Steve Snedeker’s Landscaping and Gardening Blog

My personal update: (Including Magnolia Seed Pod Fall)

I celebrated my first whole year of living here on September 30th of this year.  It has been a good year – a very deep drink of spending oodles of time with my nuclear family – Mother, brother and some of his offspring. There were even babies involved which pretty much always make my Millennium. Now we have a wedding coming up for another niece – Hannah – who is marrying a delightful guy and another favorite of mine, ‘Jimmah’, as Tom and I call him.   My older brother, Mike and my sister Diane are steaming in for the wedding, so we’re all over this family deal. My daughter visits in a couple weeks, so I am partially delirious – more than usual, I guess. If, of course, that’s possible. Finally, we are celebrating the extreme good health of my 92 year old Mother. She and I have torn around the neighborhood and “scenic Louisville” with some abandon ever since I arrived, her showing me the town and me clicking pictures. I guess I’m pretty happy with how things have proceeded thus far. Life is pretty good.

(click images to enlarge, even this here good ol’ Dogwood tree)

So here we are, holding off Winter with another typically “Kentucky” transition season. Reliably, Kentucky presents the most distinct 4 season climate I’ve ever seen. Each season is utterly separate and individual and they occur without fail. From an extremely hot Summer, we now evolve into Fall. This year is complicated by a virtual drought. There are many trees we suspect are dropping leaves owing to thirst, although the clay soils here and the deeper roots of some of the big monster trees would need another year or two of drought to really make a difference.  I do know drought, let’s be clear. I have seen it out West in severe fashion. Since today it’s raining here, I am a bit more sanguine about these concerns. I mean, we had a wet Summer, with very green grass up into September.  But it’s here, in any event, just not the same degree of outrageous which it was last year. Last year was frankly epic for color. This year – just OK. (Look how spoiled I am.)

But this year has also been a heavyweight pleasurable year for grasses. I’ve always adored the seeding process, watching the soft seed fronds develop. Taken in just the right light, this year’s grass seeds are a bit parched, but lighter for that and somehow a bit more ‘whispery’  than normal.

Naturally, the trees are the thing here. Check out this set of Maple Twins. What’s most interesting here is the location where the color begins, up on top. They will spread the wealth almost gravity-like into the brilliant colors they’re generally known for.

I’ve always enjoyed this cluster. The Blue Spruce enjoys its position and the large spreading Maple behind presents a redder cast this season. It’s a fascinating and an altogether complimentary contrast.

And here is the view, just walking up a bit, as the gorgeous Maple shows its looming magnificence as a corner tree………the “Guardian” of this cozy and slow-moving little residential street.

As can be seen, it is not quite yet the full-blown Autumn. We’re borderline! Green leaves still abound, raising some suspicions among us concerning the weather alluded to earlier. And, yet, it also makes for more interesting shadings of color in general. Below, for example, if you enlarge the picture, you can see the yellow highlights forming among the apparently green leaves. It is very subtle but gorgeous, in my opinion. Such small differences are a small element behind the prettiest Autumns.

Here’s the “head on” view of the same tree, illustrating just a bit better the yellow tinges of the season itself.

Then the more colorful neighbors, taken from underneath a canopy of equally-intriguing Maples across the street:

And now a look into the canopy above from the picture-taking location. Delightful color, just taking place:

Then a look back as we pass the trees featured above, but from a different angle, with the Sun playing some very cool games:

You have to admit, this is an interesting 200 feet of walking!

Let us not forget our little sidewalk canopy, either – it has some special coloring as well……….just more

This park sidewalk always provides such ample pleasures. In Spring, they feature a slew of Chinese Plums, in brilliant bloom. Now, this time of year, the stunning success of their landscaping plan reveals itself in the intended colorful offerings of spectacular Autmun color:

Red is such an impressive swath of coloring in Nature. Here we see some local Euonymous Elata (Burning Bush) as it catches the sun an a cool angle and shows itself off in bright detail:

When all is said and done, this Fall thing is taking shape as slightly different and yet no less interesting, as Autumns go. Plus, Mom is kicking butt as a very healthy 92 year old old young pup. Life is OK. Thanks for tagging along.

