Branching Out in New Directions
Gardens friends find joy in gardening, generosity and art during the pandemic.
My chrysanthemum obsession first began at the 2018 Festival of Fabulous Mums organized by Duke Gardens and the Central Carolina Chrysanthemum Society in the Doris Duke Center. I was astounded at the size and diversity of the blooms, and I left the show with my first two mums. Last year I expanded my collection to 18 varieties, and in January I ordered 13 more.
While chrysanthemum society meetings moved to Zoom, we were able to share mum cuttings by carefully scheduled, contactless pickups. Now my collection has blossomed to 51 varieties.
Usually I have two plants for each variety, so now I have more than 100 potted mums stashed all around my yard. It has been quite an undertaking to care for this many plants.
Mums can be a challenge, but they are also forgiving and rewarding. Maybe with what I have learned this year, I will be able to grow a bloom worthy of entering in next year’s National Chrysanthemum Society Convention, which is tentatively scheduled to be held in Durham.
Cindy Richards
Duke Gardens Volunteer
My chrysanthemum obsession first began at the 2018 Festival of Fabulous Mums organized by Duke Gardens and the Central Carolina Chrysanthemum Society in the Doris Duke Center. I was astounded at the size and diversity of the blooms, and I left the show with my first two mums. Last year I expanded my collection to 18 varieties, and in January I ordered 13 more.
While chrysanthemum society meetings moved to Zoom, we were able to share mum cuttings by carefully scheduled, contactless pickups. Now my collection has blossomed to 51 varieties.
Usually I have two plants for each variety, so now I have more than 100 potted mums stashed all around my yard. It has been quite an undertaking to care for this many plants.
Mums can be a challenge, but they are also forgiving and rewarding. Maybe with what I have learned this year, I will be able to grow a bloom worthy of entering in next year’s National Chrysanthemum Society Convention, which is tentatively scheduled to be held in Durham.
Cindy Richards
Duke Gardens Volunteer
This year, I decided to try the Piet Oudolf method of letting the garden get a bit more wild and seeing how the pollinators would like it. This meant allowing some more random growth, including things like milkweed taking hold wherever it pleased. It was a rocky start, and in mid-July which is usually peak beauty, my gardens were a tangled mess.
After a few weeks of selective cutting back and moving a few things, it turned out to be very different than in previous years, but the bird and bee activity was exponentially increased. Sadly, I only had a few monarchs, but I’m hoping next summer is a little better.
Marty Gendell
Garden Gateway Campaign Committee Member
I have mountain mint plants (probably Pycnanthemum muticum) that were given to me by Edna Gaston, a long-time Duke Gardens volunteer. This summer, I potted up some of them, as well as some lovely St. John’s wort (probably Hypericum frondosum ‘Sunburst’) that I am sure came from a Duke Gardens plant sale. Both plants are native cultivars and wonderful pollinator plants.
After a couple of months, I offered them to neighbors. And when our butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa) went to seed, I offered those to neighbors who have pollinator and native plant gardens.
I also noticed that more neighbors were out walking, so I decided to create some interest at the end of our driveway by “decorating.” When the dollar stores opened back up, I indulged in gaudy pinwheels and a flock of pink flamingos.
The concrete lions that sit atop the brick pillars at the end of our driveway have also been decorated with various accessories through the summer and fall.
Nan Len
Duke Gardens Volunteer
I have mountain mint plants (probably Pycnanthemum muticum) that were given to me by Edna Gaston, a long-time Duke Gardens volunteer. This summer, I potted up some of them, as well as some lovely St. John’s wort (probably Hypericum frondosum ‘Sunburst’) that I am sure came from a Duke Gardens plant sale. Both plants are native cultivars and wonderful pollinator plants.
After a couple of months, I offered them to neighbors. And when our butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa) went to seed, I offered those to neighbors who have pollinator and native plant gardens.
I also noticed that more neighbors were out walking, so I decided to create some interest at the end of our driveway by “decorating.” When the dollar stores opened back up, I indulged in gaudy pinwheels and a flock of pink flamingos.
The concrete lions that sit atop the brick pillars at the end of our driveway have also been decorated with various accessories through the summer and fall.
Nan Len
Duke Gardens Volunteer
One of my creative outlets in addition to photography is kiln-formed glass. I typically make jewelry and garden stakes, smaller pieces from the cut-offs of my husband’s large art sculptures. But with COVID-19, I felt the urge to make something that would convey a sign of the times.
I looked around the studio and saw pieces of glass with rolled edges. Layering these would look like a face mask! Add ear loops with a couple of stringers (thin rods of glass) bent with a candle, and I could make a complete face mask. After completing the mask, I realized something was missing – the reason for the mask. I looked at illustrations of the COVID-19 virus and using frit (crushed glass) in red and gray made several virus particles. They sit behind the mask, which is where they should remain when the mask is worn correctly.
Creating works of art in glass is not a substitute for the peace and calm of walking in the Gardens, but it allows me to recognize the time we’re living in, and to remember it in a unique way.
