Kinney Azalea Gardens: Rhode Island’s Hidden Gem

The Kinney Azalea Gardens are a hidden gem—a private garden that grew out of the horticultural passions of Lorenzo Kinney, Jr, who moved there with his wife, Elizabeth, in 1927. The first azalea and rhododendron plants were planted shortly, with help from Lorenzo’s father, the first professor of botany at the nearby University of Rhode Island. Lorenzo inherited a love of horticulture from his father, and a love of plein air oil painting from his mother, who was URI’s first painting professor. Lorenzo was able to pursue both in the creation of his garden.

Azaleas became his passion after visiting Elizabeth’s native Virginia and seeing the extensive azalea plantings in southern estates. At that time, there were few azaleas available for northern gardens, so Lorenzo began collecting azaleas from the southern U.S. and from around the world, and hybridizing his own—a hobby that turned into a second career. His hybrids, known as the K-series, can be seen on the K Path in the garden. A beautiful peach hybrid is named in honor of Elizabeth.

With help from many high school and college students, Lorenzo planted five acres of gardens. One of those high school students, Susan Gordon, went on to earn a doctorate in plant sciences. She worked extensively with Lorenzo from 1976 until his death in 1994 at the age of 100. The gardens have stayed in the Kinney family, and visitors are still welcomed!

Dr. Gordon manages the gardens and continues to develop new hybrids. She has planted a sixth acre as Galle’s Footsteps, a series of five footprints, each devoted to an azalea hybridizer. The area is dedicated to the late Fred Galle, author, horticulturist and friend of Lorenzo’s. She has also created naturalized areas with native shrubs and perennials to preserve the biodiversity of the garden.

The azaleas are at their peak from mid-May to early June, when the garden is ablaze in pink, white, red and coral. There are hundreds of azalea and rhododendron cultivars, and collections of mountain laurel, boxwood, pieris, leucothoe, itea, calycanthus, and oakleaf hydrangeas. You will also find a stand of mature umbrella pines that was a wedding gift to Lorenzo from his parents, and a 10-foot circular moongate that was built by a local landscape architect and stonemason.

You can also purchase azaleas, rhododendrons, leucothoe, mountain laurel, and other shrubs, both in pots and as full-grown specimens from the garden. Cash and check only.

Kinney Azalea Gardens, 2391 Kingstown Rd. (Rte 108), South Kingstown, RI 02879, (401) 782-8847, kinneyazaleagardens.com. Admission by donation, open daily dawn to dusk, street parking.

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Big Rhodys

heritage museums and gardens, photo by jana milbocker

By CJ Patterson

A number of years ago, I was selling a rhododendron to a citizen, and he was thrilled with it.  It was Calsap (Catalgla X Sappho), a large frilled white with a dynamite purple-black blotch, very showy. He had seen it in our flower show and was smitten.  He had asked about it, and was told “it will be hard to find”. As he picked it up to head for the cash register, I remarked “it gets big, so be careful where you site it.” He froze in mid-lift and turned.  “What do you mean, big?”

calsap, photo by jana milbocker

And so it begins. Breeding with R. yakushimanum, R. brachycarpum, and other compact, slow-growing hybrids has changed our aesthetics in the garden. Nowadays, if it isn’t a little green toadstool, no one knows what to do with it. We really do need to cultivate some creativity in our garden design. One of the most fun things about Rhododendrons is their sheer variety. Every natural plant form from hedging, groundcovers, and foliage accent to small trees can be found amongst the rhodys right along with the standard rounded green shrub. All it takes is a little imagination to use them.

photo by jana milbocker

My Calsap loving customer had a small suburban garden, and I think the term “gets big” suggested a giant shambling mound that would eat the dog. I admitted that Calsap could indeed fill that description, but that it would take it a number of years to make it to the dog-eating stage, and in the meantime, if he gave it a good site with a half day of sun, and regular deadheading, he could look forward to being the envy of the neighborhood for two weeks every year for quite a while. Personally, I like a really big rhododendron. Something about a tree-form rhododendron that you can stroll under is irresistible to me. Like an evergreen magnolia, only better because it’s a rhododendron. And then once a year, it blooms gloriously, not a flower here and there like the magnolia, but great masses of bloom. Anyone who owns a mature “Andy Paton” will know what I  mean. 

heritage museums and gardens, photo by jana milbocker

And they can be so useful.  Big rhododendrons can be used as accent plants, or hedging, or blocking a nasty view.  They are good for anchoring beds, be they wildflower, perennial, or rhody collection.  I speak here of the varieties that have a naturally upright growth habit, with a solid scaffolding of branches that can be pruned up a bit to allow for air circulation and “head space” for underplantings. But which to choose?  There are so many fine varieties to choose from!  In no particular order, here are some suggestions for a “big” rhody.  All are dependable healthy solid citizens, hardy to at least USDA zone 6, and several to zone 5 or lower.

cadis, photo courtesy cornell university

Cadis (Caroline X R. discolor) is an old Gable hybrid that has stood the test of time, and is now considered a standard. A sturdy upright grower with strong crotches, it will reach 6-8 feet in ten years and bears copious masses of candy pink flowers in late midseason, as shown in the picture to the right. It takes good disease and drought resistance from the pod parent Caroline (an earlier hybrid of Gable which is famous for its ability to turn away the slings and arrows of outrageous weather) and an upright tree form habit and later bloom period from the pollen parent, R. discolor.

Wyandanch Pink, courtesy ARS

Wyandanch Pink is one of the fastest and largest growing Dexter hybrids.  A mature specimen can have multiple upright trunks 4” or more in diameter. Add to this hardiness to at least USDA zone 5, and you have a good candidate for the colder garden.  It is one of the hardiest Dexters we can recommend for western Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire. Its main flaw is that because it is such a fast grower and grows so large, that it can have brittle wood.  For this reason I do not recommend planting it under white pines or where it will catch the wind.

Spellbinder, photo by CJ patterson

Spellbinder is a very large growing hybrid by Leach {(R. maximum X Russell Harmon) X (R. calophytum X sutchuenense)} that was bred for a tree form plant. It has plenty of hardiness from the pod parent, and a solid tree form from the pollen parent to give a sturdy tall upright plant.  It does not root easily from cuttings, so it may take a little searching for, but I have seen it in nurseries. It is hardy in zone 5 and should have at least a few hours a day of sun to bud up well.

katherine Dalton, courtesy Cornell university

Katherine Dalton is a Canadian hybrid of R. smirnowii and R. fortunei and taking the best from each parent.  A healthy hardy strong growing plant, with good clean foliage and well clothed, a dense upright plant with a shared leader, very resistant to snow load and windstorms.  It does not set many seedpods and so does not need much deadheading, a happy characteristic in a plant you need a stepladder to deadhead.

Now we reach the varieties that, while splendid, may take a bit of searching, but they are totally worth the trouble.

Babylon, photo by CJ patterson

Babylon (R. calophytum X praevernum). This is a famous plant, found in many collections, but almost unknown in the standard nursery trade, probably because it takes a while to mature to a flowering specimen. To become a convert, try looking at the specimen plant at Sakonnet Gardens in RI shown in the picture to the right. It needs a sheltered position as it blooms very early, with enormous trusses of white with a large jewel red blotch cascading over the plant. It is hardier than you would expect from the parentage, and I have seen trusses from west of I-495 and from southern NH, but their growers have been careful to provide both light shade and good air drainage. Even so, late frosts may ruin your show, although it seldom injures the plant.

babylon, photo by CJ patterson

Atroflo I and II (R. atrosanguineum X floccigerum) Another antique from Gable that is an ideal beginner’s plant for a tall rhododendron. It is an excellent foliage plant with long slender leaves of dark green with fairly thick indumentum beneath. It flowers freely with at least a half day of sun, bright rose in a medium sized truss, and the petals look like they were made of crinkly tissue paper. Habit is upright to a fault, growing up before filling out.  Branches that touch ground layer easily and then reach for the sky, forming a separate leader.  An Atroflo neglected in a large planting will form a little woods of its own, shading out its neighbors. Unfortunately, mine never seem to get much more than 15 feet or so tall, but perhaps they are not ideally situated. Atroflo I was the first to be selected from the seedlot for floral characteristics, but later Atroflo II was selected as being not quite as tall, but hardier.  Other than that, they are nearly identical in the garden.

hardy giant, photo by cj patterson

Hardy Giant (R. fortunei X fictolacteum) One of the earliest attempts to produce a hardy tree rhododendron, this uses R. fortunei as a pod parent for hardiness and fictolacteum as a pollen parent for size, as it is a true tree species related to R. rex. Unfortunately, the enormous leaves of the pollen parent did not come through, but it did yield a handsome sturdy upright plant with good foliage (though not overlarge) and a growth habit that grows up about twice as fast as it grows sideways. It blooms in early midseason with ample trusses of white flowers tinged pink. Solidly hardy to zone 5b and probably more, given a sheltered position with good air drainage. Our first plant grew to 12 feet in 20 years from a cutting, almost twice as tall as wide.

