TRAVEL / STUDY TOURS FORmE ADS GARDENER

MARCH 1-14, 1991 NATURAL GARDENS OF PANAMA AND COSTA RICA Join long-time AHS member Claude Hope on board the Yorktown Clipper on an extraordinary exploration voyage beginning in Panama City , Panama, and concluding in San Jose, Costa Rica. Explore the Caribbean coast of Panama, including the San Slas Islands. A daylight transit of the Panama Canal brings us to the Pacific coast of Costa Rica with its horticultural treasures coveted by botanists the world over. Explore quiet tropical rivers, major archaeological sites, cloud forests, volcanoes, and rain forest canopies brimming with orchids. Mr. Hope invites us for a special visit to Linda Vista, a 200-acre flower seed farm that he established at Cartago, Costa Rica. If you have ever planted petunias or impatiens in your garden, they were most likely from seed originated at Linda Vista. Leonard Haemer Travel Company, 7922 8onhomme Avenue, Sajnl Louis, MO 63105, (800) 942-6666, (31 4) 721 -6200 (in Missoun) APRIL 21-28, 1991 GARDENS OF THE MISSISSIPPI Experience the grandeur of the Mississippi from New Orleans to Memphis on board the Mississippi Queen. Ports of call along the river include Houmas House, Saint Francisville, Natchez, Vicksburg, and Greenville. Experiencetrue Southern hospitality as AHS members and friends along the river open their homes and gardens for this horticultural ad­ venture. Leonard Haemer Travel Company MAY 12-23, 1991 ENGLISH COUNTRYSIDE GARDENS AND THE CHELSEA FLOWER SHOW AHS members will have the unique opportunity to meet noted horticultural author, Rosemary Verey, and visit her home and garden-Barnsley House--plant materials from the alpine meadows of the Colorado Rockies to the desert plains of the Southwest. Explore unique, out-of-the-way parks like Arches National Park, the Goosenecks of the San Juan and Canyon de Chelley National Monument. See firsthand the varied uses of native plants as AHS members and friends open their gardens ane homes for our special visit. Leonard Haertler Travel Company AUGUST 14-27, 1991 GARDENS OF THE MEDITERRANEAN Cruise aboard Sun Line's yachtlike Stella Maris along the northern coast of the Mediterranean Sea from Nice to Venice. En route we visit magnificent private and public gardens of France, Italy, and Yugoslavia as well as the wildflower meadows among ancient ruins and botanical gardens in Greece. The itinerary includes two nights in Nice and three nights in Venice as well as calling at the ports of Portofino, Elba, Sorrento, and Messina, Italy; Katakalon and Corfu, Greece; and Dubrovnik, Yugoslavia. The ElSC's David Wilson will be guest lecturer for this memorable summer tour. Leonard Haertler Travel Company

Hidcole Manor Gardens, in Ihe COlswolds, are among gardens 10 be visiled during an AHS Siudy Tour nexl May.

COURTESY OF THE BRITISH TOURIST AUTHORITY eric an Horticulturist Volume 69, Number 12 December 1990

ARTICLES The Resurrection of Pinewood by Faith Jackson ...... 10 Florida's Bok Foundation is restoring a 60-year-old garden designed by William Lyman Phillips. Gardening Challenges: Hawaii-Land of Endless Summer by Ruby Weinberg ...... 16 How islanders garden, and what visitors can see. Rudy Favretti: Landscaping's Time Traveler by Tovah Martin ...... 24 This Connectimt landscape architect really knows how to set a garden back a century or two. Staggered by Staghoms by Dia Spriggs ...... 31 DECEMBER'S COVER Even those not fond of other ferns find these dear to their hearts. Photographed by W. John Kre,s Demon Seeds and Roots of Evil Heliconia rig,ida is OIl€ of by Peter Loewer ...... 36 several penduloHs forms of the Murderous flora stalk our novels and films. genus, whose members are commonly ealled lobstc:lr-claws DEPARTMENTS or false birds-oE-paradise. Growing hdiconia outdoors is Commentary 4 risky even in Florida, but in Lmers 6 Hawaii, they are often seen in Book Review .. 42 the landscape aFld are farmed 1990 Index .. 44 for the cut flower market. This Classifieds ... 46 photo will app@at in Heliconia: Pronunciations .... 47 An Identi(ica,tiQn Guide by W . John Kress and Fred Barry, to be published by Smithsoniar.t In­ stlitutiOf<1 Press in February.

EDITOR, Kathleen Fish"" Assr~;TANiT EDITORS: Ma~y Beth Wiesner, Thomas M. Barrett, EDITORIAL ASSISTANT, Marrha Palermo. DESIGN DIRECTOR: Joseph Yacinski, MEMBERSHIP DIRECTOR: Kathleen B. Amberger. ADVERTISING, Amotican Horticultural Society Advertising Department, 80 South Early Street, Alexandria, VA 22304, telephone (703) 823-6966, COLOR SEPARATIONS: C~roma-Graphics, Inc. EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD: Dr. Gerald S. Barad, Flemington, NJ; Philip E. Chandler, Santa Monica, CA; Dr. Hat:rison Flint, West Lafayette, IN; Peter Loewer, Biltinore Station, NC; Dr, Elizabeth McClinto~k, Sa n FranGisC0, CA; Fr.ederick McGourty, Norfolk, Cf; Janet M. Poor, Winnetka, lL; Maire Simington, Phoenix, AZ;Janc Steffey, SYKesville, ?viD; Dr. James E. Swasey, Newark, DE. Replacement issues of AMERICAN HORTICULTURIST arc available at a eost of $2.50 per copy, Theopinions expressed in the articles that appear in AMERICAN HORTICULTURIST are those of the authors and are not necessarily those of the Society, Botanical nomenclature in AMERICAN HORTICULTURIST is Dased on HORTUS THIRD, Manusoripts, art work, and phmographs sent for possible publication will be reruFned if they are accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope. We cannot guarantee the safe return of unsolicited material. AMERICAN HORTICULTURIST, ISSN 0096-4417, is the official publication of the American Horticultutal Society, 793~ East Boulevard Drive, Alexandria, VA 22308, (703) 768·5700, and is issued six times a year as a magazine and six times a year as a news edition. The American H0rticultural Society is -a nonprofie organization dedicated to excellence in horriculture. Membership in the Societ), includes a subscription to AMERICAN HORTICULTURIST. National membership dues are $35; tWO years are $60. Foreign dues are $45, $ 12 of dues are designated for AMERICAN HORTICULTURIST, Copyrighr © 1990 by rhe American Horticultural Sociery. Second·c1ass postage paid at Alexandria) Virginia) and at addirional mailing offices.· Postmaster: Please send Form 3579 to AMERICAN HORTICULTURIST, 7931 East Boulevard Drive, Alexandria, VA 22308.

AMERICAN HORTICULTURIST 3 American Horticultural Society The American COMMENTARY Horticultural Society seeks to promote and recognize excellence in horticulture n my business, I have several dozen across America. research projects going at any given Officers 1990-1991 I time. After much screening and testing Mr. George C. Ball Jr. in our greenhouses and outdoor plots, West Chicago, Illinois usually only a few new selections display President Mrs. Helen Fulcher Walutes the characteristics we're searching for. We Mount Vernon, Virginia subject these survivors to conditions in trial First Vice president grounds across North America, Western Mr. Richard C. Angino Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Europe, and Japan. After several decades Second Vice President of data on the performance of our annuals Mr. Elvin McDonald and perennials in the United States, we are Brooklyn, New York Secretary still astonished by the extremely different Mrs. Jane N. Scarff reactions the same plant can have to the New Carlisle, Ohio different environments. Performance can Treasurer Mrs. Carolyn Marsh Lindsay even flip-flop from year to year for the same variety. For this reason, we RochestClr, New York must select new introductions with great care. Immediate Past President I make this observation to illustrate how variable the conditions are in which we tend to our plants. I don't believe there really is an "American Board of Directors Mrs. Suzanne Bales horticulture" in the sense of a unified art or practice. Each part of the Oyster Bay, New York country has its unique set of circumstances. I'd rather define American Dr. William E. Barrick horticulture as the sum of its parts; that is, the various activities of Pine Mountain, Georgia American horticulturists. This distinguishes the AHS from local or regional Dr. Sherran Blair Columbus, Ohio societies that focus on a given area or group of plants. The AHS is devoted Mrs. Mary Katherine Blount to general issues and challenges facing all kinds of horticulturists. There Montgomery, Alabama are common desires, responses, problems, and practices that unite us, both Mrs. Sarah .6oasberg Washington, D.C. amateurs and professionals. Our knowledge and willingness to share our .or. Henry Marc Cathey jumble of experiences with plants define American horticulture for me . Washington, D.C. The role played by the AHS has three parts. First, we promote and develop Mr. Russell B. Clark Boston, Massachusetts a general interest in horticulture and horticultural issues. Second, we . Mrs. Ann Lyon Crammond monitor, interconnect, and promote the interests and activities of specific Atlanta, Georgia societies that deal with one or another aspect of horticulture: a region, plant, Mrs. Beverley White Dunn Birmingham, Alabama plant group, or particular subject. Finally, we serve you, our individual Mr. K. Albert Ebinger member, by providing you with news of the multifaceted events and Boxford, Massachusetts important developments in horticulture here and abroad. We also travel to Mr. Gerald T. Halpin hold seminars, and we host lectures at our River Farm headquarters. Alexandria, Virginia Mrs. JuliaHobart This month American Horticulturist reflects our nation's horticultural Troy, Ohio diversity by focusing on two of its more tropical states-Hawaii and Dr. Joseph E. Howland Florida. While gardeners in these areas are to be envied for the ease with Reno, Nevada Mr. David M. Lilly which they can grow beautiful and interesting plants such as heliconias and Saint Paul, Minnesota staghorn ferns, they face setbacks like the rest of us: a disastrous freeze for Mr. Everitt Miller Florida in 1989 and challenging microclimates throughout Hawaii. Kennett Square, Pennsylvania As a final thought, those of you who would like a view of American Mrs. Flavia Redelmeier Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada horticulture could do no better than to join us in March in Costa Rica. Mr. Andre Viette One of the premiere American horticulturists, Claude Hope, will accom­ Fishersville, Virginia pany us. He pioneered much Fl hybrid flower breeding and production. Mrs. Jean Verity Woodhull Dayton, Ohio His career has spanned many decades, during which he has written articles and taken photographs that appeared in this magazine. He is something Executive Director of a sage on many aspects of tropical horticulture and agriculture, and has Mr. Frank L. Robinson graciously accepted the position of host on our Costa Rican trip. Please join us for this unique opportunity. George C. Ball Jr. AHS President

4 DECEMBER 1990 AMERICAN HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 46TH ANNUAL MEETING APRIL 17-20,1991 Don't miss some of the nation's best-kept horticultural secrets! Our 1991 Annual Meeting in Bir­ mingham , Alabama , will be centered at the Birmingham Botanical Garden, with lectures and classes taking place in the gardens themselves, led by the many ta lented gardeners , designers, and horticulturists from Birmingham and across the state. EXPLORE One of the finest native plant collections in the country A magnmcent formal rose garden Flower arranging in the Birming­ ham style The Sipsy Wilderness Preserve The spectacular new Southern Progress building , where the native flora of its woodland site are preserved within 10 feet of this massive structure. ALL IN THE UNIQUE BEAUTY AND CHARM OF THE SOUTHEAST IN THE SPRING This Annual Meeting will have a "hands-on" focus-an opportunity for you to work directly, in small groups, with fellow members of AHS and some of the great gardeners in the United States, with many options to allow you to pursue your own unique interests in gardening. PRIVATE AND PUBUC GARDEN TOURS WILL BE INCLUDED And as always , a highlight will be honoring our annual award winners-another opportunity for you to meet and share your experiences with the horticultural leaders in America. Our Birmingham meeting is a rare opportunity that will challenge and stimulate you-whether you are a fledgling amateur or a professional horticulturist. We look forward to your joining us and sharing a wonderful few days in Birmingham. See you there! (fREER (f~RDENS 1280 Goodpasture Island Rd., Eugene, OR 97401-1794 Specializing in -- EXOTIC Rhododendrons UNUSUAL Japanese Maples RARE Trees & Shrubs LETTERS SPECIAL Bonsai Materials EXCEPTlONAL COLOR CATALOG Offering 2000 kinds of plants - ONLY $3.00 WE SHIP ANYWHERE Wrong Plant Order our catalog by calling 1-800-548-011 I In the August edition of your publication there was an interesting article on big plants for the back of the border. There was mention in the article of the virtues of the imposing Angelica archangelica and the use of its caI'ldied stalk in cooking. Unfortunately, the accompanying photograph was definitely not that of an angelica plant, but one of Ricinus com­ munis, the castor oil plant, one that I hope your readers do not attempt to candy. This

Lilypons Water Gardens

!BEjin you~ wat£~ gaJw today witfi a 1'ifypon~ catalogUE fwtu~in') pagE aftE~ pagE of bwutiful watE~ [iliE~, [otuj., bo') plantj., fi~h , j.tatuaVj, and thE Bj.wtialj. fo~ kEEpin') it all wo"

flo pool? Ch001E a fibE~g[aH 0"- rP

Angelica arch angelica o Please send the new Lilypons catalogue plus informative newsletters with seasonal sales. Enclosed is 85.00. whole plant is highly poisonous, but the California (30¢). Maryland (25¢) and Texas (861/) residents please add tax. seeds especially are very toxic due to the o Please rush my catalogue by first class mail. Enclosed is 86.75. presence of a high concentration of the toxin ricin; one or two seeds can prove o 1500 Amhort Road 0 1500 Lilvpons Road o 1500 Lilypolls Way harmful or even fatal. The seeds provide an 1".0. Box 10 1'.0. Box 188 P.O. Box 1130 Lilypons, MD 21717 Brookshire, TX 77423-0188 11lermal, CA 92274 oil that is used medicinally, but this is (301) 874-5133 (713) 934-8525 extracted using a heat pro<::ess that deac­ tivates the poison. The castor oil plant itself is a very "ar­ chitectural plant," generally grown as an l\'ame Address ornamental annual, although it has naturalized itself in many of the warmer City State Zip parts of the United States. There are several -~------~ different cultivars, showing a wide range of colored foliage from green thro\!lgh bronze

6 DECEMBER 1990 InThe World Of Daylilies, They're Called InnoVators.

\6u'11 Enjoy Calling Them Neighbor. Phil and Jean DuMont love daylilies. Eighty of their Phil and Jean DuMont are always planning new loveliest varieties grace the gardens around plantings of daylilies. And like their neighbors, they have Carol Woods Retirement Community, their new home. planned for the future at Carol Woods. The DuMonts chose to live at Carol Woods for many reasons. The finandal security without RqXe'iJuWart 10 Call Neighbor. compromising independence. The comfort of an on­ r------,For a free brochure, call J erry Soldi or mail the coupon below. premises health center, owned and operated by the same I AH I I Name I non-profit organization as Carol Woods itself. The ability I Address I to travel, knowing their home is secure. The proximity to I I three major universities and cultural centers. And, the I City State I I I beauty of the Carol Woods campus as it changes through I Zip Phone I L ______~ the seasons. C!\ROL WOODS RETIREMENT C OMMUNITY 750 Weaver Dairy Road. Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27514 • 919/ 968-4511 and dark red to almost blackish. David Palmer Beaverton, Oregon

Several other readers wrote to point out that the subject ofour photo was the castor bean or castor oil plant. A photo of the real Angelica archangelica appears on page 6.

