Saluda considers exempting gardening from permit

Published 11:00pm Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Public hearing set for June 10

Saluda commissioners are considering amending the city’s land disturbing ordinance, adopted earlier this year, to exempt gardening activities from obtaining a permit.

Saluda is also considering a new definition in the zoning ordinance for manufactured homes.

Commissioners met May 13 and discussed several recommendations from its planning board and decided to go forward with public hearings for the gardening exemption and manufactured home definition.

Commissioners scheduled a public hearing regarding these factors for its June 10 meeting, which begins at 7 p.m.

The draft exemption to the land disturbing activity currently states, “home gardens, community gardens, home landscaping or lawn preparation on existing lots and parcels shall be exempt from permitting fees unless erosion, drainage and slope stabilization concerns necessitate a land disturbance permit as required in Section 3.10 of the city ordinance when determined by the zoning administrator.”

Commissioner George Sweet said he thinks the exemption for gardens and landscaping is in accordance with the city’s intent. He said people technically need a permit and “we didn’t think they should have to get one.”

The draft manufactured home definition can be found in the N.C. General Statutes 143-145(7).

“It is a structure, transportable in one or more sections, which in the traveling mode is eight feet or more in width, 40 body feet or more in length, or, when erected on site, is 320 or more square feet; and which is built on a permanent chassis and designed to be used as a dwelling, with or without permanent foundation when connected to the required utilities, including the plumbing, heating, air conditioning and electrical systems contained therein. A manufactured home includes any structure that meets all of the requirements of this subsection except the size requirements and with respect to which the manufacturer voluntarily files a certification required by the Secretary of HUD and complies with the standards established under the Act. Further, a label in the form of a certification is required by HUD to be permanently affixed to each transportable section of the manufactured home,” states Saluda’s draft definition.

The Saluda Planning Board also sent recommendations to commissioners on definitions for boarding house, junk, junkyard, modular homes, motels and hotels and rooming house as well as a recommendation to amend the sign and outdoor advertising section of the ordinance. The rest of the planning board’s recommendations were sent back for further consideration.

Commissioner Lynn Cass said she wants more specifics in the definitions for boarding and rooming houses. Other commissioners expressed concern over the sign amendment recommendation, which is being proposed for signs in C business districts.

In many ways, the house is quite beautiful. But it is also a place full of shadows, a haunting just visible in its empty silver picture frames and in the red, white and blue signs that hang on every door: “United States Marshal,” the signs say. “No Trespassing.”

The shadow behind all that opulence is other people’s money. This was one of the residences of Peter B. Madoff, chief compliance officer at the firm owned by his older brother, Bernard L. Madoff.

Peter Madoff pleaded guilty last year to a host of crimes, including falsifying documents and lying to regulators. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison and ordered to forfeit all of his and his family’s assets to the government, so they could be sold, piece by piece, and the proceeds distributed to victims of his brother’s Ponzi scheme.

The Marshals Service took possession of the Old Westbury home in January, and late last month it put the property on the market for $4.495 million.

“When dealing with a home this grandiose, the outside world can lose sight of where all these fine things come from,” Kevin Kamrowski, a deputy United States marshal, said in an e-mail. “Everything in this home was obtained on the backs of other people.”

When the Marshals Service takes over a property, a well-practiced process is set in motion. First, the house is secured and the locks are changed; motion-sensing security systems and surveillance cameras might be installed. (In the foyer of the Madoff property, there is a sturdy-looking gray box standing on an ornate little table. Feel free to wave at it.)

Next, contractors are hired to do a bit of maintenance, and a real estate management company brings in a local agent to sell the property. In a high-profile case, the Marshals Service helps to select the sales team.

An important preliminary: Every single piece of property that is not a part of the house itself is indexed, appraised and tagged.

At the house on Pheasant Run, in the 600-square-foot formal living room, a forest of little white tags swing from every surface. They are on gold-color lamps, crystal candlesticks and a delicate wooden coffee table piled high with books, including “Dog Painting: The European Breeds,” “Dog Painting: A Social History of the Dog in Art” and “A Breed Apart.”

Above the fireplace, centered over a mantel of dark wood and darker marble, the dog theme continues, with a painting of what appears to be a chocolate Labrador retriever. Nearby, a painting of a blond toddler playing with another dog — also large, but this time shaggy — hangs in a gilded frame. In the library, two smaller dogs reside together in a frame above a sofa.

And if you were to take them off the wall, you would find a little white tag behind every one. Even the patio furniture, the dog dishes in the kitchen, and bottles of gin and Cognac in a mirrored bar in the corner of the library are tagged and numbered. Once the house is sold, its contents will be auctioned to the public, in what will surely be one of Long Island’s best-attended tag sales.

Despite these little touches, the house generally does not feel like a criminal’s lair. Indeed, like any other high-priced home for sale, it has been carefully staged to show its prettiest face to potential buyers. A bit of landscaping was done here, some robes were hung in an immense bathroom over there, and there was even an elaborate picnic spread arranged in a basket on the kitchen table, complete with checkered napkins and cutlery.

