Meet the Brad Pitt of Bonsai

The Tennessee-born Bjorn Bjorholm travels to Japan

to pursue his love of bonsai.

Photography courtesy of Bjorn Bjorholm.

By Mitchell Owens,

Architectural Digest, Nov. 5, 2014

Most teenage boys have sports, girls, or some combination of the two on their minds. Bjorn Bjorholm, however, was obsessed with bonsai, ever since he saw one of the Karate Kid movies. “I got my first tree when I was 13—and then killed it within the first three months,” says the Knoxville, Tennessee, native. “I carried around a bonsai book all the time, too, so I was made hard-core fun of in middle school.” He also played the trombone, which didn’t help matters.

Today the 28-year-old newlywed and his Chinese-born wife, Nanxi Chen, live in Osaka, Japan, where he owns and operates Bjorvala Bonsai Studio, teaches at the Fujikawa International School of Bonsai, and has become one of the ancient tree-training art form’s most promising and unlikely faces. The tall, blond, all-American Bjorholm—some swoony followers of his Facebook page and endearing YouTube videos privately refer to him as the Brad Pitt of bonsai—was 16 when he traveled to Japan as part of a student group. There he finagled a meeting with bonsai master Keiichi Fujikawa, who was amused by the American youth’s passion for an Asian art form more than a millennium old. “If you want to be an apprentice, come back,” Fujikawa told him. The Japanese expert was joking, but Bjorholm took the comment seriously.



From left: A shohin shimpaku bonsai before; the tree after styling. To see some of Bjorholm’s proudest arboreal achievements, check out Architectural Digest’s exclusive slide show.

College followed, as did studies abroad. And all the while Bjorholm kept peppering Fujikawa with letters reminding him of their meeting and his desire to work for him. The volume of correspondence was impressive, but the bonsai master still wasn’t convinced: “I think he figured my language skills were not up to par and was concerned about my work ethic.” Eventually a three-month trial period was arranged in 2008. “I’ve been there ever since,” Bjorholm says, adding that the typical apprenticeship lasts five years. After one more year, he can be certified by the Nippon Bonsai Association.

Fujikawa’s school and nursery is a heart-stopping forest of hundreds of cloudlike, twisted, and cascading trees that tradition dictates can range in size from shockingly tiny examples known as keshitsubo to very large imperial bonsai as tall as Bjorholm himself. When he first arrived, Bjorholm says, conversation with Fujikawa was conducted through “pointing and grunting.” Today Bjorholm is fluent in Japanese, “though some days are better than others.” And, he admits, when it comes to his life’s work, mistakes have been made, the most dreadful being when he accidentally snapped off a picturesque and highly important deadwood branch on a bonsai that had taken his employer years to perfect. “My heart sank because I knew he was going to tell me to go home,” Bjorholm says. Instead Fujikawa, his face a furious red, simply turned and walked away and refused to talk to his American apprentice for weeks.

Trees destined for the bonsai treatment are either grown from seeds or cuttings or harvested in the wild. The majority end up potted in shallow containers, patiently cultivated, and laboriously pruned and shaped. (Among Bjorholm’s favorites are Pinus parviflora, or Japanese white pine, and Prunus mume, or Japanese flowering apricot.) Branches are wrapped with wet raffia, which acts like a second bark, and then are coiled and stabilized with copper wires, a material that allows them to be bent—slowly, carefully, forcefully—into poetic silhouettes that mimic, among other things, the effects of weather and time.



Bjorholm at work. Photo: Chris Malcolm

“It’s all about the movement of the trunk and the placement of the branches,” Bjorholm explains, adding that a bonsai takes decades of subtle shaping and pruning to achieve anything close to perfection. Even then, the work never ends. “People say the only finished bonsai is a dead bonsai—which you never want to happen,” he continues, noting that some bonsai are reportedly more than a thousand years old. “The trees constantly change hands, and that community effort makes bonsai a very special art form. Multiple people will work on the same tree over time, each with a different take on how the tree should be designed.”

