Adventure and rugged beauty await those exploring the natural gardens of Alaska this June. AHSSTUDYTOURS Awon I way to go!

March 28-April 8, 1990 June 2Huly 3, 1990 acres of woodland gardens and nature trails on the Natural Gardens of Alaska grounds of Arrnadale Castle. Visit the highland gar­ Botanical Paradise of Costa Rica dens at Inverewe before traveling on to Inverness Costa Rica is known for its beautiful tropical gar­ Join the adventure aboard the I 38-passenger Yorn­ and Edinburgh. You'll be welcomed by the castles' dens, spectacular wildlife, and fascinating culture. town Clipper as she sails between Juneau and Ket­ owners and guided by Everitt Miller, former director Stops on this tour include CATIE, the largest tropical chikan in search of natural wonders including wild­ of Longwood Gardens and past AHS president. life as well as spruce forests, fields of lupines, and research center in latin America; Monteverde Cloud Passages Unlimited Forest Reserve; Marenco Biological Station near giant ferns. See, up close, Tracy Arm, Glacier Bay, Corcovado National Park; and a visit to Linda Vista, and Le Conte Bay as you cruise along the sheltered Claude Hope's 2DD-acre flower seed farm. Atlanta inside passage of Alaska. Then enjoy a post-cruise November 10-17,1990 Botanical Garden 's Ann L. Crammond, also an AHS stay in Vancouver to enjoy Nitobe Japanese Gar­ Gardens of the Colonial South board member, is tour leader for this adventure. dens and VanDusen Botanical Gardens as well as Board the Nantucnet Clipper in Florida and travel north the famed Butchart Gardens on Vancouver Island. to old Southern gardens on Sea Island; private gar­ Join AHS President Carolyn Marsh Lindsay and Bob dens in Savannah and on Hilton Head; the beautiful April 2I -May 6, 1990 Lindsay on board this luxury yacht cruise. Belgium and Holland Brays Island Plantation; the significant gardens of Leonard Haertter Travel Company Charleston; Drayton Hall, a 1738 plantation ; and Begin in Brussels by visiting its botanical garden, Middleton Place , site of the oldest landscaped gar­ arboretum, and the University Herb Garden . Other September 20-0ctober 5, 1990 dens in America, dating back to 1741. loin Carolyn stops in Belgium include the Floralies of Ghent, a and Bob Lindsay on board this luxury yacht cruise. flower festival that occurs every five years, and the Castles and Gardens of Scotland Mrs. Lindsay is the current AHS president. Royal Botanical Garden in Bruges. In Holland, spend In the Western Highlands of Argyll, see Culzen Park Leonard Haertter Travel Company, 7922 Bonhomme Ave., seven days cruising its canals with stops at Boskoop, Castle and Crarae Woodland Gardens. Spend two St. Louis, MO 63105 (800) 942-6666 (in Missouri, 314- the largest nursery in the Netherlands; the world's days at the Isle of Skye's Clan Donald Center, forty 721-6200). largest flower auction at Aalsmeer; and the mag­ Passages Unlimited, 2 Oliver Street, Eighth Floor, Boston, nificent Keukenhof Gardens. The tour will be led MA 02109 (800)232-2939. by Richard Hutton of Conard-Pyle/Star Roses. Passages Unlimited

Photo courtesy of The Alaska Division of Tourism American Horticulturist Volume 69, Number 2 February 1990

ARTICLES A Noah's Ark for Endangered Species by Marcia Bonta ...... 20 The University of California Botanical Garden is a haven for the state's native plants. Proven Perfornners Four plant societies name their favorite cultivars. Water Lilies by Bill Heritage ...... 27 Camellias by Betty Hotchkiss ...... 30 Hostas by John Mason Allgood ...... 32 Dahlias By S. McQuithy Boyer and Harry Rissetto ...... 36 FEBRUARY'S COVER

Don and Hazel Smith's Watnong Legacy Photographed by Bill Heritage by Ruby Weinberg ...... 42 Lovers of blue flowers will find A retired New Jersey school administrator and his wife brought dwarf conifers within many beauties among tropical water reach of Eastern gardeners. lilies, such as 'Daubeniana'. This cultivar, named one of the best day­ SHORT FEATURES blooming tropicals by members of Treasures of River Farm/The Complicated, Dedicated B.Y. Morrison ...... 11 the International Water Lily Society, Design! A Magical, Classical Garden in Columbus ...... 16 is also very fragrant, and because it needs less sun than most tropical DEPARTMENTS water lilies, is ideal for partially Commentary ...... 4 shaded pools and tubs. Tropical Letters ...... 6 water lilies are often grown as Book Reviews ...... 8 annuals where climates are too Classifieds ...... 39 harsh to keep them outdoors Pronunciations ...... 47 year-round.

EDITOR: Kathleen Fisher. ASSISTANT EDITORS: Peggy Lytton, Mary Beth Wiesner. EDITORIAL ASSISTANT: Martha Palermo. DESIGN DIRECTOR: Ellen Cohen. MEMBERSHIP DIRECTOR: Kathleen B. Amberger. ADVERTISING: American Horticultural Society Advenising Depanment, 80 South Early Street, Alexandria, VA 22304, telephone (703) 82 3-6966. COLOR SEPARATIONS: Chroma-Graphics, Inc. EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD: Dr. Gerald S. Barad, Flemington, NJ; Dr. Harrison Flint, West Lafayette, IN; Peter Loewer, Cochecton Center, NY; Dr. Elizabeth McClintock, San Francisco, CA; Frederick McGourty, Norfolk, CT; Janet M. Poor, Winnetka, IL; Maire Simington, Phoenix, AZ; Jane Steffey, Sykesville, MD; Dr. James E. Swasey, Newark, DE; Philip E. Chandler, Santa Monica, CA. Replacement issues of AMERICAN HORTICULTURIST are available at a cost of 52.50 per copy. The opinions expressed in the anicles that appear in AMERICAN HORTI CULTURIST are those of the authors and are not necessarily those of the Society. Botanical nomenclature in AMERICAN HORTICULTURlST is based on HOR11JS THIRD. Manuscripts, an work, and photographs sent for possible publication will be returned if they are accompanied by a sell-addressed, stamped envelope. We cannot guarantee the safe return of unsolicited material. AMERICAN HORTICUL11JRJST, ISSN 0096-44 17, is the offi cial publication of the American Horticultural Society, 793 1 East Boulevard Drive, Alexandria, Virginia 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 HorticulruraI Society is a nonprofit organization dedicated to excellence in horticulture. Membership in the Society includes a subscription to AMERICAN HORTICUL11JRlST. National membership dues are 535; two years are 560. Foreign dues are 545. 512 o(dues are deSignated for AMERICAN HORTICULTURlST. Copyright © 1990 by the American Horticultural Society. Second-class postage paid at Alexandria, Virginia, and at additional mailing offi ces. POSlmaster: Please send Form 3579 to AMERICAN HORTICULTURlST, 793 1 East Boulevard Drive, Alexandria, VA 22308.

AMERICAN HORTICUL TURIST 3 American Horticultural Society Commentary Officers 1989·1990 Mrs. Carolyn Marsh Lindsay Rochester, New York President Mr. John H. Whitworth Jr. New York, New York First Vice President arden symposia are becoming more Mrs. John M. Maury numerous all across our country. But Washington, D.C. forry years ago, the Colonial Wil­ Second Vice President G Mr. Richard C. Angino liamsburg' Garden Symposium was the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania premier gardening symposium in our Secretary country, and it remains so today. Your Mr. RichardJ. Hutton West Grove, Pennsylvania American Horticultural Sociery is proud Treasurer to share in the sponsorship of this great Mr. Everitt L. Miller tradition. Kennett Square, Pennsylvania Immediate Past President As we were planning this year's pro­ gram, I was fascinated to review the past Board of Directors and see the world-class horticulturists who Mr. Richard C. Angino have been brought together here each year. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Mr. George Ball Jr. In 1953, both Fletcher Steele and Lanning West Chicago, Illinois Roper spoke about landscape design. Donald Wyman was featured five Dr. Sherran Blair times from 1950 to 1965. John Wister, Cynthia Wescott, Henry Skinner, Columbus, Ohio Mrs. Benjamin P. Bole Jr. the Rockwells, John Grulleman, T. H. Everett, Jan De Graff, George Cleveland, Ohio Avery, and Ruth Stout are only part of a star-studded cast who offered Mr. ]. Judson Brooks solutions to pressing problems and expanded current knowledge. Sewickley, Pennsylvania The 1990 program is the best ever. Urban beaury is high on many Dr. Henry M. Cathey Washington, D.C. agendas these days. Each year the program focuses on the horticultural Mr. Russell B. Clark accomplishments of one American ciry. This year's featured ciry will be Boston, Massachusetts Birmingham, Alabama-site of the AHS Annual Meeting in 1991-and Mrs. Erastus Corning II Albany, New York John Alex Floyd Jr. of Southern Living magazine, who won the AHS Mrs. Ann Lyon Crammond Horticultural Communication Award for 1988, will share some of Bir­ Atlanta, Georgia mingham's gardening secrets. Mr. Edward N. Dane Boston, Massachusetts We also decided that if hundreds of thousands of trees are going to be Mrs. Beverley White Dunn planted across our country this year as a way to help reduce the greenhouse Birmingham, Alabama effect, William Flemer III of the Princeton (New Jersey) Nurseries should Mr. K. Albert Ebinger tell us the very best trees to plant. Bill represents the fifth generation of Boxford, Massachusetts Mr. Richard]. Hutton his family in this great nursery. West Grove, Pennsylvania Other past AHS award winners that will be featured include Rachel Mr. Stephen F. Keating Snyder, founder and editor emeritus of Flower and Garden magazine; Wayzata, Minnesota Mr. David M. Lilly perennial expert and author Fred McGourry; Marc Cathey, director of SI. Paul, Minnesota the U.S . National Arboretum; and former Toro Company executive David Mrs. Carolyn Marsh Lindsay Lilly. Rochester, New York Three Birmingham flower arrangers-Virginia Bissell, Lula Rose Black­ Mrs. John M. Maury Washington, D.C. well, and Beverley White Dunn, who is an AHS Board member-will Mr. Elvin McDonald demonstrate the "Elegance in Flowers" for which they and their ciry are Brooklyn, New York famous. Designers Elsa Bakalar and Rosalind Creasy will enrich the pro­ Mr. Everitt L. Miller Kennett Square, Pennsylvania gram with their great knowledge and enchanting humor. Colonial Wil­ Mrs. Jane Scarff liamsburg's own John Austin will share his expertise on flower containers, New Carlisle, Ohio and Virginia horticulturist and researcher Bonnie Lee Appleton will ex­ Mrs. Virginia Urschel Montecito, California plain the process of "Making Old Gardens New." Mr. Andre Viette Your entire Board of Directors joins me in extending a special invitation Fishersville, Virginia to all our members and friends to join us at this great tradition in garden Mrs. Helen Fulcher Walutes symposia, an association your AHS and Colonial Williamsburg have Mount Vernon, Virginia Mr. John H. Whitworth Jr. shared for many years. AHS Executive Director Frank Robinson and I New York, New York will be there to welcome new friends and renew treasured acquaintances. Mrs. Jean Verity Woodhull See you there April 1. Please note the program change from previous Dayton, Ohio years; come early so you won't miss Rachel Snyder at 5 :30 p.m. before Executive Director the reception! Mr. Frank L. Robinson Carolyn Marsh Lindsay AHS President

4 FEBRUARY 1990 Photo by Rick Buettner 44th Williamsburg GARDEN SYMPOSIUM April 1-4, 1990 The American Horticulhrral Society and the Colonial Williamsburg Founda­ tion invite you to come to Williamsburg for the annual Garden Symposium, America's oldest and most prestigious gathering of garden enthusiasts. This will be a fabulous opportunity to explore what's old and what's new in America's gardens. An array of renowned speakers will discuss the theme, ''Vintage Plants and Contem­ porary Gardens." The Garden Sym­ posium will entertain some of the newest ideas in American gardening, including the increasingly popular practice of using "old-fashioned" or "heritage" plants in today's gardens. Surprisingly, these an­ tique flower and vegetable cultivars are found in gardens everywhere. Through slide lectures, presenta­ tions, tours, exhibits, and clinics, prac­ tical ideas about updating gardens as well as innovative garden designs will be offered. In addition to the extensive group of speakers, there will be gardeners' clinics, special presenta­ tions, and an assortment of exhibitions and activities. "Garden Magic in the Magic City" is the theme for this year's featured city, Birmingham, Alabama. Virginia Bissell, Lula Rose Blackwell, insightful discussions with America's Speakers in order of appearance are: Beverley White Dunn: "Elegance in leading garden authorities. Rachel Snyder, garden writer and editor Flowers: Flower Arranging Birrning­ For a registration folder, please mail the emeritus, Flower and Garden magazine: ham Style" coupon below to Symposium Registrar, ''Long Vistas from the Garden Path" Henry Marc Cathey, director, U.S. Na­ Box C, Williamsburg, VA 23187, or call Elsa Bakalar, lecturer and garden tional Arboretum: "The New USDA 1-804-220-7255. designer: "Old Fashioned Flowers for Plant Hardiness Map of North America" Modern Gardens" John C. Austin, senior curator and r- Frederick McGourty, author, nur­ curator of ceramics and glass, Colonial Williamsburg seryman, and garden designer: "A Williamsburg: "Did They Really Use Garden Symposium Modern Old-Fashioned Garden" These as Flowerpots? Eighteenth-Cen­ John Alex Floyd Jr., Southern Living tury Flower Containers" Symposium Registrar BoxC magazine: "Garden Magic in the Bonnie Lee Appleton, horticulhrrist, Williamsburg, VA 23187 Magic City-Birmingham" Cooperative Extension Service: "Making Rosalind Creasy, author, lecturer, Old Gardens New" (Please print) and designer of culinary gardens: David M. Lilly, retired chairman of Name "Heritage Vegetables and New the board, the Toro Company: "Wel­ American Cuisine" come Spaces: User Friendly Gardens Address William T. Flerner III, author, nur­ for Public Spaces" City ______seryman, and horticulturist: "A New Come to Williamsburg this spring Look at Old and New Trees" for a new look at America's rich gar­ State Zip ____ den heritage and an opportunity for L __ _ __ -1

AMERICAN HORTICUL TURIST 5 NOW ... BY MAIL! UNUSUAL, HARD­ TO-FIND FLOWER ARRANGING SUPPLIES: Letters TOOLS, TECHNIQUES, TRICKS OF THE TRADE!

SPECIAL OFFER - MAKES A GREAT GIFT! Applause for Viburnums stuck. Help! Are you going to stick to your American Horticulturist has been favorite guns or could you possibly be wrong? The Original reading for me for the past few years, and October's issue was more than a surprise Charles B. Gardiner STEM STRIPPER with Kathleen Fisher's article on "Donald Shaker Heights, Ohio A unique tool Egolf's Viburnums." I am a rhodoholic by nature, but I have How did you derive "klem-ATE-us"? Most for removing a few viburnums mixed in with my rho­ lay people-at least the ones I know-call thorns and dodendrons, 'and the article has gotten my it klim-AT-us. The correct horticultural leaves from gardening research imagination flowing. pronunciation, as I learned, is KLEM-uh­ stems. Somehow I have a terrible viburnum itch tis. Etymologically, it probably should be at present. Is it possible to get a listing of KLEE-muh-tis-but klem-ATE-us?! ONLY sources for the newer selections men­ Then again, pronunciations have a way 9.95 tioned: 'Erie', 'Conoy', 'Shoshoni', 'Chip­ INCLUDING of changing-sometimes on the whim of POSTAGE & HANDLING pewa', and 'Huron'? Is there a "Viburnum a current lexicographer. (Enjoyed the ar­ CAl RESIDENTS, Society"? A book with an emphasis on ADD 6% SALES TAXl ticles on viburnums-one of our favorite viburnums? plant groups. I always enjoy articles about The Keth Company dedicated individuals - more so than those p.o. BOx 645 Boris F. Bauer about country estates.) Corona del Mar, CA 92625 Easley, South Carolina OUR LATEST CATALOGUE Alex Henderson Jr. 1 .00 We were unable to locate retail, mailorder Lancaster, Pennsylvania sources for 'Conoy' or 'Cbippewa'. For some of the others you mention, try two of the sources we mentioned in our Oc­ Our source for the pronunciation of ane­ THATCHED tober Sources column-Appalachian Gar­ mone, as for horticultural nomenclature in ROOF dens and Wayside Gardens-or Roslyn general, is Hortus III. Nurseries, 211 Burrs Lane, Dix Hills, NY For the last word on the word clematis, BIRD 11746; and Weston Nursery, Inc., P.O. we have now turned to British garden writer Box 186, Hopkinton, MA 01748. We know Christopher Lloyd's book on the topic. In HOUSES of no Viburnum Society, nor any books his pronunciation guide he opines: "The for laymen solely about the subject. Don correct pronunciation is, unequivocally Egolf says that books about woody plants clem'atis, with a short e and the accent on written by Michael Dirr, Harrison Flint, the first syllable. All the dictionaries are and Donald Wyman all have sections on agreed on this, and even Fowler's Modern viburnums. English Usage, in a (to me) impenetrable article on False Quantity, comes down in favour. Hisses for "Klem-ATE-us" But 'This climber's common (ate is Now you've gone and done it! I have al­ To be pronounced clemii'tis Made in England by " cottage industry," ways accepted your "Pronunciations" as with the accent on the second syllable and The Thatched Roof Bird Houses have the the ultimate, but now I don't know: the a long ii. In America clema'ttis is a com­ charm of Folk-craft .... one of those pleasant October issue shows anemone as a-NEEM­ mon, rhyming with lattice. touches that make the English Gardens famous. The house is a rustic hollowed o-nee and clematis as klem-ATE-us. "The Continentals have a hard time of branch with a flat back to hang on a wall , The Timber Press Dictionary of Plant it. Magnus Johnson (a Swede) confided . .. fence , or tree. A stub of a stem is the perch. Names and The Random House Diction­ that he had to be very careful while in the Twigs are fitted to hold the thatching. 10" ary of the English Language both show a­ U.K., lest he commit the heresy of saying high . Easy to clean out. Writes a reordering NEM-o-nee and KLEM-a-tis. 'clemartis' (the long a is the norm over customer: " ... my thatched bird house is the talk of the neighborhood." Only $24.95 I once had a neighbor who corrected my there). What an intolerant lot we are-the each. Me and Visa . pronunciation, saying klem-ATE-us, but I poor man sounded quite intimidated. The Walt Nicke thought she was rather affected. She did "Most nurserymen in this country use Company not say a-NEEM-o-nee, but those are hid­ clem'atis correctly: Pennell, Fisk, Picton, den away in my garden. Treasure, Jackman, to wit, though the p.o. Box 433A, 36 McLeod Lane Saunders family of Knight's Nurseries pre­ Topsfield, MA 01983/508-887-3388 I can always call the anemone a pasque flower, but when it comes to clematis I'm fer clemii'tis. So did Margery Fish, while

6 FEBRUARY 1990 Percy Thrower, as another sinner, must it was preceded, not followed by the Prairie have had a considerable influence on box Club, which was organized in 1908 and viewers. When he brought his programme incorporated in 1911. The Friends of Our to my garden he kindly tied in with my Native Landscape, and Jensen in partic­ pronunciation. In return, I referred with ular, were indeed influential in calling at­ him to the grey foliage plant as Cineraria tention to the need to preserve the Indiana maritima instead of Sinecio cineraria as I Dunes. Equally important were their pub­ normally should have. What's known as lications on "Proposed Park Areas in the being flexible . State of Illinois . .. " (1921) and "A Park "For the plural of clematis I many and Forest Policy for Illinois" (1926) which, along with personal influence of this group, were the foundations for the establishment of the state park system in Illinois.

