Welcome to Cottage in the Court

#allaboutthegardenlife

Perspectives – Healing Gardens

By Leave a Comment

The Schneider Healing Garden. Photo courtesy of the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects. What a serene and peaceful design.

Healing Gardens are the topic of a terrific article in Landscape Architecture Magazine. Mind, Soul, Design focuses on the concept of designing gardens for healing. Virginia Burt, FASLA was seeking more depth and meaning to this topic.  Landscaping that incorporated functionality to help healthy human interaction was something that captured her attention. Healing gardens aid us in the processing of the less than palatable things in life. A garden designed with purpose can certainly help heal what derails our joy.  Already working with this mindset, Virginia’s design work is considered to have a sort of “emotional intelligence”.

Virginia Burt’s work has been celebrated  by receiving numerous awards such as the 2017 National Award of Excellence by the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects, 2017 Honor Award by the Ohio Chapter of American Society of Landscape Architects, the 2017 Presidents Award by the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects and the 2017 Acanthus Award by the Chicago-Midwest and Ohio Lake Erie Chapter of the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art, to name a few.

Paying attention to the finer points of how our gardens affect us has allowed Virginia to successfully create healing gardens. While all gardens are healing gardens, she has and continues to practice and support the research which embraces this theory.  The concept of functionality in the garden is key. All parts must work or it is just a pretty design, without purpose. Even when the plants are decided for a design, Virginia has been known to be a zone pusher. Making sure that any plant chosen can not just survive, but will thrive in less than suitable conditions.

I love Virginia’s concept that nonfunctional beauty in the garden, is just good. The real beauty of the garden is discovered when it has a proven function. Virginia Burt understands the importance of how gardens should be designed to include not just people, but art and nature as well. I hope to possibly visit some of the gardens designed by Virginia Burt in the future. To find out more about the work of Virginia Burt, click here.

Looking forward to discovering more women in Landscape, Horticulture, Landscape Architecture, and Design as I celebrate Women’s History Month!

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmailby feather

Wakanda Lives Within Us

By Leave a Comment

One of the places in Virginia that I consider my Wakanda

Wakanda is a mystical, fictional, un-colonized small nation in equatorial Africa. Depicted as a third world country, this beautiful place was surrounded by Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia. Although technologically advanced, there is a message in this movie. This place of beauty has weighed heavily on mind since seeing The Black Panther.

If you have seen the Black Panther movie, the clouds open up to a village. This colorful village brings utopian beauty to the big screen. What would our natural green spaces look like if left untouched? In most countries, people use the weekend to escape the City. Heading to the beaches or mountains we long for a place of peace. Whether it is the sound of water dancing or trickling from a hidden spring, the reason for escaping is real. The sound of the wind causing the leaves to rustle and create a subtle song, brings peace to those who listen. When you think about it, escaping the woods or water is a modern-day escape to Wakanda.

Why is Wakanda fictional?  Is it so hard to imagine a self sustainable existence? This fictional place called Wakanda actually could exist in each of us. We have the ability to recreate a personal version of Wakanda.  Here at a few ideas that I thought of to create Wakanda in your life:

  1. Grow Your Own Green space. Whether you create a garden for lush, visual beauty or for your health by growing an edible’s, growing your own is beneficial. Growing and eating seasonally, as well as supplementing from the market when necessary, means you have a hand in your overall well-being.
  2. Embrace the great outdoors. This fictional place had a thriving technological existence. If you paid attention, the scenes throughout pictured people at the marketplace talking and laughing with each other. I did not notice anyone on a cellphone or a tablet. The Wakandan’s were walking, talking and engaging with each other. Recognizing the benefits of technology, disengaging from it once in a while could enable us to create our own Wakanda.

This mystical, beautiful place was considered a third world farming community by other advanced communities.  Perhaps there are some third world countries that hold the secrets to a Wakandan existence.

Wakanda lives in each of us, however we must take the time to find it.

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmailby feather

Southern Sonnet Honoring My Roots

By Leave a Comment

Memories of Magnolias dotting the Southern landscape linger in my mind…

As I embrace my Southern roots, I tend to think of little ditties to share. Things that perhaps Aunt Lucy or Uncle Willie would have thought as they performed the chores of creating a sustainable existence in Grey Court, South Carolina. Reading these words with a Southern flair, I share the joy of the season. I woke up with these words in my mind….

