Speaker 1: Broadcasting from Studio A Here at Proven Winners Color Choice Shrubs.
Speaker 1: It's time for the Gardening Simplified Show with Stacey Hervella me,
Speaker 1: Rick weisst and our engineer and producer Adrianna Robinson. Well,
Speaker 1: Happy Birthday America two hundred and fifty years. Part two
Speaker 1: of our series on gardens. We'd love to see you visit,
Speaker 1: and today we'll cover a number of botanical gardens that
Speaker 1: we recommend you visit. Of course, these gardens are tied
Speaker 1: to history and the rich history of our country, but
Speaker 1: it's really not the history here that we're talking about.
Speaker 1: Our goal is to present them as they are today
Speaker 1: and to inspire you to visit them. Just a rich
Speaker 1: agricultural and horticultural history to our country. Stacy a comment
Speaker 1: from one of our viewers that I thought was great
Speaker 1: about land grant universities in the United States. I have
Speaker 1: often visited the gardens at Michigan State University, a land
Speaker 1: grant university. It also makes me think of I think
Speaker 1: it's called the J. C. Ralston Gardens at North Carolina
Speaker 1: State and North Carolina State has been instrumental in the
Speaker 1: development of the horticulture industry here in the United.
Speaker 2: States, absolutely, and J. C. Ralston was too. He unfortunately
Speaker 2: passed away far too young. But his dream was to
Speaker 2: have a state arboretum for North Carolina and that is
Speaker 2: what became the J. C. Ralston Arboretum. And it is
Speaker 2: a wonderful place that you should absolutely visit. And you know,
Speaker 2: speaking of visits, we hope that you are able to
Speaker 2: go to all of these gardens in person and experience
Speaker 2: them for yourself and learn about the history. But I
Speaker 2: do have to say, in researching all of this, there's
Speaker 2: a lot of great web sites. So if you cannot
Speaker 2: wait until you can visit them, or you're just sitting
Speaker 2: around and want a dream big, do visit their websites.
Speaker 2: There are wonderful stories, the history maps, all of that
Speaker 2: good stuff. So it's the second best thing to visiting.
Speaker 1: Yeah, really absolutely, and that's true. The websites are fantastic. Now,
Speaker 1: of course, I guess to start out, you know, again,
Speaker 1: you talk about history, you talk about the women's movement
Speaker 1: and suffrage and voting rights, and boy, that's kind of
Speaker 1: tied into that was the mid eighteen hundreds. It's kind
Speaker 1: of tied into the Founder's Memorial Garden. I have never
Speaker 1: been there. But i'd like to go.
Speaker 2: Right, I have never been there either. This is in Athens, Georgia,
Speaker 2: on the campus of the University of Georgia. And you know,
Speaker 2: the gardens that we're picking for this show, right, like,
Speaker 2: the comments are already coming in, and we're going to
Speaker 2: wait until the whole series is over and we will
Speaker 2: do something to address all of the gardens that we
Speaker 2: miss our being outcried in the comments. We'll address that
Speaker 2: in a future episode. But you know, the one of
Speaker 2: the ways that we're trying to pick these gardens is
Speaker 2: because of their significance. So it's not always that it's
Speaker 2: like the best or most beautiful or special or unique garden.
Speaker 2: So that's how a garden like the Founder's Memorial Garden
Speaker 2: in Athens, Georgia gets on the list. The Founder's Memorial
Speaker 2: Garden commemorates the founding of the first Ladies Garden Club
Speaker 2: in America in eighteen ninety one.
Speaker 1: That is so interesting. What year was that?
Speaker 2: Eighteen ninety one? Wow, So that was the year that
Speaker 2: the first Lady's Garden Club was founded. And you know,
Speaker 2: to us now, it's kind of interesting because I think
Speaker 2: most people think tend to think no offense rick of
Speaker 2: gardening is a woman's pastime, which is garbage. It's not
Speaker 2: you do not need to be a specific gender to garden.
Speaker 1: I'm not even touching that one.
Speaker 2: But really, you know, and if you couldn't tell, you know,
Speaker 2: the gardens that we've talked about is we kind of
Speaker 2: traveled through the thirteen original colonies and all of that.
Speaker 2: Of course we're in Georgia, so that's still one of
Speaker 2: the thirteen original colonies. But you know, gardening was largely
Speaker 2: a man's pastime. It was not something that women engaged in,
Speaker 2: whether it was because they were dressed in hoopskirts and
Speaker 2: petticoats and all of these other things that made it
Speaker 2: impossible to actually bend over much less work in the
Speaker 2: garden and pull weeds and so forth. So this is
Speaker 2: really instrumental in the fact that now it was okay
Speaker 2: for women to garden. It was accepted women could get
Speaker 2: together in their own societies and talk about gardening and
Speaker 2: celebrate gardening and learn about plants. And you know, now
Speaker 2: we take the whole concept of garden societies kind of
Speaker 2: for granted. They're almost like a quaint concept that don't
Speaker 2: you know, hardly exist anymore. But this was massive that
Speaker 2: there was the first garden club for women in Athens,
Speaker 2: Georgia in eighteen ninety one. So this is a pretty
Speaker 2: small garden if you happen to be in Athens, Georgia,
Speaker 2: you might even miss it if you didn't know about it.
Speaker 2: But this garden was actually chartered in nineteen thirty six
Speaker 2: specifically to commemorate the founding of the first women's garden.
Speaker 2: It wasn't completed until ten years in nineteen forty six.
Speaker 2: So it's kind of a formal garden with a clipped
Speaker 2: boxwood parterre, and a parterre is basically, I guess what
Speaker 2: most people would consider like a k not garden, very formal,
Speaker 2: clipped boxwood hedges, sometimes with plants inside them, So it
Speaker 2: has this kind of formality. But it also functions as
Speaker 2: a living laboratory for the University of Georgia College of
Speaker 2: Environment and Design, so they're doing research on trees. It's
Speaker 2: about a five acre site. You can rent it for
Speaker 2: weddings and events and all of those types of things.
Speaker 2: But again this one is included not because this is
Speaker 2: the most stunning guard that you're ever going to see,
Speaker 2: but that role in history and the fact that even
Speaker 2: in nineteen thirty six, you know, some forty years after
Speaker 2: the first Lady's Garden Club was founded, they felt that
Speaker 2: that was significant enough to commemorate with its own garden.