Russell Harmon, photo by cj patterson

Russell Harmon is a hybrid of our two native broadleaves, R. catawbiense and maximum and was introduced by La Bar’s nursery in the 1950s. It is about as hardy as you will get in a large rhododendron, down to -25F or better, and once established, is pretty bulletproof for a tall rhododendron. It roots easily and does not seem to be much discouraged by drought, once established. Personally, I think this rhody would be the poster child for the term “abundanza”, growing ten feet tall and fifteen feet wide, and once it reaches its maximum height it will continue to grow sideways. When it reaches its allotted space, it should be pruned.  It will reward good light with very large trusses of magenta tinged flowers, not individually large, but plenty of them. It blooms late in the season, too late for most shows which is unfortunate, as its tall triangular trusses are much loved by judges.

duke of york, photo by CJ Patterson

Duke of York (R. fortunei X Scipio) Last but not least, one of my all-time favorite rhodys, an antique from the early days of hybridizing.  Large flowers of pink with a slight tinge of magenta in lax but copious trusses, on a taller than wide plant, it is a healthy and long-lived vigorous variety bred in England but completely hardy in zone 5b here. When I was still working at the Arnold Arboretum, I found three of them at the base of Hemlock Hill that had been planted nearly 100 years earlier and were still in wonderful shape, at least twelve feet high and still blooming prolifically. I was thrilled to find that it roots easily and grows like a weed, and brought cuttings to P4M, where others shared my enthusiasm. Unfortunately, I made the major error of mentioning the plants to a garden designer, and she enthusiastically rerouted a major footpath right over them. In vain did I point out that rhododendrons do not like having their roots pummeled by traffic and that a stream of callous visitors would pull the plants down and rip off their stems (“there are so many flowers, no one will mind if I take a few” and rip them off they will do. I never mentioned a plant to upper echelons again.) I have not been back in many years, so I do not know if they are still there, but if they are, they are worth the extra hike when you visit the arboretum. The variety is so tall growing that I decided to experiment with it. I planted four rooted cuttings as a little grove, and then stood back to see how they would grow. The good news is that they grew into a wonderful grove that I could walk unimpeded under as though it were a grove of trees. The bad news is the closed canopy is very dense, allowing little light to filter down, and you cannot even tell when the plants are flowering except from a distance. And, of course no wildflowers or companion plants will grow under them.

scintillation, photo by jana milbocker

So I recommend tall rhodys to you as an accent plant, a boundary fence, or a visual screen from the neighbors. Use your imagination. A friend and chapter member, Berta Atwater had a superb garden and grew many unusual rhododendrons, but she also grew many standards, but with extra flair. She grew a row of Scintillation and limbed them up when they got big enough, and planted a group of clipped white R. kaempferi underneath. Come bloom time, the effect was stunning, and out of bloom was very elegant. Unfortunately, eventually a hurricane came and trashed the planting, but it was glorious while it lasted.

CJ Patterson is Vice President of the American Rhododendron Society, Massachusetts Chapter, and District 6 Director of the American Rhododendron Society. She and her husband have been hybridizing rhododendrons since 1986.

Prepping your Peonies for Spring

By Dan Furman, Owner, Cricket Hill Garden

Spring is here and we in the northeast are just about a month away from peony season. All types of peonies have a well deserved reputation as tough, long lived perennials that put on ostentatious displays of colorful blossoms year in and year out. A little annual basic maintenance of established peonies will help ensure that they remain healthy and vigorous for years to come. Here at Cricket Hill Garden we have thousands of plants growing in our display garden, stock plant blocks and nursery. Here is what we do ensure that our plants are off to the best possible start.

peonies at cricket hill nursery

Clean up any old foliage from left over last year which can harbor disease. It's best to dispose of old peony foliage in the fall at the end of the growing season, but as with many things, better late than never. Since fungal pathogens can survive for long periods on old foliage, if possible discard old foliage outside of the garden unless you have a compost pile that gets hot.

fertilizer ring: a 'ring' of granular soil amendments including lime, azomite, and pro-gro fertilizer are applied around the drip line of a peony in early spring

All peonies like a slightly acidic to neutral pH. Many areas of the Northeast have acidic soils. Lime is used to ‘sweeten’ the soil and raise the pH. If you are in an area with acidic soils and it's been a while since you added any lime to your peonies, spring is a great time to do so. Sprinkle one cup of garden lime around the drip line of established peonies. Use less for younger plants. 

Depending on your soil, you may also want to fertilize your plants for increased blooms. Some are blessed with rich soil which delivers all the nutrients peonies need to grow and bloom well without any fertilization. At Cricket Hill Garden, we are not so lucky. Adding compost to the soil in your garden is an investment in the long term fertility of your garden. Like many good investments, it can take a few years to pay dividends as the nutrients filter down to the root zone.

For a more immediate boost, we like to apply a granular organic fertilizer in the early spring such as Pro Gro 5-6-5. We apply 1-2 cups of this fertilizer around the base of the plant and lightly scratch it into the soil. We also use Azomite, a crushed volcanic rock powder, contains 70 different minerals and trace elements. These micro-nutrients help facilitate healthy plant growth. We have found to be an excellent supplement for our peonies, other perennials as well as in the vegetable garden. Bone meal is high phosphorus fertilizer which is also good for peonies, but is best applied in early summer after the bloom. 

The soil amendments are lightly worked into the ground. This final step of ‘scratching’ the soil amendments and fertilizer into the ground is very important. If simply left on the surface, they will cake and not break down into the soil as quickly.

One green growth has commenced, we will begin fertilizing the peonies with Neptune’s Harvest. For area where fungus is an issue for us, we apply the organic fungicide Actinovate. This is only effective when the air temperature is above 40° F.  

Pruning Cut: cutting a stub of dead wood from above live buds waking up in early spring

For tree peonies, early spring is the best time to do any necessary pruning. First remove any crossed or damaged branches. Next weak and interior growth can be pruned out. Some tree peonies are prolific in sending new shoots from the ground. While some of these can be kept and allowed to grow, allowing all to grow will sap too much energy from the established stems. Thin out all but the strongest of this new growth. Many tree peonies are grafted onto herbaceous rootstock, which is liable to sucker. If you see a herbaceous peony incongruously growing right next to your tree peony, this is the sprouted root stock. Remove these suckers. Leaving them will weaken the tree peony.

suckering rootstock: the eyes of a suckering herbaceous rootstock emerging next to a tree peony stem. These should be removed.

One of the great debates around peonies is whether or not to mulch. It has clear benefits, but if done incorrectly can also have negative effects on the plant. The best materials are double ground wood chips, bark mulch, chopped leaves and ‘clean’ compost which is free of weed seeds. Wood Chips are less than ideal but actually the material we use most here at Cricket Hill Garden. The benefits of applying a 1-2” layer of mulch around your peonies are many fold. It will suppress weeds and retain moisture in the soil as well as build soil health as the material breaks down. The dangers of using mulch are that they can build up to too heavy a layer overtime, making it difficult for the new shoots of herbaceous and intersectional peonies to emerge in the spring. Another potential pitfall is to apply too much directly around the stems of the peony. This can cause this area to retain too much moisture and lead to disease problems. It is best to keep the ‘drip line,’ the area underneath the foliage of the plant, free of mulch. Beyond the drip line the mulch will serve all of its beneficial roles in the garden without posing a danger to the peony.

Wood chip mulch: A layer of wood chip mulch helps suppress weeds around a woodland herbaceous peony

Now that you have your peonies all prepped for the coming season, it is time to actually stop working for a little while and enjoy the fleeting beauty of spring in your garden!

Cricket Hill Garden offers tree peonies, herbaceous peonies and fruit trees by mail order and in their nursery.

Cricket Hill Garden, 670 Walnut Hill Rd. Thomaston, CT 06787, 860-283-9393, treepeony.com. Open Tuesday to Saturday 10 am-4 pm.

Spring in New England's Garden in the Woods

bloodroot

April is the perfect time to visit Garden in the Woods, New England’s living museum of rare and common native plants. It is also the home of the Native Plant Trust, whose mission is to conserve and promote the region’s native plants, and encourage both home and professional gardeners to choose natives when they plant outdoor spaces. 

great white trillium

trillium cuneatum

Garden in the Woods began in 1931 when Will C. Curtis, a self-trained botanist and landscape architecture graduate of Cornell University, purchased 30 acres in north Framingham. He began clearing, planting, and sharing his garden with others. When he opened the garden to the public in 1934, Curtis wrote: “I am bringing together all the Wild Flowers and Ferns hardy in this latitude and establishing them in natural environments where they can easily be reached and enjoyed by the interested public.”

As he entered his 80s, Curtis became concerned about the future of his garden in the midst of a busy city. In an agreement with the New England Wild Flower Society, he pledged to donate the garden if an endowment of $250,000 could be raised. Wild flower hobbyists from every state and Canada, along with 450 different garden clubs, conservation groups, foundations and businesses, heeded the call. On Curtis’s 82nd birthday in 1965, the deed was transferred to the Society. With the land came Curtis’ collection of nearly 2,000 native plant species. Within a few years, the Society moved from its Boston headquarters to the garden, added a nature center, and purchased 15 acres of adjoining land as a buffer from surrounding housing developments.

rue anemone

Erythronium, scilla and bleeding hearts

Today the Garden is the largest landscaped collection of wildflowers in New England, containing over 1,700 kinds of plants representing about 1,000 species, 200 of which rare and endangered. Ponds fringed by native blue irises, swamps with skunk cabbage, and a bog where carnivorous yellow pitcher plants catch flies illustrate the variety of Massachusetts habitats. Rare and common native flora create a changing tapestry of flowers and foliage throughout the seasons.

Mayapples unfurling their leaves

canadian anemone

The best time to visit Garden in the Woods is in the spring, when the blooms of trout lilies, squirrel corn, Virginia bluebells, pink lady’s slipper orchids, Canada violets, blue woodland phlox, twinleaf, and Jack-in-the-pulpits cover the forest floor. In late spring, rhododendrons and azaleas burst into bloom, followed by clethra and the legendary franklinia in summer. Curtis was a fan of white flowers, and you see them everywhere: white varieties of wild geranium, bluebells, Virginia rose, great lobelia and cardinal flower. Partridgeberry and red baneberry, which normally produce red fruit, here produce white.

marsh marigold

Since the gardens are planted with natives and maintained organically, they attract a multitude of butterflies, honeybees, and other insect pollinators, as well as frogs, turtles, black snakes, dragonflies, and birds.

painted turtles bask on a log

Although the plantings look spontaneous, most of the plants were raised from seeds cultivated at the Society’s Nasami Farm nursery and meticulously placed in the landscape. A wide selection of native plants is available for sale at the gift shop. You can also purchase plants at Nasami Farm from April to early October; Saturday and Sundays, 10-5, and weekdays by appointment. 128 North St., Whately, MA, (413) 397-9922.