To that end, Bjorholm travels to the United States twice a year, trips that are part teaching tour and part maintenance assignment. (He tends trees for several American clients and attends bonsai conclaves like September's national bonsai exhibition in Rochester, New York.) For those bitten by the bonsai bug and planning a trip to Japan, he suggests they head for the great bonsai collections at bonsai master Kunio Kobayashi’s Shunkaen Bonsai Museum in Tokyo, as well as in the nearby suburb of Omiya, which Bjorholm calls “a village of nurseries that function as mini-museums.” Dot not, however, ask to see his personal at-home collection of diminutive trees, because none will be found there. “My wife is supportive of my career, but she doesn’t like to get dirty and hates bugs,” he says with a laugh. “Plus, our backyard is only five feet deep and ten feet wide, just big enough for a clothesline.”

Eventually Bjorholm intends to run a school and a nursery of his own, perhaps in Tennessee, where he and his father, Tom Bjorholm, founded the Knoxville Bonsai Society when the up-and-coming bonsai master was a teen and where they maintain a collection of a hundred-odd trees. Until then, however, the engaging expat has his Ph.D. in economics to complete at Osaka University—and that prized certification to earn.

To learn more about Bjorholm and his craft, see his website, as well as the website of bonsai master Keiichi Fujikawa.

A Flower Arrangement In Sync With the Season of Hibernation

By Lindsey Taylor, WSJ, Nov. 20, 2014

Red amaryllis, a protea flower and Magnolia grandiflora
 leaves echo the bouquet depicted in Meredith Frampton’s
 1928 painting ‘Marguerite Kelsey.’
Glass Vase in Rattan Cage, from $10, jamaligarden.com.
Stephen Kent Johnson for WSJ, Styling by Lindsey Taylor. 



Meredith Frampton’s 1928 painting ‘Marguerite Kelsey’
Tate, London/Art Resource, NY.

With winter upon us, when the comfort of our homes matters most, it seemed fitting to choose an inspiration for this month’s flower arrangement that captures an interior in warmer tones.

In my research, I stumbled on the work of the under-the-radar British painter and etcher Meredith Frampton (1894-1984), born George Vernon Meredith Frampton. (He dropped his first name so he wouldn’t be confused with his artist father, also named George.)

The younger Frampton’s paintings—mostly commissioned portraits in which the subjects have a distant, meditative gaze—hold your attention with their uncluttered, borderline surreal interiors. Often a sprig from nature or a simple bouquet appears, and his palette of muted grays, somber greens, taupe and burgundy (sometimes set off with a shock of bright red) also helps create a seductive yet calming effect that settles one’s mood.

All of these elements are present in Mr. Frampton’s 1928 painting “Marguerite Kelsey,” making it the perfect jumping-off point for an arrangement in sync with the season of hibernation. I riffed directly on the bouquet in the painting, starting with a vase that mimicked its wicker-like container. For the foliage, I picked Magnolia grandiflora to match the rich green and brown-backed leaves that Mr. Frampton depicted; they’re a chic alternative to conifers during the holidays, luxurious without being gaudy or in your face.

In the vein of Mr. Frampton’s reductive style, I used the tightly closed buds of two stems of blood-red amaryllis to echo Marguerite’s shoes. I added a creamy white protea flower to reflect the glow of her skin and the short-sleeved pale tunic dress she wears. I like an arrangement that only requires a little freshening up: Add clean water and a new cut flower from time to time, and the base of leaves will last you through the thaw.

Where There’s Oak, There’s Fire - Heating a House with Wood

By Adam Bonislawski
WSJ, Nov. 19, 2014
         
How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck had a 3,000-square-foot house to heat?

Well, that depends—are we talking white oak or ponderosa pine?

Roughly 2.4 million households use wood as their primary heating fuel, according to the Census Bureau’s 2013 housing survey. And, no doubt, there’s a certain rustic charm to a wood-burning stove that, say, an electric heat pump is hard pressed to match.

On the other hand, wood involves a bit more in the way of logistics than other, more commonplace fuels.

“It’s real easy to go to the thermostat and dial it up or down with natural gas or electric,” says Jim Reeb, associate professor of forestry and natural resources at Oregon State University. “Wood is a little tougher to handle. It takes a little [work] to find a place to put it. You need to keep it dry.”

