Björn Rust demonstrates the art of coffee making using his drip design.

Dwell on Design attendees walk past the Lightopia booth, which displayed lamps and lighting systems, including the Fuego LED Branch.

Emeco’s Broom chairs, stacked in a range of colors.

Dwell on Design runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. A two-day pass is $30 to 35, and a one-day pass is $15 to $20. The event takes place in the West Hall of the L.A. Convention Center, 1201 S. Figueroa St., Los Angeles. 

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Photo gallery: Dwell on Design 2012

Rapson rocker, 1939 chair remade in recycled plastic

Bubbletecture: Inflatable structures at Dwell on Design

Photos: Dianne de Guzman / Los Angeles Times

Ever wondered what grows behind certain stone walls or iron gates but never had the opportunity to take a peek? Ever want to visit the yard of a professional landscaper?

You’ll have a chance this weekend when the annual Garden Conservancy’s ‘Open Days’ program comes to our village.

Organized by the Cold Spring-based national garden preservation organization, Open Days are designed to share good gardening ideas and open spaces to visitors that may not otherwise have a chance to see private gardens and learn from their owners.

Each year, the open days program draws 75,000 to gardens nationwide, according to the conservancy’s website.

Open Days began on April 28 and run through November 3 and features many gardens in Westchester and in the surrounding area. Gardens are included after an owner nominates themselves or is nominated by a conservancy “scout.”

This Sunday, June 24, private gardens are open to the public in Bedford, a TBD Westchester location (by request of the owner, the address will be revealed to those on the tour or by calling weekdays 888-842-2442), and one right here on Neperan Road. (There are also four Rockland County gardens to tour; you can check the schedule for more details).

Here’s the invitation to visit the garden of Robert Welsch, owner of Westover Landscape Design: 

June 24, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.: Westover on Hudson, 149 Neperan Road

Who says the suburbs are all about lawns? Located on a steep slope in the village of Tarrytown, this garden and the gravel dining and lounging terrace do not feature a lawn. Instead, the garden designer and owner, Robert Welsch of Westover Landscape Design, has created a series of stone paths winding up and down the slope, and planted with waves of color and texture. At each curve, a new collection of plants beckons: rare rhododendron and aralias, cryptomeria, huge mature oak leaf and limelight hydrangea, and a hillside interplanted with hundreds of sun-loving caryopteris, agastache, red hot pokers, and salvias. Several “landing pads” are built into the paths and planted to provide a calm focal point for visitors to sit and relax. The garden also includes fanciful oversized window boxes and container plantings, and a serene bubbling fountain spilling over a Balinese jar. Well planned, the garden has an organic, natural, and exuberant feel. This is an inspirational garden for those who have a small yard and want to fill it with year-round beauty.

No advance ticket purchase or reservation are necessary—tours are self-guided and cost $5 on the day of your visit. Got kids under age 12 interested in gardening and sustainability? Bring them for free.

The New Canaan Nature Center hosted its annual Secret Gardens Tour on Friday, June 8. The tour featured a behind-the-scenes view of five homes and served as a fundraiser for the center.

And while you can buy some pretty interesting pre-planted containers custom designed by horticulturists at a few local garden centers, many of the big-box stores simply sell giant pots with one type of flower. These are fine for a quick splash of color, but not inspiring in the long run. They’re also usually planted to shine during only one season.

That works up North, but down here, we can garden year-round. Why leave containers sitting empty during the winter? And why settle for petunias during the summer? (Particularly since petunias don’t enjoy our hot, humid summers.)

For instructions about how to plant containers that give you more bang for your buck, turn to two books focused on seasonal plantings. These aren’t just pretty coffee table books. They give real-world, practical tips for beautiful containers year-round.

Container recipes

“Container Gardening for All Seasons,” a new book by Barbara Wise published by Cool Springs Press (the publisher of my book, “Beginner’s Illustrated Guide to Gardening”), takes a cookbook approach to container gardening. It has 101 “recipes” for containers suitable for spring, summer, fall and winter.

Because Wise lives in the Nashville area, which has growing conditions similar to ours, her creations are tried and tested in hot, humid summers and cool (but not too cold) winters.