Other gardens dedicated to native plants include Bowman's Hill Wildflower Preserve in New Hope, PA, and Mount Cuba in Wilmington, DE. New York Botanic Garden and Stonecrop in New York, Jenkins Arboretum in PA and Leonard J Buck garden in Far Hills, NJ also have many natives. Other native plant nurseries include Native Landscapes in Pawling, NY, and Earth Tones Native Plants in Woodbury, CT.

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The Longstalk Holly

By Joan Butler

Longstalk holly (Ilex pedunculosa) is a unique and beautiful addition to the home garden. This large evergreen holly, native to China and Japan, was first grown in North America from seeds planted at the Arnold Arboretum in 1907. It has proven to be long-lived and extremely cold tolerant, with some of the original specimens still gracing the Arboretum landscape. It is dependably hardy through Zone 5. In my garden, it has survived temperatures as low as -10 degrees with ease.

Like all hollies, it prefers a well-drained, slightly acidic soil. It thrives in partial shade and has no serious pest or disease problems. Its smooth, green leaves are 2-3 inches long x 1 ½ inches wide, with a satiny sheen and gently rippled edges that catch the light.

Its most unique feature is the bright red berries that hang from one- to two-inch long slender stalks (pedicles), resembling tiny cherries. These fruits (drupes) are one-quarter inch in diameter and ripen in early fall. They persist on the plant well into winter, until they are eaten by birds and other wildlife. As is common in hollies, both male and female plants are needed in order for the female to set fruit.

My own longstalk hollies were planted over 25 years ago. They were slow-growing at first, then hit their stride and are now 12-foot tall beauties that add grace and distinction to my shrub border (upper right in photo). Their long branches are very supple, and it is amusing to watch squirrels as they try to inch their way along the swaying branches to nibble on the tasty fruits. Towards the end of winter, the only berries left uneaten are at the very tips of the branches, and I have seen robins on the ground attempting a weird jump/fly up to a low branch to grab a berry on their way down.

The longstalk holly is surprisingly under-used in the home landscape. Its lustrous, wavy leaves add depth and motion to the garden as they catch the light of the sun. Its shiny red, dangling berries add unique beauty and provide food for birds. Its graceful form adds elegance to the shrub border. In his book, Manual of Woody Landscape Plants, Michael Dirr calls it “the most handsome of the evergreen hollies that can be grown in northern gardens”. Easily grown, with few pests or diseases, and beautiful in all seasons, longstalk holly deserves a place in every home garden.

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Japanese Umbrella Pine: A Living Fossil for the Winter Garden

One of the most beautiful evergreens for the winter garden is the Japanese Umbrella Pine (Sciadopitys verticillata), a slow-growing specimen that always attracts attention. It is an elegant conifer with long, thick, lustrous needles and a fascinating history.

The Umbrella Pine is actually not a pine at all.  It is a coniferous evergreen that is now classified in its own family, the Sciadopitaceae. The Umbrella Pine can be traced to the Triassic period, some 250 million years ago, when the continents were joined and much of North America was near the Equator. At that time, the Japanese Umbrella Pine and its then-numerous relatives flourished in what is now Eurasia, northern Europe and northern North America. But as the continents moved and flowering plants replaced conifers, the Umbrella Pine’s range and species diversification shrank. Today, this once successful family is reduced to just one species growing in the cool cloud forests of central Japan at elevations of 1,500-3,000 feet.

Enthusiasts and collectors of unusual and historical specimens consider the Umbrella Pine a “living fossil”. A living fossil is any living species of plant or animal with no known close relatives outside of the fossil record. Growing a living fossil in the home garden is one way to help preserve rare or endangered plant species since it increases their geographic range. Other trees that are considered “living fossils” include the ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba), Dawn Redwood (Metasequoia), and Monkey Puzzle Tree (Araucaria araucana). For more examples of living fossils, visit the Arboretum at Dinosaur State Park in Rocky Hill, Conn., which displays more than 250 species and cultivars of trees and shrubs from the Dinosaur Age.

Japanese umbrella pines frame the entrance to the dinosaur state park in rocky hill, Ct.

Francis Parkman, a Boston historian with a passion for gardening, was the first to grow this conifer outside Japan.  In 1861, he was sent the first Umbrella Pine - along with the first Japanese maples to be grown in America - by George Hall, an Oriental trader. Parkman named this unusual conifer Japanese Umbrella Pine because the whorl of stiff flattened needles at the end of each shoot resembles the spokes of a Japanese umbrella.

Although the Umbrella Pine has a narrow growing range (Zones 5-7), it is an ideal tree for much of New England. It enjoys moist, acidic, well-drained soil, full to part sun, a sheltered location, and is not subject to diseases or pests. In nature, it grows as a 120-foot tall tree with a dense, symmetrical growth habit and reddish-brown bark that exfoliates in shreds. In the garden, it is very slow growing - often making only 6 inches of growth a year to a height of 25-40 feet. The luxuriantly rich evergreen needles are 2 to 5 inches long.

As the tree ages, 3- to 6-inch-long oval-shaped, brown pine cones will appear. Even the pine cones are slow growing – they take almost two years to mature after pollination. Because of its slow growth rate, the Umbrella Pine can be used in rock gardens. It makes a unique addition to the home landscape as a specimen or lawn tree, or even as part of a foundation planting. Attractive, unusual, but somewhat pricey, this long-lived conifer will be a prominent focal point in any garden setting.

Japanese umbrella pines frame a collection of azaleas at the kinney azalea Garden

New cultivars from Iseli Nursery include ‘Joey Cozy’, an upright, narrow variety that grows to 20’ high and withstands snow load due to its shorter branches. ‘Picola’ is a dwarf variety which grows to 4’, and ‘Richie’ grows to only 12’ high and features yellow spring growth.

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Winter Sowing for a Bountiful Harvest

I love to test new gardening techniques, and for the past two years I tried winter sowing. The technique was popularized by Trudy Davidoff, once a novice, thrifty seed starter, who was challenged for space. Her small home in New York state did not have room for grow lights and seed trays. After some research, Trudi discovered that many seeds need a chilling period to trigger germination, so she decided to mimic what happens naturally. She sowed seeds in containers in late winter and left them outdoors to germinate naturally, without supplemental water or fertilizers. The technique was a success, and Trudi spread the word through a website and Facebook group (Winter Sowers).

After experimenting with winter sowing, I am a convert. The technique is simple, inexpensive, and fun, and allows you to do some gardening during the winter. You don’t need grow lights, heat mats, or seed trays. Your seedling will not be killed by “damping off,” and you do not need to “harden off” the seedlings before planting them outside.

 When to sow

Most winter sowers recommend starting after Christmas. I sowed seeds over a period of several weeks last year. For seeds that need stratification or scarification, late January to mid February gives them enough of a chilling time to trigger germination. Seeds that don’t need it can be started later – I started some in March in my Zone 6a garden.

Photo from Joegardener.com

How to Winter Sow

In nature, cold hardy seeds can withstand freezing temperatures, but they are insulated by fallen leaves and plant debris. In winter sowing, that protection is provided by your container, which become a mini-greenhouse. Most of us already have various options to use at home: one gallon plastic milk jugs, 2-liter soda bottles, restaurant take-out containers, and plastic containers that greens and salad mixes are grown in. I used all these options last year, and also purchased some aluminum pans with plastic lids from the Dollar Store, which worked great. It’s best to have 3” of depth for the soil.

Once you’ve got your container, you need to create holes for drainage, air and venting. You can use a Phillips-head screwdriver for this. Heat up the tip of the screwdriver and touch it to the plastic. It melts a good-sized hole without much effort. Make many holes for both drainage and venting. If you’re using a milk jug or a soda bottle, slice around the circumference about 5-6” from the bottom. Don’t cut it completely off. Instead, leave about an inch to work like a sort of hinge for the lid.

For sowing, I recommend a good quality potting soil. Seed starting soil is not necessary, and also provides zero nutrients, so you will need to fertilize if you use it. Dampen the soil, and sow your seeds to the depth specified on the seed packet. Trudi recommended a “mass planting” where you scatter the seeds on the soil instead of carefully spacing them out. This works well for small seeds. Water gently, replace the lid, and label with a paint pen or permanent marker. Tape the milk jugs and soda bottles closed with duct tape, and any other lids that may fly off in a strong wind.

 Where to place containers

Your winter sown containers need the warmth of the sun, and access to rain. They should also be protected from animals and foot traffic so they don’t get knocked over and heavy winds. I placed mine close to the back door so that I could easily keep an eye on them.  As the temperatures start to warm in the spring, check the containers often for germination. It’s so exciting to see the seedlings emerge! Once they begin growing, you can cut larger openings in your container for air circulation or remove the lids. Make sure that the soil remains damp–water as needed! When the seedlings are tall enough to reach the top of the container and have a sturdy root system, they are ready to transplant into the garden.

 Plants that can be winter sown

Annuals: alyssum, calendula, celosia, cleome, cosmos, dahlia, emilia, gaillardia, helianthus, lavatera, linaria, four o’clocks, morning glory, nasturtium, nicotiana, pansy, petunia, portulaca, rudbeckia, snapdragon, sunflower, viola

Perennials: asclepsia, bellis, coreopsis, digitalis, echinacea, flax, gaura, grasses, heuchera, inula, lewisia, liatris, malva, nepeta, oenothera, poppy, red hot poker, salvia, yarrow

 Herbs: basil, chamomile, chives, dill, hyssop, marjoram, mint, oregano, parsley, sage, thyme

 Veggies: Arugula, beets, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, chard, carrots, celery, hot peppers, kale, kohlrabi, leeks, lettuce, onions, radish, pumpkin, spinach, winter squash

 See my article “12 Terrific Seed Companies for 2022” for seed company recommendations.

