32. Patrick Cullina on Dynamic Naturalistic Planting

PATRICK CULLINA BIO

Patrick Cullina is an award-winning horticulturist, landscape designer, photographer, lecturer, and organizational consultant with more than twenty-five years of experience in the landscape field. He runs a design and consulting business that is dedicated to the innovative and sensitive integration of plants and materials into a diverse range of compelling designs, drawing inspiration from both the natural world and constructed environments alike.

Previously, he was the founding Vice President of Horticulture and Park Operations for New York City's High Line; the VP of Horticulture, Operations & Science Research at Brooklyn Botanic Garden; and the Associate Director of The Rutgers University Gardens in affiliation with the school's Department of Landscape Architecture.

Throughout his career, he has served as a consultant and advisor to an array of public and private clients and projects and has lectured throughout the U.S. and abroad for universities, public gardens, garden clubs, horticultural organizations, museums, libraries and professional organizations on the subjects of plants, living environments, horticulture, landscape design, landscape maintenance and the urban experience.
His consulting work provides services to a host of private, municipal, corporate and conservancy clients and to a number of leading landscape architecture and architecture firms. His work in horticulture has been recognized by organizations like the American Society of Landscape Architects, the Garden Club of America (Zone Horticultural Commendation, 2010), and the Garden Club of New Jersey (Gold Medal, 2005).

You can learn more about Patrick Cullina through his website and on Instagram @pjctwo

SHOW NOTES

  • Passion for plants started in childhood, influenced by Olmstead Brothers Park in Hartford, Connecticut where he grew up playing in the park and participated in educational tours by the parks department

  • Formal education was in English literature at Fordham University

  • His after college work with youth programs in urban areas, which led to an affiliation with Rutgers University

  • Influential figures at Rutgers including Dr. Bruce Hamilton and Dr. Elwynn Orton

  • At Rutgers, Pat’s work on revitalizing the university's arboretum, learning about plant taxonomy, and family patterns

  • Transitioned from administrator to plantsman through practical experience and teaching

  • Creating compartments of plants to easily reference plants

  • Emphasizes the importance of observation and careful interpretation in plant science

  • Coming into horticulture backwards from being an English major

  • Challenges from early mentors to learn plants

  • Caution on turning one observation into canon

  • How design is like a tiger on a chain that has to be tightly held through the entire process

  • The challenges of maintaining integrity in design projects especially with herbaceous plants

  • Valuing gravity and narrative over novelty

  • Mentions specific plant selections and preferences, like reliable Echinacea and Baptisia species

  • Notes the difficulty of managing multiple projects over time

  • His work on Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum as an example of building stories around plants

  • Describes the chaotic nature of the design process and the importance of a strong narrative

  • The influence of his family's storytelling tradition on his approach to landscapes and narratives

  • The importance of creating effective narratives in any field connected to people and comparing it to teaching

  • Admiration of individuals like Roy Diblik, Betty Scholtz, and Darrel Morrison for their personal and authentic engagement with the public

  • Pat’s frustration with misleading advice in public landscapes and gardening and advocating for honest guidance that helps people succeed

  • He discusses the challenges of landscape design in public projects and the impact of poor design choices on community perceptions and funding

  • Cullina contrasts the High Line's success with other projects and suggests that small-scale, meaningful interpretations can be impactful

  • Pat’s design process organizing plants into three groups: grasses, long-lived perennials that act as anchors, and blooming elements, to create diverse and dynamic landscapes in sun and shade

  • Building a narrative with a planting with considering succession and average height and piercing plants

  • Adapting plant choices based on regional characteristics, soil, and exposure, using examples from projects in different climates

  • He talks about the importance of regional connection in gardens, encouraging local engagement with native plants and landscapes

  • Cullina highlights the educational role of public gardens, using the Fort Worth Botanic Garden as an example of promoting regional flora

  • How to change the public's perceptions of native plants, using the Highline's Rhus (sumac) and Sassafras as examples of how context can transform appreciation

  • Discussing the narrative behind garden design and the importance of seeing plantings as communities rather than individual plants

  • The visual appeal and ecological function of natural landscapes, emphasizing the interplay and repetition of plant combinations

  • Critique of overly rigid or overly sparse garden designs that rely heavily on color or mulch

  • The goal of achieving a fully realized planted ground plane, minimizing visible ground or mulch

  • The importance of plant density and inter-planting to create a secure and cohesive space

  • Lessons from a visit to a remnant prairie with diverse plant species, highlighting the inspiration drawn from natural plant communities

  • The debate between block style and matrix style planting, with a preference for a hybrid or matrix style for its adaptability and resilience

  • Discussion on the practical challenges of block style planting, including maintenance and the visual impact of large, homogenous groups

  • Visiting Chiwaukee Prairie

  • Emphasizing the need for understanding plant scale and cultural requirements in landscape design

  • The importance of selecting plants appropriate to the space to make landscapes that consume less, avoid excessive maintenance, and avoid unintended effects

  • Recommendations for using bulbs to bridge gaps in planting design, particularly during seasonal transitions

  • Encouraging the use of reliable sources for plant information and the importance of scale in both design and maintenance

  • The role of seasonal progression and plant behavior in designing sustainable and aesthetically pleasing landscapes

  • Consideration of color and texture in planting design, including the importance of flower structural variety among plants

  • The role of flowering plants, grasses, and woody plants in supporting wildlife through pollination, fruiting, and seed production.