(click on any image to enlarge)

Bob Hill spent 25 years or so working as a journalist for the  Louisville Courier Journal writing about diverse issues and subjects including gardening, society and historical facts about Louisville. He is enormously respected as a cool voice with a long view and deep, caring insight.  As a book writer, he penned one of my personal favorites: “The Crack Of The Bat”, the definitive history of the world-famous ‘Louisville Slugger’, a tool yours truly has used to good effect and also has broken many, many times as a baseball mutt in an earlier era. A modern day Luddite like me longs for that sound when I venture out to my favorite Spring pastime, sitting as near as I can to Muhammad Ali and watching the University of Louisville “ping” the opposition to death with their metal bats. Bob also wrote a true crime book called “Double Jeopardy”, a local crime which leads him to authoritatively comment and which was featured on the National TV show, Dateline, a couple times and which I read years ago. It is the definitive book on that tale as well, sad as it may be.

Well, Bob Hill is as nice in person and as creative as ever. In fact, he may be doing things that make “unique” look normal. He owns and operates Hidden Hill Nursery, a fascinating, whimsical spot and a must-see on the garden traveler’s road map which also doubles as a nursery, selling exotics. “It’s my niche,” he says with a smile. Bob has most definitely NOT seen the last of me. I am involved in a small project even now which could use a few of his big old Yellow Magnolia’s. He welcomes – for the record – landscapers and designers at almost any time for purposes of sales. He does, after all, run a business in his nursery as well as present a marvelous jaunt amongst his various treasures.

Anyway, so my Mom and I took a jaunt on an unseasonably hot Autumn Day on Sunday, attempting to finally make it to this gorgeous garden on it’s final Open To The Public day of the season. We had spoken of it many times and I had heard rumors of it’s fascinating properties from the sports fans I hang out with at a local sports message board, Inside The Ville, a Scout.com site dedicated to Louisville sports.

Inasmuch as the nursery and garden was compiled around his own home, Bob’s efforts over a long period of time have produced a totally delightful trove of small pleasures and simple beauty which reflect to a real love of the soil and the respect for Nature Herself which Bob gladly and openly brings to the game. Bob Hill is an obvious appreciator of artistic talent and a very non-shy exhibitor of just that. Pssssst…….he has pink bathtubs.

He also features exhaust pipe lizards and a junkyard dog – in a hat no less! – who absolutely reflects that in reality, seen here overlooking a peaceful and gorgeous small waterfall which begins a coursing creek in an outstanding water feature under a cool, shady canopy smack in the middle of the Gardens.

Like everyone I know, of course, Bob also features a very outspoken “oxygen tank duck”:

We were also relieved to find directions posted on some nearby trees,  subtle, yet still effective:

As far as this pair of pants (below) is concerned, I mentioned to Bob and his crew who were relaxing nearby that these overalls could “probably walk to get themselves washed”. Thank God they laughed.

Butterfly chairs abounded!

And as fun as all this was and is, Bob Hill is also a serious cultivator and appreciator of gorgeous plants and stunning beauty – all in a variety and diverse number of settings one has to get close to in order to truly appreciate their scope.

Take these automobile-sized leaves, for example, stuck hard solo under yet another cooling canopy -

Since I am not at all certain this picture does justice to the sheer magnitude of these monster leaves, here is another cluster, battling it out with a giant Banana Tree in a sunnier location on the site -

Make no mistake, designers and landscaping aficionados have much to delight their own senses, aside from the whimsical stuff. There are small features throughout the place, well-designed and gorgeous constructions in their own rights. Take this splendid courtyard as an example as we examine it from various views, including closeup pictures of the simple profusion of the prettiest plants in Nature. This “hot” little Chrysanthemum fronts a serene and exceedingly well-designed small patio/coutyard:

Another few views:

A detail I adored -  a small, shady perennial Paradise:

This one………………the one below. I had to stop and look twice. Please enlarge.

This is a sculpture whose sensuality belies its metal composition. It plain looks good enough to eat.

This small setting below may say more about this splendid garden wonderland than anything I could have imagined. We happened onto this on our way out – it is across from that splendid pink bathtub!