Wrong Category

American Horticulturist came yesterday and the first thing I saw was a rose on page three! 'Gold Medal' is a grandiflora, Llot a hybrid tea as stated under the picture. Thanks for such a great magazine! Elinor J. Powell Ada, Ohio

We're glad you still like us! You are right, of course: the American Rose Society clas­ Please send your value·packed sifies 'Gold Medal', which appears on our r------• catalog. I enclose $2, deductible ..• • on my first catalog order. • June cover, as a grandiflora. o Bronze aluminum 0 Shatter-resistant 1" thick • Name • double-wall glazing 0 Do-it-~urself assembly o Ideal greenhouse, spa/hot tub room , entry way. Book Source • St.lRFD • Send $2 for Color Catalogues, Prices, • City State---Zip_ • SENT FIRST CLASS MAIL. In the October article, "People Love Plants, • send to • Dealer Inquiries Welcome Plants Heal People," you made reference • GILBERT H. WILD & SON. INC. • '''~~:!~!t.:i!~\ VEGETABLE FACTORY. INC. to a book The Experience of Nature: A f" .0 . Box 2235. Dept AHO AH·1290 Joplin SI. • Sarcoxie, MO 64862 • 'l' Psychologica.l Perspective. We are very in­ .. New York, NY 10163 •••••••••• terested in obtaining a copy. Can you help us out by suggesting where we might find a copy? Karen K. Neubauer Montague, Michigan

This is one book not available through the AHS Book Program. Written by Rachel Kaplan and Stephen Kaplan, it is published by Cambridge University Press, 32 E. 57th Street, New York, NY 10022.

Corrections, Omissions

Credits were inadvertently omitted on some of the photos in the October issue. The bottom photo on page 15 ("Peopie Love Plants, Plants Heal People") was taken by Elvin McDonald. The photos on page 29, showing some of the beautiful wildflowers in Egan Gleason's Dallas gar­ den ("Learning from Verbena ") were taken by James F. Wilson. And we catalog of roses, perennial flowers (our a.pologize to our good friends at Milaeger's specialty) and prairie wildfl@wers will Gardens, whose name was misspelled in a be mailed in Jaauary. listing of sources ("Planting Flowers for Pressing") in the June issue.

American Horticulturist welcomes letters Milaeger's Gardens concerning the magazine or a.ctivities of Phone: (414) 639-2371 the American H.orticultural Society. Let­ Fax: (414) 639-1855 4838 Douglas Avenue, ters may be edited for accuracy, clarity, Racine, WI 53402-2498 Order ToO Free: 1-800.. 3,25-0305 or length. In writing to us, please include a daytime phone number.

8 DECEMBER 1990 Delight a Friend t Holiday Season!

elect a gift that Hurry! This offer lasts all year. expires January 1, 1991. Give your green­ S ,r------~, thumbed gardening AHS Gift Membership I friends a membership in Order Form the American Horticultural Society , , ::;cGic;:-ft:-:Mc-em--;-b-er-:-:N-am-e(:-:s)---- (and receive a little something for yourself). Address The world of gardening City opens through member­ ship in the American State Zip Horticultural Society. o One Gift $35 o Two Gifts $65-Save $5! As a member, your o Three Gifts $90--Save $15! fortunate friend will , 0 Payment Enclosed receive a full year of : 0 Bill Me Later : 0 Visa 0 MasterCard :, American Horticulturist , , : -:-Ac-co-u-nt -c-# ------Magazine and News Program along with card with the names and , , Edition, 12 issues in all, many other member addresses of your gift : Expiration Date each one packed with benefits. recipients. : Signature valuable insights and , beautiful images. Plus a Free Gift for You. To announce your gifts, : Please send my free copy of we 'n send you beautiful Perennials}or Shade to: However, American n the same spirit of holiday greeting cards to Donor Name Horticulturist is just one giving, with your personalize and present part of AHS member­ I order of AHS Gift to the lucky recipients. Address ship. Your Society Membership(s), we'll City provides a Free send you a free copy of Send no money with the Gardening Hot Line, the Taylor Pocket Guide reply card. We'll bill State Zip

Free Seed Program, Perennials for Shade. A you later. Or include Daytime Phone Discount Garden Book $5 retail value! This gift Visa/MasterCard : Mail to: AHS, P.O. Box 0105, Buyer Service, IS yours as soon as we information and we'll : Mount Vernon, VA 22121. Symposia, and Travel receive the postage paid charge your account. L ______~

AMERICAN HORTICULTURIST 9 THE RES U R R E (T ION o F I E An eclectic American classic is being called out of retirement.

y F A T H A ( K SON

illiam Lyman Phillips was one of the ablest and most imaginative associates in the fabled Olmsted Brothers land-

I M{ER1Ce. t'T HGRTI..CULTURfST 11 dered with a profusion of exotic and native called him, was constantly on the go, meet­ shrubs that flower in masses of pinks, blaz­ ing clients and bringing so much business ing yellow, cream, red, and lavender: into the firm that he needed representatives azaleas, hibiscus, oleander, Chinese box to fulfill the new contracts, implementing orange (Severinia buxifolia), silk oak his ideas or carrying out th.eir own. More (Grevillea robusta), magnolias, orchid often than not, Phillips got the call. trees (Bauhinia purpurea), and butterfly Brilliant and exceptionally gifted, Phil­ flowers (B. monandra), and many acacias, lips was Olmsted's student at Harvard in including the pearl acacia (Acacia an innovative program that trained him in podalyriifolia), which was sure to bloom architecture, engineering, and town plan­ for its owner in winter. The air remains ning in addition to landscape architecture. redolent of citrus, tea olive (Osmanthus He graduated cum laude in 1910 and the fragrans), and jasmine. next year joined Olmsted Brothers. Phillips's signature was his use of However, he remained free to take time water-for the sense of serenity it im­ out for his own work and before he arrived parted, for its shimmering reflections, for in Lake Wales at the age of 38, he had its sounds-and the plashing of water can worked in Canada and New York, still be heard from the fountain in the designed countless estates and parks for the walled moon gate garden and the frog firm, made the grand tour of Europe to fountain on the patio; a soft drip-drip study its gardens and villas, laid out the echoes from the back wall of the grotto. townships of Balboa and San Miguel EI­ Palms, great oaks, and pines surround an lende in the Canal Zone, built cantonments impressive Mediterranean revival house­ in the United States for the Quartermaster a style with strong Spanish influence that Corps during World War I, and was in was fashionable during Florida's boom charge of landscaping American military days in the 1920s and '30s. Pinewood is cemeteries in France. He married a French considered one of the best examples of this woman ar.ld rejoined F. L. in Palos Verdes. style in the state, because of its elegance, While he was still working on the Moun­ simplicity of form, and comfort. Its thick tain Lakes- projects, the Great Depression stucco walls, cross ventilation, and the brought private landscape projects to a protection from sun afforded by its many halt, and with tmem, Phillips's travels. He trees must have offered welcome relief in would spend the rest of his life in Florida the days before air conditioning. where he accomplished a phenomenal Olmsted first came to Lake Wales in amount of work. He was U.S. Project Su­ 1914 to meet with Edward W. Bok, editor perintendent for the first Civilian Conser­ of Ladies Home Journal, about his plans vation Corps, supervising its crews in the to build Mountain Lake Sanctuary. This construction of several state parks. He was to be a public park preserve of rare designed all of the Dade County Parks, beauty and serenity-Bok's way of repay­ including Greynolds in North Miami, Features such as bright flowering ing the nation in which he had been so which is now on the National Register of plants in containers and colored fir.lancially successhd. The sanctuary Historic Places. And he created his own tiles on the floors, garden walls, and would become the site of the magnificent masterpiece, the Fairchild Tropical Gar­ fountains reflect the original marble bell tower, which dominates the den, in Coral Gables. He received many owner's fond memories of living in preserve and houses a famous carillon. honors before his death in 1966, nine years Cuba. At the same time, Olmsted was hired by after Olmsted's. developer Thomas Ruth to design a private Thus to have a Phillips landscape design you tend to see today." Phillips urged ex­ enclave, Mountain Lake Colony, immedi­ in Mountain Lake, where it would have the perimentation with plants from other ately adjacent to the preserve. It was to be Olmsted seal of approval, had real cachet. countries, particularly Australia, where a divided into estates for prosperous winter In 1929 the vice president of Bethlehem similar soil and climate indicated success­ residents, modeled after Olmsted's designs Steel, Charles Austin Buck, visited his sister ful adaptation in Florida. He collected at Roland Park in Baltimore, Forest Hills in Mountain Lake Colony and purchased seeds from around the world and en­ Gardens on Long Island, and Palos Verdes, a little less than eight acres for himself couraged others in the business to do the California. Later, the park's name would directly on the Bok garden border. When same; he virtually launched many nurseries be changed to Bok Tower Gardens to he saw the stunning landscapes Phillips in the state to supply his growing needs for eliminate confusion between the two was designing, each one unique to the thousands of plants, and unusual species, "Mountain Lakes." owner's taste, he immediately retained him for his clients. In 1923, when the work finally was to site his house and gardens on the proper­ Sixty yea rs, and hard freezes in 1940 and ready to begin, Frederick Law Olmsted ty he called el retiro. In a reversal of stand­ 1989, have spelled the end of many of sent for Phillips to be his "representative in ard procedure, he then brought in architect Pinewood's original plants. But his formal complete charge for Olmsted Brothers" for Charles Wait. This triumvirate of two gardens and garden rooms are still bor- both projects. "F. L." as his associates professionals and a passionate amateur

12 DECEMBER 1990 gardener enjoyed a remarkable and unhur­ ried collaboration until 1932. As a young man, Buck had worked in Cuba, and the country made a lasting im­ pression. Buck wanted his house to reflect the easy Latin lifestyle he remembered, in which one moved easily from cool interiors to outdoor patios with palms and agaves and bright flowering plants in tubs, and where he could sit and look at the rest of his gardens beyond terrace walls. Phillips understood; he'd fallen in love with the tropics when he worked in Panama and Puerto Rico. He would make Buck's dream a reality. Buck did his part, going to Cuba to buy tiles for the floors and garden walls and fountains. He brought back seeds to start in his Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, green­ house for later transplanting to the estate, and ordered ten tinajones-huge, round terra cotta olive oil jars-to add to the exterior's feeling of grandeur. Phillips's landscape design is based on a central long axis running from a rondel of cypress pines (Callitris verrucosa) at the southeast boundary of the property to a pond on the western edge. This imaginary line runs through the center of the house, which is set north-south. This is a classical European method of siting a villa in a park to produce a fluid integration of house and environment. It is most evident on the lower west, where Phillips used the natural lay of the land to the fullest. Here, house and garden are on the same level, doorsill to grass, producing the easy indoor-out­ door access that Buck sought. The moon gate garden on the northwest corner almost seems an extension of the dining and breakfast rooms. The eye travels across a small patch of lawn that is bordered by paths, a line of blue, white, and yellow annuals-a color combination Phillips borrowed from Gertrude Jekyll­ and a hedge of ligustrum, through the oc­ tagonal gate to the fountain, which is invisible from the other three sides. "The Chinese," wrote Phillips, "placed a decorated gate screen behind the opening to keep out evil spirits, who can only travel in a straight line." But Buck never buih the screen here; the result is a sunlit space privy only to the eyes of the residents. One of the loveliest spots Phillips created was a cloverleaf pond at the bottom of the property. He put it there, he said, "to make a view, which otherwise would be unin­ spiring." From the house, one sees a grove of palms, a bench, a magnificent dogwood, two tinajones, and the pond reflecting trunks and sky. plantings and Buck's requested profusion David M. Price, Bok Tower Gardens' of pots and flowering tubs, agaves and head horticulturist, calls Phillips's plant strelitzias and tinajones marking the selections "radical, even avant-garde" for corners. The tiled frog fountain was the period, and Phillips probably would centered between the library'S French have been the first to agree with him. "In doors and the grotto-a European gothic Mountain Lake in '26," he wrote in the favorite-where water dripped down the '40s, "I felt myself to be somewhat on the rocks into a pool circled by ferns and dwarf frontiers of knowledge ... in residence cycads. To some eyes, this feature may not development. I had to work out a whole be of great beauty. A grotto, by definition, new technique, for structural materials as Above: Orchid trees are among the is a cave, and this one was dug because well as for planting. There is no doubt that plants still filling Pinewood's garden Phillips needed dirt somewhere else. Ever I established practices which have become rooms with a blaze of color. Right: practical, he covered the front of the hole standard." Huge tinajones oil jars add to the sense with stones and planted the top with citrus. While owned by Buck, el retiro was ofgrandeur; a frog fountain brings The house is as elegant and inviting as maintained by seven gardeners, even sound and sparkle to the terrace. the gardens, with eight family bedrooms though it was rarely used more than four and sleeping quarters for seven servants, a weeks a year. Two subsequent owners, vaulted living room, library, sitting rooms, who renamed the property el encierro and large kitchen, and surprisimgly small dining then Keenwood, provided no more than VISITING THE GARDENS room. Great pains were taken to make it minimal maintenance. In 1970, the estate look instantly like an old Renaissance­ was acquired by the American Foundation, ok Tower Gardens is open all Mediterranean villa, with round tower, the Bok Foundation's forerunner, to year, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. It is located vaulted windows, arched doorways, and protect the Bok gardens' western flank. Bfifty.-five miles south of Orlando hidden nooks. The exterior's salmon­ Nellie Lee Bok, then president of the board, and 200 miles northwest of Miami. colored paint, chosen to cut sun glare, was urged the purchase to prevent the property Take exit 17A fwm alternate 27. Write smoked and mottled, and the quick-climb­ from going to someone "more interested in to Visitors Services, P. O. Box 3810, ing creeping fig, Ficus pumila, soon ap­ revenue than sanctuary ... who could build Lake Wa-Ies, FL 33859~381O, or call peared to have been in place for decades. a night club, a shooting gallery, swimming (813) 676-1408. Admission is charged. In keeping with the architectural style, into pool...or put up a ferris wheel." It then Pinewood House and Gardens can be which Phillips had considerable input, he became Pinewood, for its 165-year-old seen by appointmellt only. During the drew on his knowledge of Italian gardens longleaf pines (Pinus palustris). restoration period, it will probably be to design the allees and paths and bosque­ The restoration project came alive in the closed in summer. For more informa­ a wooded grove encircling the great park. 1980s with the arrival of Shaw as presi­ tion, write or call Bok Tower Gardens. Central to the harmonious composition dent, Susan Wallace as assistant horticul­ he achieved with a calculated repetition of turist at Bok Tower, and Price as director plant themes were the many groups of tall, of horticultural services and grounds. Al­ The east side really had the lesser view. columnar, architectonic Callitris verrucosa ready on the staff was Helena B. Caldwell, At its far end, Phillips situated an orchard and artfully placed specimen magnolias, who has been keeper of records at the Sok of various citruses. The fruit trees mark the camphors, palms, and oaks, which were Tower Gardens Library for the past sixteen edges of allees that divide the space into already large when he planted them. years and who produced the original el pie-shaped wedges meeting at a rondel­ Rudy Favretti, the landscape architect retiro material that is the nucleus of the another classical ploy that serves to in­ and historian hired by Shaw to develop the restoration bible. crease the sense of distance. master landscape restoration plan, calls In his plan, Rudy Favretti (see profile, Below this slope is the "proper" front Phillips one of the most "eclectic and tren­ page 24) tracked Phillips's work with en­ entrance, almost unnoticed; Phillips had dy" members of a firm recognized for being thusiasm and appreciation for the styles he designed a covered walk to the front door, a trend setter. It pleased Phillips to use his adapted, his ingenious devices and solu­ which Buck vetoed. Whenever there were ingenuity and imagination to combine an tions to problems, and the strong statement differences, the owner always won. "Your English park with Spanish and Italian he made. He concluded that the very eclec­ decision put me momentarily out of gear," styles, and to include conceits such as the ticism of the garden became Phillips's own Phillips would write, and go back to the grotto and the moon gate and a color unique style, and he favors as close a res­ drawing board. If at times it was an exer­ scheme borrowed from Jekyll. To this, he toration as possible; his immediate priorities cise in providing a client with what he added his considerable artistry in handling would be the bosque and the orchard. wanted while preserving artistic integrity, open spaces and situating plantings to Interestingly, it was the years of benign either in spite of it or because of it, the catch and influence light and shadows. He neglect, from the time that Buck died in the result was a masterful design. created long views, looking up to the Bok mid-1940s until the property was pur­ Between door and orchard is an ag­ Tower three miles away, and short views, chased by the foundation in 1980, that gregate of stairs with colored tile risers from house to pond, house to orchard, and prevented drastic and irrevocable changes connecting excavated levels and retaining through the trees to plantings on the slope. and left the ground plan remarkably intact. walls bisecting the area into "rooms." The Such strong vistas in all directions made Many of Phillips's designs elsewhere have terrace of gray coquina-Florida oolitic Buck's fewer than eight acres seem three been irrevocably altered. And while some limestone-was bordered with formal times greater. of his thirty-odd other designs for the