CLEMATIS Carol Doty Curator Jens Jensen Collection of the Morton Arboretum

Peter Loewer responds: I never thought of The Clearing as being a book in the true sense of the word, so I called Keith Crotz of the American Botanist Booksellers who confirmed my suspicions: these essays first o Bronze aluminum 0 Shatter-resistant 1" thick appeared in a reprint of Siftings published double-wall glazing 0 Do-it-)Uurself assembly o Ideal greenhouse, spa/hot tub room, entry way. in 1950, one year before Jensen's death, Send $2 for Color Catalogues, Prices, and his involvement, if anything, was slight. SENT FIRST CLASS MAIL. PHER LLOYD Dealer Inquiries Welcome CHRISTO TOM BEl,,,ETT You are quite correct in dating the Friends 'REVISED WITH of Our Native Landscape as 1913; how­ VEGETABLE FACTORY INC. ever, many references, including the Na­ P.O. Box 2235, Dept. AHO others) use the same word. I cannot say tional Council of State Garden Clubs, list New York, NY 10163 this is correct, but if enough of us go on the club's beginnings as 1925. doing so for long enough it will become correct. The English language is overbur­ I was delighted to find Peter Loewer's ar­ dened with sibilants, especially in the final ticle on Jens Jensen in your October issue. syllable or syllables. Crocuses and irises Loewer understandably quotes liberally are tolerable, but clematises leaves the from Jensen's only book, Siftings, calling tongue congealed and torpid. Imagine it a book that "should be looked into when 'she possesses 66 clematises.' Most un­ the world is too much with us, late and pleasant. " soon," and then notes that Siftings is out of print. It's hard to argue with the dictionary The situation will be remedied soon. The and Christopher Lloyd. This delightful and open-minded explanation has persuaded Johns Hopkins University Press is reprint­ ing the book in our American Land Clas­ us both to adopt his pronunciation, and to add the revised edition of his book to sics series. We expect to have it available again in the spring. our Book Program. We'll offer the $32.50 hardbound volume of216 pages for $26.95 plus postage. See page 9 for ordering J. G. Goellner information. Director

Clearing Up Jensen NeedlepOint Pattern It was heartening to open the October A reader wrote to suggest that we make American Horticulturist and find Peter the patterns of the needlepoint cushions in Please send your value·packed • r-·------• catalog. I enclose $2, deductible .. Loewer's interesting article on "Jens Jen­ the River Farm ballroom, featured in an sen's Beloved Midwestern Vistas." I should article in the October magazine, available • on my first catalog order. • like, however, to comment on several points for sale to members. Two talented mem­ • Name • of fact. Jensen's Siftings (1939) was not bers of our staff, Stephanie McLellan and • StJRFD • his only book, as a second one called The Beth Wiesner, have been copying some of • City State----.Zip_ • Clearing was published in 1950 in similar the flower designs on the cushions as cross­ II send to: • format. stitch patterns that can be adapted to • GILBERT H. WILD & SON. INC. • Also, The Friends of Our Native Land­ needlepoint. Watch your News Edition for AH·290 Joplin SI. • Sarcoxie , MO 64862 • scape was started in 1913, not 1925, and more information on their availability. ..._ ..... __ . AMERICAN HORT/CUL TURIST 7 Book Reviews

Monet's Passion In the second section, Murray's beau­ Like many great works, Christopher's Elizabeth MU1TaY. Photographs and garden designs tiful photographs show Monet's expert and epic history involves a quest: retrieving lost by Elizabeth Murray. Illustrations by Heather abundant use of color as it has been re­ roses that have survived in the wild, in O'Conn01: Pomegranate Art Books, San Francisco, created today. In front of the charming graveyards, ghost towns, and along road­ sides. We mark how the sport of rescuing California, 1989. 115 pages. Publisher's price, pink house with gre€n trim are masses of hardcover: $24.95. AHS member price: $20.95. pink and d€eper rose tulips underplanted vanished varieties has evolved into an ex­ with pink, rose, and red English daisies. travagant social affair with Texans. These Claude Monet was a gardener as well as Later, pink aNd red geraniums repeat the "rose rustlers" travel in motorcades, a famous painter. He planned Giverney, scheme, which integrates the house with snatching cuttings at many stops and vis­ his garden in France, with an artist's trained the garden. iting old friends who serve "sand cakes eye, using color relationships and the ef­ A grand allee leading to the front en­ and cider." fects of light and atmosphere to create liv­ trance serves as the main axis, tyiro.g the The earliest rustling was by far the most ing canvasses for his paintings. The artist flower garden to the water garden. Thir­ audacious. Instead of cuttings, old vari­ understood the complexities of color, and teen-foot-high arches of rambling roses eties were often transplanted whole. One arranged the pure colors of plants to create frame th€ house. On either side of this wide rustler complained to th€ author abom her richly textured patterns with harmony and walk there are seven-foot-wide perennial "faint-hearted husband. If only he could contrast. borders with tall flowers at the back and cooperate, he could be so useful as the progressively shorter plants in front. In the driver of her getaway car." Another Texan, fall, trailing nasturtiums almost eover the "a respectable dowager, recalled the time walk. she joined forces with a stranger to rustle The book's third section explains the a rosebush from a vacant lot. Only upon lessons one can learn from all this beauty. leaving did she discover that her im- It shows similar gardens designed to a small scale that can be follow€d to the letter or serve as inspiration. The Monet type of gardening is practical as well as beautiful, since perennials and bulbs, once estab­ lished, are easy to maintain. Monet found that native plants, too, did well with little care and reseeded themselves. This book, which includes instructions for following Murray's Monet-inspired designs and a section on plants and cul­ tivation, imparts know-how, inspiration, On a trip to visit European gardens, and hours of pleasure. professional gardener Elizabeth Murray fell in love with Giverney and offered her -Alice Upham Smith services gratis to M . Gerald van der Kemp, conservator of the Musee Claude Monet. This beautiful book is the result of her In Search of Lost Roses joyous experiences working in his garden Thomas Christopher. Summit Books, New York, for seven months. 1989.240 pages. Publisher's price, hardcover: The first section covers Monet's finding $18.95. AHS price: $15.95. Giverney and his life and work there. Cop­ ies of several of his masterpiec€s show the Primarily, In Search of Lost Roses is an beauty and success of his plans. extensive chronicle of the old-rose move­ The gardens cover three acres. The Clos ment in the United States, augmented with Normand Flower Garden in front of the plenteous history of Western rose-breed­ promptu assistant was actually the land­ house was planned in formal patterns to ing and cultivation. Concurrently, it is the owner." With these finds, Christopher display the exuberance of color sequences author's inquiry into the eharacter of the shows how recovered specimens speak of planned for each season. Across the road old-rose enthusiast. The reader travels their local history. is the Water Garden with its pond, water throughout the country and abroad, dis­ In his survey of classicist rosarians, we lilies, and Japanese-style footbridge inter­ covering the original intentions and per­ are made aware of the full scope of old twined with wisteria-a tranquil spot where sonal eccentricities of notable forerunners rose forms. Old-rose enthusiasm, we learn, light and reflections are design features. of this crusade. is more than a rej€ction of modern roses.

8 FEBRUARY 1990 It is great detective work and often "an satisfied my curiosity but gave me great public's acceptance of these untraditional opportunity to reach back ... to look at pleasure. perennials. the same colors and smell the same per­ Through interviews with such notable Those seeking landscaping ideas, espe­ fumes as long-dead uncles, aunts, cousins, figures as Hans Hanses, Kurt Bluemel, John cially, will benefit from her combination friends . .. " The author's expertise in the Elsley, John Greenlee, and Wolfgang of ideas and lists of grasses for various ancients reanimates the Romans' passion Oehme, Otteson gives the book depth and situations: for rock gardens, ponds and for roses and brings new significance to R. personality. Their individual feelings, ex­ pools; as a transition to meadow or wood­ damascena bifera. The journey follows the periences, and advice add to every gar­ land; as ground covers, hedges, and screens; rose cult through French and British dener's palette of possibilities and create and in the perennial border. She empha­ involvement, into antebellum Charleston a book that not only gives cultural infor­ sizes that grass is not synonymous with for the creation of 'Champney's Pink mation but historical background and per­ green, but comes in yellow, red, blue, Cluster' - forefather of the noisettes. Our sonal experiences as well. brown, or variegated-each of which can denouement is 'American Beauty', a hy­ contribute to a garden's design. Those in­ brid perpetual that was one of the most terested in grass prairies and meadows will popular red florist roses of all time. find a whole chapter on the how-tos and Within this symphony of rose lore, his­ Because grasses are a sof~ wherefores of creating such landscapes. tory is recounted; nostalgia and romance The author also includes a list of grasses are reborn. Christopher's research is golden, downy vegetation that covers suitable for specific conditions, a chart of expert, and uncompromising. His style be­ the entire surface of the earth) grass characteristics, information on bam­ guiles the reader with nothing short of fi­ boos and grasslike plants, and a compre­ nesse. Old-rose scholars will find it tasty one enthusias~ the German hensive list of suppliers. Color photo­ and the novice, comprehendible. At last, graphs illustrate the effectiveness of grasses a well-grounded rosarian text written with plantsman Karl Foerster; called throughout the seasons and in combina­ a vivacity worthy of its subject! them 'Mother Earth's Hair." tion with other plants. Ideas abound in this enjoyable book: so many interesting land­ -John Babich From Ornamental Grasses: scaping effects, in fact, that one can't wait The Amber Wave to try them all.

- Peggy Lytton One especially interesting chapter is "How Grasses Came Into Our Gardens." Otteson relates the flow and ebb of the Alice Upham Smith is a retired landscape architect and fellow of the Garden Writers popularity of grasses in other countries as Association of America. well as our own. She credits well-known designers and horticulturists-Jens Jensen, John Babich is a southwestern Karl Foerster, Richard Simon, William Pennsylvania writer who spends much of his leisure with old-rose literature. Frederick Jr., and Richard Lighty-and significant landscapes that use ornamental Peggy Lytton is an assistant editor for grasses with breakthroughs in the general American Horticulturist.

Book Order Fonn Please send me the following books at the special AHS member prices.

o Monet's Passion Elizabeth Murray ...... $20.95 0 VISA 0 MasterCard Exp. Date ____ POM 672 Ornamental Grasses: o In Search of Lost Roses Acct. # ______Thomas Christopher ...... $1$.95 The Amber Wave SUM 673 Signature ______Carole Ottesen. McGraw·Hill, New York, 1989. 230 o Clematis Christopher Lloyd ...... $26.95 Ship to: ______pages. Color photographs, black and white CAP 676 drawings. Publisher'S price, hardcover: $29.95. AHS o Ornamental Grasses member p,ice: $24.95. The Amber Wave Street: ______Carole Ottesen ...... $24.95 For several years now ornamental grasses MCG 675 Ciry: ______have been riding a wave of popularity, and I would like to order _____ books. State: _____ Zip: ______gardeners and landscapers are still as ex­ Please add $2.50 per book for postage and cited as ever over this versatile addition to handling. Virginia residents, also add 41/2% sales tax. Please allow six weeks for delivery. the garden. I was curious to know what MAlL TO: AHS Books, 7931 East Boulevard all the fuss was about. Reading Orna­ o Enclosed is my check for $___ _ Drive, Alexandria, VA 22308. mental Grasses: The Amber Wave not only

AMERICAN HORTICUL TURIST 9

TREASURES OF RIVER FARM / BY KATHLEEN FISHER The Complicated, Dedicated Benjamin Yoe Morrison

hile the American Horti­ In 1926, two organizations-the Na­ cultural Society possesses tional Horticultural Society and the Amer­ many treasures of both ican Horticultural Society-had merged. monetary and sentimental The combined organization took the value, its greatest treasure "American" name, but would call its of­ byW far is not things but people: members ficial publication The National Horticul­ and friends who support us with their la­ tural Magazine until 1960. Morrison, Listed bors and loyalty. It is doubtful that anyone as chairman of the magazine'S editorial gave more of themselves than Benjamin board when that first joint publication was Yoe Morrison (1891-1966), azalea breeder, issued, would continue to be chief editor first head of the National Arboretum, and until 1963, twelve years after his retire­ past AHS president who logged thirty-seven ment from the agriculture department and years as principal editor of the society's only three years before his death. The ed­ magazine. itor title was in no wayan honorary one: By profession a horticulturist and land­ he solicited most of the manhlscripts, and scape architect, he practiced the latter art wrote many of the stories himself. in New York only briefly before joining "For many years, Morrison was pretty the United States Department of Agricul­ much the heart and soul of the American ture at the age of 29. When the famous Horticultural Society and its magazine," plant hunter David Fairchild retired as head says Creech. "During the Wiorld War II of the division in 1934, Morrison was years, he carried the publiGa tion almost probably a hands-clown choice to succeed single handedly, both editorially and fi­ him. John L. Creech, who first met Mor­ nancially. But he was tough on contribu­ rison in 1947 when Morrison hired him tors no matter who they were." as a junior horticulturist in the agriculture In writing Morrison's obituary for The department's Division of Plant Explora­ American Horticultural Magazine- the tion and Introduction (PEl), recalls that, publication's name from 1960 to 1971- like most of the staff, Morrison had served Frederic P. Lee, a brilliant Washington, in the division since the late 1920s, but D.C., amateur horticulturist and longtime Morrison was a relatively young 43. "Some Morrison intimate, made a similar obser­ of the 'old-timers,' like Walter Swingle and vation: "For the Magazi.Ite, Morrison in­ Robert Young and O. F. Cook were pretty sisted on a high standard of original con­ much living in past worlds." tributions, scholarly, forthright and That job, which Morrison held until accurate, genuinely to inform the serious 1948, overlapped his unpaid duties as act­ amateur. He was bluntly inimical to au­ ing director of the National ArbonJtum, thors whose manuscripts were rehashes or which was at that time a function of the embodied uninformed opinions." PEL Morrison took the "acting" title in But in sharing his vast knowledge with 1937; he would not be given the full title others, he was not the stuffy scientist. until shortly before his retirement in 1951. "Morrison spoke and wrote with an ex­ It wasn't the only job he held without pay. cellence of style that included a special verve and charm," observed Lee. Like Lee, one Left: A charcoal drawing ofB.Y. Morrison of his great loves was daffodils, and after that hangs in River Farm's executive offices watching his own come up in 1946, he captures him without his trademark black wrote in that year's April magazine: "One suit and bow tie. Right: Some of the reason daffodils are so universally loved is Morrison block print designs that served because they come so early in the spring. as covers for the Society's magazine for We have spent the winter months with just many years. the green of the conifers and evergreens

AMERICAN HORTICUL TURIST 11 TREASURES OF RIVER FARM

flowers and plants," recalled Lee. For many years, his botanical woodcuts served as the "In Morrison's early days magazine's cover illustrations. Creech says that to the best of his knowl­ at Harvard he had a edge, Morrison had no formal art training, traveling fellowship to except perhaps any he might have received in his education as a landscape architect. Japan, and being naturally "In his early days at Harvard he had a traveling fellowship to Japan," Creech says, artistic, some of Japan "and being naturally artistic, some of Ja­ rubbed off on him." pan rubbed off on him. " Fortunately for Morrison, he didn't have - John L. Creech to serve as his own photographer as well. Creech explains that the plant exploration division had its own photographic labo­ against the gray of the leafless trees and ratory, operated by Robert Taylor, and we are hungry for color. As a harbinger Taylor was able to supply many of the five­ of spring they are as authentic as the blue­ by-seven photographs that appeared in early bird or the kite tails on the telephone wires." issues of the magazine. Morrison never named any daffodils, but As a plantsman, Morrison is best known he may have been one of the first in this for his azaleas, particularly the more than country to begin making crosses and 400 Glenn Dale hybrids, named after the showing their seedlings. He edited the So­ plant introduction station at Glenn Dale, ciety's first five American Daffodil Hand­ Maryland, and the Back Acres hybrids, books, and encouraged the formation of named after the Mississippi estate to which local daffodil societies and eventually the he retired. Shortly before he died, he ac­ American Daffodil Society. quired the first major collection of Satsuki He also drew delicate sketches of daf­ azaleas to be brought out of Japan. Creech fodils to accompany his own and others' believes that he wrote a manuscript for a articles on the subject. Morrison "had an book on the subject that was never pub­ extraordinary capacity for carrying in mind lished. over long periods the precise details of As a personality, Morrison could be gruff and uncompromising, but he held affec- tion for every one of his azaleas. Creech The NATIONAL recalls that on one occasion, Morrison was asked by a horticulturist whose stature was HOR TICULTURAL comparable to his own which of his 400 MAGAZINE Glenn Dales he liked best. "Morrison came back with a reply to the effect that the question must surely be a joke, since it was like asking which of one's children a per­ son liked best." His outspoken nature was combined with a commanding physical presence. "B. Y. Morrison overwhelmed most people," Creech says. "He usually dressed in black suit, white shirt, and bow tie, except in his garden on Piney Branch Road, in Takoma, Maryland, where he wore nothing but a pair of ragged shorts when working with JoURNoU. 01' THB A MI!IlICAN H OR'f1C\J1.TtJlW. Socmn' his azaleas. He never learned to drive a APRIL,l9S0 car, but relied on close friends on the staff to see that he got to the office. Once there, L ______--~ he kept two secretaries busy with domestic . Milaeg~r's: Gardens The primroses that served as the cover of and foreign correspondence. 4838 pouglaS Avenue. : the April 1950 issue of the National "At home he was totally self-sufficient Radqe, WI 53402-2498. Horticultural Magazine represent just one around the large white house and often in " Phone: (414) 639~2j;71 of the many block prints created by B.Y. the evening, would organize a musical. He Fax: (414) 6~9-18SS . Morrison as covers for the magazine in the played the piano and sang quite well; Carl 1940s and '50s. Erlanson, a botanist assistant in the divi-

12 FEBRUARY 1990 EXTERIOR DECORATING

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AMERICAN HORTICULTURIST 13 1 from i\merica' ~ TROPICAL HUMIDITY! TREASURES OF RIVER FARM foremosl Peony C;ower q' • A Humid Climate for Healthier Plants • A Size for Every Greenhouse • Professional Quality, Dependable sion, accompanied him on the violin." Performance "Sang quite well" is perhaps an under­ • Fully Assembled -- Easy to Install statement. As a young man, Morrison had • Completely Automatic Operation • New, Improved Design considered a career in opera and had gone so far as to tryout at the Metropolitan Grow beautiful tropical plants, Opera. But a failed love affair ended that flowers, orchids with Standard Humidifier's uniform, fog-like episode and added fuel to an aversion to vapor. Wall bracket, ceiling women that apparently stemmed from an hung or free-standing unhappy childhood. He redirected his models install quickly, dreams toward landscape architecture and operate on house never married. current and water Our 1990 full Color supply. The view many women had of him, 84 Pa8e Calalo8 Dependable 24- however, was quite the opposite. Relates hour operatiS>n Creech: "Occasionally I drove him to lec­ f ealurio8· .. with newly tures, as he was the darling of the garden improved automatic club ladies, and 1 well remember sitting in controls. Compact, the rear of a small lecture hall where he lightweight, trouble­ free. Write or call was speaking to a rapt female audience. I with greenhouse overheard one lady whispering to her com­ size for a free panion: 'Isn't he the most charming man illustrated bro­ you can imagine?' The other sighed: 'Oh chure, prices and my, it is so true! ' If you look through the recommendation ~. list of azalea cultivars, you will see among STANDARD HUMIDIFIER the Glenn Dale azaleas the names of sev­ Division of Hum i-Temp, Inc. eral of his admirers." 87 Tiogue Avenue, West Warwick, RI 02893 A recently printed story that Morrison Tele: (401) 823-1776 FAX: (401) 823-3111 named hundreds of his Glenn Dale azaleas in one night when he was threatened with Daylilies losing government funding is a fiction, ac­ 'PRIZE PICOTEE ELITE' cording to Creech. But Morrison did even­ tually run afoul of his government bosses GARDEN with much less happy results. " It was probably inevitable that such a ACCENTS strong character would not bend to the whims of the Washington bureaucracy," says Creech. Morrison's downfall in gov­ ernment came when he wrote a curt letter of refusal to a congressman who was press­ ing for some azaleas for a constituent whose direct request Morrison had turned down earlier. As a consequence, Morrison was told that all his correspondence would have to be reviewed and initialled by his assis­ fancy tIosla tant, Creech relates. 'BRIGHT GLOW' "I guess it was too much for this proud Plus ... man. He quietly stepped down as head of t:slaLe Peonies · Tree Peonies the division and concentrated his efforts &iberi an Iris · O rnamenlal C rasses As direct importers we offer over 100 on the master plan for the National Ar­ Achillea · A" Lers • ~'e rns and o Lhers personally selected. handcrafted items boretum on which he had been working from foreign countries: powerful bronze and marble animals, Chinese relics, for several years." porcelain fishbowls. planters, pottery, stone lanterns and garden s tools. The arboretum bears his imprint in sev­ Call !'Iowl Our catalog Is FRIlIl. eral gardens that were developed early on, including the azalea garden, dogwood east/westE planting, fern valley, and the several Asian GARDENS. valleys. Morrison was a magnificent de­ end $4.00 for your 1990 Full Color ca1aJ 0 9 . signer of gardens and his understanding of (fully refundable with first order) Call: 4151 :321·2571 Write: 1259 EI Camino Real how to use massed plantings to create Route 5, Box 197 AH Penny Road Suite 196, Dept. 51 • South Barrington, Illinois 60010-9555 .. Menlo Park, CA 94025 strength is still apparent in the arboretum Call Toll Free 1-800-553-3715 today. Li~ ~ In 1951, he retired to Pass Christian, 14 FEBRUARY 1990 l ~, William Tricker, Inc. ~ Ame rica 's Oldest Water Garden ~ Sped.Ii" ,i." 1895 Exclusive Videos on Wa te r Gardening Mississippi, and returned to Washington Ma d e on Location at T ricke r's! only once, for the dedication of the Mor­ NEW $39 .9 5 each or $72.25 for both ... rison Azalea Garden at the National Ar­ o HOW TO BUILD A WATER GARDEN boretum. For the remainder of his life, he o INTRODUCTION TO WATER GARDENING was content with editing The N ational Free Cata log Sent With Orde r of Video or Horticultural Magazine, breeding new Send $2.50 for a Tricke r's Color Ca talog azaleas, and playing the organ at a local Tha t Cont-a ins All Your Water Garde ning Needs. Episcopal church. D ept. AH -7125 Tanglewood Dr. Independence, OH 44131 Kathleen Fisher is editor of American (216) 524-3491 Horticulturist. We are grateful to former National Arboretum director John Creech for contributing his memories.

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JVo j:lOoL? {!f!rOOiE a (iCE ~gLaii o ~ yXV{! pooL fwm tf!rE malUJ i izEi iliown in thE .jjL!}/2oni catalogUE. t------. o Please send the new Lilypons catalogue plus informative I AHS is proud to offer its memb <.l rs an ex­ newsle tters with seasonal sales. Enclosed is $5 .00. I citing new set of fine printed notecards that California (30 1/) . Maryland (25'1) and Texas (3.5 1/) residents please add tax. I reproduce a dozen B. Y. Morrison botan­ o Please rush my catalogue by first class mail. Enclosed is $6.75. I ical designs. Printed on richly textured stock, I these cards are sold in three sets of twelve o 1500 Amhort Road o 1500 Lilypons Road o 1500 LilypO llS Way I cards each: Flowers (two each of six dif­ P.O. Box 10 1'.0. Box 188 P.O. Box 11 30 I Lilypons, MD 21717 Brookshire, TX 77423·01 88 The rma l, CA 92274 I ferent images) ; Fruits and Seed (two each (301) 874-51 33 (71 3) 934-8525 of another six images); and Assorted (all I twelve images). Retail price is $9.95 for I twelve cards and matching envelopes. The I price for AHS members is just $8.50 plus Kame Address I $1.50 per set for shipping and handling. I Send orders to Morrison Cards, AHS Cot­ I City State ZIP I tage Shop, 7931 East Boulevard Drive, Al­ I______------~ exandria, VA 22308.

AMERICAN HORTICULTURIST 15 DESIGN/STORY AND PHOTOS BY JEANNE CONTE

A MAGICAL, CLASSICAL GARDEN INCOLYMBUS

dens for them. Once-crumbled walls are going back up, and the formal parterres of the past are becoming patterns of the present. There is a timeless elegance about them. In designing his own garden, sculptor and plantsman Gary Ross, a professor in the College of Fine Arts at Capital Uni­ versity in Columbus, Ohio, hoped to cap­ ture the intriguing mood and privacy of walled courtyards he visited on trips to England. istory abounds with walled Stepping into Ross's garden is much like gardens: ancient Persian stepping into the magical world of Frances courtyards; the atriums the Hodgson Burnett's The Secret Garden, of Pompeiians built in the which Colin said, "Everything is made of center of their almost win­ magic, leaves and trees, flowers and buds." Hdowless homes; Roman baths where clas­ One is transported into another world and sical statuary adorned the walls. In me­ might well wonder whether it is that of an dieval times, cloistered clergy meditated in ancient Roman courtyard, an English gar­ walled gardens where they raised fish for den, or some other intimate paradise. protein and flowers for holy feast days. Four smiling satyrs stand guarding its Medieval manor houses had their "hortus corners. Their stoneware bodies arch and inclusius," inside which they espaliered fruit curve, hands grasping mammoth bundles At one end of the garden, centered within trees and planted food crops protected from of grapes, seeming to beckon enticingly the outward curving brick wall, is the re­ roving marauders. And the imperial gar­ inside. Six-foot-high brick walls curve out­ clining figure of The Athlete, a life-sized dens of the Far East opened like scrolls to ward as if bursting with bloom, and in­ bronze sculpture that is framed by the room after room of pure delight. deed, creeping over their top to spill color, arching branches of weeping cherry trees There were walls in America's garden flower, and fruit into the outside world (Prunus subhirtella) and blooming per­ history as well-walls to keep out wild are twining tendrils of wisteria (Wisteria ennials in season. animals in the country and to create pri­ floribunda ), sometimes joined by silver lace The entire concept of this garden, all its vacy in the cities. Today's interest in pre­ vine (Polygonum aubertii) and grape vines sculpture, and its implementation is the serving historic buildings and restoring (Vitis labrusca, both white and 'Concord'). work of Ross, who, after purchasing a turn­ vintage homes has turned attention toward Inside the walls is a veritable garden of of-the-century Georgian revival house in rebuilding or designing appropriate gar- the gods. A grand Priapus, god of fertility, a restoration area of Columbus, bought looks on from the side as if blessing the the house next door and had it razed so Above, sculptor Gary Ross and one of fecundity. The face of Bacchus grins from he could build a garden to complement it. four satyrs that greet visitors to his another wall through the grapevines. The Much of the material from the razed garden; right, the Palladian-style pool goddess Liriope is represented, too, by her house was reused in the garden: high-fired repeats the shape of the window in namesake plant, liriope (Liriope spicata), brick was used for the garden wall, while Ross's stairwell. which fringes classically symmetrical curves. low-fired brick was tamped into garden

16 FEBRUARY 1990 .., paths. The stone basement wall was left the designs of Andrea Palladio, the Italian the satyr-topped pillars, which are inter­ intact to form part of the garden wall, Renaissance architect of the sixteenth cen­ twined with clematis (Clematis panicu­ where it adds the character of old stone. tury, explains Ross, as is, ultimately, all lata). The soft matte red of the brick walk­ One of Ross's particular delights in his Georgian Revival architecture. way contrasts pleasantly with the vintage home is a tall Palladian window Ross feels that landscape design has fol­ abundance of lush green hosta (Hosta un­ that spills light from its round-headed con­ lowed closely the art and architecture trends dulata 'Medio-picta' and other cultivars centric arches down burnished, bannis­ of history. "Garden designs have been such as 'Antioch' and 'Royal Standard') tered stairs throughout his entry foyer. One strongly influenced during this century by and liriope edging. "I felt that the pool of his many life-sized sculptures is backlit the abstract impressionists," he says. "The needed the thick green hosta as a kind of by this window, which is graciously framed free form of the impressionists has led to foil to all that warm water," Ross explains. by wisteria that has twined its way over free form in other design, such as that of The creation of the pool presented a ma­ from the garden. landscape architecture." But he now sees jor problem because it was an afterthought Ross chose to repeat the lines of the a strong movement back to .classicism - a to construction of the walls. Contractors Palladian window in both the exterior lines renaissance of the Renaissance. eventually had to heft thousand-pound of his walled garden and again in the de­ A Palladian arch of paving stones brought buckets of cement up and over his forty­ sign of the pool that serves as the garden's up from the basement of his home adds five-foot high house. Now it blooms with centerpiece. The window, like most clas­ character to the garden entry. Conical, deep lilies (Nymphaea 'White Sultan') and bub­ sical Renaissance architecture, is based on green arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis) frame bles pleasantly with the sound of a foun-

AMERICAN HORTICUL TURIST 17 DESIGN

tain formed from a nineteenth century urn fruiting in season. Boxwood and holly (Ilex with lions on each side. x meserveae 'Blue Boy' and 'Blue Girl') All trees in this formal garden are either add their evergreen, screening the base­ pyramidal or weeping. Hornbeam (Car­ ment windows. pinus betulus 'Fastigiata') and upright And at all times from earliest spring until English oak (Quercus robur 'Fastigiata') late autumn, perennials bloom in abun­ stand like sentinels along the sides while dance. Sprigs of daylilies blend with dais­ weeping cherry trees grace the corners. Ivies ies. The delicate rose of lamb's ear (Stachys twist and turn on the walls, flowering and byzantina) frames the resting figure of The Athlete, which is backed in spring by rows of red tulips among a spread of Pachy­ sandra terminalis. Handcrafted urns top capitals from the historic Deshler Wallick Hotel, spilling dainty strands of sedum over the sides. soms combined with bugleweed, lily-of­ Those who equate formality with stiff­ the-valley, daffodils, and other Dutch bulbs. ness will find none of that here. The formal These are followed by iris, peonies, col­ design only serves to lend order to the pro­ umbine (Aquilegia caerulea 'Oxford Blue'), fusion of bloom that begins in early spring and poppies (Papaver orientale). Then with the crocuses, violets, and myrtle, and comes the bloom of lamb's ear, daylilies, continues with the weeping cherry blos- and daisies (Chrysanthemum x superbum 'Alaska'). Flowering in summer are orange Above: The Athlete, a life-sized coneflowers (Rudbeckia fulgida 'Gold­ contemporary statue, reclines i~1 a curve sturm'), sweet woodruff, Wisteria flori­ of the wall where the view is filtered by bunda, water lilies, and yarrow. Late sum­ the branches of a weeping cherry. Right: mer and autumn bring the bloom of hosta, Bacchus grins out from among grape late-blooming clematis, silver lace vine, and vines and clematis. Left: Ross's satyr Liatris spicata 'Kobold'. sculptures seem to beckon passersby to These perennials are supplemented with enter his classical walled garden. bedding geraniums, which Ross winters

18 FEBRUARY 1990 . ~ ~1'"\\..ES of.81 •O~:~~L~~~: ~~y (301) 363-1371 V( over by shaking the dirt from their roots and hanging them up in his basement; by spring, small green shoots show they are ORDER &EfORE JULY Zit\ .f0 R alive and ready to be replanted. Cosmos, marigolds, and petunias also help to lend BETTEf\ BUL»S ....BE.TTER CHO\CES"SETTfR PRJCES all-summer color. Pachysandra, myrtle, ajuga, and English ivy carpet the grounds 112 Green Spring Valley Road • Owings Mills, Maryland 21117 and texture the walls. The formal garden itself measures 42 feet by 60 feet; the center pond is 5 by 12 feet. But this formal, classical garden is only part of the larger garden that covers his two city lots, which are each 40 feet CLASSIC GLASS GREENHOUSE by 140. Thick fringes of the 'Medico-picta' hosta At HALf. , frame 'Annabelle' hydrangeas against the the Price. convex outer front wall of his garden and The ELITE Green­ continue across the front of his collonaded house is the real glass house. They line his brick entry walk, of­ greenhouse you've fering a feel of continuity. A Japanese always wanted. Now thread-leaf maple tree (Acer palmatum var. at a price you can't dissectum 'Crimson Queen') arches over a afford to pass up! Ross sculpture like a feathered umbrella. • LESS THAN Dogwood and purple-leaf weeping beech HALF THE (Fagus sylvatica 'Purpurea') add their del­ COST of similiar icate touch to the front of the Ross prop­ greenhouses! €rty against junipers (juniperus virginiana • TWO SIZES, with up to 104 sq. ft. about this classic English-design, glass ! 'Skyrocket') under the symmetrical form growing space! greenhouse. 8 of a little-leaf linden tree (Tilia cordata). • REAL GLASS glazing can't fade Send Today for Full Details! f To the rear of his house, the gard@n con­ like plastic! or Call 1-800-453-2800 ~ til'lUes in all directions. A recent installa­ • STURDY extruded aluminum Dept. 2103 for Faster Service. '0< tion of arching plate glass mirrors on his frame, sliding door, built-in rain rrRoY-Bn;fMfg.c~;:"'i>ept. A2103--1 garage wall repeats and extends the view gutter! I 102nd St & 9th Ave., Troy, NY 12180 I so that one seems to peek into garden after • EASY TO ASSEMBLE with I 0 YES! Please rush me complete details on the I garden. They mirror ornamental grasses hand tools! ELITE Greenhouse, including the special Money- I I Saving Offer, FREE Bonus Offer now in effect and (Mis canthus sinensis 'Gracillimus'), pur­ • FREE automatic vent opener when lour Easy Payment Plan for qualified customers. I ple-leaf plum trees (Prunus cerasifera you order now! I I · h' Name __~ =~ ______'Atropurpurea'), and a purple-leaf smoke Start your growing season ear1 ler t IS I I tree (Cotinus coggygria 'Purpureus'). spring, extend into the fall. Grow the I Address I Against the evergreen yews (Taxus x me­ exotic plants and flowers you've always I City I dia 'Hicksii' and 'Brownii') that screen the wanted. Write today to learn more l~t=- _____ Zip_____ :J alley, Hibiscus syriacus blooms are punc­ '\ tuated by white-spiked Adam's needle (Yucca filamentosa) . From the walled garden, wisteria blends on into the house, feathering its windows and forming lace panels on the rear porch. Ross has even painted flowering wisteria C;REER C;~RDEN~ vines between the crossed beams of the 1280 Goodpasture Island Rd., Eugene, OR 97401-1794 ceiling in his living room. His ceiling paint­ Specializing in -- ing is not with watercolors in fresco as was EXOTIC Rhododendrons Michelangelo's, but with oil on canvas; it is not of the moment of Creation, but of UNUSUAL Japanese Maples a moment in one of nature's creations. RARE Trees & Shrubs Thus from outdoors to indoors, Gary SPECIAL Bonsai Materials Ross has used his plant palette to create EXCEPTIONAL COLOR CATALOG one magical, classical secret garden. Offering 2000 kinds of plants - ONLY $3_00 WE SHIP ANYWHERE Jeanne Conte is a free-lance photographer Order our catalog by calling J-800-548-011 I and writer who lives in Columbus, Ohio.

AMERICAN HORTICULTURIST 19 A NoahsArk for Endangered Plants

By Marcia Bonta

he University of California Bo­ transformed over the last several yea'rs into though the lady ferns are also found in the tanical Garden has it all-a a model wast commullity of redwoods i)'lterior mountains of California and as far sweeping view of San Francisco (Sequoia sempervirens). east as Idaho, Colorado, and New Mexico, T Bay, an equable climate for Alth(,lUgh the redwoods are less than sixty false lily-of-the-valley and wake-robin grow growing a wide vaL"i ety of plants from years old, they are already large enough only along the moist, mild areas of North around the world, and an unsurpassed col­ to provide a cool, dark retreat where vis­ America's West Coast. Another intriguing lection of California native plant life. Sit­ itors can walk on peaceful paths and ad­ flower found here is the inside-out flower uated in lower Strawberry Canyon, less mire such blooming wildflowers as red- (Vancouveria planipetala), so called be- than a mile from the cause its unusual white Berkeley campus, the or lavtmder-tinged blos­ thi rty -three acre site is r:e- soms have reflexed petals plete with intriguipg Faths and sepals. that snake mostly up and The coast redwood down its hilly, pictl!l r­ forest is only the largest esque terrain. and most complete ex­ Red-tailed hawks flOat ample of the botanical high above rock-strewn garden's commitment to Strawberry Creek as it grow representatives of tumbles past the Asian as many indigenous Cal­ area, through the Japa­ ifornia plant communi­ nese Pool, and between ties as possible, a direc­ the palm and cyead gar­ tive that dates back to the den and the Californian founding of the garden in area. Several species of December 1890 by E.L. hummingbirds z@om like Greene and Willis Linn minia ture buzz bombs Jepson. Both men were around the South Ame.iean area, attracted Above: A hawk's-eye view of Strawberry indefatigable collectors and classifiers of by such exotics as the dangling red and Canyon with the betanical garden to the California natives, as even a cursory look gold flowers of the Abutilon mega­ left and the Berkeley campus and San at the scientific names of many California potamicum and the deep purple flowers of Francisco Bay in the background. plants will reveal. They ealled the garden the large, spreading shrub Tibouchina laxa a Garden of Native Plants and not only from Peru. In the shrubby underbrush wood sorrel (Oxalis oregana), yerba buena collected the seeds and plants for it but throughout the garden California quail, (Satureja douglasii) , and alumroot (Heu­ laboriously planted them as well. Within robins, and rufous-sided towhees forage. chera micrantha). The forest floor is car­ five years the garden encompassed seven The dry New World Desert Garden and peted with sugar scoops (Tiarella unifol­ acres on the Berkeley campus and con­ the inhospitable serpen-tine habitat in the iata), members of tae saxifrage family, tained nearly t,500 species of plants. Californian area skitter 'with lizards. The California huckleberry (Vaccinium ova­ The almost total concentration on na­ botanical garden is a perfect mix of the tum), yerba-de-selva (Whipplea modesta), tive California plants continued until the exotic and native, where one's naturalist and several fern species including the garden was moved to its present location interests war constantly with horticultural handsome sword ferns (Polystichum mun­ in the 1920s. The larger acreage allowed ones. itum). the garden to expand its holdings and sev­ This is particularly true in the Mather In the grove are plants that look similar eral collecting expeditions, most notably Redwood Grove, a five-acre plot across to those in Eastern woodlands -lady ferns, into South America, were launched in the the road from the main garden. Begun in false lily-of-the-valley, wake-robin. But the 1930s as a memorial to Stephen Tyng while the common names are the same, Right: The giant pitcher plant Mather, the first director of the National the scientific names a.e diffeFent (Athyr­ (Darlingtonia californica) is one of Park Service and all alumnus of the Uni­ ium filix-femina, Maianthemum kam­ Cali{ecnia's most interesting and versity of California, the grove has been tschaticum, and Trillium ovatum) and al- striking wildflowers.