Speaker 1: Interesting. Well, I guess my only editorial comment would be
Speaker 1: I used to operate a guard center, and I understand
Speaker 1: that probably nine out of ten decisions made at a
Speaker 1: garden center are made by a woman, not a man.
Speaker 1: It's just the way it is, and we love them.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and you know, I think that that that's my
Speaker 2: only kind. I'm grateful that gardening has become much more
Speaker 2: democratized because of the Internet.
Speaker 1: Yes exactly.
Speaker 2: You know, there are at least as many male gardening
Speaker 2: influences as there are female gardening influencers. But again, as
Speaker 2: we're talking about history, it's pretty wild to think that
Speaker 2: there was a time where it's unbelievab, where you know,
Speaker 2: pearls would have been clutched if a woman so much
Speaker 2: is dreamed of planting something.
Speaker 1: So goodness, Well, let's move on here, and let's let's
Speaker 1: go to southern Florida.
Speaker 2: Oh, we're actually going to take a detour first. We're
Speaker 2: going to well we're still in Florida. But I found
Speaker 2: out about a garden just to this morning. Well, I
Speaker 2: knew about the garden before, but once I started reading
Speaker 2: the story of this garden, I said, oh, this has
Speaker 2: this is going to make the cut. It's in your
Speaker 2: digital notes, it's in your paper notes here, okay. But
Speaker 2: when I read this, and then I read the story
Speaker 2: of the person who founded this garden, I said, this
Speaker 2: is exactly the type of story that we want to
Speaker 2: tell on the Gardening Simplified Show for part two. So
Speaker 2: it is Bach Tower Gardens and Lake Wales, Florida. Have
Speaker 2: you been there? I have been there, Okay, So it's
Speaker 2: kind of I looked on the map southwest of Orlando.
Speaker 2: It is still deep within theme Park Florida, not far
Speaker 2: from Legoland. So if you are in Florida visiting all
Speaker 2: the theme parks, you may not have time because you're
Speaker 2: running around theme park to theme park. But this is
Speaker 2: absolutely a garden worth your visit because the founder of it,
Speaker 2: Edward Bach. It's a true American dream story, So get
Speaker 2: ready for this. He comes to Brooklyn at the age
Speaker 2: of six as an immigrant from the Netherlands. He's educated
Speaker 2: in New York City public schools. In Brooklyn, he works
Speaker 2: as a quote office boy for Western Union Telegraph in
Speaker 2: eighteen seventy six. And you know, this is a the
Speaker 2: classic American story. He's attending night school to further his education.
Speaker 2: So here's this guy trying to make a living, you know,
Speaker 2: older teenager, young twenties, out of school, working at telegraph office,
Speaker 2: going to night school. He eventually starts to work his
Speaker 2: way up in publishing and advertising sales for magazines. All right,
Speaker 2: he now speaking of women and how gardening has changed.
Speaker 2: This is going to say, this is almost absurd for
Speaker 2: me to say, but it's still part of history. He
Speaker 2: becomes the first editor of the Ladies Home Journal in
Speaker 2: eighteen eighty nine.
Speaker 1: An immigrants from the Netherlands.
Speaker 2: Yes, so he ends up so the Lady's Home Journal
Speaker 2: was there. He becomes the editor of the Ladies Home
Speaker 2: Journal in eighteen eighty nine, and under Edward box leadership,
Speaker 2: the Ladies Home Journal becomes the first magazine in the
Speaker 2: world to reach one million subscribers. Which that's crazy to
Speaker 2: think of that happening, you know, way back in the
Speaker 2: early nineteen hundreds, late eighteen hundreds, because things did not
Speaker 2: happen as quickly as they do now with the Internet.
Speaker 2: Under his direction at the Ladies Home Journal. He coins
Speaker 2: the term living room. He renames the concept of Victorian
Speaker 2: parlors to living rooms, so they used to be called parlors.
Speaker 2: By him, they become living rooms and now that, of
Speaker 2: course is common parlance for us and in he was
Speaker 2: a big proponent of the early American arts and crafts movement,
Speaker 2: and he publishes Frank Lloyd writes home plans in the
Speaker 2: Ladies Home Journal, making him and his home style as
Speaker 2: popular as they became. Amazing, isn't that incredible. He was
Speaker 2: a very forward thinking person. He fought for women's rights,
Speaker 2: the right to vote, and he also helped to ensure
Speaker 2: that Niagara Falls was preserved from development. So that's the
Speaker 2: fun thing about these is you start reading these histories
Speaker 2: and there's all these like crazy points connecting everything. So
Speaker 2: he moves to Florida and he has a vision to
Speaker 2: found a garden and this is a quote directly from
Speaker 2: the bach Tower Gardens website, as a gift for visitation
Speaker 2: by the American people in gratitude for the opportunity they
Speaker 2: had given him. So he wants to give this garden
Speaker 2: to the American people to enjoy. He employs Frederic loh
Speaker 2: Olmsted Junior. So we talked about Frederick law Olmsted a
Speaker 2: lot in the last episode. We're gonna still be talking
Speaker 2: about him because we've got some big Frederick law Olmsted
Speaker 2: Gardens coming up, and he specifically designs it with Frederick
Speaker 2: lah Olmsted Junior, as a sanctuary for birds and native wildlife.
Speaker 2: And Olmsted Junior specifically chooses plants and cites them to
Speaker 2: quote provide a hearty supply of food and shelter for
Speaker 2: migrating birds and other wildlife. Now to this day, the
Speaker 2: threatened gopher tortoise and eastern indigo snake make their homes
Speaker 2: at Bach Tower Gardens. And there is a picture, and
Speaker 2: this is sort of why the thing that I saw
Speaker 2: this morning that made me really want to look into
Speaker 2: his story. There was a picture of Edward Bach standing
Speaker 2: next to a sign that says, quote, a sanctuary is
Speaker 2: a place where the rights of all living things are respected.
Speaker 2: And that just kind of really summarizes his, you know,
Speaker 2: view on life and the viewpoint that he had building
Speaker 2: bock Tower Gardens. Now, I think what most people know
Speaker 2: Bock Tower Gardens for is his dream of building a carolon.
Speaker 2: Now I don't know a lot about carolons. They are.
Speaker 2: I am vastly underestimating them to call them a bell tower,
Speaker 2: because they are so much more than a bell tower.