14 DECEMBER 1990 Mountain Lake Colony have been lovingly ways thrilled with their beauty, scent, and retained, they are rarely if ever open to the fruit. But since the fruit crops were the public. But the minimal upkeep of most severely damaged plants during last Pinewood has left rank cherry laurel and year's freeze, the new seedlings will have to camphor seedings choking the bosque meet high standards of cold-hardiness as along the perimeter of the park and pond well as disease-resistance, desirable shape, and the upper gardens. Unwanted vegeta­ and production of edible fruit. tion has obscured views and destroyed Citruses also will be replanted atop the carefully planned vistas. Full-grown trees grotto and camellias, planted there after must be cut out of the old paths. Many of Buck's da y, moved elsewhere on the grounds. the original plants were destroyed or Price notes that changes in both plant severely damaged by hard freezes that hit availability and the environment may Florida in 1940 and 1989, and decisions make some substitutions necessary. must be made about where to find replace­ "Not only have we had a freeze," he says, ments for the rarer plants, and when and "but we are in the middle of a twenty-five­ how much to relinquish absolute authen­ year drought. And while public gardens are ticity for close su bstitution. not bound by the rules of the state's water­ Wallace notes that a garden is organic; ing allowances, Bok Tower Gardens has unlike a house, it is intended to grow and always practiced water conservation, and develop. Some changes are inevitable, even that has an impact on planting." sound. "Subtropical gardens usually don't New plants must be not only cold-hardy last long," she says. Borderline-hardy and drought-tolerant but also low-main­ plants succumb, and plants well behaved tenance and nonaggressive. Wallace is in colder climates run amok. "When you charged with retaining, on the limited are lucky enough to have a garden this budget of a public garden, the essence of a strong, the best features will remain, even '30s garden on which Buck lavished un­ if we have to make changes," Wallace says. limited funds and labor. Still, she has made She believes Phillips and Buck would have remarkable progress in the last two years. been the first to try some of the species and Her one full-time gardener, Gaye Brouen, methods that were not available then. plus modern equipment make it possible to Those plants most critical to retaining provide at least low maintenance on a large the aesthetics of the Phillips design, says scale. Five to ten once-a-week volunteers, Price, if they cannot be kept or replaced by whom she can't praise highly enough, have the same species, will have to be replaced excavated and rebuilt the grotto and by others whose size, shape, and texture planted the moon gate garden and the area make the same statement. around the service entrance. Cleanup of For example, the sixty-five-year-old Cal­ dead trees and underbrush and removal of litris verrucosa are an integral part of the trees to regain the clear vista of the Bok design, but they were hard-hit by the last Tower is ongoing. freeze. Everything possible is being done to Those involved in the restoration don't revive them. If they die and can be replaced always see eye-to-eye on the solutions to by other callitris, the new ones should grow these plant material problems. While Wal­ fast-about fifteen feet in four years. But lace thinks Phillips was a design genius, she because these trees are not a popular stock is not thrilled to have to deal with some of item, and those seedlings in Wallace's nurs­ his" horticultural disasters," such as cherry ery were likewise damaged by the cold, laurel, camphor, and Brazilian pepper. He alternatives have to be considered. Italian apparently knew their inJ asive habits but cypress (Cupressus sempervirens) might used them anyway, counting on heavy work. Red cedar is possible where there is maintenance to contain them. Nor is she full sun. Podocarpus, junipers, and colum­ happy that Favretti likes the cherry laurel. nar magnolias have been suggested. Also But all agree on their main priority: to hopelessly cold-damaged are the many keep finding solutions, as Wallace says, palms so crucial to the design, such as the "so that restoration will duplicate as close­ queen palm (Arecast-rumromanzoffianum) ly as possible the original design and near the house. They too will have to be preserve the charm and the historic sig­ replaced, but are easily obtainable. nificance of this wonderful old garden." Another priority is to replant citruses in the upper east garden to meet once again at the rondel. Phillips used citruses as an Faith Jackson, former book editor of the integral part of his plan because North­ Miami Herald, is writing a biography of erners who wintered in Florida were al- William Lyman Phillips.

AMERICAN HORTICULTURIST 15 GARDENING CHALLENGES A I I LAN D OF ENDLESS S u M M E R The greatest lament ofgardeners in the fiftieth state may be ((So many plants! So much time!"

B Y RUB Y W E N B ERG

'WELCOME TO PARADISE!" said Jean Thomas, tossing fragrant plumeria leis over our shoulders. Thomas is a landscape designer who lives on Oahu's eastern coast. An active member of the Garden Club of Honolulu, she would be introducing my husband and me to other island gardeners during our recent visit to four of the eight inhabited islands of the Hawaiian archipelago. grow now, says Girton, makes Oregon For those whose idea of heaven is seem bleak by comparison. beautiful plants, the fiftieth state is indeed Still, Hawaiian gardeners are not paradise. Although Thomas had advised without travail. Like all of us, they ex­ us to delay our trip until April's explosive perience difficult soil, too much rain or burst of color, countless trees were al­ too little, insects, threats from develop­ ready in flower in March: tiger's claw, ment to the environment and to native African tulip, frangipani, ohia lehua, species. But they also have some more coral showers, jacaranda. Because 80 per­ unusual problems, such as temperatures cent of the world's flora is tropical, is­ that vary only from about 60° to the mid- landers can successfully cultivate a huge 800s, resulting in an endless and exhausting array of ornamentals. Sue Girton, gardening season. another landscape designer, came to Hawaii is not just one climate, but Hawaii from Oregon, which I had always many. The state's average rainfall is considered a paragon of horticultural seventy inches a year. But on the eastern variety. But the diversity of plants she can coast of the Big Island-Hawaii-125

16 DECEMBER 1990 inches is common, while Honolulu, on Sue Girton's garden is in a hilly suburb rock wall not to slow the wind but to keep Oahu's south coast, receives an average of of Honolulu north of Diamond Head Sue from planting farther down the hill! It twenty-four. Generally, gardeners on the Crater in an area called Mariner's Ridge. is now covered with the night-blooming leeward or south and west of any of the Girton has designed beautiful solutions to cereus, Hylocereus undatus, whose white, islands have to irrigate their plantings, the twin challenges of a difficult slope and musky-smelling flowers all open simul­ while those on the windward or north and frequent wind damage. Part of the garden taneously at dusk and close at dawn. east sides do not. is surrounded with redwood fencing that A level area-formerly a muddy dog In planning a garden, topography and she and her husband, Alex, weave for both run-has been turned into a lawn bordered elevation also have to be prime considera­ themselves and her clients. A hedge of with flowering trees and shrubs, palms, tions. Temperate climate plants, such as Clusia rosea, which has waxy pink flowers, and hundreds of "exotica," notably her proteas, flourish on Hawaii's hillsides. surrounds another boundary. A staircase favorite, bromeliads. This includes several Residents of the leeward seaside are suc­ down the hill ends in a menehune wall; in used as ground covers. In one place, cessful with cacti and succulents. Gar­ Hawaiian folklore, menehunes are elves Neoregelia compacta serves that purpose. deners near the sea need to select plants that complete a difficult construction task On the steep slope below the house, Aech­ based on their resistance to salt spray. in one night. Alex Girton says he built the mea fendleri and A. gamosepala, two bromeliads with contrasting foliage, are planted with pale green A. blanchetiana and gray green rosemary. With the garden completed- as much as any garden is ever completed-Girton's biggest job is battling destructive insects, against which there is no cold weather to give the gardener relief. Jean Thomas agrees with Girton that the greatest challenge for gardeners in Hawaii is the perpetual, year-round care of plants that allows far too little time for con­ templating future projects. Like most gar­ deners here, Thomas begins every day by hand-watering her container plants. She and her husband Wes live high above Kaneohe Bay on Oahu's windward coast. Rainfall here is usually adequate, but she advises her landscape clients to invest in irrigation systems just to be safe. In sum­ mer, she uses a catchment tank to retain water for her plants. To increase the water retention of her adobe soil, she amends it with bagasse, a sugar cane residue. Many of her prized plants are in con­ tainers woven of dried hapuu, a Hawaiian The Girtons have tamed a steep slope to the rear of their property with tree fern. Other charming features include rosemary and bromeliads. a small tree hung with discarded birds'

PUBLIC GAR 0 ENS T 0 V I SIT times. Winding paths on both and Nuuanu Avenue. 21 sides of a "dry stream" depict acres. Open daily 9 a.m. to 4 a valley with thousands of p.m. Admission fee. well-placed rocks and cen­ Foster is both a city park 'This estate was the Alice tury-old trees such as and one of four county gar­ Cooke Spalding House, macadamia, kopsia, and dens that are being developed ... Contemporary Museum deeded to the Honolulu banyan forming a canopy into botanical gardens. It was and Garden, 2411 Makiki Academy of Arts, resold as a over what is now mostly the property of Queen Heights Drive, Honolulu, HI residence, and then given to tropical shade-loving plants. Kalama of Hawaii until 1885 96822. (808) 526-1322. 20 the Honolulu Advertiser An excellent place to study when she sold it to William minute drive from Honolulu newspaper for a private art ground covers. Hillebrand, the author of I nternational Airport. 3.44 gallery. Since Spalding first ... Foster Botanic Garden, Flora ofthe Hawaiian Islands. acres. Open Monday and hired a Japanese landscape 50 N. Vineyard Boulevard, Mature trees include several Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 4 gardener to transform her Honolulu, HI 96817. (808) species of Ficus, Lager­ p.m.; Saturday noon to 4 p.m. barren ravine into a garden, it 537-1708. Center city be­ stroemia speciosa (crape No admission fee. has been revamped several tween Vineyard Bouleva.rd myrtle) and Adansonia digi-

18 DECEMBER 1990 nests and a teddy-bear-on-a-swing topiary made of Ficus pumila. Their living room, which is completely open to the elements most of the year, is attached to a lanai, a roofed terrace without sides-one of Hawaii's most pleasing contributions to outdoor living. But fencing assures their seclusion, affording them the privacy so sought after in this overcrowded state with a population density only slightly lower than that of California. Some privacy can be found on the hillsides. The garden of Maile and Paul Yardley- she is a cookbook author, he is an established painter- is a rambling nest above Kauai's southern coast. From their rear garden or small deck, they enjoy seclusion and mountain scenery. The near­ by hills are covered with Australian eucalyptus, which have beautiful white, exfoliating bark. The Yardley garden is planted with flowering shrubs, coconut palms, bamboos, and many potted plants. The drawback of this site is that it is the target of every cloudburst that comes along, and each rain seems to bring a new generation of destructive thrips. Property is expensive here. In 1988, the average resale price of a single family home on Oahu was $410,000 (though ap­ preciably less on the other islands). Those fortunate enough to have large gardens to maintain find that the scarcity of mod­ erate-priced housing has severely limited the number of gardeners, landscapers, and other workers. Gardeners throughout the islands echo Warren McCord of Kula Botanical Garden, who says: "Getting help is our biggest problem." For pubiic gar­ dens, this means that volunteers are even more indispensable than they are elsewhere A century plant in full {lower at Moirs Garden in Koloa. in the United States. tata (baobab). Foster also has foresr preserve full of imterest­ excellent vine, orchid, Iieli­ if.!g trees, shrubs, flowers, and couia, palm, and bromeliad fruit trees. It is a relatively Hew collections, but its garden of additiof.! liO the county park terrestrial0fchids is outstand­ system, and permits piCf.lick­ ing as a demonstration of iug (in specified areas) and their landscape use. Plants are camping (with a permit ob­ well labeled hew. tained two weeks before use) . .. Ho'omaluhia Botanic It also offers guided nature Garden, Box 1116, Kaneohe, hikes at 10 a.m. Saturday and PACIFIC Hl, 96744. (808) 235-6636. 1 p.m. Sunday. Near east coast off Kame­ .. The Harold L. Lyon Ar­ OCEAN hamaha Highway. 400 acres. boretum (a unit of the Univer­ Open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily. sity of Hawaii), 3860 Manoa No admission fee. Road, Honolulu, HI 96822. Ho'omaluhia is a natural (808) 988-7378. A few miles

AMERI CAN HORTICULTIJRIST 19 John Walker and his wife live in Maui near the base of a road leading to TIPS FOR VISITORS Haleakala Crater, on a ten-and-a-half-acre estate with an 1893 house. They are lucky any Hawaiian hotels have colorful and extensive landscaping. Some are to have two gardeners, Laura Hudson and superb in this regard; others are overdone theatrical layouts that may Lenore Jacobs, who shortly before our visit include pink flamingos, waterfalls suddenly gushing forth from man­ M had removed seven wagon loads of made hillsides, and florid plant combinations. Avoid the seduction of "the com­ branches knocked down by a typical plete Hawaiian experience" centered around one hotel by renting a car, visiting a windstorm. But while their location is variety of gardens, and flying to several islands for a comprehensive view. blustery it is also mild. The cooler climate Most of the botanical gardens and arboreta are not merely plant collections but lets them grow camellias, azaleas, agapan­ well designed with landscape ideas for gardeners in temperate, subtropical, and thus, manukas (Leptospermum scopar­ tropical locations. Those from colder climates may find useful ideas for their house ium), Shasta daisies, and proteas. John plant, greenhouse, or sun room displays. Walker's favorites are orchids, and he has Since Hawaii is inundated with tourists, its residents value their privacy over all more than 500 pots under screening. But else, and home gardens are infrequently shared with the public. Contacting "a Hawaiian gardeners, like so many others, friend of a friend" who has a lovely Hawaiian garden may be the best approach. often wish for pie-in-the-sky. "If only we However, the city of Honolulu does have a group tour program that visits three could grow peonies," laments Hudson. private gardens in different locations. The cost, including transportation, is $500 Unwary newcomers soon discover that for a minimum of thirty people. They can arrange such tours for botanical or such things as spring bulbs are totally un­ horticultural groups. suited to the Hawaiian climate. Nor are For more information contact Mrs. George Schnack, Tour Committee Chair­ Hawaiian gardeners as adventuresome as man, Garden Club of Honolulu, 3860 Manoa Boulevard, Honolulu, HI 96822. they might be . In some areas, it seems as though bougainvillea, crotons, and poin­ settias are as omnipresent as forsythia on the mainland. This is not because more varied plant material isn't available. Al­ though Hawaii is the world's most isolated landmass of any appreciable population, this has not discouraged its horticulturists from importing ornamentals. Hawaii grows a good deal of its own stock, but some plants and bulbs are brought in from Japan and California. Nurseries have be­ come established on all the major islands, because as much as ninety-five miles of Pacific Ocean separates each from the other. But quality and selection vary great­ ly. Says Sue Girton: "Landscapers need to know where the best nurseries are to locate A Guzmania in the bromeliad garden at the Harold L. Lyon Arboretum. special goodies of significance in ornamen­ tal design." It is not yet possible to earn a

north of Honolulu near use of native plants. Its long panded. Robert Hirano, assis­ where he became a successful Paradise Park. 124 acres. trails lead to collections of tant researcher, specializes in lawyer, businessman, and Open 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Mon­ trees and shrubs, vines, or­ crossbreeding calatheas and U.S. Senator for seventeen day through Friday; noon to 3 chids, bromeliads, ethno­ marantas and hybridizing years. After thirty-five years p.m. Saturday. For guided botanical plants, etc. Located tropical Vireya rhododendrons. of planning and planting his tours, telephone for reserva­ beneath a mountain, the site ... Senator Fong's Planta­ property was opened to the tions. No admission fee. receives 170 inches of rain per tion and Garden, 47-285 public in 1988 and still may In cooperation with the year. It was originally owned Pulama Road, Kaneohe, HI be seen only from a tram with university, the staff has a full­ by the Hawaiian Sugar 96744. (808) 239-6755. Near a tour guide who does, how­ scale hybridizing program, Planters Association to grow Kaneohe Bay on east coast; one ever, make frequent stops. disseminates unusual seeds reforestation trees. When the mile from Kamehameha High­ The site is steeped in and plants, tests newly im­ site reverted to pasture, it was way. 725 acres. Open daily 9 Hawaiian history, which is ported foreign species, con­ deeded to the university, a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission fee. duly explained by the guide. ducts outdoor labs and classes which began landscape and This is the estate of Hiram Besides the many exotic or­ for botany students, directs plant collecting projects that Fong who was born in China namentals, there are seventy­ workshops, and promotes the are constantly being ex- and immigrated tQ Hawaii five kinds of fruit and nut

