Conference 'GARDEN STYLE'

Let's make a brake in my sweet memories about visit to States and write something I have done today. It was strange to make a last minute decision to go to this conference - 'Garden Style'. Held in Vilnius, Lithuania. It's so bright event for everyone who is related to gardens. It was good for everyone - from simple person, who want to make his garden interesting to true experts and Giants of landscape architecture in Lithuania. I am in big honor to listen all presentations and note some things. But something influence me to write a blog and share a little bit of what was said for all of us. Do not expect all secrets. Only those who go there can keep everything what saw, heard and feel. Get some new information these times is easy, but to get a good one, with all focal points is hard. So this conference opened my eyes and give more positive feelings about landscape architecture future in Lithuania.

Organizer of this great event was - Lina Liubertaitė. Head of wonderful courses for landscape architecture - 'Yellow Wheelbarrow' (Geltonas Karutis). Intention of this conference is to open doors for new things. Let people to make an experiments in gardens without any restrictions and with your own way.

Rasa Laurinaviečienė - who was translator in this conference noted, that it's good to catch some new ideas. But it is bad to copy and paste them to your own garden. In this way progress just stop. You can never catch a fresh winds of garden design just copying. While you copy and paste, others start working with other things. So that was a powerful message for me and I believe, this will influence my life a lot. I see that information I got in university is just basic academic works. But actual feeling of this field will came when I start to work with personally.

Vittorio Peretto - Landscape architect from Italy. He get inspiration from music. It show his presentation - 'Landscape of Music'. Brilliant presentation about how related is music and landscape architecture. "Garden is like a symphony". Words that has a great message. That is simple way to work with it. Make it special and get all inspiration from music. Simple - but brilliant.

One of examples was his project with wooden violins made from special wood got from old poles in Venice used for base. That make a strong detail with history and special feature to garden.

Asta Grabauskienė - Landscape architect from Vilnius, Lithuania. She give us presentation about how shape of lawn can change your garden. She show examples of shapes and give information where to use it and what you get if you do it in your garden. All that information was like a music to my ears. We should heard this in university. But I think better later, than never. So now I know that experimenting with shapes is fun. And each form can give a dramatic look to your garden. Same space can be longer, shorter or interesting to explore.

Ingė Auželienė - garden designer. Give a presentation about vegetables in our garden. How to make an esthetic, but edible garden. Lithuanians are used to have only practical things in garden for a long time. And now, in new times old fashioned vegetable field is not accepted. People want a relaxing spaces. But she give an examples and ideas, that everything can be mixed with perennials in borders, placed in pots. Everything is necessary and can fit in garden, you only have to found a right spot in garden and always have it as close to your home as you can. Because your kid never go to pick some berries from other part of your property. That is just a few ideas, that she gave to us.

Carrie Preston (right) - Garden designer, Holland. Rasa Laurinavičienė - translator (left). Presentation "From Global Tendencies to Your Own Design". This was the most powerful presentation that I have heard and seen in my life. Carrie show us a lot of great examples of gardens. Give us a bomb of inspiration. Rasa translated her presentation to Lithuanian language and add some extra details which we should know. Even Carrie keep say, that she make her presentation shorter, translator still keep adding a new things. And a funny situation was when C.Preston say, that she will go in chop, Rasa translated and added some extra facts about specific garden feature when using Zinnia's in big quantities. So Carrie started to laugh and ask why she have to say about Zinnia's when we have a limited time. That was so nice. Simple and not arrogant persons. Giants of this conference show the best experience and give us a lot of resource to make our own research to these gardens. Personally, I was shocked to hear all that information so easily. Just go to garden and make few combinations. Carrie show various examples and let us to know, that we can always try and make something special without looking in others. You never know how it's going to be later. I noted several great lines of thinking that I want to share: "It's a feeling, not a view of actual nature, illusion of nature give a great feelings", "They feel like they are in nature and that is the most important". That give a message, that you have to create a garden for feelings not for copy of nature. Some people are very strict to that. They want to make everything the same. Actual copy. Well, if that make them feel better, then it is good. But I noticed, it is all about feelings. What garden make for you. You pick style not because it is popular - it's because it is close to you and you can feel very good in that environment. All the ecological ways are just a bonus to project. Aspects for public spaces are a way more deeper. I living in personal gardens and places that are in touch with peoples. To create a garden look like easy task. But you can see it is long way to learn everything to start making it and even start to break the rules.