Speaker 2: I learned a lot about carolons today. Fascinating topic. He
Speaker 2: commissioned a carolan at the center. He is buried at
Speaker 2: the base of the carolon at bock Tower Gardens and
Speaker 2: it's one of only one hundred and eighty five caralons
Speaker 2: in the US.
Speaker 1: Wow.
Speaker 2: They have a great page on their website about carolons.
Speaker 1: There's a great carolan at bell Aisle, which we'll be
Speaker 1: talking about later.
Speaker 2: And we are if we get to it, because at
Speaker 2: this rate it's not looking at.
Speaker 1: Edward Bach.
Speaker 2: Fascinating story in a beautiful garden. I have not visited there,
Speaker 2: but I will tell you should I find myself in
Speaker 2: the Orlando area again, I will certainly be making a
Speaker 2: detour because it looks fabulous. It's about the bird, it's
Speaker 2: about the wildlife, and it's about Edward Box. Gift to
Speaker 2: the Americans who helped him realize his dream.
Speaker 1: You saved the threatened gopher toward.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I meant to look that up. I'm sure it's adorable.
Speaker 1: When the tortoise arrived, he said, I'll be back. Sorry.
Speaker 2: All right. On that note, we're gonna take a little break.
Speaker 2: When we come back, we're going to continue our journey
Speaker 2: into Florida Gardens of Police. Stay tuned beautify your home
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Speaker 2: Greetings gardening friends, and welcome back to the Gardening Simplified Shrub,
Speaker 2: where we're continuing our tour of gardens that shaped America
Speaker 2: and public gardens that you can visit, because we're not
Speaker 2: talking about gardens that aren't still around. All of these
Speaker 2: gardens are still around. They are open to the public.
Speaker 2: Some of them may not be open every single day,
Speaker 2: so you do want to check before you go. But
Speaker 2: we wanted to kind of share some gardens around the country,
Speaker 2: big and small, famous and less famous, that the people
Speaker 2: and the garden themselves, and the people who worked in
Speaker 2: and designed the garden helped to shape our history, and
Speaker 2: that's something you can participate in. So we are moving
Speaker 2: to a garden that is named for an extremely significant
Speaker 2: American Most people don't know who he is, and that
Speaker 2: is Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in Miami, Florida. So you
Speaker 2: might hear Fairchild and just think, oh, that's just the
Speaker 2: name of the garden, but no, it is named for
Speaker 2: David Fairchild, who, again a lot of people don't know
Speaker 2: who he is, but his impact on American food and
Speaker 2: gardening cannot be overstated.
Speaker 1: I agree. There's a good chance I would have not
Speaker 1: had avocado toast for breakfast this morning without DN.
Speaker 2: Can you imagine no avocados? And we have David Fairchild
Speaker 2: to think. So. David Fairchild was born in Lansing, Michigan.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I know, amazing, Yes, just up the road from
Speaker 1: that studio away.
Speaker 2: Not far away. But he did not go to Michigan
Speaker 2: State University. I know this will disappoint many of our listeners.
Speaker 2: He then moved to Kansas and graduated from Kansas State,
Speaker 2: which is still an excellent agricultural program. He then, at
Speaker 2: the age of twenty two well worked for the USDA
Speaker 2: as a quote seed explorer and this work for the
Speaker 2: USDA sent David Fairchild all over the world. He went
Speaker 2: to every single continent except Antarctica inert. And this is
Speaker 2: in the nineteen twenties, right, This This is not like
Speaker 2: hop on a plane in fly first class because you're
Speaker 2: a frequent flyer. This is long, long hours in ships
Speaker 2: and motion, sickness and storms and all of that. And
Speaker 2: he is credited with introducing two hundred thousand ornamental and
Speaker 2: food crops to the US unbelieve that is not a
Speaker 2: made up number. That is the actual USDA number. At
Speaker 2: least two hundred thousand different crops he collected around the
Speaker 2: world and brought back to the USDA and brought back
Speaker 2: to the US and just profoundly changed the way that
Speaker 2: we farm and the way that we garden, and the
Speaker 2: way that we eat. So before David Fairchild started bringing
Speaker 2: all of these over, Americans mostly had a pretty meat
Speaker 2: heavy diet. Now, of course, if you lived in a
Speaker 2: warmer climate, you could grow more of your own food,
Speaker 2: and people did grow their own food, but you know,
Speaker 2: that summer season was pretty small. And yes, people can,
Speaker 2: but it's not like you could just go to Meyer
Speaker 2: and buy a you know, case of ball jars and
Speaker 2: it didn't make an impact on your you know, on
Speaker 2: your finances. So he by bringing all of these different
Speaker 2: edible crops to the US, he really changed the way
Speaker 2: people eat. So just some of his introductions include soybeans, pistachios, mangoes, nectarines, dates,
Speaker 2: bamboo no that could be a good or a bad thing,
Speaker 2: depending on how you look at it, kale keen, avocados,
Speaker 2: Asrick said, and those flowering cherries that are so associated
Speaker 2: with Washington, d c. You can thank David Fairchild for those.
Speaker 1: When I was there, we were having a taste testing
Speaker 1: of mangoes.
Speaker 2: Oh nice, Fairchild. So we're getting to Fairchild. It is
Speaker 2: one of the best, I think, most significant mango collections
Speaker 2: in the entire US. They do have a mango festival
Speaker 2: every year, and yeah, you can taste how many different
Speaker 2: varieties of mangoes. Did you taste?
Speaker 1: Cool? There were a few I don't remember, but all
Speaker 1: I remember is they were delicious and juicy, very good.
Speaker 2: When I was there, it was not mango season, but
Speaker 2: they did show me around and they have a huge
Speaker 2: mango collection. So if you're interested in learning more about
Speaker 2: David Fairchild, there is a great recent book called The
Speaker 2: Food Explorer by Daniel Stone. My husband read it. He
Speaker 2: really enjoyed it. I have not read it, but talks
Speaker 2: more about that history. And then, just briefly while we're
Speaker 2: mentioning books, in David Fairchild. He and his wife, who
Speaker 2: was Marion Bell. She changed her name, of course to
Speaker 2: Maryild the daughter of Alexander Graham Bell Hello. She was
Speaker 2: the daughter of Alexander Graham Bell. She marries David Fairchild.