“This was staged with, believe it or not, my recommendations and the hard work of the U.S. Marshals office,” said Shawn Elliott of Shawn Elliott Luxury Homes and Estates, the broker brought in to sell the property. “Every single book in here was actually taken off the shelf, tagged and numbered, and then put back.”

One book, however, was left out, prominently displayed on a table in the library: “A Code of Jewish Ethics, Volume 1: You Shall Be Holy,” by Rabbi Joseph Telushkin.

As a part of the staging, the asset forfeiture division of the Marshals Service tries to remove personal effects, like clothing, that might walk away during a tour, or might remind potential buyers of who once padded down these hallways in his slippers. A small bedroom is stacked high with cardboard boxes full of clothing and other items that will eventually go to auction. Photographs removed from frames are returned to the family.

Even with a name as notorious as “Madoff,” there is no felon discount on a home like this. Bernard Madoff’s Manhattan apartment was sold for $8 million and Peter Madoff’s Park Avenue two-bedroom for $4.6 million, prices in line with the market at the time. Some personal belongings can even fetch inflated prices, like Bernard Madoff’s Mets jacket, which sold at auction in 2009 for $14,500.

Some potential buyers who have come through the Old Westbury house have been curious about the Madoffs, Mr. Elliott said. But for his part, he tries to think about the scandal as little as possible.

“The less I know about a situation, for me, the better,” Mr. Elliott said. “My job as the real estate broker on this is to get the victims as much money as humanly possible.”

Mr. Elliott has received offers on the property, but none has been accepted yet. When the house is finally sold, the proceeds will go to a victims compensation fund administered by the Justice Department, which has so far recovered more than $2.3 billion for Madoff victims. A separate fund for property and proceeds associated with Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities is being administered by Irving Picard and has recovered $9.345 billion.

Though Peter and Marion Madoff’s primary residence was in Manhattan, they owned the house in Old Westbury for more than 20 years, and despite best efforts, that amount of history can be difficult to completely scrub away. Last week, there were still a few signs of the lives lived in that house before: a pair of reading glasses on a marble countertop; two jars of marmalade left in a bare refrigerator; and inside a long pearl box in Mrs. Madoff’s bathroom, a single artificial fingernail tip, painted a warm shade of cotton candy pink.

LOS ANGELES, CA.- During the Renaissance, gardens and their flora were used as religious symbols in art, as signs of social status, or simply enjoyed for their aesthetic value. Whether part of a grandiose villa or a feature of a common kitchen yard, gardens were planted and treasured by people at all social levels. In a variety of texts, manuscript artists depicted gardens, and their illustrations attest to the Renaissance spirit for the careful study of the natural world. In Gardens of the Renaissance, on view May 28–August 11, 2013 at the J. Paul Getty Museum, Getty Center, visitors are given a glimpse into how people at the time pictured, used, and enjoyed these idyllic green spaces.

The exhibition features over 20 manuscript illuminations, a painting, a drawing and a photograph from the Getty Museum’s permanent collection, as well as loaned works from the Getty Research Institute and private collectors James E. and Elizabeth J. Ferrell. In addition to the exhibition, the Getty’s Central Garden will be planted with flowers and greenery commonly seen during the Renaissance in Europe, with their care overseen by Central Garden supervisor Michael DeHart.

“This exhibition celebrates the Renaissance garden, which inherited the traditions established by the medieval monastic cloister and provided the foundation for the extravagant gardens of the Baroque period, such as Louis XIV’s renowned Versailles,” explains Timothy Potts, director of the J. Paul Getty Museum. “The exhibition will include a number of exceptional objects from the Museum’s collection that reflect the Renaissance appreciation for magnificent foliage, brilliant color, and landscape design. We are also in a unique position to share with visitors living examples of typical Renaissance plantings through our own garden, which I’m sure will bring the exhibition to life and greatly appeal to the many visitors who come to enjoy our spectacular gardens and landscaping.”

Gardens in Word and Image
During the Renaissance, when gardens were planted in great number, it was only natural that garden imagery permeated the pages of manuscripts and printed books, from popular romances and philosophical treatises to medicinal and devotional texts. As literary settings, gardens were idyllic spaces where lovers met, courtiers retreated from city life, and adventurers sought an earthly paradise. Religious symbolism was common even in floral imagery, as in French artist Jean Bourdichon’s The Adoration of the Magi (about 1480–85), where grapes, roses, blue speedwell, and red anemones all signify some aspect of Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection.

Although the garden is already represented in art from the Middle Ages, Renaissance depictions show an increased concern for naturalism and the documentation of new and rare plant species. One of the best-known examples of this is by Flemish artist Joris Hoefngael who—at the bequest of Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II—illuminated a book of calligraphy samples with depictions of plants, animals, and insects. In Insect, Tulip, Caterpillar, Spider, Pear (about 1591–96), Hoefnagel painted a pink-and-yellow-striped tulip with spellbinding precision, thus preserving a floral record of species from as far away as modern-day Turkey and Peru.

