On April 8, 2011, a cold drizzly day, not yet feeling quite like spring, plant lovers came to Milwaukee to hear garden experts tell some stories, but more importantly share their ideas for growing plants. The Midwest version of this year’s Proven Winners Outdoor Living Extravaganza events was held at the Peck Center on the grounds of the Milwaukee County Zoo in southeastern Wisconsin.
Here to speak to the sold out room were local resident and nationally-known garden expert, Melinda Myers; internationally recognized garden designer, P. Allen Smith; and plant hunter for Spring Meadow Nursery, Tim Wood. Everyone agreed, whether horticultural professional or garden hobbyist, all in the room were crazy plant lovers.
Suite101 feature garden writer, Chris Eirschele, attended the one day event for one-on-one interviews and photo opportunities with the garden experts.
Melinda Myers Uses Borrowed Views for Small Gardens
Kindly known as that “crazy garden lady” by her neighbors, Melinda Myers makes her home in the urban environment of Milwaukee. Myers' definition of small space gardening: “If you do not have enough room for all the plants you want to grow, you have a small garden.”
In addition to her extensive plant background, as far back as her days as a horticultural instructor, Myers has used her own home as a backyard laboratory for growing plants. When Myers talks about making space count and keeping it simple, she said, “You get to decide what is important to you.” For her, it is about family and friends, putting even her non-gardening friends in close proximity to plants where they can soak in the natural world.
The borrowed views strategy is one of her keys for gardening success, especially for gardeners with small gardens. A neighbor’s green wall of arborvitae is suddenly the background palette for a planting bed of perennial flowers. The tree growing on public land, whose canopy is level with the balcony, offers a bird’s eye view from a comfortable garden chair. Planting the long narrow spaces between buildings by filling every nook and cranny with flowers and foliage is another.
Plantsman Tim Wood from Spring Meadow Nursery
Tim Wood is a third generation plantsman, who admits, “I am a plant hunter looking for people crazy about plants.” While a plant breeder himself, he feels the fun part of the job is meeting the people and seeing the places where plants are discovered around the world.
On the Hemelrijk Estate in Antwerp, Belgium lived Jelena and Robert De Belder. They were avid plant collectors who traveled to such exotic places as Korea and, what was then, the Soviet Union. Their plant specialties were Hamamelis, witch hazel, and Hydrangea paniculata; Jelena De Belder was known for selecting Hydrangea paniculata ‘Little Lamb’ and Hamamelis ‘Barbara.’
Wood recounts, “I was fortunate enough to have visited with Jelena; one time it was peak witch hazel time, it was a beautiful late winter spring day, with snow melting and steam coming off the pond. She lives on this beautiful estate with a European beech forest and underneath this beech forest were thousands of witch hazels in bloom.”
“Like a lot of people I meet, there is a kinship between people who love plants and appreciate gardening. Once you know they have that interest and share it, it is very easy to become friends with them. She was glad to share that with you. She was quite a special person.”
Tim Wood has been responsible for such Spring Meadow Nursery introductions as Hydrangea arborescens ‘Invincibelle® Spirit,’ Spirea Double Play® series and Syringa x Bloomerrang® ‘Penda.’
P. Allen Smith Demonstrates Garden Design with His Home Retreat
Using as a backdrop his garden home at Moss Mountain Farm, P. Allen Smith showed gardeners an aerial view of his large terraced landscape divided with hedgerows into individual gardens. His images of the 225,000 daffodils planted around his southern Garden Home Retreat wowed the audience and brought sunshine to the cold day.
In his smooth easy drawl, Smith dared the audience to be dull and no matter what, “grow something.” He encouraged gardeners to use a basic framework like planting in multiples and repeating the sequence; for instance using Supertunias, Cleome 'Spirit™,' Knock Out® roses and ornamental grasses. Annual plants he favored during his program included Petunia, Supertunia®'Bordeaux' and Supertunia® 'Royal Velvet,' Cleome 'Senorita Rosalita®' and Lobularia ‘Snow Princess™.'
Proven Winners Brings New Plants to Wisconsin’s Gardeners
The Proven Winners Outdoor Living Extravaganza event brought together 220 enthusiastic gardeners from eight surrounding states, as far away as Nebraska. Visitors to the all-day event on April 8, 2011, came to Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, where the indoor event was held at the Milwaukee County Zoo.
At the end of the Proven Winners Outdoor Living Extravaganza event, drawings were done for the first-ever pink Annabelle shrub, Hydrangea 'Invincibelle® Spirit.' Tim Wood conducted the raffle and monies collected went to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.
For gardeners, the day was a treasury of new plant discoveries and ideas to grow at home. Large planters were awarded as door prizes before and after each speaker’s presentation, pots of the Calibrachoa hybrid, Proven Winners Superbells® 'Coralberry Punch,' along with colorful bags, were table decorations that after lunch became gifts to take home. Other Proven Winners bags filled with garden tools went home with each gardener at the end of the day.
Permission received for all photos used in this article.
Chris Eirschele - Chris writes on plants grown and gardens explored; she is a member of the Garden Writers Association.