I hope that some of you will try winter sowing this year! With 70,000 members, the Winter Sowers Facebook group is a great resource for ideas and information. Trudi has retired, so her Winter Sown website no longer exists, but there are other online sources as well.

Sundance Orchids & Bromeliads

For the orchid or bromeliad lover, there is no better place to visit than Sundance Orchids & Bromeliads. With nine modern greenhouses situated on five acres of landscaped grounds, Sundance is the largest retail and wholesale nursery in the Fort Myers area. The selection of orchids will satisfy both the collector and the casual gardener: frilly cattleyas, oncidiums, encyclias, and phalaenopsis in shades of white, yellow, pink, and purple; delicate dendrobiums; bulbophyllums; and a large selection of vandas imported directly from Thailand.

Plants can be purchased separately or in beautifully composed arrangements in pots or Mopani driftwood logs. In addition to orchid plants and growing supplies, Sundance offers repotting services, classes, and a “Summer Camp” for orchid owners who travel.

Bromeliads are the nursery’s second focus, with a huge selection of plants available for outdoor landscaping or decoration of the lanai or indoor spaces. Tillandsias, also known as air plants, are a type of bromeliad. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes that can be displayed individually in creative containers or combined with orchids and other ferns and succulents in custom “live log” arrangements.

Like many public gardens and nurseries, Sundance Orchids grew from a hobby. Founder Lee Behrhorst retired to Florida from Pittsburg in the 1990s. When he found that he could not create a large outdoor garden in his gated community, Lee began to collect orchids for his lanai. Hobby turned into obsession, and when his collection outgrew his house, Lee began to search for greenhouse space. In 2001 he found land with a dilapidated greenhouse that became the home for his 3,000 orchids and a small nursery business. Lee’s passion began to include bromeliads, and as his business grew, so did the number of greenhouses. When he retired in early 2017, Lee sold the business to long-time employee and orchid enthusiast Jacki Garland and her partner Elijah Spurlin. Hurricane Irma devastated the nursery that year, destroying half of the greenhouses and causing huge plant losses. Jacki and Elijah have worked hard to restore the business, and no evidence of the hurricane is visible to visitors today. Beautifully planted flower beds welcome you to the greenhouses, which are overflowing with more than 25,000 orchids and 20,000 bromeliads. Travelers can have purchases shipped to their homes.

You can also order plants from the nursery’s website, sundanceorchids.com

Sundance Orchids, 16095 S. Pebble Ln., Fort Myers, FL 33912. 239-489-1234 sundanceorchids.com

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Bonnet House: An Artistic Retreat in Florida

The former home of artists Frederic and Evelyn Bartlett provides a wonderful immersion in art, architecture, international folk art, and gardens. You will find an eclectic house with an art studio, courtyard garden, shell house, and art gallery situated on 35 acres of Old Florida habitat.

Frederic Bartlett was born in 1874 in Chicago, the son of a prosperous businessman. The World’s Columbian Exposition inspired him to pursue a career in art. He studied under James Whistler and Pierre Purvis Charannes in Europe, attended the prestigious Royal Academy in Munich, and became a muralist and collector of Post-Impressionist art. Many of the masterpieces he collected by van Gogh, Matisse, Picasso, Cezanne, and Toulouse-Lautrec were later donated to the Art Institute of Chicago. 

Frederic built Bonnet House with his second wife, poet Helen Louise Birch, in 1921, when Fort Lauderdale was a small outpost on the New River. He designed the main residence to resemble a Caribbean plantation house, with a central courtyard and a hallway with brightly painted doors, window frames, and ornate railings.

Helen died in 1925, and it wasn’t until Frederic’s marriage to Evelyn Fortune Lilly in the 1930s that a renaissance of collecting and embellishing the house occurred. Frederic encouraged Evelyn to pursue her interest in art, and Evelyn became a painter in her own right. The creative couple transformed Bonnet House into a jewel box of color, pattern, and ornamentation, with paintings, antiques, and folk art collected abroad, mural-adorned ceilings, faux marbled floors, and walls inlaid with seashells.

The Bonnet House grounds are bordered by the Atlantic Ocean on one side and the Intracoastal Waterway on the other. It encompass one of the last examples of a native barrier island habitat in South Florida. Several different ecosystems can be found on the property including the Atlantic Ocean beachfront, sand dunes, a fresh water slough, mangrove wetlands, and a maritime forest. The land is a haven for fish and wildlife, migratory and indigenous birds, and for manatees that occasionally visit the canal. With acres of buffer on all sides, the house is situated in a very private peaceful oasis in the midst of a busy city.

The gardens and grounds display a blend of native and exotic flora. When you enter the property, a long allée of stately paperbark tea trees (Melaleuca quinquenervia) lines the drive. These trees sport white bottlebrush flowers and are native to Australia. The Bartletts built their boathouse in the center of the property at the end of their private canal off the Intracoastal Waterway. East of the boathouse is the fruit grove consisting of mango, sapodilla, guava, Surinam, cherry, avocado, mulberry, calabash, and citrus trees. The grove was carefully cultivated by the Bartletts and the fruits were favorite household delicacies.

The Bartletts enjoyed collecting seeds during their travels abroad and planting these exotics in their Florida garden. The Desert Garden at the front entrance of the house features yuccas, century plants, silver palms, saw palmetto, and other unusual plants from arid parts of the world. The freshwater slough east of the house is lined with two rows of Australian pines. Gumbo-limbo trees, sabal palms, and paradise trees shade masses of wild coffee, silver palm, and coonties. The bonnet lily, a native water lily with yellow flowers and the property’s namesake, still blooms in the slough.

The courtyard sports a formal garden of coquina walkways and parterres built around a central fountain. Various palms, hibiscus, gingers, and other lush tropical plants thrive in this protected space.

Evelyn loved birds and animals, and the whimsical blue and yellow aviary was built by Frederic to house her macaws, monkeys, and other pets. Today, the Brazilian squirrel monkeys still live in the wild on the estate.

Evelyn was also passionate about orchids, and her collection featured 3,000 plants. Blooming varieties are rotated regularly through the bright yellow Orchid Display House.

evelyn’s shell house

Frederic died in 1953, but Evelyn continued to return each winter. In 1983 she gave Bonnet House to the Florida Trust for Historic Preservation to ensure that the site would be preserved for the enjoyment and education of future generations.

Bonnet House Museum & Gardens 900 N. Birch Rd., Fort Lauderdale, FL 33304 954-563-5393. bonnethouse.org

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Goodbye Summer, don’t hurry back

by Antonia Hieronymus

Summer is over and Fall is here. 

No more shorts and flip-flops, 
No more lazy hazy languid days
No more the deep honking bass of the bullfrogs
No more coffee on the patio with a spectacular sunrise.
With the dwindling of summer comes the rising doubt:
Where did it go? Did I make the most of it? Was I a good steward of my garden?
There were times that pots looked wilted, and times when the weeds ran rampant. There were beds that never quite got fully planted, and seeds that were never sown.
We gardeners are masters of seeing what still needs doing, rather than appreciating the true beauty and bounty before us.
So, as I put the garden to bed for the winter, there’s a tinge of regret.
And there’s also a tinge of relief. 
No more struggling to keep up with the watering
No more mosquito bites
No more weeding

Because I live in a temperate climate, I go through this cycle every year. By Spring I will be yearning to get out there and get my hands dirty and my back sore.

 But what if I didn’t live in a state which has winter? What if I were in Zone 10 and never had a killing frost? Then I’d always have the languid, the honking and the outdoor coffee. And would I appreciate them? Probably not - friends in Arizona have pools which rarely see swimmers, whereas in contrast every year my kids plunged into the still-cold water on the much-anticipated pool opening day with shouts of glee and squeals of delight.

Summer is over and Fall is here. I will don my sweaters and fill the wood basket. Coziness will replace sweltering heat, and I’ll be happy to enjoy cider and doughnuts instead of watermelon and peaches.

After all, it’s the seasons that make gardening possible. I garden because I love that connection to the earth. I love being in touch with Nature, in all her forms. As my garden goes dormant and gets renewed in Spring, so does my enthusiasm for it. There is a reason for that long winter sleep of both my garden and my zeal for it, it is the old-as-time turning of the earth around the sun. It is fitting that I will ebb and flow with the ebbing and flowing of life itself.

Antonia gardens in Wayland, Mass.

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Gilded Age Splendor in the Hudson River Valley

In 1895 Cornelius Vanderbilt’s grandson Frederick and his wife, Louise, bought the Hudson River estate known as Hyde Park to use as their spring and fall country estate. Frederick Vanderbilt was a quiet man, active in the business of directing 22 railroads, while Louise was a wealthy socialite. They built a Neoclassical Beaux Arts mansion furnished with European antiques, and outfitted with all the latest innovations: electricity, indoor plumbing, and central heating. The final cost totaled $2.25 million—about $60.5 million in today’s dollars.

Hyde Park was a self-sustaining estate, providing food and flowers for the family’s needs there and at their other homes. The grounds had been shaped by several previous owners with horticultural interests. In the early 1800s, Dr. Samuel Bard planted exotic plants and trees in the European Picturesque style.