I have no idea of the purpose of this little clearing – if one exists. But I can aver that this reveals a factor of the epitome of excellent landscape and garden design which shows the invitation and the promise which are the rudiments of the most mysterious and excellent designs in the world. When perception rules in the fields it belongs in and the eye becomes trained to accept mystery and to drink in beauty like a fabulous natural drink, then gardens such as this will be everywhere.

Bob Hill, we absolutely loved our visit. You did real good in my book and my Mom agrees.

That’s unanimous, then.

I love Yew Dell Gardens. Located just outside Louisville, Kentucky by just a few short miles, it is one of America’s most unique, eccentric and yet lush gardens. It’s history I already included in the updated post below this one. That particular post was my first visit there and it was in the Fall. I describe its history in far more detail there.

But there is something of the ‘Anarchist In Us All’ that stretches imaginations and challenges the senses in this minor masterpiece of garden artisan-ship. Yes, the superlatives are flowing. I just always find it hard not to go a bit nutso when I describe this very cool and interesting place. It offers some bizarre brain food – from haunting images such as the lonely but somehow eloquent message in “The Hand” in the middle of the field below, to the raft of strangely-colored hybrid plants, cooked up via the hard work of the early owners. Those who have taken over the running of this intriguing spot have completely “bought in” to the originator’s designs and intent. We gain immensely from this, all of us.

(click all images to enlarge)

In a great bit of serendipity, the garden was also featuring sculptures mixed in with the plantings, offering them for exhibit and sale. I especially liked the limestone carvings of this artist, Don Lawlor, a sculptor with this website which is way worth a look:

Tucked around Mr. Lawlor’s fascinating bird bath are the curiously-colored and unique (to me, anyway) Coleus plants which we found in abundance and – to our delight – in a literal rainbow of hues, some very subtle and muted and some very bright and incredibly playful  colors.

Check out these bright red babies:

We just missed the Astilbe Show behind these gorgeous plants, but other blooms and invading, competing flowers and plants make this riot of color a pure visual feast. I remarked to my Mom, who laughed: “Man, those are red enough to be a flower!!”

And the Coleus love did not stop there. When I mentioned “subtle”, I meant it. This stunning example of understated elegance provides the perfect foreground and lush perimeter for the rose behind it.

Other Coleus had different designs, such as this one with the blood vessels:

Or this bright yellow, quite playful beauty, shown here at the entrance in excessive plenty:

A peaceful beauty surrounds the lucky visitors, complete with heart warming people who work there and who never fail to be cheery and as helpful as they can be. Below is a most peaceful image, placed near the famous Holly Walk. My good friend The Happy Monk got himself all married there. And it took!! 

Proof that romance can flower near……….well……….flowers. But that’s redundant again. Like deja vu, all over again.

Mother and I wandered a piece, curious about adjoinging areas. The reason I bring this up is that we found what was either the original “Holly Walk” or else the practice field for Holly Walking. Kentucky is a basketball-crazy state. It led us to wonder if an area like this might not actually be for super tall basketballers. Don’t laugh. When I said they’re crazy about basketball, I wasn’t just “Whistlin’ Dixie”. Anyway, we felt delighted with what was for us a discovery.

We’re easy that way.

Back to………..hmmmmmmmmmmmm………….how about a few ‘Naked Ladies’?

It’s the Amaryllis Belladonna Show! This Naked Lady is native South African plant – a bulb – which has the most interesting pattern of growing with a fairly graceful foliage, then losing the leaves while the blooms appear. The nickname seems rather obvious, too, I would think. Groves such as this are plentiful at Yew Dell – small, shady realms of sub canopy beauty which the garden takes immense advantage of. To me, the groves such as this are one of its true draws.

We were fortunate enough to happen by this particular grove while it was being watered by a good old fashioned oscillating sprinkler. What made it most interesting were the water trails, mixed with the interesting apparent motions of the pants themselves and the additon of this shimmering sort of sculture, smack in the midst of it all:

Other groves of interest to me: (a small glass sculpture paradise, complete with wind-swept, spent lilies.

A Hosta Paradise, featuring – but not restricted to – Hosta Giants with its very own Fertility Sculpture (always handy! ):

This is getting long………..more in a day or two………….OK, one more sculpture:

Is that cool or what?

