The Cutting Garden

2012-02-03T09:48:00.000-08:00

This is the first wash of watercolor. I am trying to lay down the "underneath" colors of the stone, grass, trees and path.

Here is the completed painting, with a second, more detailed layer of watercolor and some spare applications of pastel. I love this old abbey in St. Remy de Provence. It's where Van Gogh stayed in 1889 after he was released from the hospital in Arles. Here he painted 150 works of the gardens and grounds of the asylum. I'm no Van Gogh, but I enjoyed the surreal experience of painting what he painted.

Artwork

2012-01-19T16:32:00.000-08:00

I have decided that an art blog is the best way to show my latest artwork. Some will be finished paintings like this one entitled Across From Angel's Farm (from the collection of Rick and Paulette Hill) others will be works in progress showing the watercolor underpainting and then the pastel overpainting. Since we snowed in, I hope to have lots to post over the next few weeks! Please feel free to add a comment.

first snow and another 'building'

2010-11-20T15:13:00.000-08:00

Any day now the new high tunnel kit should be arriving from Farmtek...then the fun of "construction" begins...I just hope the ground won't be too frozen to pound the metal posts into the soil.

We will be planting 1,000 ranunculus bulbs in December and January to have gorgeous blooms next spring in time for Mother's Day!

first snow and a new "building"

2010-11-20T13:38:00.001-08:00

We expect the new high tunnel to arrive any day and then the fun of construction begins...I hope the ground won't be too frozen to pound the posts into the ground!

seeking seeds

2010-11-16T08:38:00.000-08:00

I found a seed co. online (http://www.gardentrails.com/) that offers Celosia Supercrest Blend, Blue alyssum, variagated bachelor buttons, and an antique variety of monarda that is light yellow with large pink bracts - sounds wonderful! My flower piggy is wild eyed with catalogs and online shopping this time of year!

2010-11-14T21:24:00.000-08:00

Trying out a new photo for the facebook page for The Cutting Garden a Wedding and Event Venue (I know, long title)

2010-11-12T16:04:00.000-08:00

2010-11-11T17:11:00.000-08:00

OK, I needed a vertical format, so here it is again

2010-11-11T16:58:00.000-08:00

I've been learning more about how to create a collage with Picasa and then uploading it to facebook. These are some of the really unique, fresh and lovely creations by Kindryn, the florist at the Cutting Garden

2009-09-04T13:27:00.000-07:00

This spectacular arrangement by Kindryn (the floral design guru here at the Cutting Garden) is a fine example of "Garden Couture"; Kindryn utilizes the myriad of plant material available here in our gardens in a sophisticated yet exciting and dramatic way.

2009-08-15T11:44:00.000-07:00

The Maids bouquets in deeper pinks

The Bridal bouquet with hydrangeas from the Cutting Garden with garden roses and lizianthus

The Groom's boutonniere

A lovely circlet of spray roses and seeded eucalyptus

2009-08-15T11:27:00.000-07:00

The Bridal bouquet of cream and white Cutting Garden select blooms plus lizianthus, stock and gardenias. Notice the lovely delicate ribbon and pearl work on the handle

The Maids carried bouquets of blue, yellow and cream featuring Cutting Garden selections plus lizianthus and alstromeria.

Kindryn created large asymmetrical sprays for the altar of the little church in Port Gamble, WA

Here is a closeup of the altar sprays featuring dahlias, blue potatoe vine, clematis, russian sage and snap dragons from the Cutting Garden.

2009-07-29T17:19:00.000-07:00

Amanda's cascade bridal bouquet

The Groom's boutonniere

The Guest book bouquet

The Maid's bouquets

2009-07-29T17:10:00.000-07:00

The maids carried hand tied bouquets of Cutting Garden select flowers

The guest book bouquet

sweet little girls in floral circlets

A lovely row end decorative bouquet

2009-07-29T17:05:00.000-07:00

Tracy and Craid were married at the Cutting Garden on July 26, 2009

This is the bridal bouquet, a cascade of cutting garden select blooms

Here is the guest book bouquet

A Mother's corsage

The Groom's boutonniere

2009-07-25T15:09:00.000-07:00

Amanda walks down the aisle with her Dad

They exchange vows

The Kiss!

