Adventures in the Polly Mobile 2: Exploring Ledge End, Climbing Mount Holyoke and Touring Smith College

A view of Southampton, MA and the Connecticut River from the top of Mount Holyoke. It was chilly but a nice place to have a morning snack.

(Click above for photos)

It was looking to be another packed day, but since I wasn't terribly pressed I spent a little time to explore Ledge End before I left. It was a gorgeous early morning, crisp with frost and on fire in the sunshine. It was asleep for the season, but the garden had flares of adventure and creativity, much like the folks who tended it. I made my way around the garden and then was on my way to climb a mountain.

It was such a cold morning on the dark side of Mount Holyoke. I was so thankful for my ski gloves, of which I'd gotten more use of in the last couple weeks than the entire time I'd owned them, and my long-necked jacket (the best $12 I'd ever spent). The side of the mountain went straight up from the road that wound to the top of the mountain. The sun made the angle seem even more extreme. But I was bound and determined to climb it. The trail was slow to start to climb and I took the first trail I saw to begin my ascent. Only after halfway up did I realize I'd chosen a precarious deer trail instead of an official one. I eventually met up with a marked trail and completed the final push through a thick stand of Tsuga canadensis, Canadian Hemlocks. The view of the golden valley below was worth every slip. There were trails that ran the top of the range and I headed toward the Summit House, an old hotel on top of the mountain, where I knew I'd meet the road, because I sure as heck wasn't going back down the way I'd come. I met a very kind man and his dog on the porch of the hotel and we chatted about the trees and the Massachusetts winters as we both walked down the road.

My descent was much quicker than I anticipated, but I went ahead and headed to the Botanic Garden at Smith College to see my friend Elaine Chittendon. I was very early so I took the opportunity to take my time and explore the Lyman Plant House, where they had two exhibitions going on: Thesaurus Woolwardiae, Orchid Paintings by Florence Woolward; and Woods of the World. I'm glad I had the time to fully appreciate these high-quality displays. Although I came with no preconceptions, I was thoroughly impressed with the interpretive displays I saw. Smith College should definitely be on your horticultural bucket list.

Elaine with the Cyphostemma juttae, a weird member of the Vitaceae, or grape family.

I pulled myself away from the Camellia Corridor and met up with Elaine. It was so nice to see her and she was so accommodating, fielding all of my questions about the collections and the operations, and horticultural outbursts. She led me through the teaching facilities, introducing me to people along the way, and then through the conservatory for a brief introduction to the collections there, including through the two "genetics" labs. We'd put it off long enough, so we bundled up and it was out to the gardens outside.

The weather had turned grey and cold, but we were not deterred. Apparently the grounds of the college are considered part of the botanic garden, which means Elaine has to go through and keep up with the records for all the plants on campus. Elaine led me through the rock garden, telling me stories as we went, then to beds of red-twigged dogwoods, which we were both a little fuzzy on with the taxonomy. I was impressed with and probably way too excited about the huge tree ring around the historic Metasequoia glyptostroboides. Anyway, Elaine gave me a thorough tour of the campus and showed me quite a few interesting trees across campus, including the Davidia involucrata, Dove tree, which had set seed that year, and a beautiful, huge Platanus occidentalis, sycamore.

Another Google Auto-Awesome, this time of a Sparmannia africana, in the Malvaceae, or hibiscus family.

Adventures in the Polly Mobile 2: Exploring Mount Holyoke College and Amherst College (and a stop at the Hadley Garden Center)

This is a Lycaste deppei, Orchidaceae at Mount Holyoke College's Talcott Greenhouse. I'm not one for bizarre photo-editing effects, but I have to say I was struck by how well this Google Auto-Awesome came out.

(This is a long blog post. I think it's worth a read, but I'm just warning you. Check out the photos by clicking the photo above.)

Just as I expected: it was like Christmas morning.

The weather seemed to break for the day's adventures and allowed the rising sun to light the tops of the Pinus strobus with fire. I remember when Tom told me about Ledge End, with a proud Tom-smirk on his face. He's cleverly named his garden this and I had only the man to give hint to what kind of place it really was. It didn't disappoint in real-life, even with a blanket of snow on the ground and the cloak of winter on. He and his wife, Sandy, have taken advantage of the unique space surrounding their cottage to make a beautiful garden (even if Tom says it's still a work in progress; what garden isn't?).

I headed off first thing in the morning to get my oil changed in South Hadley Falls, where I got to see the falls of the Connecticut River and what black spot looks like on Acer platanoides, Norway Maple.