Gardens of the Bible
The story of Christian salvation is rooted in gardens, from Adam and Eve’s original sin in the Garden of Eden to Christ’s resurrection in the Garden of Gethsemane. Renaissance theologians and adventurers sought to discover the location of Eden, and pilgrims risked the dangers of travel to visit the gardens that Christ had frequented. For most other devout Christians, tranquil manuscript images of Mary in a garden facilitated devotion and prayer. Artists often represented Eden as a verdant orchard with high walls, while the gardens associated with Mary and Christ tend to be smaller and enclosed by a simple wooden fence.

“In a society dominated by the Catholic Church, gardens were integral to a Christian visual tradition,” says Bryan C. Keene, assistant curator in the manuscripts department at the J. Paul Getty Museum and curator of the exhibition. “This exhibition offers religious context for much of the exquisite garden imagery seen in manuscript pages and elsewhere in art of the time.”

A distinctive engagement of religion and nature occurs in the representation of Christ as a gardener. According to the Bible, after the Crucifixion, Christ was buried on a plot of land containing a garden. His follower, Mary Magdalene, initially mistakes Christ for a gardener, but rejoices when she recognizes him. In an image by Flemish artist Lieven van Lathem (about 1469), Mary Magdalene kneels before the resurrected Christ, who is depicted holding a shovel to represent her initial misidentification. In a pen and gray black ink drawing of Christ as the Gardener (about 1470—1490) by the Upper Rhenish Master, Christ is seen again with a shovel amidst some grass, and offers a gesture as if to tell Mary Magdalene (not pictured) not to hold on to him since he must ascend to heaven.

Gardens at Court
What is an Italian villa or French château without a garden? In the Renaissance, gardens complemented the architectural harmony of courtly estates through plantings along a central axis and beds of herbs and flowers arranged in geometric patterns. The combination of sculptures, fountains, and topiaries in gardens not only expressed the patron’s control over nature but also expressed the Renaissance ideal that art is shaped by art.

In manuscripts, a courtly garden could serve as a backdrop that conveyed a ruler’s status or as a stage for activities both reputable and scandalous. In Jean Bourdichon’s Bathsheba Bathing (1498–99), Bathsheba’s sensuous nude figure seduces not only King David at the palace window but likely also the patron of the manuscript that contained this leaf, King Louis XII of France. The biblical story that inspired this image does not mention a garden, but artists often placed Bathsheba in one because a garden traditionally represented female virtue.

Gardens of the Renaissance is on view May 28–August 11, 2013 at the J. Paul Getty Museum, Getty Center. The exhibition is curated by Bryan Keene, assistant curator in the manuscripts department.

Popular American career mythology posits that those who make their living with their hands can–with sufficient hard work and determination–one day “trade up” and become doctors, lawyers or other white-collar professionals.

Matt Heller turned that model firmly on its ear.

Some years back, the 1986 graduate of Los Gatos High School was well established as an attorney. But now, instead of donning tailored three-piece suits each morning, Heller pulls on a straw hat, shorts and flip-flops and heads over to Sakamoto Plants and Landscape Design.

As one of the new owners of the nursery, which has been providing fabulous flora to locals for more than three decades, Heller (who’s known as “the plant whisperer”) spends his days tending to flowers, shrubs and trees. And he’s never been happier with his choice of vocation.

After Heller graduated from Los Gatos High, where he’d been a member of the water polo and tennis teams, there was never any doubt: College and an advanced degree were in his future. While working toward his diploma from USC, he was selected for a fellowship program in law, and also served as an intern at a law firm in Pasadena. Then came Santa Clara University’s School of Law, graduation and Heller’s launch into practice.

But not long after hanging out his shingle, Heller found himself dreaming of other occupations. “I was very unhappy with law,” he said. “After a while I quit and came back up here, and was sort of

aimless for a while.”

At one point, in a move that baffled friends and family alike, Heller took a job with Dr. Paul Sakamoto, who’d run the Los Gatos nursery for 30 years.

“That was a 180-degree turn, for sure,” he said. “I wasn’t aware that I might be able to turn my newfound passion for plants into a revenue-generating concern.”

That passion, Heller added, was ignited when he was 12, and his family was living in Honduras.

“My dad was the only doctor on the island, with 18,000 natives,” he said. “It was a great experience; we’d go on hikes in the jungle and hack our way through with machetes.

“Also, my mom was very into gardening, and we always had fresh flowers and fresh vegetables in the house. So I’ve always had a profound respect for nature and all growing things.”

Committing himself to tending to that growth, Heller undertook an apprenticeship with Saratoga nurseryman Ed Carman, who enjoyed fame as the first person to import kiwi vines into California and for his ability to make rare plants flourish.

Heller followed up with a stint landscaping Lithia Park in Ashland, Ore., and then a two-year assignment overseeing a bonsai boutique at Allied Arts in Menlo Park.

As his career played out, Heller heard via the grapevine (so to speak) that Sakamoto intended to retire. Heller paid his former employer a visit, and was surprised to see signs advertising 50 percent off all plants.

