"McMansions" are a hot topic these days, whether the huge homes are part of new developments or the result of tear-downs amongst much smaller homes. And this letter to the Washington Post editor caught my eye the other day. The quote follows an account of visiting a new mansion in her modest neighborhood.
"The thing is, I really believe that as a community, we need to make do with less. We don’t need to heat massive living rooms with cathedral ceilings in the winter. We don’t need to dig granite from the earth to make our kitchens fancier. Most of us don’t need his-and-hers walk-in closets, home offices or designer appliances.
"The bigger the house, the bigger the waste. We waste our time maintaining the house and grounds. We waste our money on upkeep and updates. We waste precious natural resources on cooling and heating. We permanently alter the landscape around us, usually for the worse. And in most cases we keep filling our space with more stuff. Who needs that? Not me. But what I wouldn’t give for a mudroom…"
Which raises some interesting questions. Like is the writer a gardener? (Why else want a mudroom?) What about her assertion that maintaining the grounds is a waste of our time? Okay, on second thought she’s definitely not a gardener. But I have to say that her opinion that "we permanently alter the landscape around us, usually for the worse" is probably correct. Certainly that’s true of new developments – you know the ones that look like Monopoly boards with houses on otherwise empty lots? Even in older neighborhoods, tear-downs often require the destruction of large trees, though the new homeowner may end up installing more plants than were there before.
On a personal note, I faced a tiny, poorly made house for many years until it was torn down and replaced with a large but beautiful and well made home by its architect-owner, so I have mixed feelings on the subject. I mean that little house was butt-ugly. Maybe the moderate position is that it’s okay to replace bad housing with better housing, but let’s question how big the replacement really has to be because her thoughts about our excessive lifestyles are definitely on target. I await your thoughts.
His name is Peter and he grows peppers by the bushel and peck, so naturally he’s called "Pepper Pete". These beauties cooked up nicely and were eaten in one sitting, something I won’t be doing with any of the flame-throwing types he also loves and grows. My haul of giveaways also included a large bag of mustard greens and a gourd that I hope to transform into a birdhouse next spring. All this abundance gives me pause because what can I bring in from my own garden for dinner? That would be a big zip. And people like Pete and some of my fellow gardening bloggers are inspiring me to wonder why that is.
So what drives some people to grow edibles and others to grow "ornamentals," which when you put it that way sure sound frivolous. I’ve always blamed it on my shortage of sun, a problem almost everyone in Takoma Park has (we love our old trees but this is the trade-off). So for those precious spots with enough sun for veggies I choose BEAUTY. I’m writing that big and proud like I don’t feel defensive about it. After all, there’s an organic farmers’ market every Sunday and an organic grocery store two blocks away and aren’t I helping by supporting them?
Now comes the other reason, the bigger one: it’s all so healthy and it requires so much cooking. Really, I’d love to be an earth mother type, growing and cooking delicious healthful meals, but I still hate to cook, despite years of half-hearted attempts to change that sad fact. So I support my local organic co-op by buying fruit, some baked goods (starch being my favorite food group) and their frozen dinners. And I’ll cook the homegrown vegetables my friends grow and send me home with, but it better not happen too often.
Talk about impact. If I ever win the lottery I’m buying myself a gorgeous boulder. I know; my chances would sure improve if I started buying tickets.
These beauties are at the Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens in Richmond, Virginia.
Every single person who visits my garden drools over this plant. This is how it looks right now.
And to be consistent in my preachiness I’ll underline an invaluable trait this shrub-like perennial has – it’s evergreen. As late as March it’ll look almost this good.
My friend Pam recently asked me why I dislike marigolds and zinnias, two of her favorites, and it gave me an opportunity to ponder the wider implications of her question (who knew there were any?) Could it be just the tip of an iceberg of snobbery that should be exposed in the name of inclusivity? Hmm.
I’m guessing that most plant likes and dislikes are simpy a matter of personal taste, like my dislike for peonies and hollyhocks. No particular reason. But other plants I dislike because of unpleasant associations with them – like gladiolas and funerals. And some I like because of a positive association – like the mophead hydrangeas I first saw in the funky old beach town my family went to when I was a kid (Buckroe Beach, Virginia.)
But then we come to those blasted zinnias and marigolds. Partly it’s simply a dislike for the colors, especially orange, which I’ve banished from my entire property. I’m sorry, but they clash with everything I grow. And partly it’s the use of them as what we derivisvely call "bedding plants," meaning large monocultures of them, often along streets and especially at gas stations. We’ve had to look at this tired old design scheme for, oh, 50 years now? And I think we’d appreciate seeing in commercial plantings something more naturalistic, more drought-tolerant, and more varied.
But to make my case that I’m really not a snob (entirely), I offer my favorite decorated toilet from the Montgomery County Fair, which I shared with you way back in my first week of blogging. High class it’s not, but some real design thought went into this and what’s more, it’s totally fun. Which reminds me, I’ll have to show you some of the great found plumbing in my friend Carole’s garden. Carole, got any shots I can use?
Now I hope I’ve managed to agree with both Kathy Jentz’s thoughtful comment on my "Must-Miss Garden Shows" post and Amy Stewart’s interesting post on gardening as decorating. Inclusivity at work.
No, this isn’t my garden. But I can yank it off the Web and lust after it – and maybe learn from it.
"McMansions" are a hot topic these days, whether the huge homes are part of new developments or the result of tear-downs amongst much smaller homes. And this letter to the Washington Post editor caught my eye the other day. The quote follows an account of visiting a new mansion in her modest neighborhood.