The next owner, Dr. David Hosack, had a passion for botany and established the first formal gardens on the estate, as well as extensive greenhouses to hold his exotic plants. He also hired André Parmentier, the most renowned landscape architect of that time, to design the landscape. Roads, bridges, and lawns were laid out to compliment natural features, while large areas were left wild. Today, much of Parmentier’s original design remains and continues to be admired for its grace and beauty. In the late 1800s, owner Walter Langdon, Jr., laid out the first formal gardens. He built the gardener’s cottage, tool house, and garden walls, which remain and are in use today.

The Vanderbilts added many amenities to the property to make it accessible, practical and beautiful. They installed their own railroad station (he was a railroad tycoon, after all), boat docks, a coach house, two new bridges over Crum Elbow Creek, a power station, and extensive landscaping.

A large, formal garden was common to most Gilded Age estates, and Frederick Vanderbilt, who had a horticulture degree from Yale University, established the Italian-style, terraced garden that we see today. An esplanade of cherry trees leads to a walled perennial garden, which opens up to a long reflecting pool and a brick loggia decorated with the statue of an odalisque in mid-dance. The path continues to a two-tier rose garden with a charming summerhouse.

The upper garden features formal beds, while the lower garden was planted in the Victorian “bedding out style” of annuals that swept through the country in the late 1800s. This garden exhibits a mélange of curvilinear shapes—crescents, hearts, and circular beds, all planted with bright annuals.

The Vanderbilts were part of a new wave of urban elite that moved to the Hudson River Valley to enjoy relaxed country living, the sporting life, farming, and outdoor recreation. Hyde Park saw lavish weekend parties with horseback riding, golf, tennis, and swimming, followed by formal dinners and dancing. When not hosting guests, the Vanderbilts strolled through the gardens and greenhouses twice daily and visited the farm.

These greenhouses were operational during the Vanderbilt era. When the Vanderbilts were in residence, the greenhouse staff began each day by gathering cut flowers from the carnation and rose houses, bringing them to the mansion, and arranging them in the service area of the basement. The parlor and chamber maids placed them in designated locations on the upper floors. The butler ordered flowers from the greenhouses daily, and created all of the arrangements for the Dining Room himself. If the Vanderbilts were in New York, the greenhouse staff boxed the cut flowers and shipped them to the city.

After Frederick Vanderbilt’s death in 1938, the federal government purchased the estate, thanks to the intervention of President Franklin Roosevelt. While the grounds, landscaping, and buildings were preserved, there were no funds to maintain the gardens, which suffered years of neglect. Today the landscape is restored to its 1930s appearance, thanks to the Frederick William Vanderbilt Garden Association—a group of volunteers who have worked tirelessly to bring the gardens to their former glory. The formal gardens were replanted with 3,200 perennials and 2,000 roses. An additional 6,500 annuals are planted every year. The restored gravel paths, shady arbors, ornate statues, and bubbling fountains give the visitor a glimpse of life in the Gilded Age. The mansion is also beautifully decorated and open for tours for the holidays.

Vanderbilt Mansion, 119 Vanderbilt Park Rd., Hyde Park, NY 12538, (845) 229-7770 nps.gov/vama/index.htm

Excerpted from The Garden Tourist: 120 Destination Gardens and Nurseries in the Northeast

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Irrigation is Irregular

By Antonia Hieronymus

We just experienced the driest summer ever. The weather shows no signs of abating. Grass is brown, streams are just piles of rock and the reservoir has retreated, uncovering piles of dank stinking mud. Gardens are suffering, plants are struggling to survive.

Irrigation systems protect the  garden from the effects of drought. They are relatively affordable and dependable, offering stressed gardeners peace of mind that their hard work will not shrivel up and die, and offering them the chance to get on with other tasks.

So why don’t I have an irrigation system?

I spend hours watering by hand, in this time of drought an average of two hours a day.

It feels like I don’t have the time for so much labor, and yet still I resist an irrigation system.

The truth is that watering by hand is one of the most effective things I do in the garden. Not because I’m better with a hose than an inground system could be, but because it gives me time with my plants.

When I am watering I go around each bed, each tree and shrub.  I’m keenly aware of how much water each item needs and exactly how much it has received in recent days. I look at every plant individually, to see how it is faring. If it needs staking, or is getting diseased, I will notice. If its flowers are particularly splendid, I will rejoice, and equally if it is languishing, I will figure out why.  The beds which don’t quite work from a design standpoint I will transform. I get all my best ideas when I am watering.

I give a shout of joy when it rains, as gardeners I’m sure we all do. But if it rains for days I am already disconnected.

The reason I garden in the first place is that I love the connection to the earth, feeling the soil between my fingers. I make this huge investment of time, money and soul because it is my self-expression, my art.

Giving up the watering feels like being a parent and having someone else raise your kids—sure someone could do it, even raise them well, but the parent is the one missing out. Missing out on the highs and lows, the  victories and disappointments.

For my garden I want to be that parent who never misses a parent- teacher conference and who chaperones every field trip. I don’t want to miss a single minute of the growing up.

I’ll keep my hose.

Antonia gardens in Wayland, Mass.

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Resplendent Dahlias on Enders Island

Looking for a wonderful daytrip? Enders Island is a beautiful 11-acre sanctuary off the coast of Mystic, Connecticut, and the site of St. Edmund’s Retreat, a Catholic Retreat Center. Accessible by a short causeway, the island provides an atmosphere of serenity and spirituality with its lovely gardens, seascapes and seaside Chapel.

The island was once the home of Dr. Thomas and Alys Enders, who gifted it to the Society of St. Edmund, a Catholic community of priests and brothers in 1954. It has since grown to serve a ministry of hope and healing, providing spiritual retreats, an institute of sacred art, and a ministry to people in recovery.

The gardens began in the early 1900s when the Enders transformed the barren island into their home. They built an Arts and Crafts stone house and began extensive landscape renovations. When the 1938 New England Hurricane devastated the island, the Enders commissioned the construction of the seawall that still protects the island today.

Restoration work on the gardens began in 1993. Fr. Thomas F. X. Hoar, SSE, recruited friends from throughout New England to help clean up and restore the landscape, which had become choked with weeds. In 2007, dahlia enthusiast Gayle Wentworth began attending mass on Enders Island. At the time, there were few gardens on the property, but Gayle saw the land’s potential. With a gift of tubers that were planted in two garden plots, the dahlia gardens were established.

Since then, the garden has grown to almost four acres in size, with 24 plots of dahlias. Gayle, now known as the “Dahlia Lady” continues to share her many gifts and talents, contributes dahlias from her own gardens, and obtains tubers from other growers and hybridizers. In 2021 an heirloom dahlia garden was established with contributions from heirloom growers. There are currently more than 2,000 dahilias of 400 varieties in the gardens. Peak blooming season spans mid-August to mid-September, when 90 percent of the flowers are in bloom. Many dahlias continue to dazzle until frost in mid-October.

In addition to the dahlia gardens, a rose garden with 80 rose bushes provides a lovely floral display outside the Our Lady of Assumption Chapel. Grapes, apples, peaches, pears, and peppers also flourish in the Island’s soil, later appearing in a variety of pies and jams crafted annually by staff and volunteers. Nestled into a natural rock amphitheater, the Garden of Two Hearts is a memorial to lost loved ones. Stone walls and walkways frame the gardens, and statuary enhances the reverent atmosphere.

Enders Island is located off of Mystic CT. (860) 536-0565 endersisland.org

Excerpted from The Garden Tourist’s New England, second edition, available here.

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Roses by the Sea at Fuller Gardens

Roses are the main event at Fuller Gardens. Now a test garden for the American Rose Society, it showcases more than 1,200 rose bushes. The 125 varieties have staggered bloom times, so there is color from June until October.

Fuller Gardens began as Runnymede-by-the-Sea, the summer estate of Bostonians Alvan and Viola Fuller. Alvan was a self-made businessman, art collector, philanthropist, and politician who served as governor of Massachusetts in the 1920s. The original landscape was designed by Arthur A. Shurtleff, but the garden evolved and was enlarged over the years, with the help of the Olmsted Brothers firm of Boston. The front garden was designed as the estate’s showpiece in 1938. It was meant to be appreciated from the street and utilized a “false perspective,” in which the back of the garden is narrower than the front, making the space appear longer than it actually is.

The Fullers rarely frequented the garden themselves, but they enjoyed viewing it from the upstairs bedroom windows and welcomed the public. The front garden was planted with hundreds of roses in formal parterre beds, and surrounded by hedges and flower borders filled with coneflowers, astilbe, salvias, baptisia, and geraniums. Statuary and tuteurs draped with clematis punctuated the hedges.

In addition to the front garden, you will find a second rose garden that is laid out in a circular pattern surrounding a central antique wellhead. It is enclosed by a privet hedge and a cedar fence upon which are trained espaliered apple trees. Perennial borders flank the beds of roses.

A shady Japanese garden provides a quiet sanctuary, with paths leading through hostas, ferns, azaleas, mountain laurel, and rhododendrons surrounding a pool filled with giant koi.

Near the remaining carriage house, a glass conservatory houses tropical plants, begonias, and vines. A large display bed of dahlias provides stunning color in late summer.

The gardens are meticulously maintained by a knowledgeable staff headed by director Jamie Colen. The roses are protected from harsh winter temperatures with buckets of soil heaped upon their crowns in early December. Instead of using mulch to suppress weeds, the staff weed the beds twice a week and pay careful attention to soil quality, amending it regularly with compost and lime. As a result, the roses are healthy and vigorous, with few pests and almost no diseases, so chemical treatments are unnecessary. As they age and need to be replaced, new roses are purchased from Roseland Nurseries in Acushnet, Massachusetts. The colorful gardens continue to delight the public as they did almost 100 years ago, and the Fullers are probably happily watching from above.

