Celebrating their 17th year, Blooms has been in the planning stages for a full year. Located at the Direct Energy Centre at Exhibition Place, the facility will be buzzing with activity for the entire week leading up to the Friday opening. Members of Landscape Ontario, the horticultural trades association, will be moving in stones, interlocking pavers, sand, gravel, mulch, and, of course, many truckloads of planting soil. Why? To plant 10s of thousands of flowers, trees, shrubs and evergreens in full and glorious bloom.
An Office Built Around An Indoor Garden
There are plenty of architectural features that are good for the environment, at least compared to alternatives, and some that can put a building’s inhabitants significantly more in tune with it. But in terms of truly bringing together people and nature, you can’t do much better than putting a garden in the middle of your office.
That’s just what the Cuningham Group, a sustainably focused architecture outfit, did for its new digs in Culver City, California. The new office, dubbed Hayden Place, has all the sustainable bona fides you’d expect from a forward-thinking firm: It’s built inside an old warehouse, it takes advantage of natural light with large windows and a handful of skylights, and it’s outfitted with a number of vents, allowing fresh air to circulate in throughout the day. It’s situated near a bike path and a light-rail stop, and it’s on track for LEED Gold certification.
And again, as you’d expect, it’s got the look of a place that values good design and encourages a free flow of ideas. The office features a nice, open floor plan, with desks situated around a long wooden tube vaguely resembling a cresting wave (it houses a meeting room, naturally). There’s a fully stocked kitchen, a gallery, and at least a half dozen different types of cool chairs to be found throughout.
But at a point where all those things could be considered table stakes for building a cool, green work space, incorporating an actual patch of green stuff ups the ante a bit. The plan is for employees to maintain the garden, and in addition to filtering the air in the office and conveying the company’s commitment to the environment, the unlikely organic addition gets at a simple truth that’s occasionally overlooked when we talk about the environment and why it’s worth saving. Namely, that it feels great to be among plants.
[Hat tip: Arch Daily]
GARDENING: Plan ahead with a garden design
Vegetable garden
A trellis was used in the center of this garden to maximize the growing space for squash.
Garden plan
This garden plan drawing from 2012 shows the placement of various vegetables including lettuce, squash, peas, tomatoes, carrots, herbs and more.
Amy Andrychowicz
Posted: Wednesday, March 6, 2013 4:00 pm
|
Updated: 5:26 pm, Wed Mar 6, 2013.
Chanhassen Villager
Spring fever is starting to set in, and it’s the perfect time to plan this summer’s vegetable garden. Taking the time to plan the garden makes life much easier when you’re ready to plant.
When I first started gardening, planting the vegetable garden was very stressful for me. I used to “plan” as I went, deciding where to put stuff as I planted it. It was stressful because by the time I was half way through the pile of seedlings waiting to be planted, I was out of space in the garden. I would find myself cramming the rest of the seedlings in amongst the stuff I had already planted.
Subscription Required
Have an online subscription?
Need an online subscription?
Login
Or, use your
linked account:
Current print subscribers
Need an account? Create one now.
You must login to view the full content on this page.
Or, use your
linked account:
Amy Andrychowicz writes about gardening and is a Savage resident. She spends her spare time gardening, indoors and out. She also blogs at www.getbusygardening.com. You can email her at getbusygardening@gmail.com.
Have an online subscription?
Need an online subscription?
Login
Or, use your
linked account:
Current print subscribers
Need an account? Create one now.
Posted in
Andrychowicz amy,
News,
Southwestnews
on
Wednesday, March 6, 2013 4:00 pm.
Updated: 5:26 pm.
Wellington student wins top award for rooftop garden at Ellerslie flower show
News from Ellerslie International Flower Show
Young Wellington designer Bayley LuuTomes has been named student of the year at the Ellerslie International Flower Show, with a rooftop garden inspired by Mondrian. This is the top award in the Emerging Designs competition, in which nine entrants designed and built a rooftop garden for hosting and entertaining guests.
For Bayley LuuTomes, Ellerslie has been the chance to demonstrate all the skills that he has learned since giving up his career in the advertising industry to pursue his passion for landscape design.
Judges said Bayley’s work stood out because of both its “great use of space and materials and its faultless construction”.
“My gardening style has been grafted with my eye for design,” says Bayley, who set up his own company, BLT Designs, in October last year.
