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Past Shows:

Show #2
This week we visit the Morris Arboretum located 30 minutes from
downtown Philadelphia. It was founded by siblings John and Lydia Morris
over 100 years ago and is full of some of the most historical plants in
the country. The Morris Arboretum is one of the best places to find
rare and unusual trees and some of the best indoor plants. The
Arboretum is famous for the seeds they collect worldwide which they
then plant in their greenhouses.
Jane Kirkland is an author and photographer and a native Philadelphian.
She travels the country talking to children and their families about
the virtues of her 20-second nature break. Jane spent much of her life
writing and teaching about computers. One day she went to the grocery
store, looked up and saw a Bald Eagle. She went to the local Park
Ranger and told him what she had seen. He explained that it wasn't all
that uncommon, that they have been flying over the local state park for
20 years. At that point, Jane promised herself that every time she
walked out of the house she would take a few moments, stop, look around
and try to see something she had never seen before. As a result, she
discovered a world of plants that heretofore she didn't know existed.
She became aware of the beauty right under our noses. That experience
led her to ultimately leave the world of computers so she could write a
series of books to share with kids and their families. Jane wants
everyone to spend 20 seconds each day and enjoy nature, the benefits
are amazing. A city is a great place to find nature, you don't just see
pigeons. Arboretums are a great place and one of the best arboretums in
North America is the Morris Arboretum.
Tony Aiello is Curator and Director of Horticulture for the Morris
Arboretum. Tony tells us that John and Lydia Morris moved to this
estate in the late 1800's and set up their garden estate. They traveled
the world collecting plants and discovering garden styles, then brought
the plants and ideas back, creating their own gardens. And it is
magnificent today. There are some fabulous trees which were undoubtedly
planted as small trees but they've grown into magnificent specimens.
An example is a huge Katsura tree. It is their hallmark tree, is around
100 years old and it is majestic. The roots go way out, seemingly
stretching forever. This is an example of the right plant in the right
place, this tree is obviously very happy here. The hillside behind has
springs so it has a constant supply of water, even during hot, dry
summers. Its size and grandeur attest to the fact it is happy in this
location. It is important when planting trees to not plant too deeply.
Many homeowners plant a tree too deeply, covering the roots which
virtually suffocates the roots. It's important that the tree be planted
high enough so that the roots have exposure to the oxygen that they
need. When planted you don't want the tree to look like a telephone
pole in the front yard, make sure you can see the roots flare, see the
tops of the roots. That's the best way to make sure that the roots and
tree will survive and be happy.
Another grand tree is the Engler Beech. It is one of the rarest trees
at the Morris Arboretum and probably the biggest of its kind in North
America. The Morrises were great collectors of plants and introduced a
lot of rare plants while living here. This is a great example. The
Engler Beech was probably introduced in the U.S. through the Arnold
Arboretum in Boston and this is probably one of those plants. The
Morrises were patrons of plant exploration, similar to patrons of the
arts, they were patrons of plant exploration. That's a way that
plant-collecting trips are funded. They would fund these trips and get
part of the efforts from the trip. This tree is expansive - broad with
multiple trunks. In many homes today we've gone to single trunk trees
because of space limitations, but there are options available in the
home landscape for multiple trunk trees. They happen to be more
compact, but Tony wishes we would use more of these type trees. The
foliage on the Beech is stunning. It is one of the last trees
deciduously that drops its leaves and the color is very interesting.
It's a wonderful addition to the landscape and the color in fall is
spectacular. This tree provides interest in the fall and in the winter
landscape.
The Dawn Redwood is a tall, straight, spikey tree. This specimen is
about 50 years old and close to 100 feet tall. They are incredibly fast
growers and can grow several feet per year when young. As a homeowner
one must pay attention to that fact, you need to make sure that your
area has room for a tree this big. In our home landscapes we often want
instant gratification, so we plant closely, the problem with that is
that it cuts out light and air circulation that the plant needs. This
can lead to an early demise or at the minimum increased plant disease.
Thus, give trees light and air and the space they need. Some, not
familiar with this tree, think that in the fall when the foliage turns
brown that the tree is dying. That is not so. Dawn Redwoods have
several seasons of interest and in the fall their needles turn brown
and fall. They're a Deciduous Conifer, which sounds like an oxymoron,
but they're one of the few plants that do that. They have great fall
color, the trunks are beautiful in the winter - they create a
cathedral-like feeling, then in the summer, they're very clean with
beautiful foliage. At one time, these trees were thought to be extinct.