I can say, that I am fortunate about my meeting with Carrie. During coffee break I went to hall and seen her. Start conversation and get to know her even better. I am pleased to talk with people who I want to follow. I like to surround myself with people, I want to be. Following their steps I can build something my own. As I am a young I love breaking rules. But at first I have to master what is available and then start creating something my own. Trying, making mistakes and change things give a progress in all fields. Not an exception with garden design.

Boston's Emerald Necklace

It looks like today I got a nice inspiration to write. So using it and keep documenting my memories and showing them for you all. I am in heaven to write about those few weeks in America. I visited 3 states (or 4 if counting airports). So list started very fast and hope I can fill it with more in future.

This time I write about a short part of Emerald Necklace in Boston. As we walk, we went to a little part of them.

View from Prudential Center 'Skywalk' of Emerald Necklace. A part we visited first and after that went to Public Gardens in Back Bay Fens. Will write something about in other blog post.

With Claudia Conway drive to Boston, leave car in parking lot and take train to reach center of Boston. Our first stop was Boston Common. Nice green spot with minimum plantings and nice area for sports.

Other nice feature is big gazebo and huge open space for various events. That time there was fence and people make some construction works for concert of something similar to that.

Then cross the road and went to Public Garden. As we like to laugh, that neighbor grass is always greener. So this park is different than visited before. Trees have labels, mulched and have big pond.

And in this pond is small boats for people with swans. So that look very nice. Weeping willow reminds me a waterfalls, or rain drops to water. So natural and simple.

From the past to future. Very nice point of photo. It looks like urban specialists has influence for those high buildings and make empty spot where the sculpture is. So nice.

Mixed flower bed. Some times it is one step from something beautiful to awful. And something make it look not that nice. Those colors and shapes doesn't blend well for me. It is taste and very specific, but this is my blog and my expressions.

I know that this is the most popular view of sculpture. Everyone capture from there. And it look nice.

Focal point to main entrance and park gates. It moves to emerald necklace line to other park (Jewel).

There was a small island in that pond and I noticed it is styled in Japanese or Chinese with specific features. Maybe one day I can recognize both of them and identify this one. At the moment I see it is different. And such detail look nice, because it is separate from all park.

And long way to other park. In perspective it look very nice. But walking is not boring. Streets divide it to different sections and almost every section has sculpture or even two.

One of the impress me very much. I have never seen monument like this. So nice and different. Simple, but not bad.
So this was my view to green spaces in Boston. I wish we could have more time for exploring, but seen more than expect. I will write one more blog from Boston about Community Gardens.

Prudential Center. Boston

One very hot day with Claudia Conway we planned our visit to Boston, Massachusetts. Our main point was green places. And a big part of Emerald Necklace was on our route. But this time I write about other point of visit. Prudential Center. We went on top of it. But I want to write not about that powerful view from the top of this huge building, but about small green space surrounded with buildings. A total urban space turn to natural area for relaxation. Simple ideas and boom. You have a nice area to relax and calm.

Garden in very busy city is fancy. You can not see people on photos, who sit on grass and eat, or just relax in lunch break, because I do not wanted to disturb their relaxation time. Place is healing, because of green and simple colors. Not a luxurious English garden style, so you can feel simple breeze in all ornamental grasses and herbaceous perennials. I like the way they mix them. It's very similar to Dutch wave or mixture of it with something else. Also, what surprise me all visit time - daylilies. I saw them in every garden and park with flower beds. So that give me good inspiration of how to use them in landscaping.

As this garden/park is surrounded with buildings, all city noises is covered. And fountain made a feeling like you are not in center of Boston.

Wave of echinacea. I can imagine if they release any butterflies here, this could be a magical park also. But in all, it look very nice. Big masse of them perform better than several mixed with several other plants. Sometimes less is more.

I liked, that they not cut the old blooms. So that make an extra room for wild life and more natural view. I am not sure for how long they keep them.

Even this fountain is complex with other one, and make a big water feature. Sadly during my visit here, the main fountain was under construction. So I can just imagine all flow and sounds they make together.

