“Downtown garden: They made paradise and tore up a parking lot - Memphis Commercial Appeal” plus 4 more

---

• Downtown garden: They made paradise and tore up a parking lot - Memphis Commercial Appeal
• Now's the time to save money on your garden - USA Weekend
• Home and Garden briefs for Aug. 14 - North County Times
• Hugh Johnson keeps stately home garden closed after thieves steal ... - Daily Telegraph
• Cason United Methodist gets ready to expand community garden - Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel

Downtown garden: They made paradise and tore up a parking lot - Memphis Commercial Appeal Posted: 20 Aug 2009 09:58 PM PDT It took vision, courage, optimism and perseverance for Bert Sharpe to turn a rubble-filled parking lot on South Main into a serene garden with the feeling of Japan, a place he and his wife, Patti Lechman, love. "Twenty-one years ago this was all concrete and roofing shingles," said Sharpe, a ceramic artist who was the exhibition designer at Memphis Brooks Museum of Art until he retired in late 2004. Mike Maple/The Commercial Appeal Patti Lechman and Bert Sharpe travel frequently to Japan and bring back ideas from gardens in Kyoto and its suburbs. Mike Maple/The Commercial Appeal Sharpe and Lechman have turned a commercial parking lot formerly filled with trash into a tranquil garden with Japanese influences Downtown. To compensate for the slope of the land, Sharpe built three terraces. The couple renovated the former furniture store, creating an urban loft, pottery studio and gallery space. Mike Maple/The Commercial Appeal Bert Sharpe sees potential beauty in unlikely places. He found a discarded piece of slightly arched granite curbing material and used it for a bridge over the pond. STORY TOOLS E-mail story Comments (0) Printer friendly More Home and Garden Home & Design Calendar Antiques & Collectibles: Paperweights hold interest since 1845 Green Thumb: Tower of flower pots balances whimsy, effective space usage Share and Enjoy [?] First the couple renovated a former furniture store, creating a spacious urban loft upstairs and a pottery studio and gallery space downstairs, where he displays his Japanese-inspired functional porcelain and Lechman shows Japanese kimonos and other wearable art. Work was finished on the 7,000-square-foot building in less than a year. Then Sharpe turned his mind and muscle to the ugly space behind the building. To compensate for the slope, Sharpe built three terraces connected by a stone path with steps. The design not only slows a visitor's pace through the intimate garden, it heightens his sense of adventure and wonderment. Two large urns filled with lotus set before an entry arch covered in Carolina jessamine greet visitors. After only a few steps, they will cross over a koi pond, whose long shape and gently trickling waterfall seems more like an endlessly flowing brook than a small finite pool. Toss in a few pellets of food and the fish rise to the surface, displaying their white, gold and black colors and ever-hungry mouths. Bert, who sees potential beauty in unlikely places, found a discarded piece of slightly arched granite curbing material and used it for the "bridge" over the pond. Before the water feature could become a reality, he had to break up the concrete with a pickax. On all sides of the stone path are velvety green mosses, ferny selaginellas and fleshy sedums. Hostas, with foliages ranging from dark green to bright chartreuse are planted so that each is noticed and admired. Drawing eyes upward are the mottled limbs and verdant canopy of five crape myrtle trees, three with white flowers and two with red. Over the years, Sharpe methodically pruned away their lower branches to create shade and living sculpture. "It's almost a cathedral look," he said. Many of the plants in the garden were gifts from friends, starts from cuttings or salvaged from their former home near Rhodes College. A good-size cedar grew from a tiny volunteer "switch" in a family cemetery in South Carolina; hydrangeas were originally rescued from Lechman's mother's garden in Augusta, Ga.; a contorted willow grew from a piece of another stuck into the ground. Robert McGowan, a pioneer resident of South Main who urged them to move to the district, contributed some native ferns and hydrangeas from Linden, Tenn., where he now lives. On