Text by Lois Rose, photos by Lois Rose unless otherwise noted
The Cleveland Botanical Garden is welcoming visitors again at last. Making a reservation is easy, strolling the grounds is a reassuring pleasure. Think of this photo montage as a scavenger hunt: name that plant. Better still, catch the next moment in time as summer unfolds at CBG.
by Lois Rose
In the 1880s, the High Line was constructed as a street level railroad delivering mostly food products to lower Manhattan. Tenth Avenue became known as Death Avenue due to the large number of fatalities at railroad crossings (540 by 1910!). In the 1920s, the West Side Cowboys on horseback helped pedestrians avoid collisions with the trains. The city took note of the hazardous conditions, and by 1924 called for the construction of an elevated line, which is what we now know as the High Line.
The elevated tracks were fully operational by 1934, and due to increased truck traffic were in disrepair by the 1980s. In 1999, CSX opened the area to proposals for reuse.
On a sub-freezing sunny Saturday morning in October, I finally had my first encounter with New York’s High Line. The former rail line was retrofitted as a public park starting in 2006 and mostly completed by 2014. This 30- foot elevated botanical masterpiece runs along 10th Avenue for 1.45 miles. Camera in hand I documented everything in sight, with nary a person blocking my view. I took in many of the 400 plus types of trees, shrubs, perennials, vines and grasses (a lot of grasses) that despite the freeze and lateness of the season looked pretty good.
The designer of this showpiece was Piet Oudolf, best known in the US for the Lurie Gardens at Millennium Park in Chicago. He was required by the funders to reflect some of the natural environment in the plant community that existed on the High Line before renovation. The plants he chose perform a function and meet a specific visual outcome. They will contribute, according to Oudolf, to biodiversity by supporting habitats where insects, birds and other animals can survive.
Over fifty percent of the plant material is native. The volunteer organization that maintains the High Line Park, the Friends of the High Line, have plant lists and garden zones detailed on their website.
As a few more people arrived while I was there, I noticed that most of them did not seem to notice the plants at all. They took photos of the streets below, the architectural stand outs along the way, and each other. But not the plants.
Now, no cowboys are needed to protect pedestrians, except perhaps on very crowded summer days when the place is packed with tourists.
For those looking for more history about the High Line, check out the following resources:
https://www.livinthehighline.com/the-original-urban-cowboy/ (includes video)
https://www.thehighline.org/history/
https://ny.curbed.com/2019/5/7/18525802/high-line-new-york-park-guide-entrances-map
photos by Lois Rose
by Lois Rose
A few weeks ago I was fortunate to join Master Gardeners and others in an all day seminar at Secrest Arboretum, entitled “How Plants Mate”. Needless to say it attracted a good crowd.
We spent a lot of time indoors at the new tech- savvy center getting the low down on the intricacies of stamens and pistils and bracts and the myriad mechanisms of mating in the plant kingdom. At the end we saw plant parts exposed under the microscope—imagine an eight -foot high pistil, glistening on the screen…a huge ovary—well you get the idea.
But even without the in depth explanations this was a beautiful day in the arboretum, where restorations after the tornado have been highly successful.
This lovely space is only an hour and a half away, and is season by season full of a large variety of carefully curated shrubs, trees, perennials. Our hosts were the Curator, Jason Veil, and Ann Chanon, ANR educator in Lorain County and an authority on buckeyes.
I hope this little article will tempt you to take out your botany textbook and delve into the many wonders in your garden that are just below the surface.
by Lois Rose
Saturday, July 20 was a 96 degree scorcher, with high humidity as well. Some very brave garden lovers walked and drove around Cleveland Heights for the first day of the two day inaugural GardenWalk. Around 40 private yards and public gardens were available for viewing from 12 to 5, plus three community gardens and ten pocket gardens on Langton, in the four zip codes of Cleveland Heights.
Cleveland Heights covers about 8.13 square miles at an elevation of 935 feet. It was founded in 1903. Forest Hill is one of the historic neighborhoods, north of Mayfield between Lee and Taylor. It was purchased in 1923 by John Rockefeller from his father.
There were several homes in this neighborhood on the tour.
Further south some of the older neighborhoods featured a diverse group of gardens with wonderful water features, native plant havens, and charming displays of perennials and annuals. Friendly gardeners often greeted the visitors, offering refreshments and guided inspections as well.
One home on a small lane had crisply clipped hedges interrupted with white picket gates inviting you in.
