So, the Morris Arboretum is really cool. I don't mean cool in the way that young people often use the word as a substitute for adjectives that would more accurately describe an experience. I mean cool as in "with it," because this arboretum is, for lack of a better word, hip.
I mean, look at that thing.
Quick facts: Morris is composed of various collections and gardens that cover roughly 92 acres of contiguous land, showcasing over 2,000 different plants from 27 countries (with particular emphasis on asian temperates). My favorite aspect of this particular garden is the way relatively small space is cleverly partitioned. Using artful and intelligent design, Morris creates beautiful microclimates for various collections with limited space. This arboretum is tight, cohesive, creative, and very well maintained. The ravine garden, for example, is cleverly hidden from view in an actual ravine, accessible through a hidden stairway from a small pavilion in the sculpture garden.
Other interesting "little" gardens include an alpine garden with dwarf conifers, an herb garden, the larger rose garden (has a very "english garden" feel), the seven arches bridge overlook, the Pennock garden, many mixed borders, the pond garden (a clever mix of japanese and victorian asthetics), the fern and stumpery, a meadow garden, and an azalea garden. They also have a garden with a little electric train! And little tiny houses! And perennials! Also, a nice little sculpture garden.
The Rose Garden
One of the things I think makes this arboretum so "cool" is its emphasis on the education of younger people as one of its major goals. This arboretum is gives high-end modern museums strong competition. Even the food is great. There is a huge focus on children as well, and instead of slipping down the dangerous slope of garrish attempts to attract the interest of children, I think this arboretum does a great job providing informative exhibits in pretty creative and subtle ways that are still interesting to kids:
This is one of the many subtler education pieces at Morris. Some of the trees are near sidewalks, and to explain how far roots extend and how large the systems can become, roots have been painted on the sidewalk by certain trees. This picture doesn't really do it justice, because it looks cool, and stops to make anyone think, even the people who already know that root systems are often the size of the tree you're looking at, if not larger.
The rest of this post is going to pretty much be plants or garden designs that I thought were interesting and pretty. We'll start off with the Chinese Toon, or Toona sinensis. Originally known as cedra, its a temperate member of the tropical mahogany family, and yields beautiful wood. It produces long, thin, flexible branches, with white to pink panicles of flowers in the summer which smell a bit odd. Compound pinnate leaves, but the real eye catching feature of these trees is their amazing bark:
Nice.
Brugmansia is one of my new favorite plants for tropical containers. I like both the yellow and pink-flowered forms. Its one of those fun this-plant-is-totally-poisonous-and-can-induce-crazy-hallucinations-if-any-part-is-ingested-in-too-great-a-quantity. Its also fun because it is a deeply sacred plant found in South America that certain groups use as a hallucinogenic intermediary to communicate with the unseen world that we've decided looks pretty enough to put in pots!
Red hot poker, Kniphofia, also known as torch lily. Its an impressive color display, provides great points of focus and structure in the garden, and hails all the way from Africa.
One of my favorite thing about the rose garden is that it wasn't just roses. It incorporated a lot of plants that either matched the roses in color or form, were complementary in color, or provided strong vegetative structure and unique interest. For example, you see in this picture a nice rose/lily color combination with giant fennel in the background provided a semi-transparent curtain shielding the viewer from the pink roses in another part of the garden, so that we can focus on these nice soft yellows and burnt oranges. Giant fennel is awesome, by the way, it just doesn't photograph very well.
And here is the largest bottlebrush buckeye (Aesculus parviflora) I've ever seen.
While I see a bunch of Rudbeckia sp. in a lot of the gardens I have visited so far, including R. fulgida 'Goldsturm', R. laciniata, and R. maxima, this is the first annual R. hirta that I have seen, and 'Prairie Sun' was always one of my favorites. Look at those pretty green eyes.
The Pennock Garden
One of the things I think makes this arboretum so "cool" is its emphasis on the education of younger people as one of its major goals. This arboretum is gives high-end modern museums strong competition. Even the food is great. There is a huge focus on children as well, and instead of slipping down the dangerous slope of garrish attempts to attract the interest of children, I think this arboretum does a great job providing informative exhibits in pretty creative and subtle ways that are still interesting to kids: This is one of the many subtler education pieces at Morris. Some of the trees are near sidewalks, and to explain how far roots extend and how large the systems can become, roots have been painted on the sidewalk by certain trees. This picture doesn't really do it justice, because it looks cool, and stops to make anyone think, even the people who already know that root systems are often the size of the tree you're looking at, if not larger.