“Paul basically asked if I wanted to take the nursery over. I told him I’d love to, but didn’t have the financial resources to make that happen,” said Heller.

But two weeks later, Heller received a phone call from a fellow Wildcat, Hugh Parker (also class of ’86), who floated an intriguing proposal: If Heller would consider going into partnership with him, and doing the day-to-day operation of the nursery, Parker (co-owner of SV Homes and a former high-tech sales executive) would write the check. “Of course I jumped at the opportunity to do what I love,” Heller said.

The arrival of spring this year found the two former classmates welcoming their first customers to the nursery, which remains faithful in environment and inventory to its heritage. Heller now offers full-scale landscape design, installation and maintenance services, specializing in Japanese gardens, and provides an array of both native and exotic flowers and shrubs. He also manages to nurse even the sickliest plant back to life, a talent that led Julia, his wife and marketing director, to award him the title of “plant whisperer.”

“It’s a little embarrassing when I hear someone calling me that,” admitted Heller. “But I guess a lot of people have remarked about how I seem to have very close ties with plants. For me it’s a really natural connection.”

Heller met his mate at a bookstore in Los Gatos 10 years ago. After a four-month courtship he married the statuesque native of Russia, who has served for the past seven years as a special assistant to former San Francisco mayor (and former California Assembly Speaker) Willie Brown.

A model and actress who has appeared in a number of film and television roles, she brings what Heller calls “intelligence, wit and strong marketing skills” to the task of branding the nursery and its management.

“This whole ‘plant whisperer’ thing wouldn’t have been cultivated without her,” Heller laughed.

Heller’s and his wife’s cultivation skills will be on display on June 1 when Sakamoto Plants Landscape Design will host a special community event aimed at helping green-thumbers give their gardens some extra star power. Titled “From Drab to Fab: How to Create Brake-Stopping Curb Appeal That Will Make Every Buyer Want You … Even If You’re Not Selling,” the morning session will feature interior designer Alice D. Chan, co-host of HGTV’s new Power Broker real estate show.

The event is free, but space is limited. Visit curbappeal-eorg.eventbrite.com to register.

Sakamoto Plants Landscape Design (which will be renamed Los Gatos Plants Landscape Design) is located at 15567 Camino Del Cerro in Los Gatos. For more information visit sakamotolg.com or call 408.827.4115.

For Barnsdale Gardens it was a double success with Nick Hamilton and his team growing the vegetable plants for Adam Frost’s gold medal-winning Homebase show garden and picking up a silver medal of their own.

The silver was for a 12ft square floral design inspired by one of Barnsdale’s most popular areas – the ornamental kitchen garden which was originally created by Nick’s father, Geoff, for the BBC Gardeners’ World television programme.

It features organic vegetable plants mixed with flowers chosen to attract pollinating insects or deter pests. The planting is around a path of reclaimed bricks and two blue obelisks, famously made by Geoff Hamilton from spare wood and topped with a lavatory ballcock!

Nick said: “This display really represents what Barnsdale is all about and it works on so many levels. Being organic, sustainable and environmentally friendly is at the heart of everything we do, plus we’re inspiring people to ‘grow their own’ by showing just how much produce you can pack into a small area but still retain that gloriously romantic cottage garden style.”

You can see Nick interviewed on tonight’s Chelsea Flower Show coverage on BBC television.

Adam Frost, who lives in Stamford and runs his garden design business from Barnsdale Gardens, won an incredible fifth gold medal with Sowing The Seeds Of Change, a garden designed for Homebase in association with the Alzheimer’s Society.

The garden was partly inspired by his late mentor Geoff Hamilton’s ornamental kitchen garden at Barnsdale Gardens – where Adam has worked since 1991.

He helped Geoff design and build many of the 38 small gardens-within-a-garden which were used for the BBC programme.

This year’s Chelsea garden was created with a small family in mind, providing them with a space to enjoy an everyday connection with their food and with nature.

It features walkways edged with dipping ponds, a toad house, alpine strawberries and other plants grown on wildlife walls and a handcrafted oak bee hive on a lawn area under an apple tree.

Adam has married food production with a modern ornamental space.

There is an arbour area with seating, a beehive-inspired tiered water feature made from twisted steel and a central cooking area.

Where possible, he sourced products and craftsmen locally; the oak beehive was made by David Rawlings at Empingham and the decorative ironwork by Anwick Forge in Lincolnshire.

The garden attracted crowds of visitors on Monday as it was officially opened by actress and Alzheimer’s Society ambassador Lynda Bellingham. Expressing his delight at receiving the medal Adam said: “I have really enjoyed bringing this garden to life and would like to thank Homebase for its support during the design and build of the garden, as we are both committed to getting people more engaged with the great outdoors.”

Oakham-based Mosaic Garden Design and Landscaping won a Silver Gilt Flora for Meanwhile Spaces, an environmental garden created for the green community charity Groundwork.

The charity turns brownfield sites awaiting development into attractive usable spaces.

Owen Morgan, who runs the garden design business with his wife Naomi, has previously won three RHS medals, including one gold. He, Naomi and their two children live in Langham.