20 DECEMBER 1990 degree in landscape architecture on the islands, but the University of Hawaii gives design courses that stress avoiding th e mundane by concentrating on Hawaii 's unique aspects. Native pl a nts alw ays add a unique quality to regional gardens. But like their counterparts else where, H awa ii an gar­ deners prefer to landscape with exotics, and their reasons may be more compelling. They have a wealth of the world's fl ora from which to choose- plants fro m ra in forests, swamps, monsoon areas, deserts, and tropica l beaches . Although using na­ ti ve plants usuall y minimizes the chall enges of climate and pests, here many require careful planting to closely duplicate their specific conditions before humanity'S in­ trusion upon the environment. Thus, those nati ves of ornamental as we ll as botanica l interest require educated cultivati on before they can adapt to gardens. The islands are young in geological time. Kauai, the oldest, emerged onl y twenty­ seven million years ago. All the islands were subse quently clothed in a gree n mantle fr om seeds that fl oated in on their own, were blown in by wind, were carried on the feet and feathers of birds, or were attached to the sea's fl otsam and jetsam. This produced about 400 ancestor plants that evolved into more than 1,000-perhaps as many as 2,000-fiowering plants, each adapted to a specialized niche. Of these, 94 to 98 percent are endemics, meaning that they are found nowhere else on earth. Ironically, the generally favora ble climate has worked against the survival of these native species in a number of ways . About a thousand years ago, Polynesians arrived from the south, bringing with them A grove of flowering coral trees in Kualoa Park on Oahu's rainy eastern thirty foreign species including sugar cane, coast. trees. The Senator still works cal and recreational facility, ly north of Wainapana State ions representing plants in­ several hours a day in the gar­ with the former in alSO-acre Park on Maui's east coast. 60 stnamental to the growth of den; his wife collects flowers valley. Its thirty-seven gardens acres. Open daily 10 a.m. to 3 Hawaii including imports for arrangements. A demon­ contain 8,000 plant species. p.m. Admission fee. from ]apa.n, the Philippines, stration of the art of Gl'eating Waimea's mission is cultivat­ The lower garden includes a and China. leis is also given here. ing endangered Hawaiian walk thFough a bamboo grove, ... Kula Botanical Garden, ... Waimea Arboretum plants as well as those from vine-covered bridge, and koi R.R. 2, Box 288, Kula, HI and Botanical Garden, 59- East Africa, Ecuador, Guam, pond. The upper garden can be 96790. Kula Highway on 864 Kamehamaha Highway, and other tropical areas. It has seen from your car. The site is Kekaulike Road, Central Haleiwa, HI 97712. (808) one of the world's largest col­ also a working nursery. Maui. 343 acres. Open daily 9 638-8511. North shore, part lections of Erythrina. ... Kapaniwai Heritage a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission fee. of Waimea Falls Park. 800 Garden, Route 30, north cen­ Members of the Protea acres. Open daily, including tral Maui near Kahului Airport. family are grown here for the holidays, from 10 a.m. to 5:30 Turn left before reaching lao cut flower market, as are p.m. Admission fee. ... Helani Gardens, Box State Park. No admission fee. Monterey pines, (Pinus This is a combined botani- 215, Hana, HI 96713. Slight- Formal gardens and pavil- radiata) for Christmas trees.

AMERICAN HO RTI CU LTU RI ST 21 taro, and sweet potato. Many endemics, unable to compete with introductions, began to die out. When Captain Cook landed in 1778, his botanist began an im­ mediate catalog of the flora while the ship's crew became the first Europeans to assault the conditions under which these plants grew. Cook and his followers brought in goats, sheep, and cattle, which played havoc with the ecosystem. Today, agricul­ ture and cattle ranching are being outdone by tourism in altering the environment. The more than six million people who visit the island each year have I€d to nonstop construction of roads, hOl!lsing, hotels, and beach-front development. Hawaii, with only two-tenths of the United States' land, now has 72 percent of its plant extinctions. Ardent gardeners, such as Sue Girton, haunt plant sales, botanical gardens, and estate auctions for rare natives. At one of the latter, Girton found the endangered Brighamia citrinia var. napaliensis, an in­ habitant of rocky cliffs, which looks like a cabbage on a bulbous palm trunk. She pollinated the flowers with a brush shaped like the long, curved bill of a honeycreeper, an extinct bird that once did the job, and from the harvested seed, grew 200 plants that she distributed to members of the Gar­ den Club of Honolulu. The Harold L. Lyon Arboretum, along with other of Oahu's botanical gardens such as Foster, Waimea, and Ho'omaluhia, are among those promoting the culture of natives. The National Tropical Botanical Garden on Kauai recently gave away hundreds of interesting shrubs, trees, and vines of sixteen different species along with cultural information to help gardeners get The silversword (Argyroxiphium sandwicense), seen here on Haleakala them started. Crater, is one of Hawaii's many endangered species. Lyon's Robert Hirano notes that today,

Because of its elevation (on provided. The scene is one of miles south of Hila on High­ the climb to Haleakala HAW A I I waterfalls, meandering streams, way 11. 17 acres. Open daily crater), the hillside garden is a BIG ISLAND and a splendid "iew of the 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission treasure tFove of temperate ... Hawaii Tropical Botan­ rugged bay. Its inventory of fee . climate plants such as protea, ical Garden, P.O. Box 1415, 1,000 plants is constantly Set in the Panaewa rain fruit trees, and flowering Papaikou, HI 96721. (808) being augmented by owner forest, Nani Mau Gardens in­ vines. President Warren Mc­ 964-5233. Five miles north of Dan Lutkenhouse. The rare cludes over 2,000 orchid Cord has grown many that Hila, east coast, sGenic Route plants he collects in his travels varieties and tropical fruits people told him were impos­ 4 on Onomea Bay. 17 acres. are well labeled, and a num­ and nuts, a ginger garden, a sible, and displays them in a Open daily 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 bered inventory list is avail­ fern forest, a Hawaiian herb lovely design between two p.m. Admission fee. able. A visit is well worth the garden, and hibiscus and an­ stream beds. There is a vine­ This tropical rain forest long trip from the west coast thurium gardens. covered bridge, an arbor with garden is another superb where most visitors stay. benches for resting in the shade, landscape development. A ... Nani Mau Gardens, K A U A I and a beautiful pond sur­ sudden deluge is Rever unex­ 421 Makalika Street, Hilo, HI rounded by flowering shrubs. pected, but umbrellas are 96720. (808)959-3541. Three ... Limahuli Botanical

22 DECEMBER 1990 "plants brought in by the early Polynesians are considered indigenous" because they flourish as though they had always grown here. He encourages contemporary gar­ deners to cultivate both, especially the more reliable endemics such as the fra­ grant, white-flowered Hibiscus waimae; the palm, Pritchardia hillibrandii, with sil­ ver blue foliage; and ohia lehua or Metrosideros collinus, an attractive red­ flowering tree. Ho'omaluhia Botanical Garden experts suggest growing the shru bs Gardenia brighamii and Dodonaea vis­ cosa, and Wikstroemia uva-ursi, which makes an interesting vine or ground cover for seaside sites. Environmentalists are now warning tourists and residents to avoid bringing in untested exotics like the pretty white­ flowered morning-glory (Ipomoea aquatica) that we saw choking out vacant lots and heading for gardens on the Big Island's eastern shore. The biggest challenge to the Hawaiian environment is probably that humans and the pests they have brought with them find the climate so attractive that they don't want to leave. For humans, the state has the longest life expectancy in the nation. "Hawaii is ideal for healthy and vigorous growth," observes Gregory Koob, assis­ tant director of living collections at the National Tropical Botanical Garden, "but with no cold season to slow or kill weeds, fighting them is a constant battle." Many a gardener from severe weather climates would readily endure such a chal­ lenge if they could. Hawaii's population explosion is proof of that.

Ruby Weinberg is a frequent contributor A torch ginger (Etlingera elatior 'Red Torch') in Nani Mau Gardens on the to American Horticulturist. Big Island.

Garden, Box 808, Hanalei, tion resort. 35 acres. Open 7361. South coast on Hailima closed without warning if HI 96714. Kuhio Highway, daily 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Road near Lawaii. Open conditions are muddy. North Shore, near Hana State No admission fee. Tuesdays 9 a.m. Advance Allerton Garden, main­ Park. 15 acres. No admission Moir's has a 4,OOO-plant reservations only by writing tained and exhibited by the fee. collecti0n of aloe, agave, to Reservations Secretary. national gard(lH, was once the A garden of wet-area flora euphorbia, and other suc' National is 186 acres. Aller­ home and property of featuring Hawaiian heritage culents and cacti from the ton is 100 acres. Admission Hawaiian Queen Emma, then plants. Call the National world's hottest, driest areas. fee. was developed by Robert Al­ Tropical Botanical Garden to These well-landscaped grounds The National Tropical Bo­ lerton and his son, John. The inquire about the date when it include lagoons, tropical trees tanical Garden is a private, plantation residence sits will be opened to the public. and shrubs. Unfortunately, nonprofit government-charted astride a sprawling, ocean­ A Moir's Garden, 2253 few plants are labeled. corporation that serves as a front lawn. The garden fea­ Poipu Road, Koloa, HI A National Tropical Bo­ research and education cen­ tures rock walls and plants, 96756. (808) 367-7053. Near tanical Garden and Allerton ter. Plants range from stream plantings and water­ Poipu, a lovely public beach, Garden, P.O. Box 340, Hawaiian natives to tropical falls, and many exotics-a bit and part of Kiauhuna Planta- Lawaii, HI 96765. (808) 332- ornamentals. Trails may be of old Hawaii at its grandest.

AMERI CAN HORTICULTURIST 23 R U 0 Y F A V RET T I LANDSCAPING'S TIME TRAVELER Hes been talking restoration since he tuas a youngster, and nOll; he has a lot oj'listeners.

B Y T 0 V A H MAR T N

s I mount the steps into the courtyard garden at Trystwood Farm in Mansfield, Connecticut, I can see Rudy Favretti talking on the phone with a deeply furrowed brow. Snatches of the conversation float through an open window-the subject is topsoil and there is some concern about the delivery date. The matter is resolved, the phone is hung up, Favretti waves from his office and takes two steps outside when the phone rings again. There is some concern about bricks: Can a few be lifted to place a commemorative plaque in a walkway? The matter is resolved, the receiver is returned to its

24 DECEMBER 1990

Favretti ruffled feathers, then earned kudos, with his severe prun­ ing of the aged boxwood at Bowen House in Woodstock, Connecticut. Above: A gazebo that overlooks the Bowen House garden. Right: The main house in its original pink.

cradle and an answering machine fields necticut and received an award from the den and enjoys every aspect of his further interruptions. National Trust for Historic Preservation work-including the dirtier duties that Rudy Favretti's days are filled with such for creating this country's first university come with the turf. Although his brow calls and, in most cases, they involve one program in garden restoration. He has might furrow momentarily when fielding of the many gardens he has restored. Fav­ published countless articles on the subject calls concerning topsoil and bricks, Favret­ retti has been practicing landscape ar­ and written five books on period garden­ ti always emerges with a toothy grin. chitecture for over thirty-five years and, at ing. He is a much sought-after lecturer and Nowadays, he has good reason to smile. one time or another, has worked on most has been featured as a speaker at symposia The business of landscape restoration has of this country's important landscape res­ on landscape history throughout the grown by leaps and bounds in the last torations. His lengthy credentials include country. His wife,Joy Favretti, is a botanist decade. Once, a landscape historian's life the former homes of four United States and fellow researcher of historic land­ was a lonely one. Rudy Favretti was talk­ Presidents-Thomas Jefferson's Monticel­ scapes who co-authored several of his ing landscape restoration long before lo; Woodrow Wilson's birthplace in Staun­ books and is often at Favretti's elbow when anyone was prepared to listen. In fact, he ton, Virginia; James Madison's home in he visits restoration sites. can trace his interest in the subject back to Montpelier; and Wheatland, James So I wasn't surprised when the Favrettis' childhood. His father was an Italian Buchanan's home near Lancaster, Pennsyl­ phone continued to ring. But despite his craftsman who immigrated to this country vania. He is restoring the country's oldest busy schedule, Rudy Favretti is a refresh­ to enjoy greater religious freedom and formal garden at Bacons Castle, Virginia, ingly unhurried and modest man. Nothing found an abundant demand for his skills to its seventeenth century charm (see story flusters him. The phone might be ringing, restoring homes around Mystic, Connec­ page 27). He has been a consultant for the but before he picks up the receiver, Favretti ticut. Favretti remembers marveling at the Longfellow House in Cambridge, Mas­ always takes time to smell the flowers. He money and care his father's clients lavished sachusetts, as well as Old Sturbridge Vil­ has a very sincere, very boyish charm. His on their homes, but he felt profoundly lage in Massachusetts, Old Salem in North wavy hair is always tousled and, when he disappointed in their lack of concern for Carolina, Colonial Williamsburg in Vir­ must wear a suit, it's offset by a volum­ the surrounding landscape. It was an era in ginia, and Mystic Seaport in Connecticut. inous 1930s-style tie embroidered with which gardens were believed not to con­ In fact, he has restored or consulted on over pansies. At home, you're most likely to find tribute much toward the value of an estate; 500 gardens throughout the years. him with a bandanna tied as a sweatband many landscapers consider the World War He also teaches his techniques. Between across his forehead, laying his own brick II years to be the Dark Ages of gardening. 1955 and 1988 Rudy Favretti taught path or tying wisteria into a newly con­ Favretti never had any doubts about the landscape history at the University of Con- structed pergola. Plainly, he loves to gar- vocation he would pursue. "My mother