You also need to make sure you have enough to take you through till spring. A typical 3,000-square foot home uses roughly 65 million BTUs over the course of a winter, according to the Energy Information Administration, part of the Energy Department. Of course the amount varies across regions and based factors like sun exposure and insulation levels.

Breaking it down by region, homeowners in the Northeast will use around 79 million BTUs, those in the Midwest will use around 76 million BTUs, and those in the South and West will average around 47 million BTUs.

What that equals in terms of wood consumption depends on what kind of tree you plan to burn.

“In general, your dense hardwoods have more energy because there’s not as much air” in the wood, Prof. Reeb notes. For instance, a cord (128 cubic feet) of white oak contains around 30 million BTUs worth of energy—the equivalent of 214 gallons of heating oil. A cord of the softwood ponderosa pine, meanwhile, has about 17 million BTUs.

Then there’s the matter of your stove’s efficiency. EPA-certified catalytic wood stoves are 72% efficient, meaning they convert 72% of the wood’s energy into heat for warming your house.

Add it all up and the average homeowner can expect to use just over three cords of hardwood or just over 5¼ cords of softwood in the course of a typical winter.

Better get chopping.

http://online.wsj.com/articles/how-much-wood-would-heat-a-house-1416417360?mod=WSJ_3Up_RealEstate

How To Band Your Tree! - Cankerworm Prevention

Help save Durham trees from voracious cankerworms this spring!

Easy banding directions are found in this video. Get ready to apply your Tree Tanglefoot now that we have freezing temps!

Forest Hills Junior Garden Club member Max Van Horn bands a tree on Oak Drive. 
He and his mom Forest Hills Garden Club President Kim Van Horn banded 14 trees last weekend. Max plans to start a "Forest Hills Challenge," a la the ice bucket challenge, so  other kids in the neighborhood join in the effort to keep the cankerworm at bay!

Home Forcing of Potted Paperwhite Narcissus

Narcissus tazetta 'Ziva' bulbs were treated
 for a shorter forcing period (6-8 weeks).

The Forest Hills Garden Club created containers
of narcissus bulbs for their November program.



By A. A. De Hertogh, Professor, Horticultural Science
Department of Horticultural Science, NC State University

Part 1—General Aspects
“Paperwhite” Narcissus is one of the easiest flower bulbs for home-owners to force. Commercially, several types are available. Some cultivars (varieties) have pure white flowers while others have white perianths with light yellow cups. Paperwhites originate in the Mediterranean and are tender bulbs. Thus, they can be grown outside only in Climatic Zones 8 to 11. Unless one lives in one of these zones, forced bulbs should be discarded.

Part 2—Planting and Watering Instructions for Containers Without Drainage Holes
Planting - Paperwhites can be forced using 3- to 4-inch deep decorative containers that do not have drainage holes.  To force the bulbs using this system: (1) place 1 to 2 inches of washed gravel or stones in the bottom of the container; (2) carefully, place the bulbs on the gravel or stones; and (3), subsequently, place enough gravel or stones over or around the bulbs to hold them in place.
Watering - Add just enough water to bring it to base of the bulbs and subsequently, maintain it at this level.  Do not immerse the bulbs in water, only the basal (root) plate should be in water.

Part 3—Planting and Watering Instructions for Containers With Drainage Holes
Planting - Use a well drained, pH 6 to 7, sterilized planting medium. Any width pot can be used, it depends on the number of bulbs to be forced. However, use a pot that is 3 to 4 inches deep, and plant the bulbs with the noses even or slightly below the rim of the pot.
Watering - After planting, water the medium thoroughly. Then, keep it moist!

Part 4—General Home Forcing Instructions
Temperature - Initially, use a 60° to 65°F area in the home. When in flower, use the coolest area of the home.
Light - Paperwhites will flower under any light conditions.  However, for best results, initially place them in a window area with a southern exposure. When the plants begin to flower, remove them from direct sun- light and place plants in coolest area of the home.  This helps to prolong the flowering of the plants.
Fertilization - None is required for forcing.
Diseases and insects - If healthy bulbs are purchased, no pests are generally encountered.

Reference:
De Hertogh, A. A.  1996. Holland Bulb Forcer’s Guide, 5th ed. International Flower Bulb Centre, Hillegom, The Netherlands.