Naomi said: “We are thrilled with the award and it will encourage us as we begin building a garden at BBC Gardeners World Live at the NEC in Birmingham next week.”

Staff at Southfield Nurseries in Bourne Road, Morton, were overwhelmed to pick up their 25th gold medal for their cacti.

Bryan and Linda Goodey run the business with their daughter Eleanor Brown.

Eleanor said: “We are so pleased with our 25th gold.

“We were hoping but you can never quite tell, particularly with this year’s weather. Some of our cacti were a little bit later than normal but we are all just so happy.”

Lise Westfall likes a lot of everything.

You can see that when you walk through her house. Wall space is filled with treasures. Same goes for her backyard garden, a lush green space bordered by a white rail fence, dotted with hanging baskets of fern.

Perennials and annuals are packed in like fans at a Cardinals sell-out. Those not in the ground fill pots and tumble from birdbaths. Paths wind through the tree-shaded yard.

“The kids brought the maple seeds home from school,” said Lise, 59, standing beneath one. “We put them in pots and they grew into trees, one here, one on the other side and one in the neighbor’s yard. These trees have gotten very special. My oldest son (Michael) was 17 when he died a couple years ago of cancer. They are part of him.”

The maples have been joined by river birch, red bud, dogwood and a weeping willow.

Lise’s garden is one of eight you can visit from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, June 1, during this year’s Gardens In Bloom. The gardens are in O’Fallon this year. Tickets are $10 in advance; $12 the day of the tour, which is produced by St. Clair County Extension Education Foundation.

“All offer something unique,” said Kathy Sisler, of O’Fallon, who helped select the gardens. “They show that no matter what kind of space you have — small or large, sunny or shady — you can get ideas from these gardens that will help you do something with your own.”

Lise’s rectangular backyard is in Winding Creek Estates, a neighborhood of nicely-landscaped brick and sided homes. When she and her mother, Selma Westfall, moved in 17 years ago, their yard was flat with a sharp rise at the back — until Lise saw a magazine photo of a landscaped hillside.

“It had rocks (on a hill) with stairs going to nowhere.”

Now, so does hers. The rise created an opportunity to set outcroppings of boulders into the hill. Plants have grown around them.

“I like the rocks, the naturalness,” said Lise. “Over here, you can see a second set of rocks. I have a little chipmunk family that lives in here.”

Another magazine photo inspired the brick paver walkway with a fountain in the middle of a teardrop berm.

“I came out with a hose to lay it out,” said Lise. “I called on Scott’s (Landscaping). They listen to you. ‘Look, Israel, here’s the picture.'”

Now, her garden is a picture — and a delight to visitors who follow a steppingstone path around the side of the house to get there.

“It’s an oasis back there, peaceful and serene,” said Israel Hayes, landscape supervisor at Scott’s Landscaping. “You feel you are somewhere else. It’s definitely one of the nicest gardens that I have been in.”

“Oh my gosh, look how interesting and peaceful and different it is,” said Edie Sandoval, a gardening tour committee member. “It’s totally awesome. There’s so much shade and so many interesting plants and things, you’re like in a different world — and there’s no grass.”

That doesn’t keep Lise’s kids from playing soccer or badminton.

“The kids and I come out here a lot,” said Lise, the mother of two sons, Daniel, 17, and Alex, 7, both adopted from Guatemala. “The little one will get on rocks and jump down. It doesn’s hurt plants. If he steps on a perennial, it will pop right back.”

Lise, who is business manager in the department of developmental biology at Washington University School of Medicine, hosts family gatherings in the yard, including her brother’s wedding.

The garden and its elements also spark memories.

The white wishing well was a mother-son project.

“When the deck was made, these were residual pieces of wood,” she said. “My oldest son and I built that. He was probably about 5. It sits on top of a city drainage hole.”

Lise’s mom, who died two years ago, picked out the weeping willow that grows tall behind it.

“A trail goes up and there’s a seat,” said Lise. “I like sitting beneath the weeping willow. It’s just quiet.”

An alien figure and a crane came home with the family after vacations on Dauphin Island, Ala.

Lise reserves the west side of the house to nurse plants back to health and divide healthy ones.

“If something’s not happy, I put them over here. If you can’t do well over here, you have to go away.”

Lise grew up in O’Fallon along the Scott-Troy Road. Her father, Bill, raised sheep, worked at Scott Air Force Base, and took care of a vegetable garden. Her mom tended the flowers.

“We had an acre in garden — strawberries, raspberries, potatoes, peas and beans,” she said. “Everything. We were always out in the garden. Mom always had us outside. I was one of five. We all garden.”

When Lise and her siblings talk, conversations often turn to plants. She likes the creative aspect of gardening.

“You see something in your head and create it. I’m sure it’s no different than somebody who paints. I find it calming and quite spiritual.”

She fits it in evenings and weekends. Automatic sprinklers save watering time. The density of her plants keeps weeds at bay.

“To be digging in dirt, you kind of listen to where plants want to be,” she said. “It sounds funny, but I think they talk to us. ‘Put me here.’ Or they will talk to you in the store, ‘Buy me, I will do well by you.'”

