Thank you, Stan. The trees with the deep pink blooms are 60" standard rose trees grafted with “Red Fairy”. 60" standard rose trees are just about impossible to find, now. Rose growers took a terrible hit during the recession, and these were the first to go. They have gotten so huge and heavy, we’ve had to drive down two large and very tall rebar stakes into the ground to support each of them. That was quite the project! I’ve re-homed my artichokes, now, and they are on the adjacent slope, next to my Parterre garden.
I agree, and I think if you had originally posted in this demeanor, you’d not see such a negative reaction from your post.
Well - you’ve put the challenge out there, pointing your finger at American orchards. As the saying goes, if you point one finger, there are four pointing back at you. The assumption is, you have a different sort of “beauty”, so the expectation is for your readers to see that. And, I think the point many folks have made, is that your type of “beauty” is both inadvisable, as well as high-maintenance. It may truly not be an easily attainable aesthetic, so we’d all like to see how you managed it.
And not in a good way, Naomi Words are powerful. You can use them to create a thoughtful and lively discussion, or you can use them to provoke. That is the crux of the issue folks had with your OP, starting with the Subject line. Yes, I think your alternative Subject line is much less insulting and less designed to provoke. The technique to be provocative in internet forums does fall into the “troll” category, as one of our list members aptly observed, and it does feel that way in your post. And, based on your further comments, this was intentional on your part. That’s not the tenor or purpose of our forum - to be provocative. And, [quote=“Naomi94, post:116, topic:9309”]
Why are American Backyard Orchards so Aesthetically Challenged?. Does that please thee ?
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being nasty in reply certainly will not gain you any traction, here. If you had entitled your post, “Why does it seem Many Backyard Orchards are Less than Beautiful to Me?”, leaving out the finger-pointing of American orchards, gardeners, hobbyist orcharders, etc., I think folks would not have been so offended. You can gain just as much traffic by being thoughtful and questioning, without having to resort to provocation and accusations. Just a poor tactic, and really isn’t going to get you a good blog following. I, too, have a blog within a different hobby, and I would never think of insulting or accusing a large group of my followers in this way. I’m lose followers pretty darned fast.
Your tulips were lovely - they can be short-lived and not re-bloom in certain areas, as they are rather picky about their climate, but I adore them, and would love to plant them here if I could. Unfortunately here, they would be gobbled up by our high gopher population, and probably not re-bloom here, either, if they survived. So, I plant daffodils and narcissus, which do re-bloom, and are poisonous to gophers. In fact, I can even get Paperwhites to re-bloom consistently here - very, very unusual, and I count myself super lucky! Not under my trees, but in my landscape. Please continue to post photos of your garden, we would love to see it. That’s what we’re about here. Lavender planted nearby is a great choice, as it will attract pollinators for your stone and pome fruits that require cross pollination. Plus, it’s pretty, smells lovely, and can be harvested and dried for cooking or for sachets. Rosemary is another good choice, especially if you happen to have 4 legged critters (like deer) in your area.
This part of the forum is not for politically charged posts. We do have an area, the “Lounge”, where we can post things of a more off-topic nature, we just ask that folks remain polite, respectful, and do not make personal attacks. So, let’s leave these sorts of provocative, politically-charged comments out of this thread, please.
Okay. So, going to ask everyone, not just Naomi, to steer away from personal attacks, personal criticisms, or deliberately provocative comments designed to cause knee-jerk retorts. Both Mike and Marcus have been quite succinct, and I think we’ve pretty much exhausted the negative side of this thread. So, let’s continue to discuss the positive side - how we make our orchards and gardens aesthetically pleasing to us. I think we can all agree to do that, no?
HollyGates, I was waiting to see photos of your garden. I love what you’ve done in a relatively small footprint. Very clever, taking advantage of every square foot, and very beautiful to boot. I just love all the stone work, so gorgeous.
Thank you, Lois! We do have some really incredible gardens/orchards from our list members. I’m always in awe of others’ gorgeous gardens & orchards. I got to tour Richard’s garden, and his trees are so perfectly pruned, I am jealous. Totally perfect height, nice and open. And, he has smartly planted attractive pollinators in between his trees, like in the “corners” of his trees. So, dual purpose - attracts native pollinators (as many are natives), and makes those bare corners look very pretty.