26 DECEMBER 1990 BACON'S CASTLE

n 1985, archaeologists excavating the site of an estate in the historic Wil­ liamsburg-Jamestown area of Virginia discovered wine bottle fragm(mrs and I pottery shards out of sync with the nineteenth-century garden they were expecting to study. They had already found some evidence of an eighteenth-century garden, but tfue pieces they found that summer dated from the seventeeflth. Nicholas Luccketti, the archaeologist in charge of tlhe project, flas called the Bacon's Castle garden "the largest, earliest, best-preserved, most sophistiGated garden tflat has come to light in North America." Some of the clearest evidence for the garden's age was pt"ovided by seals from wine bottles bearing the initials" AA," apparently for Maj. Arthur ABen Jr. Allen's English-born father built the house in 1665 and his son, who would become speaker of the house of Virginia's wloniallegislature, inherited it in 1669. The castle gets its name from Nathaniel Bacon, who in 1676 led a brief rebellion against tfle colonial government. Allen and his family reportedly fled from their home to Williamsburg for three months while seventy rebels holed up in the castle. The one-and-a-half-acre garden has been called an American version of the English Renaissance style, similar to the Earl of Pembrok€'s sevemeenth-Gentury garden at Wiltofl in Salisbury, England. It is laid out in a grid, with a twelve-foot­ wide central walk and three eight-foot crosswalks of white sand. The six raised planting beds, all seventy-four feet wide and nearly 100 feet long, were furrowed, showi,ng that they were devoted to vegetables and small fruits. Across the north end are smaller beds beliey.ed to have been starting beds because a briGk wall sheltered that end of the garden. Such "forcing" walls often served as solar collectors and windbreaks for plants on tfleir south side. Peach and apricot trees will be espaliered against the wall, and cold frames bl!lilt at its foot. had a flower garden," he recalls with a At the west end of the garden were the remaiNS of three brick fOl!lndations, believed smile, "while my father tended a vegetable to mark the former location of exhedras-roofless strUGtUFes with built-ifl seats. garden. At the age of four, I was given a EX'Gavation and written records have provided clues to the appeafanGe of the plot to plant. Of course, I grew vegetables garden in the eighteenth and nineteenth Genturies as well. In 1~35, Louis MankiNS, to imitate my father, but I immediately who lived wid~ his family at the castle moved into flowers." While still in high until 1811, drew a dia:gra.in of the school, he undertook his first attempt at garden as he remembered it. Ar­ preservation-for a 4-H project, he ehaeologists found fenGe post holes planted lilacs to rejuvenate a churchyard. dating from the 17008, but not trom When Favretti was attending college, the Ailens' tenure, leading landscape there were no courses in landscape restora­ historian Rwdy Favretti to conclude tion, so he wrote his thesis on landscape that the original Allen gardel'l was design instead. All the while, he was inde­ probably endosed by a fledge, which pendently researching restoration. Al­ he recreated with mock orange. though he could find no texts devoted to Among the plants Favretti selected as the topic, he collected old books on appropriate to the period are cl1amo­ landscaping and studied them in his spare Htile, Iiosemary, aQd sage; Gurrants, bar­ time. berry, and gooseberry; and sweet When he was hired as a professor at the William, hollyhocks, and columbine. University of Connecticut, Favretti Although restoration is still not com­ naturally began to talk about his first love, plefie, Bacon's Castle has been open to and he found many students eager to listen. the pubLic since May 1989. It is on Why the heightened interest in recent Route 617 just off Route 10, in Bacons years? "Perhaps it's a reaction to the Castle, ViFginia. It is open noon to 4 destruction of old, historic buildings p.m. Tuesday through Friday and Sun­ during the war years," suggests Favretti. days, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays. "People have become more concerned Bacon's Castle and its garden's There is an admission fee. For more about historic sites. At the same time, there forcing wall. information, call (804) 357-5976. is an increased interest in horticulture for therapeutic and aesthetic reasons.

AMERI CAN HO RTICULTURI ST 27 Thomas Jefferson's Monticello is unusual in that the layout and contents of its grounds and gardens were well documented. Favretti guided the restora­ tion of its vineyard and pavilion area, above, which appears in the lower right corner of the aerial view.

Nowadays, gardeners are more educated ponents to recreate the scene. The first and about past gardens. He looks for plans, and more sophisticated." Although several often most difficult decision is to choose pictures, drawings, diary entries, house­ universities offer courses in preservation, precisely which period is to be recaptured. hold account books, property deeds, and he carved out the field of landscape restora­ Quite frequently, clients ask Favretti to town records that might give him a hint of tion, and the University of Connecticut recreate a garden as it was during a certain what came before the present garden. In program-unfortunately allowed to lapse decade-the 1790s, perhaps, or the 1880s. private homes, he might find these invalu­ after Favretti retired in 1988-was unique. Such requests can be filled, but he feels it is able clues tucked away in attic trunks or in Favretti explains that restoration is a more feasible to recreate a garden with a the basement. The estates of prominent vastly different field than preservation. certain generation or a resident's lifetime people such as presidents might have ar­ Preservationists attempt to maintain an ex­ as the time frame. The broader approach chives where correspondence and diaries isting planting or surround a historically allows him to be more realistic about the are stored. In many cases, a historian must important home with an appropriately components of the scene. After all, it's play the sleuth. Only a few gardens, such handsome landscape. A restoration project, impossible to freeze time. A garden is al­ as Monticello, have specific garden plans on the other hand, tries to turn back the ways growing and a tree planted in 1880 that can be consulted. In most cases, he hands of time and reclaim a garden that would scarcely have time to reach maturity must piece together random scraps of in­ once existed perhaps a century or two ago. ten years later. formation. He reads diaries and sorts Authenticity is of the utmost importance, With a goal established, the work still through family papers. He might discover and the task often calls for the additional cannot begin until Favretti carefully a diary entry that mentions a certain tree talents of archaeologists and architects. records the existing grounds. He makes a standing near a wash yard. In one case, he How does a historian envision a scene detailed drawing and photographic record found a child's drawing in an autograph erased by centuries of wear and weather­ of every plant and architectural element, and memento book that depicted a cider ing? While we sat in the shade of Favretti's and urges clients to annotate his plans with press with a few recognizable shrubs in the own eclectically planted back porch, he detailed notes about current micro­ background. described his methods. First, he feels it safe climates, scenic views and land contours Oral accounts from neighbors or surviv­ to assume that most older homes had a that the owner wants to preserve, and other ing relatives often prove helpful, although garden of some sort, hence the name of his pertinent information. Not only will these Favretti finds them prone to inaccuracies recently reprinted book, For Every House drawings become valuable in "before and and usually tries to corroborate "hearsay" a Garden. The challenge lies in discerning after" comparisons, but they also provide with at least one other source. He oc­ exactly what type of garden surrouNded a a record for future landscape historians. casionally places requests for information home and finding the appropriate com- Next, Favretti begins to search for clues in local papers; my uncle, Richard Logee,

28 DECEMBER 1990 responded to one such ad seeking informa­ on the site to document the exact age of all garden, Favretti immediately assumes it tion about a Pomfret, Connecticut, estate elements. They found that the nineteenth must have been the work of a more recent for which he was once the head gardener. century garden they had begun to recon­ generation, because he knows that serpen­ Then the site is explored in greater struct was only two-thirds the size of the tine walks were a nineteenth-century depth-literally. Often Favretti will begin original seventeenth century landscape. phenomenon. by looking at the lay of the land to find Finally, all this information must be in­ Asked who sets the standards in the recessed areas that may once have held terpreted. For example, at Bacon's Castle, lafldscape restoration field, Favretti con­ flower beds or mounds where trees once the remains of a long wall were found. templates the floor for a minute afld stood. He conducts a surface probe, search­ Since the wall had no connection with a answers slowly. "Don't misunderstand," ing for the skeletolil of a garden. structure, Favretti surmised that it must he says, "I don't want to appear boastful. Soi,l samples are taken to uncover seeds have been a forcing wall used to shelter But a lot of people refer to our books." He and search for telltale differences in soil marginally hardy fruit trees such as thinks another minute and adds, "I hope color that might indicate the ghost of a apricots. His next task was to decide how that doesn't sound immodest." In fact, his bygone tree. On occasion, Favretti calls in tall afld wide it stood so it could be rebuilt books, several of which are now being archaeologists to excavate a site. But in his in three dimensions. Similar decisions are reprinted, are felt by most historians to lectures, he is quick to point out that ex­ encountered every time he· finds a gate post constitute the bible on the subject of period cavating is a risky business and should or a fountain ruin. How tall was the gate? landscapiflg. never be performed by an amateur. Not What style was the fountain? With luck, he When all possible avenues of research only can you ruin important features of the can find photos that provide hints, but have been exhausted, plans are drawn up landscape and injure tree roots, but un­ more often, he must rely on his extensive for the actual restoration. Although Fav­ trained eyes rarely know how to interpret knowledge of the era in question. retti is painstakingly accurate when re­ their findings. At most, an amateur might When all the evidence is gathered, Fav­ searching a garden's past, he does not insist safely remove an inch or two of topsoil to retti is left to decide whether the uncovered on recreating an exact replica. "Gardens uncover walkways and expose seeds of elements actually belong to the garden of must reflect modern elements," he says. plants buried too deep to germinate. Dig­ the target period. On some sites, several "For example, we often widen walkways ging deeper, archaeologists can unearth generations of garden elements are dis­ to accommodate the circulatio'n of visitors. revealing artifacts or hidden post holes. covered and all must be sorted into their Parking areas have to be provided." When a garden is very old, Favretti might appropriate time slots. For example, if a The finished product should un­ probe further. At Bacon's Castle, a team of curved walkway is uncovered while search­ obtrusively meet these practical needs while archaeologists performed infrared studies ing for the bones of an eighteenth-century providing visitors with a retrospective ex-

AMERICAN HORTICULTURIST 29 ----~------..,,~-

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One of many working plans used by as he breaks into his toothy grin. many private homeowners can afford such Favretti in restoring John Bartram's Frequently, new plantings are necessary long-term consultation. But Burns is oc­ garden in Philadelphia, with nota­ to complete a design, and Favretti is careful casionally asked to advise people who want tions to remove a walk, add another to plant only cultivars and species available an appropriate period garden around their with a stair, and questions regarding during the period the garden is meant to home. "If someone without a huge budget walls and fences. represent. In the past, finding appropriate wants a colonial garden," Burns says, "I plant material could be difficult, but as often suggest that we put in an appropriate perience. Favretti tries to retain as many interest in heirloom plants increases, more fence with lilacs at each corner. The fence is existing features as possible, although oc­ catalogs offer flowers and vegetables a must." Even with this simple formula, casionally, a favorite old tree must be popular in the past. there are perils inher:ent in doing it yourself. removed becal!lse it shades an important Even if everything goes smoothly, the Although a fence is mandatory, Burns finds section of the garden, or hedges must be restoration process is time consuming, that amateurs often create a glaring drastically sheared to regain their original especially if a landscape historian accom­ anachronism. "Many people think of split form. The most controversial restoration panies the project from start to finish. To rail fences as being appropriate for older that Favretti ever accomplished was in the conduct the necessary research for restor­ homes, but they're actually very modern. I nearby town of Woodstock, Connecticut, ing a 600-acre Shaker Village in New see so many older homes surrounded by where he was asked by the Society for the Hampshire, Susan Burns of Eastford, Con­ totally wrong fences." Preservation of New England AntiqHities to necticut, one of Favretti's former students, Such misguided efforts are inevitable as restore a formal parterre OR the side lawn spellt three months living on the site and homeowners jump aboard the trend. Rudy of Bowen House, a Gothic revival cottage. searching through commqnity records. Favretti and his students are delighted to To accomplish the deed, it was necessary to The actual reconstruction process will take see a growing interest in reclaiming our prune the boxwood edging that had be­ several years to complete. Such involved country's horticultural heritage. Every come completely overgrown, virtually projects require generous funding. The cost year, Favretti receives more calls from choking out all its perennial bedfellows. of restoring the garden at Bacon's Castle owners of historic sites eager to restore When he clipped the four-foot hedge back was $250,000 raised by the Garden Club gardens that were once an integral part of to a six-inch stubble, the town flared up in of Virgillia. Although it was a particularly the scenery. With his help, many gardens protest. Three years later when the box­ expensive endeavor because it required ar­ are taking a giant step backward. wood came back into its nineteenth-century chaeological digs and aerial photography, glory, everyone agreed that it was a very costs of $100,000 are not uncommon. Tovah Martin is the author of Once wise move. "But I stayed far away from Due to the expense, most landscape res­ Upon A Windowsill and a contributing Woodstock for awhile," Favretti confesses torations involve public landmarks. Not editor for Victoria magazine.

30 DECEMBER 1990 STA G G ERE D BY STAGHORNS A ..lern cynic does an ahout-:lace.

S TOR Y AND PHOTOS B Y DIA SPRIGGS ot much impresses Flor­ idians as far as plant life goes. We are used to green, everywhere and all the time. Flowers are blooming on Nsomething year round. Our shrubs are colored in brilliant reds, yellows, and oranges, and at certain times of the year, trees fill the horizon with bursts of bright orange and purple. So when I was invited to the home of a friend of a friend to see his fern collection, my reaction was, "Ferns? Those common things with the fronds? How boring!" I went anyway. The friend 's name was Lou, and he specialized in something called staghorn ferns. When he met us at the door, he ex­ plained that staghorns, or Platyceriums, are Polypodiaceae, a family of about 180 genera and some 7,000 species of low­ growing ferns. The word platycerium is from the Greek, meaning broad horns. The plants are so named because their fertile fronds grow into antlerlike lobes. "How nice," I thought, still wondering why I was there. We went through the house to his enclosed back yard, which was more like a jungle. Growing on the high branches of his trees were strange things with enor­ mous shield-shaped upright growths and, hanging down from them, what looked like five- to six-foot-Iong green antlers. Some were single specimens; others had babies popping out everywhere. I went closer to examine a small specimen that seemed to be growing on itself in a ball. It was formed of overlapping shields and was covered with tiny antlers. "Where's the pot?" I asked, since I could see no visible means for this plant to support itself-not only no pot, but no roots and no soil. Lou explained that these ferns are native Platycerium holttumii

AM ERI CAN HO RTICULTURIST 3 1 looks as though it had swallowed half a tree really is pretty impressive. The fertile fronds grow up or down or both from the center of the shield, and have four basic shapes: very broad along their entire length; broad at the base but with strap-shaped ends; strap shaped with lobes that carry spores; strap shaped with unspe­ cialized surfaces for spores. At this point, I knew I had to have one of these things. I thought a small fern would be best for me. Lou suggested that I might like to raise one from a pup, and showed me some he had taken off one of his plants. I gazed at the new "baby" he placed in lilly hand. "But how do you take care of it?" I asked, feeling as though I had taken on a new puppy. Lou explained that, to keep staghorns healthy, I should try to duplicate their natural environment in the rain forest as closely as possible. In nature, they grow high in trees where they are protected from the elements, so they should be kept away from direct sun and winds that may damage leaves and dry them out. While some will withstand short periods of temperatures as low as 40· F, most plants will undergo some damage if exposed to temperatures lower than 60· F. The steamy conditions of the rain forests can be ap­ proximated using trays of pebbles or wet sand placed under the plants or by frequent misting, or indoors, by using a humidifier. For many, space will be a major considera­ tion. "Really?" I thought to myself, wondering where I would put a twenty­ foot ball like the one Lou had. Because the root system is tiny, careful watering is essential, he went Olil. The growing medium-usually moss-on which they are mounted can hold moisture next to the roots but feel dry to the touch. Some "stags," like this twenty-foot circumference Platycerium bifurcatum To see if the plant has dried out to the point ball, are nice to visit but hard to bring home. that it needs to be watered, he advised me to feel the moss at its innermost point or to to tropical Africa, Asia, Australia, and grows in two halves. The bottom half is push gently on the shield to see if water South America, where they grow in the rounded and clings tightly to the growing runs out or if the moss under the plant jungle canopy, clinging to the bark by tiny medium alild to older shield fronds, starting "gives" as though it were spongy. If it does root structures. There they are nourished out green and turning brown quickly. Lou need watering, water thoroughly. If the by fallen leaves and animal wastes. took us to one side of the yard and showed plant is small, dunking it in a tub of water As I began walking through his IlS the ultimate result of this growth habit: will ensure proper soaking. If you are "jungle," I noticed ferns that were small, suspended by gigantic chains on an equally hand-watering, soak the plant completely. waffled, crinkled, long, skinny, miniature; gigantic tree was a ball of fronds that was Fertilize it about once a month with a good my mind was spinning with all the different easily twenty feet in circumference. organic fertilizer. "With time," I was as­ sizes and shapes of these bizarre ferns. Lou The fronds of the upper half turn brown sured, "you will become aware of the explained that there are two types of more slowly, aL1d are usually deeply lobed wateli ing needs of your particular plant." fronds: the sterile or shield frond and the or forked and grow loosely on top of one How would I protect my fern against fertile frond. another. Some grow upward into lobes of insects and disease? Lou said that the pests The shield frond, which collects mois­ tremendous proportions. OK, I thought as most likely to attack staghorns are scale ture and protects the fern's tiny roots, I gazed up at one specimen, a plant that and mealy bugs, and that I should fight

