrote about Kim and Farhan’s urban gardening-crisis-turned-into-attractive-oasis in the August 18th House & Home section of the New York Times. Click this link to find the New York Times archive of this article.

Bill Fidelo grew up in Queens, NY with no garden space at all and always dreamed of having the space to create one. Now his dream has turned into a career. You can reach him at:

phone: 718-789-8219 e-mail: bfidelogardens@aol.com

Frustration turned Industrial Chic; a fountain that appears to be fed from a spigot coming from the wall of Kim and Farhan's neighboring laundromat.

 

City dwellers often fantasize about the peace of rural living, but every country gardener will quickly point out that bad things happen to good people and gardens in the country as well. I have had the dubious honor of experiencing both urban and country garden disasters. And with hurricane season upon us, some very vivid, not so pleasant memories have come to mind.

Since my New York Times piece describes one urban calamity gardeners face, I thought it appropriate to share the story (an adaptation from my latest book Ken Druse: The Passion for Gardening; Inspiration for a Lifetime) of some of the garden challenges we have encountered in the New Jersey garden…and why, in the face of all that can and does happen, I could never stop gardening.

When Bad Things Happen to Good Gardens

I hunted long and hard before I found the beautiful piece of land that has become my New Jersey home and garden. Unfortunately, it was not the rural stone cottage of my fantasies, but a squat colonial-cum shack that most likely started life as a mill store. The property was dotted with dead trees, poison ivy and covered by brush—mostly overgrown shrubs and invasive weeds. But it had the most important elements I had been searching for: an interesting, even eccentric parcel, with varied conditions—and water.

The house perched on the highest part of a small island in a beautiful river, between the fast-flowing main section and a slower branch that had been dammed for a long-gone mill. A narrow canal cuts through the backyard, connecting one branch of the river with the other, and it is spanned by an arched stone bridge. I was charmed by the rustic stone walls built around the property, which contained the sandy soil of the natural flood plain. That first day, as we listened to the river rush along its rocky bed and over the falls of the old dam, the feeling grew that “This is the place that I have been looking for.”

I suspected the dangers of being on an island, surrounded by such an unpredictable force of nature. My suspicions were confirmed when the agent told me that I would be required, by law, to purchase flood insurance. I conducted an informal survey of the neighbors, as well as the people who had owned the house in the past, and received various reports of floods occurring “once in a decade” to “not since 1938”. One longtime resident told me just what my hopeful ears wanted to ear, “never.” I further rationalized that if the island had flooded, how could there be hundred-plus-year-old trees? In the end, the beauty of the place out-weighed my reservations.

Gradually, we upgraded the hovel of a house to an eyesore (one can live in an eyesore). My partner Louis and I worked out a master plan for the garden, including a near-acre size parcel across the slow moving branch of the river we have dubbed “little new jersey”. Over time, as we removed the alien plants and beat back the invasives, we hope to establish an all-indigenous haven for the native plants that grew in this immediate vicinity before European settlers arrived.

The rapid changes in those first few months of ownership were often exhilarating. My worries about floods subsided as a summer-long drought caused trees to drop many of their leaves by August. The river was certainly no threat then, having dropped to mere inches deep. But just weeks later I got a taste of what was to come, when the remnants of a hurricane roared through the region that feeds the river. The canal filled up and overflowed across the garden, stripping the mulch off some newly made beds. We had two more floods in January; and on Mother’s Day, 1996 a freak tornado came up the river. And I’ll never forget the wet, heavy snowfall of 1998 that draped itself over the early-spring garden, and waking up the next day—April Fools!—to discover a quarter of our trees damaged or destroyed.

We were visited by the “thirty-year” flood ‘98; a “hundred year” flood in ’99; and then, on December 3, 2000, an ice storm encased the trees. Heavy winds snapped the largest branch of the white pine in the woodland garden. The fifty-eight-year-old limb (we counted the rings) came crashing down into the center of the oldest Japanese maple on the grounds but, miraculously, caused little damage. The next day, as chainsaws roared and we carried off pine logs, it began to rain, continuing through the night and into the next day. Waves from the fast moving branch of the river crashed against then began flowing over the stone walls, flooding the property. The rain stopped; but the river did not crest until hours later, 2 PM on December 5—the worst flood to date; the flood that the New Jersey governor called the “Millennial Event.”

This two-page spread from Ken Druse: The Passion for Gardening shows my garden as it looked on December 5, 2000.

Dare I ask, what’s next?

• Spring, 2004: the deepest flood (four feet of water covering the garden—and my 35mm camera went into the brink!).