Some homeowners placed signs in their gardens to inform visitors about their plants and other features.
by Lois Rose
Lucky me. My new grandchild lives a half mile from the Botanical Garden in Brooklyn so naturally during a recent visit we went to see the cherry blossoms in full swing.
Coincidentally, and somewhat unfortunately, there was a massive Japanese festival going on, complete with drummers, dancers, food, ceramics, demonstrations and thousands of children and parents roaming the grounds.
Parts of the garden were closed off: the roses were behind bars.
Many tulips in sunnier locations, like beside this water feature, were gone by and the perennials were just emerging, too early for flowers.
Massively large trees, like this wingnut, were featured in several locations. Newer plantings along this meandering creek, were mostly in bloom with daffodils, early tulips and Fothergilla.
An outcropping of huge boulders was cleverly surrounded by carefully managed conifers and flowering shrubs and was adjacent to a lovely display of early emerging flowers, like Pulsatilla.
The vegetable and fruit area was enviously pristine with stunning pruned shrubs, meticulously planted vegetables, many varieties of small fruit like blueberries, currants, raspberries, figs and some espalier.
A beech hedge sported a sitting bird in nest, surprisingly close to the hordes of visitors.
Wild flowers were carefully arranged in protected nooks around some tremendous very old trees, with paths wandering up and down, giving unique vantage points as you walked.
Turning the corner we came upon the children’s garden, not yet cultivated for the season except for bulbs and early perennials. The greenhouses were crowded as it began to rain, so we skipped to the tulips, and several garden rooms nearby with raised beds of daffodils, a Shakespeare garden and woven wooden enclosures.
At the end of our tour was the Japanese Garden, surrounded by a charming fence and entered through a gate which limits the number of pedestrians allowed in at a time.
The garden was replete with well managed trees, shrubs, and plantings, right off of Grand Army Plaza. Despite the distractions, this is a tour worth repeating during the seasons. Can hardly wait to see it—and my grandchild—again soon.
by Lois Rose
Ready for a break from the winter blahs?? Consider planning a four hour drive to Cincinnati this year to see two horticultural gems.
The zoo is the second oldest in the country. It resulted from an infestation of caterpillars in 1872. Residents created the Society of the Acclimatization of Birds, purchased 1000 birds from Europe and housed them, then released them in 1873, hoping they would eat the caterpillars. The group changed their name to the Zoological Society of Cincinnati. So what happened to the caterpillars?
Traveling with the Master Gardeners, we were given a guided tour by Director of Horticulture, Steve Foltz. (Tours are available for groups with a donation.) You approach the zoo and gardens across an impressive bridge over the road, from the parking lot at a lower elevation. One of the first things you see at arrival is a large sculpture of Fiona, the hippo, who is a kind of mascot and advertising mainstay for the zoo. The zoo is known for the baby animals born on site, and Fiona is the best known.
The botanical garden is visited, along with the zoo, by 1.7 million visitors each year. The Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden has held annuals trials and displays for 17 years. Over 48,000 annuals are planted and then evaluated by professional staff, volunteers as well as by visitors. Some of the top ten for 2018 included Begonia Babywing Bicolor, Begonia Megawatt series, Canna Cannova Bronze Scarlet, Coleus Main Street Wall Street, Euphorbia Diamond Mountain and Helianthus Sunfinity. View 2018’s top performers here.
Annuals are used as mass plantings throughout the zoo and in containers. They are a magnet for pollinators, providing nectar and pollen through the season. (There is ongoing controversy about the relative merits of natives versus cultivars (nativars) for best pollination success. E.g., Monarch butterflies might benefit from pollen or nectar from non-natives but need native Asclepias (milkweed) to lay their eggs.)
In addition to its outstanding displays of annuals, the Horticultural staff has made a serious effort to include hardy plants as well as tropicals that add a flavor to the areas surrounding the animal displays. Bamboo for example is used extensively, as well as perennials and bulbs like Colocasia (elephant ears) with large and interesting leaves to simulate tropical growth. Large leaved magnolias are used effectively in this way. Water features, rock outcroppings—natural and artificial, wandering paths that twist and turn, elevation changes, surprises around the next corner—this is an interesting and for those with limits on walking, a challenging tour.
For its first 50 years Cincinnati was a village on the river, between Fourth Street and the Ohio. In the 1830s, a building boom expanded the so-called Bottoms neighborhood into a crowded area with the Public Landing as its center. By the start of World War 1, the area was deteriorated and undesirable. Until—a few years ago, the space close to the John A Roebling Suspension Bridge (am I in Brooklyn?) brought adventure playgrounds, gardens, swings for grownups—in short, a dramatic and welcomed transformation.