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It’s All in the Company They Keep

Article and photos by Joan Butler

As any plant collector will tell you, once you’ve been bitten by the “collecting bug”, you acquire a kind of acquisitive madness. You begin to notice subtle details of the plants you desire – details that somehow seem to go unnoticed by friends and family. You begin to seek out nurseries that specialize in the plants you crave, and you are willing to drive great distances to get there. And if you happen to have a friend who is bitten by the same bug – watch out! You will become what I call “enablers” to each other and suddenly you will find yourself with dozens (or hundreds) of beautiful specimens planted cheek-by-jowl in your garden beds. But your collection may not actually function as a garden.

Hosta Orange Marmalade

When I was bitten by the “Hosta Bug” many years ago, I followed the trajectory I just described. I still collect, but at a much slower pace, and I have worked at making my collection function in my garden by incorporating companion plants. When I think about pairing plants, I consider color (complementary or contrasting), texture (usually contrasting), as well as form, pattern and size.

Hosta Maui Buttercup, Lady's Mantle, Sundrops

Pairing yellow hosta with yellow foliage or yellow flowers creates a “Wow” moment in the garden. Hosta ‘Maui Buttercups’ is a medium/large yellow hosta, with stunning corrugated, cupped leaves – a truly beautiful form. The fuzzy chartreuse flowers of Lady’s Mantle (Alchemilla mollis) and the pops of bright yellow offered by the Sundrops (Oenothera) really call attention to the hosta and to the entire garden area.

Hosta Allegan Fog, iris Cristata

I absolutely love our little native Crested Iris (Iris cristata), and use it extensively in my gardens. Here it is paired with the unfurling foliage of Hosta ‘Allegan Fog’. Crested Iris adds spiky texture to the front of the border and contrasts effectively with the more solid form of hostas. And its colorful spring flowers of purple, white or lavender add another point of interest.

Hosta Aventurine, epimedium, bloodroot

One thing I particularly love about pairing epimedium with hosta, is that the shape of most epimedium leaves echoes the shape of the hosta leaves, but on a more delicate scale. I also appreciate the changeable colors of epimedium foliage, which allows them to influence neighboring plants differently depending on the season. Here, the early spring foliage of Epimedium x versicolor “Cupreum” contrasts and complements the sturdy blue Hosta ‘Aventurine’. The groundcover behind the two is our native bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis). As the season progresses, the Epimedium leaves will become solid green, the bloodroot foliage will expand, and the hosta will produce flowers and its foliage will take on greener tones. All working together to produce different garden scenes.

Hosta Sagae, ferns, epimedium

The fine-textured foliage of ferns makes them perfect partners for hostas – that textural contrast elevates both! Hosta ‘Sagae’ is a large, upright, vase-shaped hosta that can be grown in sun or shade.  When grown in shade, pair it with Maidenhair fern (Adiantum pedatum) for textural contrast and Japanese Painted fern (Atherium niponicum) for textural and color contrast. Add an Epimedium grandiflorum cultivar into the mix and you have an eye-catching quartet from spring until fall.

Hosta Salute, Viburnum.

Woody plants with variegated or non-green foliage can bring a different level of interest to the hosta garden. The leaves of some trees and shrubs have variegation similar to many hostas (such as green leaves edged in white) and some have mottled variegation that pick up on the colors of the hosta planted in their midst. The leaves of Viburnum lantana ‘Variegatum’ have splashes of blue that echo the blue of Hosta ‘Salute’ and other blue hosta planted nearby. And its woody, open form adds year-round interest to the garden.

Hosta, hellebore

Hellebores also add year-round interest to the hosta garden. Their palmate evergreen foliage adds textural contrast during the hosta growing season and winter interest when the herbaceous plants have died back. Last year I planted a lovely hellebore with variegated foliage, including pink venation, called ‘Penny’s Pink’. Its dusky purple flowers were a welcome sight this spring and its gorgeous foliage contributes to its companion hosta throughout the growing season.

Hosta Ann Kulpa, Hosta Mabel-Maria Herweg, Heuchera

There are nearly 300 different hosta cultivars growing in my gardens and I try to get them to work together. For example, I pair blue hosta and yellow hosta for contrast and interest. And I might add a blue hosta with a yellow edge into the mix to tie it all together. I also pair variegated hostas that have different patterns. Here Hosta ‘Ann Kulpa’, green with a central yellow stripe, complements Hosta ‘Mabel-Maria Herweg’, green with a yellow edge. I complete the picture by including purple coral bells (Heuchera), a companion plant with a contrasting color.

Hosta Sugar & Spice, Corydalis

Other suggestions for great hosta companion plants include Yellow Corydalis (Corydalis lutea), Solomon’s Seal (Polygonatum), Fringed Bleeding Heart (Dicentra eximia), Foamflower (Tiarella), Columbine (Aquilegia), Astilbe and Japanese Fountain Grass Hakonechloa).

Gardening with a collection is an adventure: a collector’s garden can contain an extraordinary number of plants. Incorporating companion plants and using design elements (color, texture, pattern and form) can transform an obsession into a garden.

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Beauport: An Eclectic Seaside Getaway

If you are interested in interior design, architecture, historic homes, and antiques as well as gardens, you will thoroughly enjoy Beauport. Beauport was the summer home of Henry Davis Sleeper, one of the country’s first professional interior designers. Perched in a dramatic setting on Gloucester’s Eastern Point, Beauport showcases Sleeper’s unique vision and artistic talent in 40 beautifully preserved rooms and a small lush garden.

Eastern Point was developed as a wealthy summer enclave in the early 1900s. Sleeper came from a prominent Boston family and was introduced to the area in 1906. He was “clearly besotted” by the site’s natural beauty, purchased a waterfront lot, and began constructing his esoteric residence. The home looks like it belongs in a fairy tale, with a blend of Gothic, medieval, early Colonial, and Arts and Crafts architecture. Built of stone and wood, it features steeply pitched roofs, round towers, a belfry, ornate chimneys, and diamond-paned leaded-glass windows.

The interior is a warren of eclectic rooms connected by alcoves and stairways and packed with more than 10,000 furnishings, salvaged architectural details, and decorative objects. Each room has its own theme based on literature, a historical event, or a collection.

You will see a Jacobean-style dining room that feels like an English pub; a colonial-era kitchen; a marine master parlor overlooking Gloucester Harbor; a two-story, balconied book tower; and the “China Trade” room, with its pagoda-inspired balcony and 1780s hand-printed Chinese wallpaper.

Beauport was both a home and a professional showcase and led to a successful interior design career that included clients such as Isabella Stewart Gardner, Henry Francis du Pont, and Hollywood celebrities. After Sleeper passed away, the mansion was purchased in 1935 by Helena Woolworth McCann who preserved it mostly unchanged. Her heirs donated it to Historic New England in 1942.

Like the house, the garden evolved over several decades and is characteristic of an Arts and Crafts design. It is divided into several formal outdoor rooms and intimate spaces accented with sundials and classical statuary. The entry garden’s boxwood hedge and gravel paths enclose a small cottage garden of lush perennials. Brick patios and flower-edged terraces at the back of the house overlook the harbor. Further from the house, the materials change to rough stone, flowing lines adapt to the natural contours of the site, and plantings feature native shrubs and perennials and Pennsylvania sedge lawns. The garden was restored in 2012 to its 1920s appearance.

75 Eastern Point Blvd., Gloucester, MA 01930, (978) 283-0800, historicnewengland.org/property/beauport-sleeper-mccann-house

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Rhododendrons with Attractive Foliage

By Joe Bruso, President, Rhododendron Society of America, Massachusetts Chapter

Rhododendrons are very popular spring-blooming shrubs with flowers in most colors.  The larger-leaved types available at garden centers bloom primarily in May, while most of the smaller-leaved types bloom in April.  Once the colorful blooms have faded, these plants are generally thought of as just green bushes.  What if they could be a focus of attention for more than the 2-4 weeks during which each individual plant is blooming?  Fortunately for those of us who love this genus, there are many plants that have attractive new growth and foliage that makes them a focus of attention all year.  While most long-time rhododendron growers know this, it may not be so well known among our newer members. This article provides an introduction to some of these plants.

New Growth

For some rhododendrons new growth can rival the blooms themselves for color and attractiveness.  It can be equivalent to a second bloom period, except sometimes lasting much longer than the blooms themselves.  For such plants, attractive color and texture can be seen on new shoots, bracts on those shoots, and hairs on the stems and leaves.  Bracts are modified leaves that originate as inner bud scales – the small, overlapping structures that protect dormant buds.  When these buds begin to grow, the bracts expand to look like small leaves, becoming very colorful, typically pink to bright red.  Bracts are temporary, withering and falling off as the new growth continues to expand and mature.  Some of my favorites include hybrids that have the species Rhododendron rex, R. macabeanum, and R. strigillosum in their parentage.  Although these species themselves are too tender for much of New England, they pass their colorful attributes on to their hardy hybrid progeny.  R. auriculatum can be grown as-is in much of New England, providing very dramatic late new growth.

R. auriculatum (left) and R. macabeanum hybrid (right) new growth showing colorful bracts

Foliage Shape and Size

A number of rhododendron species and hybrids have distinctively shaped leaves.  At their extremes, leaves can range from perfectly round to extraordinarily long and narrow.

Large Leaves

Some rhododendron species have leaves significantly larger than those of most rhododendrons grown in our area.  Although they are not hardy enough to grow in the colder parts of New England, many hybrids between these “big leafs” and hardy rhododendrons have been made, resulting in hardy hybrids that approximate the look of the species.  Mostly robust growers, these hybrids need space.  One of the features found in some of these hybrids is an interesting texture to the leaves.  One of my favorites is an R. rex hybrid with the hardy species R. brachycarpum.