Speaker 2: They have a house in Maryland as well as in Florida.
Speaker 2: We'll get to the Florida partner moment here, but I
Speaker 2: have to give this a little side detour because I
Speaker 2: know Adriana is gonna want to put this in the
Speaker 2: YouTube video as much as I want to talk about it.
Speaker 2: He and his wife spend one summer constructing this elaborate
Speaker 2: I think it's eighteen foot long camera specifically to photograph insects,
Speaker 2: and they publish these photographs in a book that they
Speaker 2: entitled the Book of Monsters, because in David Fairchild's eyes,
Speaker 2: he said that insects were beautiful, living creatures that deserve
Speaker 2: better than to be quote dried up husks in university
Speaker 2: drawers and that kind of thing. So you can actually
Speaker 2: look at his photos for free on the internet and
Speaker 2: we will put some links there so you can see
Speaker 2: he and his wife's amazing work along this So Fairchild
Speaker 2: Tennic Garden was named for David Fairchild. He was one
Speaker 2: of the founders. You can actually see some of the
Speaker 2: plants that he brought back to Florida that are planted there.
Speaker 2: There's a baobab tree, probably one of very few in
Speaker 2: the continental the US that he collected and planted. And
Speaker 2: he worked with a bunch of Florida and just botanical visionaries,
Speaker 2: including Liberty Hyde Bailey to create this collection in Charter.
Speaker 2: The Fairchild Botanic Garden, not far from Fairchild Botanic Garden,
Speaker 2: is David Fairchild's personal estate. It's called the Campong. It's
Speaker 2: part of the National Tropical Botanic Garden System. It's not
Speaker 2: always open to the public, but it is open to
Speaker 2: the public on certain days. It is be beautiful. It
Speaker 2: is such a special place.
Speaker 1: As palm trees.
Speaker 2: The palms are incredible and you can actually see the
Speaker 2: very first literally the very first citrus plants that were
Speaker 2: ever brought back to the US still growing on that property.
Speaker 1: Amazing, absolutely incredible, and you know many of us, for example,
Speaker 1: houseplants in our homes. We will grow ponytail palms, which
Speaker 1: is not a true palm, but there are massive ponytail
Speaker 1: palms there are also all of the poems really really
Speaker 1: struck me when I was there, and I think it's
Speaker 1: important to note that with Fairchild, if we're getting to
Speaker 1: Fairchild at this point. But that entire region was flattened
Speaker 1: in nineteen ninety two by Hurricane Andrew, and I was
Speaker 1: there a short time after Hurricane Andrew. As a matter
Speaker 1: of fact, I remember walking through some of the fields.
Speaker 1: There's many growers down there, and it's very flat, and
Speaker 1: there's an area called Aladdin City, which has ties to
Speaker 1: us here in Michigan Bay City, Michigan. It was a
Speaker 1: company that produced homes that you could purchase, have shipped
Speaker 1: and all you had to do is put them together
Speaker 1: like a puzzle. And they were flattened by the hurricane
Speaker 1: of the Great Miami Hurricane of nineteen twenty six and
Speaker 1: then soon after so that you get the Great Depression.
Speaker 1: They're out of business. But that's why it's called a
Speaker 1: Laddin City. But there are many many growers down there,
Speaker 1: and growers that I would purchase from as a purchasing agent.
Speaker 1: Like we've talked about Boston ferns as far as the
Speaker 1: eye can see, and I've got a picture to share
Speaker 1: with some of our YouTube viewers. That area is an
Speaker 1: amazing area. And to think of the weather events that
Speaker 1: fair Child Botanical Garden has gone through, and the gardens
Speaker 1: in that area, and the growers in that area. When
Speaker 1: I visited shortly after Hurricane Andrew, the wild dogs and
Speaker 1: the pets that were abandoned after Hurricane Andrew. And Hurricane
Speaker 1: Andrew actually created the movement to cause us to develop
Speaker 1: better methods of caring for pets after such an event
Speaker 1: Hurricane even yea, I have so many memories of it,
Speaker 1: I don't know.
Speaker 2: It is such a unique area. And there's lizards that
Speaker 2: blew in from different countries, like in the Caribbean. They
Speaker 2: actually literally blew to Florida and have since become established,
Speaker 2: which is a wild thing to think of.
Speaker 1: Can I mention one more? I got to mention this,
Speaker 1: So Hurricane Andrew's specimens, so many people, many of these
Speaker 1: growers walked away from their farms. The plants are laying
Speaker 1: on their side. What happens in the ensuing years, the
Speaker 1: plants begin to grow at a ninety degree angle to
Speaker 1: the light, and they were sold for premium prices as
Speaker 1: Andrew's specimens. We tried to get our hands on dressinas
Speaker 1: many of these plants, so you have those, and they've
Speaker 1: inspired some of the plant material that you'll find at
Speaker 1: parks in Florida, including the Doctor Seuss Park. So oh, anyhow, so.
Speaker 2: What's more American than trying to what is it? What's
Speaker 2: the phrase I'm trying to think of, turn like, turn
Speaker 2: something bad into something good?
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, making lemonade?
Speaker 2: Yea? And what's more American than making lemonade out of lemons?
Speaker 2: So but back briefly to the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden.
Speaker 2: The garden was laid out by William Lyman Phillips, which
Speaker 2: is a somewhat known name for those of us in
Speaker 2: the industry. He got his start as the landscape architect
Speaker 2: for the Panama Canal, which I thought you would find interesting, Rick,
Speaker 2: and he fell so in love with tropical landscaping and
Speaker 2: designing in the tropics that after between the Panama Canal
Speaker 2: and Fairchild Botanic Garden, he settled there. He said, this
Speaker 2: is where I am, and I have to say that
Speaker 2: is my impression too, of going to Fairchild is someone
Speaker 2: who has, you know, worked in gardens and visited gardens,
Speaker 2: you know, all throughout the East Coast and through other
Speaker 2: temperate regions. There is really just no describing how breath
Speaker 2: takingly different it is to be in a totally tropical
Speaker 2: garden like that, and the way that the plants are
Speaker 2: used is completely different. The views are different, the experience
Speaker 2: of being in the garden, and not just because the
Speaker 2: plants look so different, but because everything is just profoundly different.
Speaker 2: And you will really see that if you find yourself
Speaker 2: fortunate enough to go to Fairchild at Botanica Garden. It
Speaker 2: is way down there, but there's so many wonderful things
Speaker 2: to do down in that area.
