Report From PIA – May 7
May 7th is Garden View Day, and today I celebrate how just looking at a garden is cheering. Whether we gaze on our landscapes from the kitchen window, when brushing teeth or as we pull into our driveways, looking at a beautiful combination of plants lifts our spirits.
When designing a landscape, it’s helpful to think about how we most frequently view the gardens. If you’re seeing your backyard from the deck or patio in the summer, it makes sense to plant things the gardens seen from this perspective with selections that bloom in that season. If you see part of the landscape everyday though the kitchen window, then that view should be designed with four-season interest in mind.
In life we should also plant for pleasing views. What do we want to see? Two examples come to mind: I want to look out on a community that is clean and filled with flowers. I want to view a landscape where people are considerate to each other, and willing to work for the common good.
Once we decide what we’d like to look at, we need to take the steps necessary to create that view. If we want to look at something beautiful, we need to be willing to get to work.
I want to be able to look out my kitchen sliders and see flowers from spring through fall, and this Rhododendron not only provides a good view, but sweet scents as well. This is Dexter's Honeydew, and it's lovely and fragrant.