Talcott Greenhouse

I rushed off to Mount Holyoke College next to check out the famed grounds Tom worked on before he came to the Polly Hill Arboretum. Both Tom and Elaine Chittenden, the manager of living collections at the Botanic Garden at Smith College, told to me say hi to Russ when I visited. I walked over ice and snow on the sidewalk, vaguely aware of where I was going. Thankfully there were campus maps at the bus stops that guided me to where the Talcott Greenhouse was.

The squat complex was nestled next to the stream that flowed through the campus and seemed to glow in the morning light. The headhouse was warm and cozy, and still had the character of a turn-of-the-century potting room with benches along the wall and tiled floors. Branch cuttings of Ilex, holly, and other evergreens were lined up on one of the benches, ready to be bundled up and arranged for the Christmas displays. One of the greenhouse workers told me Russ had stepped out but welcomed me to wander through the houses.

Orchids and other non-hardy plants filled one house, then the succulent house was joined to it, and finally there was a catch-all house at the end of that wing. I'd just made it to the succulent house and had my mind-blowing Senecio-is-in-the-Asteraceae epiphany, when the greenhouse worker came back in and said Russ had come back.

I went out to introduce myself and we chatted about Tom, the greenhouses and the plants at Mt. Holyoke College. I asked him which trees I should see on campus while I was there and he kindly offered to give me a quick tour in the Kubota! We whipped around campus, Russ giving me the highlights and insights, fielding my endless questions. He showed me two Cornus kousa, which were there prior to him coming on at the college and which J.C. Raulston, of N.C. State University fame, had expressed interest in. He pointed out trees, including some newly-planted fastigiate trees by the amphitheater and a large Cornus florida, flowering dogwood, tucked in a warm corner; and talked to me about some of the challenges with some of the trees, including the aging out of many of the Acer saccharum, sugar maple, and the sometimes frustrating management of trees on campus (which isn't a challenge unique to MHC). He also showed me the courtyard outside of the college's president office that Tom used to manage when he was there. It was such a fun (and warm!) tour and it was so kind of Russ to take the time to show me.

We came back to the greenhouses and he talked to me a little more about the collections there and projects that were going on. Some professors utilized the greenhouses, but not as much as one might expect. Despite this, there were tags in every plant, and all the plants were clean and evenly-spaced. The floors were clean and I saw very little insect activity. The day and light were prime for photography and I lost myself with each plant. I learned a lot just from looking at tags. Check out the photos (linked to the photo in the beginning) for more details. There are too many to mention here.

I had to tear myself away around 12:30 so I would have enough time to see the Hadley Garden Center before heading to Amherst College.

~~~

You're probably wondering why a local garden center is on my list of destinations? It's a funny story, actually, and shows what a wonderfully small world horticulture is.

So, it all started when I was sitting in Introduction to Horticulture at N.C. State University in Fall 2009. Bryce Lane was my horticulture professor right out of the box and his animated storytelling inspired us with horticulture lore. He told us of how he got his start in horticulture unloading trucks of plants at the Hadley Garden Center in Hadley, MA, near his native Amherst, MA. He served as a source of passion and inspiration throughout my time at N.C. State and joked I should go visit the garden center some time. Well, fast forward to my aspirations to come to the Polly Hill Arboretum and work with Tom Clark. Bryce had told me about Tom and PHA (although he'd never actually met Tom or been to PHA). Come to find out, Tom had worked at the Hadley Garden Center while he was in high school as well, and it just so happened he met Sandy, his wife, there as well. After this, I just had to see this place. So, I did, and I met the wonderful folks who run it and talked with the wonderful Clivia, who reveled in the wonder of how small the world of horticulture is. And I also bought more plants (a cute little Pinus mugo for my Christmas tree that I'm going to train into bonsai and a little pot of frilly, white cyclamen, because I was wooed by the Christmas offerings).

~~~

Finally, I was off to my last stop at Amherst College to see the Japanese garden Tom had suggested to me.

I parked in downtown Amherst (because, as I should have expected, parking on a college campus is a nightmare) and walked to campus. It was a beautiful afternoon, albeit frigid, for an afternoon walk. I wandered around the buildings to the center green, peeking in between buildings to see if I could see where the garden was. I looked all around and could not see anything reminiscent of a formal garden. But it wasn't all for naught; I discovered a statue of Robert Frost and was reminded that he taught at Amherst College! The college also has a beautiful war memorial circle with an amazing view of the Mt. Holyoke range in the distance.

Since I was lost, I stopped in the Robert Frost Library to get some hot chocolate and some direction. A kind librarian gave me detailed directions for a rather simple jaunt across the quad. Seems I just hadn't looked quite hard enough.

