words and photos by: Scot Zimmerman
My blog title is a bit misleading. I will not be talking about Frank Lloyd Wright’s short-lived entertainment gardens opened in the Chicago area in 1914 and demolished in 1929. Although I have often wished it had survived.
Instead, I will be featuring gardens in Midway, Utah, that serve as my inspiration as I drag the tiller out and try to revive our half-acre from winter’s wear and tear and the newly blossomed carpet of dandelions.
I slipped in this first home. It is not in Midway, Utah, but this yellow Victorian somewhat resembles our Heber home with its Monopoly hotel shape and the arrowhead picket fence. Located in Healdsburg, California, the tree that can be seen at the edge of the frame is said to have been planted by Luther Burbank.
This home is in Midway, Utah, and at the time of the photograph, it was in use as a preschool. Sunflowers and hollyhock thrive in Midway’s short growing season. There is much to love about this home, but my favorite elements are the beehives and birdhouses mounted on the fence posts.
If one of a landscape’s objectives is the view looking out, this one surely delivers. Shosho Zipprich, a noted Utah painter who has a studio, gallery, and home in Midway, designed, planted, and cares for this garden in Midway with her artist’s touch.
Wildwood Design (Zipprich’s gallery with a studio behind) looks out to a garden with daylilies.
Shosho’s design inspiration came from the French countryside. She breaks up the spaces in a natural, elegant manner with very little hardscape except the patio and paths.
I asked her once how she did it. “You get your hands dirty,” she growled back. Hmm, I might need a little more instruction.