What is that golden glo
In the sky outside my do’

The chirping, tweeting song
Tho winter’s not gone

Let’s not rush the season
Although Spring is teasin’

Winter, Spring, Summer & Fall
Yep…at the Cottage, I Love Them All

As I anticipate sharing “Passionate About My Roots – History, Heritage and Heirlooms” at Magnolia Plantation, I have imagined how my Great Aunt Lucy would feel as the seasons changed. I often think of how any good Southern woman would embrace this time of the year. How would the fields be prepared and what was the planting plan for the season?

As a single woman farmer and the last surviving daughter of Albert S. Hunter, this was her responsibility. Aunt Lucy demonstrated the characteristics of everything I imagined a woman farmer would be. She took in laundry, babysat the little child across the way, balanced her checking account and did whatever odd jobs she could find to stay afloat. The essence of the typical African-American Southern woman was my Aunt Lucy. Only my Mom, knew how much I wanted to be like my Great Aunt Lucy.

Great Aunt Lucy Hunter, My Mom, Willie Belton Herron Speight and Me….oh how I miss and honor them….

I am a Native Washingtonian. A City made up of people who migrated up from the south for better opportunities. The Southern roots embedded in my DNA, speak to me every time I go into the garden.

Passionate About My roots – History, Heritage and Heirlooms shares what I know of my Southern roots. The roots that have continued to grow as I garden. From how I garden to familiar plants that were on the home site, memories keep me forever in a gardening state of mind. Memories enable me to embrace the beauty that surrounds me each and every day.

Click this link for more information about Magnolia Plantation

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmailby feather

Valentine Gifts for Your Favorite Gardener

By Leave a Comment

For the gardener, Valentines Day can be a creative way to say I Love You. All things Valentine can be found in most stores and is usually a repeat of last year. From the chocolates to the heart-shaped gummies to the boxed chocolates….absolutely BORING!! If you have a favorite gardener, here is the opportunity to show your love. I have a few things that just might go over very well for that gardener in your life.
If your favorite gardener loves chocolates, a gift of Botanical Interests Gardener’s Scrubbing Soap could be the calorie-free answer. In fact, there is a Chocolate Collection offered by Botanical Interests that includes the soap as well as seeds. Offering Chocolate Flower, Nigella Love In A Mist, Ipomoea Chocolate, Helianthus Shock-O-Lat and a Chocolate Cherry Tomato. A unique mix of chocolate for the gardener in your life!

Botanical Interests Gardener’s Scrubbing Soap in an assortment of fragrances including Chocolate, Lemon Calendula, Basil Poppy-seed and Lavender

I have never met a gardener that didn’t love to read. Well among the many new books that are available, one particular book comes to mind. A longtime friend and cut flower farmer Lisa Mason Ziegler has a new book called Vegetables Love Flowers. This book is a must-have on your shelf as you prepare to garden in the coming season. Lisa instructs the reader on how to incorporate vegetable gardening alongside your cutting garden. Answering the questions any gardener might have including learning how to grow and enjoy a pesticide-free garden. Lisa has always had products that were easy to use, seeds that really grow well and growing systems that work. The soil blocker is another loved item offered by The Gardener’s Workshop, Lisa’s business. The Gardener’s Workshop is a wonderful resource for unique seeds and garden related items any gardener would love!

Lisa Mason Ziegler’s latest book Vegetables Love Flowers…

As winter lingers, most plantaholics are studying catalogs.The opportunity for a gardener to pick out their “dream” plants or even pre-planned gardens is the perfect gift! Bluestone Perennials has both of these offerings and more. Known for growing their own plant material in 100% biodegradable pots, Bluestone Perennials is the gift that keeps on giving. The love of your life will learn to look for that email with the weekly specials and coupons. With a 100% guarantee, gifting bluestone perennialsis like introducing your loved one to a family member.

Bluestone Perennials is like an old friend that knows what you need to enhance your garden!

Who doesn’t want roses on Valentines Day? After all it is the symbol of love and passion. Not just any rose but a perfect rose for gift giving. If you are looking for a rose with a natural growth habit, highly resistant to disease, clean foliage, and a wonderful scent, consider a David Austin Roses Known for the quality of his superior breeding practices, David Austin roses truly say you care. A gift like this is more than just a vase of cut roses. It is a day spent with your loved one choosing the proper site, digging the proper hole, amending the soil, and planting the rose bush. Talk about romance in the garden that keeps evolving, David Austin roses just keep on giving!!! In lieu of a week’s worth of roses, your loved one could enjoy a season’s worth of bodacious blooms!!

David Austin roses can be a girl’s best friend. Instead of roses that last for a week once a year, one can have an abundance of bloom in season.

Think outside the heart-shaped box for your Valentine this year.

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmailby feather