Something to read

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Heat map in today’s Washington Post.

First, I’ll show you this weather map from The Washington Post, which predicts that D.C. will be about the hottest place in the country  today and tomorrow (plus “the air is so humid you could probably wring water out of it”).

In the same paper, Adrian Higgins has an interesting article, “When it rains, it restores,” on three home rain gardens in our area, with a good illustration on how to create one.

Anne Raver, in the New York Times, writes about Philadelphia landscape architect Margie Ruddick’s choice to grow a “wild” front yard, which earned her a summons from the city (later dropped).

Photo by Victory Gardens of Tomorrow, via the LA Times.

In the Los Angeles Times garden blog, there is an article on using weeds to protect and improve a community garden, “Long Beach garden fends off pests with stealth weapon: weeds. “

It’s followed by information on great new victory garden posters.  To order, click here.

Got a chain saw?  There’s a photo of a really beautiful log garden wall in the slideshow accompanying “How to make a walled garden,” by Bunny Guinness in The Telegraph.

This is from last week, but The Baltimore Sun garden blog has video and photos of the winners of its 2011 Garden Contest.

Here’s hoping for cooler weather next week. . . .

Tracery

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What a lovely spare garden, which I found on the blog Defiant Gardens. [Please click on the link.]

This chapel was built by Italian prisoners of war held at Lamb Holm, on the Orkney Islands, Scotland, during World War II.  It has been preserved and can be visited today, but lawn has replaced the simple parterre.

Read more at the website Undiscovered Scotland, which has photos of the interior of the chapel.

Tudor Place, part one

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On Friday, I visited Tudor Place, a 200-year-old estate in Georgetown built by Martha Custis Peter, the granddaughter of Martha Washington, and her husband.

I took many photos (I take full advantage of my memory card), and I want to write a post about the whole garden, but today, I thought I would start with some pictures of the property’s remarkable tulip poplar tree.

Tudor Place house, seen from south lawn.

Located on the south-side lawn, the tree was possibly there when the Peters arrived.  It is now 20′ in circumference and over 100′  tall.  In 2002, it was designated the “Millenium Landmark Tree” for the District of Columbia by the America the Beautiful Fund.

Historic tulip poplar at Tudor Place. 
Branch support.
Branch support with neighbor’s house in the background.

 

Another low branch and support.
Low branch and support.
The tree’s low branches encompass a separate space within the larger property. An “Archaeological Overview and Preservation Plan” prepared by the University of Maryland called it “perhaps the most significant landscape feature on the entire estate.”

Here are also some photos of a small “grove” of very large, very old boxwoods, also on the south lawn, which I thought were almost other-world-like from the inside.

The outside of an old boxwood the height of a small tree on the front lawn of Tudor Place.
Another small environment within the boxwoods.  
Inside this “grove” of old boxwoods.  

On the patio, please

Cindy at enclos*ure2 Comments

Washington, D.C., has been enjoying a few days with temperatures only in the mid 80’s and the humidity just below 50%.

For us, this is good.  Our summer days usually begin with humidity at more than 80%.  There’s an old story that, until air conditioning, the British government considered Washington a tropical hardship post and authorized its diplomats to wear Burmuda shorts.  This is probably a myth, but everyone here finds it entirely plausible.

So to take full advantage of the current break, in the last few evenings we have looked for  restaurants with outside tables.  We chose two with very different patios:  The Tabard Inn, with red brick, lush green vines, sculptures, and antique urns; and Two Amys, minimalist in comparison, but projecting some Italian chic with its yellow brick, modern red-orange chairs, and pretty glassware.

I’ll enjoy looking at these pictures again at mid-week, when the temperatures are predicted to be back up near 100°.

Click on any thumbnail in the gallery to enlarge.

Tabard Inn
Tabard Inn
Two Amys

Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day in July

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Goldenrod, butterfly milkweed, and common tall phlox.

I’m having more of an in-between-bloom day.  The milkweed has about finished, although the pods are nice, but the goldenrod and cutleaf coneflowers need another week or so.  I do have some nice phlox blooming though. Continue reading “Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day in July” →