Some of Lise’s favorites:

–Hostas. Some are in the ground; others are in pots, grouped together. She had just moved a a huge variegated-leaf variety called “Some and Substance” to a sunnier spot to bring out its lime color.

— Leopard’s bane, a yellow daisy-like perennial that blooms early and spreads. “The leaves on it are jagged and big,” Lise said. “Once the flowers are gone, it’s like a ground cover. I bought two plants.”

— Becky (Shasta) daisies. “They’re very good solid daisies with hard leaves and strong stems.”

— Impatiens are a favorite shade-loving annual. “They give color and keep geting bigger as summer goes on.”

They vie for attention with geraniums, caladium and petunias.

— Petunias. She’s partial to the Bubblegum petunia. “It’s old-fashioned. It just keeps blooming.” Other types she may cut back. “If I’m going on vacation, I sheer off the top. By the time I get back, they will be ready to bloom again.”

— Annabelle hydrangeas. “They’re native to this area. I have quite a few hydrangeas to give body to the (garden).”

If you go:

What: 2013 Gardens In Bloom — tour of eight O’Fallon gardens

When: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, June 1

Cost: $10 in advance; $12 day of the tour

Where to buy tickets: Ace Hardware, O’Fallon; Eckert’s Country Store, Belleville; Effinger’s Garden Center, Belleville; Hometown Ace Hardware, Belleville; Sandy’s Back Porch, Belleville; Starr Florist Greenhouses, Belleville; Terry’s Home Garden Center, Centreville; University of Illinois Extension Offices, Waterloo or Collilnsville

Produced by: St. Clair County Extension Education Foundation, benefiting University of Illinois Extension programs

Plant sale: United Methodist Church, 504 East U.S. 50, O’Fallon

Information: 939-3434 or 344-4230

Lise Westfall, of O’Fallon, has been playing in the garden since she was a kid. Her shady backyard paradise, full of flowers and plants, fountains and benches and many personal touches, is a delight to visit.

Here’s what she does to make it work.

Stuff it: “I like to stuff things. That keeps the weeds down. Also, I didn’t do all this at one time. I know someone would tell me I am crazy, but I do not find this that much work.”

Group things: “This spring, I had more pots scattered around than grouped together. It looked much better when they were grouped.” She changes flowers in the pots and moves them around, creating variety in the landscape.

Buy more than one of everything. “My one little plant looks cute. A mass looks great.”

When her late father was a resident at the Western Kentucky Veterans Center in Hanson, Madisonville native Sandy Henderson would “landscape in her head” while he napped in his wheelchair in the outdoor courtyard.

She kept thinking about what it would take to make the courtyard a place that residents would seek out simply because they felt it to be a comfortable and inviting place.

Henderson’s father, decorated World War II veteran Herschel Young, died after living three years at the Veteran Center, but Henderson couldn’t quit thinking about how nice the facility was for those who had done so much to serve their country, and that she wanted to see something done to make it even better.

Photo furnished
Residents and visitors at the Western Kentucky Veterans Center in Hanson gather near a compass rose design created by volunteers with the Decorative Concrete Council of St. Louis, a trade organization, in the first phase of a project to create a Therapeutic Garden in the center’s courtyard. The DCC donated all the materials and labor for the project to mute the color of the concrete surfaces in the courtyard.

Last week, the phase step in an evolving project to turn the courtyard into a Therapeutic Garden for the residents was completed when volunteers with the Decorative Concrete Council (DCC) of St. Louis stained all the bright glaring concrete in the courtyard a darker color and also created a compass rose emblem depicting military and patriotic icons, as well as a large checkerboard. The council donated all the materials.

“We needed something to pull residents out there,” said Henderson, who researched the subject of therapeutic gardens by contacting university professors and landscape architects and worked with the staff at Hanson. “Evidence shows that certain elements in a garden can be therapeutic. We put together a plan, knowing that it’s going to be segmental as we figure out what works for our residents.”

Eventually the space may contain such sensory stations as wind chimes and water features and a large arbor to provide more shade as well as additional landscaping and activity areas to convert it into a complete therapeutic garden, but the first step was to tone down the glare.

“The reflection was hard on their eyes when they came outside,” Henderson said, explaining that as she started describing her idea to suppliers in a quest to get a donation of concrete stain, she got put in touch with the DCC.

Over the next year, she worked with that national group and sent them all the information they needed for what she thought might possibly be a donation of concrete stain.

And then she got some astounding news: Her project — and much more — would be done by the DCC.

“We got a huge gift,” Henderson said, adding that the project completed last week is valued at about $50,000. “They finished a beautiful compass rose, and put in a large 10×10-foot checkerboard that Physical Therapy and Activities (departments) can use.

“It’s been a wonderful project. They have just gone above and beyond,” she added. “God thinks bigger than I do. I asked for buckets of stain and I got (the DCC).”

As for the residents, Henderson said their reaction about the garden has made the work worthwhile.

