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2008 was a fabulous year for us. If this is your first visit to our news page, you may want to check out last year's news pages. |
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Another garden published!
Secret in Seattle Written by Robyn Roehm Cannon for the April issue of Home by Design.
Yellow Mountain Stoneworks has chosen one of our gardens to display on their website:
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About
Daniel M. Lowery, APLD
Owner, designer and general contractor with Queen Anne Gardens LLC in business since 1988, Daniel enjoys helping a few residential clients per month create custom designs. He and his staff oversee, build and maintain select landscape designs. Daniel was the third landscape designer in Washington certified by the international organization Association of Professional Landscape Designers (APLD). He has served as president of the Washington Chapter of APLD and is a mentor to fellow designers in the certification process.
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Paintings
by Daniel M Lowery
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Pages of Other Years:
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Queen Anne Gardens LLC has sent out an on-line newsletter since December 2007
Our Newsletters share photos of a few of our gardens during the process of their creation. We also have short articles and information on plants, materials, and tips on making the most of being in the garden. To view past issues please click on our new
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Queen Anne Gardens LLC is proud to support the following organizations:
Queen Anne Helpline
Seattle Youth GardenWorks
Sanctuary Arts Center
Spruce Street School
For additional information about Queen Anne Gardens call 206-285-6770
or email us.
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Links to some our [independent business] friends:
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The conceptual design began with a secure perimeter of steel panels and basalt columns. As always with natural materials, they will speak if one is patient enough to listen. We found a way to marry the metal and rock into a strong and playful screen.
Above, our artist/metal fabricator, Joe Clark, grinds out the form-fitting cut we wanted in one of the steel panels created to enclose the front terrace. The cold weather has not stopped the on-going project, but a little fire on a cold day always draws the eye!
"Three weeks in Rome and I barely scratched the surface.
I got lost each day, and each day somehow I found myself.
I stretched myself each day. I found amazement and bewilderment several times each day."
Photograph by Don Shewey
Daniel returned to Queen Anne Gardens with a renewed interest in bringing to our work the spirit of play that pushes us from our regular patterns into beautiful, original design. Some of you may have followed Daniel's journey on his Facebook page as he traveled through the 
city. At one point he was exploring a park in the city and found himself lost.
He knew the city was all around him but when a flock of Italian sheep came wandering down the hill behind him he had to readjust his concept of what a city contained. Though Seattle may allow each homeowner to house three chickens within the city limits, and miniature pigs have become accepted as house pets, I have yet to hear of a flock of sheep taking up residence.
Part of the vitality of the city of Rome arises from the fact that it is a pedestrian city. Everyone walks
the streets of Rome and interacts with an open spirit willing to share your experience.
For two weeks Daniel traveled on his own and he found it relatively easy to meet both other travelers and local inhabitants.
Daniel took a small sketch book with him and enjoyed the time he spent sketching and painting. To the right is a sketch of the street and pedestrians he saw while he ate lunch at a cafe. Though Rome is a pedestrian city, mopeds are everywhere and cars tend to be small. Many streets in these old European cities were built before the existence of cars and the distance between the buildings' walls is much safer on a moped, bike or your own feet.
The original Romans took the aesthetics of Greek Architecture and the engineering of their Etruscan neighbors and stretched the boundaries of the arch to create bridges and domes for practical and spiritual uses. The creativity of Roman culture provides us with much to admire. Until the engineers and architects of the 19th century the Pantheon was the largest domed building. The roads, aqueducts, baths and public bathrooms of Rome changed the way society moved and lived. Below is a photo of a remaining portion of an aqueduct built around by modern buildings.
The juxtaposition of the old and new creates a unique perspective and asks us all to remain open to our history and to our future. Daniel has come away from Rome reinvigorated by the ancient architecture, the eternal art, and the modern people.
returned to us invigorated by Roman wonders and Italian verve.
