Abraham Lincoln is hanging out in the sunny breakfast room of Susan and David Marth’s home. Susan’s quilt wallhanging, titled “Abraham Lincoln Tribute,” features a silhouette of the 16th president of the United States. It seems right at home overlooking rolling hay and grain fields in rural Moro, Ill., just an hour from Lincoln’s law office, home and other historic sites in Springfield.

Susan, an internationally known graphic quilt designer, created the unique piece in 2008. “He was about to celebrate his 200th birthday, and I liked the feel of the fabrics copied from the Civil War era that were available.” Her finished piece is about 4-by-4 1/2-feet and made with reproduction fabrics in historic colors of black, cream and reds. Four of Lincoln’s famous quotes and classic quilt patterns frame the president’s large black silhouette.

Susan says her creative process differs; sometimes she uses a graphics program to design on her computer; or she may do a sketch on paper or design as she quilts the fabric. She makes one sample of each design and, to save time, has area professionals who quilt them for her. Judy Bishop of Piedmont, Mo. machine quilted the Lincoln piece. Susan says, “I like the creative process of making it. It’s not any fun to me to make the second and third of anything. I think creative people have to do something creative to spark their brains.”

Her creativity extends to furnishing the traditional 2,000-square-foot two-story home the Marths had built 21 years ago on two acres. “I love going to flea markets and estate sales; you get unique things. I like to be different, and my style is very eclectic.” She displays vintage items, from treadle sewing machines to wood bowls, along with her quilts. She hangs them over the rungs of a rustic ladder in one corner of the living room and drapes one on the brown couch. Interior walls are kept simple white to showcase her hangings and her beloved fabrics. In her studio neat stacks of folded fabric overflow a small grocery cart and fill a pair of metal lockers, while baskets corral notions.

Susan, whose degree is in architectural interior design, left a career designing retail stores, store fixtures and tenant office space in the St. Louis area to be a stay-at-home mom. But she missed designing and working with color and turned to fabric and quilting. Her mother, Pat Gvillo, taught her to sew at any early age, and quilting was an easy transition. She believes that her passion for space planning shows in her use of fabrics. “That’s why we quilt — because we love fabric,” she says.

She began putting her original quilt creations into pattern form and started her business, Suzn Quilts, in 2003. She sells to the trade at the International Quilt Market twice a year. Her patterns and books sell through quilt shops, catalogs and distributors, and her designs appear in quilting magazines. She has just designed a line of child-oriented fabric for Red Rooster Fabrics of New York.

Whether it’s designing, promoting her work, cooking nightly for her family or decorating her home, she says, “I don’t sit still and do nothing very often; I think I get that from my father.” Her motto is, “Family first, then quilting.”

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Susan Marth

 

Home • Moro

Age • 49

Family • Susan has been married for 24 years to David Marth, 49, a civil engineer for Greene County. They have three children: Chloe, 21, and Blake, 19, students at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville; Clare, 15, attends Edwardsville High School. The family collie, Nemo, is 5.

Occupation • Susan makes graphic quilt designs and is starting her 10th year of business as Suzn Quilts (SuznQuilts.com). She also teaches workshops and lectures on quilting.

The Marth Home • Susan and David had the handsome two-story brick-fronted home built 21 years ago on two acres next to the farm of her parents, Richard Gvillo, Sr., and Pat Gvillo, outside Moro. With 2,000 square feet plus a full basement there is plenty of room for four bedrooms and two and a half baths.

Living room • The designer’s quilting cozies up the family’s main living space. David’s contribution to decor is his largest buck mounted and hung. The lap quilt on the couch is Susan’s cheerful “Garden Trellis” pattern.

Click photo to enlarge

EILEEN KELLY remembers the exact moment in childhood when her passion for gardening was ignited and her second career launched. It’s a career that has just seen her company, Dig Your Garden Landscape Design (digyourgarden.com), rewarded with a 2013 Houzz Best of Remodeling award, based on Kelly’s satisfied customers. Houzz is a leading online platform for remodeling and design.

“It started in Jersey City when my mother broke off a piece of succulent, a sedum, and told me to plant it in the soil,” she recalls. “Miraculously, a new plant was born and I never forgot it. To this day, succulents are one of my favorites.”