As of February 2015, almost $97 million in funding had been secured to construct Smale Riverfront Park, a $120 million project: 20 million was given by John Smale in honor of his wife. The cost per acre to construct was estimated around $2.7 million, compared to Chicago’s Millenium Park at more than $17 million per acre. An early estimate was that upkeep per year would be around $600,000.
Chosen as designers in 2001, Sasaki Associates were inspired by input of citizens at a series of public meetings and focus groups beginning in 1998. Their design plans fitted into the Park Master Plan, created by Hargreaves Associates and approved in 1999 by pretty much everyone in power.
From a tourist’s point of view, the most impressive feature of the park is probably the John A Roebling Suspension Bridge which was created by the same designer as the Brooklyn Bridge. Its blue towers stand out over the riverfront, visible from everywhere in the park. The riverfront baseball stadium, The Great American BallPark, home of the Cincinnati Reds (oldest franchise) is right next door. In fact, on a previous trip, I was able to watch the big screen in the ballpark during a game while I was standing half way across the bridge from Covington. (Pete Rose was there. Wow.)
The park splays out along the river with wandering paths, water features, gardens, playgrounds—in short, much to do for children and their parents. Away from the river and a roadway, and up some impressively designed stairs with water rushing down beside them, the carousel sits in a fine spot for looking down over the park. Nearby is a Ferris wheel with great views from the top and further up there are shops and restaurants nearby.
Be sure to try the rope bridge—a little intimidating but worth it. There are some rocks to climb, a large piano which you play with your feet, stones to leap on in a man-made stream, and many flower beds throughout. The rose garden is lovely with annuals full of butterflies and bees as well as a variety of well-kept roses.
The swings under a handsome trellis offer a respite and a great view of the river. Speaking of the river, it flooded last year and the park was once again the Bottoms of old. But it seemed very well maintained and as good as new when we were there.
by Lois Rose
These images are from Heights area gardens in September this year.
Anemone. Needs full sun to partial shade, rich well drained soil.
Aster needs full sun. They will self-seed around your garden if you fail to deadhead. Can be lanky so cutting back early in the season, by early June, can create a shorter and later flowering plant. Aster tataricus is blooming right now—very late, with lavender-blue tall stems.
Hardy begonia. Partial or full shade, bloom for months, prefers moist rich soil, come in late.
Belamcanda, or Blackberry lily likes full sun, sometimes reseeds. Needs good drainage. Seed pods are great for arrangements.
Plumbago—cerratostigma plumbaginoides. Blue flowers late in season, full sun to partial shade. Good drainage is important, slowly spreading ground cover.
Chelone—pink turtlehead, full sun or partial shade. Seedheads are nice. Plants can be pinched back in spring to reduce height.
Heuchera likes full sun to partial shade. Don’t prune in winter. Mulch instead.
Kirengeshoma palmata likes partial shade, suffers in drought. Prefers slightly acid soil.
Liriope, creeping lilyturf. Full sun or shade, do not deadhead for interesting fruit. Clean up in spring.
Perovskia or Russian sage in full sun. Long flowering, tendency to flop. Pinch by one-half when a foot tall for fuller plants.
Phlox in full sun. Seedlings are not true to type. Thin by a third early to reduce mildew, or choose wisely. Pinching produces shorter plants and delays flowering.
Physostegia, obedient plant. Full sun or partial shade, deadhead to improve appearance and possibly lengthen bloom time.
Sedum likes full sun or partial shade—Autumn Joy is a four-season plant, so it is cut back after winter has taken its toll but only then. Can flop in shade but can be pinched or cut back to a few inches when 8 inches tall in June for shorter and later blooming.
Solidago is full sun. Can be cut back by a half in early June for shorter more compact habit and delay of flowering.
Trycyrtis, hairy toad lily likes partial shade. Can be cut back by one half in early June. Needs rich soil.
Heptacodium miconioides, Seven-son Flower. Grown as a shrub or tree, outstanding calyx display in pink after flowering is done in late fall. Needs moist, well drained, rich soil, partial shade, exfoliating bark.
If you want more information about the perennials or shrubs or trees, there are two very useful books that will help. One is “The Well-Tended Perennial Garden,” by Tracy DiSabato-Aust. This is the kind of book you keep by your bedside so that you can read up on what you have to do tomorrow in the garden. The other book is Michael Dirr’s “Manual of Woody Landscape Plants.” Again, the go-to source for all kinds of information, from beginners to advanced. There are no color illustrations, but he has produced another book to fill that gap. It has less detailed information, but the pictures are worth—well, you know.