The effect of Roman life on the classic architecture of Greece was to add the fluid curves of the previously little-used arches, vaults and domes. To the left is Daniel taking full advantage of a wall vault meant to display the virtues of the goddess Venus. The gods and goddesses of ancient Rome are still alive in the ruins of gardens and buildings that make up the backbone of the modern Roman City. Queen Anne Gardens' specialty is fine design that focuses on the clients' artistic preferences. Rome reminds us to take our artistic sensibilities and expand our comfort zone--blending what we like with our beliefs and imagination.
Daniel climbed to the top of the Cupola of Saint Peter's Basilica in the Vatican and photographed the inside dome designed by Il Divino ("the divine one"), Michelangelo as his last great work. Michelangelo became the Basilica's architect in 1546 and it was not quite finished at his death in 1564. The awesome scale of this cupola and the time it took to create the building provide perspective for all out garden projects! Queen Anne Gardens works on a completely different
scale and medium, but all good artists work with the angelic power of the sun's light. Our medium may combine stone, concrete and color with living soil and plants, however our aim is the same: To create magical beauty from the land by using the light to enrich and highlight the space.
At our garden project in the Wedgwood neighborhood, we received a delivery of stone and steel this last week. The basalt columns were craned in and carefully placed to form the connection between 3/8" steel plate panels.
The steel panels, each weighing 
around 800 pounds, also required the
mechanical muscle of the crane. Each panel was carefully placed into the prepared concrete base, cemented in and welded at the corner.
The steel will work both as protective screens and as panels that are continuously changing as they weather: patina with the beauty of a painting.
The metal artist is Joe Clark of Architectural Elements a premium metal and wood
fabrication company based 
out of Bellingham. Joe's company creates everything from gates and railings to furniture and sculpture. The panels were created by Daniel's design to provide the defining structure for the private front terrace garden.
The first panel beside the entrance is in an L shape; a loose pattern of Ipe wood will be placed in this opening. Ipe wood is known by several commercial and common names (Ironwood or Brazilian Walnut to name
a few); however it is typically reddish brown hardwood, very dense, and resistant to attack by decay fungi and termites. The wood's density makes it heavy and gives it a fire rating Class A, which is the same as concrete and steel!
In the photo above you can see how the front garden begins to form. The photo below shows the garden from the outside soon after the shot above; everything is changing quickly with the help of the crane.
Stay tuned as we continue to bring in the rest of the steel and basalt to create the back railing and the front gate!
The Association of Professional Landscape Designers Washington Chapter has arranged the APLDWA Professional Garden Tour. On Saturday, September 12, 2009 from 9:30am - 6:00pm on Queen Anne Hill in Seattle visit eight incredible gardens. We will start with a Welcome Coffee, take a break for Lunch, and end with a Wine and Appetizer Party. To order your ticket visit the APLDWA web page.
Tour gardens designed by APLD members Virginia Hand, Daniel Lowery of Queen Anne Gardens, Kat & Tim King and two by the design team of Louise Durocher, Charles Price and Glenn Withey. At each garden participants may view designs illustrating a garden in progress. There will be a display of BEFORE photos and the designers will be available for questions. This is a great opportunity to see a Landscape Designer's project from beginning to beauty.
Last year Queen Anne Gardens collaborated with Yellow Mountain Stoneworks to import Rusty Manchu Caviar limestone to create the
hardscape for our garden on this tour. The limestone was custom cut in China to match Daniel Lowery's design. On the stipled border framing the polished pathways is a mortise-and-tenon interlocking mechanism. Mortise and tenon is an ancient construction detail traditionally used in Chinese architecture where wood; typically beams, brackets, struts and framing were made to interlock without glues or fasteners. To hear more about the design and to see the photo journal visit the middle of our 2008 News Webpage .
The beauty of our seasonal August flowers have been sorely tried by the lack of water and extreme heat, however many bulbs perform anyway! Above is the hybridized bulb similar to our native Tiger Lily with its spectacular display of dark spots on vivid orange. Lilium tigrinum was scientifically named by the "Father of Botany" Carl von Linnaeus in 1753. He was Swiss and I can only guess that he had never seen the tiger's stripes or perhaps he was simply overwhelmed by the Halloween orange color of the flower when he chose its name. Another common name for this lily is Ditch Lily so I can only thank Linnaeus for his imagination and appreciation of the wild orange lily!
