Remember all those landscape design courses I taughtat Clemson called the Clemson Certificate of Landscape Design (CCALD)? Ta-daa… they  are here for you as videos and power point shows…free!

Well, I hated to let them languish in the closet. So, we uploaded them to VIMEO… and voila, now you can have them for tune-ups and inspiration. The address is http://acald.org/ or if you just want the videos: http://vimeopro.com/dargan/landscape-design-course

Study up on landscape history, planting design, learn hundreds of zone 5,6,7,8 plants, hear me yawn, refresh your memory on footings, arbor design and remember how to draw.

Oh yes, the power points reviews are there too, so you can print a picture from the lecture. There will be a test in November, just kiddin’ !

These shows are a gift from me to you.

Redesign the world, one garden at a time.

Lifelong Landscape Design: Demo Cover for Garden Writers Debut

The Search for a Expressive Cover

High Green, Nancy and Holcombe Greens’s lovely garden in Cashiers, NC,  is the current poster child for Lifelong Landscape Design: Environments for Health and Longevity, due for release in August 2012 by Gibbs Smith Publishers.

The garden has everything…  an atmospheric waterfall, place to sit, herbs between the cracks, gentle stairs, flat surface on which to walk and beautiful plantings. The demo cover is evolving, so stay tuned!

Mary Palmer leaves this week for Garden Writers of America Annual Meeting in Indianapolis to debut the upcoming book. Over 650 Garden Writers vie for the opportunity to share contacts, hear fabulous & inspirational lectures and visit good material to write about…gardens!  www.gardenwriters.org/

Cashiers Pioneer Garden

Bring your Pickin’ Basket to the The Pioneer Garden

Kentucky Wonder Pole Beans  live up to their name! Planted in early June, they climbed the beanstalks and set 8″ pods by mid August. The kale, swiss chard, garlic chives and other useful herbs and vegetables survived attacks by crows and rabbits to flourish in the millstone garden. The birdhouse gourd tree makes a quaint statement…no occupants yet!

Mary Palmer Dargan, asla put together antibellum gypsy kettles as planters, and antique gardening tools plus a collection of rustic furniture. Hugh Dargan suggested grasses planted in the caldron kettle to mimic smoke.

The Cashiers Designer Showhouse benefits Cashiers Historical Society and is a “must visit” for both home and garden. Reflections, the historic log cabin home overlooks a scenic lake and reached along an atmospheric, mountain road. It is open until Sept 4.

For more information contact http://www.cashiershistoricalsociety.org/ or call 828-743-7710

The Joy Garden Tour  July 14-16 benefits the support of The Cashiers Village Green with a beautifully executed garden tour to exclusive mountain homes and gardens. This biannual event raises the majority of the funds for maintenance for the 12.5 acre site in the heart of little ole’ unincorporated Cashiers, NC.

Gardens in the Chattooga Club and Wade Hampton Golf Club designed by Mary Palmer Dargan are special stops along the tour of a handful of beautiful gardens. The Akitt garden, Timberline, is a spectacular series of interconnected garden terraces situated on a west facing slope. Complete with rare shrubs, flowering hydrangeas and specialty cornus, there is also a snail’s trail path and topiary deer in a buckberry forest. The Valenta garden which faces north and west toward Chimney Top mountain, is likewise situated on a series of terraces (see pathway). The garden features a collection of handcrafted bird’s houses by Walt Cottingham, a fantastic waterfall by Bob Dews and planting installation by Dustin Watson of Scotly’s Yard Nursery.

A market of hand selected garden fares opens at the gala on Thursday, July 14 and continues till Saturday July 16. Mary Palmer will do booksignings each day. http://www.villagegreencashiersnc.com/fundraisers/joy_garden_tour.htm

Mountains in Bloom is a REAL flower show, with bonus garden tour and opening cocktail party. Entries are accepted on July 7 from 8 am till noon, then the judging begins on garden photography, horticulture and floral design.