Before jumping into recipes, Wise describes how to look at your garden site (where you’re planning to put the container) and determine the light and growing conditions you have to work with. Then she goes over selecting and grouping containers so that you select the right pot to go with your plants.

The introductory pages end with “The Ten Commandments of Container Gardening,” the 10th being the best piece of advice for new container gardeners: “Thou shalt remember the words of Hortius Culturii, ‘A plant without fertilizer is weak. A plant without water is dead.’ “

Want to kill plants in record time? Forget to water them. In the summer, when plants have grown large root systems that fill the whole container, you’ll sometimes have to water twice a day.

This is a good time of year to make friends with self-watering containers. Just don’t forget to fill the water reservoirs. Drip irrigation is also a good idea if you have lots of containers and/or travel frequently during the summer. You can find kits at your local hardware stores.

The meat and potatoes of this 256-page book are the recipes organized by season. Each recipe spans two pages and contains the essential information you need to know to go to the garden center, get plants and start planting.

The recipe starts with a name. (My favorite was the “Wild Hair Day” design.) Then there’s information about sun preference, the container and difficulty level. A shopping list indicates exactly which plants to buy and the description gives helpful hints and tips for planting.

Each recipe includes a diagram that shows exactly where to put each plant, a picture of the finished container after it has been growing for a while and some options for plant substitutions if you can’t find the primary plants listed.

If you’re up for a day of gardening, but want a manageable project, “Container Gardening for All Seasons” is perfect. You can flip to any two pages and have a complete list of instructions for a project you can finish in an afternoon.

All-year containers

The book “Continuous Container Gardens,” written by Sara Begg Townsent and Roanne Robbins and published by Storey Press, takes a year-long approach to container gardens. It’s subtitled, “Swap in the Plants of the Season to Create Fresh Designs Year-Round.”

The book showcases 12 container gardens and shows how you can leave certain perennials and shrubs in containers throughout the year, accenting with seasonal flowers and cut greens.

The container featured on the cover has a yellow-twig dogwood as the anchoring plant. In the spring, you see bulbs and pansies. The summer version swaps the tender plants for coreopsis and coral bells. In the fall, mums, goldenrod and knotweed add color. During the winter, the authors suggest using boughs from evergreen conifers for cuttings.

The design of this book is more artistic and will be easier to understand if you’ve had some gardening experience.

These authors primarily garden in cooler climates, but their plant choices are applicable everywhere. Even if you don’t replicate the book’s designs exactly, “Continuous Container Gardens” is an excellent primer to working with seasonal color for 12 months of beauty.

Features: 343-2343

Landscape designer and Wareham resident Patty Wylde has been working her magic all over the United States and Europe since the 1970s.

Although she retired in 2007, Wylde has been known to gather her garden shears and sketchbook when called on by her friends.

One of those friends, Chrissie Bascom, reached out to Wylde when time came for getting Marion’s Point Road Memorial Forest into shape.

The Stone family donated the two-acre parcel to the town in 1994 to be used as a cemetery – the only one in town for solely cremated remains. Since then, Bascom and her fellow members of the Forest’s Advisory Committee have been working to maintain the natural feel of the land.

It was the committee’s perseverance to keep the area intact that drew Wylde to the project, she said.

“I’m certainly interested in the effort of people in a town to pull together to preserve a piece of land,” she said.

For the Point Road Memorial Forest, Wylde designed benches carved from tree stumps to be placed along the trails. She also designed Memorial Circle, a granite marker in the middle of the trail for unmarked plots.

When she is designing a landscape, Wylde only uses plants native to the region where she is working. Artificial gardens are something you will never see in one of her designs, she said.

“I’ve always designed with native plants, which few firms actually use,” she said. “You get the right plant in the right place and it’ll take care of itself.”

“In planning, I leave nature to take its course,” she said. “I love what nature has to say without the interference from mankind. Treading gently on this planet is very important to me.”

Previously, Wylde worked as a fashion illustrator for Jordan Marsh. She studied art and architecture at the University of Florence in Italy and at Simmons College in Boston.

Combining her love of design and gardening was a natural progression, she said.

“I’ve always been interested in gardening. There’s more to gardening than just putting plants in the ground. I’m comfortable with the art part of design but I had to learn the plant part,” she said.