Our native wildflower, the Western Tiger Lily or Lilium columbiamum, tends to be much smaller. Look for it in avalanche screes and meadows throughout our mountains and hills during August.
All these lily photos were taken in the middle of August at our Queen Anne Garden, which happens to be featured on the APLDWA tour on September 12th.
Extreme temperatures are always an oddity in Seattle. We don't get below freezing often and we seldom hit 100° Farenheit. Twice on record, once in 1941 downtown Seattle officially hit 100° Farenheit and in once in 1994 the Airport officially hit 100° Farenheit. Yesterday July 29th blew our records away when the Airport hit a record 103° Farenheit by the late afternoon. But those are only the official temperatures and the Northwest is particularly known for their microclimates, your home or office temperature might have exceeded the Airports official record.The National Weather Service has both an Excessive Heat Warning and an Air Stagnation Advisory billet in effect until 6pm on friday July 31st. 
To avoid loosing your wonderful plants and trees give them extra water, early in the morning. If you dig into the soil around a plant and it is bone dry and brittle, soak the area for three hours!
Searching for the wonder of water on these dry summer days? Remember that when you are dry your plants are dry. Since our usually damp June decided to bless us with sunshine many of our young and vulnerable plants are unusually thirsty this month.
Daniel returned from the Portland APLD conference with visions of people jumping into the city's water gardens to balance the summer heat and worries about our thirsty and heat-stressed trees.
New plants or trees planted within the last 2-4 years are particularly vulnerable and you have probably already seen many young plants or troubled trees around town shrivel under the drought.
We are doing a little extra watering on those gardens we maintain, but we urge all of you to monitor your trees and keep an eye on vulnerable plants. A minimum of three hour soaking of the soil around a plant is recommended once a week. We have yet to face water restrictions this year, but even if they come remember that the grass will always come back; but once you loose a tree it is gone.
So with no moisture coming from the sky, as we seek our own relief from the sun in our water gardens, we need to take special care of our plants. Even those of you with drip irrigation should watch for troubled spots where a plant is not provided with enough water. It is generally better to water early in the day because slugs and other plant predators come out at night and seek the moisture. Early morning and shade watering also helps to avoid sun-burnt leaves by not sprinkling water on the plant in full sun. Small puddles of water on a leaf can act like a magnifying glass and actually burn holes in leaves.
As a certified member of The International Association of Professional Landscape Designers (APLD), Daniel will travel to our sister city to attend the conference. Grand opening ceremonies are at the Portland Classical Chinese Garden. Workshops and lecture topics will range from permaculture and sustainability to designing greenroofs and business practices. Tours will be of private and public gardens of all sizes. As in years past, Daniel's ears and eyes are open for ideas and information that he can use for existing clients and to fuel future designs.
Daniel recently finished a painting for a client which reflected his 
impression of spring energy and tree shadow patterns. Several of Queen Anne Gardens' clients also own one of his paintings.
Every Wednesday for 10 years Daniel has been painting in oils as a scheduled part of his weekly creative process. Another faction of that creative process is a trip to a different museum each week. Daniel's expressions in oil paint and his experiences from being exposed to other artists invigorate and enlighten his garden design business. Directly after a garden design consultation, the [day]dreaming starts. The flow of oil paint onto canvas or board is a delightful way for Daniel to express himself as he discovers the essence of each new garden design.
The Labyrinth Collection of Daniel's oil
paintings were shown in April 2007 at Fremont's FORM SPACE LIGHT gallery. The focus was on labyrinths, their mystery and use for meditation and self discovery. Labyrinths are used as symbols for many cultures throughout the world and have captivated people for thousands of years. Daniel uses the form of the labyrinth to focus his energy in discovering the source of personal truth that he believes we all hold inside. The paintings display his struggle and joy through the journey of walking labyrinths to gain the stillness of thought required to listen. The twenty labyrinth paintings created for the show were shown alongside a 3-D installation and a few labyrinth paintings from years past.