Winterizing the Herb Garden

By Linda Blue, Extension Agent (Buncombe County Center), Erv Evans, Extension Horticultural Associate, Jeanine Davis, Extension Horticultural Specialist
Department of Horticultural Science

Most perennial herbs require light mulch and
possibly some wind protection during the winter.
The HerbCottage.com

If treated properly, many herb plants will survive in the garden for a number of years. Others are sensitive to frost or severe cold weather and must be brought indoors, protected, or replanted each year. Annual herbs will be killed with the first hard frost in the fall. Remove dead plants in order to minimize overwintering insects and disease problems. Some frost sensitive herbs, such as basil and geranium, can be brought indoors for the winter.  Take cuttings to root or pot the entire plant.

Many perennial herbs are winter hardy in all or parts of North Carolina and can be left in the garden.  A few plants are marginally winter hardy; in a mild winter they survive but may die during a severe winter.  They can be brought indoors to overwinter.  Unless they receive adequate light indoors they may drop some of their leaves.  Lemon verbena is a deciduous plant; it will lose all of its leaves indoors.

After a severe winter, some outdoor plants such as rue, sage, thyme, and southernwood, may appear brown and dead.  The leaves may simply be dehydrated or the plant may be dead almost to the ground.  Scrape the bark of a few stems to determine the extent of damage.  If the stem is green, delay pruning until after new growth begins.

Improving Winter Survival

Most herbs benefit from a 2- to 3-inch layer of organic mulch (pine straw, coco bean hulls, hardwood bark, bark and sawdust mixture) during the growing season.  Mulch is an adequate winter protection for herbs such as mint, chives, and fennel providing protection to minus 20F.  A winter mulch helps maintain uniform soil temperatures around the root system and provides protection against heaving cause by frequent freezing and thawing of the soil.

Some herbs require a thicker layer of mulch to protect their roots during extended freezing weather. Heavy mulching before cold weather occurs should be avoided since it will keep the soil warmer and may actually decrease winter hardiness.  After the first hard freeze, apply a 3- to 6- inch layer of organic material such as straw, pine needles, or chopped leaves.  Most of the mulch should be removed in the spring as new growth begins.

Rosemary, lemon verbena, and a few other perennial herbs are not reliably winter hardy.  Extra winter protection can be provided by cutting plants back to within a couple inches of the ground after the first hard frost and covering the remaining stub with soil. Then cover the soil with a 4- to 5-inch layer of mulch. For lemon verbena, the use of a microfoam ground cover (the packing material used around fragile items also works) held down with soil works very well providing over 95% survival in most years. An alternative method is to encircle the plant with a cage of hardware cloth or chicken wire. The cage diameter should be about 12 inches larger than the plant (6 inches on each side).  Fill the cage with mulch.

Harsh, drying winds can prove as fatal as cold temperatures to some of the less cold tolerant herbs. Wind breaks can aid the survival and appearance of herbs such as French tarragon, germander, English lavender, Roman chamomile, and winter savory. Covering with a few evergreen boughs will prevent drying out of silver and lemon thyme foliage. The more cold-sensitive herbs have a better chance of survival if grown in a protected location.

Other cultural practices that influence winter hardiness include: fertilization, pruning, soil drainage, and watering.

Fertilizing - Herbs should not be fertilized after early August.  Late summer applications of nitrogen fertilizer will promote new growth that may not have time to mature before frost. The herbs will remain actively growing instead of becoming acclimated for cold weather.
Pruning - Avoid significant pruning (light harvesting is acceptable) in August which will stimulate new growth that will not have time to mature before frost.  Also, avoid severe pruning in late fall since winter hardiness is reduced until the cuts have healed. Woody plants should not be severely pruned within 4 to 6 weeks of the first severe freeze. In western North Carolina, the last severe cutting on sage, lavender, or oregano should be made before early September.  Light pruning after frost is acceptable.
Soil drainage - Excessively wet soil or sites with standing water can decrease winter hardiness of some plants.  This is especially true for Mediterranean plants such as rosemary, thymes, lavenders, and French tarragon that are adapted to dry climates. Provide adequate drainage by incorporating pine bark mulch or planting in raised beds.
Watering - Keep plants adequately watered during late summer and fall.  Drought stressed plants are weaker and are often less cold hardy.  Water during a dry winter, especially before a severe freeze.  This is especially true for evergreen plants that will lose water from their foliage on bright, sunny days even when the ground is frozen.

