Genius Loci

This picture is for the Gardening Gone Wild   Picture This Photo Contest , this is a direct link to the pic as I have right click disabled on this site.

’Genius loci’ is the theme for Gardening Gone Wild’s picture contest this month.

I like the theme, it was always central to me when I had my gardening design business and did more garden designing than I do now.

Ice roses – or are they called that in English?

Genius loci refers to a sense of place i.e. the sprit of a certain place. In terms of garden design it could be to match the design of a house to other materials in the garden and to match them to plants from the same period (if you want to be really strict) or just to match them to plants of the same aesthetic. It could mean to keep the planting in a limited colour scale, keep the planting in rein, let the plants grow wild, only use very clean cut and linear plants or go over the top with the planting; really max out the colours or to use climbers and weeping plants or just to keep everything in containers. Obviously, the genius loci of a place and hence its garden varies a lot.

The hawthorn gets some snow coverage.

I’m trying to convey a calm feeling, show the surrounding woodland and communicate an appreciation for stark winter forms with these pictures. Including my dog ‘Babe’ in the competition picture is important for me personally; she is a constant companion in the garden. If this was summer time there would be a hedge of Rosa spinossissima hybrids in front of the greenhouse, as it is we have a record amount of snow and the entire hedge has bent down under the weight of snow and been completely covered up. I have a view I don’t normally have.

The Rosa glauca shows off it’s form.

Snowdrops and snow.

The Spring was late in 2008 as well, the picture above is from April 2^nd 2008. I’m starting to consider emigration to a warmer climate..  On a really mild year we have had flowering snowdrops at the end of February. I’m not holding my breath this year.

The Rosa rugosa doesn’t have that many hips, but these are wonderfully spider/octopus/medusa/alien –like.

Besides the snowdrop pic, all other pictures are from last week and taken in my garden. More than a few of them could have been a little better with more time spent on them, however it was -15° C (-22° C this morning) at the time so more time/pic did not feel like a reasonable option..

EDIT: Funny, I just changed a spelling mistake. I always thought the term was “Genus Loci” not, “Genius Loci”. It is not the first time I’ve over estimated my latin skills, I read it for three years, but that doesn’t help with spelling 15 years on..

Osallistun tällä postauksella Gardening Gone Wildin valokuvauskilpailuun joten jätän jutun englanniksi. 

Jag deltar i Gardening Gone Wilds fotograferingstävling med det här inlägget så jag lämnar det oöversatt.