R. sinogrande – very large leaves but tender, in UK garden (left), R. brachycarpum x R. rex (hardy “Big Leaf” hybrid) with textured leaves (right).

Round Leaves

Several rhododendron species have almost perfectly round leaves.  They range in size from less than 1” for the tender species R. williamsianum to several inches in diameter for two recently introduced and hardier species, R. yuefengense and R. platypodum.  One of the best williamsianum hybrids for our area is ‘Minas Grand Pre’, which is a hardy, slow growing mound with attractive, pink bell-shaped flowers.  Hybridizers are working hard with the other species mentioned and are producing some very attractive, round-leaved plants with much larger leaves than ‘Minas Grand Pre’.

Rhododendron ‘Minas Grand Pre’, R. yuefengense (left) and R. yuefengense x R. platypodum (right).

Narrow Leaves

Several species have long, narrow leaves.  The best example of this characteristic is found in R. makinoi.  It is very hardy in our area, and has many other desirable characteristics besides the leaf shape, including silvery hairy new growth, compact habit and retention of leaves for several years.  It is one of my favorite species, both as-is, and for use in hybridizing.

R. makinoi (left) and R. makinoi x R. strigillosum (right) showing narrow leaves and colorful, hairy new growth.

Hairy Foliage

Attractive hairs on stems and foliage (called indumentum) is perhaps the trait that most excites rhododendron foliage enthusiasts.  These hairs come in a wide range of colors.  They can appear on all parts of the new growth:  expanding and mature stems, and both the upper and lower leaf surfaces.  On the upper surfaces, hair color can be a bit muted, ranging from pure white, silvery, blue-green and muted burgundy, but also through light rusty-orange. 

Hairs on the upper leaf surface can last for several months with rain gradually wearing them off.  Examples include R. yakushimanum and R. makinoi and their hybrids, and R. bureavii and R. pachysanthum hybrids.  R. yakushimanum was one of the first species introduced into New England that showed these characteristics.  It has been extensively hybridized so there are many hybrids available, some of which can be found at local garden centers.  Two of the more common and attractive hybrids are ‘Mist Maiden’ and ‘Ken Janeck’.

Rhododendrons grown for foliage showing range of hair color on upper leaf surfaces. R. ‘Golfer’ appears in the foreground, R. makinoi behind that.

In contrast to hairs on the upper surface, the color of hairs on leaf undersides can be intense.  A favorite group for this characteristic is R. bureavii hybrids which have a thick layer of orange-rusty-colored indumentum.  The hybrid ‘Cinnamon Bear’ is an outstanding example.  Some types hold their leaves at an angle or even upright, allowing the colored undersides to be viewed from a distance.  Hairs on the leaf undersides are permanent, changing in color over time from pure white or light-colored to a darker color, often orange or reddish.

‘Cinnamon Bear’ (left) and ‘Cinnamon Bear’ x ‘Jade ‘n Suede’ (right).

Pigmented Mature Foliage

Some rhododendrons have deeply pigmented new leaves.  A subset of these retain this pigmentation for an extended period of time.  A great example is a form of the species R. fargesii called ‘Rudy Berg’.  Its leaves retain their burgundy color for up to 2 months.

 Another group of rhododendrons, selections of our native R. maximum and some of its hybrids, show what I call the “Red Max Effect”.  Decades ago a small colony of R. maximum was found in the Appalachian Mountains showing an unusually high degree of red pigmentation in stems, leaves and flowers.  These traits are passed on to some of its hybrids.  Particularly noticeable are reddish leaf centers.  This trait is visible all year long.

R. maximum (left) and R. maximum x R. adenopodum (right) foliage showing “Red Max Effect”.

“Red Max Effect” as seen in the flowers:  bicolor pink truss in foreground, red truss in background, on the same plant.

A selection of the species R. neriiflorum called ‘Rosevallon’ maintains red leaf undersides throughout its life.  This trait is passed on to a high percentage of its hybrid offspring.  Several named hybrids have been marketed, including one called ‘Everred’.  While this and similar hybrids may be marginally hardy in parts of New England, I’ve made successful crosses between ‘Rosevallon’ and hardy plants such as R. ‘Janet Blair’ that produced fully hardy plants with red foliage.

R. fargesii ‘Rudy Berg’ (left) and ‘Janet Blair’ x ‘Rosevallon’ (right)

Fall Color

Some rhododendrons display spectacular fall color before dropping some or all of their leaves.  Deciduous azaleas, which are within the genus Rhododendron, often develop bright yellow to crimson color in the leaves before they drop.  Similarly, many of the small-leaved type of rhododendrons (PJM being an example of this type) also develop bright colors in the older leaves before they are lost.  R. quinquefolium, a species from Japan, often has picoteed leaves, both on new spring leaves and on fall foliage.

Fall Color: R. quinquefolium (left), R. vaseyi (right).

Conclusion

Rhododendron flowers are beautiful and are the primary reason most people grow rhododendrons, but consider selecting and growing plants for foliage as well.  Colorful new growth can provide a second “bloom” season.  Colorful hairs, leaf shape, texture and leaf size can add many additional months of interest to your garden.  Of course, all of these rhododendrons bloom as well.  Unfortunately, many of the foliage plants discussed here are not readily available from garden centers, but they can be obtained from some specialty growers, mail-order companies and from the Massachusetts Chapter’s Plants for Members (P4M) program.  To find out more about P4M, contact one of the P4M chairmen listed on our website (MassRhododendron.org), including me at jpbruso@aol.com.

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Entering Rhododedron Trusses in a Flower Show

The following advice on preparing a truss for showing was written in 1983 by Evie Cowles for the Mass. Chapter of the Rhododendron Society Newsletter. It is a useful guide for those who wish to enter a rhododendron truss in a flower show.

1. Perfect condition is essential. This means healthy, unblemished foliage to set off the florets.  If you think of the leaves as a frame for a picture, you will appreciate how insect bites or browning reduces aesthetic appeal.  The large-leaved variety, ideally, is presented as a truss sitting on a perfect circle of leaves.

2. Blossoms should be open, but not over-mature.  One with a still-closed bud is preferable to another with florets on the point of dropping.  This particularly applies to the selection of azaleas. 

3. As with most cut flowers, rhododendrons benefit from a 24-hour hardening-off period to prevent wilting during the show.  The stem is trimmed before plunging the truss up to its neck in lukewarm water. Set the truss in a cold, draft-free spot for 24 hours. If a heavy rain is predicted before the show, cut your perfect trusses and extend this for a few days.

4. Before the truss is placed on display, it’s a good idea to make a fresh cut of the stem base. 

5. Very early rhododendron varieties can be shown out of season if they have been kept in cold storage.  The truss is stored dry in a sealed plastic bag in a refrigerator until the day before the show.  (It is also helpful to inflate the bag by blowing air into it, as if it were a balloon.  This will prevent the plastic from damaging the tissues of the truss).

 6. All the care in the world up to this point is useless if the trusses are bashed en route to the show.  For a short drive, it’s fine to lay them in shallow boxes.  For a longer distance, it’s better to put them upright in water in pop bottles or cans that are braced to prevent tipping or crowding.

7. If you have a truss of an unusual, difficult, or particularly beautiful variety, even if the foliage is in poor condition, enter the truss and you will likely get at least an Honorable Mention.  Many times, your newest plants are still quite small so that if gypsy moths or weevils chew the foliage, there are not a lot of other trusses to choose from – and these are the very cultivars that others are eager to see.  So be brave and enter your new or unusual less-than-perfect trusses.

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How to Create Soil That Last

One of my gardening friends is a big proponent of using biochar in her garden, so I asked Pat White, founder of Kalanso Biochar, to tell us about its history and benefits.

By Pat White, Kalanso Biochar 

Many moons ago I asked complete strangers what their biggest challenges were with their soil. I got a lot of different responses. But a common theme emerged. Folks wanted to figure out how to make their soil low-maintenance. They grew tired of having the bring in new soil every year. They wanted their soil to be dependable and long-lasting. One response even said, “To figure out how to make it better after 25 years of adding compost and not getting anywhere.”

That last one tickled me.

You see, several years ago I travelled to this tiny, little six acre organic farm in a small, rural Massachusetts town to visit with a man who was answering that very same question! His name was Dan. And there was a time when he didn't actually know if his farm was going to make it.

Dan had this daily ritual where he would take these walks through his fields to inspect (i.e. "collect data like a scientist") how things were going. After doing this day after day, it got to the point where, as much as he wanted to, he couldn't deny the truth any longer. What he saw was that his soil was falling apart.

Farmer Dan was no spring chicken. He was a trained and certified organic farmer, meaning:

• He was using organic fertilizers (in the correct ratios.)

• He was composting.

• He was mulching.

• Planting cover-crops.

• Tilling.

In other words...he was doing everything he had trained to do. And his soil was still falling apart. No soil, no farm. No farm, no livelihood. So what did Dan do? Did he decide to just call it quits? Nope.

Remember, he's a scientist. And what do scientists do? They go to conferences! So that's what he did. He went to conferences to learn. And at one of them he learned a lesson that sticks with him to this very day. The soil runs on autopilot when all of its parts are working together.

And Dan learned the fastest, quickest, and easiest way to get all the parts of the soil working together is by using biochar. Biochar is a soil amendment. It’s created naturally anytime there’s a forest fire. (Or anytime you fire up your wood stove.) And its Mother Nature’s secret code to running on autopilot. You can use it in your gardens and landscapes, too, to create the lasting soil you’ve wanted.

Pat White adding Biochar to plantings on the Esplanade in Boston

On the surface, biochar kind of looks like charcoal. And that’s how you’ll hear people compare it. However, I think comparing it to charcoal does it a disservice.  Chemically, it’s much closer to graphite - like from a graphite pencil. And that distinction is important, because it carries with it several well-studied scientific principles.

