Roy Diblik: Prairie Whisperer
The Bulletin: Winter 2021
New Perennial Movement in garden design? Think Lurie Garden in Chicago. Think the High Line in New York City. Think Roy Diblik, A midwestern plantsman and GCA honorary member, Diblik has lovingly developed his gardens and nursery at Northwind Perennial Farm in Burlington, Wisconsin. When Piet Oudolf designed his newest garden on Belle Isle he called on Diblik to supply perennials.
Author of two books Small Perennial Gardens: The Know Maintenance Approach and The Know Maintenance Perennial Garden, Diblik also is a nationally known designer, consultant, teacher, and speaker. Those who hear him. speak about gardens might also add "philosopher" to the list.
GCA club members joined Diblik in his garden at this year's virtual Shirley Meneice Horticulture Conference. Dressed in work pants and a plain navy T-shirt, his white hair growing several inches below his baseball cap, Diblik shared some of his gardening philosophy - start a garden with a feeling or emotion because that's who you are. Don't expect to develop a garden all at once because the real joy is in doing, not in having or wanting. When garden conditions change, plantings will too. Plants in social communities live a "happy, healthy life together with minimal stewardship." The less we have to do to maintain a garden, the more we can enjoy it.
Accompanied by his wife, horticulturist Annamaria Leon, he stops at a bend to talk about the garden. Mounding, flowing grasses and sweeping ribbons of color convey movement instead of stiff formality; impressions instead of statements. Diblik wades in to pull a weed: Tony Spencer, The New Perennialist Garden blogger, captures both the mood of the garden and the appeal of the man when he dubs Diblik “prairie whisper”
“Start a garden with a feeling or emotion because that's who you are. Don't expect to develop a garden all at once because the real joy is in doing, not in having or wanting.”
No TRIP TO CHICAGO, virtual or otherwise, would be complete without a visit to Lurie Garden, the jewel of Millennium Park. The park and garden were opened in 2004 after the city reclaimed a blighted tract of land. One of the most surprising features of the garden is that it is a 3.5-acre green roof spanning a multilevel parking garage and train station.
The GCA's 2019 Medal of Honor recipient, Dutch garden designer Pier Oudolf, created a year-round living piece of art characterized by native perennials. His follow-up project, New York City's High Line, also exemplifies his ability to marry divergent textures and colors and incorporate movement. Lurie Garden is bordered by a 15-foot-tall arborvitae shoulder hedge, a reference to poet Carl Sandburg's depiction of Chicago as "City of the Big Shoulders."
Laura Ekasetya, director and head horticulturist, engaged Shirley Meneice Horticulture Conference participants with a walking tour in the perennial meadow, peppered with personal anecdotes about the plants, the garden maintenance, and remaining true to Oudolf' s design. Her encyclopedic knowledge of each plant was as educational as it was inspiring. Specimens were chosen for longevity and their ability to withstand harsh winters and have been edited over the years. Ekasetya pointed out Euphorbia corollata, which was added-with Oudolf's blessing-after she saw it growing in Indiana Dunes National Park. Dozens of other plants were lovingly highlighted, including calamine, bottle gentian, amsonia, and prairie smoke, the Montine McDaniel Freeman Medal 2020 Plant of the Year.
Piet Oudolf, the GCA's 2019 Medal of Honor recipient, has designed innovative public gardens around the world, including most recently Oudolf Garden Detroit on Belle Isle. Oudolf 's plant-centric designs are predicated on robust collaborations with plantsmen. GCA honorary member Roy Diblik has worked closely with Oudolf since his first US public commission in 2000, Lurie Garden in Chicago's Millennium Park. Joined by emerging designer and protege Austin Eischeid, these prime movers of the New Perennial Movement had a virtual conversation with the Bulletin's Georgia Lee, Milton Garden Club, Zone I, about design, plants, art, sustainability, and the future of gardening.
L-R, Piet Oudolf, Roy Diblik, and Austin Eischeid. Photo courtesy of Austin Eischeid