They are married and off to the reception!

2009-07-25T15:04:00.000-07:00

The pergola is covered in roses and clematis

The Gardens are full of color

the groom and officiant are ready

The flower girl and her escort are coming up the aisle

2009-07-25T14:59:00.000-07:00

Amanda's cascade bouquet with fresh flowers, seed pods, stephanotis and roses.

The Groomsmen's boutonnieres

Jarrod's boutonniere

The guest book bouquet

2009-07-13T07:22:00.000-07:00

This is Kindryn, the Floral Guru here at the Cutting Garden

She created these fun buffet table decorations in an 8 ounce mason jar

Kindryn made these boutonnieres from fresh roses and our lavender - ribbon wrapped stems

And the Bridal Bouquet for Teresa; everything from the Cutting Garden except the roses and the stephanotis!

Teresa's wedding flowers

2009-07-13T07:09:00.000-07:00

Kindryn, the floral guru here at the Cutting Garden arranged the pink and lavender flowers we cut on Thursday. We bought roses and stephanotis to complete these lovely arrangements and even enjoyed using some of the peonies we had dry packed in the refrigerator a month earlier.

This is a petite centerpiece

Here is one of the corsages

The Maid of Honor carried darker purples and pinks

The Groom's boutonniere was very handsome

2009-07-05T10:23:00.000-07:00

We met Lanaya at the Sequim Open Aire Market yesterday; her favorite color is pink, so we shared a little Alstromeria with her and she gave us the gift of her adorable smile!

2009-07-03T12:47:00.000-07:00

Danielle Sherry of Fine Gardening Magazine shot hundreds of photos of our gardens for
a 2010 article about creating and maintaining a Cutting Garden.

She is a fun and sweet natured as she can be and Tom and I look forward to working on the article with her!

2009-07-03T12:44:00.000-07:00

A Friend in need is a friend in deed!

Our neighbor Kevin came to our rescue when we had 200 wedding guests arriving and no Sani-Can had been delivered....Thank you Kevin! I guess this makes him a member of the bucket brigade!

2009-06-25T11:35:00.000-07:00

I had a great time at the Stan Miller watercolor workshop in Coupeville last week - and I learned a ton!! Thanks Stan!

2009-06-25T11:34:00.000-07:00

Our neighbor Heidi really enjoys selecting her flowers from our u-cut garden and then making large bouquets for her home! Nice job Heidi.

2009-05-04T17:55:00.000-07:00

Our soil is clay and sand courtesy of the Dungeness river over eons of flooding. It gets pretty hard and packed, so before we try to roto till, we use a shovel to break it into chunks.

Next, Tom uses our little red tiller to break up the soil to a depth of about 8 inches.

Finally we spread 3"-4" of "Sequim Gold" (pure cow manure from the Smith Dairy) on the rows and roto till again. Lots of work, but it makes for easy planting and strong healthy plants. It took 3 of us about 4 hours to prep 700 row feet of soil. Tomorrow we will begin to plant out in earnest, for though it's not our 'guaranteed' last frost date yet, warmer weather is predicted for the next 5 days and our seedlings are busting out of their pots in the greenhouse.

2009-05-04T17:39:00.000-07:00

We are trying to keep the alstromeria blooms off the walkways this year using orange plastic mesh...we'll see, it looks squished to me!

The German statice is well up and thanks to our intern Marie, it's well weeded too!

It's time to tie up the peonies, we'll just have to make our days longer to get it all done!

u-cut garden prep annual plants

2009-05-04T17:31:00.000-07:00

We have lots of volunteer larkspur which will make a nice first crop - of course they will be variable colors, but that will be nice.

Here come the sweet peas, it's been a cold and therefore late spring, so the seedlings are short for May 4th

The delphinium and valerian are almost 18" tall though and should be ready for cutting by early June.