To get the plant part down, Wylde enrolled in courses at Radcliffe Landscape Design.

Before retiring, Wylde operated her own business in Wareham for over 30 years.

“I loved that what I do coalesced into what I love to do,” she said.

Megan Soyars

Escape the ‘Concrete Jungle’ with Jungle Design

Jun 21, 2012
by Megan Soyars

Ever wondered how to bottle your own perfume? Or create your own urban compost? Well, you can learn these artisanal crafts— and much more—at Jungle Nights, a new summer workshop series presented by Amanda Mitchell of Jungle Design NYC and curated by Damaris Cozza and Tara Sansone.

Jungle Design NYC, a Williamsburg-based commercial and rental garden design company, teamed up with the Brooklyn women to offer workshops for adults each Thursday and children each Sunday in July. All will take place in Jungle Design’s outdoor garden, presenting the perfect escape from the “concrete jungle.�

“All of the workshops revolve around uses for plants,� explained Hannah Shaw, assistant to Amanda Mitchell. In the series, adults can learn how to infuse spirits with fruits and unique flavor enhancers, grill up the perfect summer meal to serve with herb infused cocktails, compost for urban environments, make a perfume with all natural products, and use indigo dying methods on clothes and handbags.

“We’ve got some of Brooklyn’s most talented professionals leading the workshops,� Shaw said. Sansone explained that she and Cozza worked hard to choose workshop instructors from within the community. “We selected local businesses to have relationships with,� Sansone said. “We’re happy to be working with Annie [Novak] of Eagle Street Rooftop Farm, Brooklyn Kitchen, and the Art Shack in Forte Greene.�

Not only are participants learning crafts related to nature, they’re also doing so in the scenic environment that is Jungle Design. Their 5,000 square foot outdoor space is filled with lush plant life. Since the workshops take place from 7-8:30 pm, folks can also watch the sunset along Williamsburg’s waterfront. “We’re offering complimentary wine and cocktails every evening, so it’s a really great way to unwind and relax,� Shaw added.

All materials for the workshops are provided, so participants only need to bring their imagination and an eagerness to learn an artisanal craft. Participants can also bring the items home with them. So when they’re asked what alluring perfume they’re wearing, or where they bought that bag, they can proclaim that they made it themselves!

There’s a feeling of satisfaction that comes from crafting, and Sansone explains that’s the intention of Jungle Nights. “The workshops are designed so that people can leave with something they’ve created,� she said. “Specifically, they’re designed for people who don’t have the time in their regular schedule to be creative, or a space at home to work for that matter. So they can come here to this beautiful space and take something away from the experience.�

Shaw added that Mitchell, Cozza, and Sansone—“Longtime professionals and longtime friends�—had been planning to host events at that space for some time. “Amanda [Mitchell] and I met through our kids since they went to school together,� Sansone explained. “We’ve always been interested in doing community events together. Amanda is especially open-minded, and this makes Jungle Design such a welcoming environment.�

The kid’s series starts off with the ever popular fabric dyeing workshop. “For some reason, kids especially love this. My own kids get so excited and pull out all the clothes they want to dye!� Sansone exclaimed. “So this workshop is a fun way for them to use plants and learn about them.�

The second workshop, led by Cozza, inspires children through the art of magical thinking. “Damaris loves engaging kids in creative and magical thinking,� Sansone stated, adding that Cozza has extensive experience teaching children through theatre and acting classes. In Cozza’s workshop, kids create “one-of-a-kind mini jungle worlds,� or terrariums, which they can take home with them to watch grow.

The final workshop involves planting seed balls. “Kids can manipulate and play around in the soil,� Sansone said. “They’ll love getting their hands dirty, and they can learn how things grow.�

For those who may be unable to attend the workshops available this June and July, never fear! Sansone and Cozza are already planning future events at Jungle Design. “We’d like to host private dinners, and are planning to host workshops in the fall, too,� Sansone said. “We want to keep things going in this beautiful, underutilized space.�

The fee for the kid’s workshops is $60, and discounts are available for siblings. Adult workshop prices range from $35 to $120. To reserve your space at the workshops, email time4everythingnyc@gmail.com or call 646-824-1260. A limited number of walk-ins can be accommodated.