Speaker 1: Tropical vines, on pergolos, banana trees. I felt like I
Speaker 1: was in Costa Rica. That's how it felt to me.
Speaker 1: You see any creditin I saw crotons, Absolutely, I saw
Speaker 1: crotons the garden at night unbelievable. Make sure to visit
Speaker 1: that garden at night. That's incredible too. So oh, I
Speaker 1: wanted to quickly mention Bailey palms. Bailey palms, I guess,
Speaker 1: are native to Cuba and they have huge Bailey Palms there.
Speaker 1: Look it up. What an incredible palm tree.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's definitely worth a visit. It's also the home
Speaker 2: of the American Orchid Society, so if you love orchids,
Speaker 2: a great place to visit, just a great place to
Speaker 2: visit all around, named for an extremely fascinating person. So
Speaker 2: next time you find yourself in South Florida, don't just
Speaker 2: get a Cuban sandwich and a mohido. Visit the Fairchild
Speaker 2: Tropical Garden as well. Now I knew that was going
Speaker 2: to take a full segment. We're going to take a
Speaker 2: little break right now. When we come back, we are
Speaker 2: moving over to Louisiana, so please stay tuned. At Proven
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Speaker 2: dot Com. Greeting's gardening friends, and welcome back to the
Speaker 2: Gardening Simplified Show. Where I'm talking too fast, it's just
Speaker 2: because I'm trying really hard to get through all of
Speaker 2: these amazing gardens. It has been slower than I expected,
Speaker 2: But I also knew that we were going to be
Speaker 2: really excited about these gardens that we've covered so far
Speaker 2: in memories, so many it's just interesting stories. And this
Speaker 2: next garden is no exception whatsoever. We are going to
Speaker 2: Longview Gardens in New Orleans, Louisiana. Now, I have been
Speaker 2: to New Orleans many times. Wonderful city, just like no
Speaker 2: other place on Earth, just an amazing place to visit.
Speaker 2: And I've never been to this garden, but I can
Speaker 2: tell you the next time I go to New Orleans,
Speaker 2: I am making it a top priority because it's actually
Speaker 2: it's not quite in like the downtown area, but it's
Speaker 2: very close. It's very close to City Park, which is
Speaker 2: accessible on the street car, and just a beautiful free
Speaker 2: park that you can visit with a beautiful sculpture garden.
Speaker 2: But Longview is the estate of Edgar and Edith Stern.
Speaker 2: Now Edith Stern was Nay Rosenwoald. She was the heiress
Speaker 2: to the Sears Roebuck fortune, so she had plenty of money.
Speaker 2: Her husband, Edgar Stern, was a native New Orleanian and
Speaker 2: took her down there. She fell instantly in love with
Speaker 2: New Orleans, which is very easy to do. It's such
Speaker 2: a beautiful place. And so they built their home in
Speaker 2: nineteen twenty four. Very modest by today's standard, but quite
Speaker 2: grand then and kind of like a marriage of New
Speaker 2: Orleans architecture and Northern architecture.
Speaker 1: Sears used to sell homes out of their catalogue, and
Speaker 1: I can tell you that this home did not come
Speaker 1: from a Sears catalog.
Speaker 2: No I live. Yeah, yeah, so I know. But yeah,
Speaker 2: it's a beautiful home. Now, what's really cool is they
Speaker 2: started living in this house. They said, hey, this house
Speaker 2: is great, but you know what, we just don't have
Speaker 2: enough connection to the outdoors. We want a more seamless
Speaker 2: connection from the home to the outside. We love being outside. Yes,
Speaker 2: so they hired Ellen Biddleshipman. Now, in the previous episode,
Speaker 2: we talked about Beatrix Farrand at Dunbarton Oaks in Washington,
Speaker 2: d C. Ellen but l Shipman was almost a contemporary,
Speaker 2: a little bit later than Beatrix f Rand, but one
Speaker 2: of the most important female lands or earliest land female
Speaker 2: landscape architects in the US. So they can mission Ellen
Speaker 2: Biddle Shipman to come down there and design the gardens,
Speaker 2: and she creates at Longview the very first concept of
Speaker 2: what we would now call garden rooms and an effort
Speaker 2: to kind of really connect the garden to the house.
Speaker 2: So these rooms kind of work off the architecture and
Speaker 2: structure of the house. There are views that open up
Speaker 2: from doors, and this is such a wild thing for
Speaker 2: us to think about because now it's all very natural
Speaker 2: for us to have this sort of seamless flow from
Speaker 2: the outdoors to the inn and vice versa. But back
Speaker 2: then it was pretty much unheard of. And so what
Speaker 2: Ellen Biddle Shipman did was to create these garden rooms,
Speaker 2: create these grand views. There is not a single window
Speaker 2: in the house that does not have a view onto
Speaker 2: the garden that relates directly to the garden and how
Speaker 2: it is used. So Ellen Biddleshipman said of her planting
Speaker 2: design for Laweview quote, it was as if she were
Speaker 2: painting pictures as an artist. This is very much different
Speaker 2: than the way other people were planting. They were just like, Okay,
Speaker 2: we need some shade here. Put this here. She really
Speaker 2: treated the landscape as an artistic composition. She also this
Speaker 2: is one of the few surviving at Longview, one of
Speaker 2: the few surviving examples of Ellen Biddle Shipman's interpretation of
Speaker 2: William Robinson's wild garden stuff. That's something we've talked about
Speaker 2: in previous episodes. One of my favorite things. William Robinson's
Speaker 2: wild gardens are difficult to preserve if they were created
Speaker 2: in the nineteen thirties by a garden designer, because how
Speaker 2: do you do that. You know, they don't have the
Speaker 2: structure and maybe the clear design. So this is one
Speaker 2: of the few places you can see her wild gardens,
Speaker 2: and I think overall the garden is just a really
Speaker 2: interesting study, much like we were saying about Fairchild in
Speaker 2: what happens when an East Coast native or a Midwestern
Speaker 2: native finds herself in the South. How do you marry
Speaker 2: these concepts of the designs and gardens that you know
Speaker 2: and love with a totally different plant palette. And you know,
Speaker 2: whereas in the Midwest or in the Northeast, you might
Speaker 2: have a grand allet of oaks or Linden's or something
Speaker 2: like that. Longview has a beautiful grand a lay of
Speaker 2: live oaks, of course because it's New Orleans, gorgeous, just
Speaker 2: a really really special place. It was extensively damaged during
Speaker 2: Hurricane Katrina. They thought that they might have to close.