Later, as she pursued a career in advertising on New York’s famed Madison Avenue, her gardening roots were stunted in an apartment, but still emerged in the form of houseplants.

“Even in the concrete jungle, I always made sure I had something green and full of life,” she says.

Fast-forward 20 years or so and Kelly married Tom Gehrig, a fine arts painter, and purchased a San Anselmo home.

“When I came out here to glorious Marin and saw everything in bloom throughout the year, I thought it was heaven,” she says. Year-round landscapes are her company’s mainstay.

“I started working in my garden and was getting frustrated but still loving it. That’s when I started taking gardening classes,” she says.

She wishes, in retrospect, that she

had hired someone to do her landscape as she spent a lot of money making mistakes such as choosing the wrong plant or putting in the wrong place and that’s the first thing she tells potential clients.

“Hiring a professional is worth the investment,” she insists. “You save money in the long range.”

She also advises new clients to create an idea book on Houzz, one of her top resources to help them define their favorite garden aesthetic.

Here are some of her favorite garden combinations for you to try.

For sunny spots

These spring and summer blooms thrive in a sunny space:

• Penstemon heterophyllus, a California native with stunning purple/blue flowers

• Stachys byzantinia “Helen Von Stein” or “Big Ears” with large leaves that contrast beautifully with other smaller-leafed plants

• Cerastium tomentosum or “Snow in Summer” lovely white flowers and low-growth pattern

• Lavandula angustifolia “Munstead” or “English lavender”

• Phormium “Mat’s Merlot,” otherwise known as New Zealand Flax, or some other upright plant for architectural appeal and contrast

For shady spots

These late winter and early spring combinations are well-suited for shade:

• Winter Daphne (Daphne “odora” marginata), a medium-sized compact shrub with variegated foliage with small pink flowers and the most delightful fragrance

• Lenten rose (Helleborus orientalis) is available in a variety of flower color, is low-growing and has nice foliage when not in bloom and is also deer resistant

• Deer-resistant Tasmanian tree ferns

For high-traffic areas

These low-water, ground-cover combinations can take foot traffic:

• Replace a lawn with Dymondia margaratea, a spreading ground cover that is compact with green/gray foliage and small yellow flowers.

• Complement ground cover with other drought-tolerant plants, such as Pheasant’s Tail grass (Stipa arundinacea), Snake Plant (Bulbine frutescens “Hallmark”) with lovely orange/yellow flowers, and Wall Germander (teucrium chameadrys)

Native combos

Mix and match with these California native and non-native plant combinations:

• Combine with other non-native plants such as California Mountain Lilac (Ceanothus Concha), a large shrub with purple flowers

• Sticky Monkey Flower (Mimulus aurantiacus), which is available in orange, yellow or red flowers

• Butterfly Weed (Ascelpias speciosa), a great plant for attracting butterflies

• Flowering Gooseberry (Ribes sanguineum)

Succulents

What’s Kelly’s favorite plants for every season?

“Succulents, succulents and more succulents,” she says. “They combine well with so many other low-water plants and there are so many shapes, sizes and colors to choose from. Plus, they thrive on little water, almost now care needed, and are all the rage.”

Kelly also has a few tips for maintaining the garden from late winter to spring.

• Add good quality compost to your planting beds.

• Mulch your garden beds to reduce weed growth and reduce the need for water.

• Prune roses.

• Prune back dead plant growth, but wait until the threat of frost has passed.

• Plant now, while we still have some rain, to get roots established.

• Plan vegetable beds and add compost or chicken manure for spring planting.

• Fertilize citrus and other fruiting plants.

• Check your irrigation systems to make sure they are working properly or hire someone to troubleshoot any issues.

• Experiment and have fun.

PJ Bremier writes on home, garden, design and entertaining topics every Saturday and also on her blog at DesignSwirl.net. She may be contacted at P.O. Box 412, Kentfield, CA 94914, or at pj@pjbremier.com.

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Monte Carlo 4 Seater Patio Dining Set

A great opportunity for visitors to feel the quality of our garden furniture for themselves. Try before you buy.