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Lighting is increasingly something I am asked to factor into my schemes, especially in town gardens.

These small spaces have to work hard to please and often they work antisocial hours. The time they are appreciated is in the evenings or in the early morning before coming back or heading off to work. Early morning light is a naturally beautiful thing, but it is often the artificially-lit night time garden that really shines: here, lights can be used to create atmosphere and effect.

LED lights are longlived and cost effective to run, and work well as recessed lights in paving and decking, highlighting steps and changes in level on or around the house and terrace. Used in moderation, they work well to highlight pots and planters. These are generally used as feature lights; they won’t give you enough light to dine out or entertain by, but used in combination with other lights in the garden they help to create a pleasing picture.

Plants soak up light. It is amazing how much it takes to highlight a plant or tree successfully. Uplights – lights that are ground mounted, either recessed into the ground or on a moveable spike – are the best for highlighting plants, and the best ones to highlight are those with architectural forms. Yucca, phormium, dicksonia, phyllostachys and trachycarpus all look dramatic when uplit at night. The light diffuses up the plant (often through lower growing foliage) and softly away into the night, which means that it does not cast great halos into the dark sky. In town settings urban light pollution is a problem for migrating birds, bats and insects, and it’s important to consider neighbouring properties, who may not wish for their garden to be washed with the light from yours.

Light looks best when contrasted with dark, so the play of light and shadow is one way of creating dramatic effect. A simple brick or painted wall can act as a backdrop for shadows to play upon, and the leafier the plant you set against it the better. The effect when lighting your garden is not one of a harsh wash of light over the entire scheme, but one where points of interest are highlighted and different plants can be appreciated at different times of year. As the garden begins to defoliate in the autumn it is not the foliage that is highlighted but bark and stems; birch, cornus and Prunus serrula all have a beauty of their own in the winter and this beauty can be appreciated once it is dark, too.

If you wish to dine outside in the evening then the kindest way of doing this is by candlelight. A soft and flickering glow around a table casts a warmer and more inviting light than artificial light, and can always be combined with a citronella scent to keep biting insects at bay. Tea lights in little holders make excellent marker points through a garden for special occasions, and a good old-fashioned hurricane lamp is hard to beat. Candles, or for that matter solar lights are a far more economical way of lighting your garden, but they cannot of course be turned on at the flick of a switch, which makes them not so user-friendly in our modern and demanding age. On the plus side, though, they do not require the installation of a qualified electrician or the cost that involves.

Money speaks volumes with garden lighting, and paying for a good light fitting such as those made by Hunza, Aurora or Collingwood will return dividends in the longevity of their use. Inexpensive fittings can be more trouble than they are worth, and in a garden setting where water and electricity have to mix, I would always rather pay for peace of mind.

Kate Gould is an award-winning garden designer and a regular exhibitor at the Chelsea Flower Show. This is the latest in her series of monthly posts on design tips for transforming small gardens: read the rest here.

Click photo to enlarge

Ten gardens from Hydesville to Loleta will be on display during the annual Humboldt Botanical Gardens Foundation Garden Tour, taking place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.

A myriad of garden designs and styles will be offered, and garden visitors are invited to enjoy and be inspired by their neighbors’ work for ideas of what might be possible in their own yards.

Visitors can also enjoy the musical stylings of Trombones @ 4, Recorders Northcoast, Bayside Brass and harpist Lonni Megellan, performing in the gardens during the tour.

These are the gardens on the tour:

* Paul and Carol Holzberger, 6630 Rohnerville Road, Hydesville — Designed by the owners, Paul and Carol Holzberger, these formal and informal gardens are approximately 10 years old. Located on 2.5 acres, with 1.5 acres being deer fenced to protect the plantings and the remaining acre replanted with redwoods and other species to provide cover for and to attract wildlife.

A 350-foot-long flagstone walkway meanders through favorite plantings of conifers, bamboo, maples, fruit trees and many flowering trees, leading to a clematis-covered gazebo surrounded by arborvitae, heather, dwarf conifers and rhododendrons.