Yūshien from the top of the hill.

When I looked down the hill into what seemed would be a little crevice of a courtyard, there was a frozen mountain scene of wind-whipped pines and weathered rocks. A little sign next to a gate made of woven bamboo give an introduction to what was playing out below, Yūshien. After a rather exciting adventure of following clues, I made my way through the building to where you could enter the courtyard. Along the way I discovered an unlikely, but surprisingly rich past between Japan and Amherst College.

It was a place for quiet reflection and was sheltered from the hubbub of campus and traffic. You could almost imagine you were on the side of a mountain. The plantings were rich with Japanese natives, including Pieris japonica, Japanese Andromeda, and Acer palmatum, Japanese maple. The mix of evergreens and deciduous plants played well together. I was probably most excited about the obvious pruning on the Acer palmatum though. It always seems like people are installing gardens but fail to keep up with proper maintenance, so it is heartening when you see it.

The sun was sinking below the ridge of the mountains as I made my final notes on the landscape. I reminisced in the simplicity of not necessarily having to get up. It was growing colder in the shadow of the building and my haiku were getting strained, however, so I called it a day.

Mountain solitude

Serendipity's embrace

Time in plant and stone

The Magnolia macrophylla 'Julian Hill' Through the Seasons Video Complete!

So, even before I got to the Polly Hill Arboretum, I had a crush on the Magnolia macrophylla 'Julian Hill', one of the northern-most (if not the) individuals of this species that Polly named after her husband in 1984.

I first saw the tree in One Seed at a Time by Marnie Stanton, via a link posted on the PHA Internship information page (which I highly recommend you check out). At one point the camera pans up the tree. I immediately recognized what it was and it was then that I knew the Polly Hill Arboretum was the place for me.

Hokey, I know, but true.

Anyway, fast forward through the internship; spring, summer, fall, at one picture a day (except for most of the weekends and a few days here and there, but I digress)...and viola! A vision of the year-long cycle of growth of this stunning deciduous tree takes shape in this video (click the photo).

A flower unfurling on the Magnolia macrophylla 'Julian Hill'

A Mighty Triad: Morris Arboretum, Longwood Gardens and Chanticleer

It's almost not fair to do this, but it cannot be helped. It's been too long coming and I want to make sure these wonderful experiences are shared. I also wish I had enough time to annotate each photo, but I would only be able to do that if I could pause time.  Feel free to comment or email me if you have any questions!

The inflorescence of a grass with its receptive female flowers
waiting for the wind to blow its way, with an Agapanthus and the porch of Chanticleer House Garden in the background.

Each one of these institutions, Morris Arboretum, Longwood Gardens and Chanticleer, are leaders in the international public gardens community, for many different reasons. I've heard stories for years from the Horticulture department at N.C. State, from professors and students who have traveled to Pennsylvania. It is amazing how much more in horticulture made sense after visiting these gardens in succession. I met so many people whose names I'd heard, but never had a face to put with the name. Now, whenever anyone talks about horticulture royalty I know who they're talking about. It is still mind-blowing to think I was so close to these people and places.

I think that officially makes me a geek.

ANYway, before we left, Tom told Tessa, Eva and me to choose which gardens we wanted to visit after we were done with the conference. He sent us home with books on all of the gardens and Eva and Tessa poured over them that night. I immediately made a request for Longwood, since I'd only ever been on a cold, overcast March day. Tessa knew an intern at the Morris Arboretum and suggested we might get a tour from her. None of us had ever been to Chanticleer and its whimsy seemed to fit with Eva perfectly. It also worked out that a past PHA office intern worked at Chanticleer in the development office and could get us in early and give us a tour. Our all-star horticulture extravaganza came together pretty quickly.

We were on the road early Saturday morning to get to Longwood Gardens as soon as it opened. It was an overcast, mild day, but I could barely contain my excitement. I found myself almost jogging down the allees. We only had a couple of hours before we needed to head off to the next garden but there was so much to see! Poor Eva and Tessa had to keep slowing me down. The Calocedrus decurrens grove was still just as stately as before, but sadly many of the largest trees had succumbed to the heat and stress that were causing their decline when I first visited in spring 2013. It was heartbreaking to see the trees that had inspired me to love the species suffering. Not all was doom and gloom though. The orchid collection and glasshouses were still as overwhelming as ever. I could have stayed with the orchid collections forever, but alas.

