A Rainbow of Color
You need to visit the Botanical Center over the next week or two if you want to catch sight of the newest irises in town. These irises are on loan and will be dug up this summer and returned to their respective owners (the hybridizers).
Fallingwater West
Natural streams and waterfalls emerge after tens of thousands of years. But if you are in a hurry, a waterfall can be had in a month or two. One is just now happening in the Japanese Garden.
Out of the Bogs and Swamps
This is the time of year for a lobelia that produces glowing spikes of cardinal-red flowers that beckon Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds.
A Rose Curator by Any Other Name
What do you do when someone retires after dedicating 28 years to the Gardens? This was the situation last week when Clair Martin stepped down from his position as the Ruth B. and E. L. Shannon Curator of the Rose and Perennial Gardens.
Looming Losses
Perhaps the most significant plants we tuck into the landscape are trees, which give structure and bring a sense of permanence. As gardeners, however, we know that nothing is really permanent.
Solid Ground
Almost everything that a gardener likes about a wonderful soil is pretty much what an engineer hates. Where a gardener wants great organic content, engineers find the organics to be a problem, because they don’t compact well.
Laying a New Foundation
Yoshiaki Nakamura and four fellow craftsmen arrived from Japan this past Sunday to demonstrate how to organize and assemble the Japanese Garden’s renovated, Seifu-an, a most extraordinary small building.
Digging up History
We are in the midst of discovery, and it turns out that the greatest mysteries are often right under our feet. As gardeners, we are accustomed to that. But this past week it was not roots and shoots at the core of our mysteries; it was pipes and walls and footings.
Full Circle
After months undergoing restoration in Kyoto, Seifu-an has arrived. Our teahouse sort of looks like the most complex kit you might ever purchase at Ikea. Thankfully, Yoshiaki Nakamura and his craftsmen (who completely restored this building during its sojourn to Kyoto) arrive soon to help us learn how it is properly assembled.
When Life Gives You Lemons, Protect Them
Plant diseases can be a “so what” kind of thing. But how many of us will miss oranges, lemons, and limes if they completely disappear from our diets? California is being closely monitored for a bacterial disease that could severely damage citrus orchards. For the meantime, The Huntington’s citrus has not been affected.