Don’t be afraid to enter! It is free and painless. The gala opening is 6-8 pm July 7 at the Bascom’s fabulous gallery. Tours begin on friday to Highlands finest. Cecile McCaull, the flower show co-chair, graciously shares her wonderful log home garden with visitors. Mary Palmer designed the arched backdrop and tweaked several areas of this large, mature garden ; Cecile added the mirror!  for tickets

www.mountainsinbloom.com or 828-787-2896

Timeless Tips for Classic Landscape Design

7pm Tuesday, May 3 Atlanta Symphony Decorator Showhouse Connoisseur Series
6:30 wine & cheese, transportation from upper IBM parking lot on 4111 Northside ParkwayAtlanta, Georgia 30327 begins at 6pm.

$25 includes tour of the spectacular showhouse. (404) 733-4864 ( or just catch bus and pay at door, no reservation necessary)

Offering useful landscape tips for any size property, any style of home or age group or income bracket, Mary Palmer is know for animated lectures on landscape design. Tonight she will discuss the language of the land and how man has traditionally divided his home landscape into four parts: the approach and arrival sequence, hub, perimeter and destinations, and passages.

Tips include how to enhance your property value…forever…by working out the seamless relationships between the classic four parts.

Dargan Landscape Architects has specialized in the fine art of landscape design since 1973.   decoratorsshowhouse.org/index.php?id=connoisseur-series

Book signing to follow.

It took 250 craftsmen and experts, to transform this property known as Lotus House, over a year’s period.

All proceeds from the Decorators’ Show House & Gardens benefit Atlanta Symphony Orchestra

Dargan Lagnaippe ( LandYap)

Horray for the tenors, the sopranos and the full chorus!The Southeastern Flower Show opened last night to the full compliment of bugles and drums.Music filled the air as the Mary and Felton Norwod, co-chairs of the 24th annual event, pulled out all the stops. The show theme is In Tune with Blooms and will keep you humming all spring. Located in Atlanta,GA’s Cobb Galleria, an easily reached destination with free parking, the flower show appeals to all comers. This special opportunity to see a JURIED flower show, a rarity in the world of mass-market home shows, tips the scales. Large landscape exhibits and discovery teaching and environmental exhibits will tantilize you to start new spring projects in your garden.

Every plant entered is scrutinized for its proper botanical name. Any “moving violations” (bugs!) noted, treated and removed before passing onto the show floor. Seasoned experts from 22 states reviewed the hundreds of anonymous entries and award ribbons and trophies. Daffodils, hyacinths, quince, azaleas, african violets, herbs, cactus, bonsai and many more botanical treats await you. Hellebores alone had over 30 entries.

Not only flowers, but a stellar juried Photography exhibit awaits your view and the highly vetted Shopping Mart will loosen the purse strings. The Artistic Floral exhibits include niches with musical themes, large mass arrangements, windowboxes, doorways and a host of smaller classes of stunning entries in the fine art of flower arranging. Those are a Wow on their own!

Honor Awards received last night included the Franklinia Award to Caroline ( Mrs, Harry) Gilham, former show chair and board member, for her contributions to the Southeastern Horticultural Society.  The Cherokee Garden Library, a project of Cherokee Garden Club (GCA) located at the Atlanta History Center, received the highest award for its contribution to Southern Garden History. Pictured is Cherokee member, Terri Bond putting finishing touches on the stage set of the library’s public face at the show. The “lamp shade” is decorated with antique musical manuscripts from redundant hymnals.

Tips on how to produce a winning entry. On a personal note, Hugh and I exhibit regularly at the SFS and even sponsor a landscape trophy. It is easy to enter and fun to win. Cut specimens are brought from our garden into the kitchen; the stems not quite in bloom sit in a vase on a heating pad, others sit in the refridgerator to preserve the blossoms. It is easier to slow them down than to speed them up! Hellebore stems are seared in very hot water for a few seconds to seal and release the air lock to promote turgidity and freshness. Judges are usually generous with awards, so if your precious pet is in mint condition (no blemishes on the leaves, no torn petals), bring it to the party! Our family garners lots of bride’s maids (whites), but occasionally we manage to win a blue. This year it was for a Texas Ebony, a tropical 6″ bonsai; my first really small pet. Please come visit it and the many other worthy entries in Ultimately Small, a new class from homes with small spaces.

Let the Show BEGIN!!!