Worth a second visit

     I recently visited Italy and the Balkans, so I just had to return to the most fantastic water garden I ever saw--Villa d'Este, about an hour east of Rome in the town of Tivoli.  I was amazed by it during my first visit in 2009, so I had to return.  Just as stunning the second time.
     It was built in the 14th century to accompany a large villa on a hill overlooking a huge plain towards Rome.  Cardinal Ippolitolli, the governor of Tivoli, had it designed by Pirro Ligorio.  The water was piped in from over 900 feet away (280 meters).  As the villa sits on top of a steep hill, all the many water features were originally "gravity-powered." 
    

Prepare

     In 2022, Holland will host Floraide 2022, a phenomenal garden show held every ten years.  I was at the 2012 show, and here are just a few of the incredible displays presented by more than 20 nations.  Do yourselves a favor and try to see it.
     I will be touring in Italy and the Balkans from September 11-27, so I will not be posting until after my return.  With hope, I will have some great garden photos then from what I see.

    

Nope, it's not sod

     A cursory glance of the first photo would lead one to believe that I am laying sod in my Williamsburg Garden.  After all, with the deepening shade there as the trees get bigger, I have been doing just that each May.  But I finally decided to get radical--so I tore out the grass and replaced it with a moss I never used before, Climacium americanum, commonly called tree moss, as it looks like tiny palm trees.  This moss is generally found in very wet conditions, but I sometimes find it, as I did in this case, in drier conditions. 
     It is especially stunning when some sun shines through the tree canopy, but I find that impossible
to capture with a camera, as is evident in photos five and six.  Believe me, you just have to be here!

  

Eclipsing "Good till the last drop"

     On Tuesday I went to Nashville, Tennessee to view the total eclipse of the sun at Cheekwood Botanical Garden in SW Nashville.  The 55-acre (22 hectares) estate was built in 1932 by the Cheek family, who started the Maxwell House coffee business (using their slogan, "Good to the last drop.").  There is a Japanese garden on the estate which has about a thousand square feet of moss, part of it shown in the last two photos.

Nishi No Taki

     In case you don't speak Japanese, this means west waterfall.  And it is in the Anderson Japanese Garden in Rockford, Illinois.  This very highly ranked garden (either number one or two in North America) of John Anderson was inspired by his visit to the Portland Japanese Garden in 1978.
     This waterfall, about 40 feet high, moves 1400 gallons of water a minute.  The rock at the base is covered with Oxyrrhynchium hians moss, which loves wet conditions.
      I consult with the horticultural director with respect to moss at least once a year, as the garden is just over an hour from my home.  Make sure to visit it if you get a chance.

A fungus (or more) among us mosses

     Mosses and fungi are often perfect complements, as shown with these three fungi (or mushrooms).  All three are supposedly edible--survivable, that is--though I will not try to prove that.
     The one in the first photo is in the group called inky caps, usually in the genus Corprinopsis.  They usually appear in large amounts, and this particular one only lasted a day before turning into mush.
     The next two photos are of a group called waxy caps.  These are very small and lasted for about a week.
     The last three photos are of a group called bolete, which is in the genus Boletus.  This particular one is between two and three inches across.  The white filmy material, which appeared later, I suspect is mycelium, part of the reproduction process.  If any knows for certain, please inform me.

Inspired by Williamsburg

     I was impressed with some of the formal gardens I visited in Williamsburg, Virginia in the 1970s.  This city, founded in the mid-1600s, was restored in the mid-1900s by John D. Rockefeller, Jr.
     Much red brick is used in the gardens there, so I did the same, using antique street paving bricks from the city of Waukesha, Wisconsin.  These were very unusual for street pavers, being the size of regular building bricks, rather than the much larger ones used in streets in the early 20th century.
     The first photo was taken from the second story of the house.  The second photo looks south toward the patio.  The third photo looks north toward the Japanese garden.
     The flowers are fibrous begonia.  The area gets some sun, but it is getting shadier as the trees are growing larger.