The 15 ACS SE Region Conifer Reference Gardens

Transcription

1 Southeastern Conifer Volume 21 June 2014 American Conifer Society Southeastern Region Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia From the SE President Inside This Issue From the SE President By John Ruter, GA Page 1 SE Reference Gardens And Official Data Page 2 The Faye Beck Garden In Knoxville, TN By Maud Henne, VA Page 3 2 Gardens in Chattanooga, TN By Tom Cox, GA Pages 4,5 Conifer Websites for the South- East By Rachel Wiggington, Russell Dye, John Ruter, GA Pages 6,7 Sciadopitys verticillata By Bradley Roberts, GA Page 8 Conifers in Spring By Maud Henne, VA Pages 9 Headline Photos : Maud Henne,VA Events 2014 ACS National Meeting June 12-14, 2014 Atlanta, GA Spring has come and gone here in North Georgia. When I wrote this column in late March I was all excited about the spring ephemerals that were showing their heads. Now most of them have come and gone. Amazing what nature can do in short six week period. We had our first committee meeting for the upcoming ACS National meeting a few weeks back. Thanks to Tom and Marie Neff, Lenny Oddo and Martha Church, and Jo-Evelyn Morris for showing up and making the meeting a success. A special Thank You goes out to Ann Parson, Executive Director of Smith-Gilbert Gardens for opening the gardens on a Sunday evening so we could meet. For those that couldn t make the meeting we assigned them to special projects. Smith-Gilbert Gardens has an amazing Cercidiphyllum japonicum that you won t want to miss. If you are looking to volunteer during the meeting please contact Jo-Evelyn Morris (jo-e@comcast.net) or Phyllis Goff (pwgoff@att.net ). I continue to work with the hotel and various gardens as all get ready for the upcoming meeting. Jody Karlin is looking for volunteers to help with labelling, pruning, weeding, mulching, etc. at Vista Gardens. If you have to some time to donate you can contact him at My understanding is that there are some really cool plants available for helping. As part of a special problems class here at The University of Georgia I had two of my students put together a list of all of the university web sites that have content dealing with conifers. Rachel Wigington and Russell Dye did a great job tracking this information down and putting it into a useable format. See pages 6 and 7. At last check we had about 110 people registered for the National meeting. In addition to good food and great tours, we should have some excellent rare plants available for the plant auction as well. An about the auction should be going out to the membership in the near future. If you can t make the meeting please send plants with a friend from your area that will be in attendance. Looking forward to seeing you in Atlanta in June. John Ruter University of Georgia, Dep. of Horticulture 327 Hoke Smith Bldg, Athens, GA Phone: ruter@uga.edu

2 Page 2 Southeastern Conifer June 2014 Another Note from the SE President: SE Region Meeting 2015 Jeff and Jennifer Harvey are checking on host sites for the 2015 regional meeting. Suggested host cities include Chattanooga in TN, Birmingham in AL, and Huntsville in AL. Contact the Harvey s if you would like to help plan the meeting or have some good insight on gardens to visit, places to stay, contacts with Botanical Gardens, etc. They can be reached at Jeff@dirtdawgnursery.com. Apropos Reference Gardens By the Editor By looking through my material for this newsletter, I found a small 2 page folder named Guide to the Conifer Trail published by the State Arboretum of Virginia which is on the grounds of the University of Virginia s Historic Blandy Experimental Farm. This guide explains What is a Conifer?, also explains what the Arboretum Conifer Collection is about, what it contains, gives drawings and explanations to compare 4 common conifers: Pine, Spruce, Hemlock, Fir. The inner page gives a plan of the Conifer Trail, listing and shortly describing 23 conifers and where to find them on the Conifer Trail. American Conifer Society SE Region SE President: Dr. John Ruter, - ruter@uga.edu SE Vice President: Dr. Sue Hamilton, -sueham@utk.edu SE Treasurer: J.&J.Harvey, jeff@dirtdawgnursery.com Regional Dir. ACS Board: Tom Neff,-tsneff2003@yahoo.com The 15 ACS SE Region Conifer Reference Gardens Florida Gardens of the Big Bend, Quincy, FL Georgia Atlanta Botanical Garden, Atlanta, GA Lockerly Arboretum, Milledgeville, GA Smith Gilbert Gardens, Kennesaw, GA State Botanical Garden of Georgia, Athens, GA North Carolina JC Raulston Arboretum, Raleigh, NC South Carolina Hatcher Garden, Spartanburg, SC South Carolina Botanical Gardens, Clemson, SC Tennessee East Tennessee State University Arboretum Johnson City, TN University of TN-Jackson West TN Research & Ed Center Gardens, Jackson, TN University of Tennessee Gardens, Knoxville, TN Virginia Al Gardner Memorial Garden-J.Sargeant Reynolds Community College, Goochland, VA Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, Richmond, VA Norfolk Botanical Garden, Norfolk, VA State Arboretum of Virginia, Boyce, VA All of these gardens have websites with addresses, directions and events. Ref. Gardens: Beth Jimenez beth6744@bellsouth.net, chair Amelia Lane amelia.lane@gmail.com, co-chair SE Webmaster: Ford, bford15@utk.edu SE Newsletter Editor: Maud Henne,-wollemi27@gmail.com

