BY KATE REYNOLDS
PHOTOS BY RIMAS ZAILSKAS
Fine cuisine is much more than a technical discipline. You can have all the right ingredients, the correct measures, the specified temperature, yet it takes something more to create a truly satisfying meal. Often it’s the intuitive combination of flavors — or knowing when to leave well enough alone — that is the difference between good enough and memorable. The same holds true in the garden.
Yes, it helps to study textbook scenarios and plot it all out with precision, but nothing is quite as enchanting as a dash of the unexpected, a pinch of exuberance and a heaping measure of individuality.
Laurie Bakke applies these principles in both the kitchen and the landscape. Through her former Hendersonville restaurant, Café Laurie, Bakke became known for her fresh approach to bistro fare. Now working at home, developing a website and cookbook, she has channeled her creativity, relaxed style and good taste into a joyful garden that perfectly complements her other pursuits.
The Laurel Park home that Laurie shares with her family hugs the wooded hillside and affords picture postcard views of the Blue Ridge; a placement that presents both opportunities and challenges. When the Bakkes purchased the property three years ago, little had been done to augment the natural slope or create level areas for planting. Fortunately, Laurie had a secret ingredient — her husband Paul.
"We do this together," Laurie says. "My husband is in the tree business, so he tends to the trees and maintains the view. He’ll do the big digging, he’ll construct the raised beds and then I’ll plant them. He’s the backbone behind things. And he even made the two beautiful mountain laurel arbors," she adds proudly.
Paul had plenty to do, carving out several terraces, building retaining walls, plotting a system to deal with rain run-off, laying stone pavers and taking down a 50-foot maple that, unfortunately, had serious health issues. Its removal, however, revealed the sunlight for the main planting bed at the entrance to the house.
Once the infrastructure was in place, Laurie began moving and placing much of the existing shrubbery — mostly hollies and azaleas — and planning the new additions. "I do a lot of research online, in magazines and in those huge garden books. But it’s a very artistic process too, combining colors, seeing the overall picture."
Laurie’s considerations went beyond the aesthetics. "Our gardens have always been based around herbs, plants and vegetables that are a bit different," she explains. "Particularly things that can be incorporated into cooking, things that you can’t find at your local grocery store: cinnamon basil or chocolate basil or lemon verbena. Fresh lavender — I love cooking with it."
"There’s thyme. Oh, the lemon thyme — in the summer it practically glows — and English thyme. Rosemary — I can’t get enough rosemary," she continues enthusiastically. "I’ve got a few good bushes of that. The basils in the summer — as many varieties as possible: green, purple, brown. Sage is another that has gorgeous options: purple sage, golden sage, tri-color sage. You put those three together and it’s a painting. And the mint — golly! Peppermint, spearmint — so many varieties."
But lest it seem that Laurie has simply created a hyperbolic herb garden, she has deftly interwoven flowering perennials into the mix, carefully chosen to provide four-season color and interest. "I have a wonderful spurge which remains green during the winter and the Mediterranean heather also blooms during the colder months," she notes. "The fragrance of the peonies says "spring" and in summer, I love the geraniums. There are also a lot of variegated plants for contrast."
"It’s like creating a recipe, playing with proportions until you get a pleasing balance. I like to mix flowers and herbs in the garden," she says. "It feels natural — very informal, rustic and free flowing. Nothing too traditional. Plus, I occasionally use edible flowers as garnishes in my presentations, so it all fits."
Paul’s efforts have established several separate planting areas, and Laurie has used the opportunity to expand her repertoire. Beside the stone pathway that leads through the first arbor, tall growing flower varieties create a stately display. "There are asters, echinacea and black-eyed Susans, verbena with its purple blooms all summer long, and the yarrow," she points out. "Some of my favorite flowers, the blackberry lilies, are in here. They come up with a small, tiger eye bloom, but once the flower is gone, there’s a lovely seed head that looks like blackberries. It’s a great accent."
Of course, vegetable gardens are part of the scheme. Near a stairway that leads to the deck and kitchen, a raised bed offers several varieties of lettuce, and robust tomatoes inhabit a sunny patch a bit further up. "With tomatoes, we’ve done a lot of heirloom selections. There’s one variety — the Sungold — they’re some of the best. A little yellow grape type tomato that’s very sweet and so fresh, so beautiful. You pop one of those in your mouth and it’s like…wow!"
Separate areas have also been assigned to irises and to Laurie’s newest passion — roses. "There were a few rose bushes when we got here," she says, "and I’ve got several intermingled in the main planting beds, but I’ve just put in a whole bed that’s just roses. I’m really excited. I have a lot of learning to do. But I think — why not? It’s a challenge. I’ve always taken that philosophy with cooking. Nothing’s impossible — you just have to educate yourself."
Laurie’s approach to new projects is adventurous, full of the wonder of exploration and very hands-on. "This garden is an interactive process. Sometimes people have gardens, but someone else is doing all the maintenance." She shrugs. "If someone else is doing your gardening, you’re missing part of it. Like food — you can really enjoy fine dining and appreciate it, but it’s different when you get into the kitchen and create it."
What goes around comes around, and the Bakkes honor that process. "We do a lot of composting in the vegetable gardens," Laurie notes. "We’re pretty much organic, although it takes a lot to get the soil to the point where it’s really, totally untreated. We don’t spray anything on the herbs and vegetables, except maybe a little hot pepper to keep the rabbits and deer away. Our dogs are outdoors a lot of the time, so we have even more reason to be careful about chemicals."
The gardens, in turn, give Laurie an abundance of materials and inspiration for the recipes that she is constantly fine-tuning and for many of her other undertakings, as well. "You can get so much from it," she muses. "As much as you give to it, and more. I enjoy making wreaths using elements from my garden, like the pussy willow, and cutting bouquets to give to friends, mixing herbs in with the flowers. It’s very sensual, with all the smells and the textures."
And sharing these delights is the ultimate gift of the garden, be it on the plate, in an impromptu floral arrangement or breathing in the sweet scents on a soft spring night, gathered with good company around the fire pit.
"We sit out here by the fire when there’s a full moon, turn off all the electrical lights, and have appetizers and cocktails with these beautiful plants around us." She sighs.
Oh, how delicious.
