tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8765612855992884633.post1274022708034501270..comments2024-01-03T01:06:58.771-05:00Comments on A Tidewater Gardener: All Souls' Day Eve - WilliamsburgLeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18281256160705697856noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8765612855992884633.post-87609900962992938372014-04-19T19:20:20.950-04:002014-04-19T19:20:20.950-04:00They did, Les, however painful in some ways. After...They did, Les, however painful in some ways. After writing my comment, it came home to me how much Greg, at the time of his death at the age of 25, was a page on which life had only begun to write. Nothing I could write about him could really help anyone understand what he was like to know in person. When I wrote "a son, a brother, a friend," I had know idea that I was echoing the words on the marker, which I have not seen in years, but which must have lingered in my subconscious. I am truly grateful that his family and Pi Kappa Alpha chose to create this garden in his memory, and I feel privileged to have been a part. A garden, unlike a stone monument, is about life. Greg was all about life.robert swannhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17807103733290378991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8765612855992884633.post-86223511288047038322014-04-19T18:29:03.613-04:002014-04-19T18:29:03.613-04:00Thank your fro taking the time to leave a comment ...Thank your fro taking the time to leave a comment about Greg. My sentiments are still sincere about how I felt seeing this garden and wanting to know something about the person it was dedicated to. I hope my words prompted some fond memories for you.Leshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18281256160705697856noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8765612855992884633.post-37287007798254013992014-04-19T16:10:17.349-04:002014-04-19T16:10:17.349-04:00Dear Les,
I don't know who you are specifical...Dear Les,<br /><br />I don't know who you are specifically, but I appreciate the sort of person you must be to have created this document of a fall day in the life of a garden that I have not visited since 2005. I was present at the dedication of this garden in the fall of 1986. I think that was the year. I had not planned to be there, but a phone call I made from my graduate architecture studio in Cambridge to my old W&M fraternity house the previous afternoon changed my mind. After about an hour of talking with any number of PiKA brothers (and sisters) who happened to be on the premises, I hung up the studio payphone and headed out through light rain to my Somerville tenement. I changed into a suit, put a toothbrush in my overcoat pocket, and caught the T to Logan Airport.<br /><br />Greg Adams is indeed well thought of and missed. Whenever I think of friends I lost too early or, on darker days, lost friends who would almost certainly have made more of life than I have, I think of Greg Adams first, with gratitude. I am grateful to have met him early in the fall of 1978, and to have pledged his fraternity. I am grateful to have been able to go with him on impulsive road trips to Blacksburg and Myrtle Beach and New Orleans and Texas, and to have had him as my family's guest for a few days in Dallas. I am grateful to have been in Seattle when his leukemia treatments took him there, and that I had the time and he had the energy to get out on the town a bit during the last weeks we were able to spend together. I am grateful to his family for treating me like a son.<br /><br />We have all known men and women whose meager deeds are mythologized or idealized in death. The grandness of their memorials mocks the life they lived. Greg was mythic in life. His life represented an ideal of generosity, of gentle good nature, and of sheer love of living to everyone I know who also knew and loved him. His spirit was a garden thoughtfully tended, with fringes of untamed, exuberant nature.<br /><br />Who was Gregory S. Adams? He was a son, a brother, a friend. He was bright and brimming with youthful promise. He was outgoing and friendly to everyone he met, without a shred of arrogance. He never, to my knowledge, held himself above or aloof from anyone. <br /><br />I am grateful that, when you wrote this six years ago, you took a moment to wonder about Gregory S. Adams. I am grateful that I found your post today. I am grateful for this occasion to remember my friend.robert swannhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17807103733290378991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8765612855992884633.post-47561233092206939002008-11-09T23:26:00.000-05:002008-11-09T23:26:00.000-05:00I must look to see if the loquats in my area are f...I must look to see if the loquats in my area are flowering right now, too. That seems impossible, but who knows. They are street trees here, although E. deflexa is somewhat more common. <BR/><BR/>I love that ligularia. I had it for a bit, and it died.chuck b.https://www.blogger.com/profile/00882763861745236443noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8765612855992884633.post-27767021135612479722008-11-03T19:36:00.000-05:002008-11-03T19:36:00.000-05:00Tina,Thank you for the tip on Dave's fall color pr...Tina,<BR/>Thank you for the tip on Dave's fall color project. I will try to link up. What was kind of unusual about this garden was the fact of enjoying it, but not finding out about its reason to be until the end.<BR/><BR/>Pam,<BR/>I have some lovely pictures of my camera phobic wife and act-it-up ham of a son under this tree. It was certainly spectacular and the largest one I have ever seen. <BR/><BR/>PGL,<BR/>As close as you are to the Adams garden, I would recommend that you pay it a visit next time you are in Billtown. Judging by the plantings, there is something to see no matter what time of year you go.