3 Page 3 Southeastern Conifer June 2014 Garden Visits in Connection with the SE Region Meeting 2013 The Faye Beck Garden in Knoxville, TN By Maud Henne, VA When last year I had a problem to find a good connection from Charlottesville, VA to Memphis, TN, Sue Hamilton suggested to fly via Knoxville. Faye Beck invited me to stay in her elegant house filled with many interesting collectibles. And we drove together to Memphis not without stops to visit conifer gardens on the way. I made it a point to report about these visits in previous issues of this newsletter. Last not least I need to write about Faye Beck s garden. She lives in an upscale subdivision and has a 1/2 acre garden. Faye and her late husband had the house built in 2000 and moved in late that year. Faye wrote: I potted and moved about 2000 plants from my former garden which included some conifers from Oregon. I started with a clean slate and designed the garden in front of the house (along the street) first. The garden in the back of the house was designed and planted a year later. Faye added many conifers when the SE Region had the National Meeting meeting in Knoxville in 2006 and her garden was part of the tour program. Faye s garden shows quite a variety of plants in a condensed area. And next to conifers there is always something in bloom. Aside from being an active gardener, Faye is always up to something new. She is active in the Mid-South Hydrangea Society in Memphis, TN, the East Tennessee Hosta-Society, several arboreta in NC and with the UT gardens in Knoxville. Faye learned about ACS as Sue Hamilton coaxed her to come to Richmond VA to the SE meeting there in And as Faye says: That was my first exposure to avid conifer growers. And we joined ACS. Another place in Knoxville to visit is Dr. Alan Solomon s woodland garden which was featured in a 4 page article with huge photos in the magazine Tennessee Gardener, April Also see the June 2011 and August 2011 issues of Southeastern Conifer.

4 Page 4 Southeastern Conifer June 2014 Chattanooga on My Mind By Tom Cox, GA I was recently invited to deliver a lecture and book signing in Chattanooga, TN. This was sponsored by the Chattanooga Arboretum and Nature Center and The Tennessee Valley Rhododendron Society. I arrived at 9:00 am on a Saturday for a 2:00 pm start, which allowed time for a planned garden visit to the home of Mrs. Francis Jones. While this was a pre-arranged stop, I had never visited her garden, thus had no idea what to expect. Upon arrival we were cordially greeted by Mrs. Jones and immediately began our tour. I was surprised to learn that she was in her mid 80 s as she appeared much younger and was spryer than me. As you can relate, sometimes we have the pleasure of meeting someone where there is immediate chemistry and an instant connection. Gardening was more than a casual hobby for her and I found her to be quite knowledgeable about plants. As we strolled, Latin names easily rolled from her mouth as if she were a proud parent introducing her many children. Prior to retiring, she was the owner of a box manufacturing company where they made boxes for everything from the venerable Moon Pies to auto parts. She assumed the presidency and continued to successfully run the company for a number of years following the untimely death of her husband. I mention these facts to offer a glimpse into the metal of this fine lady garden stories should be as much about the owner as the garden itself. Situated on a bluff located on Signal Mountain where one can catch a great view of the better known Lookout Mountain, the garden is comprised of seven contiguous lots that follow the contour of the bluff. Three houses were demolished in order to make room for her ever expanding garden. In addition, she purchased a lot across the street that is designed as a parking lot with a geotextile under the grass so as to prevent miring in mud when it rains. The municipality would not approve zoning for a paved lot. Mrs. Jones purchased these properties and over the years has filled them with myriad rare and unusual plants such as the Seven Sons tree (Heptacodium miconioides) and Magnolia x loebneri Merrill which was in full bloom. Her garden contains one of the better collections of woody and herbaceous plants that I have seen in a private collection. As we walked the vast expanse of landscape, she knew each plant. Here was a serious gardener! On the conifer scene, large healthy specimens of our native hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) where scattered about -- happily none showed any evidence of the woolly adelgid which is devastating hemlocks in the region. Seedlings were abundant and as you can see in the picture, several took residence in a piece of rock. This is nature s bonsai. Throughout her plantings she had managed to skillfully weave conifers in amongst her angiosperms. Much to my delight, we turned a corner on one of her many paths to find a large area devoted almost exclusively to conifers. All appeared healthy and none the worse from the challenging winter we experienced this year. From the size of many of the specimens, it was obvious that gardening with conifers was not something she just started. Further complementing the setting were hundreds of Cedar Waxwings flittering about Eastern redcedars (Juniperus virginiana) as they devoured their seed.