Speaker 2: But fortunately the Garden Conservancy, which is a wonderful organization
Speaker 2: who is doing so much to preserve American gardens. And
Speaker 2: we will talk more about the Garden Conservancy when and
Speaker 2: if we eventually get to California. And we talked about
Speaker 2: the Ruth Bancroft Garden, but extensive damage at Hurricane Katrina.
Speaker 2: They thought they might have to shut it down or
Speaker 2: you know, even demolish it. But the Garden Conservancy stepped in,
Speaker 2: volunteers stepped in, and they were able to renovate the
Speaker 2: gardens and it is open for you to visit today.
Speaker 1: Important to note there yes extensive damage during Hurricane Katrina.
Speaker 1: They need help again, they need funds, they need volunteers
Speaker 1: because they got belted this year. On June seventeen, am
Speaker 1: hit by an EF one tornado and they are still
Speaker 1: so there are parts of the garden that are currently closed.
Speaker 1: They are open, but again they've sustained damage just recently
Speaker 1: so what a wonderful place, fascinating you look at the
Speaker 1: vista and the oaks. It makes me think of Gone
Speaker 1: with the Wind.
Speaker 2: Yes, and this was Yeah, this was a new home
Speaker 2: that they commissioned in sort of their own unique style,
Speaker 2: rather than take over some place that had been around
Speaker 2: for a really long time. And I do want to
Speaker 2: say I'm glad you brought that up about the tornado
Speaker 2: because a lot of times, depending on who you're traveling with,
Speaker 2: you go to these gardens and you might see in
Speaker 2: an admission fee that gives you a little bit of
Speaker 2: a sticker shock. But cards are not easy to maintain.
Speaker 2: Any of us can tell you that. I think we're
Speaker 2: preaching to the choir here, and you know, having horticulturists
Speaker 2: who know what they're doing, and having people, you know,
Speaker 2: buying plants and the labor and all of.
Speaker 1: Them maintaining herbariums and that sort of thing. Yes, so
Speaker 1: very important.
Speaker 2: So don't let something like a tornado at long if
Speaker 2: you stop you from visiting. They need your money more
Speaker 2: than ever, so please do make an effort. And the
Speaker 2: house is open to you. So it's not just the garden,
Speaker 2: because obviously if the house and garden are connected. You've
Speaker 2: got to see the garden from the house. You can't
Speaker 2: just see the house from the garden.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Oh, and by the way, got to mention this
Speaker 1: because I've driven through there. If you're going to visit Longview.
Speaker 1: Right nearby is the National World War Two Museum.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah.
Speaker 1: And some people would question why is the World War
Speaker 1: Two Museum in New Orleans not in Washington or someplace
Speaker 1: like that. And it's because of mister Higgins who the
Speaker 1: Higgins boats of World War Two. It was Dwight Eisenhower
Speaker 1: who said it was Higgins boats that won the war
Speaker 1: for them, these these landing crafts that allowed them to
Speaker 1: put troops on shore distant shores. So that's why the
Speaker 1: World War II National World War Two Museum is there.
Speaker 1: Andrew Jackson Higgins of New.
Speaker 2: Orleans, I did not know that. All right, All right,
Speaker 2: now we are going to take a big leap north
Speaker 2: to the Missouri Botanic Garden. Have you been to the
Speaker 2: Missouri Botanic.
Speaker 1: Gary, Yes, I have, and the place is huge. Yeah,
Speaker 1: have your good walking shoes ready to go.
Speaker 2: Try to go on a nice day when it's not
Speaker 2: you know, one hundred some degrees.
Speaker 1: But it is. Yeah, that's true, it can get very
Speaker 1: warm there, but it's important that we touch on it
Speaker 1: because it's I'm told, one of the nation's oldest botanical gardens,
Speaker 1: open to the public in eighteen fifty nine.
Speaker 2: Yeah. So it was founded by a private citizen who
Speaker 2: was out, you know, riding his horse, and said, hey,
Speaker 2: this looks like a fine prospect. Yeah, and kind of
Speaker 2: staked his claim and built various structures. In addition to
Speaker 2: being one of the nation's oldest continuously functioning botanical gardens,
Speaker 2: the eighteen eighty two Lineean House, a very old greenhouse,
Speaker 2: is one of the oldest continuously operating greenhouses in the US.
Speaker 2: And now I looked at pictures of this whatever you
Speaker 2: know picture you have in your mind's eye as a greenhouse,
Speaker 2: get it out of there and look up the line
Speaker 2: In house, because it is like nothing else I have
Speaker 2: ever seen. It is so cool and so interesting, and
Speaker 2: really I think says a lot about how steel, for example,
Speaker 2: has changed the way that we can build. And then
Speaker 2: when you see the actual conservatory, the newer, you know,
Speaker 2: more contemporary conservatory at the Missouri Botanic Garden, what you
Speaker 2: will notice is that it was one of the first
Speaker 2: conservative conservatories built without internal pillars.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's fascinating. I think they call it the climate.
Speaker 2: Trun yes, yeah, which does not do it justice. But
Speaker 2: it doesn't have internal pillars, so you don't have these big,
Speaker 2: you know, structural pillars kind of impede your views across
Speaker 2: these very you know climate domes that they have for
Speaker 2: all of the different areas. And that's something that's so
Speaker 2: you know, natural to us. Now, of course it can
Speaker 2: be built that way, but for it's time, it was
Speaker 2: truly revolutionary, and especially when you contrast that with the
Speaker 2: Linnaean House. Now, one of the things that I think
Speaker 2: is most important about the Missouri Botanic Garden, whether or
Speaker 2: not you live within driving distance or will be driving
Speaker 2: by it to visit, it is by far one of
Speaker 2: the absolute best resources for North American home gardeners.
Speaker 1: You've got it for home gardening, the plant Finder resource,
Speaker 1: all of that type of thing, the support that they provide.
