Saturday, May 30, 2009

Shut up Stupid

Last week I took a road trip down to Watsonville with my friend David Feix. This area is a mecca of wholesale nurseries.
We had the best time plant whoring at Suncrest Growers, Monterey Bay Nursery and Rosendales nursery.

I was plant shopping for a specific project and David was plant shopping because he is an insatiable plantsman and fine horticultural designer.

One of the funniest moments during the day came when we were skipping gleefully through the tropical house at Monterey Bay. David was finding the most rare and obscure plant finds and adding them to our cart.
At one point I said to him , “ Where on earth are you going to put that ? “
He looked up momentarily and said in a dead pan and slightly perplexed voice, “ It doesn’t matter where I put it, it’s a fabulous plant “ .
At that point I think I got it.
In my most comic voice I raised my hand over my shoulder and twittered my left hand while saying in a self mocking voice , “ Practical designer = Where are you going to put it “.
Then in response to ‘Practical designer’ came a voice from the right hand side that blatantly shouted “ Shut up Stupid”.

I think I finally got it.

From david's garden photos



When you are a horticultural maestro you don’t NEED a specific project to purchase a plant.
You just ‘get it’ and know that you will have the perfect garden for it in the future.

So through out the day as David came across a fabulous palm tree, a rare Crinium or some other plant that I had never seen before I would mumble , “ Where are you going to put that ? to which I would say to myself “ SHUT UP STUPID ! “

Here are a couple of photographs of some of David’s horticultural craftsmanship :

From david's garden photos


From david's garden photos


From david's garden photos


From david's garden photos


From david's garden photos


From david's garden photos


From david's garden photos


From david's garden photos

5 comments:

vuejardin said...

Wow, that's the most beautiful landscaping I've ever seen. Very creative and good taste on chosing the colors, everything just perfect!

Patrick Gracewood said...

Good gardens should have all three elements of your story: beauty, practicality, and humor. That's why your story is perfect-it's the tightrope of art and craft we walk and work. Why vs Because, and being able to laugh at ourselves.
His gardens are beautiful.

danger garden said...

Please please please take me shopping with you guys, sounds like my kind of trip! Beautiful gardens too!

Deviant Deziner, aka Michelle said...

Ok Danger,
But you have to bring your adorable pugs with you.
I'm pug crazy !

Patrick, yes, being able to poke fun at ourselves is paramount!

Vuejardin, I agree. David uses plants in a painterly fashion. He is absolutely fantastic.
He is also affectionately known as 'the horticulturist's horticulturist".
He is the first person that plant collectors and plant experts call upon when they do not know what a plant is.
More times than not, David will know the plant as well as its history and probably who found it and when.
He's an amazing plantsman.

KIMBERLEY CYR said...

I want to walk around in the photos, sit at the table, relax on the concrete bench... Please move to San Diego where you can do some good.