Studiology

Spring is Peeping

As I walked Duke on the farm today we stopped to listen to the raucous spring peepers singing to their hearts content. It was close to deafening. They live in the swampy area that's now inhabited by a beaver or two. I'm sure they're as happy or happier than I am that spring is finally here. 

This week begins my return to two jobs which always comes with a little sadness as I leave the artwork on the back burner. Not that winter wasn't productive, I'm very happy with what I accomplished and how I grew. Every winter I travel down an art path, be it assemblage, collage, encaustic or something photography based. This winter seemed to be the "altered Pez dispenser" year. I may have made 20! So here's another little look at the latest. The final winter Pezzies! Thank-you Michael DeMeng for teaching me this.

And Happy Spring, says sweet granddaughter Felcity!

Spring

Today's first day of spring snow event is finally melting and we have 60 degrees in the forecast! Tomorrow will be my first day back at Merrifield Gardens where I will be high on plants. Yes, that's how it works, my feet may not touch the ground. So cheers to spring, it can't come fast enough!

Downtown Aldie

Friend Holley Green is renting space at Bella Villa Antiques in Aldie, Virginia, selling antiques and local art. Among the items for sale are scarves and clothing dyed with indigo (from the indigofera plant). 

Your truly has a few pieces hanging on the walls. 

Kathleen Kendall is also represented with her ceramic figures that usually have moving parts. In this case a music box and a pop out bluebird.

The shop sits in downtown Aldie, right on Route 50, across from the fire station. You'll know it with the bright yellow pansies planted in front.

Inside the shop you'll find antiques, old frames, and rustic decor. In fact it's just one of the quaint shops in Aldie, where you can find great food, wine and art. 

If you're in the mind to buy local, downtown Aldie may just be the place. 

A New Primrose for Spring

Somewhere in the countryside surrounding Cambridge, Great Britain lives a husband and wife who spend their days (and most nights) breeding new plants. Fifteen years ago they introduced a new double petunia named 'Priscilla' after Priscilla Kerley, half of the hybridizing team. Husband David is the mastermind behind the operation, having worked from 1969 to 1999 for two different seed companies before striking out on his own. Even as he spent his last years as the managing director of Unwins Seeds mail order division, he was making crosses and experimenting.

Their primary claim to fame are petunias with 62 new introductions to the plant world. David also worked with spinach, flowering sweet peas and snapdragons. Recent work is with cape fuchsias (phygelius), trailing pansies sold under the trademarked name of Balconita, and the Belarina primrose. It was the primrose that caught my attention last spring. The trademarked Belarina series are described as rosette types. A leafy collar surrounds each flower, a throw back to the use of Primula vulgaris or the English primrose for breeding. Each flower is fully double which makes them look like small carnations or roses. 

Primula Belarina 'Pink Ice'

As a lover of primrose, I can't help but be enchanted with these new varieties. Tougher than many of the showy primrose, plant them facing east or north with midday shade. Even better, in a trough or container that's elevated so you can see them up close and personal. 

Primula Belarina 'Nectarine'Primula Belarina 'Valentine'

 

Free Saturday Seminar

I will be speaking on bulbs, corms and tubers at Merrifield Garden Center this Saturday. This lecture will be held in the Community Hall next to the Gallows Road location of Merrifield. The seminars are free, begin at 10:00,  no registration required. 

This bulb lecture looks at various bulbous rooted plants, breaks them down, and explains the best ways to grow each group. Definitely not just about the most obvious of bulbs like our spring tulips and daffodils, but summer bulbs, including native plants. I will cover storage techniques for tender bulbs, important criteria for buying and planting lilies as well as bulb combinations. 

Some of you may not even be aware of how many plants we garden with that have some sort of bulb-like root system. 

There will also be slides of some of my favorites, hardy and tender types.

I'm personally looking forward to daydreaming about the upcoming spring and summer. 

Sew

I would like to title this "Sow", but then I also love to sew! With this recent snow storm, I stayed inside with my sewing machine and made cards all day. I worked with spring in mind and came up with brightly colored layers. It was necessary to restock at the gallery, the cards sell well and seem to be the thing I have the least time for. Mostly because they require fresh creativity, layers of  fabrics and thread, and lots of time. 

There are also a few new altered Pez dispensers. The bellhop evolved from the fabulous movie "The Grand Hotel Budapest". Note small mustache.

I also have a Viking and snake charmer. If you're wondering, the head lifts up, these are fully functioning Pez dispensers. All will be delivered to Art a La Carte Saturday, March 7th. 

 

The Old City Cemetery

After listening to a lecture by Jessica Bemis Ward in 2006 about The Old City Cemetery in Lynchburg, VA, I decided to visit the cemetery that May to combine 2 of my loves, cemeteries and flowers. The cemetery is located on land donated by John Lynch, the founder of Lynchburg. Established in 1806, the 26 acres is the resting place for 2o,ooo people, three quarter  of the burial sites are slaves or free African Americans, many others are confederate soldiers.

My reason to visit was to photograph the roses that grow on the property and May is peak season. This year they will host the 20th Annual Antique Rose Festival, May 8-10. If you have an interest in history, photography or old roses, I encourage you to take time to visit, especially this year when the grounds will be spiffed up for the event.

One of my first discoveries was Rosa omeiensis pteracantha or the wingthorn rose. Grown for its huge thorns, these red spikes occur on recent growth, they age to brown after the first year. Not a new rose to me, just the first time to see one in person. The original plant was collected by Ernest Henry Wilson in China for the Arnold Arboretum in 1890. 

A couple historic roses are significant, famous for their interpretations by famous painters, in this case actually named after one. This is Rose 'Fantin Latour', named after the painter Henri Fantin-Latour. 

Another rose with a similar story, Rose 'Celsiana' was the subject of a famous painting by Pierre- Joseph Redoute. 

This 4 to 5 foot rose is a Damask rose, very fragrant, the group are used to make rose oil and water. 

The rose 'Belle Amour' is used in breeding of the David Austin roses, its origins unknown. The flowers have a distinct odor, spicy rather than floral.

Rose 'Dortmund' is a short climber, or pillar rose growing 8 to 10' tall. Persistent, flowering from spring to frost, it's a lovely, single petaled rose. 

Many of the roses are available to buy, propagated from those on the grounds. You will also find numerous gardens and a museum.