32 DECEMBER 1990 back with a nonoil-based insecticide or by swabbing off the small insects with al­ cohol. Some species are more susceptible MOUNTING A STAGHORN than others to fungus, but it shouldn't be a problem if the plant- is given good air cir­ f you want your staghorn fern to culation and not overwatered. be a single specimen, it should be After I had spent half the day looking at I mounted on a flat surface. The Lou's beautiful specimens, he suggested I mountiflg surface can be a nonpres­ pay a visit to Skula's Nursery, which sure-treated board, a shadowbox proved even more wondrous than Lou's frame, tree trunk, or a specially made place. When I walked in, I left the hustle tree fern plaque or ball. Tree fern and bustle and concrete of the city behind products can usually be found where and lost myself in a landscape of orchids, orchid supplies are sold. The surface aroids, a waterfall and pond with koi big area needs to be large enough to allow enough to make a good dinner. Staghorns for a lot of growth, and rough enough were everywhere: high on trees, on shade­ to hold the moss in which it will grow; houses, on plaques, on balls. I photo­ later the fern's roots will creep graphed two Platycerium ridleyi that were through the moss into the board. magnificent, and asked Dorothy Sku la, To mount the fern, lay the mount­ who owns the nursery with her husband, ing board or structure on a flat surface Frank, how she was able to grow such a and cover it thickly with damp sphag­ difficult species. She shrugged. "I don't num moss. Secure the moss with know; I just don't baby them." You can't monofilament line or covered wire guarantee success by giving a staghorn that is criss-crossed over the moss and A full-grown dwarf P. bifurcatum textbook growing conditions, she said. fastened at the ends of the board with is mounted with criss-crossed wire. Each species is different and so are in­ staples, tiny nails, or brads. Some dividual plants: one may like a spot that is growers use sphagnum only; others leave an indentation where the roots will be drier, wetter, cooler, warmer. Her advice and fill the area with a loose mixture of organic material such as leaf mold, peat, was to watch the plant and see what it or shredded bark. seems to like rather than relying strictly on The plant should be positioned below the center line of the mounting sudace to what it's supposed to like. allow for upward shield growth. Make mre the root area is touching the moss. I asked if friends who don't have the Small specimens that grow shields quickly can be secured by criss-crossin.g advantages of our tropical climate can monofilament, plastic-co'lered wire, or strong tape fight over the green shield. grow them indoors. Many people do, even However, you have to be careful not to touch the bl!ld in the center, as damage to in basements, she said. The plants will need the bud could kill the plaflt, afld to pull the wire or tape tight enough to hold the a lot of fluorescent light and additional plaflt but flot tight enough to cut into the shield. humidity from misting, a humidifier, or If you don't want to risk harming the plant, or if you have an older specimen. pebble trays, and should be put outside with several layers of shields, you can seCIl!e the phmt by gently lifting the green when the weather permits it. And of shield, nanning the wire under it aNd over the already @f0wn fronds underseath. course, indoor gardeners will want to When your plant has grown to the edge of the mounting board, if you want it to be choose species that stay relatively small. a single specim

AMERIC:AN HORTICULTURIST 33 This P. lemoinei specimen is at home in a shadow box frame. staghorn because of its hardiness, easy cul­ what picky about its culture. It comes from many curling fingers. ture, and the ease with which it crosses Australia, Malaysia, and Java. Shield P. hoLttumii. Another impressively large with other species. These ferns make fronds are all that show on plants for many growing, nonpupping specimen, P. beautiful, very large ball specimens. They years. It can grow four to five feet high and hoLttumii is native to Indochina and are easily grown outdoors in mild climates three and a half feet wide. The shield is Thailand. The shield frond can grow from and can survive temperatures into the 40·s fan shaped with irregular lobes that even­ three to five feet tall and three to four feet for brief periods. P. bifurcatum has several tually grow forward. The bottom part of wide. The unusual fertile fronds divide into interesting cultivars: the shield is kidney sha ped with prominent two branches. Outer branches are short 'Majus'. The fertile fronds grow both surface veins. The light green fertile fronds and close to the plant, broadly wedge erect and downward and have a sharply grow downward, wedge shaped at the shaped with a few outer lobes, giving a pointed, fringed end. base, then forming two sections that are twisted appearance. The inner side con­ 'Netherlands'. The fertile fronds of this divided five times in pairs. They grow to tinues to grow downward, forming a long gray green plant spread in all directions, three feet long. These stags like drier con­ wedge that divides into many long, strap­ giving it a very full appearance. ditions and many have been lost to rotting shaped lobes. 'Ziesenhenne'. An interesting plant com­ and fungus. However, they can take short P. Lemoinei has long, narrow, bining the P. bifurcatum hardiness with a periods of colder temperatures. downward growing fertile fronds. It may small-growing habit that makes it perfect P. hillii is a pretty, medium grower with be a cross between P. veitchii and P. wiL­ for limited growing areas. some interesting cultivars. It originated in Linckii. P. coronarium. This light green Asian Australia. The dark green fertile fronds are P. madagascariense is a truly beautiful staghorn fern can become huge and needs erect with a long, slim wedge-shaped base. staghorn from Madagascar. The shield sturdy support. Top shields are more than The upper part is broad and divided into a fronds' raised, very prominent veining two feet wide and tall, growing loosely middle forked branch with two lateral gives the plant a waffled texture. However, upward with irregular lobes, prominent branches. This is a hardy plant and can be it is very fussy a bout its growing conditions surface veins, and round, forked tips. Fer­ treated like P. bifurcatum. Important P. and fungi and insects seem to love it. tile fronds are over five feet long, growing hillii cultivars include: P. ridLeyi is a breathtaking, nonpupping downward unevenly, then branching into 'Drummond'. This plant is smaller and species from Borneo, the Malay Peninsula, two short branches and one lobe. broader than P. hillii. The fertile fronds are and Sumatra. P. ridLeyi is as difficult to P. ellisii. This oddly shaped, light green semi-erect, very wide, dividing into several maintain as it is beautiful, requiring con­ plant is from Madagascar. Shield fronds are broad sections with sharply pointed tips. stant spraying for fungi and insects. The kidney shaped with an unnotched outer edge. 'Bloomei' has interesting fertile fronds rounded shield fronds have very deep ir­ Fertile fronds are wedge shaped, mostly with short, slim stalks close to the shield regular grooves and prominent veining. erect, with two lobes on the tips; each lobe frond, dividing into sharply pointed spear­ The erect fertile fronds look like antlers. has small "fingers." P. ellisii likes a humid shaped fingers. P. stemaria is a gray green African environment that stays around 60· F. 'Pumillum' is medium green and hardy. species with an upward-growing shield and P. grande. This beautiful non pupping The tops of the fertile fronds are both erect fertile fronds that are wider than they are plant takes years to mature and is some- and down growing, broad, and divide into long. Shield fronds are oblong, undivided

34 DECEMBER 1990 on top and wavy. The fertile fronds have two parts, one forking and wedge shaped and the other smaller and narrower. P. vassei. A native of Madagascar and Mozambique, it is the only stag with a natural chestnut brown shield. It is a medium fern with long thin antlers grow­ ing upward. Shield fronds have visible veins and undivided edges. The gray green fertile fronds are narrowly strap shaped, extending upward above the plant, divided into two parts and four end divisions. Tips are sharply pointed. The plant is hardy enough to withstand temperatures of 40· F for brief periods. P. veitchii, which comes from Australia, is covered with tiny white hairs. It has deeply lobed shield fronds, long erect fer­ tile fronds, and is able to withstand 40· F for brief periods. P. wallichii is native to Burma, the Malay Peninsula, and Siam. Shield fronds are roundish with a loosely growing top, eventually going outward. The yellow­ green fertile fronds are very broad, divided unequally into two parts with branches twisting in strap shapes. It has a dormant period and is a difficult plant to keep going. Minimum temperature is 60· F. P. wandae is another beautiful shield­ type stag from New Guinea; its shield can grow to huge proportions, making it a magnificient specimen. It is nonpupping. The top shield fronds, which are highly elongated and irregularly lobed at the tips, can grow four feet high and six or seven feet wide. Fertile fronds are five feet long and grow downward in pairs, dividing into two branches; one being wedge shaped, short, and close to the plant and the other long and repeatedly forked. P. willinckii is a pretty gray green plant from Java and the Indonesian island of Celebes with a short, upright, deeply cut shield and lots of long, thin, heavily forked branches. The shield tips are round to sharply pointed and the veins are prom-

Sources and Resources Spore patches on a fertile frond. Fennell Orchid Jungle, 26715 S.W. 157th Avenue, Homestead, FL 33031, inent. Fertile fronds are about four feet I left Skula's with visions of bulldozers (800) 344-2457. long, downward growing, divided into two plowing up my back yard and landscaping Jerry Horne, 10195 S.W. 70th Street, parts and five tip divisions. Divisions are plans running through my brain. Of Miami, FL 33173, (305) 270-1235. narrow, strap shaped, and plentiful. The course, " Baby" and his new little friend Logee's Greenhouses, 141 North Street, plant likes minimum temperatures of 50· "Pygmy" were a long way from the jungles Danielson, CT 06239, (203) 774-8038. (P. F. It has an important dwarf cultivar: I had seen, but everyone has to start some­ bifurcatum only.) 'Pygmaeum' is only twelve inches wide where. Skula's Nursery, 130 N.W. 192nd and two feet long. The shield is irregularly Street, Miami, FL 33169, (305) 652-3955. lobed at the top and the fertile fronds are Dia Spriggs is a free-lance writer who (Send a self-addressed, stamped envelope.) gray green and very thick. lives in Miami.

AMERICAN HORTICULTURIST 35

basement south of Soho in order to feed a mean beware; scarlet auricula means poison-producing spider of such venom avarice; and the white catch fly represents that death was instantaneous. The plants betrayal. If an enemy received a bouquet moved about a lot but any clue to their that contained lobelias, bilberries, and botanical nature was effectively hidden by trefoils, it would inform him or her that the the mists that swirled in that underground sender bore malevolence for treachery and hothouse. would soon have revenge. It was twenty years later when I finally Such precise symbolism would be lost on caught the 1935 movie "Werewolf of Lon­ modern viewers or readers, and the evil don" on Zacherly's television horror plant in general no doubt represents a movie show in Manhattan. In this case a broader type of discomfort. "Vegetable vil­ botanist, Dr. Wilfred Glendon, is bitten by lains" may be partly a result of living in the another botanist, Dr. Yogami, while both Industrial Age, with the awareness that are searching the mountains of Tibet for humans have destroyed much of nature in the rare plant that is the one effective an­ their search for wealth, and a feeling that tidote to the curse of lycanthropy. This nature will-and perhaps should-have fanciful flower, known as Mariphasa some means of retaliation. lumena lupina, will only unfold its stop-ac­ The plant as murder weapon theme may tion petals for the two nights out of every also stem from our increased distance from twenty-seven when the full moon floats nature. Most of us, without resorting to a high. That's the only time the chemical cure textbook, cannot recall the traditional uses is available. With one blossom per night of the herbs and roots in our own gardens. and two scientists fighting it out, you know And while the average American may grow there is trouble ahead. some tomatoes and some basil to give them By then I was smitten with the lore of the zest, most plant life is suspect. Some are menacing plant. I have stalked it not only outright poisons, but which ones? Which through the cinema, but in the pages of parts? What time of year? Deaths from novels old and new. It rears its terrifying poison mushrooms-while common in petals in the form of voracious animated Europe- are a rarity in this country. We vegetables that wreak destruction with no much prefer to make a stop at the local assistance, fictional flora used by villains to supermarket than to traipse into the woods do in their victims, and as real-life plants to look for salad ingredients. that take over for the ever-guilty butler in Murder buffs will search Hortus Third murder mysteries. in vain for Radix pedis diaboli, the murder Sometimes plants are used merely to weapon in The Adventure of the Devil's symbolize evil, as in a famous scene from Foot (1922) by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. the 1940 movie "The Big Sleep." Here, the author tells of Brenda T regennis's Humphrey Bogart, as the private detective death due to convulsions as her two Phillip Marlowe, is ushered into the steam­ brothers go mad while they sit around the ing greenhouse of General Stern wood. It is dining room table playing cards. The next a place festooned with Spanish moss and day Mortimer T regennis dies with the same blooming cattleyas. symptoms. "Too hot in here for any man who has How to explain deaths that occur when blood in his veins," says the general, bun­ A good tissue there is no weapon or food about, a three­ dling a blanket around his shoulders. "I foot border of blooming flowers beneath seem to exist largely on heat like a newborn culture lab might the murder room's window, and not one spider. The orchids are an excuse for the footprint in sight? Then Sherlock Holmes heat. Do you like orchids?" discovers a slight powder on a lamp wick "Not particularly," answers Marlowe. have helped the and reflects on the "horrible and depress­ "Nasty things," says the general, waving ing stuffiness" of the room. Watson, as his hand. "Their flesh is like the flesh of usual, is baffled, but the final clue is men-their perfume has the rotten sweet­ Werewolf of London provided by a conversation with one Dr. ness of corruption." Sterndale, who draws from his pocket a Flowers have been used as symbolism paper packet bearing the name Radix pedis since the days of classical Greece. But while in concocting diaboli and a red poison label. I knew that daisies meant innocence and "I understand that you are a doctor, sir. rosemary meant remembrance, I was the antidote Have you ever heard of this preparation?" surprised to learn that there is a dark side Sterndale asks. to the language of flowers. Hellebores sym­ "Devil's-foot root! No, I have never bolize calumny; asphodel translates to "my tfJ his curse. heard of it." regrets follow you to the grave"; oleanders "It is no reflection upon your profes-

38 DECEMBER 1990 sional knowledge," said he, "for I believe that, save for one sample in a laboratory at Buda, there is no other specimen in Europe. It has not yet found its way either into the pharmacopoeia or into the literature of toxicology. The root is shaped like a foot, half human, half goatlike; hence the fanci­ ful name given by a botanical missionary." Other convincing preparations appear in the 1931 pulp novel Murder Madness by Murray Leinster. "The Master" inhabits a large slice of Amazon jungle where he produces a dangerous and addictive drug from fields of brightly blooming plants. Those who ingest the drug go "murder­ mad," unable to stop killing unless given an antidote by the Master. The men who gather the plants, says the heroine, "do not dare to sleep near the fresh-picked plants. They say that the odor is dangerous, even the perfume of the blossoms. " If that weren't enough, the Master also produces "Yague," an extract from the leaves of a plant not yet included in the materia medica. It has nearly the effect of scopolamine (an alkaloid produced from henbane or Hyoscyamus niger and used as a sedative and truth serum), producing a daze of blue light, an intolerable sleepiness, and nearly all the effects of hypnotism. Terror from the garden is taken to the ultimate when the plants take on a life of their own as they have in a number of B (one or two A and quite a few D-minus) movies. There was Audrey, the giant, potted, man-eating plant in Roger Corman's 1960 "The Little Shop of Hor­ rors" who reappeared in a 1986 color remake (not as good as the original); the pod people in the 1956 "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" and the 1978 color movie, stars the wonderful John Astin of remake (not as good as the original); and TV's "The Addams Family" as a mad "The Thing" in the excellent 1951 movie scientist who transplanted the minds of of the same name, in which "Gunsmoke's" innocent folks into tomato bodies while James Arness appears in his first movie role making tomatoes human-so successfully as what is usually described as a giant that the hero falls for a former 'Early Girl'. walking carrot. (There was a 1982 remake To my knowledge, the first genuine gar­ of this film that was so bad it only merits den flower in horror films was the monks­ half a star in most movie and video guides.) salvation; hood or aconite, also known as friar's cap, No such list would be complete without helmet flower, and soldier's cap. Its botani­ "The Attack of the Killer Tomatoes" and cal name is Aconitum, from a word used "The Return of the Killer Tomatoes." The so,W me other by Theophrastus, a Greek philosopher and first was a one-line joke that persisted for botanist of the late fourth and early third eighty-seven minutes, somewhat redeemed centuries B.C., to mean a poisonous plant. by the sight of a mob running in terror jungle plants It was by ye t another common name, down sunlit streets, pursued by hordes of wolfsbane, that it attained cinema fame in bounding red tomatoes-some small, swung back. the 1941 epic "The Wolf Man." some large-occasionally crushing the vic­ After seeing the sign of the pentagram in tim to death in a mass of puree without Lon Chaney Jr.'s palm, the old gypsy benefit of basil or oregano. woman (p la yed by Maria Ouspenskaya), Its sequel, a-believe it or not-worse crosses herself and delivers her famous

