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bindersbee

Need help with pictures of waterwise gardens

bindersbee
16 years ago

I'm in need of some help. I will be teaching a waterwise gardening class this spring for a local conservation garden. While I have some images of my own, I think I'm going to need some additional ones to really convey the idea that waterwise doesn't mean cactus and lava rock.

I don't want to 'lift' photos off the internet because I think it's important to do things legally. I have permission from Lauren Springer Ogden to use a couple of the more simple images from her book but I can't use any that show and 'overall' design. So, I'm in the market to find a few more.

Does anyone have some good photos that you'd be willing to share? I will, of course, give proper credit for the photo. If you don't have any of your own images but have someplace to direct me to look for more, I'd appreciate it. Photos really make all the difference for a presentation. Thanks!

Comments (17)

  • bpgreen
    16 years ago

    You can probably get permission from some of these places

  • nrynes
    16 years ago

    I have some images of my own garden on another computer. I can e-mail you high-res images for your use as long as they're credited :) I'll make sure to add some explanations and info on the garden (elevation, soil, challenges). I had taken quite a few with the intention of doing the same thing you are! Once you get the pics, please let me know if you need more information :)

    Nancy

  • xericjean
    16 years ago

    Our son was getting married in 2004, and the dirt strip at the bottom of the hill could no longer be ignored, and that was the beginning! That spring, I planted around 45 or so different xeric perennials (about 150 actual plants) in that 12'X100' strip, and, not content with that, in 2005 (the year I retired from teaching), I embarked on a whole research project, took classes, bought 21 xeriscape books (Lauren Srpinger Ogden is my idol!), dug up our entire front yard and planted 51 different kinds of plants for a total of 171 actual plants in the front yard. During that time, I didn't touch the backyard, and the plants flourished (I'm not sure what the lesson is there!).

    My requirements were:
    1) every plant had to be more or less xeric
    2) none would require extensive soil amendments
    3) prefer native, but not fanatical about it (what? no S. African ice plants?)
    4) no cactus, succulents, or rocks (born and raised in SE COÂenough said)
    5) flowers vitalÂas many as possible as long as possible
    6) winter look important
    7) no annualsÂI turned out to be a perennial kind of person
    8) as maintenance-free as possible and still live

    That about covers it. I'm generally pleased with the way it turned out, and the design is entirely mine, for good or ill. I enjoyed sitting on the couch in the winter using my Inspiration webbing program from school to design it. I love planning and organizing, so this fits me amazingly well. So what you see is what I like, although it has changed some with mistakes I made, dying plants (the first dead ones were very traumatic), etc. I'm also going to add more ornamental grassesÂI love them! I had never, ever gardened before, and my friends couldn't believe it. So far, the neighbors have been very supportive, but we live in an old neighborhood, so there's room for error!

    You're welcome to use any of the pictures on the link I'll put below (my first link, as I just joined, so I hope it works). There's other stuff there, which you're welcome to look at, but the main ones are the North Forty (2004) and the South Forty (2005). I wrote captions naming every plant and something about it, so if you go through it manually and don't use Slideshow, you can get that info below each picture. I never dreamed others would look at it, so please excuse any mistakes...and good luck with your class. Wish I could comeÂyou can never know it all!

    xericjean

    Here's the link. I think you have to type in xericjean in the upper right-hand corner.

    Here is a link that might be useful: xericjean's xeric flowers

  • pinepixy
    16 years ago

    Xerijean, I love your garden! Your pictures have given me some inspiration and even introduced me to some plants I didn't know about. You mentioned above that one of your requirements was winter interest. How does your garden look in the winter?

    Well done!

  • highalttransplant
    16 years ago

    Xericjean,

    Thank you so much for sharing your pictures! Isn't it amazing how fast everything fills in? The photos of your backyard remind me of the pictures in the High Country Gardens catalog!

    My beds aren't completely xeriscape, but I do have a lot of the same plants as I found in your photos. If I had to guess, I would say mine is 70/30. That's not counting the lawn though. The plan is for it to get a little smaller each year. Like you, I definitely practice tough love gardening. If the plants need babying, they're in the wrong place, LOL.

    Awesome job!

    Bonnie

  • digit
    16 years ago

    I'm not sure what happened but I got to smugmug.com.

    It only appeared to be the outfit's homepage . . .

    digitS'

  • xericjean
    16 years ago

    Thanks for the kind words, pinepixy and highalttransplant. I'll take some winter shots and see if I can post themÂyet another first!

    xericjean

  • xericjean
    16 years ago

    digitS', I'm not sure this will post correctlyÂhope so. I couldn't get it to go directly to my spot without a password...

    xericjean

    Type xericjean in the Search box in the upper right-hand corner in order to go to my pictures.

