Recipe for success!

This may sound simple, but often an view has to be created or space made in order to take advantage of focalization. I like a 4′ bench in most courtyard gardens since it is a diminutive size that can make an impact easily. Two people can just fit!  The garden pictured is one I designed in Charleston, SC on Murray Boulevard. The 4′ bench is used as a focal point with carefully scaled plantings, including boxwoods to anchor the setting.

Landscape Your Life!  Come meet America’s Landscape Alchemist, Mary Palmer Dargan, ASLA in Nashville on Saturday, May 5th.

Mary Palmer Dargan, ASLA, Author, TV personality and landscape architect, will be visiting…

Belle Meade Plantation Bookstore
5025 Harding Pike
Nashville, TN 37205
10 am – Noon

Join our TweetUp and Book Signing for a chance to WIN a copy of her best-selling book, Timeless Landscape Design.   Just use the hashtag #MeetMP

Come meet Mary Palmer Dargan in person and hear about the behind the scenes process of Lifelong Landscape Design which is to be released August 2012 in NYC!

Do you need to make your outdoor spaces work for your growing family? Are you downsizing and want to have a well-orchestrated set of garden rooms? Ask the expert on Thursday and bring a picture of your property.

Wow! The Atlanta Orchestra Showhouse on Woodhaven is now open.

Italian Terrace’s enormous terra-cotta pots made it easy for Dargan Landscape Architects to look GREAT in the front entry. Logan Gardens in ADAC carries the line and they are made in Italy by gals who saved a village by finding a market for their splendid pots.

We love the showhouse which is a Phillip Trammel Shutze design from the 20′s and is many people’s favorite home. Norman Askins, architect, speaks at 10:30 am Thursday, April 26 about the esteemed architect’s works at an AOS brunch.

Showhouse is across form the Governor’s Mansion off West Paces Ferry.

Like a rock star who sings the same tune never tiring of the song, I feel the same about this garden at 55 Church Street, The Benjamin Phillips House, c1818  in Charleston, SC. Hugh and I were invited to aid in its transformation in the mid- eighties and today it stands as a proud example of a garden whose vision has been realized. Actually, it has looked great for 15 years! The owner sees to each detail and experiments with heat tolerant roses: such as climbing pink Cecile Brunner, whiite climbing Somruiel, and shrub rose LaMarne. Large flowered Clematis peep out to adorn a green wall and heavy white clusters of confederate jasmine hang around spectacularly for about 2 weeks.

It is a masterpiece, especially considering it was installed where a wasteland of concrete and chain link formerly resided.

Ms. Sweet Potatoehead is having puppies! A first in a series in “growing your own harvest” from Poppy’s Tips for the Horticulturally Inclined.

On March 24, we cut 3 potatoes into 6 experiments and this one is the winner. Lateral placement in the dish and suspended with 1″ below water resulted in great little roots and leaves!

Steve Sodbuster loves sweet potatoes, so he’ll chime in to report on planting and harvesting.

DARGAN gardens are infamously beautiful and highly private. In Charleston, several are on tour in April.

Mary Palmer Dargan, ASLA will be in Charleston sharing them at Historic Charleston Foundation Bookstore 108 Meeting Street, Charleston, SC (843) 724-8484.

TweetUp & Book Signing on Wednesday, April 18th, 12-2pm

Join our TweetUp and Book Signing for a chance to WIN a copy of her best-selling book, Timeless Landscape Design. Just use the hashtag #MeetMP

Annual Festival of Houses and Gardens (March 22- April 21)

Website: Purchase tickets!  Historic Charleston Foundation, a nonprofit organization with a mission to preserve and protect the integrity of Charleston’s architectural, historical, and cultural heritage announced the celebration of a landmark anniversary with its 65th annual spring Festival of Houses and Gardens to be held March 22 – April 21, 2012. The premier event of its kind in the country offers visitors the rare opportunity to venture inside nearly 150 of downtown Charleston’s grandest and most historic private residences and gardens district during peak blooming season. The Festival of Houses and Gardens offers visitors house and garden tours, musical concerts, educational luncheon lectures, wine and spirit tastings, harbor boat cruises, plantation picnics with oyster roasts, and morning history walks.

Landscape Your Life!  Come meet America’s Landscape Alchemist, Mary Palmer Dargan, ASLA in Natchez on Thursday, April 12th.

Mary Palmer Dargan, ASLA, Author, TV personality and landscape architect, will be visiting…

Turning Pages Books & More
520 Franklin Street
Natchez, MS 39120
Thursday, April 12 at 4:00 PM

Join our TweetUp and Book Signing for a chance to WIN a copy of her best-selling book, Timeless Landscape Design.  Just use the hashtag #MeetMP

Come meet Mary Palmer Dargan in person and hear about the behind the scenes process of Lifelong Landscape Design which is to be released August 2012 in NYC!

Do you need to make your outdoor spaces work for your growing family? Are you downsizing and want to have a well-orchestrated set of garden rooms? Ask the expert on Thursday and bring a picture of your property.

Landscape Your Life!  Come meet America’s Landscape Alchemist, Mary Palmer Dargan, ASLA in Baton Rouge on Thursday, April 12th.

Mary Palmer Dargan, ASLA, Author, TV personality and landscape architect, will be visiting…

The Red Onion
15680 Perkins Road
Baton Rouge, LA 70810
Thursday, April 12 at NOON

Join our TweetUp and Book Signing for a chance to WIN a copy of her best-selling book, Timeless Landscape Design.  Just use the hashtag #MeetMP

Come meet Mary Palmer Dargan in person and hear about the behind the scenes process of Lifelong Landscape Design which is to be released August 2012 in NYC!

Do you need to make your outdoor spaces work for your growing family? Are you downsizing and want to have a well-orchestrated set of garden rooms? Ask the expert on Thursday and bring a picture of your property.

Have you heard of the “Green” Oscars? Wild South http://www.wildsouth.org/ just awarded Barry Sulkin the 2011 award for his work as Outstanding Conservationist in 2011 (TN PEER Director, TN) at the Fourth Annual Green Tie Gala and Conservation Awards! The awards recognize “conservation heroes” across the South and honor outstanding conservation work in 2011 to protect wild places.
“The nominees represent six states and exemplify dedication and passion for environmental conservation,” Tracy Davids, Wild South’s Executive Director, said in the press release announcing the finalists. “Conservation groups know that we cannot realize our vision with staff and volunteers alone. Success requires the support of each citizen who believes in the power of a South with healthy, intact ecosystems.”

Barry encouraged me and fellow Uni of Tennessean’s hike every trail in the Smoky Mountains and has been tireless in defending rivers and streams as an environmental/civil engineer for over 35 years. He dated and married the recently late Minda Lazarov ( my college room mate) and they established a land trust for their acreage in Tennessee.

A pretty cool award!