5 Page 5 Southeastern Conifer June 2014 Having travelled extensively, I cannot recall a better location for siting conifers. The hillside sits on a high bluff with numerous sandstone boulders to work with. Her juxtaposition of conifers, rock outcroppings, a waterfall and slope were masterfully crafted. It was evident that careful thought went into the series of paths that traversed the property each designed in a manner to accentuate the plantings. At the conclusion of our tour, we were invited into her home for sandwiches and homemade soup. This also afforded the opportunity to become better acquainted. Before leaving, she kindly shared a shovelful of Trout Lilly (Erythronium americanum) that she observed me lusting for. In so many instances, our arboretum is a manifestation of our travels as well as a reminder of the many wonderful and interesting people we have met along the way. I shall treasure this day and the new addition. To set the stage, Mrs. Frye is 96 years young with the energy and alacrity of someone much younger. Her late husband was a prominent orthopedic surgeon in Chattanooga for many years and later became confined to a wheel chair. This required her to manage a large garden while caring for him. It did not take long to surmise that she was a very strong lady who even served in the Navy from 1943 to Despite the inclement weather, we all buttoned up and ventured into her fabulous Lookout Mountain garden. As the pictures reflect, the morning was foggy and overcast. This added to the allure of this fantastic conifer garden. Nowhere period have I seen better conifers, and to make it even more exciting, there was great diversity. There were at least 8 Cryptomeria cultivars as well as myriad Junipers, Chamaecyparis and Thuja all in pristine condition. I wish I had known of this garden when I was taking pictures for mine and John Ruter s book. I would be remiss in not also mentioning the hardscape. From well-conceived paths to craftsman-like stone steps with wrought iron rails, this has all the ingredients found in a connoisseur s garden. On Sunday we visited the mountaintop home and garden extraordinaire of Mrs. Eleanor Frye. As background, I came to know Mrs. Frye in a somewhat circuitous way. Approximately five years ago I received a call from her and at that point we were complete strangers. She had acquired one of the early releases of Wollemi nobilis from National Geographic and had grown it on to an impressive 6 tall. Being concerned that it might not be cared for should something happen to her, she kindly offered it to us. Attendees at this year s national meeting in Atlanta will have the opportunity to see it. We arrived at her home on a cold Sunday morning and it was drizzling rain with a dense fog. Another couple (Jimmy and Becky Stewart) who we knew previously from the Atlanta area arranged to also meet us. At one time Jimmy had been a prominent landscape designer in Atlanta and is now semi-retired and lives in the region. Jimmy remains active in assisting Mrs. Frye with gardening related issues. Sciadopitys Yellow Dream At the conclusion of our visit, Evelyn and I spent a most enjoyable afternoon with Mrs. Frye at the Fairyland Club where we talked for several hours. It was then time to return home and bid farewell to new friends. On the drive back down I-75, I began to imagine the thrill our regional members would experience in these two gardens. I shall be recommending Chattanooga as a site for a regional meeting. Jimmy also suggested that there were other good gardens in the area, though none as spectacular as these two. On a closing note, it was inspiring to meet two senior ladies who continue to pursue their passion. Maybe people don t grow old by living years. Thank you Mrs. Jones and Mrs. Frye for a truly wonderful weekend!!!

6 Page 6 Southeastern Conifer June 2014 Conifer Websites for the Southeast By Rachel Wigington, Russell Dye and Dr. John Ruter at the University of Georgia Florida: Conifers Planted at the University of Florida: Common Trees in Florida Hardwood Forests: florida_forestry_information/forest_resources trees_of_florida_common_hardwoods.html#conifers Cypress: An Ideal Choice for Wet Sites: Pitch Canker Disease of Pines: Annosum Root Rot of Southern Pines: Christmas Tree Pest Management in Florida: environment_and_recreation/forestry/pdf/ ChristmasTreePestMgmtFRC32.pdf Georgia: UGA Horticulturalist Releases Gardening Book Focused on Conifers: public=viewstory&pk_id=4670 Diseases of Leyland Cypress in the Landscape: pk_id=7067 Control of Common Pests in Landscape Plants: pk_id=6186 Conifers for the Southeast: Evergreens Drop Leaves and Needles, Too: public=viewstory&pk_id=3956 New Ornamentals and Conifers for the Southeast: Kentucky: Needle Cast Diseases of Conifers: Conifers of Kentucky: Vol3_NO3/Forestry%20101%20pg% pdf Dwarf Conifers: Pruning Landscape Shrubs: ho59.htm Manual for Forest Pest Control: 20manual.pdf Trees, Shrubs, Ground Covers, and Vines Suitable for Kentucky Landscapes: Basics of Pine Management: Vol3_NO3/Basics%20of%20Pine%20pg% pdf Louisiana: Christmas Trees and Conifers: -e790-45ec d122bcefbec/84809/29christmastrees2012.pdf Native Tree Growing Guide for Louisiana: pub2926nativetreeguide.pdf