Horticulture Information Leaflet 8112, http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/hil/pdf/hil-8112.pdf

Croasdaile Garden Club and Junior Club Spruce Up Riverside HS Grounds

The Croasdaile Garden Club recently planted pansies, assorted bulbs and mums with their Junior Garden Club, the Riverside Special Needs Class. As always, kids and garden clubbers enjoyed a sunny day beautifying the Riverside High School grounds.

CASA Open House for Denson Apartments for Veterans, Nov. 18

CASA will soon be installing the Denson Apartments landscaping purchased in part by the Durham Garden Clubs. The Open House ceremony Nov. 18 will showcase these "green" donations to the building project.

CASA is pleased to share an invitation to the Open House Ceremony for The Denson Apartments for Veterans along with some great news:  thanks to the garden clubs of Durham's great help, the $27,000 community fundraising goal for the Denson project has been exceeded!

Durham garden club gifts will purchase plants, trees, and landscaping material for the community that will beautify the grounds for years to come. All gifts above the goal will be used to offset expenses for the retention pond and stormwater drainage necessary to complete this project.

We hope that you can join us on Tuesday, November 18 at 10:00 a.m. as we dedicate these safe, permanent homes for veterans in need. The apartments and Open House ceremony will be held at:  1598 Sedgefield St., Durham, NC. Because of your support, eleven veterans will find a safe, permanent and supportive home at The Denson Apartments for Veterans by the end of 2014.  In 2015, we will begin construction on a second building at the Denson site that will provide 12 more apartments for veterans in need.

Thank you for all that you do to improve the lives of others in the Durham community. We sincerely appreciate you taking on this project with us and your generous support.

With a grateful heart,
Debra King
CASA, CEO

To attend the Denson Apartments Open House, Please RSVP to Jack at:  jrodenfels@casanc.org, or (919) 754-9960 x43.
www.casanc.org
www.facebook.com/CASANorthCarolina

Book Review: The Gardener's Garden

Le Jardin Majorelle, Phaidon.

Granite slabs are carved with a quotation attributed to the French revolutionary Antoine de Saint-Just (‘The present order is the disorder of the future’) in Little Sparta, the garden of Ian Hamilton Finlay and Sue Finlay in South Lanarkshire, U.K., Andrea Jones.

‘Mudmaid,’ a play on Victorian ornamentation, at the Lost Gardens of Heligan in Cornwall, U.K. Julian Stephens/Heligan Gardens.

The Gardeners Garden

Authors:  Madison Cox (Introduction), Toby Musgrave (Contributor), Bill Noble (Contributor), Lindsey Taylor (Contributor)

Hardcover: 480 pages

Publisher:  Phaidon Press (October 27, 2014)

Language:  English

ISBN-10:  0714867470

ISBN-13:  978-0714867472

By Cynthia Kling

WSJ, Nov. 7, 2014

 

The one thing all gardeners lust after—whether they have a tiny terrace in Hong Kong or a gorgeous estate in Northern California—is four seasons of uninterrupted beauty. An impossible fantasy? Not according to “The Gardener’s Garden” (Phaidon), a 480-page tome with 1,300 photographs of more than 280 locations. The book was put together by a team of garden luminaries such as British perennial expert Dan Pearson and American designer Madison Cox, whose clients include the style icon Marella Agnelli and former mayor Michael Bloomberg.

  

To give landscapes an enduring sense of structure during the inevitable off-season, many of these gardeners use ornamentation—even if the term is a bit of a dirty word among the horticultural elite. This might mean colored elements, as in the brilliant cobalt blue walls and bright yellow pots at Le Jardin Majorelle, a city garden in Marrakesh, or the red-hued fiberglass panels of the New Century Garden in Palm Springs, Calif. Whimsical sculptures can add personality, whether they take the form of a massive installation like “Mudmaid,” built out of rocks, plants and soil, on the grounds of the Lost Gardens of Heligan in Cornwall, England, or just a simple, unexpected piece of gate at the Jardins du Prieure d’Orsan in Maisonnais, France. In the garden of artist Derek Jarman’s tiny English cottage, found items like rusted screws and driftwood have been transformed into enigmatic objects.