• September, 2004: perhaps the most surprising (so far). Even though it has been the shallowest flood, the fast-moving water caused the most damage of all the floods to date, scrubbing away the soil in several areas.

I recite this litany only to confirm that things happen when we try to create art in a living medium. Does nature test me as some people think God tests human beings? It doesn’t seem to matter that I’ve tried to be good to nature over the years, promoting causes in every way I can (including my right to vote, and with my checkbook to important organizations).

A major player in many of these disasters—the river—is also the attraction and a source of great peace that I and many others find here. The churn of the fast branch, low roar of the water over the dam, and babble of the canal create an ambient hum that soothes the soul and sets the restful place. Houseguests are forever telling me that they slept like a log; my mother says that when the daily trials of life best her, she closes her eyes, imagines herself in this spot, and feels a calmness wash over her.

 

The river looks harmlessly low in August—
before any hurricanes come charging up the east coast:

I—we—have no choice but to deal with what nature—and sometimes neighbors—dole out. It doesn’t help me, in the immediate aftermath, to think of the additional light that will now fall on the beds when a tree comes down. And I can’t imagine someone looks with glee at a fresh concrete wall looming over their city garden and thinks, “oh goodie, a new garden opportunity”. I take no solace from a well-meaning friend’s assurance of future “planting opportunities”. Wounds to the garden are too often wounds to me as well. But as I cart away the debris and prune the stubs so the plants can heal more quickly, I more quickly heal myself as well. Whether I like it or not, the garden is changed; and, eventually, I remember that change is what a garden is all about.

Ken's Garden Golden Rule

I never need an excuse to celebrate the Earth, but if one needs an excuse, or a gentle—but firm reminder to “act locally think globally” the day set aside to ponder all the ways we humans impact our one and only home is Saturday, April 22. (It might be a good excuse to have your first garden party of the season, as well.)  

I have shared my “Golden Rule” with you before, but feel it is particularly appropriate  now:            

        We gardeners should always strive to improve the health of the earth, leaving the places we live better off than we found them. This idea not only applies to our actions in the garden, but also to our treatment of the world outside our garden’s gates.        

           

        As gardeners we have a special connection to the earth, which makes us the ideal advocates for the natural world.

• Part of our responsibility, our stewardship, is to continually educate ourselves.
• We have an obligation to speak out against harm to the environment, doing whatever we can to limit sprawl, preserve open space and protect the few natural areas we have left in this country.
• We must seek out and join local chapters of native plant societies dedicated to protecting local threatened species.
• When we see some beautiful plant in the wild, we should take pictures only, and not dig it up.

       

           

        Conservation groups are also a rich source of information and advice: The New England Wild Flower Society is one of the best in the U.S. and the North American Native Plant Campaign is a great resource in Canada.        

           

        This internet site, Native Plant Conservation Campaign, lists of U.S. and Canadian provincial chapters that can provide  information regarding native plant enthusiasts in your area.        

        And most important, when purchasing wildflowers for your garden (like the trillium, left), be sure they are nursery propagated plants not just “nursery grown”. Look for that claim and if you do not see it, ask the nursery owner or manager where their wildflowers come from. If the price asked for a threatened species seems too good to be true, it is – don’t buy them.            

        The best way to procure wildflowers for your garden is through native plant societies and plant sales conducted by conservation groups and botanic gardens. Purchasing plants from reputable nurseries actually helps to stabilize populations of threatened species in the wild. There’s good news, too. More and more nurseries are noticing the demand and propagating supplies to meet it.        

           

        Be sure to check out the following nurseries websites: Vermont Ladyslipper Company, Hillside Nursery and Plant Delights Nursery, Inc.        

         

  Last, (for this newsletter) but certainly not least:

• Give up those few remaining chemicals you may still be using in the garden and embrace the organic way of controlling weeds and enhancing soil (Be sure to dispose of potentially hazardous materials in accordance with local rules)
• Build a bigger compost pile and use it instead of peat moss
• Plant a tree, remembering the rule (for trees and other plants): “right plant in the right place”
• Join a native plant society and let local and national government leaders hear your voice.
• Save all the leaves that fall on your garden, to make iinto FREE compost and/or use as mulch

           

        Most of all get out into your garden,big or small, and enjoy it. And share you passion (and knowledge) with family and friends.        

         

Fowl Friends Add Living Color to Gardens

This newsletter was originally sent on August 11, 2005 in conjunction with a piece I wrote for the New York Times.




   Greetings once again,

Image The New Jersey State Fair runs through the second week of August and I must admit that I love visiting the farm animals and their caretakers as much as the horticultural event. My heart goes out to the nervous and excited kids and adults carefully tending and grooming their livestock, fowl and pets.