“They’re excited about it,” she said, noting that projects like this have the power to help them feel whole. “I want them to see people spending time and spending money to let them know they have value and are appreciated.”

For more information about the Western Kentucky Veterans Center Therapeutic Garden including how you can help, visit kyveteransgarden.weebly.com.

Busch Gardens Williamsburg landscapers have repeatedly won the annual “most beautiful park” award — 22 times to be exact — from the National Amusement Park Historical Association. This year, they decided to share some of that talent with a lucky homeowner.

Earlier this year, the park used its Facebook page to announce the Landscaping Giveaway, inviting homeowners in Virginia and elsewhere to submit a photo and story about why they deserved a new look for their yard.

Tammy Bennett of Washington, N.C., wrote this winning essay:

“We bought our house right after my kidney transplant – my (lovely) husband generously donated me one of his kidneys, which I desperately needed. We thought with a second chance at life, we would buy a house and fix it up. And we started remodeling the house, but then we weren’t able to continue and do the outside due to financial stress. The financial burden of my anti-rejection medication, plus all our other medical bills meant the house would have to wait. Unfortunately, it’s still waiting and I would love a chance to win this!”

The Busch Gardens landscaping team approached the project in three phases: consultation, demolition/turf removal and installation, said landscape director Erick Elliott.

Before design and installation, the team learned Bennett had fond memories of her grandmother’s garden where something bloomed all the time. She asked that the yard include a pear tree for spring blooms and some herbs, as well as flowers. A native white-flowering fringe tree was also chosen.

“The team spent a good amount of time reviewing the invasive plant/flower list for her area, before making plant selections,” said Elliott.

“Due to the wind and the agricultural nature of the area where she lives, the team avoided plants with issues with wind-borne seed or berries that could be transplanted by birds out into other areas.”

Plants in the design, which features a stone paver walkway and bench, include:

Bird-friendly plants: coreopsis, hypericum, pennisetum and baptisia.

Butterfly host or nectar plants: carex, baptisia, salvia, lantana and verbena.

Low-water plants: daylilies, lantana, lavender, rosemary, coreopsis, hypericum, juniper, bignonia and salvia.

First, the team eliminated more than 1,000 square feet of lawn, as well as an old tree and stump.

Fragrant plants were placed along the walkway and by the bench. The couple will have flower color in parts of the garden until frost, said Elliott, and any trimming can be done with hand pruners – except for the Knock Out roses, which require loppers for year-end pruning.

The garden is also meant to be a habitat that provides shelter, nesting and feeding places for birds, as well as diverse plant material for beneficial insects to thrive, said Elliott.

Landscaping tips

Here are tips from the Busch Gardens Williamsburg team that you can use for planning and doing your own landscaping:

•Think about what you want to accomplish in the space. Are you reworking an area for a more attractive entrance for your home? Are you creating a space for entertaining? Maybe things are overgrown or damaged. Or do you just need a new look?

•Perform a soil test to help you determine what plants will perform best in your soil and any nutrients you might need to add.

•Call Miss Utility at 811 to determine the location of all underground lines because they can impact the placement of your plants and where you can dig safely. Learn more about the free service at http://va811.com.

It has been a bumper year at RHS Chelsea Flower Show with many HTA and APL members winning medals in the event’s 100th year celebration.

In such a landmark year, medals galore were picked up by members of the Horticultural Trades Association and Association of Professional Landscapers at the prestigious gardening event.

In the Show Gardens area, APL members were showcasing their landscaping excellence. Landform Consultants won Gold with the Homebase Garden “Sowing the Seeds of Change”, designed by Adam Frost. Landform also won Gold with the RBC “Blue Water Roof Garden”, designed by Professor Nigel Dunnett and The Landscape Agency.

Morgan and Neal Garden Construction won Silver Gilt Flora for Stockton Drilling’s “As Nation Intended” Garden and the Fresh Garden “Massachusetts Garden”. The Garden Makers also won Silver Gilt Flora for “The SeeAbility Garden”.

The Outdoor Room won Silver Flora for the ground breaking “Stop the Spread” garden, sponsored by FERA and supported by the HTA. Designed by Jo Thompson Landscape and Garden Design, the garden has been created to show the impact that pests, diseases and invasive non-native species can have on our gardens, woodlands and countryside.

BQ won Silver Gilt Flora for the “Sentebale Forget-me-Not Garden” inspired by Prince Harry’s charity Sentebale.

There were more medals in the Fresh Gardens area with Bradstone winning Gold for their part in Paul Hervey-Brookes’ garden “BrandAlley’, whilst HTA members Tendercare Nurseries also won Gold for their contribution to the ‘First Touch’ garden.

Walker’s Nurseries completed the medal line up in the gardens area by winning Silver Flora for their Artisan effort “Walker’s Pine Cottage Garden” designed by Graham Bodle.

HTA members celebrated more medals in the Great Pavilion. David Austin Roses, Hardy’s Cottage Garden Plants, Suttons Seeds, Millais Nurseries, Peter Beales Roses and Walkers Bulbs @ Taylors all take home a gold medal. Hillier Nurseries Garden Centres also won their 68th Gold medal for their ‘Risk’ display.