    Here is a link that might be useful: xericjean's xeric flowers

  • bpgreen
    16 years ago

    Here is a link directly to xericjean's albums.

  • digit
    16 years ago

    Very pretty, Jean! You've been very busy.

    Corsican violets, eh? What a broad range those perennials have! Do you find them safe without irrigation?

    digitS'

  • xericjean
    16 years ago

    Thanks, Digit! I've followed your postings, BTW, and deeply admire your way with numbers!

    Do you have Corsican Violas up there in Idaho? If so, do they bloom even in winter? That's something I love about themÂan unexpected little purple face smiling up at me through the snow.

    They do want more water than I want them to want (?), but I've noticed that they can easily be resurrected when I've ignored them and then guiltily dump lots of water on them to make up for it. They're very forgiving. I feel like nicknaming them 'Lazarus".

    They also love to go visiting all over the place, and I've had them pop up in the midst of, well, anywhere, but they're easy to control, and besides I like the informality of it all. I think I'm still at the stage of just being happy that they're happy, if that makes sense.

    xericjean

  • digit
    16 years ago

    You know what, Jean, I'm not familiar with Corsican violets at all! They must be what I've seen around just a little in some landscape plantings. I thought all violets are pansies! (No, no - my lawn violets can certainly handle Winter! ;o)

    If they are really tuff and can live from the shores of the Mediterranean to the heights of the Intermountain West - wow! They beat johnny jump-ups!

    BTW - there are others here who can work with numbers and not get lost. I can only count on my

    digitS'

  • bindersbee
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    Thanks to those who have responded. Xericjean- there are a couple of photos I'd love to show. Particularly the grasses in the backyard- those photos really show how xeric plants can capture the light and make a landscape sort of 'shimmer'.

    BP green- thanks for the link. I'll let everyone at Conservation Garden Park know that the first link I got was back to our gardens! The class I'll be teaching is for the first garden you linked! LOL! We're expanding that garden to 10 acres (I'm on the Advisory Board for the foundation) and it will be absolutely stunning when we're done. Eventually there will be a 'green' building on the grounds where more extensive public education classes etc. will be taught but for now, we're just raising awareness about the gardens and teaching a few classes.

  • stevation
    16 years ago

    Bindersbee, I was at the fancy sunrise breakfast meeting last summer (or was it early fall?) when the water conservancy district showed off the plans for the garden expansion, thanked some big donors, and took us all on a little tour. That was my second time taking a tour there. Cindy Kindred, who does their PR, invited me to the event. She knew I love gardening. Conservation Garden Park is a great resource!

    Anyway, were you at that breakfast meeting, too? I do political work (public policy research) for a living, and it was fun talking about personal gardening hobbies with some of the legislators who came. It's a nice break to learn something personal about folks I work with on a professional level.

    Anyway, I have a lot of respect for the way the Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District works to promote water conservation. They've put significant resources into doing it well.

  • bindersbee
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    Stevation-

    I was not at the Sunrise Breakfast. The fancy-smancy fundraisers aren't my thing. I know it's how it's done but I just want every dime to go to the gardens. I've worked with Cindy Kindred and she's great!

    It would seem we have a lot in common besides plants. I'm also fairly politically active. It's partly what got me involved with the gardens in the first place. I've done other community fundraising work so marrying that with my love of gardening, it just seemed like the perfect 'cause' for me. My sister is the Campaign Manager for a Congressional Candidate in the 3rd district who will be helping this state finally rid itself of the incumbent. Time to send someone better to Washington. Not typing any names in here because I know they all have 'google alerts' for everytime their names are mentioned online- kwim?

  • stevation
    16 years ago

    So, without naming names, is your sister's candidate the one who was the current governor's campaign manager or the one who is the former governor's brother? I'm interested in hearing from both of them.

    But on another note, if you're interested in community activism related to gardening, I've been thinking a lot about something I read in the Des News last September. This is what I wrote in my blog about it:

    The Deseret Morning News published an editorial on Sept. 15 calling on Salt Lakers to participate in planting one million trees by 2017. The county and a number of cities have endorsed the effort. I hope there is some plan in place. They need something like the Sacramento Tree Foundation, which did great work when I lived out there. It had partnerships with the local electric utility to provide free trees to homeowners as a way of conserving energy. They would make the homeowners attend a class on tree planting and care, or they would send an arborist to a neighborhood to do a demonstration for a bunch of people. They would even mark the spots on your lawn where a tree would do the most good in terms of energy savings by shading windows. Maybe I should start such a foundation.

  • zone_denial
    16 years ago

    Hi bindersbee

    Here is a link to a xeric garden I've been putting together for a couple of years. Most everything there is just coming out of dormancy from the huge snowy winter we just survived.

    Alan

    http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/utgard/msg0221293917808.html?2