20 FEBRUARY 1990 Left photo by Catherine M. Pringle; Right photo by Roger Raiche AMERICAN HORT/CUL TURIST 21 1930s, '40s, and '50s. Today the garden contains more than 12,000 species and va­ rieties of plants from all over the world. But a third of the garden area remains devoted to California n.atives, with rep­ resentatives from more than one-quarter of the state's 5,000 species, including 130 types of plants listed as rare or endangered by the California Native Plant Society. Those plants, along with most of the rest of the garden's specimens, have been growrn from seeds and cl!lttings obtained from wild populations, and collectors for the garden, such as Roger Raiche and Kurt Zadnik, continue to go afield in search of more specimens. In 1987, Raiche attained botanical im­ mortahty when. a fairy lantern, Cedars' fairy lantern (Calochortus raichei) was named for him. Originally considered a local form of the Mount Diablo endemic, Calochor­ tus pulchellus, it was first collected back in 1947 from its only known locale-the headwaters and upper drainage of Big Austin and East Austin Creeks in Sonoma County. When Raiche re-collected the plant from The Cedars at the headwaters of Big Austin Creek on June 7, 1986, he noticed Above: A student takes notes on the that it loohd strikingly different from the flowering times of native plants in the other four Calochortus species: taller, with garden. Top right: A field ofLasthenia fewer flowers and narrower leaves. It also burkei and Downingia near the Santa has a marked preference for serpentine soils Rosa Airport. Right: Cedars' fairy and blooms much later in the year than lantern (Calochortus raichei) is the others in the genus. namesake of v.c. Botanical Garden Cedars' fairy lantern now grows in the collector Roger Raiche. garden's California native bulb bed, which was established in the 1960s and wm­ ters and warm, dry, foggy summers that prises one of the garden's most extensive characterize the Berkeley dimate. and unusual collections. More than 300 Other outstanding collections in the gar­ pots of native lily and amaryllis bulbs and den's Californian area-which is arranged €Orms in two raised beds contain. repre­ primarily by plant communities-are 0.£ Noah's Ark of endangered native plant sentatives collected from the meadows, two of the six California genera with the species. chaparral, moun.tains, and roadsides of highest number of endemic species-Arc­ While perhaps not as difficult as gath­ California. With fwo families (Liliaceae and tostaphylos (manzanitas) and Ceanothus ering animals two-by-two, this is no small Amaryllidaceae), thirteen. genera, and 139 (wild lilacs). One manzanita-presidio undertaking. California has the richest species, varieties, and naturally occurring manzanita (Arctostaphylos hookeri subsp. heritage of plant life in the continental hybrids, the garden's bulb collection is the ravenii) - has been reduced to a sin.gle plant Urnited States, due to its almost complete largest of its kind in the state. About all it growing in the serpentine soil in the San isolation on its n.orthern, eastern, and lacks are species from high, infertile areas, Francisco Presidio. Such specimens have southern borders by high mountains and/ which cannot adapt to the moist, cool win- given the garden a reputation for being a or deserts and on the west by the sea. These

22 FEBRUARY 1990 Left photo by James Affolter; Top photo by Holly F.orbes ; Bottom photo by f.loger Raiche County. They distributed their biennial seed exchange catalog, which included 430 dif­ ferent California native plants in addition to the giant bromeliad Puya raimondii, a rare native from Peru, to hundreds of bo­ tanical institutions worldwide. In six months more than 10,000 seed packets were sent to 356 institutions, a monu­ mental effort that promotes the display, propagation, and research of California native plants throughout the world. Mem­ bers of the public also have the opportu­ nity to obtain some rare California native plants-such as the Chinese camp bro­ diaea (Brodiaea pallidal, as well as seeds of California native wildflowers, bulbs, shrubs, trees, and succulents - when the barriers help to produce a wide range of plants is in situ conservation in the wild. Friends of the Botanical Garden holds its isolated physical environments. Of the thirty But they are also realistic enough to rec­ annual spring, fall, and winter plant sales. percent of California native plants en­ ognize that such protection often is not To help educate visitors about its re­ demic to the state, the largest number are enough; hence their involvement in ex situ created natural plant communities of Cal­ found in southern California, followed by or off-site conservation as well. ifornia, an exhibit entitled "California Plant the central coastal area. These plants range The nineteen members of the Center for Life" -six outdoor table displays spaced from evolutionarily "old" species on the Plant Conservation nerwork have divided throughout the native plant area-ex­ natural road to extinction -such as the the United States into fourteen zones based plains California plant communities in Cercocarpus betuloides var. traskiae found on weather patterns and plant species. Each general and coast redwoods, the pygmy only on Santa Catalina Island-to several year, each member institution submits forest, chaparral, serpentine, and Califor­ recently evolved Clarkia species, such as proposals to the center regarding species nia islands in particular. Clarkia springvillensis in Tulare County. they would like to protect. From those lists, The pygmy forest area illustrates iso­ The garden's careful emphasis on doc­ the center's Scientific Advisory Council se­ lated areas along the Mendocino coast of umenting each plant's origin supports the lects the plants it wishes the member to northern California that have incredibly efforts of conservationists, who struggle to concentrate on. acid white soil, making it inimicable to protect fragile habitats from being de­ The University of California Botanical most plant life. Plants th ~ t do grow there, stroyed by urbanization, farming, grazing, Garden has agreed to grow and study the such as the pygmy cypress (Cupressus pyg­ flooding by reservoirs, quarrying, and poor most threatened northern California plants maea), are dwarfed by the conditions. Sur­ land management in general. When the by locating wild populations and then prisingly, the same cypress, grown in nor­ conservationists lose, as they so often do, gathering seeds or cuttings for ex situ pres­ mal soil, is the largest of the California the garden's specimens may be the ONly ervation. If they can, they colleot material cypresses. The garden's serpentine area hope of saving a plant from extinction. for propagation from at least fifty different features serpentine columbine (Aquilegia Botanical gardens throughout the world, plants to allow for genetic diversity. They eximia), one of the unusual and, in many in fact, are increasingly seeing themselves keep some of the seed for study and ship cases, endemic species produced by this as reservoirs for endangered plants. Nine­ the remainder to a U.S. Department of Ag­ high magnesium silicate soil. teen in the United States, including the riculture facility for storage. In 1988 they Another interesting area is the vernal University of California Botanical Garden, added six species of California native plants pool, a small depression that fills with have joined the Center for Plant Conser­ to the Center for Plant Conservation's Na­ rainwater during the rainy fall and winter. vation, located at Harvard University's Ar­ tional Collection of Endangered Plants, in­ At that time the seeds germinate, mostly nold Arboretum, which is establishing per­ cluding the endangered mint, Acanthom­ underwater, and grow for several weeks ma nent, cu I ti va ted pop ula tions of intha obovata subsp. duttonii, collected by until the pool begins to dry up during the endangered U.S. plants. The gardens know Raiche, Zadnik, and Holly Forbes from warmer, longer days of spring. This is when that the preferable means of protecting these Edgewood County Park in San Mateo the vernal pool is at its loveliest, with sev-

AMERICAN HORTICUL TURIST 23 Want to Visit or Learn More? The University of California Botanical Garden is open to the public free of charge from 9 a.m. until 4:45 p.m. every day of the year except Christ­ mas. Free, docent-led tours are of­ fered year-round on Saturdays and Sundays at 1 :30 p.m. For furtner information on special tours, week­ end classes and workshops in bot­ any, horticulture, and other topics write to the U.C. Botanical Garden, Centennial Drive, Berkeley, CA 9472Q or call (415) 642-3343. For those who wish to learn more about California native plants, Cali­ fornia Plant Life, written by the gar­ deR's director Robert Ornduff, is highly recommended.

eral species of goldfields and meadow­ foam. If conditions are just right in the drying pool bottom, it may be covered with the deep blue flowers of Downingia. Not all the native California plants are found in the Californian area or the Mather The garden also cultivates several native Roger Raiche collecting seed of native Redwood Grove. The Fern and Insecti­ annuals in boxes in their research area, plants. vorous Plant House contains a fascinating which is not open to the public. These collection of unusual insect-eating plants include the large-flowered fiddleneck end. There are also special classes and tours, from around the world, including one of (Amsinckia grandi{lora), known only from and suggestions on subject matter are wel­ California's most interesting and striking two populations on the site of Lawrence come. wildflowers, the giant pitcher plant (Dar­ Livermore Laboratories in Contra Costa Even if you come to the garden with little iingtonia californica). The New World County and one of the species added to interest or knowledge of California na­ Desert area, one of the oldest and best the Center for Plant Conservation's per­ tives, you will go away a convert, con­ known collections, contains a mix of cacti manent collection last year: the endan­ cerned about the conservation of all native and other succulents from North, Central, gered Presidio clarkia; and Burke's gold­ plants. That is exactly the University of and South America. While most of the fields (Lasthenia burkei). California Botanical Garden's goal. It is specimens are from Latin America, a care­ The University of California Botanical only by educating a wide spectrum of so­ ful observer may also find a few California Garden's meticulous attention to labeling ciety about the importance of saving native cactus species in the genera Echinocereus, all plants with complete names and geo­ plants that we will be able to reverse the Ferocactus, and Opuntia, and some agaves. graphical origin makes it easy for visitors disastrous policies of most countries to­ In the North American section there' is a to learn a tremendous amount on their ward their natural plant communities. fine specimen of Santa Lucia fir (Abies own. But the garden employees will pro­ bracteata), an endemic tree from the Santa vide more information on request and there Marcia Bonta is a frequent contributor to Lucia Mountains in Monterey County. are two free docent-led tours each week- American Horticulturist.

24 FEBRUARY 1990 Photo by Holly Forbes A Sister Garden

On August 29,1988, representatives of the rial, the gardens are also exchanging staff, University of California Botanical Garden information, and expertise; providing re­ and the Robert and Catherine Wilson Bo­ search support for students in biology, sci­ tanical Garden in southwestern Costa Rica ence education, and conservation; and de­ met beneath a grove of live oaks at Berke­ veloping training programs for students ley to formally establish the world's first and interns. sister garden relationship. As part of the exchange, the University For both sides, a major motivation was of California Botanical Garden staff has education, says the curator of the Cali­ been acting as consultants to the Wilson fornia garden, Dr. James Affolter, who garden as it designs and implements a com­ conceived the sister garden idea in 1987. puterized system for plant records. This Staff and students from Berkeley who go work gives them the opportunity to ana­ to Costa Rica as consultants or interns lyze the operation of a tropiGal botanical "are able to make an immediate connec­ garden. They also propose solutions to tion with the ecological crisis in the trop­ horticultural and managerial problems, and, ics," he says. The Costa Rican garden reaps to encourage community use of the Wilson the Americans' expertise in technology, Garden as a museum and learning center, Gonservation, and eduGation. suggest interpretive strategies and educa­ Founded in 1962 by the Wilsons, for­ tional materials. merly of Fantastic Gardens in Miami, Flor­ Gomez already spends about half of his ida, the 330-acre facility consists of thirty time helping the neighboring farming com­ acres of developed garden and 300 acres munity practice sustainable agriculture, and of undisturbed submontane rainforest. the facility is heavily used as the OTS cen­ Originally known as Las Cruces, the for­ ter for training students in agroecology. mal garden is especially rich in Heliconias, Courses that emphasize intercropping and including an endemic species, Heliconia non-traditional crops are offered in both wilsonii, named for Robert Wilson, and in English and Spanish. palms, with representatives from eighty But the WilsoFl Botanical Garden con­ percent of tropical and subtropical palm tinues to remain a beautiful place to visit, genera, making it the second largest palm and tourists from North America, Costa collection in the Western Hemisphere. But Rica, and nearby Panama enjoy exploring it is the natural garden of submontane The Wilson garden has a large the ten kilometers of trails that wind through rainforest that harbors the most important collection of Heliconi a, including both the formal garden afili the rainforest. collection: 2,000 of the estimated 12,000 this H. librata. A new brochure for visitors was written native plants of Costa Rica. by Gomez and designed by the University Affolter was familiar with the garden dling biological diversity. of California garden staff. and the Wilsons thf0ugh the Organization With tropical rainforests disappearing Affolter and Gomez hope that the ex­ fOF Tropical Studies (OTS). Founded in at aFl unprecedented rate, the need to ed­ Ghange idea catches on with other gardens. 1973, OTS is a nonprofit consortium of ucate local people about tropical conser­ While tropical gardens have abundant col­ more than forty North American and Costa vation is great. "My main goal here," says lections 'of tropical plants and the ideal Rican universities dedicated to education, Dr. Luis Diego Gomez, formerly director climate for growing them, they often lack research, and the wise use of natural re­ general of Costa Rica's National Museum the funds and technological expertise of sources in the tropics. Affolter knew that and director of the Wilson Botanical Gar­ temperate climate botanical gardens. the Wilson garden, like the university gar­ den since 1987, " is to educate the people But although the partnership benefits den, had a strong focus on research and about the role of plants in the history of both gardens and their adjoining com­ education, served as a public museum and humankind." When Affolter suggested a munities, the primary benefit, as Affolter education center for its community, and sister garden relationship, Gomez eagerly has written, is to "a world of tropical plants was committed to promoting conservation agreed. and animals whose time is running out." and the preservation of the world's dwin- In addition to exchanging plant mate- -Marcia Bonta

Photo by James Affolter AMERICAN HORTICUL TURIST 25 - __ uis is planning time for gardeners: time to assess our space, our budgets, our ambitions and dreams. We'll buy some more of what was successful last year, of course, and we'll buy a couple of those "new and improved" cultivars the slick catalogs are touting. But somewhere in there, we'll try to include some plants in the "I've always wanted to try ... " category. How about some tropical water lilies perfuming a goldfish pond, or a couple of small, hardy lilies floating in the barrel you set up as a watering hole in the butterfly garden? Remember the camellia your neighbor snipped off of her bush last spring so that your little girl could wear it in her hair-the blossom that looked too beautiful to be real? Perhaps your mouth has always watered for a prize-size dahlia: one that would sport a bloom as big as your head and get so tall you could look it in the eye? Maybe you've had success with hostas in the landscape, but you're ready for a real show-stopping giant or a dainty and demure selection to complement your ferns. In our February 1989 issue, we launched what we hoped would become a tradition: a group of articles written by representatives of some of the national plant societies, highlighting the varieties and cultivars their members considered both the most beautiful and the most reliable. We're pleased to continue that series this year with articles from the American Hosta Society, the International Water Lily Society, the American Camellia Society, and the American Dahlia Society. The American Horticultural Society has had a long affiliation with such societies, of which there are now some 260. Many of the earliest were offshoots of AHS. By highlighting them in our pages, we hope to increase our own members' awareness of them and the resources they offer; educate them abo.ut the culture of these plants and the ever-expandililg array being made available through these dedicated plantspeople; to convince some to try one of these plants for the first time, perhaps to become enchanted for a lifetime.

26 FEBRUARY 1990 water and soak up the sunlight that would BY BILL HERITAGE otherwise encourage the growth of un­ garden with a gleam of water is sightly algae. In partnership with nutrient­ instantly intriguing. Attention absorbing submerged plants, lilies are a focuses on the pool; footsteps vital factor in keeping the water clear. This Aautomatically turn toward it. It comBination of superb ornamental quality creates atmosphere as no other garden fea­ with high practical value makes lilies ture can, transforming an ordinary garden uniquely important to the water gardener. into a tranquil, restful oasis. The pool of­ The hardy Nymphaea will grow and fers mystery in the flickering shapes of fish, flourish almost anywhere. In areas where curious plants, or other oddities half­ there is a real danger that roots and soil glimpsed below the surface. And it prom­ might freeze solid they must be removed ises season-long beauty in lush waterside in their containers to a cellar and kept cool foliage and the floral pageant of water iris, and moist till spring. Elsewhere they can pickerel rush, lizard's tail, arrowhead, winter in the pool; freezing of the water golden club, and above all, water lilies. above the roots is not a hazard. Water lilies, whether hardy or tropical, The blooms of most hardies float on the can be grown almost everywhere: at Long­ surface, although there are some varieties wood Gardens in PLotusland in finally close and sink to decay below the Santa Barbara, California, they contribute surface. Buds are produced in a steady to a wonderful display both summer and succession from early summer until the first fall. frost, though the season may finish earlier Water lilies produce glorious flowers over in very hot areas. a long season. Their spreading leaves, as Hardy hybrid lilies encompass a range well as providing cover for fish, shade the of lively colors, from white through many pure shades of yellow, pink, and red to 'Emily Grant Hutchings' others that glow with varying sunset shades

Photo by Bill Heritage AMERICAN HORTICUL TURIST 27 of pinkish yellow, apricot, coppery orange, water cultivar with very large, pure white als slightly rolled and curved inward, this and bronzy red. There are no blue hardy blooms. elegant beauty is one of the most cherished lilies. 'Marliacea Chromatella' (also known as of all hardy lilies. They also vary considerably in vigor and 'Golden Cup'). A remarkable cultivar with • Mature spread of three to four feet, for flower and leaf size. At one end of the scale primrose yellow flowers and marbled fo­ a water depth of eight to sixteen inches: are miniatures that can be grown in a bowl liage that will spread vigorously where space 'Gonnere'. Globular double flowers, packed on a sunny windowsill; at the other are permits but will adapt, if need be, to the with curved snow white petals, are large robust varieties with ten-inch flowers and confines of a small pool or even a tub. in relation to the modest leaf spread. leaves much bigger than dinner plates. In 'Hollandia'. Large double pink blooms are 'Comanche'. Four- to five-inch flowers are between are enough variations in spread borne profusely by this extremely vigorous raised above the water surface. They deepen to suit any size pool. water lily. Using it as a cut flower allows from pinkish apricot to a coppery orange. The following list of our clear favorites its subtle fragrance to be appreciated. 'James Brydon' is a superb lily for pond can do no more than hint at the rich choice • Mature spread of four to five feet, for or tub. The rich carmine pink globular available. water depths of ten to twenty-four inches: blooms float among bronzy purple leaves. • Mature spread of five to seven feet, for 'Gloriosa'. Brilliant red, apple-scented A splendid partner for 'Gonnere'. water depths of ten to thirty inches ("water flower of formal shape; a favorite for small 'William Falconer'. Cup-shaped flowers depth" refers to the depth over the roots; to medium pools and adaptable to tub are the richest, darkest red to be found in container-grown plants, it would be the culture. among the hardy lilies. water over the soil in the container): 'Pink Sensation'. Large, fragrant blooms, • Mature spread of one to two feet, for 'Attraction'. Brilliant carmine blooms that shading from light to rich pink, are borne a water depth of four to nine inches: deepen to rich garnet red toward the cen­ in great profusion. They close later in the N. pygmaea 'Helvola'. The perfect mini­ ter. Very vigorous. day than most cultivars. ature for bowls, tubs, and small shallow 'Escarboucle'. Perfect shape, uniform vivid 'Virginia'. Produces splendid large, almost pools, it has dainty two-inch, star-shaped, vermilion crimson color, freedom of bloom, double, yellow-centered white flowers over pale yellow blooms and tiny mottled leaves. and a spicy fragrance characterize this in­ a long season. 'Ellisiana'. Not quite a pygmy, but cer­ ternational favorite. 'Rose Arey'. With eight-inch blooms of tainlya little gem for small ponds and tubs. 'Gladstoniana'. An extremely robust, deep- brilliant silvery pink, the long pointed pet- Blooms are purplish red. The Simple Water-Lily Basics

The pleasures of the water garden -the has been superceded by flexible plastic twenty inches across is advised for the tranquil beauty of lily blooms sailing liners that will last for years. A sheet most vigorous hardies and for the ma­ among reflected clouds, the colorful swirl of fish-grade PVC, or the even longer­ jority of tropical water lilies. of feeding fish, the chuckle of a cascade, lasting butyl rubber, quickly becomes The ideal soil for lilies is rich heavy the heady fragrance of water haw­ a finished pond ready for stocking when garden or pasture loam that has not thorn-are pleasures much more easily draped into a hole lined with sand or been treated with weedkiller or insec­ attained than most gardeners realize. foamed plastic underlay and filled with ticides. Peat and garden comp0st should The basic requirement is a body of a hose. Detailed information about pool be avoided. Never use commercial pot­ water at least fifteen and preferably liners and their use can be found in the ting mixes. Very firm planting is essen­ twenty-four inches deep. It should be catalogs of most nurseries that spe­ tial since the soil will tend to loosen as large as possible-at least fifty square cialize in water plants. when the container is placed in the pool. feet; a rectangle nine feet by six feet or Water lilies require full sun and still Care must be taken not to cover the a circle eight feet in diameter will do it. water. Any water that is circulated as growing point where leaves emerge from The bigger the better; it's the small pools the result of having a waterfall should the crown. Topping the soil with an that have problems. A shelf abom nine be taken out of the pool as close as inch of pea gravel or pebbles helps to inches deep will accommodate bog possible to where it pours in, so that foil mud-stirring fish. plants such as water iris, pickerel, and no cross-pool currents are created. Lil­ Position the lilies initially so that about cattails planted in containers. No other ies should also be kept away from fOI!ID­ six inches of water covers the crown, complications of depth are necessary. tain sprays so they won't become wa­ or deeper if the stems are long enol'lgh To achieve good volume in relation terlogged. to allow at least two pads per plant to to surface area-an important factor in Water lilies make a lot of root and float. In a few weeks, after the stems avoiding algae problems-the pool sides need a lot of nourishment. A common have lengthened enough to let all the should be steeply sloped; saucer-shaped error is planting them in containers that pads float, lower them so that they are pools are not recommended. The cho­ are too small. A soil depth of only six covered by eight to sixteen inches of sen site for the pool should be open to to eight inches is enough, but the roots water. While it is safe to transplant hardy as much sun as possible and well away must have room to spread horizontally. lilies six weeks or so before the last from trees. A pan about fourteen inches in diam­ expected frost, wait until the water Pool construction is nothing like the eter suits the small- and medium-sized temperature is up to 70° F before in­ chore it once was, now that cOl'lcrete hardy lilies; something eighteen to troducing tropical water tili@s t@ the pool.