(click all images to enlarge)

Peaceful, exotic, unusual, Yew Dell gardens is not your everyday visit. While they have the most gorgeous groupings of evergreens in their classic routine – with smaller, lower-growing species below and the taller groupings behind in a wash of evergreen textures, and all developed carefully over time – there is much more here. Even the more deciduous areas were constructed with the longer view, which means depth, color and structural form of an incredibly appealing nature.

First the evergreens:

Then those more deciduous groupings:

This is a garden that would have to have been a nursery-owner’s delight. Experiments galore still stud the grounds in a riot of stable,aged and  standard plantings, mixed with some real bizarre eye candy. Lovingly constructed by the instigator of all this and his loving wife, Theodore and Martha Klein had them some real fun. Here is a short blurb taken from their website ( http://www.yewdellgardens.org/):

“Beginning with 33-acres of Oldham County farmland in 1941, Theodore and Martha Lee Klein spent the next 60-plus years developing an exquisite private estate, a successful commercial nursery and an extensive collection of unusual plants and outstanding gardens. Known locally, nationally and internationally as a first-rate plantsman, Theodore Klein was also a self-taught artisan who personally crafted the buildings and gardens that became known as Yew Dell.

Through the years, Klein collected over one thousand unusual specimen trees and shrubs which were displayed and evaluated in his arboretum. He also worked to develop new plant varieties for the regional landscape, amassing an impressive list of more than 60 unique introductions over his professional career.”

A perfect example of the level of “whimsy” Mr. Klein brought to bear on his property rests here, in the form of his small “Castle”:

Mr. Klein’s love of and appreciation for stone work is redolent throughout the entire place. His walls and even other entire buildings show a severe appreciation for the beauty and form of stone houses, walls and steps into gardens:

I love this wall. It reeks, somehow, of Kentucky, reminding one of the rows and rows of “slave walls” dry set and loose along the roads around horse farms in Central Kentucky:

In the end, however, it remains the plantings which left the largest impression on this visitor. Here is a series of different-colored Xanthosoma – ranging from a lime green, through a cultivar featuring deep purple stems to another entirely purple variety which absolutely stunned me with its deep purple tone and downright uniqueness. (Check out the reverse side of those gorgeous huge leaves and how they become a dustier “negative” of their reverse):

The velvety texture of the darker portion is hard to capture on camera, but it feels just as lush as it looks.

The fact is, the garden’s fascination with “Purpurea’s” of all types does not stop at those uncanny Xanthosomas. Here is a tiny set of purple Shamrocks -

Odder yet – and tons more purple – is this most surprising Mimosa Tree:

The Yew Dell Garden is a true delight. It’s a bit smaller than I had thought it would be but they manage to cram all sorts of fascinating, weird, wild and wonderful stuff into it in a riot of species, colors and form. We caught it at the onset of Autumn, so we missed a lot of some equally-unusual annuals and the perennials which had just pretty much finished doing their thing.

Frances at FaireGarden will appreciate their love of that gorgeous Muhley Grass, however, stuck as it is here at the entrance to the place -

Fearless, experimental and plain fascinating, sculptures are sporadically placed around the Gardens in auspicious spots as well.

I was particularly taken with The Hand – the sculpture which opened up this post at the top. It’s stark posturing in the middle of a wide expanse of grass just speaks volumes to the unique perspective this gorgeous and interesting garden exudes in so many ways:

Here’s a walkway through some pruned Holly Trees, hard by those purple Xanthosomas and another sculpture. Like I said – the interesting stuff just doesn’t quit.

I confess to my own bias – I am also fascinated with purple as a garden color for some strange reason – and maybe that’s it – the strangeness. But Yew Dell certainly has it in abundance, combined with other slices of absolute uniqueness.

Color everywhere – even in Fall – this garden is well worth anyone’s visit. Eccentric gardens are not that unusual in North America. I know a family in British Columbia who once made themselves a small retreat out of Rhododendrons and Azaleas which got bigger than themselves. Some of these places are now parks people gladly pay to visit in season. Yew Dell, motivated by a nurser and handy man with resources has become every bit of that.

Thanks for coming along!