Picture Perfect Gardens

I’ve been working on a new design for print testing. The star is my hens and chicks plant, shot outside earlier this month, before the snow started again. It’s been blanketed with the white stuff several times since then. Gardens are a passion of mine. They are the inspiration for my artwork.

There’s a new book about garden photography, reviewed recently in the Times. The book’s called The Photographer in the Garden. What’s notable is the reviewer’s correct conclusion that nature photographers vary tremendously in what they’re looking for in a garden, which of course, drives the results.

Artists who choose nature as subject are widely varied in their approach-running the gamut from a detailed look at a very ordered environment to the sort of floral eroticism people associate with the work of painter Georgia O’Keefe. The point is that the resultant images speak primarily about the shooter and her relationship to nature.

Floral photography has never and will never go out of style. As a gardener, I choose the flowers and plants I like to grow, and that thrive in the climate and lighting we have here in Connecticut, Zone 5. (Until I find a good price on a greenhouse lol).

The outdoor garden at the Getty Museum above LA displays the concept of a formal garden (although much more grand) – with towering rebar structures that offer a permanent grand presence and abundance of flowering vines.

So what motivates me in my garden? I first started beds at the property entrance but especially with those far from a water source, it’s been challenging to maintain them.

The formal garden is particularly of interest (close to the house) as the defined beds and gravel walks provide a template for order, and for what I hope will become a profusion of favorite colors throughout the growing season. It also offers a predictable backdrop that remains all year long. Evergreens are important for the same reason. They stand their ground and you can count on their shape and color for constancy. My greens are either very slow growing or dwarf pines, that lead a simple life- no pruning required. Order is an essential ingredient in a garden because it frees one to indulge in what she like best, nurturing flowers. And having time left over to romance them with a macro lens in search of the sunlight hidden in the folds of their petals.

Chris Smither has been around- a well-traveled American folk/blues singer songwriter. His song, No Love Today, is an interesting fit with gardening. “I hate to disappoint you, no one will sell you what you need. You can’t buy it off the shelf- you got to grow it from seed.” (or local bedding plants). Love his guitar playing too. He’s on tour. A great performer to tune into. Enjoy the guitar playing too.