28 FEBRUARY 1990 'Graziella'. A perfect pygmy lily with apri­ cot flowers, perfect for tub gardens. Tropical water lilies have, generally speaking, larger and often very ornamental leaves with greater spread than the hardies, and more abundant flowers that are larger and more fragrant. Their color range in­ cludes shades of blue, violet, and purple that do not occur among the hardies. Some tropical lilies are viviparous-capable of producing young plants on the surface of mature leaves. A combination of day­ blooming and night-blooming types offers the exciting possibility of almost twenty­ four hours of fragrant and colorful blooms each day. Those that bloom at night open in the evening and remain open until the sun is high the next day-even longer if the day is cloudy-so that their dramati­ cally beautiful flowers can be enjoyed even by those who are not night owls. Young tropical lilies are at risk in tem­ peratures below 65° F, but if not put out­ doors until the water is well warmed up in spring, they will flourish in every state. They often are still blooming after several frosts, long after the hardies have given up, but they eventually become dormant 'Gonnere' when fall temperatures drop. Though tu­ Sources for Water Lilies bers can, with care and experience, be pre­ with a rich, heady fragrance and sp lendid Lilypons Water Gardens, 6800 Lilypons served through the winter, the majority of blooms that deepen from mauve blue to Road, Lilypons, MD 21717, catalog $5. water gardeners are content to treat trop­ deep blue-purple. Adapts to small ponds ical lilies as annuals. and tubs. Slocum Water Gardens, 1101 Cypress • Day-blooming tropicals: 'Pamela'. Sky blue flowers up to twelve Gardens Boulevard, Winter Haven, FL 'Albert Greenberg'. Large blooms glow with inches in diameter, produced very freely 33880, catalog $2. a sunset blend of pink, gold, and apricot and held high above chestnut-marbled ov~r a long flowering season. leaves. William Tricker, Inc., 7125 Tanglewood 'Aviator Pring'. Very large, deep yellow, 'Panama Pacific'. Rich wine red blooms Drive, Independence, OH 44131,catalog $2. cup-shaped flowers raised high above the that deepen to plum purple with purple­ water; an exceptionally free-blooming tipped yellow stamens. Viviparous, adapt­ Van Ness Water Gardens, 2460 North Eu­ cultivar. able to most situations, and hardier than clid, Upland, CA 91786, catalog $2. 'Blue Beauty'. A long-standing favorite with most tropicals. rich blue, ten- to twelve-inch flowers; free­ 'Pink Platter'. Wide-opening blooms Waterford Gardens, 74""'East Allendale blooming and fragrant. crowded with long, tapering, clear pink Road, Saddle River, NJ 07458, catalog $4. 'Daubefliana'. A viviparous miniature with petals and pink-tipped yellow stamens. pale lavender blue flowers, very fragrant Occasionally viviparous. and abundant. Ideal for partially shaded 'Yellow Dazzler'. Flat-opening double exceed fourteen inches in diameter. pools and tubs, it needs less sun than most. blooms of rich chrome yellow remain open 'Red Flare' is speotacular, combining the 'Director George T. Moore'. A free bloomer until dusk. deepest, dusky red flowers of any water that produces glowing purple flowers eight • Night-blooming tropicals: lily with deep mahogany red, crimped-edged to ten inches across with purple stamens 'Emily Grant Hutchings'. Rose pink blooms leaves. and a yellow center. given remarkable definition by the slightly 'Evelyn Randig'. Very large, magenta pink, paler center of each long, curved petal. Bill Heritage is a professional horticulturist, fragrant flowers are set off by beautiful Leaves are undulating and mottled. a member of the Water Lily Hall of Fame, leaves that are spotted and striped with 'Missouri'. Magnificent broad-petaled, and a member of the board of directors of chestnut and purple. creamy white flowers as big as fourteen the International Water Lily Society. He is 'General Pershing'. Large, long-lasting inches across. the author of Ponds and Water Gardens. More information about the society can be blooms of vivid orchid pink, very double, 'Mrs. George C. Hitchcock'. A reliable obtained by writing to Charles Thomas, and very fragrant. Tolerant of partial shade. grower and a very free bloomer. The rich International Water Lily Society, PO. Box 'Mrs. Martin E. Randig'. Viviparous plant orchid pink flowers have been known to 104, Buckeystown, Mo 21717.

Photo by Bill Heritage AMERICAN HORTICULTURIST 29 BY BETTY HOTCHKISS flower shapes: single, with one row of pet­ als and a mass of stamens; semidouble; amellias may be native to the anemone, with flat or undulating outer rows Orient, but they have become a . and a center mass of intermingled peta­ favorite of American gardeners, loids and stamens; peony or informal dou­ Cparticularly in the Southern states. ble, which is divided into loose peony and With their glossy foliage and stunningly full peony forms; rose-form double, whose beautiful blooms, camellias serve as ex­ overlapped petals eventually open to dis­ cellent landscape plants as well as sources play stamens; and the formal double for cut flowers. blooms, with many rows of petals and no In its natural habitat the camellia plant apparent stamens. can grow into a small tree up to thirty feet Few other plants bloom during the win­ tall. But in American landscapes, camellias ter months when days are short and tem­ are often pruned to midsized bushes; they peratures are cool. And unlike azaleas, for may also be shaped as espaliers or hedges. instance, camellias do not have a single, They are long-lived plants that grow slowly, short flush of flowers, but open their blooms usually six to twelve inches per year. over a period of about four to six weeks. Camellias are generally described by their The peak of camellia season ranges from floral characteristics, although some var­ January in the southern range of the ca­ iation does exist in leaf size and shape and mellia belt to late March or April in its plant growth habit. Flowers range in size northern range. However, cultivars vary from approximately two to seven inches greatly in their blooming seasons, and by in diameter. They range in color from stark collecting many different ones, it is pos­ white to black-red with all shades of pink sible to have blooms from September in between. Also popular are variegated through April. flowers that have been developed through Camellias are usually thought of as genetic manipulation or exposure to viruses. Southern plants, and it's true that most of Camellia classification recognizes SIX them are best suited to a temperate climate where temperatures don't fall below 10° 'Pink Perfection' F. But they have been grown successfully

30 FEBRUARY 1990 Photo by Pamela Harper In northern coastal states where cooler most outstanding of these is 'Debutante', • Large flowers are those four to five temperatures are modified by warm ocean another old cultivar that has remained inches in diameter, while those over five breezes: as far north on the East Coast popular through the years. The flowers are inches are considered very large. Among as Long Island, and along the Pacific light pink and of a full peony form-a the popular cu!tivars in these categories, Coast as far north as Vancouver, British convex mass of irregular petals, petaloids, the American Camellia Society recom­ Columbia. and stamens. Its blooming season is early; mends 'Elegans', another old cu!tivar that Hybridizers have long been seeking more many flowers open before Christmas. 'Sa­ remains well-loved today. Its flower is ane­ cold-hardy varieties. Dr. William Acker­ wada's Dream' is another medium camel­ mone-form, rose pink with center peta­ man, a longtime researcher with the De­ lia with a formal double bloom. White loids that are often white. Thet:e are many partment of Agriculture and the National petals in the center shade to delicate pink sports of this cultivar in varying shades of Arboretum, recently registered six fall­ on the edge. pink and white. blooming hybrid camellias that showed no Another cultivar with a long list of sports damage following temperatures of minus is 'Betty Sheffield'; one notable for its un­ 120 F. 'Snow Flurry', 'Winter's Hope', and Few other plants usual color markings is 'Betty Sheffield Su­ 'Winter's Star' will be available from se­ preme', whose flowers are semidouble to lected nurseries in the spring of 1990. bloom during the loose peony in form, and white with a deep 'Winter's Charm', 'Winter's Rose', and pink to red edge on each petal. 'Polar Ice' will be available in the spring winter months when 'Carter's Sunburst' has semidouble to of 1991. Earlier, Ackerman registered 'Frost days are short and peony-form blooms that are pale pink with Prince' and 'Frost Princess', which he says deeper pink stripes. 'R. L. Wheeler', a vig­ are equally hardy but not as outstanding temperatures are cool. orous outdoor plant, has a very large, rose as the newer introductions. pink semi double flower with a solid circle There are more than 200 species of ca­ And unlike azaleas, of stamens. 'Tomorrow' has red blooms mellias, all native to Asia. The most widely for instance, camellias that range in size from large to very large, grown camellia in the world is the Ca­ and in shape from semidouble to full peony mellia sinensis, the common tea plant. The do not have a single, form. A second-generation sport, 'To­ Camellia japonica is the most popular or­ morrow Park Hill', is soft pink with the namental species; more than 2,000 culti­ short flush of flowers, same form. 'Guilio Nuccio' has a coral rose vars have been registered with the Amer­ but open their blooms pink semi double flower. ican Camellia Society. Others of interest Another old cultivar, 'Ville de Nantes', include Camellia sasanqua, a small-flow­ over a period of about has a dark red and white semi double bloom ered, fall-blooming species, and Camellia whose upright fringed petals look like rab­ reticulata, a large-flowered species ex­ four to six weeks. bit ears. 'Mathotiana', with an unusual tremely sensitive to cold temperatures. purple cast to its crimson blooms, has also There is great diversity among the Ca­ been known as 'Purple Dawn' or 'Rubra'; mellia japonica cultivars. the flower form is rose to formal double. • Choice miniatures, which have flowers 'Show Time' is a popular show winner as two and a half inches or less in diameter, the name suggests. Flowers are a clear light include 'Man Size', which wins more ca­ pink and semidouble in form. mellia shows in the miniature division than Camellia sasanquas make beautiful ad­ any other. The bloom is a solid white, ane­ ditions to the landscape with delicate flow­ mone form. 'Fircone' is an outstanding ers that add color to the fall scene. Both blood red miniature. It has a rose-form the flowers and leaves of th~ sasanquas are double flower with such great depth that generally smaller than those of japonicas; it resembles a fir cone. the blooms shatter easily and thus are not • Small flowers are those that are two appropriate for cut flowers. Outstanding and a half to three inches in diameter. One C. sasanquas include 'Bonanza', a deep of the best is 'Pink Perfection', an old cul­ red; 'Sparkling Burgundy', a ruby rose; tivar known in Europe as 'Frau Minna 'Daydream', a white shading to pink; and Siedel' and in Japan as 'Usu-Otome'. Its 'Yuletide', an orange-red. Sasanquas are formal double bloom is shell pink. Many quite adaptable and can be pruned to form people picture it as typifying camellias be­ beautiful hedges and espaliers. They are cause of its popularity in corsages years more tolerant of full sunlight than the ja­ ago. 'Grace Albritton' has a miniature-to­ ponica cultivars. small formal double bloom of light pink In the last two decades a third species, shading to deeper pink at the edge. This Camellia reticulata, has gained great pop­ is a vigorous plant that has shown good ularity. Hybrids of this species crossed with cold tolerance. C. japonica have produced some outstand­ • Medium flowers are those measuring ing new cu!tivars in shades of pink and three to four inches across. Among the 'Yuletide' Continued on page 35

Photo by Tovah Mart in AMERICAN HORTICULTURIST 31 Hostas

BY JOHN MASON ALLGOOD large at maturity, nor do they continue to increase in size and strength as they age . or the shade gardener, there are few • The smallest hostas, which grow only plants that provide the versatility eight inches high or less, are ideal for rock in size, form, and color of the hosta. gardens or small shade gardens. They will FAnd since hostas are grown pri­ blend well with other small perennials in marily as foliage plants, they offer a spec­ raised, narrow beds; in accent points; and tacular sight all season, especially when under small weeping trees. Japanese painted planted so that the different colors and fern, Christmas fern, dwarf Japanese aza­ patterns complement and contrast with one leas, native phlox, bedding begonias, and another. armeria mix well with the small and even In size, hostas vary from the tiny border medium-sized hostas for a charming dis­ gems such as Hosta venusta, with its one­ play. inch-long leaves and four-inch-high The most reliable performers among the mounds, to the imposing background cul­ small hostas include H. venusta, a stolon­ tivars such as 'Sum and Substance', which iferous species from Korea with heart­ has ten-inch-long leaves and mounds that shaped, soft green leaves that are one inch reach two to four feet high: true Davids wide and one inch long. The flowers are and Goliaths of the plant kingdom. Of violet. A mature clump of these tiny plants cohrse, there are many hostas in between, will rarely be larger than four inches high falling into small, medium, medium-large, and eight inches wide. and large categories. However, it must be The leaves of 'Little Aurora' (Aden) are remembered that the size of a given hosta cupped, puckered, rounded, and an intense will vary considerably according to where chartreuse gold; its flowers are a light lav­ in the country it is grown, the immediate ender. While the leaf size can reach two growing conditions, and the age of the plant. to three inches, the clumps remain rela­ In the South, hostas do not grow as fast tively small at about five inches high and as in the North; they do not become as eight inches across. The smallest seedling of H. tokudama, 'Little Aurora', is a rather 'Frances Williams' rapid propagator. It will take more sun

32 FEBRUARY 1990 Photo by Anita Sabarese than many hostas, especially in the North, greenish gold. Its leaves are spade-shaped normal growth size of the edging hostas and is lovely planted with bronze-leafed and puckered. Low, dense mounds are in your area to avoid either overplanting bedding begonias and small ferns. topped by short lavender bloom scapes, or underplanting your space. Our variegated entry in the small hosta painting an attractive purple and yellow • The ground-cover or medium-large class is 'Sea Sprite' (Seaver). This attractive scene. hostas grow significantly larger than the stoloniferous hosta has a yellow-green base There are many schemes for using the edging hostas, ranging to eighteen inches with wavy, dark green edges. It makes a border or edging hostas. A row of one high and two to three feet wide. These neat, low, flat mound of lance-shaped leaves cultivar, such as 'Golden Tiara', can be hostas are focal points as individual plants that beckon for attention. It is a rapid in­ most effective in front of a larger hosta or as groups. They cover enough ground creaser with pale orchid flowers. planting or in front of various shrubs. An that they will help reduce the need for 'Blue Moon', from the late Eric Smith alternating border of hosta and the gray maintenance in the area where they are of England, is a deep blue-green with form of the Japanese painted fern is an­ planted. rounded, crinkled, and puckered leaves. It other useful design. Or you can mix and The aristocrat of the medium-large hos­ makes a flat, dense clump close to the match the edging hosta in an all-hosta tas is the powdery gray blue 'Krossa Regal' ground and produces white flowers in setting. (Krossa). Distinctive for its upright vase summer. Before planting, be sure to check the shape, 'Krossa Regal' has long been a fa­ • The medium or edging hostas are next vorite. Its leaves are heavy and leathery. in size. These plams grow to around twelve 'Francee' In the South, plants range from ten to fif- inches tall and up to eighteen inches wide at maturity. They can be used as an edging or border along a shaded path, providing low mounds of foliage during most of the season and bursts of taller lavender or white blooms during the summer. Most growers are not concerned with hosta blooms, but many varieties have blooms well worth displaying-and some are quite fragrant as a bonus. 'Ginko Craig' (Craig-Summers) is an ex­ cellent border or edging plant with lance­ shaped leaves of deep frosty green bor­ dered wi~h a narrow band of bright white. It is versatile, a rapid increaser, and bears an abundance of lovely orchid flowers in midsummer. Perhaps one of the most attractive of the edging varieties is 'Golden Tiara' (Savory), a charming spoon-leaved green hosta with a quarter-inch band of chartreuse that changes to light gold in the summer light. Blooms are a streaked, pale lavender. 'Golden Tiara' makes neat, rounded clumps. A Japanese import, 'Kabitan', offers yet another variation on variegation with its yellow-centered leaves edged in dark green. Its foliage is arched, narrow, long, and lancelike. It is very showy, fills in quickly, and is ideal for the border. In early spring In size, hostas vary from the tiny border it is chartreuse. 'Blue Wedgwood', another English hy­ gems such as Hosta venusta, with its one­ brid, can double as an edging hosta and a ground cover. It has rounded, cupped, inch long leaves and four-inch high mounds, crinkled leaves of a deep blue-green. Its to the imposing background cultivars such blooms an: lavender and appear in early summer. The clumps are neat, dense, and as 'Sum and Substance' which has ten-inch­ attractive. A gold entry in the border class is 'Golden long leaves and mounds that reach two to Prayers' (Aden). Depending on the amount four feet high: true Davids and Goliaths of of light, 'Golden Prayers' can be quite gold but can also be a gold chartreuse or even the plant kingdom.

