The Scout Guide Houston Blog: Scout Spotlight on Baldridge Landscape … Cedar has dinner with Thomas Jefferson and Pancho Villa under the starlight.

Click HERE for the Original Scout Guide Houston Blog.

Meet Cedar, principal and owner of Baldridge Landscape, a full service residential and commercial landscape architect, designer, and builder – she has loved plants since the age of 6, when she ordered a Venus fly trap off the back of an Archie comic book.

WHAT IS YOUR EARLIEST CHILDHOOD GARDEN MEMORY?

I grew up on ranch in Mexico where my grandmother, MoMo, had a rose garden. One day my pet goat, Chula, ate ALL the flowers off of her beloved rose bushes. MoMo chased Chula with a machete yelling “cabra mala…cabra mala.” I secretly thought it was funny…not so much for Little Chula … as cabrito was on the menu the next night.

WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE GARDENS OF THE WORLD?

I love SO many: Lotusland in Santa Barbara filled with crazy cactus and shells, Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello for its American historical significance, and Vaux-le-Vicomte in France for its sheer grandeur and dramatic lore.

The Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte was built from 1658 to 1661 for Nicolas Fouquet, the superintendent of finances of Louis XIV, the Sun King. The gardens were designed by Le Notre and upon completion; Fouquet threw a lavish party to show off his magnificent Chateau and gardens. When King Louis saw that his employee had such a spectacular garden, he flew into a jealous rage; he imprisoned Fouquet that very night and demanded Le Notre design the gardens at his house, Versailles.

 WHO WOULD BE THE GUESTS AT YOUR FANTASY DINNER PARTY?

Thomas Jefferson, Sacajawea, Pancho Villa, Isabella Stewart Gardner, Pablo Picasso, Maria Felix, Chief Joseph, Cher, Dean Martin, Peggy Guggenheim, and Frederick Law Olmsted. We would eat under a large oak tree on a long skinny table with a white table cloth, everybody would wear crowns made of garden roses on their heads, only light would be white candles and we would eat red chicken mole.

WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE PLANTS?

My mother taught me the love of gardenias. I adore sweet peas and pansies in winter. It makes my heart sing to have a posy on my night table made from my garden flowers. I am gaga for agave, boxwood, and espalier citrus. You can never go wrong with these three plants.

WHAT TIPS DO YOU HAVE FOR CREATING A GARDEN?

A successful landscape is created when design and function come together. It is important to look from the inside out, creating axial views as the eye wants to travel and a place to anchor. The garden should be a place of gentle repose, inspiration and a place to dream.

“LANDSCAPE DESIGN IS THE MOST COMPREHENSIVE OF THE ARTS… IT IS THE ART OF THE WHOLE OF MAN’S ENVIRONMENT.”

-SIR GEOFFREY JELLICOE

Click HERE for the Original Scout Guide Houston Blog.

Images and content from baldridgelandscape.com may not be reproduced without the express permission of the copyright owner.
Please contact info@baldridgelandscape.com for permissions.