Speaker 1: They're committed to conservation science, awareness of plants. You bet.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's such a great website. I can tell you
Speaker 2: I rely on it personally all the time to get
Speaker 2: accurate information and to help me understand plants better. And
Speaker 2: so whether or not you ever get to visit the
Speaker 2: Missouri Botanic Garden. Definitely visit their website. You may have
Speaker 2: already visited it just because you searched for a plant
Speaker 2: question and it came up. But I think one of
Speaker 2: the best things that they are doing in their role
Speaker 2: is quote the Nation's Botanic Garden, because that is kind
Speaker 2: of their sub headline. There is just providing us reputable
Speaker 2: scientific information about plants and how to grow them that you.
Speaker 1: Can trust exactly. Oh and tied into that because you know,
Speaker 1: I love bulbs. They do a great job with bulbs,
Speaker 1: spring and summer bulbs. Because now we've moved far enough
Speaker 1: north into Missouri where they can do that, and wow, fabulous.
Speaker 2: All right, we already have to take another Breakay, we
Speaker 2: only got to two gardens. All right, We're going to
Speaker 2: do that and when we come back, we'll have to
Speaker 2: finish up the show. But we've got a couple more
Speaker 2: great ones for you, so stay tuned. Thanks for listening
Speaker 2: to the Gardening Simplified podcast, brought to you by Proven
Speaker 2: Winners Color Choice Shrubs. Our award winning flowering shrubs and
Speaker 2: evergreens are trialed and tested by experts with your success
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Speaker 1: Welcome back to the Gardening Simplified Show. So much to
Speaker 1: talk about, so little time to talk about it. As
Speaker 1: a matter of fact, next week we'll go to Chicago,
Speaker 1: the City of Big Shoulders Carl Sandberg, and boy, there
Speaker 1: are some great gardens in the Chicago area. But Stacey,
Speaker 1: let's jump over to where are we going Minnesota?
Speaker 2: Well, first, we're actually going to Indianapolis, Indiana. Yes, yeah, yeah, Now,
Speaker 2: this is a garden that not a lot of people
Speaker 2: have heard of it. In fact, the only reason I
Speaker 2: had heard of it was because one of my colleagues
Speaker 2: from horticulture school used to be the horticulturists there, and
Speaker 2: unfortunately I never got around to visiting her, which I
Speaker 2: very much regret because she has since moved to a
Speaker 2: wonderful garden in Maine. But Minnetrista was founded as the
Speaker 2: home of the Ball family, as in Ball Job. Yes,
Speaker 2: so they were originally founded in Buffalo, New York, and
Speaker 2: the whole family, all the brothers, all five of them
Speaker 2: I think there were up and moved to Muncie, Indiana,
Speaker 2: just sort of north east of Indianapolis, and they all
Speaker 2: built homes on this big property to run their glass
Speaker 2: jar empire, but they were all into gardening and eventually
Speaker 2: transitioned the garden to the public as a public garden,
Speaker 2: so you can still see many of the Ball family's
Speaker 2: original homes. There's all sorts of different unique gardens there,
Speaker 2: sort of Midwestern home educated home gardening education and that
Speaker 2: kind of thing. But what really fascinated me as part
Speaker 2: of the American story, even though this isn't directly related
Speaker 2: to gardens, it kind of is. Minnietrista is where the
Speaker 2: Bob Ross Painting Show was films Wow, and it is
Speaker 2: the only Bob Ross museum, the official Bob Ross museum
Speaker 2: where you can actually see his paintings. You can see
Speaker 2: the studio where the show was filmed, because this is
Speaker 2: actually in one of the homes of the Ball family,
Speaker 2: so that's where they set up the studio. You can
Speaker 2: see his palette, you can see his paint brushes and
Speaker 2: all of this other wonderful stuff. So it's one of
Speaker 2: those gardens that you know, like we all have ball
Speaker 2: jars in our house, right, Like you can't even if
Speaker 2: you don't, can you don't not have a ball jar
Speaker 2: in your house, you can't avoid it. I think it's
Speaker 2: like a requisite of being in a arrangement exactly. And
Speaker 2: so it was founded, you know, on those glass jars,
Speaker 2: and then then we get Bob Ross in here. So
Speaker 2: just you know, America a land of contrasts.
Speaker 1: Yes, happy birthday.
Speaker 2: You know what. Speaking of birthdays, it's our two hundred show.
Speaker 1: That's right, episode number two hundred. Not quite as old
Speaker 1: as the United States.
Speaker 2: No, not in episode years, in episode years. Yeah, So congratulations,
Speaker 2: a congratulations. I can't believe we've made it two hundred shows.
Speaker 2: That's awesome. Yeah, all right, Well we are going to
Speaker 2: take a quick d two were we're not going in
Speaker 2: great geographical order, but there was too much to say
Speaker 2: about Chicago's We're going to say that for next week.
Speaker 2: But we're going to be staying here in Michigan with
Speaker 2: the One the Only bell Isle.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and you can visit it. You're not going to
Speaker 1: have an entry fee to visit the beautiful Nature Center
Speaker 1: and the Pete Odolph Garden there. You will have to
Speaker 1: pay to drive drive there. There's a state park.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a state park. So if you have a
Speaker 2: state park fee, if you have a state park pass
Speaker 2: on your license plate, you can go there for free. Now,
Speaker 2: Belle Isle is a place that's truly near and dear
Speaker 2: to my heart. My grandparents grew up in the Detroit area,
Speaker 2: so it was a place that they took us a lot.
Speaker 2: It was the first public garden that I was ever
Speaker 2: at in my entire life. I clearly remember my very
Speaker 2: first visit to the beautiful Anna Script's Whitcomb Conservatory with
Speaker 2: my grandma, and it is still just as beautiful and wonderful.
Speaker 2: But when I was reading about the history of Belle Isle,
Speaker 2: I found out something really interesting. So it was originally
Speaker 2: called Swan Island by the unnish Nabe people of Detroit,
Speaker 2: and it was its formation was attributed to Sleeping Bear.
Speaker 2: Of course, we all know about Sleeping Bear dunes up north.
Speaker 2: Sleeping Bear was the spirit he protected his daughter by
Speaker 2: keeping her in a wooden box. Unlike Michigan. Now, for
Speaker 2: those of you who are not native Michiganders or aren't
Speaker 2: familiar with what Michigan looks like, Michigan looks like this.