  • Practical strategies for managing plant growth and structure, such as using certain species to support others.

  • The process of determining color preferences with clients, including addressing specific dislikes or strong preferences.

  • Flexibility in plant selection while maintaining a cohesive design vision, adapting to client preferences and site conditions.

  • The High Line’s evolution from a new project to a major attraction surpassing even the Statue of Liberty in visitor numbers

  • The High Line’s transformation into a popular urban promenade, influencing social interactions and city dynamics

  • Personal anecdotes from visitors to the High Line, showcasing diverse reactions and engagement

  • The narrative richness of the High Line, including its history, architecture, and cultural significance

  • Discussion on the concept of "editing" landscapes versus traditional gardening

  • The importance of maintaining and observing landscapes over time to make informed recommendations and improvements

  • Challenges in identifying and managing stealth weeds and plant gaps during the editing process

  • The necessity of understanding plant performance beyond initial installation conditions, including future growth and shade development

  • The value of visiting botanical gardens and nurseries for ongoing plant evaluation and knowledge

  • The role of cross-training culturally and engaging in diverse experiences to stay inspired and productive

  • The influence of collaborative experiences and collective observations in shaping one’s approach to landscape design

  • Emphasis on the importance of ongoing improvement, ecological function, and community impact over personal accolades in landscape work

  • Appreciation for the variety of approaches in engaging people through audio, newsletters, teaching, and social media

  • Importance of public spaces in creating connections, such as children playing with fallen magnolia leaves in the High Line

  • Viewing urban spaces as part of an ecological community, and the role of diverse plantings in promoting positive change

  • Discussion on the concept of native plants and the significance of regional ecologies

  • Debate on the value of native plant cultivars versus wild types, considering factors like pollination and plant performance

  • Observations on plant pricing in garden centers and the impact of plant sizes on design efficacy

  • Encouragement to listen to others' perspectives in teaching rather than imposing one's views

  • The challenge of balancing multiple educational approaches versus focusing on one niche

  • Recognition of the need for a broad approach to make diverse and compelling landscapes accessible

  • Propagating more horticulturists by telling stories and rewarding any engagement from individuals interested in horticulture

  • Emphasis on the value of real, tangible outcomes in client projects and the surprise element in final results

  • You can learn more about Patrick Cullina through his website and Instagram @pjctwo

20. Molly Hendry on Telling Stories with Gardens

MOLLY HENDRY BIO

Molly toggles the worlds of design and plants as both a trained horticulturist and landscape architect. Up through July 2023, she was the Associate Director of Gardens Support for the Friends of Birmingham Botanical Gardens for 5 and a half years. There she was actively involved in the horticultural and design development of the 26 unique gardens that make up Birmingham Botanical Gardens. She was also a key support player in the renewal of the Gardens's master plan, in addition to managing ongoing garden projects. Since recording the podcast, she has stepped out to create her own garden design studio, Roots and Ramblings, where she does design work for folks in the Birmingham, Alabama area. With this studio, Molly is most interested in the intersection between people and places. She loves designing gardens for "hands in the dirt" gardeners, focusing on how design is not just a masterplan on a piece of paper, but an ongoing dialogue between a person and a place... often with a spade in hand! One of her top honors is that she spent 10 months living in the UK, sinking her hands into the soil at some of the top gardens across the country as the Garden Club of America's 2016–2017 Royal Horticultural Society's Interchange Fellow. You can learn more about Molly by visiting her website Roots and Ramblings and by following her on Instagram @mollshendry.