Birds of every feather fascinate me, and chickens are no exception. Some of those fancy chickens are stop-in-your-tracks, Marilyn Monroe gorgeous—and boy, do some of them know it!

What’s a fancy chicken, you ask? Please check out the article and pictures in this newsletter as well as my August 11, 2005 piece in the New York Times to learn more about these wonderful animals.

As a gardener, keeping chickens has several benefits: first of all, they eat ticks and other undesirable insects. Secondly, their manure makes fantastic compost material. But you can’t simply let a flock of chickens loose in the garden and forget about them; they need particular care, feeding and protection like every other domesticated animal; and if they are allowed to roam anywhere in the garden, they will undoubtedly peck at and eat some of your prized ornamentals.

If you are seriously considering adding chickens to your family and garden, call your local 4H Club or Extension office for the names of poultry experts in your area, or check the American Poultry Association’s web site for breeders and clubs.

Also, check out your own State Fair or local agricultural show to view some of these beauties in person. However, I do offer this warning: hold onto to your heart; you may lose it to some sweet, young, feathered thing!

Ken 

Fowl Friends Add Living Color to the Garden

Ilove visiting the farm animals and their caretakers as much as the horticultural events a the New Jersey State Fair every summer. My heart goes out to the nervous and excited kids and adults carefully tending and grooming their livestock, fowl and pets.

Birds of every feather fascinate me, and chickens are no exception. Some of those fancy chickens are stop-in-your-tracks, Marilyn Monroe gorgeous—and boy, do some of them know it!

What’s a fancy chicken, you ask? Please check out the article and pictures in this newsletter as well as my August 11, 2005 piece in the New York Times to learn more about these wonderful animals.

As a gardener, keeping chickens has several benefits: first of all, they eat ticks and other undesirable insects. Secondly, their manure makes fantastic compost material. But you can’t simply let a flock of chickens loose in the garden and forget about them; they need particular care, feeding and protection like every other domesticated animal; and if they are allowed to roam anywhere in the garden, they will undoubtedly peck at and eat some of your prized ornamentals.

If you are seriously considering adding chickens to your family and garden, call your local 4H Club or Extension office for the names of poultry experts in your area, or check the American Poultry Association’s web site for breeders and clubs.

Also, check out your own State Fair or local agricultural show to view some of these beauties in person. However, I do offer this warning: hold onto to your heart; you may lose it to some sweet, young, feathered thing!

Gardeners are familiar with heirloom plants, such as the Brandywine tomato or the ancient tulip species, Tulipa acuminata, but did you know that there are heirloom breeds of livestock as well? Some farmers and “fanciers”—people who raise animals for the sheer enjoyment of doing so—are serious about preserving heirloom breeds of cattle, horses, pigs and fowl – old varieties not necessarily grown for production.

For thousands of people, in countries around the world, chickens have been and continue to be more than a source of food. “Fancy” chickens — birds with beautiful, unusual and curious coloring and/or anatomy — have been admired and bred for thousands of years. And just like gardeners, poultry enthusiasts gather together in clubs and societies to learn about and compare their birds.

The American Poultry Association, founded in 1873, continues to publish The American Standard of Perfection: A Complete Description of All Recognized Breeds and Varieties of Domestic Poultry. This is the bible for breeders, judges, and 4H kids intent on growing prize winning chickens. It elaborates on every minute detail of bird anatomy, coloring and plumage. And just like the Miss America pageant, “the bible” also instructs judges to award points for bird demeanor, posture and personality.

In my latest article for the New York Times, I wrote about a family in Northwest New Jersey who raise fancy chickens and their experience at the recent State Fair…and how I lost my heart to a sweet young hen.

The world of fancy chickens is full of colorful, even astonishing feathers—and personalities. Here are a just a few portraits of these amazing creatures:

One look at the striking black and white plumage of a Silver Sebright and it is clear why the first poultry-fanciers society centered on these birds. The Golden Sebright is equally stunning, with amber-gold feathers edged in black. Named after Sir John Sebright, the Englishman who spent thirty years breeding specialty chickens, Sebrights are a true bantam; that is, they are a small breed (one-quarter the weight and size of a normal chicken), and there is no large (called “standard”) version of the Sebrights.

image copyright McMurray Hatchery, Inc.

Another eye-catching breed is the Silkies. With fine, hair-like feathers gushing from the top of their heads and covering their entire body, including legs, these chickens look like they’ve just stepped out of the hair dresser’s— Phyllis Diller’s hair dresser. Known for their gentle nature, both roosters and hens are nurturing parents to their own or other chicks.

image copyright McMurray Hatchery, Inc

 

This French breed also sports a fluffy crest and has long been valued for its large eggs and high quality meat. Judges will look for the characteristic fifth toe on Houdans.

image copyright Watt Publishing Co.