one side of the garden, a rectangular trellis supporting wisteria creates a feeling of enclosure. So does that concrete wall that separates the garden from the property next door, Hollywood Disco. Sharpe recently planted a climbing hydrangea next to the wall in hopes that it will one day soften it with its dark green leaves and lacy white flowers. Any Asian-style garden is enhanced by bamboo, but because it spreads so freely and rapidly, planting it takes courage. Sharpe controls his stand of bamboo just outside the entrance to the garden by planting it in a 3-foot-deep container sunk that far into ground and surrounded by concrete. Sharpe and Lechman travel frequently to Japan, where she buys fabrics and vintage garments to use in the western-style garments she creates, and Sharpe gets inspiration for his pottery. They also bring back ideas from gardens in Kyoto and its suburbs. "We have western plants that they don't have in Japan," Sharpe said. "That's why we call our space a garden with Japanese influences, not a Japanese garden." His favorite time in the garden is in the morning, when he sits at the table with a cup of coffee and a newspaper. "The garden gives us serenity and privacy that is not typical of the South Main area," he said. Lechman likes having a late afternoon cocktail in the garden. That's when she also takes the time to pull any weeds that pop up among the ground covers. In most Japanese-style gardens, color is more a subtle accent than the major element in typical American or English gardens. In the spring, color is more pronounced by yellow Carolina jasmine flowers and mostly white azaleas. In early summer, the white blooms of oakleaf hydrangeas brighten shady areas. Pink hydrangeas bloom on the periphery of the garden. White and red crape myrtle flowers are high in the sky in mid-summer. Foliage in varying textures and shades of green from dark, almost black, to bright chartreuse provide most of the visual interest. Bringing movement into the space is a colony of purple martins that return each year to a house mounted on a pole. "I counted 22 pairs this year," said Sharpe, who enjoys his own bird's-eye view of the house and garden from his second-floor loft. By necessity, the garden shares the space with the couple's two cars. The parking pad gets more sun now than the garden, so Sharpe makes use of its edges by planting sun-loving herbs, a new fig tree, a few tomato plants and some scuppernong grapes growing on a trellis attached to a fence. "I usually get a bushel of tomatoes off six plants," he said. Some years he's raised enough okra to make several jars of pickles and he also makes scuppernong jelly. With his eyes always to the future, Sharpe said: "I'm hoping to get enough figs to make preserves next year." This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Now's the time to save money on your garden - USA Weekend Posted: 20 Aug 2009 10:12 PM PDT Issue Date: August 23, 2009 As our wallets shrink, keeping up with the garden can be difficult. Costs can add up when you factor in all the supplies: plants, tools, mulch and so on. But there are ways to be frugal. As a gardener at Minnetrista cultural center in Muncie, Ind., I offer these tips to keep down expenses: Check garden centers for sales. In the late season and off-seasons, they have good deals as they try to reduce their inventory. If you're lucky, you can find huge discounts on perennials. At the end of the summer, tropical plants tend to go on sale; they make great houseplants that you can move outside come next summer. Swap seeds. At the end of summer and in early fall, collect seeds from plants in your garden, and ask friends and neighbors for seeds they would be willing to share. Keep them in a labeled paper bag and store them in a cool, dry place for winter. Divide perennials. They may have outgrown their space by early fall. Dig them up and split them using a shovel -- or a saw for tough roots -- and transplant the extras elsewhere in your garden, or exchange with family members and friends. Start a compost pile. Instead of buying pricey fertilizer, start a compost pile -- either in a container or tucked away in your yard. Make sure not to use meats, dairy, oils, animal waste or diseased plants. Search "how to compost" on the Internet for start-up information. Educate yourself. The more you know about the plants you're growing, the longer they'll survive year-to-year. Check out home gardening magazines at the library, or contact your local extension agency or garden center with specific questions. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Home and Garden briefs for Aug. 14 - North County Times Posted: 14 Aug 2009 12:15 AM PDT High-winds awning showcased at home convention: Riverside's Sun Boss Corp. will showcase a new windproof awning this weekend at the Ontario Home Show Extravaganza. Invented in Australia and manufactured in Carlsbad, the SeaShell Awning was developed for homes in high-wind areas such as Riverside County. Designed like a retractable hand fan and made from aluminum and coated sail fabric, the SeaShell Awning automatically retracts when the winds get too strong (more than 35 mph), avoiding blow-away risk or destruction during Santa Ana wind conditions. The awnings come in 90-, 180- and 360-degree configurations. The Ontario Home Extravaganza runs from noon to 7 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday at the Ontario Convention Center, 2000 E. Convention Center Way, Ontario. Tickets are $6 for adults, $5 for seniors and free for military with ID and youth ages 18 and under. For product details, visit sunboss.com. Winery owner receives award: Jim Carter, owner of South Coast Winery Resort & Spa in Temecula, was presented with a Landscape Design Commendation on Thursday from the California Garden Clubs Inc. The winery's landscape presents seasonal color in hundreds of tubs of annuals and perennials, conifers around a waterfall, queen palms, crape myrtle and more. Go to wineresort.com. Tables for Tots: Ronald McDonald House will display 35 children's tables and chairs, which have been specially designed in five categories, at 6 p.m. Aug. 20 at 2929 Children's Way, San Diego. The tables are already available for auction on eBay; the display event is free. The categories are: Go Green, Best Thematic Design, Best Interactive Design, Best Educational Design and Best Character Design. A grand prize winner will be chosen. Go to tablesfortots.com or call 858-467-4750, ext. 2413. San Diego contestant eliminated from HGTV show: San Diego-based interior designer Jen Guerin was eliminated during the third episode of HGTV's "Design Star," a design reality competition that airs on Sunday evenings. The Aug. 2 episode asked contestants to decorate an all-white room with items from the grocery store. Guerin's "eco-friendly" room featured furniture "upholstered" with recycled newspaper and a Japanese-inspired blue-and-gray color palette that confused the judges. Go to hgtv.com. Ponte service day: Temecula's Ponte Winery, its Wine Club members and friends will head to Oak Grove, a Murrieta 24-hour abuse recovery residence for children, on Aug. 21 and 22 to improve its garden during Family Service Days. The winery hopes to plant new crops and install new benches for the center, among other things. E-mail rerickson@pontewinery.com; go to oakgrove.org or pontewinery.com. Quail hosts "Garden Expressions": Quail Botanical Gardens in Encinitas will host "Garden Expressions" from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Aug. 23, featuring lectures, a sculpture unveiling, art demonstrations and displays, children's crafts, live music and food for sale. The day's highlight will be an appearance by Pearl Fryar, called the "real life Edward Scissorhands" by the New York Post for his whimsical, three-acre topiary garden in Bishopville, S.C. Fryar will create topiary that will be auctioned off, and he'll be at a screening of the documentary "A Man Named Pearl," about his journey from sharecropper's son to world-famous topiary artist. "Garden Expressions" is free with paid gardens admission, which is $12 for adults, $8 for seniors, active military and students, and $6 for children ages 3 to 12. Quail is at 230 Quail Gardens Drive. Call 760-436-3036, ext. 206, or visit www.qbgardens.org. Summer work days at Magee: The California Coastal Rose Society will meet to deadhead flowering plants and do general maintenance on the Magee Park Rose Garden at 9 a.m. Aug. 22 and Sept. 5. Homemade refreshments and water; call 760-804-0875. Balboa Park rose garden tour: The San Diego Rose Society will hold a Balboa Park Rose Garden Summer Tour at 9:30 a.m. Aug. 29 at the