Robert Alan Matthews hosted RINLA members at his home and the site of his business operations for Robert Alan Matthews Garden Design (RAM Design) on July 19. His property is home to an urban, naturalized, residential garden that he designed himself and implemented with the help of his longtime husband, Jack. The evening was filled with food and conversation about landscape design, with a focus on ornamental horticulture plant identification and a tour of his property, which includes a yard-length waterway and a plethora of native trees, shrubs, and uncommon blooms. In attendance was Robert’s longtime mentor and friend, the legendary Sue Gordon of Kinney Azalea Gardens, to answer some of the less easily answered questions of the night, particularly concerning the toxicity of the black walnut tree’s juglone poison, which causes other plants in its vicinity to shrivel and die. Except of course those in Robert’s garden, for some miraculous reason!
Written by Mason Billings
Photographs by Jordan Miller and Mason Billings