Solihull, West Midlands (PRWEB UK) 22 February 2013

Spring sees the start to some of the most important garden and flower shows around the country. The Garden Furniture Centre will be showing their most popular garden furniture to delighted crowds at many of The Royal Horticultural Society’s (RHS) most prestigious UK events.

The company is returning again this year, after a hugely successful 2012, to what is considered by many as the garden and flower show event of the year: the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2013.

Key dates for the RHS flower shows in 2013 include the following ‘must-see’ events:

• RHS Flower Show Cardiff 2013 – April 19th to April 21st

The Cardiff show will include many family activities, an impressive array of spring flowers and many of the best current garden designs. The Garden Furniture Centre show stand will include a luxury selection of outdoor rattan furniture with the water hyacinth range which will be featured strongly.

• RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2013 – 21st to 25th May

This year will be a very special occasion with the centenary celebrations taking place at the Chelsea Show. The RHS reports that event tickets are already selling fast. Garden designers will be hoping to secure the elusive Gold Medal Awards as design standards are always very high at the show. The Garden Furniture Centre will be featuring their finest outdoor furniture along with luxury seating in the form of FSC approved garden benches. FSC approved furniture is made with wood sourced from managed sustainable forests and as a result, demand is increasing.

• RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show 2013 – 9th to 14th July

This year gives one lucky amateur gardener the chance to design a garden specially for the show. Visitors can expect to find three new ‘zones’ set out for the show this year titled the Grow Zone, Escape Zone and the Inspire Zone. The company’s exhibition stand at the show will include many luxury rattan garden furniture products including the ever – popular Apple Day Beds.

• RHS Flower Show Tatton Park 2013 – 25th to 28th July

The highlights of the Tatton Park Show include the numerous competitions and innovative garden design. Make a date for the Ladies Day that celebrates everything in floristry, fashion and flair. The Garden Furniture Centre show stand prepares to wow garden lovers with a wide selection of patio dining sets and the quality Bambrella Range of parasols.

The company’s Managing Director Jon Haimes said “The RHS flower shows are the events to go to for all the latest garden and planting trends. It’s also a great opportunity for visitors to feel the quality of our garden furniture for themselves. Try before you buy.”

All the RHS shows will include stand-out furniture sourced exclusively by The Garden Furniture Centre. Featured garden furniture will include Montana rattan sofa suites, Monte Carlo outdoor suites and dining sets, Drift corner units and the Seville Dining Set. Outdoor seating will see high quality wooden benches including Lutyens, Regent Park and Teak Windsor Bench options.

Tickets for all RHS flower shows are always on high demand so it’s advisable to secure a ticket now to avoid disappointment. RHS events feature quality floral displays, cutting edge garden design exhibits and luxury garden furniture stands.

Contact the company directly for individual show stand numbers at the RHS events for 2013.

Public Showroom (Open 7 Days a Week): A3400 Yew Tree Farm Craft Centre, Wootton Wawen, Solihull, West Midlands B95 6BY.

Telephone 0156-479-7353

Brochure Request: http://www.gardenfurniturecentre.co.uk/acatalog/request-brochure.html

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Very few of us get to design a garden from scratch. Just those lucky ones building their dream home or someone moving into a property that is so neglected they have to bulldoze everything and start over.

But we all can design new spaces as time goes by, finding a better use for a spot that is not truly pleasing or changing the face of a highly visible spot for better curb appeal.

Last summer, I worked on the strip of ground that borders my vegetable garden and the street. There are some shrubs there that serve to hide my vegetables from public view when they are not at their best; a forsythia, a Rose of Sharon and a very old lilac, and I filled the space in front of them with hostas, daylilies, a container of caladiums and a few coleus.

I also arranged salvaged bricks from the county courthouse around the lilac, and that was my foray into design for the year.

The principles of design remain the same, whether you are creating a garden for an estate or a small patch of ground, and the first step must be planning.

A bed or border where things are just thrown together as they happen to arrive will always look that way, and will need to be redone in the future. It is better to do it right the first time.

You need to decide how you want to use the space, and then put it on paper.

Look at the light conditions, exposure, soil, size and shape, as well as anything that is there already, and all those things will determine the outcome.