Inez Grant Parker Memorial Rose Garden in Balboa Park. The tour group will meet at the garden's north end, under the arbor of Rosa fortuniana. Dick Streeper, one of the garden founders, will give a short talk on the history and importance of the garden before small groups depart on 45 minute rosarian-led tours. Hawaiian Plumeria Festival: The Southern California Plumeria Society will hold its Hawaiian Plumeria Festival from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sept. 5 at Casa del Prado, Room 101, in Balboa Park. There will be a flower show, plant sale, Hawaiian music and more. A table of blooms with flowers of every color will be on display, and hundreds of flowers grown by club members will be for sale. Each attendee will receive plumeria blossoms. Free; call 619-461-5942 or go to www.socalplumeriasociety.com. Gala in the Gardens: Quail Botanical Gardens will celebrate its 10th anniversary from 5 to 10 p.m. Sept. 12 with guest Huell Howser of PBS, cuisine, entertainment, silent auction and decor, with dancing and dessert following the program. The gardens will also officially change its name to San Diego Botanic Garden at the event, a change meant to reach out to more people and visitors to the San Diego area. Tickets for the gala are $175; call 760-436-3036, ext. 215, or go to qbgardens.org. Light bulb exchange at Birch: Birch Aquarium at Scripps is holding a light-bulb exchange on specific dates and is offering 2-for-1 admission to the aquarium on the same day. From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Aug. 15, bring up to five old light bulbs to trade in for free new, energy-efficient bulbs and check out the aquarium afterward. Participants must bring a copy of a current SDG&E bill and/or a California ID.The aquarium is at 2300 Expedition Way in La Jolla; call 858-534-FISH or go to aquarium.ucsd.edu. Poway homeowners eligible for rebates: The city of Poway is offering numerous rebates for residential customers who want to save money and reduce water consumption. Homeowners can receive rebates of $135 for high-efficiency clothes washers and $100 off on high-efficiency toilets. Those interested in improving landscaping can obtain rebates on rotating sprinkler nozzles of $4 per nozzle, rebates of $630 per acre for weather-based irrigation controllers and rebates of up to $1 per square foot for artificial turf. Free residential landscape water use surveys are also available by calling (800) 986-4538. Visit poway.org/waterconservation. Summer at Quail Botanical Gardens: The popular Encinitas attraction is holding a variety of summer events at 230 Quail Gardens Drive: Music in the Gardens on Thursdays; children's activities such as Toddler Tales and Tunes in Seeds of Wonder (10 a.m. specific Tuesdays); Garden Arts and Crafts in Seeds of Wonder (11:30 a.m. Wednesdays); Plants, Wings and Crawly Things in Seeds of Wonder (10 a.m. specific Thursdays); Free Summer Fun Friday in Hamilton Children's Garden (10 a.m. Fridays); summer camp, classes and more. There is also a Fairy Festival from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Aug. 8. Call 760-436-3036, ext. 206, or go to qbgardens.com for prices. Meetings California Coastal Rose Society: Meets at 7 p.m. Sept. 15 at Heritage Hall, 2650 Garfield, Carlsbad. Dr. Keith and Debbie Zary from Jackson and Perkins Roses will discuss "Roses of the 21st Century" and rose hybridizing. At 6:15 p.m., Dr. Joel Ross will hold his rose-aholics lecture. Go to californiacoastalrose.com. Fallbrook Garden Club: Annual "Tomatomania Contest" and picnic will be held at 4 p.m. Aug. 19 at Live Oak Park in Fallbrook. There will be categories for decorated tomatoes, salsa, pickles preserved tomatoes and more. Call 760-477-7068. San Diego Horticultural Society: Meets at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 14 at the Surfside Race Place at the Del Mar Fairgrounds, 2260 Jimmy Durante Blvd. Horticulturalist and author David Fross will discuss "California Native Plants for the Garden: A Personal Perspective." Free for members, $5 for guests. Call 760-295-7089 or go to sdhortsoc.org. Classes First-time homebuyers class: The Neighborhood House Association's Housing Counseling program will hold a first-time homebuyer education class from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Aug. 22 at its Social Services