Called ‘Living Art’ the multifunction garden features a glass bridge, coloured glass pergola and moving mirror image from Metro Glasstech, an outdoor TV from H2OTV, and new plant releases from Gardening Solutionz. Designed so that people can entertain in many different ways, the garden easily transforms into several different layouts.
Bayley LuuTomes, who has enjoyed success at local gardening shows, says he wanted to create a multifunctional garden and found inspiration in the works of famous Dutch painter Pieter Mondrian.
“The design is based on simple harmonies, straight lines, right angles and primary colours,” says Bayley LuuTomes.
The Emerging Designs – Student of the Year competition was open to all students of landscape, design and horticulture and provides an opportunity for them to demonstrate their design flare.
News from Ellerslie International Flower Show – March 5
Three Wellington-designed gardens are among the eight gardens that have won gold medals at this year’s Ellerslie International Flower Show. The overall quality of the gardens at the Show have impressed the judging panel, but they singled out eight gardens for particular praise, awarding them each a prestigious gold medal.
Those gardens were designed by Christchurch designers Rebecca Hammond and Grant Stephens (H S Landscapes); Weta Workshop’s The Gloaming creator Johnny Fraser-Allan with Andy Ellis and Danny Kamo; UK designers Harfleet + Fisher Tomlin + Harfleet; Auckland City Council; CPIT Bachelor of Architectural Studies students; Christchurch’s Terra Viva; Wellington landscape design student Bayley LuuTomes and Wellington designer Ben Hoyle (Blue Gecko).
Singled out for Silver Distinction medals were Auckland designers Adam Shuter and Tony Murrell (Shuter Design and Murrell Group), Christchurch designers Jay Van Lent and Stephen Mapletoft (ARKO) and Otorohanga Council.
Silver medals went to Kapiti Coast children from Raumati South Primary School and Christchurch landscaper Scott Fletcher (Insero Design), Lincoln University’s Ryan Morton, Asburton District Council and a second team of CPIT Bachelor of Architectural Studies students.
Hort Galore gold medals this year were awarded to Christchurch Woodturners’ Association for their Alice’s Adventures in Woodland: After the tea party, the NZ Alpine Society and the Christchurch Bonsai Society. Floral Art Gold went to Annika Horgan, from Nectar in Tai Tapu.
Convenor of Judges Andrew Fisher Tomlin (who was not involved in the judging of his own gardens), from Britain says the top awards this year have come from a wide variety of exhibits.
“There is no distinct theme this year, each designer has followed their own heart. We have a vastly diverse range, from gardens like Revolutionising Reuse with amazing recycled elements, to sophisticated and slick gardens like Modern Day Moa.
“I am very impressed by the big ideas and simple messages this year’s designers are showing at Ellerslie. They demonstrate a deep understanding of core design values, as well as high quality material finish and horticultural excellence.”
Fisher Tomlin, who has just been named garden designer of the year at Britain’s New Home Gardens Awards has high-calibre international credentials. He is a director of the London College of Garden Design and sits on the selection panel for the Chelsea Flower Show.
“I am a firm believer in new designers leading the way and with so many innovative new takes on gardens at Ellerslie this year I can see people saying “I never expected that, but I could do it at home.”
“Ellerslie’s variety really will wow visitors this year – and the next generation of garden professionals.”