 

Descendants of ancient fighting cocks, Old English games are considered a symbol of courage and strength. Though cock fighting has been banned in most countries, game birds, as they are called, are still bred for show. Noisy and feisty, the hens are not always good mothers. A very hardy breed, they have changed very little in shape or appearance for more than 1,000 years.

image copyright Watt Publishing Co.

    

This bird knows he is something special! Prized for their lustrous feathers, “cocky” personality and proud bearing, they are popular show birds as well as pets. Varieties of the Rose comb have appeared in every edition of the Standard of Perfection since its first publication in 1874.

image copyright Watt Publishing Co.

 

A large American breed from the 19th century, the Plymouth Rock remains one of our most popular chickens. Producing excellent eggs and meat, the breed is also highly valued for its temperament. Cocks are known to be docile and hens broody; that is, they sit on their nest of eggs almost full time.

image copyright Watt Publishing Co.

Another very large and gentle breed, the Brahmas originated in Asia and probably came into the US on trading ships. According to McMurray Hatchery, the gorgeous Buff Brahma is the newest variety in the U. S. and therefore a little difficult to find. I’m sure that will change very soon, given the exquisite markings on this impressive bird. A Bantam Buff Brahma took best in show at the 4-H competition at the New Jersey State Fair this year.

image copyright McMurray Hatchery, Inc.

Chickens in Cities and Towns

Image Seattle Tilth, a community organization that teaches organic gardening and sustainable urban living has been sponsoring a tour of Seattle chickenkeepers for ten years. “On average, 250 people take the tour,” said executive director Karen Luetjen www.seattletilth.org. “The City of Seattle allows up to three chickens,” she said, and those could be roosters or hens. It is best to be mindful, however, of neighbors: Roosters make noise.

“Most city codes will allow three hens even in a downtown setting, and suburban locations will often allow even more flexibility,” said Donna Ward who has a business importing fancy English chicken coops (like the one to the left), from wood and wire A-frames to mini-chalets at several thousand dollars. Her Woodinville, Washington company, Backyard Framing, has grown from a part time hobby to nearly a full-time job in only three years. The interest is growing, visits to her website increased by 30% this year.

Chickens do not need much room, and can easily be kept in neighborhoods where houses are close together. “You could keep them in an apartment,” said G.W. Winborn of Dallas.

The main complaint is the noise from the roosters, so some ordinances ban male birds. A very common question I heard people ask at the Fair was "do chickens need roosters to lay eggs?" The obvious answer, if you think about it, is no.

Mr. Winborn was shopping at a Dallas store called Green Living. When the owner discovered he kept chickens in the city, she asked him if he would give a little presentation at the store. To his surprise, fifty people showed up from towns as far as an hour and a half away. One suggested there be a way for city folk to share what they learn, and that’s how C.L.U.C.K (The Cooperative League of Urban Chicken Knowledge – www.thecluck.org) was formed.

“His wife told me it was the best things they’d done for their family,” said Mr. Winborn. “Their girls watch less television, and there is always debate as to who would gather eggs. It’s like Easter every day.”

Check out this web site, www.backyardfarming.com

I would like to thank Bud Wood of McMurray Hatchery, Inc. and Jim Watt of Watt Publishing for giving us permission to use the beautiful illustrations for this newsletter.

Watt Publishing has been publishing magazines and books relating to the poultry industry since 1917 and now offers Chinese and Spanish editions of their magazines. The original owner commissioned artists to paint portraits of beautiful and chickens. Lithograph reprints are available from both Watt Publishing and McMurray Hatchery.

Watt Publishing Co.
122 S. Wesley Ave.
Mt. Morris, IL 61054 USA
Tel: 815 734-4171
Fax: 815 734-4201

http://wattnet.com

McMurray Hatchery is the world’s largest rare breed hatchery and has everything one needs for raising chickens.

McMurray Hatchery, Inc.
PO Box 458
Webster City, IA 50595
800 456-3280

http://mcmurrayhatchery.com

Feather Site
The author of this web site describes it as “An on-line zoological garden of domestic poultry, including photos, video and information about various breeds of fowl, such as chickens, ducks, geese, guinea fowl, peafowl, pigeons, and turkeys.”

http://feathersite.com

The American Poultry Association’s official site

http://amerpoultryassn.com

Tamara Staples book: The Fairest Fowl published by Chronicle Books