Building, 841 S. 41st St., San Diego. The class will cover budgeting for a home, maintaining the property, completing a loan transaction and more. Those completing the class will receive a certificate that allows them to access government assistance programs for down payments, closing costs and shared equity programs. Class is $35 in advance and $50 at the door, per household; call 619-263-7761 or e-mail ebrown@neighborhoodhouse.org. Fruit tree pruning classes: Grangetto's Farm & Garden Supply will offer free fruit tree pruning classes at four locations in August. Richard Wright of Edible Even will conduct the free one-hour classes, which will be followed by a free barbecue. All classes are at 10 a.m. at different Grangetto's locations. Visit grangettos.com for details. Schedule: -- Sept. 5 at 530 E. Alvarado St., Fallbrook -- Sept. 12 at 29219 Juba Road, Valley Center Decorating class: Jerome's Furniture will offer a free decorating class at 11 a.m. Aug. 15 at the San Marcos showroom and clearance center, 780 Los Vallecitos Blvd. Customers can learn to "organize with style. Tackle your clutter. Simplify your life," with tips on making the most of space, getting the whole family involved in organizing and more. Snacks and a storyteller, as well as a raffle for a $200 Jerome's gift card. Call 866-633-4094 or go to jeromes.com/en/jclub. Free gardening classes: Oceanside's Agri Service will host free monthly gardening classes taught by master gardeners Diane Hollister and Pete Ash from 1:30-2:30 p.m. every third Saturday at the El Corazon Compost Center, 3210 Oceanside Blvd. Register at 800-262-4167, ext. 4. Upcoming: -- Saturday: Composting -- Sept. 19: Planting for fall -- Oct. 17: Cover crops for soil building -- Nov. 21: Tool care The Water Conservation Garden: Free classes are offered at the Water Conservation Garden, 12122 Cuyamaca College Drive West, El Cajon, to help residents save water (and money) with landscaping. Register to 619-660-0614, ext. 10, or visit www.thegarden.org. Ask about stimulus pricing when making multiple reservations (same-household two-for-one pricing). Quail Botanical Gardens: These classes are coming up at the gardens, 230 Quail Gardens Drive in Encinitas. The gardens also have docent-led tours, 10 a.m. Saturdays (free with admission); botanical originals, 9:30 a.m. first Sunday of the month ($20); and bird watching, 8 a.m. first Monday of the month (free with admission). Call 760-436-3036, ext. 206: -- 2 p.m. Sunday: Palm Springs-Style Gardening; free with admission to the gardens -- 9 a.m. Aug. 29: Stunning Plant Combinations; $25 members, $35 nonmembers -- 9:30 a.m. Sept. 17: Succulent Wreath Class; $55 members, $65 nonmembers -- 7 p.m. Sept. 17 and 24 and Oct. 8; 9 a.m. Oct. 10: Secrets of Tree Care; $80 members, $100 nonmembers -- 2 p.m. Sept. 20: Firewise, Waterwise Landscaping Class; $10 members, $12 nonmembers -- 6 p.m. Sept. 22: H2O 911! Living with the Water Crisis; $20 members, $30 nonmembers -- 10 a.m. Sept. 25: Soil Building and Water Conservation Through Cover Crops; $25 members, $30 nonmembers Send Home & Garden items to Home & Garden editor Pam Kragen, North County Times, 207 E. Pennsylvania Ave., Escondido, fax to 760-745-3769 or e-mail to home@nctimes.com. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Hugh Johnson keeps stately home garden closed after thieves steal ... - Daily Telegraph Posted: 13 Aug 2009 10:56 PM PDT Aislinn Simpson Published: 7:00AM BST 14 Aug 2009 Mr Johnson, 70, and his wife Judy, restored the 12-acre plot at Saling Hall in Essex over decades and opened it every year during May, June and July as part of the National Gardens Scheme. But he believes that this year, some made have used the opportunity not to admire his plants but to inspect his more valuable assets. A first burglary, in May, saw thieves steal a 17th-century astronomical sphere and valuable urns from the site and the latest, on July 26, saw them make off with two sculptures and four granite columns. Mr Johnson, who was awarded an OBE in 2007 for services to winemaking and whose World Atlas of Wine has graced many a coffee table since 1971, announced the latest theft on his website. "Desperados turned up at dusk with a lorry intending to clear out what was left," he told followers. "They loaded up, among other things, the most precious object in the