AMERICAN HORTICULTURIST 39 "The path you walk, my son, is thorny ... " speech, which ends with the poem: "Even GATHERED FLOWERS a man who is pure at heart and says his prayers by night, can become a wolf when "WE DIE TOGETHER" the wolfbane blooms, and the autumn moon is bright." he Victorians believed that Monkshood has also had a starring role massed picked flowers decom­ in several books. In The Murder of My T posed to such an €xtent that they Aunt (1934) by Richard Hull, the sullen made the air unfit to breathe, and even and selfish Edward does in his aunt with caused siekaess and death. They backed ground-up monkshood roots taken from this belid with the appropriate grimly her perennial border. Death's Bright Dart moral tale whiGh was called "The Un ique double glazing option (1967) by V. C. Clinton Baddely has Dr. Revenge of the Flowers": Quality R. V. Davie, his elderly Cambridge don­ "Returning from a boraniGal excur­ turned-d~tective, deal with a campus mur­ sioa, two young girls enter their home, Redwood Greenhouses der involving aconitine, the lethal close th~ windows, lie down and fall • Wide variety of designs and substance contained in monkshood. And asleep. At th~ir feet in a basket are the sizes plus custom sizes to fit special needs. in the medieval-setting thriller Monkshood flowers which they hav~ collected. How • Garden-Sun Room design in (1981) by Ellis Peters, a monkshood poul­ indiscreet! Where is their mother? Who many sizes, too. tice is dropped in the sauce of roasted will warn them of th~ danger which • Unique prefabrication, easy to erect. partridge and eaten by one Gervase Bonel, • Greenhouse access0ries and surrounds thtem? Already the air is equipment. who dies within an hour. being d€composed, the atmosphel'e of • Factory-direct prices, freight prepaid. Aconitum is a good example of our loss the small apartment is heavy and unfit ·35 years experience. of valuable plant lore. Because while the to breathe, and the youthful maidens, Send lor Iree color catalog. aconitine it contains can be quite deadly, weighed down by it, writh~ about un­ turdi-built in the twelfth century monkshood was consciously on the cOlach. Suddenly Gree nho use Me..nufac turing C o . eDept AH, 11304 SW Boones Ferry Rd . Port land OR 97219 often grown as a major ingredient in a from amid the basket of flow~rs rise up (503) 244-4100 poultice used for treating creaking and old the spirits of the narcissus and the joints (human, not furniture). The ground tuberos~. They appear as two light root of the monkshood was mixed with nymphs dancing and whirling about, mustard oil and the oil from flax seeds, meanwhile chanting ominous words: then rubbed into the aching joint where it 'Young maidens! Young maidens! Why HERBS created a warm, tingling sensation. have you deprived us of life? Nature A more contemporary entry in the gives us but a day and you have short­ 8, medicinal-plants-not-to-fool-around-with ened it! Oh, how sweet was the dew! category is Digitalis. In a short story called How radiant the sun! And yet we must PERENNIALS "The Injured Party" (1989), Robert Bar­ die. But we will be avenged!' Thus OVER 300 VARIETIES nard resolves his plot with the following chanting, the two nymphs, continually dialogue: whirling about and bewailing their fate, "Funny to think back on it now, but I draw near the young maidens' couch, Our catalog is packed full of did [want her dead]. Desperately. Thought and breathe over their faces their cultural information, herb of going out and picking the good old poisonous exhalations. Poor children! usage, recipes and garden foxglove leaves ... " Mark their livid cheeks! Th~ir pale lips! designs as well as helpful "Foxglove leaves?" Their arms closely interwoven! Alas! gardening tips. "Digitalis. Good for the heart in small Their heart has ceased to beat; they no quantities, fatal for someone like Anne­ longer breathe the breath of life; they WRITE or CALL FOR Marie if she had a hefty dose of it." are dead together. The flowers are YOUR FREE CATALOG In another thriller, The Eye in the avenged!"-From The Meaning of Museum (1929), J. J. Connington mixes Flowers by Claire Powell. Shambhala, financial skullduggery and digitalis poison­ 1979, reprinted with permission. ing, throwing in a motorboat-car chase for good measure. Deadly nightshade (Atropa belladonna), In Death at the Medical Board (1944), a winding backhouse plant with dull the detective is Dr. David Wintringham, a purple flowers and black berries that con­ pathologist. The author, Josephine Bell, tain a number of disagreeable chemicals who practiced medicine in London until such as atropine and other belladonna 1954, uses the toxicity of nicotine to good alkaloids, is the po.ison of choice in effect, and gives Wintringham a run for his Rl 1 BOX 78. ARRINGTON. TN. 37014 Murder's Choice by Anna May Wells money finding out who dosed out the (615) 395-4688 (1943) and the candidly titled Deadly nicotine and why. Nightshade by Elizabeth Daly (1942). In Frequent Hearses, a delightful 1950

40 DECEMBER 1990 book about the English movie business, Edmund Crispin (a pen name for Bruce A REUNION OF TREES Montgomery, a highly successful com­ The Discovery of Exotic Plants and Their Introduction into poser of motion picture music), has his North American and European Landscapes murderer use colchicine, a toxin composed Stephen Spongberg of coniine and related alkaloids, gathered Foreword by Sam Bass Warner, Jr. from various autumn blooming crocuses, ~ Separated by geology for a hundred million years, exotic and familiar including Colchicum autumnale, C. ~ trees and shrubs now grow side by side in the gardens of the western speciosum, and C. vernum. J. world. How they got together again is an adventure tale, a fascinating tL history of science, philanthropy, and travel. Harvard " ... it was a more or less arbitrary LavIShly illustrated and VIVIdly told here by a • • choice," the criminal writes in a confession distinguished horticultura1 taxonomist. University to detective Gervase Fen, explaining that 8¥2 x 11 ,144 halftones, 86 ilIus., 352 pp. $35.00 cloth Press ~~~~;~~e . he was limited to the vegetable poisons, and could never understand why mur­ derers insist on buying packets of arsenic at the chemist's when the fields and woods and gardens are smothered in things quite as deadly. "Perhaps," he muses, "I was influenced by the fact that to me the Now you have an opportunity to purchase rare autumn crocus is one of the most beautiful and unusual pltlnt material directly from the wholesale of flowers ... " nursery. Receive a sneak preview oj the finest If you're uneasy with plants in the bogey­ horticultural pltlnts and products by sending jor our man role, the same genre of films and books free, jull-cowr catawg. Mail the coupon to: occasionally lets them play the good guys. Redwood Lane Nursery Among the successors to the 1931 movie 30754 Peach Cove Road Oregon 97068 "Dracula" was the 1935 "Mark of the Vampire," in which a straggly plant called bat-thorn, collected in the mountains of Transylvania, is thought to act like garlic by repelling demons from the obligatory castle. In this movie, dispatching the vam­ pire with a stake through the heart is passe; instead, the vampire must be beheaded and bat-thorn placed in the open wound. In a series of contemporary mystery novels by English author John Sherwood, the heroine is Celia Grant, a widow botanist. The puzzles revolve around plants, and her horticultural knowledge leads to the solution. For example, in Green Trigger Fingers (1985), a body is discovered in a perennial border because the murderer had mixed up a stand of intermediate May-flowering irises with taller June-flowering varieties when bury­ ing the body and Grant notices the switch. So take your pick-books or movies, factual plants or fiction, mindless escapism or intricate plot. But if the doorbell rings while you're enjoying yourself and you receive a bouquet of wild tansy, begonia, ~ Phone: 503-656-2334 and rock roses, be on your guard. You've just been warned that someone has declared ~--- ...... -~--- war against you, bears dark thoughts, and predicts you will die tomorrow. Yes! Please send me a copy ofyour free, full-color catalog. . Better eat out! Name

Peter Loewer, co-author of A World of Address Plants: The Missouri Botanical Garden, City Siale Zip has been watching horror movies and reading mysteries since he was nine.

AMERICAN HORTICULTURIST 41 BoOK REVIEWS

Focus on Flowers instrumental in the garden'S certificate pro­ sible for me to be anything but passionate gram for nature and garden photography. about Focus on Flowers. The complete Photographs by Allen Rokach. Text by Allen They have succeeded in putting together a book, including layout and design, photog­ Rokach and Anne Millman. Abbeville Press, text that is remarkably straightforward raphy selection and text, is such a tour de New York, 1990. 228 pages. Color photo­ and refreshingly free of the sort of technical force, I am reluctant to point out that here graphs. Publisher's price, hardcover: $39.95. information that comes with camera and there is a fly in the botanical ointment, AHS member price: $34.00. manuals but does not necessarily help one to wit: The succulents in flower on page take a better picture. eight are not cactus; the "anemone in Focus on Flowers, subtitled "Discovering What I like most about Focus on Flowers Texas" on page 62 is an oriental poppy, and Photographing Beauty in Gardens and is that the book is mostly photographs- Papaver orientale; the "extreme close-up Wild Places," is what I call a real book, 225 of them-each presented with a cap­ of an anemone" on page 144 is also a meaning that it represents a body of work tion, and on the same spread with a brief poppy, probably Papaver rhoeas; and the by the authors themselves and is not merely text that discusses one basic rule or con­ "cactus orchid," page 145, is an orchid a collection of facts and illustrations put cept. Photographers and gardeners alike cactus of the genus Epiphyllum. together by a team of journalists. Hardly will find something beautiful or inspiring My favorite lines from Focus on Flowers anyone could be as well qualified as on nearly every page. are these: "Ernst Haas once said that he Rokach, who has been the director of Since much of my life involves photog­ often took only one lens with him when he photography and the staff photographer at raphy, sometimes as buyer, sometimes as went photographing. The discipline of the New York Botanical Garden for more seller, and my middle child is a full-fledged having to make the most of that one lens than a dozen years, and, with Millman, professional photographer, it is not pos- was a deliberate exercise designed to

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42 DECEMBER 1990 stretch his imaginative powers and to force him to explore the w0rld more creatively. "One student on a photographic journey ~~Schultz·lnstant" in West Africa discovered the same thing. We told him to leave his camera bag in his The Highest Quality tt room and take only the lens on his camera, plus one he could fit in his pocket. He was Liquid Plant Food I immediately less burdened, not just be­ For Over 30 Years. cause his gear was left behind, but because

his decisions were more clearcut and :\t~ WIRRANTY TO CONs limited. Knowing that there were only cer­ ~+\ * 11"'<'-1\ tain types of photographs he could take, he ;> Good Housekeeping": ~ PROMISES rv.... ~~ concentrated on making them as good as ~C(",fNT OR REfUND 1\ D"\~ PERV. QUART WATER possible. His best photographs, he said GROWS All PLANTS after the trip, were taken when he: had only Available at leading Garden Centers and Plant Departments. one or two lenses with him." Mfg by Schultz Company, St LOUIS, MO 63043 Because I serve as volunteer director of special projects at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, I could not write this review without remarking on this statement from the book's introduction: "In Brooklyn, Choose from over 1500 useful plant varieties in our mail where I was born and grew up, the only catalog. Extensive collections of Rhododendrons, Azaleas, greenery I recall was some unkempt hedges Conifers, Perennials, hardy Camellias, Kalmias, rl'tf:~~'fh around the dusty yards down the block." rare shrubs and trees and much, much more. Considering that the BBG and Prospect Send $2.00 for our descriptive mail order catalog to: Park were here long before a lad named Allen Rokach, it is hard to understand how Roslyn Nursery he could have missed what together 211 Burrs Lane, Dept L amounts to over 600 acres of green space Dix Hills, NY 11746 in the heart of the borough. Of course, one (516)-643-9347 might also speculate that growing up in a bleak environment helped produce an art­ ist with an extraordinary eye for beauty. -Elvin McDonald

Elvin McDonald is Secretary of the American Horticultural Society's Board of Directors.

Book Order Form D Focus on Flowers by Allen Rokach and Anne Millman ...... $34.00 ABBOOl

Please add $2.50 per book for postage and handling. Virginia residents add 4111. % sales tax. o Enclosed is my check for $ ______RAMM o Visa o MasterCard Exp. Date ___ Acct. #: quality Signature: Ship to: watering Street: ______Ci~: ______products State/Zip: ______DEPT. AH, P.O. BOX 1960, MANITOWOC, WI 54221, U.S.A. MAIL TO: AHS Books, 7931 East Boulevard (414) 684-0227 FAX (414) 684-4499 Drive, Alexandria, VA 22308.