I’m with you, Tom. Even though I am a huge rose enthusiast, there still is nothing like a Peony. I really really miss being able to grow them here in S. California. When I was little, and living in Vancouver, BC, my grandparents had an entire rose of peonies on one side of their house. OMG. And, when I lived in Indiana, I grew them and they were in everyone’s yard. Goshen College had an entire bed of peonies all planted around one of their landmark signs. I used to walk across the street when I worked at the hospital to sit on the bench next to them, to eat my lunch. Just heaven. Thanks for sharing.
@applebacon – eventually every plant has a use. You just have to find the use – and that use may not even be obvious because nobody has tried it. Lavender and rosemary make great herbs for cooking (and they look great too). The crocus flower (not remembering which specific crocus a the moment) is where saffron comes from — also a great ornamental plant. The vanilla bean comes from an orchid species. Several alliums make great flowers and of course you can eat the bulb. I could rattle off a bunch of flowering plants that have ornamental and practical use.
I think my garden is beautiful. I have way more fruits (and vines) than any
Thing else.
Some edibles are pretty. Apple trees, my contorted hazelnut and jujube are good examples. Some edibles have their season, but for most of the year are not so pretty. My kiwis are not pretty plants. Sure, in bloom and when filled with fruit they aren’t bad, but they are weedy at best, even then.
This is why I have so many vines. I have clematis and other flowering vines growing up and through many of my other plants. I also have a large perennial area, to attract beneficials and for aesthetics, but I don’t follow horticultural rules (growing in odd numbered groups, etc). I’m more of a collector of the unusual and one of an interesting plant is generally more affordable and less space intensive (in my 1/8th acre).
For me practicality if the greatest aesthetic. I grow what I like and siting it in a place it might thrive is more important to me than whether it’s flowers/foliage will clash.
I’m young enough to let my work in progress develop and refine its appearance should that ever become a priority.
One of my growing challenges is the addition of citrus to my garden last year. For me to be able to grow citrus with realistic hope of success on account of my Zone 8B Climate, my citrus trees have to be close to my house on the South Side which is where my main flower beds are. Last year my Mexican Sunflowers and tall black India cannah lilies kept creating too much shade on my citrus. So this year, I’m having to rethink how I organize my garden so that I have my flowers and fruit too. I’ve already given up the idea of most vegetables on account of my fruit trees and grape vines. There is just no space. Anyway, as someone has already said, gardening is a constant moving target.
Another outlet for my gardening juices, the Georgia Southern Botanical Garden has just asked me to take the lead at helping them start their heirloom fruit collection. That’s another moving target because we the Garden has limited space, but we also have potential partners who might offer space for housing parts of the collection. God bless.
I decided to check out this topic because HQ was not pleased about it, and I have to admit that I am not offended by Naomi, although the wording of the topic seems silly or baseless. Are there enough backyard orchards in Seattle and has Naomi visited enough of them to establish the aesthetic standards of even the orchards in that one city. However, I have had clients come back from places like Portugal and rave about how beautiful the dwarf fruit orchards look there. But they are only comparing them to their own free standing orchards that somewhat defy a formal look.
That said, I believe I manage scores of very beautiful orchards, some in the middle of formal landscapes that cost up to a million a year just to maintain. The most beautiful one to me is on top of a mountain with a view forever of nothing but other mountains above Canaan CT. It is on a hunting preserve and large 10 acre plus clearings have been carved out of forest to provide deer with forage. Many of the apple trees I’ve grafted from naturalized crabs and are full sized trees with up to 30’ spreads.
The most beautiful orchard I have in a formal setting, couldn’t be more formal- it is in Greenwich CT. The apple trees were purchased from a commercial orchard that did not have a skilled pruner. It took me 5 years to rebuild the scaffold structures to fairly symmetrical and economic shapes I manage the trees like free standing espaliers because they were originally planted too close. Below there is a rose garden- tea roses and climbing roses on arbors, the trees are above a stone wall with another stone wall behind them. I will try to get a picture of the set-up in the next couple of days.
Words are powerful. You can use them to create a thoughtful and lively discussion, or you can use them to provoke. That is the crux of the issue folks had with your OP, starting with the Subject line. Yes, I think your alternative Subject line is much less insulting and less designed to provoke. The technique to be provocative in internet forums does fall into the “troll” category, as one of our list members aptly observed, and it does feel that way in your post. And, based on your further comments, this was intentional on your part. That’s not the tenor or purpose of our forum - to be provocative. And, [quote=“Naomi94, post:116, topic:9309”]