SHOW NOTES

  • Molly on her childhood spent outdoors

  • Encouragement from her parents to pursue landscape architecture 

  • Molly’s focus on horticulture and landscape architecture at Auburn University

  • The impact of study abroad trips on Molly and the stories she learned about gardens

  • How Rousham deeply touched Molly

  • Molly’s internship at Winterthur and a valuable lesson learned

  • Experiences while being the Garden Club of America's 2016-2017 Royal Horticultural Society's Interchange Fellow

  • Shadowing Nigel Dunnett and James Hitchmough to learn about naturalistic planting and how to think differently about plants and gardening

  • Time at Great Dixter and lessons learned from Fergus Garrett

  • Fergus’s sketches and mind maps

  • Molly’s roll as Associate Director of Gardens Support for the Friends of Birmingham Botanical Gardens

  • Thoughts on how to illicit emotions in gardens

  • The analogy of garden design with Salt Fat Acid Heat by Samin Nosrat

  • Molly’s approach to designing gardens and questions she asks clients

  • How writing helps Molly be a better gardener and how she reviews her thoughts on New Year’s Day

  • Using the app Notability in the field and Google drive

  • Favorite books including Anne of Green Gables and Russell Page’s Education of a Gardener

  • The myth that we can’t garden the same as the English do

  • Molly’s favorite ice cream flavors

  • Propagating horticulturists by bringing in the human element and engaging with children

  • Learn more about Molly by visiting her website Roots and Ramblings and by following her on Instagram @mollshendry

6. Thomas Rainer on Planting in a Post-wild World

Thomas Rainer’s Biography

Thomas Rainer is a registered landscape architect, teacher, and author that lives in Arlington, Virginia. He is a leading voice in ecological landscape design and has designed landscapes for the U.S. Capitol grounds, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial, and The New York Botanical Garden, as well as over 100 gardens from Maine to Florida. He is a celebrated public speaker who has garnered acclaim for his passionate presentations to audiences across the U.S. and in Europe. Thomas serves as a Principal for the landscape architectural and consulting firm Phyto Studio in Washington, D.C.

Thomas received his Masters Degree from the University of Georgia. Thomas has worked for the firms Oehme, van Sweden and Associates, and was most recently a Principal at the landscape architectural and planning firm, Rhodeside & Harwell. He has a broad range of experience in project types ranging from intimate residential gardens to expansive estates, rooftop gardens, botanical gardens, large-scale green infrastructure design & implementation, and national memorials. His work has been featured in numerous publications, including The New York Times, Landscape Architecture Magazine, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, and Architectural Digest.

While passionate about design and focusing on details, Thomas is a specialist in applying innovative planting concepts to create ecologically-functional designed landscapes. His recent work focuses on the artful interpretation of wild plant communities into designed plantings that thrive in the context of towns and cities.  He also continues to love working on residential gardens, enjoying the intimate collaboration with clients and creating spaces. 

Thomas teaches planting design for the George Washington University Landscape Design program. His recently published book co-authored with Claudia West, Planting in a Post-Wild World, was released in fall 2015 from Timber Press and was selected by the American Horticultural Society as one of the 2016 books of the year.

You can learn more about Thomas on his website thomasrainer.com, his firm Phyto at phytostudio.com, and on Instagram where his handle is @thomasrainerdc.

SHOW NOTES

4. Riz Reyes on GROW and Growing as a Plantsman

Riz Reyes’s Biography

An early curiosity about fruits and flowers turned a young boy from the Philippines into an award-winning garden designer, floral designer, avid plantsman, and book author in the Pacific Northwest. Riz Reyes immigrated to the United States with his family in 1989 and settled in Shoreline, Washington. He grew up watching television to help learn English and discovered public television in his early years; on top of Sesame Street and Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood, he discovered the art of Bob Ross, the culinary prowess of Julia Child, and most influential was the gardening series, The Victory Garden.

He collected plant catalogs and familiarized himself with the gardening section of his local public library and grew fond of different types of plants. He set his sights on pursuing horticulture as a future profession. Riz earned a BS in Environmental Horticulture & Urban Forestry from the University of Washington (UW) and worked as a horticulturist for the UW Botanic Garden’s Center for Urban Horticulture from 2007–2015. 

In 2013 he designed his first full show garden at the Northwest Flower and Garden Show in Seattle, WA. Riz came away with a gold medal, the Golden Palette Award for the Best Use of Color and Plant materials, the American Horticultural Society Environmental Award, and the prestigious Founder’s Cup as the Best Show Garden. Riz was also a featured panel speaker for the first annual Slow Flowers Summit where he contributed to a discussion on the lack of diversity and people of color in the horticulture and floral industries. 

He is currently the gardens manager for the brew pub and hospitality company McMenamin’s Anderson School in Bothell, WA and maintains RHR Horticulture, his own horticultural enterprise where he designs gardens and cut flowers and also teaches and lectures for professional organizations. Riz also authored GROW: A Family Guide to Plants and How to Grow Them, which was illustrated by Sara Boccaccini Meadows. Riz volunteers with the UW Farm spearheading their cut flower program. Other hobbies include caring for a personal collection of rare and unusual plants in his apartment, dancing, figure skating, music, food, and spending time with family and friends.

You can find him online at his website rhrhorticulture.com and on Instagram @rhrhorticulture.

SHOW NOTES