***Remember, click on the photo for the slideshows!***

Morris Arboretum was our next stop for a private tour with Lauren, a friend of Tessa's from URI who was doing a long-term internship at the Morris. The tree walk was an excellent exhibit that welcomed visitors to walk in the canopies of some of the trees and get a bird's-eye view of the ground. Netting was suspended about 30 feet in the air and children, young and old, could climb around on it. There were also learning stations to experience trees with all of your senses. It was pretty cool. We walked through the model train garden and into the older part of the garden with the older trees. We met one of the original Metasequoia glyptostroboides, Dawn Redwood, to be brought back to the U.S. You can see how small Tessa looks compared to the tree.

If that wasn't enough horticulture for us after our day of garden adventures, we met up with Andrew Bunting, the curator of the Scott Arboretum, at his home in Swarthmore, PA. We got a private tour of Belvidere, Bunting's intensely-planted, intimately-designed personal garden (Check out his presentation at the J.C. Raulston Arboretum in April 2014). His summer outdoor room and picnic table with built-in planters were crowd favorites. He cleverly worked with his neighbors to expand his planting space beyond the .3-acres of his own yard so he could plant screening plants and an extensive vegetable garden, complete with chickens. It is a rare treat to see the private garden of a public horticulturist.

The next morning we were up especially early to get to Chanticleer before it opened to the public. It was over-and-above what I was expecting. The expansive property was intensely planted and manicured with very deliberate considerations for vistas and focal points, but it was so expertly executed that it looked like you'd stumbled upon an intimate garden taken over by nature (and they offer plant lists of each area in very creative and adorable boxes!). The horticulturists are not only gardeners but artists, and each are encouraged to give each of their areas a touch with their own artistic flair beyond the plants they choose. I highly recommend making this a destination if you're ever in the Philadelphia area.

Man of a Thousand Garden Stories: The Garden of Charles Cresson

I have to say I was slightly ashamed that I'd never heard of Charles Cresson before our trip to Swarthmore College this summer. Google his name and see what I mean. But, I'm not one to turn down a garden tour, so when Tom said Charles Cresson had invited us for an evening tour of his garden after the Woody Plant Conference, I was ready to go.

We followed the native Swarthmorian to his house through the tight neighborhood streets and parked in front of what one would assume was just another house in the neighborhood, save for the 12-foot deer fence. What was going to be a quick tour easily continued into the twilight hours of the night with rich, personal stories of almost every plant in the garden, especially his prized Camellias and Hydrangeas. There was more to Mr. Cresson's garden than one could see from any point and he lead us on a very winding, but deliberate, path by new beds where prized old trees from his grandfather's days had fallen, his back porch, vegetable garden, bonsai collection, diverse perennial/annual borders, and meadow by his creek, just to name a handful of nooks and crannies we found ourselves in.

On our way back to Martha's Vineyard I found myself scribbling down every moment I could remember so that I could hold the experience in my mind. Such a wealth of knowledge. I felt like I'd met a true American gardener.

Horticultural Inspiration: The Woody Plant Conference

I was excited to attend the Woody Plant Conference at the Scott Arboretum at Swarthmore College, however I had no idea I would be so deeply inspired by the talks. People in the horticulture department at N.C. State told about the excellent collection at the Scott Arboretum and my experience surpassed any expectations.

There is something about being around a group of passionate horticulture people. Todd Lasseigne reminded me of the rich family of plantspeople in Raleigh with his impassioned presentation about overused plants, tried-and-true plant and plants that are worth knowing. Andrew Bunting, the curator at the Scott Arboretum, introduced us to some really exciting interspecific magnolias, and Chanticleer Horticulturists Dan Benarcik and Jonathan Wright reintroduced the crowd to hydrangeas, both beloved favorites and those most gardeners haven't met. I don't know of anyone who wasn't salivating over those plants. Four words: Magnolia macrophylla grandiflora hybrid.

On top of the excellent presentations, I got to see an old classmate who was working for Andrew and a woman I was an intern with at Duke Gardens. Horticulture really is a small world. A wonderfully small world.

This post is to friends, new and old, human and plant alike.

A Trip through an Orchid Lover's Dream: The Stop at the New York Botanical Garden

It has been too long since I promised to post my photos from our trip to the Woody Plant Conference. We stopped at several gardens and over the next few days, I'll post up the rest of them.

We headed out from Martha's Vineyard on the first ferry and drove straight to the New York Botanical Garden to meet Jaime Morin. She'd organized an incredible itinerary that led us through many of the areas of the garden with the curators themselves.

I am the Tangerine Man

Thank you, John Cleese. Now....

I am the Tangerine Man

(To the tune of I am the Walrus by The Beatles)

As Mad-libbed by Tessa Young, Eva Colberg, Tom Clark and Amanda Wilkins

Generated by Mad:)Takes

Sitting on a pie, waiting for the airbag to come,
Corporation ballet shoe, stupid lumpy Tuesday,
Man, you been a shrimpy shopping cart, you let your hip bone grow long.