If you haven’t seen enough plants, here are more images, offered without commentary.
by Lois Rose
In 1970, on the eastern end of Lake County, David Leach found a perfect thirty acres on which to hybridize rhododendrons. Only a short distance from Lake Erie, this lovely garden houses many of his hybrids plus the experiments and successes of the new team, headed by Stephen Krebs, who took over after Leach died in 1998. Krebs is trying to develop resistance to fungal root rot in his hybrids.
Leach initially became well known for his knowledge and hybridizing skill with the publication of his book, Rhododendrons of the World, in 1961. He was an avid art collector and went on trips for collectors to Europe and elsewhere. He also visited the ancestral homes of his favorite rhododendrons.
The process of hybridizing involves taking pollen from a plant of interest and transferring it to another plant which is then isolated from other pollen using a bag over its flower. It can take up to 25 years from germination until possible retail success. Leach developed 80 such hybrids many of which went to market.
The property is located off of Route 528 in Madison. It includes a scenic pond which comes to full eye -popping beauty with the blooming of the yellow iris. There are test fields and greenhouses, thousands of spring flowers, wonderful flowering trees and shrubs in a woodland setting in addition to the azaleas and rhodies.
Leach left his property to Holden Arboretum in 1987. Holden members are frequently given a day in which to visit the David G. Leach Rhododendron Research Station, as it is officially called. Tours are given by knowledgeable guides. Be on the lookout next May for a date. Garden Clubs can also arrange for tours.
If you are a camera buff and like rhododendrons or azaleas, this is nirvana.
by Lois Rose
Visiting my hometown New Orleans in March, I was impressed with the height of the Mississippi River at full tilt, and by a wonderful garden called Longue Vue.
The house and gardens were the property of local philanthropists, Edith Rosenwald Stern and Edgar Bloom Stern. William and Geoffrey Platt were the architects working with Ellen Biddle Shipman creating the last Country Place Era estate built in America.
Longue Vue operates as an historic house museum and garden open to the public year round. It describes its mission, inspired by “our humanitarian and artistic legacy”, to be a leader in advancing innovative thought, creative expression and life-long learning.
When we arrived there was a serious Easter egg hunt on the grounds.
Sixteen garden “spaces” lie around the lovely house and surrounding eight acres off a short street and a pine drive (1942) next to one of the canals that flooded during Hurricane Katrina in 2005. When the garden was heavily damaged by the contaminated flood waters that remained for weeks, gardeners from around the world flocked to the site over the next years and helped to rebuild the garden and restore it to its former glory.
I saw Longue Vue soon after Katrina and twice since then.
I am including some photos from my previous trips for perspective on its evolution.
Large mature live oak trees flank the main path leading to the forecourt and the house from the parking area.
Moving to the left of the house from the ticket area you pass through an azalea walk, mostly gone by on this trip.
Next is the small pan garden with a sculpture and a fountain and seating area up against the house.
As you move around this side of the house you can see over a small lawn to the New Orleans Country Club golf course with huge oak trees, sand traps and of course golfers.
The main framework of the garden extends from the imposing double outdoor staircase on the right side of the house.
A charming yellow garden can be found off of the portico terrace in front of the staircase.
The large lawn defines the Spanish court and is flanked by decorative brick walls with insets of fountains and plantings in borders and containers.
Looking through openings in the brick wall you again become aware of the golf course, but it is cleverly obscured.
At the farthest end of the lawn from the house one of five structures in the garden blocks the view of a long sunken water rill at the center of the canal garden with a fountain.
A total of twenty four fountains and ponds appear as you walk around the grounds. A pair of ducks seemed at home in a secluded small “goldfish” pond to the left.
Going through an opening to the right reveals a walled garden room with a variety of iris at the center sunken several levels below the outer path.
Interesting fruit trees and flowering shrubs are featured throughout. Moving out from the walled room an iris walk leads to a wild garden and eventually to another water feature and a pigeonnier.
A children’s discovery garden has some unusual and innovative features including a bamboo tunneled entrance. Sweet olive, a very fragrant shrub which was in full bloom provided a wonderful curtain of perfume as we sat under its branches.
The 22,000 square foot house contains decorative arts from the 17th-20th centuries, English and American furniture, ceramics and mid-twentieth century op and kinetic art.
The garden alone though is worth a visit.