Some of the educational stuff is even more subtle, such as their tendency to combine different species and forms of the same genus or species in the same space, such as these mop-head and lace-cap forms of Hydrangea macrophylla:
The rest of this post is going to pretty much be plants or garden designs that I thought were interesting and pretty. We'll start off with the Chinese Toon, or Toona sinensis. Originally known as cedra, its a temperate member of the tropical mahogany family, and yields beautiful wood. It produces long, thin, flexible branches, with white to pink panicles of flowers in the summer which smell a bit odd. Compound pinnate leaves, but the real eye catching feature of these trees is their amazing bark:Nice.
I may have already ranted about the awesomeness of Dawn Redwoods (Metasequoia glyptostroboides) as Scott has a Dawn Redwood allee that I am very fond of. They aren't just cool because they're a living fossil only rediscovered in 1944 in China. They aren't cool just because they are the fast growing redwood, and the only surviving species in their genus. They aren't just cool because as the smallest redwood they are known to get at least 200 feet tall (think a twenty story building) and are deciduous with nice yellow fall coloration. They are cool (see now I'm doing the uses-cool-instead-of-more-appropriate-adjectives) because they are gorgeous, and imbue any space where they are planted with soft, open shade and a sense of peace. And because, on top of being totally overqualified as an ornamental, they are tragically under-utilized in the landscape, and critically endangered in China.
Your new side project is to help save/plant metasequoias.
Ironically, there is a metasequoia preserve in the Blue Ridge Mountains of NC (who knew). Turns out metasequoias used to be native on this continent, but became extinct about 35 million years ago. They are thriving here, but even as fast growing as they are, the preserve isn't scheduled to open to the public until 2035.
Makes a human life seem a bit short.
And the obsession with poppies continues. I know that its dangerous to fall in love with annuals and tricky perennials, even ones that self seed and reappear, but I can't help it with poppies, especially oriental poppies (genus Papaver). Its not just their pretty little flowers, it is also how well designed their seed pods are, like tiny covered buckets that spew out hundreds of seeds if accidentally bumped or blown by the wind. This is a well put together flower.
And the obsession with poppies continues. I know that its dangerous to fall in love with annuals and tricky perennials, even ones that self seed and reappear, but I can't help it with poppies, especially oriental poppies (genus Papaver). Its not just their pretty little flowers, it is also how well designed their seed pods are, like tiny covered buckets that spew out hundreds of seeds if accidentally bumped or blown by the wind. This is a well put together flower. Brugmansia is one of my new favorite plants for tropical containers. I like both the yellow and pink-flowered forms. Its one of those fun this-plant-is-totally-poisonous-and-can-induce-crazy-hallucinations-if-any-part-is-ingested-in-too-great-a-quantity. Its also fun because it is a deeply sacred plant found in South America that certain groups use as a hallucinogenic intermediary to communicate with the unseen world that we've decided looks pretty enough to put in pots!
Horticulture sometimes makes me wonder about the nature of cultural sensitivity. BUT its a beautiful plant, and certainly the fact that it is being well taken care of in gardens all over the country, I believe, is worthy of its sacred heritage and makes me feel a little better about liking it in the first place.
I just liked the color combination of this container.
I just liked the color combination of this container. Red hot poker, Kniphofia, also known as torch lily. Its an impressive color display, provides great points of focus and structure in the garden, and hails all the way from Africa. One of my favorite thing about the rose garden is that it wasn't just roses. It incorporated a lot of plants that either matched the roses in color or form, were complementary in color, or provided strong vegetative structure and unique interest. For example, you see in this picture a nice rose/lily color combination with giant fennel in the background provided a semi-transparent curtain shielding the viewer from the pink roses in another part of the garden, so that we can focus on these nice soft yellows and burnt oranges. Giant fennel is awesome, by the way, it just doesn't photograph very well. And here is the largest bottlebrush buckeye (Aesculus parviflora) I've ever seen. Adventure is out there
I really enjoyed and appreciated your blog entry. Great work!
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