Exhibition garden results: EXHIBITION GARDENS
• Creative Courtyard – Kevin Gillespie (GLD, Manawatu) – Merit
• Our sustainable schoolyard – Raumati South School – Kapiti Coast – Silver
• ARKO (Jay Van Lent and Stephen Mapletoft) – Silver Distinction
• A French Kiss in Akaroa – Ben Hoyle (Blue Gecko, Wellington) – Gold
• Sometimes you need to see what’s behind you – Andrew Fisher Tomlin, Tom Paul Harfleet (UK) – Gold
• Sometimes you need to see what’s above you – Andrew Fisher Tomlin, Tom Paul Harfleet (UK) – Bronze
• Floating in Transition – Scott Fletcher (Insero Design, Christchurch) – Silver
• Modern Day Moa – Adam Shuter Tony Murrell (Auckland) – Silver Distinction
• Revolutionising Reuse – Grant Stephens Rebecca Stewart (H S Design, Christchurch) – Gold
RETAIL GARDEN
• Casa Viva – Terra Viva, Christchurch – Gold
FLORAL ART INDIVIDUAL
• Wind of change – Gislinde Folkherts – Merit
• Snow to low levels- Marion Partridge – Merit
• Flowers always inspire – Megan Parker – Silver
• New shoots, new life – Lien Wong Florist – Merit
FLORAL ART 3 X 3s
• North Otago Floral Art – Silver Distinction
• O Frosty Morn – Annette Waller and Liz Chapman – Bronze
• The elements prevail – F M Floral Art – Bronze
• Lightening strikes – Jenny Harris and Heather Sibley – Silver Distinction
• Jan Osbourne – Merit
• Avon Floral Art Club – Merit
• Three x Three – Marion, Carol and Relda – Silver
• Element of Nature – Bloomers Lois Holdoway and Hannah Braid – Bronze
• Cashmere Gallery – Bronze
• Rainbow Tornado – Annika Horgan, Nectar Florist – Gold
YOUNG APPRENTICE FLORISTS OF THE YEAR 2013
• Hollie Sarten, Manukau Institute of Technology, Auckland – Silver Distinction
• Tetaake Itinteang, Manukau Institute of Technology, Auckland – Merit
• Aimee Andrews, Nature’s Florist, Wellington – Silver
• Anastasia Harris, Central City Flowers, Christchurch – Bronze
• Jessica Mills, Lovells Flowers 4 You, Hawera – Bronze
HORT GALORE
• Sit back and relax – Christchurch Beautifying Association – Bronze
• Back in time – Canterbury Rhododendron Society – Silver
• Alice in Wonderland – Christchurch Woodturners Association – Gold
• Colour up – Canterbury Horticultural Society – Merit
• Plant portraits – NZ Alpine Garden Society – Gold
• Gender garden – NZ Garden Trust Silver Distinction
• Show-offs – Go Gardening NZ (NGINZ) – Bronze
• Songpa Gu Sister City Committee – Bronze
Ellerslie International Flower Show is in North Hagley Park from 6 to 10 March. For more information: www.ellerslieflowershow.co.nz.
Content Sourced from scoop.co.nz
Original url
Design your garden for fragrance all year long
You can find a fragrant plant that blooms almost any month of the year. I have picked out about a dozen or so plants that will grow in our climate and perfume the garden about each month of the year. Some of the plants I have chosen have pretty flowers, and some would be grown mainly for their fragrance. All of these possess a strong scent.
The cold gray days of January are brightened with the sweet fragrance of wintersweet (Chimonanthus praecox). This is followed by Breath of Spring (Lonicera fragrantissima), which starts blooming at the end of January and continues for a month or more. Both are “old timey” shrubs that are not going to be the prettiest plants in the garden, but they might have the most fragrance.
Daphnea odora and Edgeworthia are two more shrubs that bloom in February and possibly into March. They perfume the air and are both blooming now.
Witch hazel, with its traditional clean sulfur-colored flowers, blooms early in the year and sends out a lovely scent. There are many varieties, adorned with yellow, copper or red flowers. Be sure to purchase one that is highly scented. The intensity varies, and I would not want you to be disappointed.
Viburnums are a large group of plants. Some varieties are extremely fragrant, while others are not. I have a viburnum “Mohawk” given to my by my daughter Laura that has a delightful clove scent, which I love.
Lilacs are a must have for the mountains. The aroma is delightful, and the flowers are stunning. There is a large bush on Highway 176 by a cow pasture near Saluda that I love to see each spring. It is tremendous in size and delightful to see in bloom.
It can be planted on the windy side of the house because it loves the air movement.
Moving on into summer, you have the magnolia grandiflora with their stunning white flowers, the quintessential Southern flower. I have one tree that blooms on and off well into fall. I love their shiny, dark green foliage that glistens in the winter. They have beautiful white fragrant flowers that make this a plant worth growing. Kevin Parris of Spartanburg, S.C., hybridized one called Kay Parris, my favorite. It has smaller leaves and does not grow as large as most magnolias, making it perfect for my Saluda garden.
Deciduous azaleas come into bloom at different times of the year, and many are very fragrant. I have some that bloom in March and April, and there are varieties that bloom in the summer. Azaleas are listed under the name Rhododendron, which can confuse people. R. alabamense, R. arborscens, R. atlanticum, R. austrinum, and R. canescens are all fragrant, and all have handsome flowers.