Humanity
The complete inventory of the Labyrinth paintings as they were on display at Form Space Light Gallery are shown on the Labyrinth Collection Page . To view paintings of Daniel's before and beyond this collection go to the page Oil Paintings .
photo by Alison Peacock 206-285-1159
The Wallingford Boys & Girls Club celebrated Club members, staff, board, volunteers and supporters by honoring them with a dinner and awards ceremony on June 5th. Queen Anne Gardens was honored as a Supporter for the development of the front courtyard. At the event boys and girls from the club cooked pasta dinners and arranged Caesar salads for the festive evening.
The front garden courtyard was finished last fall with the "art fence" installation completed in January. During the creation of the courtyard Queen Anne Gardens coordinated the work of architects, technicians, craftsmen and artists. We also volunteered with many of the club's kids, hosting weekly question and answer workshops during the construction.
The Boys and Girls Club mission is to inspire and enable all young people to reach their full potential as productive, caring, responsible citizens. Queen Anne Gardens greatly enjoyed contributing and developing the multi-use front courtyard for the Wallingford branch. Below is a painting by Daniel Lowery of the courtyard, including the front fence and entrance arch.
Daniel joined architect Donna Jean Brown and Sustainable Interior Designer Renate Ruby on a panel discussion. They shared educational requirements for their field, the direction of their life path and answered questions from students interested in design related fields of study.
Daniel listened to opening remarks at an assembly by Luke Burbank who shared his life path. He currently hosts an NPR news show and hosts a KIRO nighttime show called “Too Beautiful to Live.” Ranging from comedic to tragic, Luke’s life path reminded many in the audience that life is full of surprise. The closing remarks were by Kevin Carroll, Motivational Speaker and Inspirational Presenter and author of “Rules of the Red Rubber Ball.” Kevin used the acronym of DREAM in part of his presentation which stands for dedication, responsibility, education, attitude and motivation. When used together, these components enable one to fulfill their dreams.
An ornamental landscape can also produce fruit as long as you are gardening in an organic fashion. This is a great opportunity for a consultation with Queen Anne Gardens to help you incorporate edibles into your landscape. A lucky bidder at the May 9, 2009 auction benefiting Sanctuary Art Center gets just that.
Call Daniel at 206-285-6770 to set up an appointment.
This last fall we did one of our bulb extravaganza orders and we have
been waiting eagerly to see the results of our diligent Autumn plantings. The Iris reticulatum, Galanthus nivalis (snowdrop) and squirrel resistant crocus have come and gone. The hyacinths and the muscari are now making their marks. This year we mixed a salmon colored hyacinth with a new red purple hyacinth and the combo adds a visual depth to the garden palette.
Many of our mid season daffodils are still in full color and the tulips have begun to show their bright colors. We have ended up with a few surprising variations of color-- like the amazing painter's palette of the Tulip 'Bright Parrot' shown above. The Narcissus 'Katie Heath' opened with the expected white perianth (the outer petals and calyx) but a surprising pale yellow corona (the inner cup). Then (how they mature!) the corona pr0ceeded to deepen into the expected soft peach color. The doublet daffodil 'Katie Heath' is shown below with one mature floret and one newborn!
The most fantastic of all bulbs however, has got to be the Fritillaria imperialis, rivalling some of the tropical bulbs like Amarilis that many of us have 
often 'forced' indoors. This bulb in the Lily family makes me feel like I have entered another world. The bell shaped flowers come in vivid colors of orange, red, or yellow and their amazing architecture draw the eye. The stems rise up about a yard and then pop out a "Doctor Suess" tuft of green 'hair' and drop little buds that grow and blossom into the colorful bells you see to the left.
One young child told me she was sure that fairies lived inside each of the bells and sunbathed on the green tufts of hair!
We often mix this bulb with Fritillaria persica another statuesque bulb with a pannical of small dark purple bells the color of the imperialis' stem just to emphasize the bulbs' lush beauty.
This altar was Created by Daniel Lowery with symbols of 1.Protection for the earth and the environment; 2. Traveling the world for better understanding of other peoples; 3. Honoring ancestors; 4. Honoring God-given talents; 5. Celebrating nature's beauty; 6. Acceptance of other cultures and religions; and 7. Bravery of self-expression!