Photo by Pamela Harper AMERICAN HORT/CUL TURIST 33 teen inches tall, but in the North, mature clumps stretch toward two feet in height. Light orchid blooms are born on scapes Growing Hostas North or South reaching six feet. For a multicolor effect, 'Shade Fanfare' (Aden) is a clear choice. Irs full leaves are two shades of green-light and dark-with a medium white margin and colorations of gold, white, and green. With more light, the golds intensify, giving a true tri-tone effect. Leaves are slightly puckered. Clumps are dense and increase rapidly, reaching a width of two feet or more. The mid-sum­ mer blooms are light lavender. H. ventricosa 'Aureo-marginata' offers not only a blending of colors but also a magnificent shape. Basically, its heavy tex­ tured, heart-shaped leaves are light green edged in pale yellow. The yellow moder­ ates to white as the season progresses. What makes 'Aureo-marginata' appealing are the streaks and splashes of yellow and white blltween the veins of the leaves from the edge to the center. The leaves have a gentle SU{1cessfully gf0wing hostas requires Ea.r1y m(')ming is best so that the hosta waviness and a notable twist at the tip; thr@e important ingrediems: a shady lo­ leaves can dry before l,).ight when slugs, the violet flowers are a sharp contrast to catiON, a soiil Fich in organic materials, the hostas' most serious pest, are active. the pale-edged leaves. and proper and sufficient wat@ring. Most hosta gardeners apply WllU­ Wh~le hostas are shade-loving plants, rotted or composted manure as a top iN th@ Nonh the va.riegated and gold­ dressing around their h(')stas in late Sources for Hostas leaved cHltivars perform well in partial spring. You can also use a slow-release sun. In the Somh, where for many years fllrtilizer or a vllry weak (one-eighth 1:0 Busse Gardens, Rt. 2, Box 238, Cokato, hostas were an unkrlOwn plant, they one-twelfth strength) solution of foliar MN 55321, catalog $2. need heavy shade, preferably under fertilizer every two to three weeks dur­ hardwood canopies, to offset the higher ing the growing season. Again, avoid Crownsville Nursery, P.O. Box 797, t:emperatHres and brighter sun. fertilizing during the hottest part of rhe Crownsville, MD 21032, catalog $2. A good garden soil mixture of loam, day. Do not apply any fertilizers untd sand, aNd humus (about one-third of the hostas have emerged and beguB Klehm Nursery, Rt. 5, Box 197, South Bar­ each) smits hostas; howllver, even better growiBg in the spring. rington, IL 60010, catalog $4. performance will result from the ad­ For the most part, hostas do not need dition e>f peat moss, leaf mold, com­ regular transplanting; they will only Shady Oaks Nursery, 700 19th Avenue, post, or well-rotted manure. Hostas need grow larger and morll beautiful as they N.E., Waseca, MN 56093, catalog $1. these organic amendments not only b@­ age. However, gwwers sh(')uld be aware Gause they are heavy feeders, but also that there will be differences between Andre Viette Farm & Nursery, Rt. 1, Box because they do better in well-drainlld the North and South in hostas' longev­ 16, State Route 608, Fishersville, VA 22939, soils that still retain some m(')isture. ity and mafilre sizes. In tihll South, wh@re catalog $2. Since hostas are foliage plants, they hostas will NOt grow as fast (')r as large require careful waterimg. In periods of as they will in the North, moving them droHght, water th@mslowlyanddee1"ly, every four to five years may be neces­ For blue enthusiasts, a good performer long enough fOf the water to penetrate sary as they deplete the s(')il of nutrients. of medium-size is 'Halcyon', another of six inehes into the soil. Avoid watering Neverthdess, the hosta is a magnificent the Eric Smith English hybrids. 'Halcyon' in the heat of the day or late aftemoon. shade plaBt, North or South. is a vigorous grower and makes a good foil for gold- or silver-variegated hostas. Ir has low, rounded, chalky blue leaves of are lavender. 'Francee' grows fast, making statement of their own but also can pro­ heavy substance and soft blue flowers. clumps eighteen inches high and up to two vide a near-hedge effect if planted in masses. One of the most satisfying of the var­ feet wide. Ir is in this large class that we find some iegated hostas is 'Francee' (Klopping) with • The background hostas are architec­ of today's most dependable and appealing its striking, deep forest green leaves neatly tural plants that grow over two feet tall hostas. edged in bright white. The leaves are lance­ and make viewers gasp in wonder. In ma­ Long the most popular hosta, 'Frances shaped and firm; the late summer flowers ture clumps, these plants not only make a Williams' (Williams) still commands im-

34 FEBRUARY 1990 Photo by Pamela Harper CAMELLIAS

Continued from page 31 red. Unfortunately, these plants are very cold-sensitive and most are grown in Camellia Care: greenhouses, even in the deep South. How­ ever, they may be grown outdoors in Site, Planting Southern California and Florida. Popular C. reticulata hybrids include 'Valentine The keys to success with camellias are a balanced fertilizer will help ensure vig­ Day', which has a large to very large salmon good location and proper planting. Plant orous new growth. Camellia roots grow pink flower and a formal double bloom them in soil high in organic matter with near the surface of the soil, so the fer­ with a rosebud center. 'Dr. Clifford Parks' a slightly acid pH. Provide protection from tilizer should be spread evenly on top of has won numerous awards. Its flowers are the wind and from full sun. the mulch to avoid root burn. very large, red, and semidouble to loose Prepare a wide hole and position the Those who wish to grow camellias in peony in form. 'Jean Pursel' is perhaps the top of the root ball so that it is even with climates with harsh winters can success­ largest of all camellia cultivars. It has a the surrounding soil. A twO- to three­ fully grow them in containers if they water light purplish pink, peony-form flower. inch mulch on top of the soil will help them frequently and feed them with slow­ 'Harold L. Paige' has a bright red, very maintain soil moisture and moderate soil release fertilizer. A loose potting mixture large flower of a double-rose to peony form. temperatures. will help prevent root rot. The containers Proper watering on a weekly basis is can stay outside in the warmer months necessary when rainfall is scarce. The and should be brought into a cool, humid Sources for Camellias soil surrounding camellias should be environment when the weather turns cold; kept moist, but not soggy. Pruning camellias will not bloom well in a heated Camellia Forest Nursery, 125 Caroline and fertilizing each spring with a well- room with low humidity. Forest, Chapel Hill, NC 27514, catalog free. tralia, or New Zealand-have introduced tivars, they too would nevertheless be at­ Magnolia Nursery & Display Gardens, Rt. the more orchid shades of pink to the tractive landscape plants. Hybrids are being 1, Box 87, Chunchula, AL 36521, catalog camellia family with popular cultivars developed to introduce not only cold-har­ $2, price list free. such as 'Angel Wings', 'Elsie Jury', and diness, but also fragrance and a broader 'Charlean' . color range of flowers, including yellow. Nuccio's Nurseries, 3555 Chaney Trail, Among the more than 200 camellia spe­ The future of camellias looks bright in­ Altadena. CA 91001, catalog free. cies, very few are cultivated in the United deed! States. One species worth considering for the landscape is the common tea plant, C. Betty Hotchkiss is horticulturist for the There are also many camellia hybrids sinensis, with its lush green foliage and American Camellia Society. Additional that combine two or more species, one small white blooms in the fall. While the information about the society can be obtained by writing the American Camellia usually being C. japonica. These hybrids­ other species have smaller flowers than the Society, PO. Box 1217, Fort Valley, GA many of them imports from England, Aus- C. japonica or C. reticulata and their cul- 31030. mediate attention. It is large, variegated, aginea). A proven hosta that offers that Another exciting golden hosta is 'Pied­ and round. Its sumptuous, cupped leaves same sweet fragrance is 'Royal Standard' mont Gold' (Payne), whose large, curved are blue-green with wide, irregular gold (Summers). Its leaves are plain light green, leaves make a most showy clump. The white yellow edges. It is eye-catching from a dis­ lightly ribbed, and glossy on the upper side. flowers appear in mid-summer. tance and makes a fine accent plant. The Its main attraction, though, is the large These are only a few of the most popular blooms are pale lavender. white blooms it bears in late August to and reliable hostas. Many of these culti­ For sheer size, 'Sum and Substance' early September, which cast a sweet fra­ vars are available at local garden centers (Aden) is a top contender. With individual grance over the garden. 'Royal Standard' or from mail-order sources, and most are leaves that can measure ten inches by nine is a robust grower and a fast increaser. relatively inexpensive. Thus, whatever your inches, it can make a clump two and a half 'Christmas Tree' (Seaver), a seedling from shade requirements, you can find hostas to three feet tall and two to three feet wide. 'Frances Williams', offers a pleasing con­ from the very small to the very large to I once moved a plant that filled the entire trast of deep green leaves and narrow yel­ enhance your planting. Think hosta! Plant back seat of my car. Impressive! Its glossy, low edges. The leaves are large, textured, hosta! textured leaves are of very heavy substance and rounded; its flowers are light lavender. and range from light green to chartreuse, A clump is stunning. John Mason Allgood is a professional becoming golder in some climates. The For mass planting, 'August Moon' writer living in Walterboro, South Carolina. flowers are lavender. If you want a stately (Summers) is very effective. The leaves are He is a member of the American Hosta hosta, this is it. rounded, crinkled, and large; their sooth­ Society Board of Directors and is its publications chairman. Information about People who remember hostas from years ing light yellow or chartreuse color holds the society can be obtained by writing to ago usually associate them with the fra­ throughout the season, and serves to high­ its secretary-treasurer, Dennis Paul Savory, grance of the old "August lily" (H. plant- light other hostas or nearby plants. 5300 Whiting Avenue, Edina, MN 55435.

AMERICAN HORTICUL TURIST 35 forms, and sizes to fit any garden or match BY S. McQUITHY BOYER AND the whims of flower arrangers. There are HARRY RISSETTO whites, yellows, pinks, reds, purples, lav­ ardeners who grow dahlias can enders, and bronzes. There are bicolored be divided into two groups. The dahlias with two distinct and separate colors majority grow dwarf or bedding on the petal, variegated dahlias with petals G dahlias as small border plants. of one color and flecks or stripes of a sec­ Dwarf dahlias will flower abundantly ond color, and blends. throughout summer and fall, brightening In size, dahlias range from the pompons, gardens with masses of small blooms. They which are under two inches in diameter are widely available at garden centers, but and often in the shape of a golf ball, to as popular as they are for landscaping, they the giants that are twelve to fourteen inches have not as yet become a hobby plant. across and sometimes larger. The second group of gardeners are de­ By the end of the growing season, dah­ voted to the tall-growing dahlia cultivars lias will range in height from three to six that serve as specimen plants or form a feet, depending on how much sunshine the striking backdrop in a perennial bed. It plants receive, and they do require support was the growing, breeding, and showing to keep them upright. The smaller dahlias of these plants that inspired the establish­ will often start blooming in mid-July and ment of the American Dahlia Society in continue blooming until frost. 1915 by a small group of dahlia fanciers; It is the form of the dahlias' petals that the society currently has a membership of serves as the basis of their classification by more than 2,000. the American Dahlia Society. At one end The diversity of the tall-growing dahlia of the spectrum is the very refined formal has attracted enthusiasts since it was first decorative, which has a flat, wide petal introduced to Europe from its native Mex­ that reflexes to the stem to form a sphere; ico during the late eighteenth century. on the other is the straight cactus dahlia, Dahlias are available in a variety of colors, whose petals are rolled up along their full length and radiate in all directions from 'Hamari Girl' the flower's center. Informal decorative

36 FEBRUARY 1990 Photo by Bernard Bartel dahlias have ray florets that are twisted, • Smaller dahlias that are suitable for 'Brookside Snowball', a pure white with curled, or wavy; those called semi-cactus home gardens and arrangements include: involute petals. have ray florets curled up for half their 'Poppet', an orange pompon under two 'Rebecca Lynn', a dark pink, three to four length. inches on very good stems. A pompon is inches in diameter. Dahlias can be grown from seed or tub­ a ball-like bloom with quilled ray florets • If you would like to try one of the larger ers. The tubers will produce a flower true that have rounded tips. dahlias, consider: to type, whereas those started from seed 'Glenplace', a purple pompon. 'Juanita', a seven-to-eight-inch dark red will not be the same as the parent plant 'Yellow Baby', a yellow pompon. that has been a consistent winner since and will often have only a few rows of 'Crichton Honey', a bronze ball three to 1951. petals. Unlike most perennials and other four inches across. 'Miss A', a very nice orange cactus of six tuberous plants, dahlias grown from seed to seven inches. will bloom the same year and usually pro­ 'Edna C', a yellow with petals that reach duce roots from which more dahlias can Sources for Dahlias around to the stem to form a ball shape, be grown the following year. Connell's Dahlias, 10216 40th Avenue East, seven to eight inches across. Their extraordinary diversity makes the Tacoma, WA 98446, catalog $1. 'Kidd's Climax', a blend of lavender and task of selecting a particular cultivar a white that is easy to grow and has been a daunting one. Some gardeners begin this Hookland's Dahlias, 1096 Hom Lane, Eu­ consistent winner since 1940; about eight process by focusing on color. Others seek gene, OR 97404, catalog free. to ten inches. blooms of a particular size, although it 'Hamari Girl', a pink giant particularly should be noted that for the most part, the Kordonowy's Dahlias, P.O. Box 568, Ka­ easy to grow. size of the dahlia plant is determined by lama, WA 98625, catalog free. 'Sarah Jane', an orange blend eight to ten its site and growing conditions. Other dahlia inches in diameter. collectors choose to concentrate on those Swan Island, P.O. Box 800, Canby, OR 'Stellyvonne', eight to nine inches and pale of a single form. 97013, catalog $2. yellow. The tips of the petals have two or In the short list that follows, we have three splits about a half inch long that identified a selection of dahlias that have create an unusual form we call "laci­ been successful on the show table and grow niated." reliably in the garden. They are generally 'Zorro', already a big winner at two years available from local dahlia societies or from old, a dark red with a velvet sheen, ten to specialist commercial growers. eleven inches across. Each year, about seventy dahlia societies There are other dahlias classified as sin­ throughout the United States and Canada gle, peony, orchid, and water lily that are exhibit dahlias during late summer and gaining in popularity in arrangements and early fall. From these shows we collect and in shows. The singles are open-centered tabulate the show information by regions, with one row of ray florets surrounding a and publish an annual handbook listing disk. In the peony-flowered dahlias, the dahlias that were exhibited and their disk is surrounded by two or more rows awards. of ray florets, and the florets next to the The American Dahlia Society has estab­ disk are irregular in form, curled, or twisted. lished an annual award for the dahlia that In orchid-flowered dahlias, the ray florets has received the most awards during the curl inward for at least two-thirds of their preceding year. This award, the Stanley lengths and some overlap. Water lily dah­ Johnson Medal, was named for a longtime lias are characterized by large, broad, and commercial grower who did much to pop­ generally sparse ray florets that are straight ularize American dahlias throughout the or slightly incurved so that the flower has world. Of the many cultivars that Johnson a flat appearance. himself originated and introduced, one of The best way to select dahlias for your the best known is 'Pennsgift', a lavender garden is to visit a local dahlia show and giant that often wins the largest-bloom-in­ 'Miss A' copy down the names of the cultivars that the-show award. you find appealing. Bring along several • Cultivars that have received the Stanley sheets of paper, because your list will be Johnson Award are: 'Lavender Blue', a lavender ball three to a long one. Continued on page 38 'April Dawn', a lavender and white blend four inches across. seven to eight inches across. 'Hamilton Lillian', a nice orange, five to S. McQuithy Boyer is first vice president of 'Magic Moment', a white with an occa­ six inches in diameter. the American Dahlia Society. Harry Rissetto sional pale lavender blush and an unusual 'Stevie D', four to five inches across, a is editor of the society's publication, the spur at the tip of each petal, seven to eight bright red with white tips. Bulletin. For more information on the society, write to its membership chairman, inches across. 'Doris Day', also four to five inches, a dark Michael L. Martinolich, 159 Pine Street, 'Walter Hardisty', a pure white with very red with revolute petals and a three- to New Hyde Park, NY 11040, or ca/l (516) good depth, ten to twelve inches across. four-inch bloom. 742-3890.

Photo by Lyle Jacobsohn AMERICAN HORTICUL TURfST 37 Plant the Very Best ... Key Requirements Plant Andre Viette Quality Perennials! for Dahlias The Famous Andre Viette Farm and Nursery has Sun, water, and support are the three timing varies with the wltivar and the one of the largest collections in the East. keys to successful dahlia culture. Be­ growing CQmditions. Usually, l'he buds We ship nationally. ginning with a tiny "eye" or shoot on will form in threes at the tip ox each the crown of a tuber, a typical dahlia shoot. Sometimes two buds and a shoot Rare and Unusual will develop over the next four months will form. Pinch OU! the btlds and amy Perennials to a bloom-filled plant five Of mOfe feet lateral shoots that begin to develop down Specializing in tall . the stalk The object is to have a sj,mgle Flowering Dahlias need a sunny location; six bloom on the end - ~~ it should also be friable am€! fertile. pH d~e base of each 0rigiNaiiaterai. These Oaylilies /~p.'" feadimgs of 65 to 7 are preferred, but shoots will form a s~(;ond flush 0£ fl0w­ ., r:-~ '''''''''''''''''~ ~~/ the expert:s will argue whether a mod­ ers later im th€ s€asol1. With caFe, Yol:! erate deviation affects performance. cam prodl:!ce third and fomth flushes by Dahlias should be planted three feet repeating the same procedttre. ~ (Andre Yfette apart to provide adequate foom for the Most €xperiencecl gr@wers fertilize FARM & NURSERY mass of feeder roots that will develop wi1!h a 10w-rutr0gen fertilizer durimg mid­ during the growing season and to as­ July. A handful arOUNd the drip line of Accept No Substitute sure enol1gh aIr cin:ulation no avoid Of each plant is satisfactory. A mulch afM! minimize mildew. f€rtilization will aid growth. 703-943-2315 Dahlias are planted, alter the frost, The da-hlia plant will bloom I:!ntil the Dept. AH, Rt. 1, Box 16 foUf inches deep and approxim.ately two first hard frost. In areas that are frost­ Fishersville, VA 22939 inches away from a sturdy wooden or free, plantts should be p€rmitted no be­ Write for our catalog - $2.00 metal stake. The plam.t will meed finn come dormant toward the end of the support wllen tlle summer storms push year, then dug aNQ divided in spring. it abol!lt. Make sure tl1e eye or shoot is Each division should indl:!de an eye or facing up when yem fill in the planting shoot. hole. Write the nal11e of the dahlia em Where nhe ground freezes, dahlias a pIa FIt tag ancl secure it to the stake must be dug up and stor€d until spriNg. during plamting. Cut the stalk about a foot above ground Whem the dahlia shoot has formed level and secure the plant's Name tag. several pairs of leaves, pinch 0U! the tip UsiNg a spade, Ctlt a circle with a twelve­ of the sh0ot. Tkis enCGlurages devel­ inGh radius f~om the stalk. Gendy lift opmeFlt of lateral shoars at the axis of what has become a clump of dahlia tu­ each leaf amd the stem. Cultivars that lDers and remove th€ excess soil. The f@fm large blooms tlstlally anl limited tuber is conflected to the CroWN and to four to six laterals; those with smallei stalk by a frag~l€ neck; try not £0 bfeak bloerns will SUppoft eight; to twelve th€ neeks. Wash off the clump and let laterals. . it dry in a protected area unti:! Ehe sur­ Begin tying the plamt to t!he stake when face 0f the tuber is dry to the tOhlch. Unique double it is fWtlflty-four inches high. Use htemp Divid€ th~ dump in half by cutting down glazing option or a soft cord; tie it loosely ao@ut the the stalk, tag each half, a,nd store them plant and tightly abellt the stake. Re­ irl boxes filled with peat moss or ver­ Quality member, the stalk win inc.Jease in girth miculite. Store the dahlias in a cool, Redwood Greenhouses as the plant grews lfrger, mnless i,t is frost-free area. Check them periodically • Wide variety of designs and strangleGl by a tie that was too snug during the winter anG! remove tubers sizes plus custom sizes to fit against the youmg stalk. AdG! ties as the that show signs of rot or disease. special needs. • Garden-Sun Room design in plant becomes taller, and release ~he The reots are taken out of st0rage in many sizes, t00. lower ones. early spring and placed iF! flats filled • Unique prefabrication, easy to erect. Dahlias require an inch of water per with soil or vefmiculite. Keep the flats • Greenhouse accessories and week throughout the growing season, moist and in a pwtected area. Plant equipment. • Factory-direct prices, freight prepaid. and more during blooming time. If the those dahlias than show r00t develop­ • 35 years experience. plant dries out, the stalk will become ment and vigorously growing sh(')ots. Send for free color catalog. woody and growth wiLl be stunted. If you fGHow these directions, you The plant will begill to f@rm buds will have the qualiry blooms that have tu.rdi-built ~ Greenhouse Manufacturing Co. about eight weeks after topping. This made the dahlia a garden sl!lperstar. Dep t. AH, 11304 SW Boones Ferry Ad., Portland, OR 97219 (503) 244·4100