A major feature of this garden is the 9,000-gallon, predator resistant koi pond, home to 24 koi that Paul Holzberger moved from his previous pond in Eureka. He has had to come up with a variety of means to protect his koi from predators. The pond includes a pump and filtration

system to keep the water clear and suitable for fish habitat.

* Joy Worrell, 220 Wilson Lane, Fortuna — The rustic garden and labyrinth path, an 80-foot-by-80-foot informal architectural garden, was last on the tour in 2007 and overlooks the Van Duzen River Valley. Over the last 10 years, Worrell has been working on its construction out of old, discarded and found items. The exterior walls surrounding the entire garden are made of old doors and windows, some with colored glass, which she has put together with an artistic eye.

The middle of the garden has a labyrinth path based upon a 13th-century design, with a gazebo of old barn wood and windows from a church in Scotland in the middle.

The garden is planted with many different types of vines and roses, as well as interesting perennials. Visitors are encouraged to take pictures of the many found items that Worrell has artfully incorporated into her garden design. Lemonade will be served at this garden for attendees to enjoy.

* Hardrow Gardens, 140 Franklin Ave., Fortuna — The 10-year-old garden of Kathy Tedrow and Brad Harder has been done in a cottage style. The front yard is mostly heavy clay soil, so they had to find plants that can tolerate poor, heavy soil and be deer resistant as well. Many of the plants Tedrow loves needed better drainage, so she started using containers and hanging baskets. The front yard has an assortment of perennials, shrubs, annuals and a few trees. A flagstone patio in the very front of the house has become their favorite “room.”

The backyard is where they planted 15 fruit trees, 25 blueberries, kiwis and strawberries. In the summer, the backyard becomes the family room with a simple fire pit, handmade Adirondack chairs, a hammock, an old hot tub and free-roaming chickens.

Beyond the backyard fence is their “secret garden.” Tedrow and Harder have cleared away thick layers of blackberry brambles and poison oak and have started clearing paths through the trees and ferns. The forested area is one of their favorite projects. Although still not completed, it’s worth viewing.

* Sue and Everett Tosten, 118 Boyden Lane, Fortuna — Located next door to Hardrow Gardens, this 15-year-old, informal garden is known for its many different varieties of rhododendrons.

There are more than 50 varieties of rhododendrons and azaleas in the Tosten garden. The front garden was designed by a professional and planted by the owners. The backyard was designed and planted by the Tostens.

In addition to the rhododendrons in the back, maples add color and texture to the garden, as do irises. Like her neighbors, Sue Tosten likes to use containers as a way to include an assortment of plants in her garden, including a hosta collection and succulents.

She enjoys birds in her yard and has feeders and birdbaths in several places. This garden, new to the HBGF tour, has been on other local garden tours showcasing the setting.

* Virginia and Ken Dunaway, 2925 Hillside Drive, Fortuna — This 6-year-old garden, designed by the owners, is informal in its design. The rear garden is extensively fenced to keep the deer out. Shrubs are planted along the inside of these fences, forming planting beds of color and texture surrounding the lush green lawn.

A collection of day lilies is planted in the rear garden, and colorful pots of annuals are located on the large patio area. A private, enclosed garden is located off of the master bath offering viewing pleasure from inside the house.

The separate side yard features raised planter boxes of both flowers and vegetables. There is also a greenhouse full of plants that the owners treasure.

* Judy and Rich Sloma, 3501 Hillside Drive, Fortuna — Located next door to the Dunaway garden, the Slomas’ home has two informal but very different types of garden spaces.

The front garden, installed in 2000, was designed by Judy Sloma in conjunction with Fortuna Nursery and was installed by Fortuna Nursery. This garden has been designed to be resistant to deer.

The front garden features a dry creek bed with many grasses and native plants. Most of the plants are deer-resistant and the rest are “pruned” by the deer from their browsing the front yard plants as well as bedding down in them. Stepping stones lead to a central mound surrounded by planting areas covered with redwood bark and river rock.

The fenced rear garden was started in 2001 and finished in 2004. This part of the landscape has an informal, English-country concept design-ed by Judy Sloma and and planted by her and Rich.