7 Page 7 Southeastern Conifer June 2014 Conifer Websites for the Southeast - Continued By Rachel Wigington, Russell Dye and Dr. John Ruter at the University of Georgia Mississippi: Deodar is Picturesque in Winter Landscapes: sg html Natural Regeneration of Southern Pines: chapter3.pdf False Cypress gives Standout Performance: sg html Pruning Landscape Plants: Leyland Cypress Gaining Popularity in the South: msgardens/02/ html North Carolina: Pruning Evergreen Conifers: quickref/shrubs/pruning_evergreen-conifers.html Conifers: Bagworm Bother Becomes in Clusters in Conifers: -comes-in-clusters-on-conifers/ Weed Management in Conifer Seed Beds: Spruce Spider Mite on Fraser Fir: ctnotes/ctn029.html Disease of Leyland Cypress: Ornamental/odin17/od17.htm South Carolina: Juniper Diseases and Insect Pests: plant_pests/shrubs/hgic2056.html Leyland Cypress Alternatives: landscape/trees/hgic1025.html Tennessee: Spread of Hemlock Adelgid Threatens Forests and Private Landscapes: Pages/news501.aspx Virginia: Sooty Mold of Conifers and Hardwoods: A guide to successful pruning: Fungicide Recommendations: Management_Crops_and_Areas-4.pdf Trees and Shrubs that Tolerate Saline Soils and Salt Spray Drift:

8 Page 8 Southeastern Conifer June 2014 Sciadopitys verticillata By Bradley Roberts, GA Sciadopitys verticillata or Japanese Umbrella Pine is native to Japan, and is unique in the fact that it is the only member of the family Sciadopityaceae and the genus Sciadopitys. There are fossils of this magnificent conifer that date back 230 million years, so this guy has been around for awhile. This primitive species has no close relatives, and as stated above, is obviously not a true pine. Its genus name comes from the Greek prefix sciado meaning shadow and pitys meaning pine. The species name verticillatta translates as whorled or with whorls. In its natural habitat, Japanese Umbrella Pine can reach heights of 75 feet tall, but in nursery and landscape cultivation they usually reach a mature height of feet tall and feet wide. This tree is extremely slow growing in its juvenile stage, making it somewhat expensive to purchase on the retail landscape market. It has become quite the conifer collectors plant of choice over the years, and many cultivars have been introduced in the trade. Tom Cox and John Ruter list the following cultivars as popular varieties for the southeast: Golden Rush, Green Star, Joe Kozey, Monolith, Ossorio Gold, Sternschnuppe, and in particular Wintergreen. I have planted the species and a few different varieties of Sciadopitys in Central Georgia, and have been met with some success. In the heat of the southeastern summers they love morning sun, afternoon shade, and well drained soil. During their initial establishment I have found that drip irrigation during the spring and summer months is very effective, at a rate of about one gallon per day in the spring and two gallons per day in the heat of the summer. I have really grown to love this tree over the past few years. It has beautiful foliage and makes a wonderful evergreen addition to any landscape. It s a wonderful specimen tree for your garden, looks fantastic in rock gardens, and also makes a good bonsai specimen. I highly recommend Sciadopitys verticillata for the southern landscape. Just be patient a pick the proper cultivar for your specific location. Happy conifer gardening, friends!

9 Page 9 Southeastern Conifer June 2014 Conifers in Spring By Maud Henne, VA In my conifer garden close to Monticello, every year I am looking forward to spring growth. Established greens from previous years mix with light blue, green, yellow, gold and creamy white from new spring growth. And some conifers make some interesting and colorful buds for blooms and cones. Cedrus deodara Cream Puff Picea abies Acrocona Pinus parviflora Cleary Thuja occidentalis Sunkist Picea orientalis Early Gold Cryptomeria japonica Sekkan Picea glauca Coerulea Sequoia sempervirens Albospica Chamaecyparis obtusa Nana Lutea