Until the 1940's they were only known from the fossil record, both in
North America and China. They were discovered alive in China in the
early 40's and first brought back to the U.S. in 1948. Thus, all Dawn
Redwoods in this country are no older than those brought here first in
1948.
Eric Johnson introduces the Knock Out Rose. One of the most exciting
innovations in rose breeding technology is the Knock Out Rose. The
Knock Out Rose is a shrub Rose or a landscape rose that has been
designed to be particularly disease resistant. So you do not have all
the problems with Black Spot or Downy Mildew, that our grandmother's
roses had. They have taken this rose a step further and developed the
Double Knock Out, which is a fantastic deep pink double Rose. It's
stunning. They have made it possible for the average, everyday gardener
to bring these typically tough to grow plants back into the garden.
For more information, visit the garden tips area of our website.
Joe and Tony next visit the Fernery. It is a lush, beautiful
environment. There are waterfalls and lots of green Ferns, as well as a
lot of rich history. The Fernery was built by John Morris in 1899
during the Victorian time. At that time there was Pteridomania - Fern
mania - people went crazy about ferns. If you had modest means, you had
a terrarium in your window with ferns in it. If you had more means, you
build a fernery. John designed this structure-it has no internal
columns-so it provides a nice open space. It's not a big conservatory
but there is a lot packed in. There are between 75 and 100 ferns here
at any given time. Several people are dedicated to taking care of this
fernery. Many of the ferns are tropical, thus have high humidity and
high light requirements. Thus, it is a glass house. The Morrises
designed this in a Japanese style so it marries tropicals with Japanese
gardening style, which results in the waterfall, koi and pond. There's
a whole different, wide range of elements here. We next look at some of
the 75 to 100 varieties of ferns. First we look at a tree fern, in
Tasmania or New Zealand they are native. There they grow to 8-10 feet
tall and appear as trees. They might grow outside in zones 8 to 10 but
they wouldn't survive here in zones 6 and 7. The Bear Paw Fern is on of
Tony's favorites. It has beautiful leaves and soft stems, which is
where it gets its name. They are soft and fuzzy with some cushion
effect and crawls down the rock face. They don't spray pesticides or
herbicides in here, instead they release Ladybugs and other natural
predators to eat harmful insects. They utilize beneficial insects, the
technique is IPM (Integrated Pest Management). Next we view a huge Bird
Nest Fern. Joe has seen much smaller varieties for sale in garden
centers. Here they let them grow and the old specimens add a lot of
structure and architecture to the Fernery and interior landscape. The
foliage grows upright and you see incredible contrast in its design.
The underside of the foliage has a burgundy, spiky look that is
striking. The Staghorn Fern is a great fern for a hanging basket. It is
a high humidity-requiring plant and sometimes challenging to grow. In a
conservatory, it is a wonderful specimen and nothing looks like them,
they really stand out. Tony has identified several ferns that would be
easier for a homeowner to grow. The first is a Dwarf Bird's Nest Fern,
it doesn't get as large as the one we saw earlier and is an easy, low
care plant for the house. Joe has one in his house and it does well
even with some neglect. Polypodium "Green Wave" is an interesting
plant, it has an architectural look to it. It will grow tall, is
readily available in garden centers, has a nice green color and adds a
good bit of contrast to either a lighter or darker plant. Rabbit's Foot
Fern is another plant that contrast well with other ferns. It works
well in hanging baskets or on a pedestal in the house. It is a
wonderful plant to have around. When looking inside the plant it is
readily apparent why it is called Rabbits Foot. The feet or stems are
soft, like a rabbits foot. It has a fine texture, is a great contrast
to a more coarse texture plant or a plant with a different shade of
green. The fernery has been fabulous and the three easy to grow
varieties of ferns have been outstanding.
Eva Monheim is a horticulturist and teacher at Temple University-Ambler
Campus. Eva tells us today about forcing plants, which they did at the
Philadelphia Flower Show. Everything on the floor there was forced. All
the plants were raised in greenhouses, out of season and forced and put
into displays. Today Eva shows us how to force branches, plants and
fresh cut flowers. First, you look for nice, fat, plump buds on your
plants outdoors. Once you bring them in, cut them on a sharp angle and
put them in warm water. If you want to speed up the process a little
put them in a warmer location. If you want to slow the process put them
in a cooler location. This will extend the life of your fresh cut
material and it will extend the spring season. You'll have flowers
indoors and when these are done you'll have flowers outdoors.