 

“A garden should stand on its own as a good space without any plants,” observed Arizona landscape architect Steve Martino, whose work is shown in the book. “Plants are incidental.” That is one of this volume’s key takeaways: Every garden needs specific pieces that stand out beautifully when the weather turns. To actually look forward to the tough seasons? Not as crazy as it sounds. With inspiring solutions like those shown here, who needs the flowers?

 

 

  

The terrace garden at Chanticleer in Philadelphia, Andrea Jones.

 

OUT OF HIDING During spring, summer and fall, the terrace garden at Chanticleer in Philadelphia is a play of yellows and greens as grasses, corydalis and climbing hydrangea jostle for space. But after the frost withers the vines, the planters along the wall and the large oil jar are revealed, creating a more serene, formal scene. If you can’t find weathered antiques like these, designer Chris Woods, who turned this hodgepodge former family place into an exuberant public garden, suggested brightly colored urns. Plant them with tall grasses for dramatic plumes all winter.

 

 

 

New Century Garden, Steve Martino.

 

No matter what ornaments you choose, they should do double duty as both functional and aesthetic objects, said Mr. Martino, who designed the desert-cool New Century Garden for a fashion designer looking for “a place to throw parties” in Palm Springs, Calif. In place of hedges, Mr. Martino installed a series of fiberglass panels that overlap vertically and horizontally to give structure to this garden of tough native desert plants. Brilliant red rectangular walls mingle with semitransparent ones, providing a backdrop against which the rugged plants can shine.

 

The sculptural features at Plaz Metaxu, in rural Devon, England, “are aseasonal,” said Alasdair Forbes, the garden’s creator. This private modern space, whose name literally means “a place that is between” in Greek, uses a range of materials such as metal chains, inscribed stones and fillets of slate across 32 acres. “The idea,” Mr. Forbes said, “is to relate to the land as tactfully and meaningfully as possible.” (When the hornbeam hedges shed their leaves in winter, for instance, they reveal standing stones that you can see from afar.) Elements like these can punctuate garden spaces, and take on different moods depending on how light changes across seasons.

 

Jardins du Prieuré d’Orsan in Maisonnais, France.
RMN-Grand Palais/Jean-Baptiste Leroux.

What exactly is that gate doing there? “It’s a trick, a tease,” said one of the book’s advisers, garden designer Bill Noble, of this secluded part of the Jardins du Prieuré d’Orsan in Maisonnais, France. “You want to know what is beyond that, and so your eye is drawn to the hills beyond.” Amid 7-plus acres of vegetable gardens, these trim hedges and lollipop trees offer a feeling of repose while framing this unexpected object. It just goes to show that a strict sense of simplicity and a flair for the dramatic can turn even a seemingly out-of-place piece of fencing into a landscaping master stroke.

Durham Council Sponsors Statewide Media Awards for 2014

"Motivate, educate and inspire" are only a few of the objectives of The Garden Club of North Carolina and its statewide member garden clubs. Others objectives include:

• To study, in all its aspects, the art of gardening, particularly horticulture, and to cooperate with agencies furthering such interest.
• To encourage environmental improvement through civic development, beautification, restoration, and the protection and conservation of our natural resources.
• To assist in educating the youth of North Carolina in the areas of garden club activity.

Awards are a small part of recognizing these efforts by North Carolina garden clubs. The Durham Council of Garden Clubs felt the need to create two awards that specifically celebrate the electronic and web-based communications by state garden clubs to promote these objectives. 

Awards for "Website" and "Blog and Social Media" were approved at the Fall Board Meeting in Charlotte on September 15, 2014. The new media awards will fall under the category: Press Books, Publications and Media Awards. (For a comprehensive list of awards, application process and judging criteria, please see http://www.gardenclubofnc.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/2013-2015_GCNC_AWARDS-6214-total1.pdf.)

