Adventures in the Polly Mobile 2: Volunteering at the Smithsonian Gardens' Greenhouse

Bulbophyllum unitubum, Orchidaceae

I had an amazing time at the APGA Plant Collections Symposium in November (I'm probably sounding like a broken record at this point, but anyway...), during which I was able to meet the wonderful people who work with the Smithsonian's orchid collections, Sarah Hadean and Tom Mirenda. They were kind enough to allow me to come out and volunteer with them as I was passing through D.C. and I was more than willing to do so!

I'm such a geek. I was so excited to be repotting orchids (pictured in the background) that I took a picture of the cart. Oh well.

I got up early to beat the insane Washington, D.C. traffic and was rewarded with a beautiful, golden morning. Everyone was so welcoming at the greenhouses and Tom was generous with his time and information. It was great to be there again, despite how brief the work was. It turns out the volunteer training for the upcoming orchid exhibition was today, so I ended up spending the afternoon doing that. It was worth it to see the volunteers and how the staff ran their training. It was also great to hear Tom present about orchids (check out the Embreea collaboration between the Digitization Team and the Orchids Team). He was very informative and entertaining, and reminded me so much of the passionate plant people I dearly miss in Raleigh.

(See the photo slideshow above for more details about the trip!)

Bulbophyllum medusae, Orchidaceae

Adventures in the Polly Mobile 2: Morning at the Botanic Garden at Smith College (before driving to Delaware!)

That's right, folks: Western Massachusetts to Delaware.

Into the belly of the beast....or at least the pitcher of a Nepenthes truncata.

(Click above for photos)

But since I'd only been able to walk by all of the botanical treasures at the Lyman Conservatory at Smith College yesterday, I made sure I was up, packed and out the door early the next morning so I could be there when they opened the doors. I think I surprised the visitor center volunteer when I came in so early, as I'm sure a visit to the conservatory isn't most people's idea of the first thing to do on a dreary Saturday morning.

A view into "the Jungle Room" at Smith College.

I made myself at home though, hanging up my coats in the hallway, and immediately delved into the collections, taking my time to savor each detail of each plant. I read tag upon tag, quizzed myself and took hundreds of pictures. It was a great moment of reflection to think back on what I'd seen at other conservatories I'd visited before. I knew I needed to be on the road, but there was so much to see. Each room seemed to hold a thousand more treasures.

But, I knew I was pushing into my long drive to Wilmington, DE, and I eventually had to tear myself away from the succulent house.

In an effort to avoid New York, New Jersey and I-95, in general, I charted my own path down 84, through the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, and some beautiful mountain areas. Sadly, I could only imagine what beautiful scenery I was passing through, as the low clouds hid most of it.

The weather had not improved during my warm explorations inside. There was a steady drizzle and the shade of the cold, grey of the morning had been passed on to the afternoon. The frustrating roads of Massachusetts gave way to the slightly more sane ones of Connecticut, though I have to say I knew I was in Yankee-land driving through the scary narrow ways of Hartford. Once I was out of the city though, the traffic disappeared and landscape opened up and became more mountainous. I almost forgot I was in Connecticut and I wished so badly to be able to see through the thick blankets of clouds. I could tell there were more hills and mountains, especially in New York and Pennsylvania (which PM2 made me painfully aware of), and the flora shifted, sometimes more natives and sometimes more invasives.

By the time I got past Bethlehem though, it started getting dark. The traffic dramatically picked up and I found myself surrounded by urban sprawl. I quickly found myself eager to be in Delaware. And then my GPS died an hour or so later....eagerness turned to panic.

But, I made it, almost eight hours after leaving Smith College, and Barb and Phil were waiting to welcome me to their home. Whew, what a day!

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.

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.

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.

Challenge Accepted

Well, this year has already challenged, and changed, a lot of my future plans. That is not to say that I am giving up by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, quite the contrary. (Martha's Vineyard, here I come!)

The challenge has prompted me to go forward with a different sense of gusto, and part of that is to challenge myself is to keep some kind of horticultural blog of the wonderful things I get to see each day in the field (wherever that might be!). The field could be the Method Road Greenhouses, my own room, any location during a walk, a garden or the wilderness. It is all connected, serendipitously, in some way, so I'll try to take a few moments to relish in this with one of my loves: photography.

For the first day's view, check out the photo slideshow below!