When building a flower bed, look at the background. Do you need to hide it with tall plants or structures, enhance it with something to catch the eye, like a tree or shrubs, or is it fine the way it is?

Establishing the edge is important, both in shape and desired plant material. Then comes the fun part of selecting what is to fill the area.

Consider colors, shape and texture, suitability for the space and climate conditions, and how many to buy.

During this planning time, consider whether you want garden art included, although sometimes it is better to wait until you see the absolutely perfect item for the space.

Just be aware you are looking for a bench, a container or a statue to complete the picture.

Hardscape needs to be carefully planned with exact measurements calculated to save wasted money. Paths, steps, walls, fences and a possible pergola or arbor are important in your design and are not easy to change if a mistake has been made.

I had my swing installed in a convenient area by the back wall of the garage with some paving stones in front, not stopping to think it faces south, so it gets full summer sun. This is much too hot for most of the summer to sit there daily and eat my lunch as I had planned. And it is cemented in, so it is difficult to move.

Color is crucial, with light-colored plants included to brighten shady areas, including white-flowered plants that glow in evening twilight and bright-colored blossoms that provide a warm welcome at the entrance way. Blue, pink or lavender have a calming effect, with reds and yellows bringing a sense of excitement to a space. Green is the calmest color of all, perfect for a site for meditation and relaxation.

With some thought given to design, you can attract or repel wildlife as you wish, create a welcoming entrance, ensure privacy or throw your spaces open to all, screen or open views, and live among the evidence of your love for gardening.

Janet Del Turco is a local gardener and a graduate of the Ohio State University Master Gardener program. Contact her at janetdelturco@yahoo.com.

YAKIMA, Wash. — We’re down to four finalists in the 2013 Home and Garden Design Challenge. Eight contestants competed live on KIMA Action News Wednesday morning.

Contestants rushed to gather supplies to design — well, whatever they wanted.

After 30 minutes, the contestants had to stop working and let the judges pick the winners.

“This will give us an idea of if they can be creative,” said one judge.

“Design has always been something that continues to be popular and something that interests people,” said Design Organizer Carly Faul. “So, we figured this would be a new element we could bring to the show this year.”

Faul said this phase is only the beginning. At the Home and Garden show in March, the finalists will design an entire room.

So who moves on to that final challenge? Nadine Beresford, Janet Buege, Mallory Huibregtse and Kelsey Sybouts were the winners of this phase.

The finalists will design entire rooms at the Home and Garden Show March 8. The audience will vote for thier favorite on Saturday and Sunday. The room with the most votes will win the grand prize or $1,000 and more.

OAKLAND — Stafford Buckley brings a lot of baggage with him into his recently started business, all of it good.

Throughout his life, he’s had a passion for gardening and collecting information on architecture and garden design. Now he’s put these interests together to create Garden Restoration, a business that offers garden design with a nod to a home’s style, historical background and its neighborhood, combining time-tested traditional charm with contemporary concerns of sustainability and conservation. Buckley spent his early years in Piedmont, already collecting pieces of his hometown’s architectural history and gardening.

“I’ve been a gardener forever. My first memory of gardening is dividing hens and chickens with my mother,” he said. “Through college and after, I did gardening for clients in San Francisco.”

After 20 years in San Francisco, Buckley returned to the East Bay, and in 2005, he moved to Oakland’s Rockridge-Temescal area. During this time, he began searching out old gardens, training as a docent for Mountain View Cemetery on Piedmont Avenue and joining the Piedmont Historical Society. In 2008, as his career in event planning was coming to an end, the question arose about what to do next.

“It came to me that what I really like to do is clean up gardens, so garden restoration just seemed like the deal,” he said. “That way, I could couple my interest and knowledge of history and architecture with my gardening

skills.”

A series of courses in planning and garden design at Merritt College provided the basics, and Buckley set out his garden game plan, ideally to go into a garden and be hired over a period of time to transform it, working with its’ framework to return it back to its essence and work forward from there.

“I try to make the initial imprint on the land relevant,” Buckley said.

With a nod toward water conservation, the garden restorer doesn’t remove established plants and enjoys working with drought-tolerant varieties. For garden structures and accents, he prefers to use recycled materials, often already on the property.