AMERICAN HORTI CU LTIJRIST 43 1990 INDEX

Marston, Ted. The Emerald City and Nearby Lilacs: The Essence of Yesterday, The Prornise "Ah"s. Apr., 28. of Tomorrow. Apr., 34. Martin, Tovah. Rudy Favretti: Landscaping's Magical, Classical Garden in Columbus, A. Time Traveler. Dec., 24. Feb., 16. Nugent, Ann. Escape to Whidbey Island. Miracle Worker of Meaux, The. Oct., 22. Apr., 16. Moving a Garden: The Horror! The Horror! Osler, Mirabel. Gardens in America. Jun., 22. Jun., 12. Rissetto, Harry and S. McQuithy Boyer. Noah's Ark for Endangered Species, A. Feb., Proven Performers-Dahlias. Feb., 36. 20. Schwartz, Terry. Lilacs: The Essence of Yester­ People Love Plants, Plants Heal People. Oct., day, The Promise of Tomorrow. Apr., 34. 10. Author Sedenko, Jerry. Landscapes a la Melting Pot. Planting Flowers for Pressing. Aug., 32. Apr., 12. Proven Performers-Camellias. Feb., 30. Allgood, John Mason. Proven Performers­ Sheldon, Elisabeth. Big Bruisers for the Back Proven Performers-Dahlias. Feb., 36. Hostas. Feb., 32. of the Border. Aug., 16. Proven Performers-Hostas. Feb., 32. Bonta, Marcia. A Noah's Ark for Endangered Spriggs, Dia. Staggered by Staghorns. Dec., 3I. Proven Performers-Water Lilies. Feb., 27. Species. Feb., 20. Taloumis, George. The Miracle Worker of Resurrection of Pinewood, The. Dec., 10. Boyer, S. McQuithy and Harry Rissetto. Meaux. Oct., 22. Robert Drechsler: Keeper of Our 'National' Proven Performers-Dahlias. Feb., 36. Taylor, Patricia A. Corydalis: High Praise, Bonsai. Oct., 40. Conte, Jeanne. A Magical, Classical Garden in Low Availability. Jun., 40. Rudy Favretti: Landscaping's Time Traveler. Columbus. Feb., 16. Tozer, Eliot. Lady Palms: The Small Wonder. Dec., 24. Dye, Marilyn L. Robert Drechsler: Keeper of Oct., 40. Staggered by Staghorns. Dec., 3I. Our 'National' Bonsai. Oct., 34. Weinberg, Ruby. Don and Hazel Smith's Wat­ Stalking Your Elusive Dream Plant. Jun., 38. Evans, Mary Ann. Getting a Hand on Sand. nong Legacy. Feb., 42; Hawaii-Land of Aug., 22. Endless Summer, Dec., 16. Subject Fisher, Kathleen. The Complicated, Dedicated Wiesner, Mary Beth. Gardens That Live B. Y. Morrison. Feb. 11; People Love Forever. Aug. , 38. Advice to Gardeners. Gardens That Live Plants, Plants Heal People. Oct., 10. Forever. Aug., 38; Moving a Garden: The Geneve, Robert. Fascinated with Fasciation. Title Horror! The Horror! Jun., 12; Stalking Aug., 26. Your Elusive Dream Plant. Jun., 38. Gillespie, JoAnn. Planting Flowers for Betty Miller's Sounaside Medley. Apr., 22. American Association of Botanical Gardens Pressing. Aug., 32. Big Bruisers for the Back of the Border. Aug., and Arboreta. Birth of Botanica, The. Jun., Gleason, Egan. Learning from Verbena. Oct., 24. 16. 32; Gardens That Live Forever. Aug., 38. Good, Frank. The Birth of Botanica. Jun., 32. Birth of Botanica, The. Jun., 32. American Horticultural Society. Complicated, Harper, Pamela. An Industrial Oasis in Complicated, Dedicated B. Y. Morrison, The. Dedicated B. Y. Morrison, The. Feb., 11; Berkeley. Aug., 10. Feb., II. Gardens That Live Forever. Aug., 38; Stalk­ Heritage, Bill. Proven Performers-Water Corydalis: High Praise, Low Availability. ing Your Elusive Dream Plant. Jun., 38. Lilies. Feb., 27. Jun., 40. Bacon's Castle. Rudy Favretti: Landscaping's Heriteau, Jacqueline. Ethical Gardeners, Demon Seeds and Roots of Evil. Dec. , 36. Time Traveler. Dec., 24. Beautiful Plants. Jun., 28 . Don and Hazel Smith's Watnong Legacy. Berry Botanic Garden. c"ardens That Live Honey, Thelma. From Freezing to Frying in Feb. , 42. Forever. Aug., 38. New Mexico. Oct., 16. Emerald City and Nearby "Ah"s, The. Apr., 28. Bok Tower Foundation. The Resurrection of Hotchkiss, Betty. Proven Performers-Camel­ Escape to Whidbey Island. Apr., 16. Pinewood. Dec., 10. lias. Feb., 30. Ethical Gardeners, Beautiful Plants. Jun., 28. Bonsai. Robert Drechsler: Keeper of Our Howard, Richard A. Betty Miller's Soundside Fascinated with Fasciation. Aug., 26. 'National' Bonsai. Oct., 36. Medley. Apr., 22. From Freezing to Frying in New Mexico. Book Reviews. Alba: The Book of White Jackson, Faith. The Resurrection of Oct., 16. Flowers. Apr., 8; America's Cottage Pinewood. Dec., 10. Gardening Where We Live. Jun., 16. Gardens. Aug., 8; Besler Florilegium, The. Lardner, Marion. Harold and the Peter Gardens in America. Jun., 32. Apr., 7; Border in Bloom: A Northwest Rabbit Brigade. Oct., 30. Gardens That Live Forever. Aug. , 38 . Garden Through the Seasons, The. Oct., Loewer, Peter. Demon Seeds and Roots of Getting a Hand on Sand. Aug., 22. 44; Bulbs. Jun., 9; Focus on Flowers. Dec., Evil. Dec., 36; Moving a Garden: The Harold and the Peter Rabbit Brigade. Oct., 30. 42; Gentle Plea for Chaos, A. Jun., 11; Horror! The Horror! Jun., 12. Hawaii-Land of Endless Summer. Dec., 16. Growing Fragrant Plants. Aug., 6; Lovejoy, Ann. Gardening Where We Live. Industrial Oasis in Berkeley, An. Aug., 10. Hemerocallis: The Daylily. Aug., 6; In Jun., 16. Lady Palms: The Small Wonder. Oct., 40. Search of Lost Roses. Feb., 8; Iris-The Lytton, Peggy. Stalking Your Elusive Dream Landscapes a la Melting Pot. Apr., 12. Rainbow Flower, The. Apr., 7; Living With Plant. Jun., 38. Learning from Verbena. Oct., 24. Flowers. Oct., 44; Monet's Passion. Feb., 8;

44 DECEMBER 1990 National Arboretum Book of Outstanding Whidbey Island. Apr., 16. Garden Plants, The. Apr., 11; Oak Spring Members' Gardens. Betty Miller's Soundside ~ ~open 7 Days a Week Sylva, An. Jun., 9; Ornamental Grasses: Medley. Apr., 22; Learning from Verbena. \..,ala_a NURSERY The Amber Wave. Feb., 9. Oct., 24. Retail Wholesale Border Plants. Big Bruisers for the Back of the Miller, Elisabeth Carey. Betty Miller's P.O. Box 1599 Border. Aug., 16. Soundside Medley. Apr., 22. Easton, Md. 21601 Botanica, The Wichita Gardens. Birth of Morrison, Benjamin Yoe. Complicated, Beautiful Leyland Cypress Trees Botanica, The. Jun., 32. Dedicated B. Y. Morrison, The. Feb., 11. Make Wonderful Gifts! Camellias. Proven Performers-Camellias. Native Plants. Corydalis: High Praise, Low Feb., 30. Availability. Jun., 40; Ethical Gardeners, Corydalis. Corydalis: High Praise, Low Beautiful Plants. Jun., 28; Gardening Availability. Jun., 40. Where We Live. Jun., 16; Getting a Hand Daffodils. Complicated, Dedicated B. Y. on Sand. Aug., 22; Learning from Verbena. Morrison, The. Feb., II. Oct., 24; Noah's Ark for Endangered Dahlias. Proven Performers-Dahlias. Feb ., Species, A. Feb., 20. 36. People/Plant Relationships. Harold and the Design. Gardening Where We Live. Jun., 16; Peter Rabbit Brigade. Oct., 30; People Love Industrial Oasis in Berkeley, An. Aug., 10; Plants, Plants Heal People. Oct., 10. Landscapes a la Melting Pot. Apr., 12; Pinewood. The Resurrection of Pinewood. Learning from Verbena. Oct., 24; Magical, Dec., 10. Classical Garden in Columbus, A. Feb., 16; Plant Profiles. Corydalis: High Praise, Low Planting Flowers for Pressing. Aug., 32. Availability. Jun., 40; Lady Palms: The Drechsler, Robert. Robert Drechsler: Keeper Small Wonder. Oct., 40; Lilacs: The of Our 'National' Bonsai. Oct., 36. Essence of Yesterday, The Promise of Dwru;f Conifers. Don and Hazel Smith's Tomorrow. Apr., 34; Proven Performers­ Watnong Legacy. Feb., 42. Water Lilies, Camellias, Hostas, Dahlias. Dwarf Lady Palms. Lady Palms: The Small Feb., 26; Stagge!ed by Staghorns. Dec., 3I. Specially grown for lush, thick Wonder. Oct., 22. Plant Societies. Proven Performers. Feb., 26. foliage and extra-wide shape. Endangered Species. Noah's Ark for Preservation. Gardens That Live Forever. MAIL ORDERS SIX (20") TREES Endangered Species, A. Feb., 20. Aug., 38. UPS Delivered $51.00 Fasciation. Fascinated with Fasciation. Aug., Pressed Flowers. Planting Flowers for 26. Pressing. Aug., 32. Gift Certificates Available Favretti, Rudy. Rudy Favretti: Landscaping's Restoration. Rudy Favretti: Landscaping's Toll Free: 1-800-673-8514 Time Traveler. Dec., 24. Time Traveler. Dec., 24. VISAIMastercharge Garden Conservancy, The. Gardens That Live Rhododendrons. Escape to Whidbey Island. Forever. Aug., 38. Apr., 16. Gardening Challenges. From Freezing to Robert and Catherine Wilson Botanical Frying in New Mexico. Oct., 16; Getting a Garden. Noah's Ark for Endangered Plants, Hand on Sand. Aug., 22; Hawaii-Land of A. Feb., 20. AHS MEMBERSHIP SERVICES Endless Summer. Dec., 16. Ross, Gary. Magical, Classical Garden in Gardening Traditions. Gardens in America. Columbus, A. Feb., 16. Jun., 22. Saint Fiacre. Miracle Worker of Meaux, The. Your satisfaction with our member service is very Gardens, Private. Betty Miller's Soundside Oct., 22. important to us. If you have a question or problem Medley. Apr., 22; Don and Hazel Smith's Sand Gardening. Getting a Hand on Sand. concerning your membership, please contact the Watnong Legacy. Feb., 42; Gardens That Aug., 22. Membership Department for assistance. You can help by giving complete information when Live Forever. Aug., 38; Industrial Oasis in Seattle, Washington. Betty Miller's Soundside you call or write. Please refer to the five-digit number Berkeley, An. Aug., 10; Landscapes a la Medley. Apr., 22; Emerald City and that is on the mailing label on your magazine or News Melting Pot. Apr., 12; Magical, Classical Nearby "Ah"s, The. Apr., 28; Escape to Edition. The number helps us to quickly identify your Garden in Columbus, A. Feb., 16. Whidbey Island. Apr., 16; Landscapes a la membership ~ecord for €orrections. Gardens, Public. Birth of Botanica, The. Jun., Melting Pot. Apr., 12. 32; Emerald City and Nearby "Ah"s, The. Smith, Don and Hazel. Don and Hazel Changing Your Address? Apr., 28; Escape to Whidbey Island. Apr., Smith's Watnong Legacy. Feb., 42. Please allow 6-8 weeks advance notice. Attach a 16; Gardens That Live Forever. Aug., 38; Staghorn Ferns. Staggered by Staghorns. Dec., current mailing label in the space provided (or write Hawaii-Land of Endless Summer. Dec., 31. in your old address) then fill in your new address on 16; Noah's Ark for Endangered Species, A. Stipe, Bill and Mary. Escape to Whidbey the lines below. Feb., 20; Resurrection of Pinewood, The. Island. Apr., 16. Old Address: Member#: ______Dec., 10. Treasures of River Farm. Complicated, Name ______Hand, Harland. Industrial Oasis in Berkeley, Dedicated B. Y. Morrison, The. Feb., II. An. Aug., 10. University of California Botanical Garden. Address ______Hawaii. Hawaii-Land of Endless Summer. Noah's Ark for Endangered Species, A. Dec., 16. Feb., 20. City/State/Zip ______History. Complicated, Dedicated B. Y. Mor­ USDA Plant Hardiness Map. Ethical rison, The. Feb., 11; Fascinated with Fascia­ Gardeners, Beautiful Plants. Jun., 28. New Address: tion. Aug., 26; Landscapes a la Melting U.S. National Arboretum. Ethical Gardeners, Name ______Pot. Apr., 12; Miracle Worker of Meaux, B~autiful Plants. Jun., 28; Robert The. Oct., 22; Resurrection of Pinewood, Drechsler: Keeper of Our 'National' Address ______~ _____ The. Dec., 10. Bonsai. Oct., 34. CityfState/Zip ______Hosta. Proven Performers-Hosta. Feb., 32. Water Lilies. Proven Performers-Water Lilacs. Lilacs: The Essence of Yesterday, The Lilies. Feb., 27. Mail to: Membership Services, AHS , 7931 E. Promise of Tomorrow. Apr., 34. WatnoQg Nursery. Don and Hazel Smith's Boulevard Drive, Alexandria, VA 22308. Meerkerk Rhododendron Gardens. Escape to Wat~ong Legacy. Feb., 42.

AMERICAN HORTICULTURIST 45 GARDEN ROSES. Each book signed and num­ GROUND COVERS bered. Send $14.95 postpaid. CAROL DIDRICK, 1535 Willard Dr., Orrville, OH QUALITY GROUND COVERS AND PEREN­ 44667. "Please add $2 for out-of-country mail­ NIALS. Aegopodium, European Ginger, Ivies, ing. Lamiums, Hardy Cactus, Plumbago, Sweet Woodruff, Sedums, Vincas. Over 100 varieties. BULBS GILSON GARDENS, INC., Dept. H, P.O. Box DUTCH BULBS FOR FALL PLANTING. 12 277, Perry, OH 44081. cm .Tulips, DNI Daffodils, Hyacinths and Mis­ HELP WANTED CLASSIFIEDS cellaneous. Catalog Fn~e. Paula M. Parker DBA, Mary Mattison van Schaik. IMPORTED LANDSCAPE DIVISION MANAGER: Well es­ DUTCH BULBS, P.O. Box 32AH, Cavendish, tablished, rapidly growing company seeks in­ dividual to take ov€r for retiring manger. VT 05142. Individual must be able to run both a mailil­ CACTI AND SUCCULENTS tenance and a planting division simNltaneously. FLOWERING JUNGLE CACTI catalog for Requires exceptional organizaoionallmanage­ Classified Ad Rates: $1 per word; minimum $20 per insertion. 1991-1992 now available. 179 color photos of Fnent skills as well as complete command of 10 percent discount for three consecutive ads using same CopYJ provided each in sertion meets the $20 minimum after taking Orchid Cacti (Epiphyllums), Rattail Cacti, plant materials and maintenance techniques. discount. Copy must be received on the 20th day of the month Hoyas,

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RIDGE-ih-duh ORDER) TO EDGEWOOD FARM & NURS­ Hibiscus waimae hi-BIS-kus why-MA Y-uh ERY, RR 2, BOX 303, STANARDSVILLE, VA Hylocereus undatus hi-low-SAIR-ee-us 22973-9405. un-DAH-tus Subz~ro citrus, exotic fruits, nuts, berries! 150+ Hyoscyamus niger hi-oh-SIGH-ay-mus NY-jer Northern, Southern varieties. Fascinating Ipomoea aquatica eye-POME-ee-uh catalog! $1. RARE FRUIT NURSERY, 1065-A uh-KWAT-ih-kuh The seaside gentian (Eustoma exaltarum), is a native of Messinger Grants Pass, OR 97527. (503) 846- the coastal sand dunes and hammocks of southern Lagerstroemia speciosa 7578. 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AMERICAN HORTICULTURIST 47 THE NEW 1991 AHS CALENDAR

Ideal Gifts Please send me the following AHS Calendars: for Friends - o Member single copy price, $8.50 ...... $.___ _ o Member quantity price or Yourself! (3 or more mailed to same address), $7.75 each $_ ___ o Non-member single copy price, $9.95 ...... $___ _ Total price for calendars ...... $___ _ Using native plants in the gar­ Please add postage & handling charge ...... $ 1.50 den is time-saving and Virginia residents add 4V2% sales tax ...... $___ _ ecologically and aesthetically TOTAL ...... $.___ _ sound. Native Plants, the 1991 o Check enclosed (payable to American Horticultural SOciety/Calendar) official calendar of the o Charge to: 0 Visa 0 MasterCard American Horticultural Aecount# ______Exp. Date Society, shows you how to put Signature American annuals, peren­ SHIP TO: nials, shrubs, and trees to Name ______work in the garden. The 10%­ Address by-14-inch calendar features City / State/ Zip twelve spectacular full-color MAIL TO: American Horticultural Society / Calendar, 7931 East Boulevard photographs. Order today for Drive, Alexandria, VA 22308. Allow four weeks for delivery. yourself and for holiday gifts!