Native N.A. Plants in Landscape Designs

Leucothoe axillaris - Spring Foliage
Coastal Leucothoe

Hydrangea quercifolia - Emerging Leaves
Goosefoot / Oakleaf Hydrangea

Cercis canadensis - Pine Background
Eastern RedBud

It is possible for gardeners in eastern N.A. to successfully plant and grow ornamental plants despite heavy populations of Virginia white-tail deer (Odocoileus virginianus).

Most of the deer-resistant shrubs and small trees that are useful in built landscapes are native to eastern N.A. Fortunately for gardeners these choices are easy-to-maintain and perfect choices for informal or natural appearing landscapes.

There is also a wide choice among deer-resistant spring-flowering bulbs and herbaceous plants. Some of these are native, while others are Asian or Mediterranean.

Plant lists presented in some of the articles below are derived from my own experiences and those of trusted horticultural professionals.

Caution: No plant is deer-proof! Hungry deer will browse and even destroy deer-resistant plantings when weather is severe or food sources are meager.

• Deer-resistant Flowering Shrubs: Native North American Ornamental Shrubs of Landscape Importance

Appetites of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) include ornamental landscape plants. Choosing native deer-resistant shrubs equals landscape success.

• Eastern Redbud Trees in Landscapes: Cercis Canadensis Enrich Garden Landscapes in Spring and Autumn

Eastern redbud trees and cultivars enrich landscape gardens with varieties of form, silhouettes and unusual seasonal color. Site selection is essential for good display.

Landscapes of Love

Happy Valentine's Day

Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;
it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right.
Love bears all things; believes all things; hopes all things; endures all things.

In honor of the great saint associated with love on February 14th, Landscapes of Love
presents five historic landscapes that symbolize five extraordinary historic couples. Historic landscapes and landscape gardens usually chronicle the fashions and trends of the times that shaped them.

• England -16th Century: Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn and Hever Castle

Hever Castle & Gardens
Hever
Nr Edenbridge
Kent TN8 7NG

Resource: Anne Boleyn: A New Life of England's Tragic Queen Joanna Denny (Da Capo Press, 2006)

• 

• England - 20th Century: Vita Sackville-West, Harold Nicholson and Sissinghurst Castle Garden

Sissinghurst Castle Garden
Sissinghurst, nr Cranbrook
Kent TN17 2AB

Resource: Victoria Glendinning Vita: A Biography of Vita Sackville-West (Alfred A. Knopf 1983)

• America - New England - Late 18th and Early 19th Century: Abigail (1781-1826) and John Adams (1781-1826), and Adams National Historical Park.

Adams National Historical Park
135 Adams Street
Quincy, MA 02169

Resources: Bailyn, Bernard. First Generations: Women in Colonial America (New York: Hill and Wang, 1996)
Gelles, Edith B. Portia: The World of Abigail Adams. (Bloomington: University of Indiana Press, 1992)

• France -18th Century: Marie Antoinette,Louis XVI and the Petit Trianon
  

Resource: History of the Petit Trianon

• India - 17th Century: Mumtaz Mahal, the favorite wife of Shah Jahan, the fifth Mughal Emperor and the Taj Mahal built as a mausoleum and memorial.
  

Uttar Pradesh

Agra District

India