White:
Light and Purity
Means goodness and cleanliness
Represents a successful beginning
What’s most important to us is that it is the color of perfection. This phlox ‘David’ is snowy white and helps balance out the other colors in the garden.
David Phlox
Orange:
Combines the energy of red and the happiness of yellow
Associated with joy and sunshine
Represents enthusiasm
As the weather begins to change slowly orange is the color of fall and the harvest. This daylily ‘Mauna Loa’ is absolutely stunning in a mid summer garden.
Mauna Loa Daylily
Fuchsia:
Named after the actual fuchsia plant
Inspires confidence
Can invoke female charm, which is why this Astilbe is called ‘Maggie Daley’ The great color pop and texture of this astilbe is fantastic in a part shade garden.
Maggie Daily Astilbe
Fire Pit
A custom sculpture by our owner Harry J Vignocchi
Always ask your landscape professional the pros and cons of using seed vs. sod
Believe it or not but there are rules and regulations for naming plants. The International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants, or THE CODE, was first published in 1952 but has roots in Brussles in 1864. The Code is filled with principles, rules and regulations, recommendations, etc. Let’s just say, not the most exciting read.
These rules help guide the Latin names that are comprised of a “genus” and a “species,” which can tell us the origin of a plant or describe it’s characteristics.
Take Acer palmatum, for example. Again, ‘Acer’ means maple while the descriptive ‘palmatum’ means shaped like a hand, and it is derived from ‘platanoides,’ meaning “resembling the plane tree.” Therefore, Acer platanoides means you are looking at a maple that resembles the plane tree.
Once a new strain of that plant is developed we use a “cultivar” to describe it more specifically. So Acer palmatum ‘Blood Leaf,’ what do you think that would mean. Yes, it has leaves the color of blood. Gross, but it’s beautiful!
We rely on the specificity of these rules because common names can prove unreliable. A red maple could mean several varieties. Specifying a euonymus (so a genus with no other information) could mean you want a groundcover or a shrub.
So these rules may be a tad on the boorish side, but they are frightfully important to landscape professionals!
Donna Vignocchi Zych
Euonymus coloratus
Turning 50 is such a milestone for any business. Dips in the economy, increasing regulations, labor issues and shortages. There are so many ways a company can get off track. As I contemplate where we have been, of course I think of our unwavering reputation for integrity, artistry and quality. You consider the massive golf courses, Chicago Botanic Garden installations, as well as corporate and municipal work. I regard those residential projects that not only won awards but gave our employees such satisfaction and our customers heartfelt joy.
But to me it is more than that.
I don’t know if I have a memory when ILT didn’t exist. You see, as ILT turns 50, I will be turning 47. The memories of our company are like fabric woven into my life.
When I watch the countless trucks and trailers roll out of the yard at sunrise each and every morning I indulge the nostalgia of our company’s youth.
I remember Sorney Leahy who let me sit inside his desk drawer when I was very small and let me play with his phone. Or going to a job site with my dad on a Saturday. He’d hoist me up on his shoulders and then put me down so I could hug my Nono who was working with our men. A favorite is my mother who would spend hours picking up sticks before the maintenance crew came to our house so they would not have to bother.
50 years ago there were no computers. Dad used to spend countless nights drawing plans, scrunching up vellum with discarded ideas and yes, taking calls from his customers on his home phone.
I think life is different when you are in a family business. Of course it is hard and there are arguments, lots. But there is a short cut with family that makes it easier, because you know in the end, you will always love one another.
