gorgeous work, I love Copics, especially on vellum :)

I was approached by the NWF to assist in designing and facilitating a garden and certified wildlife habitat for an elementary school in Georgetown. I was met with the most horrendous apathy and surly suspicion amongst all but one teacher (the one who wished to implement the program, the one who had sought out grant money from NWF originally). Basically anything I proposed was immediately attacked as adding to the teacher's burden or labeled as a 'rodent attractant' and rejected. I just walked away.

Marlene, again this is according to Patrick Blanc, maintenance consists of quarterly for the most intensive (tropical conditions) to yearly cleanup and tidying. The most expenditures are on irrigation, apparently.

I have more than a passing interest in "vertical gardening" or living walls, as they're called, so I feel somewhat qualified to respond about this entry. First, I wholeheartedly agree that this sort of technology should be thoroughly vetted and tested before potentially millions of dollars of taxpayer's money are spent. In my research, I've come to the conclusion that by far the most sound system is that of the vertical gardening pioneer Patrick Blanc, who has patented a unique soilless system for plant installation. Properly installed, a vertical garden using his system can in fact use graywater as well as storm water runoff for irrigation. The increased insulation and soundproofing, as well as beneficial microclimate may well indeed offset the rather staggering installation costs as well as the moderate yearly maintenance costs, but to my knowledge, that is an unknown quantity in this project. Patrick Blanc's vertical gardens have existed and are thriving since the early to mid-1990s; I do believe they have been field tested long enough to conclude that they are in fact a viable long-term landscape design feature.

A lovely and noteworthy tree, to be sure. I'm currently swooning over the cultivar "Duraheat". Here are a couple of photos I took after our recent epic snowfall: