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Although this could very well be a picture of me finding a new treasure at a favorite nursery, it's actually an illustration by David Catrow for a children's book called Plantzilla.

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

So, What's Happening in Les Brake's Garden?

An earlier post about the garden of green magician Les Brake revealed a sumptuous visual feast miraculously situated in zone two. Since our visit, Les and I have stayed in contact via email and he has sent me periodic garden update images.  I love seeing them but all of the drooling on my keyboard is probably not a healthy thing for the computer.

So beautiful!  I love the touch of yellow (guessing Ligularia) on the right!


Les was a friend and devotee of Graham Stuart Thomas who advised that red should be used sparingly.  How beautiful it is here with an echo in the purple foliage and a foil in the grey foliage behind.

A soloist singing with a chorus of stars.  I've always followed that adage "If a little's good, then more's better." Les's restraint here illustrates that sometimes less truly is more.

Orange!  I was once told that if one simply eliminated orange flowers from the garden everything else would work just fine but I like orange flowers and am delighted to see them in the garden of this amazing garden colorist.


Poetry Break, this time by Robert Lax:

A Problem in Design

what if
you like
to draw
big flowers,

but what
if some
sage has
told you
thet
thr is
nothing
more
beautiful

nothing
more
beautiful

than a
straight
line
?

what should
you draw:
big flowers?
straight lines?

i think
you should
draw

big flowers
big flowers

big flowers
big flowers

big flowers
big flowers

big flowers
big flowers

until
they become
straight 
line



So I'm happily planting my jungle of big leafed plants and perhaps someday it will magically become something as tasteful as this but don't hold your breath, bowling ball edging takes a while to remove!



"What's an Alaskan gardener to do when his delphiniums are still in full bloom, and yet the lions of Kruger* are breathing down his neck?  Off with their heads (the delphs, not lions),  and put out a blue petal path to the pond... By the way, we refer to the pond as the Alaskan birdbath."

*Les was anticipating his trip to South Africa. 

What a flair for incredible beauty!  Thanks for sharing this, Les, it's breathtaking!  I wonder if they walked on the path?  Could you?  I don't think I could bring myself to decapitate delphiniums in full bloom but as Robert Service reminds us, "There are strange things done in the midnight sun!"  How lucky we are of that!

18 comments:

  1. The Delphinium-strewed path is wonderful! You know how much I love both orange and red in my garden.

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    Replies
    1. I'm fond of bright colors myself but seem to have a lot of purple, pink, yellow, and white flowers in my garden. Just ordered a bunch of orange tulips!

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  2. I can't decide which is prettier - the Delphiniums standing proud in the garden bed or the petals strewn along the path to the "birdbath." Maybe it doesn't matter...

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  3. Eliminate orange? Say it isn't so!
    These pictures show all the colors I love in the garden: blues and purples, accented with red and orange. The path to the pond is wonderful! I could only hope for so many delphiniums blooms to be able to create such a path.

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    Replies
    1. I couldn't do it! I've planted delphiniums again this year hoping that I'll finally have luck with them. They grew beautifully for me in Alaska but I haven't had as much luck here.

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  4. I would eliminate Magenta and its relatives before dropping Orange. Fortunately we can just isolate them from one another or throw them together with Yellow and Red and call it Fiesta..

    Imagine having enough Delphiniums to toss on the ground!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm one of those let the seeds fall where they may kind. I love magenta and orange together and love your idea of calling it Fiesta!

      I think that he beheaded them because he didn't want them to waste energy making seed while he was away. There, delphiniums only bloom once a year.

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  5. It has come on so well since you last featured it Peter. Just shows what can still be achieved in Alaska. Breathtaking indeed!

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    Replies
    1. It always amazes me how much change takes place in gardens in such a short amount of time. We don't notice it as much in our own gardens unless we're away from them for a week or so.

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  6. I love opinionated people. It's so much fun to disagree with them. Impossible to disagree with the beauty of this garden.

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    Replies
    1. It's a good thing to know the rules so that when you break them it's intentional. Opinionated people are indeed fun, in my opinion.

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  7. Cautious with red? Eliminate Orange? Not me! And no, I could not decapitate my precious few delphiniums.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm fond of those colors too and could never get rid of or even be cautious with them.

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  8. I'm trying to figure out by these blooms -- ladybird poppies, eryngium, lilies, delphs -- what month these photos were taken. I'm guessing June? But that thin light is obviously kind to flower petals. Zone 2 -- amazing!

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    Replies
    1. Late July and August. Although I remember delphiniums blooming with the late June peonies in zone 3/4. Interesting the way things happen differently up there.

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  9. Blue Petals path is superb! I love how it looks! Thank you for always sharing interesting post! =)

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Thanks so much for taking the time to comment! I love to hear your thoughts.