Garden Design Jan-Feb-11

5 “Wonderful Wood,” Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, Scotland. Celebrate the International Year of Forests at this exhibit of tree-focused art. Through January 31. Info: rbge.org.uk. 12 anniversary: Reel Lawn Mower 1868, Hartford, Connecticut. Amariah Hills received the first U.S. patent on what he called the Archimedean lawn mower; its spiral-blade reel technology is still used today. 25 “A Genius for Place,” The Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens, Jacksonville, Florida. Robin Karson's book A Genius for Place: American Landscapes of the Country Place Era is the seed for the exhibit opening today. Through April 24. Info: cummer.org. 25–28 IPM Essen, Messe Event Hall, Essen, Germany. This four-day flower show is Germany's largest, filling 16 exhibition halls. Info: cha-hort.com/ipm.htm. 3 Chinese New Year, Lan Su Chinese Garden, Portland, Oregon. Ring in…

E-mailing, texting, social networking, Web surfing, video-taking—smartphones are evolutionary wonders of mobile communication. But for all their technological wizardry, when compared with a humble plant, are smartphones really that smart? Take that denizen of the bogs, the pitcher plant, shown below. A prodigy of evolution, the pitcher has adapted to nutrient-poor, swampy conditions with its ability to lure, capture, and digest insects that fall into its trumpet-shaped stalk. And though it's a killer, it charms gardeners with its delicate, colorful form. Which has the real smarts? Maybe we should check back in ten years and see which one is still around. Meanwhile, here's a point-by-point comparison. energy use Power-hungry mobiles require a menagerie of dongles and chargers, plus batteries. Last year they burned through enough electricity to power 240,000 U.S.…

The fern is a modest sort. It creeps below the forest floor, surfacing now and then to unfurl its foliage. It eschews heavy perfume and bright flower, opting instead for basic green. Indeed, I always thought of the fern as ordinary. It wasn't until I crouched down to study the fern's fretwork foliage, its ancient history, and its odd habits that I came to see it as anything but. The fern maintains its own lingo. While other plants make do with stem, leaf, and shoot, the fern prefers rhizome, frond, and crosier. No unseemly pollination for the dignified fern. It procreates via “alternation of generations,” sending its dustlike spore wafting on air; upon landing, the spore grows into a tiny plant called a prothallus, which produces the familiar fern. “It…

The Victorian naturalist—that inveterate collector of specimens, cataloguer of species, and keeper of sketch-filled notebooks—is back. You'll find him or her browsing in carefully curated shops that have sprung up around the country to provide all the necessary accoutrements. One of my favorites is Darr in Brooklyn, New York, a contemporary cabinet of wonders assembled by owners Hicham Benmira and Brian Cousins. Moving through the shop's appealing jumble of antique lab equipment and furniture, taxidermied birds and beasts, and other curiosities provides a palpable sense of what it was like to live in an era when our understanding of the natural world was dramatically expanding, and yet anything and everything you might want to know or possess wasn't immediately available for download. Spanning the reign of Queen Victoria, which lasted…

After ten years of weekend gardening in New York State's Mid-Hudson Valley, where my wife and I lovingly tended our peonies, our bleeding hearts, several rows of garlic, and a few other plants that were unappealing to the local fauna, the economy imploded and we both found ourselves unemployed. What had seemed such a necessity—a place where we could get our hands in the dirt and breathe deeply—was suddenly an extravagance. I'd been the drinks editor at Gourmet magazine, which folded in October 2009, and my wife, Marella, was an independent curator and arts administrator. Six years earlier, she'd taken a trip to Marfa, a town on the high plains of West Texas that had been revitalized by the remarkable artist Donald Judd, who first moved there in 1972. Through…

For more online plant sources, visit Companion Plants (companionplants.com), Brushwood Nursery (gardenvines.com), or Almost Eden (almostedenplants.com). To purchase an American pitcher plant and a host of other carnivorous plants, go to Pet Flytrap (petflytrap.com). For a private tour of the Gardens of Raku Place ($5 per person, in support of the Erie Art Museum), go to kemenyffy.com. Purchase a Felco pruning saw from Felco Store ($28.78; felcostore.com). When in New York City, visit the Ted Muehling Store (27 Howard Street; 212/431-3825) to view The Island of Rota (Library Council of MoMA, 2010) or purchase the book ($3,000; proceeds benefit the Museum of Modern Art Library) from the MoMA Library (212/708-9430). To order the Cyclone Lounger and the Drop End Table, contact Uhuru Design (718/855-6519; uhurudesign.com). Paula Deitz, editor of The…