Walking through the garden in late summer, you can smell a sweet, sugary fragrance from Clethera alnifolia. There are several cultivars that are fragrant, but one of my favorites is a compact variety called “Hummingbird.” It has lovely white flowers, and mine is about 3 feet tall and 3 feet wide after about eight years.
Along the back stairs of our home, I have Elaegnus angustifolia planted. I love to descend the stairs and smell the wonderful fragrance in December. It is a bush that will seed about, and some claim it to be invasive, especially in warmer climates, but I have it planted and I love it, with its tiny flowers that are hidden among the leaves and fill the air with a pleasing aroma. Mine is trimmed into a hedge after it blooms, which helps with the seeding.
There are many other very fragrant plants such as oriental lilies, lavenders, lily of the valley, certain daffodils, certain roses. I tried to only mention shrubs and small trees. I do love fragrant plants, and I hope breeders will continue to keep the fragrance when they are making crosses and doing their breeding work.
In planning your fragrance garden, if possible, plant fragrant plants out of the wind, in a calm place where the fragrance is not whisked away. Arbors or fences or hedges can help hold the fragrance.
You should also consider having different fragrant plants that bloom at different times, or if they bloom at the same time, consider having them in separate parts of the garden, rather than having scents that could clash with each other.
Betty Montgomery can be reached at 864-585-9213 or BMontgomery40@gmail.com.
Students, faculty design garden display for Int’l Philadelphia Flower Show
With a sign reading “You Are Brilliant” hovering high above the display, the greenery fills the vicinity of the presentation with hints of red, purple and yellow peaking through. In all, over four dozen types of plants were used in the gardens, landscape design professor Chad Nelson said.
Two weeks may remain of the winter season, but that does not stop students and faculty from reminding garden enthusiasts, spectators and Newark locals what the upcoming warm months have to offer.
Since last Monday, two dozen students and four professors from three different departments have been working 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, putting finishing touches on a garden display to be shown at the International Philadelphia Flower Show. From March 2 to March 10, the exhibition room of the Pennsylvania Convention Center will be transformed into a floral sanctuary with the British-inspired theme dubbed “Brilliant.”
“We wanted to take the idea of people being able to use their own personalities to develop their own landscapes,” Nelson said. “We then came up with the concept of, ‘You’re brilliant.’”
Instead of focusing solely on British gardens, the university’s display features three personalized gardens inspired by and crafted for clients based on their individual needs, Nelson said. In a team comprised of students whose majors range from fine arts to landscape design, Nelson said the students used their different skills to interview clients, design gardens and implement the display at the show.
Though the garden installations began last week, junior Taylor Fehmel said the planning for the project began last spring. Fehmel, who took part in the Philadelphia Flower Show during her freshman year, spent the winter months “force growing” plants in the university’s greenhouse, a process she described as overwhelming.
“I didn’t realize this, but there are so many different factors of force growing,” Fehmel said. “It depends on the day length, the hours––there are so many different factors that nothing is ever guaranteed to blossom.”
Fehmel is one of the students enrolled in Design Process Practicum, a landscape design course which requires enrolled students to participate in the flower show. When the university had a display at the 2011 Philadelphia Flower Show, only landscape design and horticulture students participated, according to landscape design professor Julie Bruck. This year, however, participants included students from First Year Experience classes as well as landscape design, leadership and art students.
Senior fine arts major Kristin Tinari was primarily responsible for adding small, artistic details throughout the garden. Many of the materials, such as a dream catcher, were secondhand, she said. In addition to focusing on the details of the garden, Tinari built a table entirely out of thrifted glass.
Through this project, Tinari said she has learned valuable lessons applicable in the workforce. Because students from several majors, all with different areas of expertise were involved in the project, cooperation was necessary, she said.
“We had to learn how to execute a plan and collaborate with individuals,” Tinari said.
Much of this collaborative effort took place outside of the classroom, Bruck said. After conceptualizing the gardens, she said students spent weekends growing plants, staining wood and assembling the presentation in a warehouse.
Though time consuming, Bruck said this hands on learning experience is something her students will find useful in their careers, regardless of major.
“What my students need is this translation of what we do in class as a project and real world building,” she said. “I find students are really surprised with the end result.”