Award # 172. Durham Council of Garden Clubs Website Award

An award of $25.00 will be given for the first place given by the Durham Council of Garden Clubs for the most outstanding website promoting GCNC, SAR and NGC objectives.
Directions:  Provide on the GCNC Awards Application Form your website address, who maintains the site, how often updated and the cost. Ease of navigation will be considered while judging from the site. Clubs or Councils may apply. You must indicate whether the site was professionally designed or designed and managed by club member/members.

 

SCALE OF POINTS FOR WEBSITE JUDGING

 

Presentation: Design/Appearance; attractive, engaging, easy to view, layout - 25 pts. 

Navigation: Ease of navigation, navigation system (bar, map, etc.) logical flow of pages, clear page headers, links active - 35 pts.

Achievement: Club, Group information present/ease to find, educational - 20 pts.

Promotion: Promotes GCNC, SAR and NGC objectives - 10 pts.

Maintenance: Does it appear to be updated? - 10 pts.

Total - 100 Pts.

Award # 173. Jennifer Corser Blog and Social Media Award

An award o $25.00 for first place will be given by the Durham Council of Garden Clubs for the most outstanding social media site promoting GCNC, SAR and NGC objectives. This award is named for DCGC Marketing & Media Chair Jennifer Corser, who in early 2013 revamped the content and appearance of the Durham Council Blog to now reach over 2,500-2,800 pageviews a month. She also created Facebook and Twitter pages for Council members who prefer those mediums. (Corser is also a 3-term Finance Chair and Treasurer for the Council.)

Directions:  Provide on the GCNC Awards Application Form your media address, who maintains the site, how often updated and cost. Ease of navigation will be considered while judging from the site. You must indicate whether the site was professionally designed or designed and managed by club member/members.

SCALE OF  POINTS FOR WEBSITE JUDGING

Presentation: Design/Appearance; attractive, engaging, easy to view, layout - 25 pts.

Navigation: Variety of topics relating to local, regional and state activities and events - 35 pts.                                                              
Achievement: Club/Group information present/ease to find, educational - 20 pts.
Promotional: Promotes GCNC, SAR and NGC objectives - 10 pts.
Maintenance: Does it appear to be updated? - 10 pts.
Total - 100 pts.

For more information about the mission of The Garden Clubs of North Carolina, see
http://www.gardenclubofnc.org/index.php/about-us/what-we-do

November Calendar of Triangle Gardening Programs

 

NC Botanical Gardens
100 Old Mason Farm Road, Chapel Hill, NC.http://reg.abcsignup.com/view/view_month.aspx?as=5&wp=184&aid=NCBG

Soil Ecology
Nov. 1, 9:30 a.m. - Dec. 6
Saturdays, Nov. 1, 8, 22, Dec. 6, 9:30-12:30 p.m.
This course is intended for a broad audience. Students are introduced to the complex world of soils including information on how they are formed, characterized, and populated by a wide array of organisms. An overview of soil types is presented, followed by the study of typical Piedmont soils and their properties. The various roles that soils play in both human society and ecological systems are discussed. No prerequisite. Fee: $125 ($115 NCBG members)

Holiday Tree Ornament Workshop: Leaf Garlands and Pressed Flowers
Nov. 22, 10-12:00 p.m.
Join us for a Holiday Tree ornament making workshop! Participants will create leaf garlands and make pressed flower ornaments on paper to adorn the NCBG Holiday Tree. Materials will be provided, though your own pressed flowers and leaves could add to the variety of designs. Free, but pre-registration required.

JC Raulston Arboretum

Ruby C. McSwain Education Center, JC Raulston Arboretum
4415 Beryl Road, Raleigh, NC.

http://jcra.ncsu.edu.

 

Plantsmen's Tour: "Autumn Highlights"
Tuesday, November 4, 2014 – 1:00 pm–2:30 pm
Mark Weathington, Assistant Director and Curator of Collections
Fall can be a subtle time in the garden. Take a tour of some of the understated beauties of the season. Free for members, $5.00 for nonmembers. Advance registration is not available.

"Drawing in Nature II: Drawing Theory for Better Botanical Illustration"
Nov. 1, 8, 15, 9–11 a.m. 

Preston Montague.