Simple ideas make a nice view even in complicated spaces. Landscape architect who made this is true expert, because I felt every detail is necessary and look nice. Nothing look alien in this garden. Blend of urban and natural is very nice. Contrast and simplicity is powerful weapons for landscape architects.
I get enough inspiration to work in my garden. I creating iris circle project more seriously, planning main perennial bed and thinking about some daylilies for landscaping. Some people here notice, that they look good just in English style gardens, but I notice, that specific type of them can fit in any style.

Isles of Shoals. Appledore Island

Remembering my visit to States I start to post some memories from best vacations in my life. Shortly I write about some important places I visited in States. And now I write about most impressive trip. I have seen Atlantic ocean for the first time in my life. Well, during this visit I do a lot things first time in my life. Eat turkey, drive in car with top down, went to AHS daylily exhibition and so on.

But this first time was something huge. It was powerful. To stay in small boat and go to never ending ocean. Where you can go through horizon for several times.

With Claudia Conway we planned this trip a way before my departure to States. So I knew that this day will be planned for something special. We pick a special Celia Thaxter's Garden Tour.

We went to Judd Gregg Marine Research Complex, New Castle, NH, where have to wait for all tour participants and go to life-time trip. As we where a way too early, so we decided to explore surrounding places. Capture some nice pictures of boats and try to recognize plants, that grow on rocks there.

Later we went to other site of research complex to see a better view of ocean. That was a calm morning. Even already hot, but that doesn't make it worse. Just make me feel a power of view.

As there was still some time left we went to Hotel Wentworth with wonderful flower beds. Very nice way to make this hotel area more special. Lightly beds with perennials make a feelings, that I am not in States. Not in any other part of the world. It is garden, with no borders and identity of place. So that keep me up for this accidental short walk around hotel.

I capture a lot nice pictures from that place. When gardener do it's job, from every side it look nice.

And after all, before we went to trip I wanted to capture a house garden. It is front garden. And made very nice. My lector say, that he never seen a nice rock garden. So found a small part to note as a nice example of it.
And after all small sightseeing tours by ourselves we went to group meeting place. Get duck tape with our names on to glue on our t-shirts. That was fun, because some people doesn't want that to glue on T-Shirts. So tape on hat and look a little bit strange then. Oh well. Their choice to look silly.
10 km in ocean to reach island. That is not that bad. Perfect time to enjoy it and not get bored.

 And finally we saw island. Wondered which is that one, because Isles of Shoals has 9 islands and one of them is Appledore, which is our main island of the day. There was a huge hotel built in 1847, which attracted a lot of people to this island. And close to that hotel was Celia Thaxter house with garden. Sadly in 1914 hotel was lost to fire. So now we can expect to see just garden, Island still operating station of the Shoals Marine Laboratory.

33 tour participants where transported to Appledore Island aboard the Gulf Challanger. It was a nice way to enjoy ocean views and without worries reach main point of the day.

Vines goes on terrace when house was. So now I can just imagine the way of how great it looks like.

Invasive specie of this asclepias is in all fields of New Hampshire and even on this Island.

Those beds is very special, even with simple plants. But when you notice, that you are in ocean, where is not the best way to gardening.

Love the way garden is orientated. I can imagine the view from her room to ocean. So relaxing. And I got in touch with very interesting annual. Didiscus. It has very blue blooms, but very creative seed heads. These make it very special.

Centaurea cyanus in bloom posing for me.

All garden has raised beds and mostly of plants is annual. Few perennials, several biennials and few vines.

Sweet pea in garden. Loved photo of this. So clear and nice. Delicate and simple.

Photography of hotel. It was huge as I see. Sadly all was gone to ashes...

Celia's Thaxter house photography. In front is her famous garden, which is recreated every year and open for visits on special tours. I know that they are planning to rebuild terrace of this house. So one step to history. Maybe one day they will be able to rebuild all house and a part of hotel. It is nice place and bright history.

Lots of plants taking their place and turn to invasive. It is hard to tell which specie is alien in there, because water can take all variety of plant seeds to this land of wonders.

And tour ended with short trip around Star Island and several others. It was so nice.

Horizon of Atlantic ocean.

I would like to say thanks for Claudia Conway for taking me to this place and be with me. And Marie Updike for funds to get on this tour. I spent your money really well. I am very happy for this.