#Verbascum Southern Charm

[floweralleyblog-blog]

That Fuzzy Face

This Verbascum is dreamy. I want to make its blooms into jewelry and wear them. It is not just the colors that get me, although I find the dusty plum and creamy peach delicious. Its the little, fuzzy faces that make me want to wear it. Like a delicate corsage close to my face or in my hair. When I spied this plant in a pot I grabbed it up and did not let go. Sometimes you just know! FLOW

[patriciastrike]

Verbascum Southern Charm

[lemoncranes]

Verbascum ‘Southern Charm’ and Allium ‘Pink Planet’ are friends 👏🏼

[seeingplants]

The Shakespeare Garden: First Impressions

“Tis in ourselves that we are thus or thus. Our bodies are our gardens to the which our wills are gardeners” - Othello Act 1 Scene 3

Bust of Shakespeare in the Huntington Library Shakespeare Garden. Photo credit:  Huntington.org website

In April of 2018, I was re-positioned at the Huntington from being Herb Gardener, Specialty Gardener to Head Gardener of the Herb & Shakespeare Gardens. This was an opportunity I welcomed very much. Like many people in the gardening profession, I got my start through learning how to grow food (see my post about the Ranch). And while I still find food growing a highly satisfying endeavor, I knew that, after having worked in the Herb Garden for 8 years, I was ready for something a little different. This opportunity presented something even better - by managing both Herb & Shakespeare gardens, I am able to continue forging ahead with the growing of seasonal crops and the developing of educational programs and collaborative partnerships that has taken years to cultivate in the Herb Garden, all the while learning new lessons and adding new skills under my belt in the Shakespeare Garden. 

November 2018. Long-time volunteers Wayne cleaning out the Iris patch and Cynthia staking up rununculus and deadheading snapdragons.

While they look and feel very different from one another, the Herb and Shakespeare Gardens are alike in many ways, and, as I have come to understand it through several discussions with the botanical director and others who have worked at this institution for quite some time, they have a unique relationship with each other. Both gardens were built in the mid 70′s (the Shakespeare garden, however, was redesigned in the 80′s) and both gardens are the only gardens built with the intention to reflect the Huntington’s other collection areas in the art museums and rare book library holdings. 

May 2018. Looking SE to the Huntington European Art Gallery. Scarlet, Red and Pink Zinnias with spikes of pink foxgloves. 

Working both gardens provide a fuller, richer experience to my personal gardening practice. Both gardens intertwine beautifully with the human experience. Both gardens share a narrative framework for how humans have interacted with plants over several millennia.

April 2019. Looking North to the Scott Loggia. Chinese snowball tree, Verbascum ‘Southern Charm’, Bells of Ireland, Pink Mammoth Mums

The Herb garden shares stories about practical use, utility, purpose and functionality while the Shakespeare garden is linked to art, inspiration, poetry and contemplation.

April 2019. Looking East. Statice, Foxglove, Iris, Dianthus, Melianthus.

Even the layout of the Shakespeare garden provide new challenges. Both Herb & Ranch Gardens taught me about row and production cropping while the Shakespeare garden has taught me about the enhancement of soft edges, color, meadering flow, and playful texture.

April 2020. Looking west to the Virginia Steele Scott American Art Gallery. Foxgloves, asters, ‘Love Song’ & ‘Pillow Fight’ Roses and Poplar Trees.

Of course, to keep a garden looking this good all year round is an impossible feat (notice how I’ve only seem to take my good camera out during early Spring). After all, what is an English cottage garden doing in a Southern California climate? How do I reflect the Huntington’s other collection areas through garden design and interpretation? Only time, patience, and experimentation can help reveal the best answers to these complex, multilayered questions day by day, season by season..

[plantanarchy]

June perennialssss pt. 1 Oenothera macrocarpa, Poppy 'Shirley Double', two different Rudbeckia hirta, Verbascum 'Southern Charm', Ratibida columnifera, Dianthus 'Spooky Mix', Gaura ft. Arizona Apricot shades Gaillardia, Leontopodiom aka Edelweiss, and Helenium 'Mardi Gras'

[bashcha]

Proleće u karantinu

Od mog poslednjeg bloga je prošlo 3.5 meseci, ovakve dramske pauze do sada barem ovde nisam dozvoljavala. Priroda nije stavila pauzu, i u bašti se svašta dešava. Jutros sam nabrala ovaj buketić i odlučila da je vreme da obrišem prašinu sa bloga.

Da počnemo...

Ovogodišnji wintersowing mi polovično uspeo. Trenutno imam dosta saksija gde još ništa nije niklo, da li to da pripišem lošem semenu, ili se još uvek nisu poklopili idealni uslovi za nicanje. U svakom slučaju ne bacam ništa i čekam.

Odlično su se pokazali larkspur Misty Lavender, verbascum Southern Charm, oenothera, bupleurum Griffithii, daucus carota Dara, polemonium careauleum, nicotiana alata Crimson Bedder, nigella papillosa, agrostemma, lupine...većinom jednogodišnje biljke koje sam već skoro sve prebacila u baštu.

Ove godine sam sejala seme dalija, naklijavala sam ga u vlažnoj maramici i  imam nekih 15tak baš lepih biljaka. Napolju su mi sigurno već 3 nedelje, a trenutno vape za presađivanjem u veće saksijice. 

Gomolje dalija sam deo juče posadila kod mame u baštu. Lepo su prezimele i krenule da pupe. 

Iscvetale su lale, narcisi, irisi i krokusi (suprotnim redosledom), a sada dominira ljubičasta i plava jer kreću ukrasni lukovi i irisi.

Jesenja setva otpornih jednogodišnjih biljaka je prošla odlično, ne znam da li je puno značilo što je zima bila blaga, ali sve biljke su lepe i velike, i neke su počele cvetati. Prvi je bio cerinthe, pa sada orlaya, a uskoro će i agrostemma.

Toliko za ovo javljanje iz bashche!

[mohandoshi]

Verbascum 'Southern Charm'

[gardeninglovers]

Kongslys (Verbascum - Southern charm) + Verbena hastata

[misseffieflowers-blog]

And so the season begins! This Southern Charm Verbascum is cute tucked into a bouquet. At the moment, bouquets are limited to pre-made bouquets for $10. Please contact me to get yours. You-pick cutting will be starting soon! #iowaflowers #springperennials #youpickflowers #bouquets #slowflowers #misseffiesflowerfarm (at Miss Effie's Country Flowers and Garden Stuff)