<BR/><BR/>DFP,<BR/>Thanks for stopping by. Some people who live near Williamsburg often refer to it as a tourist destination and not always in a flattering manner. But it is usually one of the first places we all take our visiting friends and relatives. They always have a big gardening weekend in spring and bring in big name speakers and offer special gardening tours for that weekend. Unfortunately, I do not know of any professional gardener who can spare time in spring. <BR/><BR/>Jo,<BR/>Thanks for the link, and I too suffer from "selective recall". I like to attribute it to all of the facts in my brain needing some sort of organization and the less important are stored further away from the librarians desk. <BR/><BR/>Cosmo,<BR/>Thanks for stopping by again, and I am glad that someone else who has been to this garden can comment. I tried to find some information on Gregory Adams, but the only info on-line pertained to the garden and not the person. I saw several references to your brilliant gardener, Ms. Watkinson - how do you know of her? I loved this garden because it was so unexpected and it was packed full.<BR/><BR/>LesLeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18281256160705697856noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8765612855992884633.post-49327810108710522252008-11-03T15:59:00.000-05:002008-11-03T15:59:00.000-05:00Hi, Les--I know that garden very well--I have the ...Hi, Les--I know that garden very well--I have the distinct pleasure of walking through it several times a week. I don't know exactly when it was planted, but I know it's been there for at least 15 years, and for many of those years it was planted and tended by a brilliant gardener named Madeleine Watkinson, whose secret, as she would tell anyone who asked, is "chicken poop." It was wonderful seeing a familiar space through your talented lens. I'm glad you enjoyed it.Cosmohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14260783700118031314noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8765612855992884633.post-50536659758443059152008-11-03T03:47:00.000-05:002008-11-03T03:47:00.000-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.jocohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08443120495036936430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8765612855992884633.post-59250011474379985562008-11-02T19:05:00.000-05:002008-11-02T19:05:00.000-05:00I always try and make room for a Coral Bark Maple ...I always try and make room for a Coral Bark Maple in most of my gardens. It does pretty well in shade as a bonus. I found out about Pistacia in California, beautiful fall color in a nice form. Although it says Zone 6 for hardiness I don't recall seeing it here before.<BR/><BR/>It sounds like it was a good trip. I have always wanted to visit Williamsburg.Digital Flower Pictureshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16337750342855333995noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8765612855992884633.post-82056370912306162342008-11-02T12:50:00.000-05:002008-11-02T12:50:00.000-05:00What a lovely garden to honor someone who's presen...What a lovely garden to honor someone who's presence obviously was cherished. I've never seen that garden either, thanks for sharing your trip.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8765612855992884633.post-81025606358295736182008-11-02T10:45:00.000-05:002008-11-02T10:45:00.000-05:00I would have parked myself under that coral bark m...I would have parked myself under that coral bark maple and been unable to look at anything else. What a lovely specimen.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8765612855992884633.post-38860240332605575682008-11-02T09:22:00.000-05:002008-11-02T09:22:00.000-05:00I love that Coral Bark maple too. Sure is colorful...I love that Coral Bark maple too. Sure is colorful! It is a deep thing to think of others our age who have passed. Dave at the Home Garden is hosting a fall color project if you want to post about your colors there.tinahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17415302577518111227noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8765612855992884633.post-91406687711782812072008-11-02T07:08:00.000-05:002008-11-02T07:08:00.000-05:00Jo,Thanks again for your visit and your comments. ...Jo,<BR/>Thanks again for your visit and your comments. Mt. Vernon is the home you are thinking of, and a Brit can be forgiven for not recalling the name of the place. Now it is possible to have some of George Washington's trees for your own garden. There is an organization that is producing new trees from historic ones all around the country. FYI, I tried to comment on one your recent posts, but was not allowed in, regardless I wanted to let you know how nice your Cotinus was. I have 'Royal Purple' and enjoy it greatly.Leshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18281256160705697856noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8765612855992884633.post-24544939781083578912008-11-02T03:43:00.000-05:002008-11-02T03:43:00.000-05:00Hiya Les,Your fall colours are from very 'up-marke...Hiya Les,<BR/><BR/>Your fall colours are from very 'up-market' trees. Never heard of most of them. <BR/><BR/>I agree with the quote up top that people live on in your mind, whether you knew them personally or not. Words are very powerful and that is how I recall those that are no longer amongst us, whether family or those you have read about. And it is always what they said or wrote that touches me most. <BR/><BR/>Another powerful link with the past is through trees, which outlive us so ruthlessly. That fact was brought home to me in the gardens of that lovely house on the Potomac where Washington lived. I always forget the name and I know it is not Monticello. The house with all the rockingchairs on the porch. Good grief, what was it called again?<BR/><BR/>Anyways, he planted a tree there that he loved and that dumb tree is still there as large as life. The man himself, so erudite, so capable, so influential on so many lives, is not.<BR/>Makes you think.jocohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08443120495036936430noreply@blogger.com