“I see what’s there and what we can use,” he said. “I think things with a little age, patina lend the style and add tone to the garden.”

With his background in reading a lot about architecture, Buckley’s intent is to create a match between the home’s architecture and its’ garden. For one of his projects, a Spanish Moorish home in the Berkeley hills that hadn’t been taken care of for years, he turned to cactuses, succulents and California natives, leaving in place large plantings of azaleas, camellias and rhododendrons, established plants requiring less water.

While garden restoration is his avid interest, Buckley also enjoys working with clients to design and install new gardens; develop master, planting and concept plans for garden structures and do consultations. He’s also a popular speaker choice with local garden clubs.

Buckley believes that it requires a rotation of seasons to firmly establish a garden and takes several things into account when planning a restoration, including the neighborhood context, the sun, wind, exposure and microclimates.

“All of those things taken together create the sense of place, and that is really important to me,” he said.

Taking into account the client’s needs and preferences in terms of how they plan to use the garden and creating an outdoor space more sustainable than it was before, thus reducing the carbon footprint, are two of Buckley’s goals.

“We have to go out into a world that’s increasingly rough-and-tumble, and I want people to have something to come back to,” he said. “The garden should be a thing of beauty.”

First, from a practical standpoint, a landscape is easier to use when considering foot traffic patterns and family use of various parts of the yard. It also considers topography of the land to mitigate damage from weather and other forces.

Using plants that are suitable for this area and for the particular spot in the yard, can save time and headaches. All these issues of sustainability can be cost-saving measures for the homeowner.

An additional need that a well-designed landscape satisfies is the desire for us to live among an environment that is appealing, attractive and we can enjoy. Many excellent landscape designers reside in our area, ready to work with homeowners to create the type of gardens that satisfy our needs. Oftentimes, we tackle the projects ourselves, but having some knowledge before we begin is helpful.

Bullington Gardens is hosting a series of talks on landscape design with presentations by some of our area’s talented designers. The programs are on consecutive Tuesday afternoons from 3 to 4:30 p.m., beginning Feb. 26.

The first talk, The “Full Circle Approach to Sustainable Landscaping” on Feb. 26, will be given by Rob Dull, a landscape architect from N.C. State University and principal owner of Snow Creek Landscape.

This sensible design approach was developed at Snow Creek and addresses site analysis, limiting disturbance, slope issues, use of native plantings and overall considerations of maintenance of the landscape.

On March 5, Terri Long addresses the aesthetic needs of the garden with “Four Season Garden Interest.” Terri Long Landscape Design was started in 1999 in Asheville and focuses on residential landscapes.

Her program will explore various possibilities for enjoying an attractive landscape throughout the year, even during the winter. Terri studied landscape design at Haywood Community College after a 17-year career in interior design.

Kathy Zimmerman will wrap up the series on March 12, zeroing in on the two most common landscaping problems in this area. “Gardening in the Mountains: Dealing with Slopes and Storm Water” will offer practical landscaping techniques in maintaining the integrity of our mountain gardens.

Kathy is the owner of Wildwood Designs in Brevard. She has a degree in landscape design from George Washington University.

This series is an excellent opportunity to learn practical information to take home to your garden from talented and knowledgeable professionals in the area. The fee for all three lectures is $35, or $15 each. Please register by calling Bullington Gardens at 828-698-6104.

John Murphy is the coordinator at Bullington Gardens.

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Attentive design can improve the quality of any garden

From expansive estates to small properties, any garden can be transformed into an attractive and productive environment

East-Sussex (PRWEB UK) 20 February 2013

Late winter represents the ideal time to engage in comprehensive garden design and restructuring. The environmental conditions leave trees dormant, so it is easy to see the existing structure of the garden, also creating an ideal time for transplanting. Correct design is immensely satisfying and effective. From expansive botanic gardens on public estates to small properties with space at a premium, any garden can be transformed into an attractive and productive environment.

Yet designing a garden is by no means a simple task. Whether engaged in renovating a neglected property or building new structures from scratch considering the design in advance can achieve better results. In the interests of supporting their customers, English Woodlands have released an advice series on planning and preparing for their own programme of design.

