The Weekly Compost

The Man with the Beautiful Dock Garden

This weekend, while attending a family reunion in a rented lakeside house, I enjoyed the most amazing sight, just a few docks away from the one in which I savored my first cup of coffee each morning.  Amidst the long but narrow expanse of non-descript, neighboring docks, sat a garden, reaching out into the lake for a hundred feet or more. 

Beneath this amazing, kaleidoscope display of flowering annuals was just another ordinary dock, but what this gardener did with the same space as those around him was truly remarkable.  Soaking up the sun and proudly displaying its many bright, bold colors, looking at this dock was like looking at a peacock in a crowd of pigeons. 

I knew I had to meet the person behind this labor of horticultural love.  I grabbed my camera and marched up the street until I came to the house with the magical garden.  You can’t see it from the street but you could easily tell this was the house.  The front, although partially screened by a wall of dense evergreens, was every bit as charming as the back.

I knocked on the front door several times but there was no answer.  Timidly, I peered around the back of the house towards the dock.  There is was!  My heart raced as I pondered the thought of going ahead onto the dock without the owner’s permission.  It was tempting.  But as much as I wanted to see this up close, I wanted to meet the gardener just as much.  So I decided to try again later in the morning.

An impatient two hours later, I attempted the same maneuver.  Again I sheepishly knocked on the front door.  But again, there was no answer.  This time, I’d be a bit more assertive as I moved towards the back of the house and to the garden beyond.  As I inched closer to the dock, he caught my eye.

Enjoying his breakfast beneath the canopy of oaks and cypress trees and shrouded in hanging baskets of orchids and ferns, this was paradise! Do I seize the opportunity that may never come again?  I contemplated my next move.  Do I retreat, allowing him this glorious morning in undisturbed peace?

Knowing what I was about to do, I rationalized that I was sure he ate every meal there when possible and surely there were many days like this one; but not for me.  This was it.  Now or never, carpe diem as they say! Unaware of my presence and not wanting to startle him, I called out to get his attention before I approached.

As he looked towards my direction, I somewhat awkwardly walked over to this rather elderly gentleman with my hand extended as I tried to explain my intrusion on his peaceful Sunday morning.

“Hello sir” I said politely.  “My name is Joe Lamp'l.  I’m sorry for the intrusion but I just had to come over and see your beautiful garden.  I hope you don’t mind”. 

With a slight bit of effort, he rose from his table and approached me.  “John McNeill Sr.” he said, extending his hand and peering up to me with a slightly suspicious look.  Not sure if he heard what I had said the first time, I repeated my words and said it would be a thrill if he would allow me to take a closer look at his garden.  I explained that I was admiring his dock from afar and that I was a passionate gardener, assuming from the looks of things that I was speaking from one to another.

This time I know he heard me.  His face and body relaxed and a sparkle replaced the narrow look of suspicion from his eye.  Instantly the connection was made and two strangers were suddenly kindred spirits.  Within moments, I learned he was a University of North Carolina graduate with a degree in botany.  Concerned with the lack of ability to make a decent living in this field, he went on to receive his pharmacist degree as well which became his lifetime profession while plants remained his passion.

Without asking, he graciously gave me the complete tour, frequently stopping to give me the details he must have sensed I craved.  He truly was a plantsman, interested not only in the simple joy of gardening, but in knowing the species and varieties that were new and adaptive to his unique environment. 

As we strolled the narrow dock, he mentioned that he entertained a great deal.  I found that particularly interesting, considering the fact that this man was considerably beyond the years you would think for one to throw frequent parties.  And I recalled just two nights earlier on a Friday evening when I first arrived and walked out onto my dock, he had quite a party going on.  Although quite tame, his dock was beautifully lit, and his guests were laughing and having a wonderful time. 

I learned that he opens his dock garden to the public every Friday evening between March and October.  Guests bring a covered dish and enjoy the ambiance and beauty of this magical place with others, most having never met each other before.  The only cost for such a special opportunity to enjoy great food and fellowship in this amazing setting is that you leave a small donation of ‘petty cash’ in the treasure chest located near the dining area. 