The hardscape and pond were installed by Natural-Scapes. The rear yard is divided into two areas: a cutting/vegetable garden and a landscaped area. The cutting garden features raised planting beds that in the spring are full of daffodils, iris and tulips.

In the summer there are dahlias, sweet peas, perennials, annuals, herbs and a few vegetables. The rear garden is designed to attract both birds and butterflies.

The landscaped area features a pond with koi, a lap pool and several planting areas. Behind the pool are two rows of tree roses. The other planting areas feature flowering shrubs and perennials. The pool is heated with solar panels on the roof.

* Tracy and Patrick Stone, 2864 Shields Lane, Fortuna — When the Stones purchased their home seven years ago, the yard was a blank canvas screaming for attention. They began designing and developing the yard within the first two weeks of moving in.

Tracy Stone has always been inspired by the comfort of an informal cottage-style garden which creates a relaxed feeling where the birds can make homes and the butterflies are welcome. Starting in the front yard, there is a small water feature and a pathway made from granite that the couple collected over the years from their trips to the Sierra Mountains.

Being local artisans, the Stones feature some of their birdhouses and garden art in the backyard. Many of their birdhouses are homes for repeat visitors in the spring. In the backyard there are several water features made from recycled materials and a pondless river bed waterfall feature where toads reside. The perennial garden is full of Old English roses, lilies and lilacs. Its colors change every year with the addition of annuals and pots throughout the garden. An added feature is the blueberry patch that their daughter Peyton especially enjoys.

* Marilyn Forsell, 586 Prospect Ave., Loleta — On a city lot in Loleta is a new garden that was started in June 2010. It was designed by Andrew Forsell of Talisman Blue in Seattle, with additions and ongoing maintenance by Marilyn Forsell.

The garden was designed around the existing hardscape and two grand old Cotoneaster lacteus parney plants that were shaped into small trees. The cotoneaster and a native rhododendron were the only plants retained from the previous garden.

It is an informal, eclectic, Mediterranean, California-cottage garden designed for ease of maintenance and year-round interest. The considerations for the design of this garden were fragrance, texture and color. The goal was a garden that would be a tranquil spot, both relaxing and stimulating to the senses.

* The Loleta Cheese Company, 252 Loleta Drive, Loleta — Under a canopy of whispering vines, visitors enter a place where their cares are freed. From meandering stepping stones to quiet places to rest in this tranquil garden, every corner of this Humboldt garden is sure to delight.

The garden features raised beds of roses, fragrant herbs, many different types of ground covers and many varieties of perennials such as dahlias, geraniums and heathers, among many more plants. A wide range of shrubs and vines planted along the exterior fences provide color, interest and privacy.

Clipped boxwoods and other shrubs provide structured interest. This breathtaking setting is thought of by many as one of the best Humboldt gardens in the county.

* Humboldt Botanical Garden, College of the Redwoods’ north entrance, Tompkins Hill Road, Eureka — The 44-acre botanical garden site includes an ornamental terrace garden, native plant garden, temperate woodland garden, rose garden, heather garden, natural riparian area and the “All Happy Now” earth sculpture (partial list). Tea and scones will be served here.

Tickets for the tour are available at the Humboldt Botanical Garden Foundation office, 402 E St. in Eureka, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays, as well as online at http://hbgf.org and at the following locations:

* McKinleyville: AL Feed, Miller Farms

* Arcata: Garden Gate, Mad River Gardens

* Eureka: Shafer’s Ace Hardware, Pierson’s Garden Center, Greenlot Nursery

* Fortuna: Fortuna Feed and Garden Center, Shafer’s Lawn and Garden Center

Tickets will also be available on the day of the tour at all garden locations. Ticket prices are $20 for botanical garden members and $25 for non-members.

Proceeds benefit the Humboldt Botanical Gardens Foundation. For more information, call 442-5139 or visit the website.

Julie Patterson won several awards for her entry of a Combination Planter.

Mary Webb won awards for her design with the class title “The Water Department.”

The Bartlett Garden Club staged a Small Standard Flower Show June 5 at the Bartlett City Hall honoring National Garden Week, which is celebrated during the first full week of June.

The theme of the show was “We Salute Bartlett, Tennessee.” There were 12 designs and 36 container plants on display.