First is the principle of “cation exchange”. See, your plants don’t use most of the fertilizer you give them. A lot is actually wasted. And that means you need to go out and buy more and use more (which isn’t all that good for the environment).

What if you could stick a plant nutrient magnet in your soil that could hold onto all the unused plant nutrients? And what if it could slow release them back to your plants when they need them. On demand? 

Enter biochar. Biochar keeps those unused nutrients in the soil longer, and releases them back to your plants when they need them. That’s a big deal because now your plants can access nutrients on-demand and you can stop having to micromanage your soil chemistry.

The second principle is “surface area”. What if you didn’t have to water your plants as much? Or... What if you got hit by drought? How would your plants handle it? Below you see tomato plants grown during drought. The one on the left is in regular soil, the one on the right has Biochar added to soil.

Or... What if you didn’t have to worry about heavy clay soil? Biochar is incredibly porous. In fact, one gram has the surface area of a football field. And it helps the soil hold onto water for longer. And it helps the soil breathe. (Oxygen in the soil is important, too!)

The relationship between your plants and soil microbes is incredibly important. The stronger that relationship is, the more low-maintenance your soil is. And biochar helps strengthen that relationship the moment it sets foot in your soil because soil microbes of various shapes and sizes build their forever homes in it.

And last but not least, the third principle is “stability.” Biochar is very WYSYWIG. That means “what you see is what you get.” It has well understood “cation-exchange” benefits. It has well understood “surface area” benefits. And it has another benefit, too, that is well understood. (And this benefit has people in climate change circles around the globe very giddy.) Properly made biochar has a theoretical life-span of one million years.I know that number is too big to be meaningful to anyone. But that’s why you may hear it referred as “stable carbon.”

Biochar is a “permanent” soil amendment. That means when you add biochar to your soil, it stays there. Year after year. With all the benefits of “cation exchange” and “surface area” compounding over time. How cool is that?

What’s interesting to me about that is that lasting soil is within our reach. And the vehicle for it has been under all our noses for billions of years... ever since the very first time Mother Nature set wood aflame.

Anyhoo...I hope that’s helpful. I hope you decide to learn more about biochar and use it with everything you grow. If you’d like to learn more, you can visit: https://www.successfulgrowersecrets.com/jm Just confirm your email address for me, and I’ll give you a mini-class I created called “How To Create Soil That Lasts” where I go more in-depth than I could in this article. The mini-class even includes a biochar “garden tour plant trial” we did in California during a drought, which was pretty cool to see.

And as for farmer Dan? You’ll have to watch the mini-class to find out.

Here’s to lasting soil!

For more information: successfulgrowersecrets.com/jm

Best Spring Bulb Displays in the Northeast 2022

Tower Hill Botanic Garden

Ready to welcome spring after a long Northeast winter? Nothing lifts the spirit like a stroll among masses of daffodils, tulips and other spring bulbs. Here’s my list of wonderful spring bulb displays to enjoy this year.

Tower Hill Botanic Garden

Tower Hill Botanic Garden

Mid-April to late May, Boylston, MA

Enjoy a changing bulb display at Tower Hill Botanic garden, beginning with Reticulated Iris and Hyacinths in mid-April, fields of 25,000 daffodils in late April to early May, and gorgeous tulip displays in mid to late May. Daffodils Day May 4-5. towerhillbg.org

Tower hill Botanic Garden

Tower Hill Botanic Garden

Spring Bloom Fest at The Stevens Coolidge House and Gardens

Spring Bloom Fest at The Stevens Coolidge House and Gardens

April 21—May 15, N. Andover, MA

Immerse yourself in the beauty of more than 175,000 tulips and other bulbs, filling nine display gardens with the exuberant colors of spring.. the trustees

Naumkeag Daffodil and Tulip Festival

April 21—May 15, Stockbridge, MA

Stroll through the 8 acres of our world-renowned gardens decorated with over 75,000 daffodil, tulip and minor bulbs as we celebrate spring in the Berkshires. the trustees

Nantucket Daffodil Festival

Nantucket Daffodil Festival

April 22-24, Nantucket, MA

Nantucket’s annual daffodil celebration includes the Nantucket Daffodil Flower Show, a window decorating contest, antique car parade, tours, and art shows. Come in costume to the Daffy Hat Contest and children’s parade. daffodilfestival.com

Nantucket Daffodil Festival

Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens

Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens

Late April–late May, Boothbay, ME

Coastal Maine’s display gardens feature thousands of tulips, daffodils and other spring bulbs from late April to late May in one of New England’s premier public gardens. mainegardens.org

Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens

Blithewold Daffodil Days

Blithewold Daffodil Days

April through Mid-May, Bristol, RI

The Bosquet, a cultivated woodland, features more than 50,000 daffodils at Blithewold Mansion Gardens and Arboretum. You will also see many woodland wildflowers in bloom.  blithewold.org

Heritage Museums & Gardens

Heritage Museums & Gardens

Mid April–mid May, Sandwich, MA

A spectacular Bulb River of 35,000 grape hyacinths highlighted with 1,500 white daffodils flows on the grounds of Heritage Museums & Gardens in spring. The grape hyacinths begin to open in mid April and reach their peak around Mother’s Day. heritagemuseumsandgardens.org

Wicked Tulips (photo by Beth Reis)

Wicked Tulips Flower Farm

Late April–mid May, Exeter, RI and Preston, CT

Wicked Tulips has the largest u-pick tulip field in New England, with 600,000 early, mid, and late blooming tulips. Enjoy the fields of color, and bring home a fresh hand-picked bouquet. The early tulips begin blooming in late April, followed by waves of later blooming tulips until Mother’s Day. The website Bloom Report provides important updates and allows you to see what is in bloom. Advance tickets are required and must be purchased online. wickedtulips.com

Newport Daffodil Days

Newport Daffodil Days Festival

April, Newport, RI

Now in its 6th year, the Newport Daffodil Festival has beautified the city with more than 1 million daffodils. The week-long celebration includes a garden party, classic car parade, concerts, tours, dog parade and much more. Don’t miss the display of 11,000 daffodils of 29 varieties and the Green Animals Topiary Garden. newportdaffydays.com

Elizabeth Park

Elizabeth Park

Mid-April–mid May, Hartford, CT

Daffodils in mid-April give way to a beautiful display of 11,000 tulips that peak on Mother’s Day. elizabethparkct.org

Colorblends

ColorBlends House and Spring Garden

April 1–May 8, Bridgeport, CT

 Stroll through an evolving display of color as snowdrops, crocuses, daffodils, tulips and other spring-flowering bulbs come into bloom at the ColorBlends House and Spring Garden. Located in Bridgeport’s  Stratfield Historic Distric, the 1903 Colonial Revival  mansion is surrounded by an intimate garden designed by distinguished Dutch  garden designer Jacqueline van der Kloet for Colorblends Wholesale Flowerbulbs..colorblendsspringgarden.com

Bartlett Arboretum & Gardens

Bartlett Arboretum & Gardens

Late April–mid May

Enjoy planting of early bulbs, daffodils and tulips blooming in 93-acres of formal gardens and natural habitats. bartlettarboretum.org

Meriden Daffodil Days

Meriden Daffodil Festival

April 30—May 1, Meriden, CT

One of Connecticut’s favorite celebrations, the Meriden Daffodil Festival features a juried craft fair, rides and food vendors, and an amazing fireworks show, all set against a spectacular display of 600,000 daffodils. daffodilfest.com

New York Botanic Garden

New York Botanic Garden

April–May, Bronx, NY

Explore the Rock Garden for tiny species daffodils, and Daffodil Valley, where the Murray Liasson Narcissus Collection is located. See the latest hybrids on the Daylily/Daffodil Walk, and antique cultivars planted in a seal of yellow and white on Daffodil Hill. nybg.org/garden

Reeves-Reed Arboretum

Reeves-Reed Arboretum

Mid April, Summit, NJ

Celebrate spring with a "host of golden daffodils," as poet William Wordsworth wrote, at Reeves-Reed Arboretum and enjoy one of the largest daffodil collections in New Jersey. The collection, planted in the Arboretum's glacially carved 'kettle' or bowl, was started in the early 1900s by the original owners of the property. Today the collection boasts more than 50,000 bulbs and the annual Daffodil Day brings visitors from all over the tri-state area. Daffodil Day is April 14, 2019. reeves-reedarboretum.org

Reeves-Reed Arboretum

Deep Cut Gardens

Deep Cut Gardens

Mid-April–mid May, Middletown, NJ

Beautiful tulip and daffodil blooms are on display in this 54 acre formal garden. monmouthcountyparks.com

Deep Cut Gardens

Frelinghuysen Arboretum

Frelinhuysen Arboretum

Mid April-mid May, Morris Township, NJ

The formal gardens at Frelinghuysen Arboretum feature gorgeous bedding displays of tulips. arboretumfriends.org

Frelinghuysen Arboretum

Chanticleer

Chanticleer

Early April to mid-May

Chanticleer is ablaze with spring bulbs from species tulips, miniature daffodils and grape hyacinths on the hillside, to formal bedding of tulips and daffodils around the mansion. A sloping lawn, punctuated by flowering shade trees, features 80,000 white or pale yellow narcissus running in two rivers to the bottom. Virginia bluebells, trilliums, grape hyacinths and camassias create gorgeous displays in the woodlands. chanticleergarden.org

Chanticleer

Longwood Gardens

Longwood Gardens

Longwood Gardens

Early April to early May, Kennett Square, PA

Early spring bulbs like glory-of-the-snow, winter-aconite, and crocus first herald the season’s arrival, with gorgeous tulips, wisteria, and flowering trees creating a lush spring tapestry of color, fragrance, and warmth. longwoodgardens.org

Longwood Gardens