Each student could choose their own roles in the project, Bruck said, with some often crossing over into an area outside of their field of study. In addition, participants were able to incorporate concepts learned in class, such as sustainability, into the design process.
One of the landscapes, titled “Josh,” was entirely eco-friendly, featuring native plants and a pond, Nelson said. After interviewing the client, the students designed this garden to cater to his personality and needs, he said. Bruck said many of the plants in the garden are native and can be found at White Clay Creek State Park.
Senior Zekun Li, a landscape design student, spent up to ten hours some days working on the project. As an international student, he said learning flower names was arduous, but considering what he got out of the project, it was worth it, he said
After college, Zekun said he will pursue his master’s degree in landscape design in hopes of getting into city planning. He said he pursued this field because of his connection with nature.
“I always liked being outside with nature and plants,” he said. “That’s why I chose this major.”
Flower show officials will judge the show in two categories––horticulture and design, Nelson said. He said the judges look at the various sized displays to see how well the plants were grown and how innovative the design was.
Regardless of the results, Nelson said the flower show is an essential event for flower enthusiasts.
“As a gardener, it’s the highlight of the year because at a time when it’s bleak, you can come here,” Nelson said. “It’s a real inspiration.”
Aucklanders contribute moa garden for Ellerslie flower show
Press Release – Christchurch City Council
Auckland designers Adam Shuter and Tony Murrell have designed a garden for Modern Day Moa.
The gates to New Zealand’s premier gardening and lifestyle exhibition, the Ellerslie International Flower Show, open to the public at 10am tomorrow. Christchurch’s North Hagley Park is the venue for the show, which is now ranked among the top gardening shows in the world.
“Ellerslie this year has a stellar line-up and the calibre of our exhibitors and judges really cements our Show on the world stage,” says the Show’s Managing Director Dave Mee.
Last year’s Yates People’s Choice winner and Ellerslie favourite Ben Hoyle is back with his highly anticipated new garden, A French Kiss in Akaroa, while TV and radio’s Tony Murrell has partnered with Adam Shuter to create a stunning “Modern Day Moa’ garden.
Another not-to-be-missed garden at this year Show is New Zealand’s gold-medal winning entry from the Singapore Garden Festival. It provides the stunning setting for Johnny Fraser-Allan’s ‘The Gloaming’ exhibition – presented by Richard Taylor and Tania Rodger from Weta Workshop.
“Young people are doing some incredibly clever things at Ellerslie this year too,” Dave Mee says.
For the first time a school is exhibiting at the Show. Children from Raumati South Primary School, on the Kapiti Coast, will be demonstrating the future of gardening is in good hands and once the Show is over their entire sustainable garden will be gifted to Wharenui Primary School in Riccarton, Christchurch.
In this year’s Emerging Designs – Student of the Year competition nine teams of students of landscape, design and horticulture will be competing against each other to see who can come up with the best design for a rooftop garden.
The Floral Art Young Apprentice of the Year competition has attracted the largest number of entries ever and the best will go on to compete on the world stage.
This year’s Show caters not only for those with an appreciation for flowers and garden design; it also offers a feast for foodies and fashionistas.
“Over the five days of Ellerslie people can indulge in a riot of colour and tastes, be the first to see the hottest new plants, design ideas and see things few in the world get the chance to experience,’’ says Mr Mee.
Edible Ellerslie, a boutique tasting village with celebrity chef and gardener master-classes, is a new addition to the Show, where the audience gets to try some of the chefs’ delectable dishes.
Around 50,000 people are expected to attend Ellerslie this year, but its positive impacts on the community will be felt long after the last visitor has gone home.
“Ellerslie is not just a celebration of gardening, it is also about giving back to the community of Christchurch,’’ says Dave Mee. “Each year as many of the plants as possible are recycled back into the community while charities benefit significantly from the money we raise through the course of the Show.”
The Ellerslie International Flower Show is open to the public from 10am to 7pm tomorrow to Saturday and from 10am to 6pm on Sunday. If you have not already got your tickets they can be purchased at the gate.
Follow Ellerslie International Flower Show on Facebook
Content Sourced from scoop.co.nz
Original url
A garden about artfully designed irregularity
These are sweet peas from Lorraine Kiefer’s Triple Oaks Nursery in Franklinville. Lorraine, a lifelong gardener, is a big fan of these old-fashioned, fragrant favorites that once were plentiful in our gardens. Now, not so much, but there are lots of colors out there – and Lorraine, in a recent email to customers, advised that this is the perfect time to sow the seeds.