38 FEBRUARY 1990 Classifieds

turing citrus and tropical fruits, indoors a!il d Classified Ad Rates: $1 per word ; min­ DAHLIAS imum $20 per insertion. 10 percent dis­ out. INDOOR CITRUS & RARE FRUIT SO­ CIETY, Dept. AHNL, 176 Coronado Ave., Los DAHLIA CATALOG - A descriptive listing of count for three consecutive ads using Altos, CA 94022. th e finest dahlias available. Stamp please. BED­ FORD DAHLIAS, 65 Ley ton Rd., Bedford, OH same copy, provided each insertion 842 Enjoyable, Useful, Quaint books on Plants. 44146. meets the $20 minimum after taking Current $l -Sale Catalog Spans 450 Years from discount. Copy must be received on the Estienne's Gardening Dated 1539 to O'Keeffe's All types, sizes, colors. World-wide selecti on. Color catalog $1 refundable on order. CON­ first day of the month two months prior Fl o wers Dated 1989. POMONA BOOKS, Rockton, Ontario, Canada LOR lXO. NELL'S, 10216 40th Ave., East, Takoma, WA to publication date. Send orders to : 98446. American Horticultural Society Adver­ 1985 Edition EXOTICA 4, with 16,300 photos, 405 in co lor, 2,600 pages in 2 volumes, wi th DAY LILIES tising Department, 80 South Early Street, Addenda of 1,000 Updates, by Dr. A.B. Graf, ALSO JAPANESE AND SIBERIAN IRIS, Alexandria, Virginia 22304. Or call (703) $187. TROPICA 3, revised 1986, 7,000 co lor HOSTA AND PEONIES. RESERVE YOUR photos, now 1,156 pages, $125. Exotic House 823-6966. 1990 CATALOG NOW. $1 (DEDUCTIBLE). Plants, 1,200 photos, $8 .95. Ci rcul ars gladl y CAPRICE FARM NURSERY-AH, 15425 SW sent. ROEHRS, Box 125, E. Rutherford, NJ AFRICAN VIOLETS PLEASANT HILL, SHERWOOD, OR 97140. America's Finest -177 best violets and gesner­ 07073. (503) 625-7241. iads. Color Catalog and Growing "Tips" $.50. CAROL DIDRICK'S LITTLE RED BOOK ON fISCHER GREENHOUSES, Box H, Linwood, OLD GARDEN ROSES. Where to get them QUALITY DA YLIL Y PLANTS. All sizes, types NJ 08221. and where to plant them. An introduction to and colors. FREE CATAlOG. SPRING CREEK OLD GARDEN ROSES. Each book signed and DA YLIL Y NURSERY, 25150 Gosling, Spring, THE AVANT GARDENER numbered. Send $1 4.95 post paid. CAROL TX 77389. FOR THE GARDENER WHO WANTS TO DIDRICK, 15 35 Wi llard Dr., Orrvill e, OH Tetraploid Hybrids, Reblooming Miniatures, GET MORE OUT OF GARDENING! Sub­ 44667. ' Pl ease add $2 out of country mailing. Dwarfs and Eyed varieties . All are hardy dor­ scribe to THE AVANT GARDENER, Ameri­ mant homegrown in central Illinois' rich prairie ca 's most useful gardening publication. Every soils. All orders are freshly dug and well pack­ BOTANICAL CRAFTS month this unique news service brings you the aged. Send $4 (fully refundable) for your 1990 most practical information on new plants, prod­ PRESSED FLOWERS and Potpourri avail able Color Perennial Catalog. KLEHM NURSERY, ucts, techniques, with sources, features, special for your botanical crafts. Call or write today: Rt. 5, Box 197 Penny Rd., Barrington, IL 60010- issues. 22nd year. Awarded Garden Club of BLOSSOMS & BEVELS, 6326 Corinth Rd., 9555 (1-800-553-3715 ). Longmont, CO 80501. (303) 772-5818. America and Massachusetts Horticultural So­ AWARD WINNING DA YLILIES. - direct from ciety medals. Curious? Sample copy $1. Seri­ grower! New COLOR ca talog $2 (contains $5 BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES ous? $12 full year (reg. $18). THE AVANT certificate) . DA YLI LY DIS COUNTERS, Dept. GARDENER, Box 489M, New York, NY Advertising professional-20 years marketing! AH, Rt. 2, Box 24, Alachua, FL 32615. (904) 10028. direct mail experience, seeks investment/part­ 462-1539. nership opportunity in existing Northern New AZALEAS & RHODODENDRONS England nursery. Write]. Ke lley, 93 River Rd., FERNS PROVEN HARDY HERE! Northern-grown and Biddeford, ME 04005. RARE ATHYRIUMS; Large Japanese "Pic­ -acclimated Azaleas and Rhododendrons! tum," new ruby-stemmed chartreuse "Ancient 'Landscapable sizes.' Two-year catalog sub­ CACTI & SUCCULENTS Jade" $5 ea. Dwarf " Lady" fern $3.50. $15 scripti on: $2 (deductible). CARLSON'S GAR­ HUNDREDS OF "WEIRD" - "EXOTIC"­ minimum, plus 25% shipping. WILDWOOD, DENS, Box 305-AHC290, South Salem, NY " UNUSUAL" forms to choose from .. . Current RT. 3, BOX 165H, Pittsboro, NC 27312. 10590. (914) 763-5958. ca talog .. . $2 (Refundable). K & L CACTUS/ SUCCUlENT NURSERY, 12712 Stockton GARDENING ACCESSORIES BEEKEEPING SUPPLIES Blvd., Galt, CA 95632. GOATSKIN GLOVES. Tougb./ lightweight, napa ASSURE GARDEN PRODUCTIVITY and in­ FLOWERING JUNGLE CACTI catalog for goatsk in stretches and becomes form-fitting, crease wi ldlife through BEEKEEPING. Free 1989-90 available - including 4-page 1990 plant giving wearer l!lltimate in fit, grip, dexterity. Catalog. BRUSHY MOUNTAIN BEE FARM, addendum. 186 color photos of Orchid Cacti Natural lanolin in leather keeps hands soft. Sizes Rt. 1, Dept. 36, Moravian Falls, NC 28654- (Epiphyllums), Rattail Cacti , Hoyas, Hawor­ 7-10 or send outline of hand. $9 .50 postpaid. 9988. thias, XmaslEaster Cacti , more! 70-page plant/ PUTNAM'S, Box 295-AH, Wilton, NH 03086. BONSAI cactus bookshop catalog, all only $2 (includes $3 -off winter plant co upon). RAINBOW GAR­ GARDENING SUPPLIES BONSAI TREES, pottery, books, tools, trays, DENS, 1444 Taylor St., Vista, CA 92084. FREE GARDEN CATALOG -Over 4,000 supplies, and soils. Catalog $2.5 0. BONSAI Items: Seeds, Plants, Trees, Pots, Plant Foods, CREATIONS, P.O. Box 7511AH, Ft. Lauder­ CARDINAL FLOWER Beneficial Insects, Books, Greenhouses. MEL­ dale, FL 33338. HARDY PERENNIAL LOBELIA: Exclusive LINGER'S, Dept. 320E, North Lima, OH 44452- BONSAI, dwarfed conifers, pines, maples, trop­ cardinal flower hybrids, variants. Send stamped 9731. icals, stock, and cuttings. Catalog $2. MATSU­ envelope for world's most extensive listing­ " FREE CATALOG" ... " LOWEST PRICES" MOMIJI NURSERIES, P.O. Box 11414, Phil­ sensational whites, pinks, purple, garnet, fuch­ ... Light fixtures, pots, flats, domes, baskets, adelphia, PA 19111. (215) 722-6286. sia-plus rare ferns, landscape treasures. WILD­ etc ... Stamps ... Postage ... PLANT COL­ WOOD, Rt. 3, Box 165H, Pittsboro, NC 27312. LECTIBLES, 103E Kenview, Buffalo, NY 14217. BOOKS Antiquarian Books -Horticultural/Gardening! CARNIVOROUS PLANTS GREENHOUSE ACCESSORIES Landscape/Plant HuntingiHerbslWildflowers, Carnivorous (Insectivorous) Plants, woodland COMPLETE M IST PROPAGATION SYS­ Catalogues ava ilable. HORTULUS, 139 Marl­ terrarium plants, supplies and books. Color TEMS. Get phenomenal propaga ti on results, borough Pl ace, Toronto, Ontario M5R-3J5. brochure fr ee. PETER PAULS NURSERIES, indoors-outdoors. Environment sensiti ve con­ SEND $1 for 24-page illustrated newsletter fea- Canandaigua, NY 14424. trolled. FREE BROCHURES. AQUAMONI-

AMERICAN HORTICUL TURIST 39 TOR, Dept. 4, Box 327, Huntington, NY 11743. terial should be sent to: Horticultural Employ­ (203) 435-2263. (516) 427-5664. ment, American Horticultural Society, 7931 East NURSERY STOCK Boulevard Dr., Alexandria, VA 22308. GROUND COVERS HARD Y KIWIS, PAW PAWS, PERSIMMONS, QUALITY GROUND COVERS AND PER­ HERBS PASSION FLOWERS, CHESTNUTS and other ENNIALS. Aegopodium, European Ginger, Ivies, GALA HERB WEEKEND -March 17-18. rare and unique plants. Curl-resistant peach, Lamiums, Hardy Cactus, Plumbago, Sweet WATER LILY WEEKEND-March 31-April dwarf antique apples, pears, cherries, delicious Woodruff, Sedums, Vincas. Over 100 varieties. 1. Exhibits, Discussions, Slides, Door Prizes & berries, books, tools and more. Free catalog. GILSON GARDENS, INC., Dept. H, P.O. Box Refreshments. Held in our WARM GREEN­ NORTHWOODS NURSERY, Box AH, Cra­ 277, Perry, OH 44081. HOUSES, RAIN OR SHINE 9 AM-5PM. BIT­ mer Road, Molalla, OR 97038. (503) 641-3737. HEATHS & HEATHERS TERSWEET HILL NURSERIES, Rt. 424 & MILLIONS OF SEEDLINGS: High Quality, HARDY HEATHERS FOR ALL-YEAR GAR­ Governor's Bridge Rd., Davidson, MD 21035. Reasonable Prices. Over 100 Selections for DEN COLOR! Send SASE for descriptive mail­ (301) 798-0231. Christmas Trees, Ornamentals, Windbreaks, Timber, Soil Conservation, Wildlife Cover. Free order list. Fast Service! HEATHER GROW­ HOSTAS ERS, Box 850, Elma, WA 98541. Catalog. CARINO NURSERIES, Box 538, Dept. Latest Hybrids from Paul Aden. High quality J, Indiana, PA 15701. HELP WANTED containerized plants for safe all season shipping. We at the American Horticultural Society are Expertly packaged. Professionally grown. Send PEONIES often asked to refer individuals for significant $4 (fully refundable) for your 1990 Color Per­ Estate, Hybrid, and Tree Peonies. High quality horticultural positions around the country. We ennial Catalog. KLEHM NURSERY, Rt. 5, Box plants, freshly handled and expertly packed. are not in a position to offer full placement 197 Penny Rd., Barrington, IL 60010-9555 Family owned company for 137 years. Send $;1 services to candidates or employers. However, (1-800-553-3715). (fully refundable) for YO'ur 1990 Color Perennial as a service to our members, both individuals CHOICE SELECTION. Catalog $2. SA­ Catalog. KLEHM NURSERY, Rt. 5, Box 197 and employers alike, we would be very glad to VORY'S GARDENS, INC., hybridizers and Penny Rd., Barrington, IL 60010-9555 (1-800- receive resumes and cover l@tters of individuals growers. 5300 Whiting Ave. , Edina, MN 55435. 553-3715). seeking job changes and employers seeking can­ (612) 941-8755. PERENNIALS didates. All responsibility for checking refer­ NEW, INEXPENSIVE way to buy perennials. ences and determining the appropriateness of HOUSE PLANTS Specialists in growing and improving perennials both position and candidate rests with the in­ ORCHIDS, GESNERIADS, BEGONIAS, CACTI guarantee you the finest plants ever offered­ dividuals. AHS's participation in this activity is & SUCCULENTS. Visitors welcome. 1990-91 same as by professional nurserymen. Send for only to serve as a connecting point for members catalog $2. LAURA Y OF SALISBURY, 432 free Bluestone Catalog; lists more than 300 va­ of the Society. Inquiries and informational ma- Undermountain Rd., Salisbury, CT 06068. rieties, plus information on care and growing. BLUESTONE PERENNIALS, 7201 Middle Ridge, Madison, OH 44057. PLANTS (UNUSUAL) LEYLAND CYPRESS TREES Distinctive plants for your garden and land­ long-living, fast-growing evergreens scape. Scarce, unusual and many old favorite·s. Well established in 4" pots, ready for you to Specially grown for thick, flexible foliage and extra wide­ grow on. FREE catalog. APPALACHIAN GAR­ DENS, Box 82-A, Waynesboro, PA 17268. shape. Trees retain their branches to the ground and grow (717) 762-4312. 3 to 5 feet a year. Ideal windbreak when planted 8 feet apart. RARE SUCCULENTS, CAUDICIFORMS, EU­ Trees are in pots and can be planted now. Instructions PHORBIAS, SANSEVIERIAS, LOW LIGHT PLANTS, OTHER EXOTICS. Catalog $2 de­ .,.,. • Grows in marshy or dry soil ductible from first minimum order. SINGERS' , • Not affected by salt spray GROWING THINGS, 17806 Plummer St. A, Rated for Zone 7 Northridge, CA 91325. EXOTIC CALADIUM BULBS produce the most popular foliage plants for outdoors. Their col­ Prices From $ 5 00 orful leaves (in variegated, beautiful patterns) add splashes of colors where many other plants Lots of 100 or more: $4 ea. may not thrive. Many varieties to choose from, Larger sizes available including new and exciting sun-loving dwarf Beautiful Leyland Cypress Trees varieties. HORTIGIFTS, Box 31073, #300AH, Make VVonderful Holiday Gifts! Tampa, FL 33631-3073. OVER 1000 KINDS OF CHOICE & AF­ MAIL ORDIiRS: Six (20") Trees FORDABLE PLANTS. Outstanding Ornamen­ UPS Delivered $51.00 tals, American Natives, Perennials, Rare Con­ ifers, Pre-Bonsai, Wildlife Plants, much more. Toll Free: 1-800-673-8514 Descriptive catalog $2. FORESTFARM, 990 We Accept VISAIMastercharge Tetherow, Williams, OR 97544. Open Daily: GOSSLER FARMS NURSERY ... Catalog of­ fering 300 species and varieties of plants for mail orden . .. $1. Featuring Magnolias, Stew­ ~~~~~~~~y artias, Hamamelis, many other unusual trees Retail Wholesale and shrubs ... GOSSLER FARMS NURSERY, 1200 Weaver Rd., Springfield, OR 97478-9663. P.O. Box 1599 East0n, Md. 21601 Ideal for; Landscaping Screens. 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40 FEBRUARY 1990 JOB ANALYSIS: Managing, supervising, and 1990 SEED WILDFLOWERS directing horticultural and administrative func­ hardy, easy, reliable, showy ~ ti ons of Phipps Conservatory. Supervising of CATALOGUE from our nurse to your garden. marketing, facility, development, volunteers, tw1 Cfhompsol7. Send $2.00 for 4Botany, Ornamental Landscaping, Rt. 1 Box 600-AHB Floriculture or a related field. Five years ex­ DEPT. 22·0 JACKSON, NJ 08527 Andersonville, TN 37705 perience in conservatory planning and manage­ ment, horticultural exhibits and collecti ons, in­ cluding supervisory experience, or equivalent. Ci ty of Pittsburgh residency at time of appoint­ ment. Resume required with application. SAL­ ARY: $37,751-$41,150 per year. APPLY: For application and job announcement write the Department of Personnel and Civil Service Commission, Fourth Floor, City-County Build­ ing, Pittsburgh, PA 15219. Appli cations and ~esumes accepted until position filled. ROCK GARDEN PLANTS We Grow Rare Alpines, W ildflowers, Dwarf Conifers, Beautiful Perennials Ground Covers, co lorful Rock Plants, hardy At A Price You Will Like!!! Rhododendrons, Bonsai Books. Catalog $2. RICE CREEK GARDENS, 1315 66th Ave. NE, The plants that return to bloom Minneapolis, MN 55432. (6 12) 574-1197. season after season for years of easy pleasure, our specialty ... SEEDS Perennials. THOUSANDS OF RARE FLOWER SEED FROM THE WORLD WIDE. Including wi ld­ White Iberis for early spring, - solar powered - flower, native orchids and fern plants. Barn­ summer's perky Shasta Daisies and haven Silver Dollar Primroses. Extensive Col­ fall for blooming Chrysanthemums lor GREENHOUSES and COLDFRAMES lector's Seed List! Catalog $2 (deductible). FAR ... Perennials beautify your home. NORTH GARDENS, 16785-AH Harrison, Li­ FEATURES Bluestone grows over 300 varieties vonia, MI 48154. • Fits most GrallllhDUS8S - Graat Exotic TROPICAL and TEMPERATE PLANT of perennials which are shipped in for Fibe:ry/ass Ii P/l/"lilJ11 also SEED - Ra're and common sp(!cies from trees full growth - easy to plant and or to annuals, FREE catalog. JUNGLE FEVER, each plant guaranteed. • Ye.r1illi Horizontal ven ts P.O. Box 130315, Birmingham, AL 35213. Send for our free catalog or call 800-852·5243. • Lifts 3.Z fmmJi vents up to 1.3.:. WILD FLOWER SEEDS: Seeds native to the We will be pleased to hear from you. • .1iJI~ Dpening iempl!17llon Northern Rockies, high elevation. Send $1 for list to: Ruth Unger, 16100 Hwy. l OA West, Name ______• JlJl1qedl1l71ls all! similar product Anaconda, MT 59711. Address' ______TILLANDSIAS/ AIR PLANTS FREE INFORMATION or TILLANDSIAS - Beautiful tropical plants 30 SI8Ie' _____ dealer inquiries welcomed. varieties - suited for displays and floral ar­ rangements-call or write GUATE IMPORTS Zip ______Superiorc!jl.u toven ts (703) 967-0836, Rt. 2, Box 190-A, Loyisa, VA 7225 MIDDLE RIDGE RD. 17422 La Mesa Lane 23093. MADISON, OHIO 44057 Huntington Beach. Ca . 92647 TREES Trees, shrubs, perennials. ContaineF grown, outdoors. Catalog $2. OWENS FARMS, Route 3, Box 158-AAH, Ripley, TN 38063-9420. VACATION HOME VISIT ENGLISH GARDENS, Country houses, Windsor, Cotswolds - LONDON (20 miles). Comfortable, well-equipped sic apartment - pri­ va te telephone etc. Hotel comfort for 2. Pretty The Highest Quality tt Buckinghamshire village - Details (RHS mem­ ber) Ann Newcombe, Applewood, Mill Lane, Liquid Plant Food , Chalfont-St. Gi les, Bycks BP8 4NX or ca ll 011- 44-2407-3343. For Over 30 Years. WILDFLOWERS FREE WILDFLOWER CATALOG: We have :I\~ 'Ii~RR~NTY TO CONS ~~\ * V.f,<':e over 60 varieties of wildflowers and over 11 : Good Housekeeping": territorial mixes, plus MORE! Our wildflower ~ PROMISES 'V"~ mixes are 100% pure wildflower seed; they bring 'f(]E"'fNT OR REf UNO II ~t\~ ~ PER QUART WATER a beautiful array of colors. For FREE ca talog GROWS ALL PLANTS ca ll: (6 14) 596-2521, or send name and address to: VALLEY CREEK, Dept. AH, PO Box 475, Available at leading Garden Cenlers and Plant Departments. Circle Drive, McArthur, OH 45651. MIg by Schultz Company, SI LOUIS, MO 63043