I am the avocadoman, they are the avocadomen,
I am the lemur! Goo goo [ga] doink!

Mister City, jockey sauteing, pretty equine mechanics in a row,
See how they fly, like Lucy in the record, see how they blow-torch,
I`m opera singing, I`m opera singing,
I`m opera singing, I`m opera singing.

Yellow matter bridge, dripping from a squeemish dog`s cheek,
Crabalocker fishwife, buddy priestess,
Boy, you been a shrimpy lily-pad, you let your underpants down.

I am the chiliman, they are the chilimen,
I am the goat! Boo boo [ba] joob!

Giggling in an peeved garden, waiting for the door,
If the door don`t come, you get a tan from gobbling in the peeved rain.

I am the tangerineman, they are the tangerinemen,
I am the cat! Galumph galumph [guh] gah! Galumph galumph, galumph galumph [guh] gah!

The Polly Hill Crew, including Jaime Morin (behind the camera here and previous collections management intern!), goofing-off in the gardens in front of the horticulture office after a long day at the 2014 Woody Plant Conference.

So, if you are completely lost, great! Cabin Fever and exhaustion make for fun Mad Libs.

All joking aside, randomness and whimsy abounded this weekend as the Polly Hill Interns and Tom Clark headed south to the Woody Plant Conference at the Scott Arboretum at Swarthmore College, on Friday, July 18.

Although our main objective was the conference, we took our time and made many side-trips to famous public gardens and a couple of private gardens. Below are some of the highlights of the craziness at the five botanical gardens we visited this weekend. Tune in soon for a complete post about what really happened!

Photography Yoga with Eva Colberg and Tessa Young at the New York Botanical Garden.

Eva really getting into being a human yard stick with this Magnolia macrophylla at the Scott Arboretum.

I just had to check out how easy it is to slide between this lip and column of this Stanhopea orchid at Longwood Garden. What an amazing flower architecture: a large, pendulous, cream-colored flower with purple leopard spots that emerges from the bottom of the plant in hopes to tape its pollen to the back of some enormous bee or bird.
Who makes this stuff up? Not me.

This unidentified man could be found lurking behind many a shrub looking for tags.
This sighting occurred in a Cyrilla racemosa at the Morris Arboretum.

What is going on in the background with that man and the megaphones....?
We were definitely Out on a Limb with this one.

Tessa found her spirit animals in the lions at the Morris Arboretum's Japanese Hill and Water Garden. She couldn't help but smile creepily back.

Honestly, it was a fantastical trip that did more than I could have ever imagined with my concept and appreciation of horticulture and the field of public horticulture. We met some truly amazing people and got a taste of some of the finest gardens in the country. My head is still swimming with ideas and I'm still digesting everything I experienced. I can tell the future has changed.

A view towards the Gravel Garden at Chanticleer.

First Week at the Polly Hill Arboretum and Martha's Vineyard

Despite the definite slow pace of Martha's Vineyard, the week has gone by in a blur. The island has no stop lights, the speed limits rarely go over 35, and many store owners are just now opening their shops for the coming season. Life is different at island-speed, but it is definitely a speed I don't mind abiding by.

The Polly Hill Arboretum is such a gem and is quiet as the spring slowly makes its way north. My first week as the new collections management intern has been a crash course in BGBase, the database program used to track all of the plants in the collection, and BGMaps, the mapping software used to electronically map the plantings. I also started a phenology chart for the Magnolias in the collection, meaning I monitoring which Magnolias are in flower and what stage they are at.

I've spent the time trying learn the plants in the collection, as well as familiarize myself with the native plants. Thankfully the flora of North Carolina's Coastal Plain is similar to Martha's Vineyard's sand plains area, and I learned some of them when I took my Local Flora class at N.C. State (and just to prove how small of a world it is, Bruce Sorrie, who is currently a famous botanist at the N.C. Natural Heritage Program also worked on the flora of Martha's Vineyard before he went to N.C.!).

It's really dark at night, so much so that you have to turn on your high beams to navigate the winding back roads (and avoid hitting the skunks). But, the lack of light pollution has allowed me to be able to see so many more stars than I've ever seen in my life.

About one third of the island is permanently conserved land, most of which is accessible to the public for walking and recreation. I can explore to my heart's content, whether it is going a few miles to a beach on the south side of the island, or out of the back door down a trail through The Nature Conservancy's property to see the young ospreys fly. In the eternal words of Devon, my roommate, "Life is good."