Sweet peas came up in conversation yesterday at a workshop on English-style cottage gardens in Pennsylvania – in the Gardener’s Studio at the show. “Artfully designed irregularity,” is how they were described by Gloria Day, president of Pretty Dirty Ladies Inc., a garden design and maintenance firm in Leesport, Pa. This traditional style continues to enchant us, even as the host country becomes better known for modern design.
The typical cottage garden was planted around simple cottages, of course, in a small space with some kind of enclosure (a hedge or fence, maybe), as a kitchen garden. It usually had gates, trellises, arches mixed in with flowers, vegetables and herbs. Actually, this style of gardening probably never went out of fashion – and it’s big today.
“A cottage garden is out of control and has control at the same time,” Gloria says. “Although a lot of English gardens are very formal, a cottage garden is very free-flowing.”
If you have a small property, borrow the neighbor’s view. If your neighbor has a fence, grow something upright on it. If you have a fantastic vista, grow low. Use every square inch. Scatter wildflower seeds. “Cottage gardens are so much fun to play in. See what happens. Anything old looks good in them,” Gloria says.
Old-fashioned flowers she favors include sweet peas; alliums, which have the added benefit of being deer-resistant; roses; nasturtiums; primroses, hollyhocks, campanula, violets, calendula, anemone, lupine, phlox, penstemon, lilacs, hydrangea and on and on.
She suggests using containers and towers, rather than topiaries – although how many home gardeners are doing topiaries these days?? – and adding bulbs, self-sowing annuals, and if possible, a bee skep and chickens. “Don’t forget a seat in the garden,” she says.
After all that, maybe a (Gloria) day bed is in order, too!
Olive Garden Changes Menu, Design To Make Chain More Modern
In the fast-moving world of chain restaurants, Olive Garden has long seemed like an anachronism.
The beige, eggplant and forest green Olive Garden logo, featuring a swirly cursive font and a stylized 3-D grapevine, screams early-’90s graphic design. Its menu is so focused on breadsticks and pasta — not even al dente pasta! — that it seems to have been written in a parallel universe where Robert Atkins never told America about the magic of ketosis. And the ersatz stone-and-terracotta architecture at most outposts looks positively medieval compared with the glassy-industrial styles favored by quick-service chains like Chipotle.
But all that may soon change. After Olive Garden’s parent company, Darden Restaurants, cut its profit outlook for the year last week, executives revealed that they are taking drastic measures to bring Olive Garden into the 21st century — and increase sales. Darden is the world’s biggest casual dining chain. Olive Garden’s 792 restaurants provide 45 percent of sales for Darden, which also owns Red Lobster and Capitol Grille.
“We’re making a transformation to the brand,” Olive Garden spokesman Justin Sikora told The Huffington Post by phone. “We’re moving away from some of the things we’ve done in the past — traditional Tuscan warmth — and embracing a more contemporary Italy.”
Sikora explained that the shift actually began in October, when Olive Garden launched a “Lighter Italian Fare” menu section of entrees with fewer than 575 calories and promoted it with an ad campaign emphasizing health rather than infinite breadsticks.
But just as the Italian Renaissance didn’t really get going until Petrarch came along, Olive Garden’s rebranding was moving slowly until the chain in January named a new CEO, Dave George, who previously headed Darden’s LongHorn Steakhouse chain.
Glimmers of George’s vision for the country’s largest Italian-themed chain started to emerge in early February, when Olive Garden revealed a new all-black uniform for its waitstaff. But the full extent of George’s plans started to become clear on Tuesday, when he unveiled major plans to Darden investors.
Olive Garden has revealed few details of the revamp, but it’s clear it will touch almost every aspect of the dining experience.
That faux-calligraphy logo, for starters, is history. Sikora said the redesign process has only begun, so there’s no telling what direction its replacement might take.
When it comes to architecture, Olive Garden is also abandoning the “Tuscan Farmhouse” template it adopted in 2000 in favor of a more modern, “less Old World” style. Sikora said that the company is delaying renovations of about 400 of its restaurants until after the company refines its new look.