No, these donations are not to defray the cost Mr. McNeill incurs each and every Friday night to host this event for up to 120 strangers.  Like clockwork, the local children show up each Saturday morning to ‘rescue the money’ from the chest before the pirates surely find it later that day.  The money is counted, noted and promptly donated to the local museum and library, unencumbered from the constraints of formal contributions.

Mr. McNeill has been retired from pharmacy for many years.  At a young 88, he tells me they believe he is currently the oldest living pharmacist in the country.  He showed me many pictures, including those of his family and the pharmacy he started in West Virginia many years ago. 

As we toured the house, I noticed a very large container sitting upright on the counter, the type that sits on top of a water cooler.  It was filled with a burgundy liquid and contained a single label.  He must have caught my curious stare and he took the opportunity to enlighten me.

Eighteen years ago, at the age of 70 Mr. McNeill explained, he took a trip to Europe with his daughter.  While touring the wine country of France, she made the following observation; “Dad” she said; “You’ve served in two wars, traveled the world and raised a wonderful family.  Yet, you’ve never had even a single sip of alcohol.  Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to try a taste now”.

Although I believe Mr. McNeill is still be a tea-toddler, he now makes his own wine (white and red), bottles it, stores it in his air conditioned wine cellar, and offers it to his many guests that come to visit, just as he did with me.

Two hours earlier, I knew nothing of the person behind the beautiful dock garden.  Now, I found myself reluctantly having to cut my visit short, just as it seemed we were getting started!  Neither of us I believe wanted to end our visit here.  But I was sure my family was ready to call the police as I had been gone for so long.

I thoroughly enjoyed my visit this morning.  As is often the case with gardeners, a stranger one minute, a dear friend the next, I was leaving with a new friend, a great bottle of wine and a memory I’ll cherish for the rest of my life. 
JL

A Week of Garden Smart Taping in Madison, Wisconsin

If I were a plant, I'd want to spend my summers living in a garden in Madison, Wisconsin!  I’ve just finished taping the third of three shows this week for Garden Smart and all the gardens were in or around Madison.

Imagine the perfect climate; low humidity, cool breezes and a daily high temperature around 65 degrees.  Sound nice?  Now imagine you’re a plant.  You’d look pretty good too if you could live in that kind of environment.  And that’s why this week has been so nice.

Great looking gardens and temperatures that make working outside all day, not only bearable, but energizing!  On Monday, we visited Olbrich Gardens, in Madison.  What a place.  The designs were the handiwork of Jeff Epperson, Director of Horticulture.   I kept thinking this was one of the prettiest gardens I have ever seen. 

One of the most outstanding features was their rose garden.  Just as you might envision, most of the ‘rose gardens’ I’ve visited are simply masses of planted roses in open beds.  They look spectacular while in bloom but when they’re not, it’s not much to look at.

That was Jeff’s sentiment too.  So he interplanted the roses with perennials and shrubs and architectural elements that gave the garden interest year round and complemented the roses while in bloom.  Sure, the roses are the stars while in bloom, but the garden remains beautiful year round.

On Tuesday, we featured University of Wisconsin’s Arboretum, also in Madison.  It lays claim to the largest prairie reclamation in the world.  In addition,  Susan Carpenter, “native plant expert extraordinaire” treated us to a day of amazing information on indigenous plants that further reinforce the reasons why we should all be using more native plants in our own landscape.  They are beautiful and conveniently low maintenance.

On Wednesday we traveled to Janesville.  This quaint, clean little town just 30 minutes outside of Madison has a world-class garden.  Thanks to the expertise of Director of Horticulture, Mark Dwyer, Rotary Botanical Gardens is a hidden gem.  They have a number of internationally themed gardens and go to great measures to create a sense of authenticity from one garden room to the next.

With such a successful and productive three days of taping, today was a day to catch up on paperwork and emails, complete this blog and enjoy the town of Madison.  If you are ever this way, be sure to visit all three gardens.  They are well worth the time and bring your camera.  By the way, the food here is fabulous!
JL

The Today Show – So Much to Talk About…So Little Time

Listen to a more organic, one-take version of this blog entry by clicking the audio-icon here:

I’m sorry not all of you were able to see the Today Show on Sunday.  As it turns out, with Wimbledon starting live at 9: am, a number of stations apparently preempted the coverage completely.  I’m sorry about that.  We’ll post a link to the video as soon as we get it.

