02 November 2009

November in the windy City

I just got back from 4 days in chicago for an incredibly awsome conference on Darwin (on the off chance that any of you are evolutionary biology nerds, I'll just say Richard Lewontin, Ronald Numbers, Marc Hauser, Doug Schemske, Jerry Coyne and Daniel Dennett, and let you drool all over your key boards)

While there, of course, I had to visit them amazing Lurie Garden in Millennium park, designed by the great Piet Oudolf. It is a revelation -- now I have absolutely no excuse for letting my garden break down into nothingness by November. I've always been skeptical about ornamental seed heads and such, but no longer. The browns of the grasses, almost black rudbeckia seed heads, and rich yellow amsonia... amazing.







Who knew November could be so lovely?

9 comments:

Darla said...

You have a great informative blog..love the illustrations to Carol's post!

Joseph said...

Thanks Darla! Glad you enjoy it. I'm having fun!

Liz said...

Wonderful photos... Oh to have a garden designed by Piet...

Joseph said...

You said it Liz! I'm trying to figure out how to incorporate some of his dramatic design ideas into my much smaller garden. Or... maybe I'll just have to make my garden a little bigger!

Laurie in Maine said...

You commented over at Hocking Hill's Garden blog: "By the way, most variegated african violets can't be propagated from leaves -- they'll come up all green.
The variegated varieties are chimeras -- they're actually a combination of two genetically different cell types, one white, one green. But when you grow from leaf cuttings, the new plants develop from just one single cell -- if that cell is the white type, they die (no green, can't photosynthesize) and if it is a green type, they're solid green."

That's not true - unless I'm missing something? Variegated AV leaves are propagated all the time by just planting a leaf as usual.
I'm confused!

I've just separated PowWow, Witch Doctor and Ramblin' Sunshine and they are quite variegated. I've never seen Variegated referred to as Chimera; pinwheel blossoms/ leaves yes. Hmmm! I don't think your advice was correct. Pat Hancock sells leaves and hybridizes the Buckeye series.

I'm a member of the online forum Violet Voice and invite further discussion/clarification at
http://violetvoice.yuku.com/directory

Joseph said...

Lurie, you may be right, I made a mistake! Most leaf variegation in plants are chimeras, and I just assumed african violets were too. Big mistake -- never assume anything about plants! Sorry for creating the confusion...

Gail said...

It's gorgeous...I have seen the Lurie in spring, summer, late summer but not like this! My son is in grad school(PHD) and is an evolutionary biologist! So I am the mom of an EB;)

gail

Anonymous said...

Oh those Amsonias!!! We were there in May when the blue Salvias stole the show. I love seeing it in fall, not one bit of a disappointment. Thanks! I am a true Pietaholic too. :-)
Frances

You were quite right about the perennial pepper being Solanum capsicastrum, thanks!

Carol Michel said...

Lovely! I saw the Lurie at the end of May when it was a big swathe of purple with accents of yellow, I wondered how it would look in the fall.