“You’re not going to see stainless steel showing up tomorrow in a Tuscan farmhouse,” George assured investors.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, George said he wants to change the Olive Garden menu. Breadsticks, salad and fettuccine Alfredo are all safe. But they’ll be joined, according to Sikora, by additional small dishes on the “Lighter Italian Fare” menu and “more protein-forward items” — i.e. meaty entrees.
“Going forward, our grill items are going to take much more prominence in the menu,” Sikora said.
The bulk of sales at most restaurants come from regular visitors, so rebranding, which could alienate devout fans, is inherently risky. Shifting away from carbs didn’t save Italian chains Uno Chicago Grill or Spaghetti Warehouse from financial ruin.
But it’s clear from Darden’s awful sales numbers that the brand wasn’t connecting with customers. (Or at least not 60 percent of customers.) So there’s nowhere to go but up.
Also on HuffPost:
Loading Slideshow
Noted designer among keynote speakers at Blue Grass Trust show
Noted New York interior designer Laura Bohn’s favorite go-to retailer might be a surprise to some.
“I absolutely love Ikea,” said Bohn, a keynote speaker at next weekend’s Blue Grass Trust for Historic Preservation’s Antiques and Garden Show at the Kentucky Horse Park.
For accessories for the kitchen and bath, metal shelving, hardware and the like, “you can’t get much better,” she said.
She’s been known to use purchases from the moderately priced Swedish retailer for high-end projects and to shop there for her own home.
It is Bohn’s willingness to buck convention when it interferes with style that has made the member of the Interior Design Hall of Fame an enduring figure in lofty Gotham design circles.
The website for Laura Bohn Design Associates explains her style as a well-edited approach that uses “unexpected hues and shapes together to give rooms depth and richness.” Bohn, who is also a fan of the retailer Restoration Hardware, said her style hasn’t shifted with interior trends over the years but has gotten bolder.
“When you get older, you’ve done the sheepish thing and now you are into being bold,” she said.
One of her favorite tricks is to paint a portion of one wall, say from the floor to 6 feet up, a bold color to tie furniture and accessories together. (Another version of the same idea is painting a rectangle on one wall.)
“It’s a quicky thing that sort of unifies the space,” she said.
Bohn said digital tools such as Pinterest, can serve as fabulous design inspirations. But, she said, do-it-yourself should go only so far.
For a homeowner to take on any kind of significant construction without professional help is a mistake, she said: “You are asking for trouble.”
When she is working on a project, Bohn said, the first thing she does is build trust with the homeowners and understand how they hope to use the space. She tries to bring out “what it is they want, your fantasy of how you want to live in your space,” she said. “Hopefully a designer will take you there and beyond.”
Bohn’s favorite kind of project is limitless, she said. But that doesn’t mean a limitless budget. She likes being able to start from scratch, going down to the studs, to reconfigure a space in a new way for a new purpose.
Her dream client is someone who is adventurous and willing to try new things.
And that, she said, “can happen on any kind of budget, a big budget or a small budget, if they are willing to try something they haven’t seen before, you can get good results with that.”
IF YOU GO
Blue Grass Trust for Historic Preservation’s Antiques and Garden Show
What: More than 80 exhibitors of antiques, gardens, designer vignettes, silver, jewelry, collectibles and fine home furnishings.
When: 10 a.m.-6 p.m. March 8, 9; 11 a.m.-5 p.m. March 10
Where: Kentucky Horse Park Alltech Arena, 4089 Iron Works Pkwy.
Admission: $10 daily, $15 three-day pass
Learn more: Bluegrasstrust.org
HIGHLIGHTS
There will be free lectures daily, but here are some other highlights. All require reservations; call (859) 253-0362 or go to Bluegrasstrust.org. A full schedule also is available online.
■ Gala Preview Party: 7 p.m. March 7. Catering by Donna, silent auction, exclusive shopping. $125, $95 for 35 and younger.
■ Luncheon Lecture: Christopher Hirsheimer and Melissa Hamilton. 11:30 a.m. March 8. $60.
■ Cocktails and Conversation: Laura Bohn with Dale Fisher. 4 p.m. March 8. $40.
■ Luncheon Lecture: Jon Carloftis. Noon March 9. $60.
■ Appraisal Fair. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. March 9. $20; includes daily show ticket.
Mary Meehan: (859) 231-3261. Twitter: @bgmoms. Blog: Bluegrassmoms.com.