So why is it that four minutes at the tail end of your workout seems like a lifetime and four minutes on The Today Show seems like four seconds?
As I alluded to in my previous blog post and just as I suspected, it wasn’t nearly enough time to cover everything I had to discuss during my eco-friendly gardening segment today.

I knew I was in trouble around 5:30 am.  I was going through what I was planning to say.  I timed out my comments to see how long it would take.  The run time was about 3 minutes, 45 seconds.  The problem was those were just my comments.  It didn’t include Lester’s introduction and questions along the way to set up each new topic.

The segment started off smoothly but after 2:00 minutes, we were just one third of the way along.  As Lester picked up the pace, my words became fewer and faster.  By the time he needed to move on to the final third which included rain barrels and raised beds, I still wanted to cover something else on the table.  Needless to say, I raced through the final products, barely having a chance to give them the exposure they deserved.

The more I look into what makes an eco-garden friendly, the more great solutions I find.  It’s a shame to skim over any of them and shows like the Today Show are such a great way to reach so many people that may not be aware of easy ways they can contribute at home. Sure, it was unfortunate that I was not able to be more specific about each of my choices of eco-friendly ideas to present but as I said in my title, so much to say, so little time.

As I mentioned in my last post, I guess I’ll just have to make my own show, and give eco-friendly products and solutions the time they deserve to be seen and known.  In the mean time, check back on joegardener.com often.  We’ve added a new section; eco-friendly gardens.  That department includes articles and tips for making your garden greener at home and beyond.

JL

MY Next Today Show Segment this Sunday; Creating the Eco-friendly Garden

Listen to a more organic, one-take version of this post by double-clicking on the audio icon here  

Whew!  There’s a lot involved in putting together a four minute segment on the Today Show.  I know I’m pretty picky about the details but I don’t think I’m the only that gets so particular on these occasions. 

This Sunday, I’ll attempt to pack into four minutes what could take four days to talk about.  Creating an eco-friendly garden at home is something I’ve been doing personally and talking to others about for years now.  And I’m supposed to squeeze that down into a four minute piece, including the introduction by the host and all the questions to set up each topic???

I figure that leaves me about two minutes to explain to the country just how important and easy it now is to practice environmental stewardship right in your own yard or garden.  When are they going to figure out I need my own network show?

Even though I always rant about the lack of time given to talk about such important information, I must say, The Today Show producers and crew do an amazing job at moving through everything I have to talk about, albeit forcing me to only throw out the bullet points on each item I am covering.

This Sunday’s segment will be interesting.  Normally I fly up Friday morning and meet with the producer, set designer and props crew.  The purpose of this very important meeting is to make sure we are all in agreement on how the set will look, how the flow will work and to make sure everything we need to talk about is in place.  It’s virtually a dress rehearsal inside the studio.

By the time I arrive back the next morning (Saturday) for the live segment, the entire set has been transferred to the Plaza where it all takes place.  It is truly amazing to see the operation unfold.

This time, the segment is on Sunday morning.  I’ll arrive on Saturday morning but there won’t be any rehearsal.  I won’t even see everything in place until I arrive at the Plaza on Sunday morning, an hour before my segment goes live (I’m already starting to sweat).

I’m trusting that all the people we contacted on short notice yesterday will have time to package and ship the products I’ll be talking about on Sunday.  Without any real way of knowing what makes it and what doesn’t, I’m praying that it all goes according to plan.   

We tried something new this time since we won’t have the benefit of meeting with the set designer and producer before Sunday.  I asked my faithful jack-of-all-trades and right hand (wo)man, Courtenay to assist with a set design sketch that might help the Today Show crew get the picture for what we envision for the layout.  I’m sure it’s overkill for professionals like them, but it makes me feel better and I need a good nights sleep on Saturday!

By the way, today is Wednesday and it’s also the Fourth of July.  That means one less day for prop deliveries or anything else but I know I’m in good hands.  Talking about creating an eco-friendly garden will be a good message regardless and a lot of fun to do.  I hope you’ll be watching.  It airs live at 7: am EST and I’m on in the 7:30 half hour.  My next post will be a follow up after the segment.  Stay tuned as they say!
JL