The online series covers a variety of topics, from helping decide on a garden’s intended function and aesthetics, to hiring professional designers. Customers can find out what the professional design process entails, and how to initially start it off. The series includes advice on the ideal techniques and specimens for screening, along with optimising the maintenance requirements of a new garden.

A representative from English Woodlands was available to comment on their new series, and the reasoning behind it. “Many of our customers employ garden designers to help them achieve what they want from a garden, and it’s useful for them to consider the objectives they wish to achieve. Other customers may want to redesign areas of their garden themselves. We often discuss elements of garden design with customers on the nursery, and we hope that by making this information available on our website via article and blogs it will become even more accessible.”

The current advice series is just one of many guides English Woodlands have recently released, covering an extensive range of topics and categories. As part of their on-going customer service campaign the company has been attempting to transform their site into a reliable resource for curious customers, regardless of their level of experience. Their recent work has covered temporary storage of winter plants, specific planting and maintenance guides for their various specimen and irrigation systems, and most recently, guidance on garden design.

English Woodlands are an East-Sussex based tree nursery, supplying trees, plants, and planting accessories to consumers and landscapers across the country. They’ve been operating since 1919, and a comprehensive resource of on-line documentation represents the next step in a history of supporting their customers throughout the buying and planting process.

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James Sprague of Bothell-based Fancy Plants Gardens turned in another award-winning performance at the Northwest Flower Garden Show, winning a silver medal for his playful display garden “Backyard Box Office.” The garden is one of nearly two dozen on display as “Gardens Go Hollywood” at the Washington State Convention Center Feb. 20-24.

It’s the fourth year running on the garden show’s medal platform for Sprague, a certified professional horticulturist. This is his second year as lead designer, and his 840-square-foot L-shaped garden has nearly 2,000 flowers, bushes and trees wrapped around a patio movie-viewing area.

“I wanted to capture that feeling of a cozy and intimate garden space, yet with the splashes of bright color and subtle lighting of a movie theater,” Sprague said.

His favorite features are crowd-pleasers: A fountain with a 10-foot-tall flower made of welded steel movie reels. Nearby, low-voltage LED lighting is tucked into retaining walls to mimic the soft lights that guide moviegoers to their seats.

Judges awarded Sprague’s display garden a silver medal Tuesday. Sprague also won a silver medal at the 2012 show for “Peter and the Wolf.”

Sprague said it’s thrilling to be part of such a massive and unique event year after year, among the biggest in the country and attended by thousands of garden lovers.

“Every day I transform people’s yards into their dreams, but the garden show is my chance to shine and express my own artistic vision,” said Sprague, 36. “Winning a medal on this stage is a huge honor, and makes all of the hard work worth it.”

Sprague is a seasoned pro with two decades in the landscaping and design business. He comes from a family of gardeners who team up with friends at show time to help build his display garden. He also collaborated with carpenter Anders Hagen of Bothell-based Home Restorations, Inc., outdoor furniture was provided by Mukilteo Cedar Products, and Bedrock Industries provided the recycled glass mosaic movie screen and a rainbow of super-sized, glass lollipops.

Sprague’s Fancy Plants Gardens designs and installs landscaping, walkways, fences, garden structures and lighting. Learn more online through the company’s Facebook page.

 

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Greco Middle School students had a chance to test their skills at designing a garden through a competition sponsored by the Temple Terrace Community Gardens.

In an announcement posted on Temple Terrace Patch, TTCG member Elizabeth Leib noted that the contest was hosted in partnership with Greco lead STEM teacher Elizabeth Heli.

In January, students in Greco Middle School’s STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) program submitted their designs for evaluation by a community panel of judges including Joe Parr, director of horticulture at Busch Gardens; Autumn Balthazor, master gardener and lead science teacher at Benito Middle School; and TTCG members Mike Pont and Steve McBride.

Winner are: first place, Paola Rioja; second place, Carley Gonzalez; and third place, Lillith Foster Von Oesen, Aya Bricha and Cameron Abernathy.

Read more about the Plot 3 garden here.

Got an announcement of your own? Post word of it for free on Temple Terrace Patch.

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