Trees and ferns start from seed. Tony tells us they travel the world
collecting seeds and sometimes plants and bring them back to the
Propagation House. Here we view some of the most recent efforts. There
are a number of interesting plants here. What distinguishes the Morris
Arboretum from other botanic gardens and arboretums is they go into the
wild, around the world, collect seed, bring them back and growing them.
Everything gets pretty much the same treatment, the same light
conditions and the same humidity conditions. The medium they use is a
vermiculite and bark with a little peat so it retains moisture, but it
is well drained at the same time. This can be done at home, these
materials can be purchased a garden centers.. Since 1979 they have been
on 17 or 18 trips to Korea, China, most recently the Republic of
Georgia, Armenia, to Europe, even around the United States. On these
collecting trips and they have found some special things. Tony is
particularly excited about Chinese Hemlock and has some young ones
germinating. As well, they have some seedlings grown from seed. They
were collected as seed in 1998, thus they're about 6 years old. They're
getting to the size where they'll be planted in the arboretum. The
American Hemlocks that they grow are susceptible to the Hemlock Wooly
Adelgid, which has been a real problem. The Chinese Hemlock is
resistant to the Adelgid, thus they've been going to China for about 12
years collecting Chinese Hemlock and they have a large number here.
They have been sharing Chinese Hemlock with other arboreta and
universities and there is a lot of research going into producing these
and getting them to the public.
As well they have some slightly older plants that are ready to go into
the garden. These have been potted in individual pots. They have some
young Katsuras that Tony brought back from China in the fall of 2005.
These seedlings will, in the future, become like the great old tree we
saw outside. Plants have a finite life span, so they're always planting
new things.
At the Morris Arboretum they have also collected a number of Witch
Hazels. Particularly at this time of year they are wonderful to see, it
is the hot new plant in the winter landscape. Tony doesn't think any
garden is complete without a Witch Hazel. We look at a yellow plant
although they come in a variety of colors from yellow to orange and
red. They're wonderful plants, very fragrant, they make great cut
flowers. They add color this time of year to the landscape when it is
otherwise dreary. If you combine varieties you can get 4 or 5 months of
continuous bloom. Native Witch Hazel blooms in the fall, some hybrids
of Asian Witch Hazel bloom all through the winter and into March. So,
more than most other plants you can get 4 or 5 months of continuous
bloom. Tony is also working on hardy Camellias. Here in Philadelphia,
zone 6, they're above the limit of their normal hardiness.They will
grow in the south or on the west coast but don't do well here. So,
Camellias in Philadelphia are a big deal. They have some from their
collecting trips that Tony next shows us. Joe loves Camellias for their
evergreen foliage. Tony shows us cuttings from original plants
collected in Korea in 1984 and they have been evaluating them for about
20 years. They started with about 750 plants in the late 80's from seed
collected in Korea in 1984. They're now down to about 45 plants,
narrowing it to the really hardy plants that have real promise. Nothing
in the retail system is presently available from the Morris Arboretum,
from their seed collection, but there is a plant called Korean Fire,
which has nice red flowers that is readily available in the nursery
trade at specialty Camellia nurseries. Tony is also excited about a
great rose and it is easy to find. He is at their cold frame and shows
us the Pink Knockout, one of the Knockout Rose series and one they're
particularly proud of. They co-discovered this and the royalties from
this plant helps support their efforts here at the arboretum. This is a
pink Knockout but there are other colors as well. There is the Original
Knockout, which is cherry red, there's a Blushing Knockout which is
pale, shell pink and there is a Double Knockout which is double cherry
red. There are more colors to come. This rose was the top selling rose
in North America last year. It is a great rose for every gardener.
Joe thanks Tony for the tour of the Morris Arboretum. It has been a
great experience, one we'll long remember.
Links ::
Hyatt Regency
Philadelphia at Penn's Landing
The Morris Arboretum
Jane Kirkland
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By GrowJoy
Pollinators are vital to our continued existence. But you may respond - Winter is here, the pollinators are gone. There are quite a few pollinators that overwinter in or near our garden. click here. for an article that will tell you more about how to encourage pollinators in the winter months.
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