2008-07-23T07:47:00.000-07:00

We had a mystery plant in the garden last year, just a low rosette of large shiny leaves that looked quite a lot like skunk cabbage. Brooks (the gardener) and I discussed what it might be and whether we recalled planting it. Well, this year it was back with a vengeance; it grew and grew and grew with bright waxy heart shaped leaves and a 'Jack and the beanstalk' growth habit. At long last it began to set blooms and then one day, there they were - about 15 gorgeous creamy white lily blooms with lovely dark ruby red throats and a delicious fragrance. Finally I recalled that my neighbor Sally had given me one of her Cardiocrinum lily babies and the mystery was solved. The very best news is that our baby is now a Mom. She has produced 6 more little plants at her feet which we will carefully dig and divide so we can enjoy the show in other parts of the garden in years to come. Of course this time we won't plant it under a dwarf cherry tree - this spectacular lily grew to 12'

CARDIOCRINUM (kar-dee-o-KRI-hum)LILIACEAE. Giant Himalayan lilies, grown for their striking display.—Cardiocrinum giganteum. 'GIANT HIMALAYAN LILY'. The most magnificent of all lilies, reaching 9 - 12 feet tall, with racemes of 6 - 20 deliciously scented white flowers, each 6" long and nearly as wide. May & June. Large heart-shaped leaves. Himalayas, in damp, shady forest, 7500 to 10,600 feet. Easily grown in light sandy soil. Hardy to Boston. Sow in fall outdoors to germinate and give top growth the next spring. Flowers in 5 - 6 years.

2008-06-23T12:48:00.000-07:00

April and Andrea shared the joy of their commitment to each other with friends and family on Sunday June 22nd.
April's bouquet was made up of deep burgundy peonies and sage green cerinthe from the Cutting Garden while Andrea's corsage was a white rose surrounded by deep burgundy aquiligea.

The weather was bright and sunny and the snow on the mountains made a perfect backdrop to the colorful gardens.

2008-06-23T12:34:00.000-07:00

Stephanie and Reyes were married on Saturday morning June 21, 2008.
Stephaine chose a cascade bouquet of white, lavender, green and purple which
complemented her tall elegant look.

2008-06-23T12:29:00.000-07:00

Ashley and Michael were wed here at the Cutting Garden on Saturday afternoon June 21, 2008.
Their flower colors were blue, lavender and white and we had a great time decorating their cake, their flower basket and of course Ashley's bridal bouquet.

2008-01-01T09:46:00.000-08:00

Our seeds from Johnny's and Thompson & Morgan have arrived so Tom and I are building our seed cataloging and seed starting list today. Please let me know if you have a better seed tracking and seed starting scheduling tool http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=prKTQCa3BgcGh3C_57UDtUw&hl=en

I have spent hours scouring the net for seeds for this tall yellow beauty solidago canadensis...there must be a lot of sources for this seed, but I haven't found them. I would be very appreciative if you can tell me where to find them.

Tom and I are riding our bikes more and even with the chilly wind, it's fun to tour the trails and bike paths around Sequim as well as the rest of the Olympic Peninsula. The other day we rode along the Olympic Waterfront trail and enjoyed the eagles as well as a pair of otters swimming near shore.

Fall Colors at the Cutting Garden

2007-09-30T08:04:00.000-07:00

We have just held our last wedding for the summer of 2007. Though it was overcast and cool, everyone stayed dry and had a great time - impressive since the local weather forecasters were expecting gale force winds and 2"-4" of rain.

Right after the wedding Tom and I and our neighbor Mary Sue took the big top down for the year. We were glad to get it packed away in a dry condition since we expect a solid week of rain between now and next Sunday when we will be leaving for our annual vacation in the desert South West.

Next Saturday The Cutting Garden will once again be one of 9 farms on the Clallam County farm tour. We love to have all the young families come by to cut free flowers. It's our "grand finale" to the season.

The Cutting Garden Sequim, Washington

2007-06-14T07:31:00.000-07:00

Thursday June 14, 2007
Good morning,
Today we will remove hundreds of allium from the gardens; they seeded themselves too freely last summer and though they were showy this spring, we need the garden space for other beauties. We were featured in a stunning 4 page article in the June issue of Sunset magazine and we are greeting many more visitors to the garden than usual so we want the gardens to look just a spectacular in person as they do in the magazine.

In the studio, I am signing, measuring and photographing some of the paintings I created this past winter in preparation for framing them. I am excited about a couple of them in particular because they are looser and more free than my usual work. This painting, called Cloisinee Cabbage and was created from photos I took last summer in my friend's vegetable garden.