Washington Chapter of APLD produced a Roof Top Garden Vignette for the Show this year!
The garden above Urban Elements: innovative design for small spaces, was part of the Living It Up vignette series at the show. Designed cooperatively between two of APLD Washington's (APLDWA) designers, Barbara Lycett, APLD and Kathy King, it took many of our members to build it for the show. APLDWA’s garden design, Urban Elements, was a fresh approach to sustainability for a small patio, roof top, or modern condominium balcony. The intent was to show how a small austere patio could be turned into a lush oasis.
Below is a photo showing the garden Get Away to it All! by Serene Scape. The wonderful shed displayed in this garden could be rebuilt in your back yard from a kit and could double as an office or get-away studio. Visit the Modern Shed website and explore their Eco-options. The cleverest environmental option is the green roof design and the denim insulation is delightful!
The garden below is titled Skyline Sanctuary: A Terrace Garden for City Living. This garden was designed by Octavia
Chambliss and the structure was done by Elliot Bay Landscape Design Inc. One of the best parts of visiting the garden displays is seeing new materials presented in their best environment.
The chairs to the left are one of the greatest outdoor chairs to be found, available from your designer through Janus et cie.
Solid, durable and comfortable, the artistry of the forest filigree is even lovely in the shadow it casts.
Below is the elegant Asian influenced garden called CLICK designed by Shapiro Ryan. The strong contrast of dark materials and eye-popping greens was extremely effective.
Daniel Lowery will be attending the 4th Annual Guiding Lights Weekend in Seattle, Washington. January is our nation's eighth National Mentoring Month (NMM) and the Guiding Lights conference provides participants with an amazing "out the box experience" -- playful, hands-on workshops, participatory panels, and Talking Circles on the art of mentoring 
where individuals learn how to motivate, mentor and inspire.
The Harvard School of Public Health and MENTOR combined to create National Mentoring Month (NMM) to focus national attention on the need for mentors. The hope is to raise awareness on how each of us—individuals, businesses, government agencies, schools, faith communities and nonprofits—can
work together to increase the number of mentors and thus assure brighter futures for our young people.
The final component of the garden involved a collaboration between two great artists, Mimi Riley and Rodman Gilder Miller. We fondly refer to it as the 'Nature Fence' which depicts native flora and fauna.
During the snow, we captured a marvelous sight that hopefully
will not be repeated soon.
Blown glass to resemble fruits and foliage make the fence glow with delight.
Rodman and his crew of helpers used epoxy to attach the blown glass components to the metal fence.
It has been a joy to build a space where hundreds of children will run and play and grow. If you ever drive west on North 45th Street in Wallingford look to your right just before reaching Stone Way North and you will get a glimpse of the Courtyard play area we have built.
Most of Queen Anne Gardens' work comes from referrals. One way to meet new people is networking at auctions. I gladly tell clients to think of us when procuring donations for a cause close to their heart. Starting off this year we have donated a Queen Anne Gardens Design Package and potted bulbs known as Spring Bulb Lasagne to Spruce Street School’s “WORLD BEAT AUCTION 2009” on February 7, 2009.
Daniel M Lowery, APLD
http://www.sprucestreetschool.org/auction.htm
Now that we have survived one of our longest winter snow experiences and enjoyed a white Christmas, very unusual, we must have patience with our plants as they attempt to recover. Though most of our plants are looking a little worse for wear, there are a few winter bloomers that are beginning to show their color and brighten our dark days. Most Hellebores are just starting to reach up out of their tightly packed buds, but during our cold weather I noticed an intrepid Hellebore 'Nigra' blooming in the snow.
Our days are getting longer and hopefully the flooding is behind us, thus it is time to move outdoors again and appreciate all that our winter gardens have to show. If you don't have a Hamamelis [witch hazel] in your own garden be sure and visit the Washington Park Arboretum Winter Garden. You will find the sweetest smells waiting for you.
Tristin Brown
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