Spring flowers have that spring-fresh texture and color guaranteed to shake winter off of you, and your spirit. No summer flowers have the blue of clear sky blue pansies, and blue lobelia. Alyssum, the crisp white smell of spring, also comes in lavender, red violet, and purple. Ornamental kales, cabbages, Angelina sedum and coral bells have robust texture and leaf color. Lettuces, parsley, and gold oregano hint of the vegetable garden to come. Yellow and vanilla butterfly marguerites are quite cold tolerant, as is the chartreuse leaved Persian Queen geranium. Annual phlox performs beautifully, blooming on into the heat of the summer. Violas come in all kinds of colors, and bloom profusely. Fresh cut pussy willow twigs, yellow twig dogwood, and artificial grassy stems provide scale and height. Pots of hyacinth, daffodils, and tulips can also be popped into a pot for their duration.
Spring is a season like no other. Give some time to enjoying it. Spring pots are a perfect for a collection of lettuces that will spruce up your salads. A collection of spring pots also helps considerably to stave off the impulse to plant summer pots too early. Most summer annuals despise cold soil and cool temperatures. For everything, the right season. Plant your spring.
Consult a landscape architect or landscape designer about the drive; be clear about your needs. Do you entertain frequently, and need extra parking? Do your kids need a place to shoot hoops, and skateboard? A driveway that doesn’t work well for you can be an irritation you have to visit every day. Once the plan for the drive addresses your needs, then you are ready to plan for a beautiful driveway.
As important a tool as geometry is my Nikon D-60 digital camera. I could not overestimate the impact this tool has had on my design work. I take endless panoramic pictures of projects. The house, the land, the placement of trees, the views out the windows-I take many more pictures than what I could possibly need, as they are as easy to get rid of as they are to keep. The camera is a single-eyed machine. The printed pictures come with edges; what I photograph is a composition. It records what we have become accustomed to, and don’t see anymore-like the trash cans on the terrace.