Julie Patterson won the blue ribbon, a Grower’s Choice award and the top award of Horticulture Excellence for her entry of a Combination Planter. It contained ivy, marigolds, angelonia and two kinds of coleus.

Mary Webb won the blue ribbon, the Creativity Award, and the top award of Design Excellence for her design with the class title of “The Water Department.” She used a container made of metal that resembles a water bucket on legs with a water faucet attached. On the top of the faucet, two birds are perched. Her plant material included sun flowers, hosta leaves, equsietum and other foliage.

The show was judged by three nationally accredited flower show judges from District I of the Tennessee Federation of Garden Clubs.

Anyone interested in joining the Bartlett Garden Club may contact Gwen Faller, club president, at (901) 386-0894.

Like many homeowners, I learn quite a bit from HGTV and DIY networks. Thanks to Nicole Curtis on Rehab Addict, I mustered the confidence to beautifully refinish an antique headboard, and I regularly glean fresh ideas from garden shows like Yard Crashers. Programs like House Hunters and Property Virgins remind me what I do and do not like in a home, and Design Star shows me how to think outside the box. Most especially, however, home and garden television has taught me I am apparently “design challenged”.

For example, on a recent episode of Design Star, a competing designer chose a ghastly chartreuse sofa for celebrity judge Kim Kardashian’s office. While Kardashian loved the color and style, it looked to me like one of those couches 1950s housewives covered in plastic, a definite eyesore. Still another design contestant rose to the challenge – literally – and made a contemporary fashion statement of sorts by suspending a sofa from the ceiling. The judges praised the designer’s ability to boldly utilize the ordinary in an extraordinary way; to me, the hanging sofa was a truly weird conversation piece.  Home buyers on House Hunters and Property Virgins regularly annoy me when they declare perfectly acceptable kitchens or bathrooms “total gut jobs”. Apparently, I am totally out of touch with what is considered vital and tasteful in a kitchen and bath. Since when do we all need gourmet kitchens and bathrooms with double sinks and skylights? Sure, I’d like to have a wee bit more room in my bathroom and a nice island in my 1980s kitchen, but I’m not going to cry because I don’t. I have a place to “go” and a place to cook, so it’s all good.

The HGTV program that has drilled home (pun intended!) my lack of design skills is Million Dollar Rooms starring Carter Oosterhouse (Tuesday, HGTV, 8:30 pm), a showcase for high-end design and luxury living. A throwback to the 1980s Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous (minus Robin Leach’s annoying voice), Million Dollar Rooms grants viewers access to exclusive, expensive homes allegedly reflecting supreme taste. Obviously, taste is highly personal (or perhaps I don’t have any). I laughed at the luxury living room with a fish tank occupying an entire wall. Pardon me if I don’t want to live in an aquarium with huge, fish eyes staring at me. I wasn’t the least bit impressed (okay, maybe a wee bit) by the expansive pool located on the top floor of some wealthy individual’s apartment. If the pool cracks, look out below. Tsunami! The foyer featuring a winding, glass staircase was amusing, as was the huge ballroom/garage housing a priceless car collection in Florida. Far too practical to appreciate such lavish indulgence, I regard Million Dollar Rooms as an homage to excess and greed rather than a design lesson in exquisite taste.

HGTV and DIY designers would tear my home apart! They would detest my beige sofa (bland), neutral walls (not bold enough), and family photographs (too personal). They would reposition my dogs’ pillows from the middle of the family room floor, where the pups can see and be seen, to a less intrusive spot. They would pack away the tissue paper floral bouquet my son made for me in grade school and the stuffed chihuahua my best friend sent me from Mississippi. Ditto for my mother’s duck planter from the Five and Dime and my hand-sketched Winnie the Pooh on the wall in the hallway. Interior designers would surely tell me my coffee table needs some accent pieces (guess they don’t know dogs chew accent pieces) and splashes of color to bring warmth to the room (an afghan does that well enough for me). 

Home and garden programming is educational and fun, but for me, the interior design skills it promotes are a bit lofty and unattainable. Call me design challenged, but you can keep your wall of fish and glass staircase. My home will never be a showcase. It’s where I live.