There were Silver-Gilt Flora medals for Harkness Roses, The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company and Kelways Plants who staged displays at the first Chelsea show in 1913.

HTA Director General, Carol Paris said; “We are delighted that so many of our members have gained national recognition in such a distinguished year for RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Chelsea plays a great part in enthusing and inspiring people to enjoy the nation’s favourite pastime, especially after such a tough year for the industry. We hope all the inspiration from Chelsea stimulates the nation to get out into their gardens and garden centres over the bank holiday weekend. ”

If You Go

* What: Spring Garden Tour, benefits Chattanooga Area Food Bank.

* When: 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday, June 1; 1-6 p.m. Sunday, June 2.

* Where: Five gardens around city plus teaching garden at Chattanooga Area Food Bank.

* Tickets: $15 ages 13 and older, ticket good both days.

* For more information: 622-1800.

TOUR STOPS

• Jimmy Wooten, 3813 Fairmount Pike, Signal Mountain.

• Jim and Estelle Harris, 9326 Houston Lane, Ooltewah.

• Tammy Hass, 2716 E. 17th St.

• Mark and Sandy Koss, 1855 Lewis Mine Road, Signal Mountain.

• Grace Episcopal Church community garden, 4009 Sunbeam Ave.

• Evelyn Davenport Navarre teaching garden, 2009 Curtain Pole Road.

From Tammy Hass’ property, tucked into the side of Missionary Ridge, she has an unimpeded sightline of Lookout Mountain.

She enjoys the expansive view from a lawn chair surrounded by knockout roses, irises, hydrangeas and tiger lilies on the grounds where Confederate soldiers once hunkered down for cover during the Battle of Missionary Ridge. A stone battlement crossing her property is a reminder of the site’s 150-year-old significance.

Hass’ home is one of six stops on the Chattanooga Area Food Bank’s annual Spring Garden Tour, set for June 1-2. Whether your interest lies in vegetable or flower gardening, native landscaping or even the area’s Civil War history, the tour covers them all.

Four private residences and two community gardens are included in the two-day fundraiser. Garden coordinator Jane Mauldin says one ticket is good both tour days.

One trend that Mauldin says visitors will come across is vegetable gardens incorporated into the landscape.

“There is a definite trend toward edible landscaping, combining beauty and utility in the landscape,” she says.

Garden sites on the tour are selected for “good structure or ‘bones,'” she says, as well as their ability to teach visitors how to incorporate sculpture, water features or stonework.

The stop at Hass’ home actually spills across both sides of East 17th Street. As visitors turn off Dodds Avenue and start up the 17th Street hill, they’ll notice a large, vacant, landscaped lot on the right, but Hass lives in the last cottage on the left.

“I used to live in a home on the vacant lot,” explains Hass. “I began renting it in 1978, then bought the house in 1983. I tore it down three years ago and now I live across the street until my new house is built on the lot.”

In the meantime, she began landscaping the four-tiered property in spring 2012. The Master Gardener says she has planted some of her favorite wildflowers, vegetables and spring-blooming flowers. She created a charming fairy garden on the top tier of the lot, and further developed two fish ponds already in place on the grounds.

Other stops on the tour

• Wander wooded paths at the Signal Mountain home of Mark and Sandy Koss, where guests will see smart plant choices for sun and shade gardens.

• Jimmy Wooten’s six-acre garden is in the Fairmount neighborhood of Signal Mountain. He has more than 100 varieties of hostas and rhododendrons, 30 species of evergreen azaleas, 50 deciduous azaleas and an herb garden.

• Tour Grace Episcopal Church’s community garden on Saturday when the weekly Farmer’s Market is in full swing. This Brainerd garden, maintained by the church congregation for its neighbors, uses raised beds for growing vegetables. There are also two butterfly gardens, a cottage cutting garden and a berry bed.

• Guests at Jim and Estelle Harris’ home in Ooltewah will be greeted by a colorful daylily collection. But take note of their Peggy Martin roses, the prolific climber also known as the Hurricane Katrina Rose. The Peggy Martin Rose was one of two plants surviving 20 feet of salt water over Peggy Martin’s garden in Plaquemines Parish, La., after the destruction left by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, according to southernliving.com. Martin passed some cuttings along to friends who, in turn, shared them, and the rose was later introduced into the mainstream.

• The Evelyn Davenport Navarre teaching garden at the Food Bank features 23 raised beds that last year yielded more than 2,000 pounds of fresh produce to supplement the nonprofit’s emergency food boxes. Or visit the new nature trail where Master Gardeners will demonstrate woodland gardens and display edibles that are shade-tolerant.

“At the Food Bank garden, Wild Ones will be selling milkweed, which is the host plant for monarch butterflies,” says Katie Bishop, garden tour co-chairwoman.

Wild Ones is a local group that promotes use of native plants. Bishop said guests are not required to purchase a tour ticket if they only want to buy milkweed plants.

Contact staff writer Susan Pierce at spierce@timesfree press.com or 423-757-6284.