garden, the statue we call Flora that has stood in the centre of the walled garden since 1974. "The fellows then raided the potting shed, stealing, rather surprisingly, our packets of seeds and our plant food." He said that as well as the Roman goddess of flowers, the thieves had taken another sculpture featuring two wrestlers. Mr Johnson, who is originally from St John's Wood, has offered a reward of £4,000 for the safe return of Flora but fears she will have been melted down to scrap metal by now. "The thought that she may by now be £300 worth of lead sheet is not pretty. People who were visiting the garden came and cased the area. Considering what was taken, there was definitely more than one of them," he said. "It's sad because this garden has been open for nearly 40 years. People who still want to come to the garden will be able to apply for a visit but because of what's happened, there will be no more public open days." Essex Police are appealing for witnesses or anyone with information about the burglary to come forward. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Cason United Methodist gets ready to expand community garden - Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel Posted: 20 Aug 2009 04:36 PM PDT DELRAY BEACH - A colorful community garden of fruits, herbs and vegetables will soon bloom, bigger than last year, at Cason United Methodist Church in Delray Beach. Amateur gardeners tended 20 plots last year, but 30 will be available for the coming season, which begins Nov. 1, coordinator Candy Evans said. Gardeners will hold a seed exchange and workshop on Saturday, their first preseason event. "The demand forced us to expand," Evans said. "We will keep expanding as long as the demand is there." Last year, in its first season, the garden produced strawberries, green beans, Swiss chard, heirloom tomatoes, melons, collard greens, beets, herbs and six kinds of peppers. Participants donated about 300 pounds of produce to the Caring Kitchen, a nearby soup kitchen. Cason's garden joins a small but growing national corps of community gardens operated by churches. The weak economy, incidents of contamination in the food supply, a desire to feed the poor fresh food and a new emphasis on environmental stewardship have combined to create a surge of interest, said Holly Lebowitz Rossi, who is writing a book and keeps a blog, Sparks in the Soil, on church gardens. "This year has really shown a boom," she said. The garden is part of a growing consciousness in Delray Beach about home-grown food and the food supply. Cason will host a potluck "Eat-In" on Sept. 7, joining sites around the country that seek to improve the nutritional quality of school-supplied lunches. Evans and fellow coordinator Lori Robbins, both Cason members, came up with the idea for the garden as a way to revive the church, which the Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church threatened with closure two years ago for its shrinking membership. A task force recommended disbanding the 106-year-old congregation, which had been losing members for about 20 years, but members voted to develop a plan to save the church. The garden is among several new ministries at the church. The Rev. Linda Mobley, Cason pastor, believes the garden is a nonthreatening way to welcome potential new congregants. Sunday attendance has increased to 165 from about 90 this time last year. "It's a good vehicle for our people to meet neighborhood people so everyone is comfortable," she said, "instead of walking up to a stranger and saying, 'Can I tell you about my church?'ƒ|" Elizabeth Reilly of Delray Beach and her daughter, Reilly Arena, 10, tend a plot at Cason but attend Trinity Lutheran Church across the street. They plan to expand the bumper crop of tomatoes, broccoli, eggplant and onions they grew last year by adding broccoflower, garlic, pole beans and sweet potatoes. "It's a real community of lovely people who are all there for a purpose," said Reilly, who discovered the garden as she dropped her daughter off for Sunday school. "I can't wait for next season." Lois Solomon can be reached at lsolomon@SunSentinel.com or 561-243-6536.> This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

You are subscribed to email updates from Add Images to any RSS Feed To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610