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[caption id="attachment_52322" align="alignnone" width="800"] "Medicine Chest" by Summerhill Landscapes in 2015. Photo by Joanne Sohn[/caption]
By Emily J. Weitz
Most of the time, planters are vessels intended to hold something beautiful. A simple terra cotta pot is aesthetically neutral: it’s what is placed in its soil that draws the eye. But LongHouse Reserve has a tendency to flip usual assumptions on its heads, which is what they’ve done through Planters: On and Off the Ground, since the invitational first launched in 2008.
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Marder's installation in 2012. Photo by Joanne Sohn[/caption]
LongHouse’s esteemed Garden Committee, which consists of about 18 horticulturists, landscape designers, and industry professionals, composes the list of invitees based on who’s making waves in the world of gardens and landscapes, as well as more established figures in the community. Individual designers, like April Gonzales of Southampton and Jessie LeBaron of Brooklyn, will return this year. Larger companies, like Summerhill Landscapes Inc. and Marder’s, will also participate.
The work has a few basic parameters, and from there, invitees are expected to use their imaginations. In past years, the only rules were that the piece had to incorporate both plants and vessels, and that it couldn’t have a footprint of more than 5 feet by 5 feet. This year, because LongHouse is celebrating its 25th anniversary, they were also asked to incorporate the theme of silver. Whether this is manifested in the plants, the vessels, or in some other way, that will be part of the surprise.
“It’s always a great surprise,” said Alex Feleppa, LongHouse’s horticulturist. “The installations start going up on Friday, June 17, and they have until the 24th to install the pieces. By the time I get a moment in the afternoon to go and see, there’s always something new. It’s like Christmas in June for us.”
This year, Martha Stewart will return to judge, as she did the very first year. Typically, they have two or three judges discuss and decide the winner.
“But Martha is a big enough personality,” said Mr. Feleppa.
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"Flower Bed" by Geoffrey Nimmer was a part of the 2010 Planters exhibit. Photo by Rossa Cole[/caption]
She also takes it seriously, and they wanted to invite her back because of the insight she lends to the work.
“I remember her notes on why she chose certain things were quite thoughtful,” said Matko Tomicic, Executive Director at LongHouse. “We expect it to be another project like that — highly opinionated and well thought through.”
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Elaine Grove installation in 2012. Photo by Joanne Sohn[/caption]
One thing you’ll learn by looking at the submissions from past years — and inevitably, from this year’s show — is that what comprises a planter could be just about anything. It depends on how you think of it. That’s where the mind-expanding spirit of Longhouse comes through. Participants are rewarded for their creativity, for thinking outside the box.
Last year, Summerhill Landscapes won the People’s Choice award with their medicine chest. The planter was literally a chest of drawers, and from the drawers sprouted different medicinal plants.
“It was a great play on the medicine chest,” said Mr. Feleppa.
But sometimes the planters are more typical, and that doesn’t mean the piece is any less inventive.
“People can take a conventional pot and just change the way you look at it,” said Mr. Feleppa.
He recalls one year when Landcraft Environments, which grows tropical plants on the North Fork, designed a large urn.
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Landcraft Environments 2013 submission. Photo by Joanne Sohn[/caption]
“If you stood far away,” said Mr. Feleppa, “it looks empty. But if you walked up to it, you saw the entire vessel was lined with tropical orchids. They had trained the orchids to grow, clinging to the sides on the interior of this large water jar.”
This exhibit brings these highly utilitarian products to the fore as works of art in themselves, and in so doing, is a reminder that anything can be art, depending on how you look at it.
“Some are whimsical. Some make you pause,” said Mr. Tomicic.
In addition to the new 5x5 exhibits sprouted up throughout the property, the evening of Saturday, June 25 will have a few other things on the agenda. A silent auction with gorgeous planters and vases, a plant sale with Broken Arrow Nursery, and the launch of Jack Larsen’s newest book, “Learning from LongHouse” will all take place between 4:30 and 7 p.m. “Learning from LongHouse” is Mr. Larsen’s twelfth book. A small, square coffee table book with impeccable design, it’s full of insights from one of the most important contemporary designers in the world, and, of course, the founder of LongHouse Reserve.
“It tracks the evolution of LongHouse through Jack’s eyes,” said Feleppa. “It shows his creative process.”
Planters On and Off the Ground is open to the public. Admission is $20 for non-members, $10 for members. Visit www.longhouse.org for more information.