AMERICAN HORTICULTURIST 41 Don & Hazel Smith~s WATNONG LEGACY Story by Ruby Weinberg Photos by Martin R. Weinberg

011 and Hazel Smith had been only occa­ sional gardeners when, toward the end of 1950, they entered their retirement years with a plan: to make more dwarf conifers and low-growing shrubs available to East­ Dern American gardeners. Before the Morris Plains, New Jersey, couple died in the mid-1980s, their Watnong Nursery had earned a distinguished reputation amorng

42 FEBRUARY 1990 AMERICAN HORTICUL TURIST 43 landscaped with conifers, broadleaf ever­ greens, and alpines of low and predictable growth rates-plants that require little 'pruning and never outgrow their alloted spaces. Their research quickly revealed that many such plants existed, but hadn't been intro­ duced to Eastern gardeners. They may have been inspired in their choice of plants by an outstanding conifer collection only fif­ teen miles east of them in South Orange, New Jersey, where William Gotelli had spent fifteen years accumulating curious dwarf specimens. Gotelli eventually pre­ sented his own collection to the U.S. Na­ tional Arboretum. The curator of that col­ lection, Susan F. Martin, says that although she can find no record of communication between Gotelli and the Smiths, "to my knowledge, early on, they exchanged some plant material." But Gotelli did not sell his plants; it would remain for the Smiths to search for sources worldwide and to make these ornamentals available to gardeners. The Smiths ferreted out rare plants in the private gardens of alpine experts, in remote botanical gardens and arboreta. Together with their daughter, Jacqueline, they traveled throughout the United States and then abroad on collecting expeditions. Eventually they purchased the homesite that inspired this pursuit-a modest house with an acre and a half of ground-where they established Watnong Nursery. By 1961, their first plants were for sale: forty varieties, the gleanings of their earliest col­ lecting and propagating efforts, were dis­ played modestly on their front lawn. By 1964 and 1965, their offerings increased dramatically, to a catalog of 176 selec­ tions. They included unique forms of pines, spruces, Chamaecyparis, and Crypto­ meria. The Smiths also sold Sciadopitys vertic illata, the slow-growing Japanese umbrella pine noted for its formal pyram­ idal shape. Preceding page: The Smiths found that a raised rock bed offered the precise drainage Also offered were low-growing azaleas needed by alpines and slow-growing conifers. Behind a collection of dwarf pines and and rhododendrons, as well as shade and false cypresses, a 'Watnong' Japanese maple glows with fall color. Above: Dianthus flowering trees that until then had been and dwarf forms of junipers and cypresses complement each other. Opposite: Thuja little used in the Northeast. Some of these 'Watnong Gold'. trees, such as Ulmus monumentalis 'Orea', a golden-leafed elm, apparently proved too discriminating gardeners. By locating the Hills when he and Hazel were asked to difficult in northern New Jersey;· they were most choice plants through exploration and help maintain the property of two elderly eventually excluded. But there were more importation, and propagating the very best, women living on nearby Watnong Terrace. additions than subtractions. By 1977, when they created a legacy that encouraged other Located on the side of an Appalachian they sent their inventory to the National growers to continue in their footsteps. And Mountain Ridge, the Watnong area had Arboretum, it numbered a remarkable 800. they solved one of the most perplexing received its name from the Leni-Lenape The Smiths were scholarly in recording problems faced by keen gardeners toward Indian word for "place of the hill." Its soil and light preferences as well as growth the end of their lives: how best to preserve sheltered microclimate created an ideal habits at both five and ten years. By care­ an outstanding plant collection. horticultural environment. But the Smiths fully measuring their stock, they could re­ Don Smith had served more than thirty were aghast at the tangle of overgrown fine their offerings and eliminate those that years as a teacher, principal, and then su­ shrubbery they found. The pJ;operty would outgrew their expected size. The descrip­ perintendent of schools in Parsippany-Troy be attractive, they believed, if it could be tions in even their earliest catalogs were

44 FEBRUARY 1990 valuable and reliable; I have saved and chased their home/nursery, the Donn fam­ known American plants. One, the box used their 1964 listing for twenty-six years. ily was enjoying their new home next door. huckleberry (Gaylussacia brachycera) had Don Smith built a small greenhouse for Frank Donn had built their house, also on once been thought nearly extinct. After its most of his propagating needs, lathing an acre and a half, with his own hands. rediscovery, the Smiths spent years track­ structures for shade lovers, a variety of But skillful as he was, gardening was not ing it down. They collected material from cold frames, and a Nearing frame-a tight on the agenda; he and his wife were too thirty-five colonies in seven states to which wooden box with an aluminum and glass busy with fulltime jobs and a young child. it was native, and propagated a variety of insert that is always turned to face the The Smiths and Donns never socialized its forms. north. In it, the Smiths were able to prop­ but were quite friendly, and no one could The second, the sand myrtle (Leiophyl­ agate many difficult-to-root hemlocks. have completely ignored the frenetic ac­ lum buxifolium) was also collected and The results quickly filled their relatively tivity of delivery trucks arriving at the reproduced by the Smiths. They especially small garden. In one place, a pinetum of nursery, buyers coming and going, rows enjoyed this dainty, white-flowered plant unusual dwarf pine, spruce, juniper, and of plants spilling over the property line. in its lowest forms, L. buxifolium 'Nan urn' other conifers was grown for display. But the Donns smiled and took it all in and the variety prostratum. Trailing types cascaded up and down the stride. Occasionally, Hazel offered Helen Ever alert to exciting varieties, Hazel slightly sloping terrain. Steps were built to and Frank Donn a fine tree for their own and Don welcomed keen plant observers an elevated area; a small pool was dug at property so she could enjoy it at a distance. who occasionally presented them with their its base and planted with bog-dwellers. A Eventually, these neighbors looked closer discoveries. Especially prized were unusual raised rock bed offered the precise drain­ at Warnong's treasures. In exchange for dwarf hemlocks. Tsuga canadensis 'Cloud age required by alpines and the slowest­ Frank's help with nursery chores, the Smiths Prune' was brought to them by a Mr. Wall­ growing conifers. Plants in containers or helped them landscape the front of their bridge of Sussex County, New Jersey, and heeled in mulch crowded the entire lot. home. In time, Frank cleared the Donns' T. canadensis 'Watnong Star' by Robert Don Smith often admitted that neither back lot to begin their own new garden. Clark of New Hampshire. Don, who reg­ he nor Hazel was interested in landscape The Smiths were not content merely to istered the latter in 1972, described it as design; that was the buyer's concern. But sell unusual plants. All through their six­ . "a soft mound with starlike growth." The by appointment only, Don was more than ties and seventies, they traveled to lecture crested tipped T. canadensis 'Bacon Cris­ willing to devote whatever time was needed interested groups, taking heavy plant spec­ tate' was one of ten hemlocks discovered to help gardeners make appropriate selec­ imens with them in their car. Color slides by Ralph Bacon of Newton, New Jersey. tions. As his tall frame bent over a dimin­ might have sufficed, but to the Smiths, there The originals were seedlings of a witch's utive subject, he pointed out every intimate was nothing like the real thing! broom, an abnormal growth that occurs detail of the plant's appearance while de­ They also combined their talents to write on some woody plants. All were more than scribing its expected growth rate and even­ in horticultural journals, highlighting some sixty years old and still less than three feet tual size. His voice was soft, at times only of the plants they had propagated or res­ tall. Although five forms survived, Don a whisper. His style was pedantic, yet in­ cued. Typical was an article in the 1971 registered only one. finitely patient. Few who came to learn Brooklyn Botanic Garden's Handbook of Of all the Smiths' introductions, Daphne would go away disappointed. Rhododendrons and Their Relatives, in 'Carol Mackie' probably has received the About the time that the Smiths pur- which they described two relatively un- widest distribution. It is a three- to four­ foot evergreen shrub (partly deciduous from Zone 5 north) with fragrant pink flowers. A plant with variegated green and white foliage is sometimes sold under that name, but in a 1972 listing, Don asserts that "the leaves are gold-banded." Don Smith bred some new dwarf Pinus banksiana, also from a witch's broom, and Pinus strobus, which he called 'Hazeli Clumpy'. He experiment~ frequently with seeds and cuttings of dwarf Chamaecy­ paris obtusa, the Hinoki cypress. One of its sports he named C. obtusa 'Draht' after the German nurseryman who brought it to him. This distinctive conical plant has small gray-green leaves with golden high­ lights. With characteristic humility, Don would permit none of these cultivars to carry his own name. But after his death, other grow­ ers concluded that a dwarf pine was so outstanding that it deserved to be called Pinus resinosa 'Don Smith'. This low, broad pine had been brought to Don Smith in 1960 by Leonard Bailey of Mendham, New Jersey. The Smiths cherished their friendships

AMERICAN HORTICUL TURIST 45 and enjoyed communication with some of Just as the Smiths had helped care for their the most notable horticulturists of the day. Sources home's previous owners, the Donns looked They also proffered a helping hand to many after them in their waning years. And what people just entering the nursery profession. is left of Watnong Nursery today is the "Their foremost contribution to horticul­ peaceful landscape of those one-time re­ ture was the strong and positive influence luctant gardeners, Helen and Frank Donn. that they had on young people" who were It has been rebuilt with loving care on the starting out in the trade, says Jim Cross of remains of the crowded nursery that pre­ Environmentals, a Cutchogue, Long Is­ ceded it. The Smiths suspected that this land, nursery. Bob and Diane Fincham of would happen-that their neighbors would Mitch's Nursery recall how the Smiths sold become perfect caretakers. Before they died, them stock "at ridiculously low prices." they arranged things so that this couple of After the Finchams moved their nursery to Chamaecyparis·obtusa 'Draht' modest means would be able to buy their Oregon, they set up a display area they Cummins Nursery property at a modest price. The combined called "Wamong Arboretum" so that when 22 Robertsvilh~ Road three acres is now one pleasant unit, and asked about the name, they would have Marlboro, NJ 07746 the Donns hope to locate and return to an excuse to describe the accomplishments Watnong some of its lost treasures. of Don and Hazel Smith. Daphne· x burkwoodii 'Carol Maekie' The design of the garden is simple. Grassy The Smiths had a passionate interest in Oliver Nursery paths separate beds, now curved and ex­ native plants long before it was fashion­ 1159 Brons(')fl Road panded, running longitudinally to the house. able, observes Quenton Schlieder, secre­ Fairf.ield, CT 06430 (no mail order) Many of the beds are carefully defined with tary-director of the Morris County, New railroad-tie walls replacing the old con­ Jersey, Park Commission. "1m their quiet Rice Creek Gardens crete retainers. The bed for alpines and way, Hazel and Don found beauty in 1315 66th Av(mue N.E. other choice dwarfs has been rebuilt with everyone and everything around them," he Mimneapolis, MN 554.32 fine workmanship. New perennials, no­ says. tably some unusual hostas and lovely Betty Cummins of Marlboro, New Jer­ Wayside Gardens shrubs, have filled in the gaps where the sey, recalls her amazement when an elderly 1 Garden Lane Smiths' donated collections were removed. Hazel Smith visited the Cummins Nursery Hodges, SC 2.9695 Many original small trees remain: Cornus wearing a full body brace; it didn't stop kousa, Laburnum x watereri, Franklinia her from bending down to sniff the fra­ Gaylussacia brachycera alatamaha, and two different kinds of grant flowers of a small Daphne retusa. Oliver Nursery Davidia, the rare handkerchief tree. In ma­ As the Smiths reached their eighties, ture dignity at the center of attention stands friends assisted with the nursery chores. Leiophyllum buxifolium Acer palmatum 'Watnong', a red- and Roger Baker, a nearby conifer fancier, was Greer Gardens green-leafed Japanese maple. Thuja 'Wat­ often on the scene potting and transplant­ 1280 Goodpasture Island Road nong Gold' adds color in another area; a ing. Their neighbors, the Donns, had by Eugene, OR ·97401 large Kalmia bears bright pink flowers in now been drawn into the activities. June; and a tall, intensely blue-needled Se­ At this point, the Smiths decided to pro­ Roslyn Nursery quoiadendron 'Hazel' towers over the en­ ceed with their plans for disposition of 211 Burrs Lane tire garden. There is also a new fish pool their holdings, most of which they knew Dix Hills, NY 11746 surrounded by dwarf conifers. would outlive them. An assortment of rare Abby Brody, a knowledgeable horticul­ dwarf hemlocks went to Cornell Univer­ Leiophyllum buxifolium var. turist, rents the former Smith house from sity. A fine group of Hinoki cypresses may prostratum the Donns and assists with th

46 FEBRUARY 1990 Pronunciations

Liriope spicata li-RYE-o-pe spy-KATE-uh Maianthemum kamtschaticum my-AN-the­ mum kam-SHOT-ti-kum Miscanthus sinensis mis-CAN-thus si n-EN-sis Nymphaea pygmaea NIM-fee-ah pig-ME-ah Opuntia oh-PUNT-ee-uh Oxalis oregana ox-AL-iss or-ee-GANE-ah Pachysandra terminalis pak-ih-SAND-rah ter-mi-NALE-is Papaver orientale PAH-pav-er or-ee-en-T AL-ee Pinus banksiana PINE-us bank-see-AIN-ah P. resinosa P. rez-i-NOZE-ah P. strobus P. STROBE-us Polygonum aubertii poe-LIG-oh-num oh-BAIR-tee-eye Polystichum munitum PO-liss-tee-kum Nympbaea pygmaea 'Helvola' mew-NEET-um Presidio clarkia pre-SID-ee-o CLARK-ee-uh Abies bracteata A Y-beez bracht-ee-ATE-ah CotiltUS coggygria ko-TINE-us Prunus cerasifera PRUNE-us Abutilon megapotamicum ko-JYG-ree-ah ser-ah-SIF-er-ah ah-BEW-tih-lon meg-ah-po-TAME-i-kum Cryptomeria kript-o-MEER-ee-uh P. subhirtella P. sub-her-TELL-ah Acanthomintha obovata subsp. duttonii Cupressus pygmaea kew-PRES-us Puya raimondii PEW-yah ah-can-tho-MIN-tha oh-boe-VATE-ah pig-ME-ah ray-MOND-ee-eye subsp. do-TONE-ee-eye Daphne retusa DAF-nee re-TOOS-ah ·Quercus robur QUER-kus ROW-ber Acer palmatum var. dissectum Darlingtonia californica Rudbeckia fulgida rude-BECK-ee-uh AY-ser pal-MATE-um var. die-SECT-um dar-ling-TONE-ee-uh kal- i-FORN-i-kah FULL-jid-ah Amsinckia grandiflora am-SINK-ee-uh Davidia dah-VID-ee-uh Satureja douglasii sat-yew-REE-yah grand-ih-FLOR-ah Downingia dow-NINJ-ee-uh dug-LAH-see-eye Aquilegia caerulea ak-kwi-LEEJ-ee-uh Echinocereus eck-kin-o-SEAR-ee-us Sciadopitys verticillata see-REW -lee-ah Fagus sylvatica FAY-gus sil-VAT-ih-kah sky-ah-DOP-ih-tiss ver-tis-see-LATE-a A. eximia A. ex-IM-ee-uh Ferocactus fe-ro-KAK-tus Sequoia sempervirens see-QUOY-uh Arctostaphylos hookeri subsp. ravenii Franklinia alatamaha frank-LIN-ee-uh sem-per-VIRE-enz ark-toe-STAFF-il-ose HOOK-er-eye ah-lah-tah-MAH-ha Sequoiadendron see-quoy-ah-DEN-dron subsp. rah-VEN-ee-eye Gaylussacia brachycera Stachys byzantina STACK-iss Athyrium fiux-femina a-THIRE-ee-um gay-lew-SACK-ee-uh brack-ih-SER-ah bye-zan-TIN-ah FILL-icks-FEM-in-ah Heliconia wilsonii hell-ih-CONE-ee-uh Taxus x media TACKS-us x Brodiaea pallida bro-dee-EE-a PAL-ih-dah wil-SONE-ee-eye MEAD-ee-uh Calochortus pulchellus kal-oh-CORT-us Heuchera micrantha who-KARE-ah Thuja occidentalis THOOG-ah pul-KEL-us my-KRAN-tha ok-si-den-TALE-is C. raichei C. RAKE-ee-eye Hibiscus syriacus high-BISK-us Tiarella unifoliata tie-a-REL-uh Camellia japonica kah-MEAL-ee-uh SEER-ee-ah-kus yew-ni-fol-ee-ATE-ah jah-PON-ih-kah Hosta plantaginea HOST-ah Tibouchina laxa ti-boo-CHEEN-ah C. reticulata C. reh-tick-yew-LATE-ah plan-tadge-i-NEE-uh LACKS-ah C. sasanqua C. sah-SANK-quah H. tokudama H. toe-ku-DAME-ah Tilia cordata TILL-ee-uh core-DATE-ah C. sinensis C. sin-EN-sis H. ventricosa H . ven-tri-KOSE-ah Trillium ovatum TRIL-ee-um 0-VATE-urn Carpinus betulus car-PINE-us BET-yew-lw H. venusta H. ve-NOOST-ah Tsuga canadensis SOOG-ah can-a-DEN-sis Ceanothus kee-ah-NO-thus Ilex x meserveae EYE-lex x Ulmus monumentalis ULL-mus Cercocarpus betuloides var. traskiae me-SERV -ee-ee mon-yew-men-TALE-is ser-ko-KARP-us bet-yew-loh-IDE-ezs Juniperus virginiana joo-NIP-per-us Vaccinium ovatum vack-SIN-ee-um var. TRASK-ee-ee vir-GIN-ee-AIN-ah o-VATE-um Chamaecyparis obtusa kam-ee-SIP-er-us Kalmia KALM-ee-uh Vancouveria planipetala van-koo-VER-ee­ ob-TOOS-ah Laburnum x watereri la-BURN-um x uh plan-i-PET-a-lah Chrysanthemum x superbum wa-ter-ER-eye Vitis labrusca VY-tus lah-BRUSS-ka kruh-SANTH-uh-mum x sue-PER-bum Lasthenia burkei lass-THEEN-ee-uh Whipplea modesta WHIP-lee-ah Clarkia springvillensis CLARK-ee-uh BURK-ee-eye mo-DEST-ah spring-vil-EN-sis Leiophyllum buxifolium var. prostratum Wisteria floribunda wis-TEER-ee-uh Clematis paniculata klem-ATE-us lye-o-FIL-um buck-si-FOLE-ee-um var. flor-i-BUND-ah pan-ick-yew-LATE-ah praw-STRATE-um Yucca filamentosa YUCK-ah Cornus kousa KOR-nus KOO-sah Liatris spicata lye-ATE-trus spy-KATE-uh fill-ah-men-TOE-sah

Photo by Pamela Harper AMERICAN HORTICUL TURIST 47 JUNE 19-22, 1990 45TH ANNuAL MEETING SEATTLE, ~ASHINGTON

JOIN fellow gardeners in the "Emerald City" LEARN about topics from "alpines" to "waste management"

VISIT private gardens featured in Rosemary Verey's "An American Woman's Garden" E~oy Bloedel Reserve, Washington Park Arboretum, Freeway Park, and the Rhododendron Species Foundation IIEAR Ann Lovejoy on perennials and Ken Gambrill on rhododendrons

ExPLORE on your own nearby nurseries, the locks and salmon ladders, Mt. St. Helens, Butchart Gardens, the San Juan Islands, and Vancouver

MEET AHS award winners, past and present

For further information, call 1-800-777-7931 or write I ~~ I American Horticultural Society ~~ 7931 East Boulevard Drive Alexandria, Virginia 22308