Drawing in Nature II is an intermediate drawing course that explores botanical illustration through the lens of drawing theory. Class I: Stronger Mark-making; Class 2: Compositional Techniques; Class 3: Color Theory-based Rendering.

Cost: $150.00 for members, $180.00 for nonmembers. Please note the registration price is for all three classes and does not include the needed supplies. To register, please contact Chris Glenn at (919) 513-7005 or chris_glenn@ncsu.edu. Payment is due at the time of registration. The class requires a minimum of six participants to proceed and is limited to eight participants.

 

"Rock Garden Nation: Rock Gardens and Rock Gardeners"
Nov. 8, 2014 – 10:00 am–11:30 am
Joseph Tychonievich.
Free for North American Rock Garden Society (Piedmont Chapter) members and Friends of the JC Raulston Arboretum members, otherwise $5.00.

 

"Plant Breeding for the Home Gardener: How to Create Unique Vegetables and Flowers"
Joseph Tychonievich.
Nov. 8, 1–2:30 p.m.
Free for North American Rock Garden Society (Piedmont Chapter) members and Friends of the JC Raulston Arboretum members, otherwise $5.00.

 

Sarah P. Duke Gardens

420 Anderson St., Durham, NC.

http://gardens.duke.edu/events.  Please call 919-668-1707 to register.

Plants of Distinction: Berries and Seeds for the Birds

Nov. 4, 2:30-4 p.m.

Learn about spectacular plants that offer both beauty and functionality. Sign up separately for each Plants of Distinction session to learn a new group of beautiful and useful plants, or take all four sections. Instructor: Stefan Bloodworth, curator of the Blomquist Garden of Native, Duke Gardens.

Fee: $7; Gardens members $5. Fee for all four sessions: $24; Gardens members $16

Information/registration: 919-668-1707 or gardenseducation@duke.edu.

Home Horticulture Certificate elective course (1.5 hours each).

 



English Garden Design course offered at the Sarah P. Duke Gardens, Nov. 4-18.



Design Strategies for an English Garden
Nov. 4, 6:30-9 p.m.

Class series: 3 Tuesdays, Nov. 4-18, 6:30-9 p.m.
Expanding upon the ideas introduced in the “Introduction to English-style Gardens” lecture, this workshop will allow you the opportunity to sketch out the basics of a plan for your landscape. The devices of definition, open ground and mixed borders will be refined with discussions of plant palette, the influence of light on color and right plant/right place approaches. Participants should plan to bring a drawing of the site they want to develop. No site should be larger than 75 x 75 feet.
Instructor: Duke Gardens horticulturist Annabel Renwick
Fee: $95; Gardens members $90. Information/registration: 919-668-1707 or gardenseducation@duke.edu.

 

Garden Guild Holiday Craft Sale
Nov. 15, 10-2:30 p.m.
Decorate your home for the holidays and find fabulous gifts for friends, including ornaments, gourd bird houses, jewelry, stationery, knitted goods and nature-focused gifts. All Proceeds support Duke Gardens. All items were made by the volunteer Garden Guild. Free admission. Parking free until 1 p.m. Further information: chemric@duke.edu .

Durham Garden Forum: I Have Elephants in My Garden, So What is Your Problem?
Nov. 18, 6:30-8 p.m.
Join us for a humorous look at gardening challenges with recommendations for solutions.
Instructor: Marie Butler, Virginia Zoo landscape coordinator
Location: Doris Duke Center
Lecture fee: Forum members free with annual membership; $10 per meeting for non-members payable to the Durham Garden Forum. For membership information, please email durhamgardenforum@gmail.com.
Information: 919-668-1707. No pre-registration necessary.

Tussie Mussie: The Victorian Language of Flowers Workshop
Nov. 19, 10 a.m.-noon
In the Victorian era Tussie mussies were used to convey messages with plants. Those could be messages of friendship, romance or disdain. Each participant will create his or her own tussie mussie bouquet using plants, seed packets, grocery store herbs and sprigs of shrubbery, all gathered with a doily and a bow.
Instructor: Marie Butler, Virginia Zoo landscape coordinator. Fee: $40; Gardens members $32. Information/registration: 919-668-2707 or gardenseducation@duke.edu.