April showers bring May
floriferousness, Opening Day at Hortus and the love affair of all things green.
Happy April and with any luck I’ll be able to get this newsletter out prior to May, but as you know once the winter jackets are left on the hook, the gardening gloves are on and we’re far away from the computer.
Yay for all the early spring bulb as they punch their way through last year’s debris. The garden, any garden is in truly a raw state after several months of freezing temperatures, windy conditions, and low sun. For some gardeners, it may seem like an overwhelming task, easy to put off until the outside temperatures reach into the 60’s (at least), and there is the assurance of no more bare branches, but rather a complete covering of green, even better when adorned with flowers of a multitude of colors. So right now in the Hudson Valley we are still in that awkward phase- still cold, and even below freezing temperatures at night, with highs ranging in the 50’s, and if the sun is out it can feel like a spring day in May. But there is a large segment of the gardening population who have happily jumped into it deep right away. Obviously managing an arboretum is a bit different since we really never stop- we just slow down.
At Hortus, we have been carefully digging up plants, often large shrubs and even trees, and moving them to other "forever homes” within the gardens. If you have a shrub, vine, or tree that is no longer in its best place and you want it to be moved the time to do it is now, right before it breaks dormancy, if it hasn’t already! The optimum time for transplanting a more mature specimen is on a cool, but not cold, overcast day with rain forecasted for the following day.
The best thing when you are planting a new woody plant, whether it’s a tree or a shrub is to try to imagine that plant years from now. You’re most inclined to have that in mind when you are preparing the space. But not just 5 or ten years, but twenty and beyond. How big will it get if it’s allowed to reach its full potential? For those who are just in their early years of being a gardening addict, this is a very important, early lesson.
There are many reasons why the well-known gardening saying, “the right plant for the right place” makes sense as an adage. The reality is different and depends a lot on where (is it a rooftop, balcony or large backyard?) and how you garden, (weekend, versus whenever you can). It takes years to hone the sense of when too much is too much, and plant addiction is real. Just look it up! How many of us have just bought a plant on an, “I just gotta have this even though I have no idea where it will go.”
But sometimes unexpected events happen in the garden, and transplanting established trees or shrubs makes sense when a plant is no longer getting the same amount of sunshine it did, or when other faster-growing plants begin to crowd in. In our case, this Chinese Fringe Tree (Chionanthus restus) was planted in an area that we decided five years ago to use for a conifer & Magnolia collection, so it no longer made sense where we had originally thought and it had to be moved.
**Notice the buckets behind me in the photo. Those are full of the soil from the tree which we will use as the soil when we pot up the tree. She will then be put in a shady area, watered frequently until we can both agree on where her “new forever home” is.
We’re so excited about this upcoming season and the programming that we are able to offer this year! Check the website’s calendar for more details.
Your support means everything. We would not be here without your help. There are so many ways to do this; by taking a class, a tour (we do offer private tours which make a great gift!), becoming a garden member or just visiting the gardens.
This year’s Annual Plant Sale is on Sunday, June 15th, and we are doing it a bit differently. We will still honor members first in terms of ordering online plants (more on what’s available in the next newsletter), AND we will also be setting up a bunch of tables that day to include other plant vendors, Hazelmor Nursery, Second, and Treadlight Farms will also be here selling their wonderful selections. You can prepay and order directly on their websites and pick up your advance order at the arboretum; but they will also be bringing other goodies so we recommend having a field trip to the arboretum that day
SAVE THE DATES
ONSITE EVENTS
April 27th - A soft-opening day at Hortus - While it may still be messy, many flowering plants are starting to do their thing. It is a good time to come and get inspired for your own garden(s) or landscape.
May 4th - Curators Walking Tour - Join us for our first walking tour of the season where we will highlight some of our favorite plants happening in early May.
May 31st - Magnolia workshop with Wendy Hollender & Draw Botanical. This special class will spend all day at the arboretum drawing. Visit here for more details
June 1st - Tree ID class with Levi O’Brien - Levi is back and will explore the different characteristics of native and naturalized trees to help you build confidence in your own tree identification practices. Levi will be offering 2 different sessions on tree ID and they will not cover the same material.
June 7th - Eco-Printing with Bonnee Pecquex - Eco-printing is an artistic technique that involves using plant materials to create unique and intricate patterns on fabric.
June 15th - The Annual Plant Sale Redux - This year we have invited Hazelmor Nursery, Second, and Treadlight Nursery to sell plants alongside of us. Check their websites for preordering or just come that day and checkout all the plant goodies.
June 28th - The annual Art in the Garden event - Lori Merhige is the featured artist this year!
OFFSITE EVENTS
May 3rd - Stonecrop Gardens - Scott & I will be giving a presentation will focus on how to grow, care for, and maintain some of the lesser-known but very garden-worthy native plants. We will be selling signed copies of our book, ‘Cold-Hardy Fruits & Nuts’ after the event. Click here for more info.
May 17th - Beatrix Farrand Garden - Come join me as I discuss native trees & shrubs. Using the plants at the Wild Garden at the Beatrix Farrand Garden, I will go over best planting practices, basic cultural information, as well as aesthetic considerations. This is a free event. I will be selling signed copies of our book, ‘Cold-Hardy Fruits & Nuts’ after the event. Click here for more info.
If you’re relatively “new” to Hortus or its been a while since I’ve talked about how Hortus began, so let me give you the two-minute elevator speech about what we’re doing here.
Since 2001 Scott & I (plus an ever-changing cast of amazing garden workers) have been creating what is now the nonprofit Hortus Arboretum and Botanical Garden. We started with 3 acres of land which at the time seemed so expansive considering so much of it was lawn. Fortunately for us, just as we were running out of space to put in one more plant without overcrowding an already packed garden, we were able to purchase the 8-acre parcel directly across the road (thanks to a big art commission!) Today that acreage is known as the South Gardens which is where the newly created Pinetum (conifer) garden is. There is also a garden guesthouse on the edge of the land past the conifer garden. In 2021 we purchased 10 acres of land that is adjacent to the Field Gardens, (thanks mom!) to stop the development of at least two houses being built there. We now call that land the Northwoods, and we are in the process of installing deer fencing on the 10 acres. The purpose of enclosing this area is to allow the forest’s flora (and thus fauna) to regenerate and grow without being deer browsing.
We do not use any machinery other than our bodies to protect the soil from any additional compaction.
We think the most important thing for you to know is that there is no official arboretum or botanical garden in Ulster County.
Our personal goal is to ensure the continued growth of what we know is a special place and to that end, we are working with our local land conservancy to protect the current 21 acres under our stewardship by leaving this for Ulster County as their arboretum-botanical garden for the future generations. If you are a neighbor to Hortus in the Vly area we encourage you to think about making your property forever green, and join us in making this entire area a green zone for the next fifty to one hundred years.
How we do this without having a lot of money has been a challenge, but we are proud to say we are doing it thanks to all our donors and members, and by opening up the gardens to the public on weekends, telling our story to anyone who will listen (or read it dear subscriber).
Once visitors walk through the gardens they see that we are serious, by our collections.
The collections include rare, and endangered plants, not-fully zonally hardy trees and shrubs - since we need to be foward-thinking about climate change and adaptability to a changing environment. Our goal is to inspire others to put plants into their own gardens, even if they may never have heard of them before.
There are so many ways to support the work we are doing here. You can do it by donating, by becoming a garden member, by volunteering (we need help with many things, not just weeding), or by supporting this Substack newsletter.
If you like a little art with your gardens (YES PLEASE!) please go visit the wonderful Stonecrop Gardens in Cold Spring, NY where my artwork is part of a group show “Hudson Valley Sampler”. Plus we will be speaking there on May 3rd!
This poem sent by a Hortus friend sets the tone perfectly…
Malachy Moran\
Chionodoxa Do Not Understand Tariffs
I tried to explain to the flowers
on the banks of Akerselva
that they honestly had chosen
an awful time to sprout.
I detailed all the nuance
of international tariffs
and suggested that they wait a bit
to see how things shake out.
They swayed with polite attention
as I outlined my position
on effects of the weakened dollar
and the day’s stock market rout,
but I do not think they listened
as they lifted heads defiant
or at least their azure petals
did not betray their doubts.
See you soon real soon in the gardens!
Thanks for reading along.