Speaker 2: So Belle Isle is over here in the river between
Speaker 2: Canada and Detroit, way over here by the thumb, kind
Speaker 2: of like Michigan is over here where we are. So
Speaker 2: it's pretty interesting to me that this, you know, group
Speaker 2: of Native Americans had the you know, this mythology over
Speaker 2: clear over on the other side of the state. So
Speaker 2: Sleeping Bear was protecting his daughter over on like Michigan.
Speaker 2: No one could get to her. The north and west
Speaker 2: winds fought for her. It created a huge storm. It
Speaker 2: swept up the box that he was keeping her in.
Speaker 2: Not a great dad move, I don't think. Pieces of
Speaker 2: it lodged at the mouth of the Detroit River and
Speaker 2: they became one on another Swan island because of all
Speaker 2: of the swans, And the legend says that the daughter
Speaker 2: still inhabits the island in the form of a white dough.
Speaker 2: So if you were ever on Belle Isle and you
Speaker 2: see a white dough, I don't know what to tell you,
Speaker 2: but it would be fascinating. There used to be deer
Speaker 2: around on the island. I remember that from when I
Speaker 2: was a kid. But the thing about Belle Isle, as
Speaker 2: far as it being a contemporary gardener, an important garden,
Speaker 2: it was designed by the one, the only, Frederick Law Olmsted,
Speaker 2: because of course it was so it's really hard, I think,
Speaker 2: to explain how in demand Frederick law Olmsted became after
Speaker 2: Central Park, like nobody could get enough of the guy.
Speaker 2: This guy could not get to enough places. Every single
Speaker 2: city wanted their own version of Central Park, and I
Speaker 2: think it became basically like a bidding war to try
Speaker 2: to get Frederick law Olmsted to come and do a
Speaker 2: project in your.
Speaker 1: City, because Belle Isle is considered Detroit's backyard.
Speaker 2: Yes, yes, and so it served very much a similar
Speaker 2: role that Central Park did, which was fresh air and
Speaker 2: recreation for a burgeoning urban industrial climate. I mean, you
Speaker 2: have to remember back in eighteen seventy nine when bell
Speaker 2: Isle was founded as a public park. You know, just
Speaker 2: try to think about everything that was happening. All the industry.
Speaker 2: Detroit was making, stoves, Detroit was making I can't even
Speaker 2: list all of the things. This was well before automobiles even,
Speaker 2: but Detroit was a massive industrial capital and it probably stunk.
Speaker 2: It was dirty, absolutely, it was stinky. Everybody was working
Speaker 2: in factories. So to have this place that if you've
Speaker 2: ever been there, right, it's close ish to the city,
Speaker 2: but it's not in the city, so you're far enough
Speaker 2: away that you can kind of get some fresh air.
Speaker 2: It's in the river. And so he designed it it's
Speaker 2: very different than Central Park, but some beautiful original features
Speaker 2: like that gorgeous fountain. The bridge over to Belle Isle
Speaker 2: is so so lovely and really, I think, and this
Speaker 2: is true of of many of the gardens that we've
Speaker 2: talked about, and even just when we talked about Longview today,
Speaker 2: that feeling of transition, you know, when you're going down
Speaker 2: the long drive at Longview Gardens, when you're crossing the
Speaker 2: bridge at Belle Isle, it starts to prepare you for
Speaker 2: this really different experience that you're going to have, you know,
Speaker 2: while you are in that garden. So it really does that. Now.
Speaker 2: The Antascripts Whitcomb Conservatory was opened in nineteen oh four.
Speaker 2: It is the oldest continuously operating conservatory in the US.
Speaker 2: It has something that not enough if you ask me
Speaker 2: public garden conservatories have. It has a fern grotto. Have
Speaker 2: you been there? Have you been to the.
Speaker 1: Remember?
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, it is just Adriana knows what I'm
Speaker 2: talking about because she's from the Detroit area too. It
Speaker 2: is extraordinary and it's small, like I don't want to
Speaker 2: build it up for people and they go, oh, is
Speaker 2: that all there is? And I will say both and
Speaker 2: our other coworkers who are from Detroit had this similar experience.
Speaker 2: It's just a magical little space. Now, when I was young,
Speaker 2: you could actually go down there. Now you can only
Speaker 2: kind of look over it. But it is a fern
Speaker 2: collection and it's very much in keeping with this nineteen
Speaker 2: oh four style. And so many of these old conservatories
Speaker 2: and gardens they kind of update, right they they become
Speaker 2: more contemporary, they make changes. They say, oh, ferneries, you know,
Speaker 2: that's so nineteen oh four. But they've really maintained it
Speaker 2: and it is just an extraordinarily beautiful special place. There's
Speaker 2: really I've been to gardens all over the world, and
Speaker 2: the fernery at the Antiscripts wo Come Conservatory will always
Speaker 2: have an extra special place in my heart. And you know,
Speaker 2: the conservatory itself is built so interestingly rout with a
Speaker 2: fish pond around it.
Speaker 1: Yes, And part of what makes bell Isle so special
Speaker 1: to me is Pete Odolf. And when we go to
Speaker 1: Chicago next week, we'll talk about the Leury Garden three
Speaker 1: acre perennial garden there, thirty two thousand hardy perennials and grasses.
Speaker 1: Of course, Pete love to use ornamental grasses as structure
Speaker 1: within a garden, So that's a great garden to visit there.
Speaker 1: Also it makes up three acres there.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and it's right in front of the conservatory, so
Speaker 2: you don't have to go all over bell Isle to
Speaker 2: see all of the wonderful gardens. I have not been
Speaker 2: there to see the Pete Udolph Garden yet. I know
Speaker 2: it was off to a very slow start. Initially it
Speaker 2: was delayed by funding and bell Isle has been a
Speaker 2: place that has been be set by a bunch of
Speaker 2: different problems like that. But it seems like it's on
Speaker 2: the right track now. It's absolutely worth a visit. And
Speaker 2: so it was beset from initially funding problems, then COVID,
Speaker 2: then flooding correct and then finally it has come to fruition.
Speaker 2: And I'm sure it's still establishing because it's been around
Speaker 2: maybe three or four years.
Speaker 1: It's establishing. But it's the first public garden to incorporate
Speaker 1: all three of Odolf's iconic planting styles, block matrix and
Speaker 1: group planting. And again, I love Pete Odolph because he
Speaker 1: sounds just like my ninety six year old there. It's
Speaker 1: Dutch accent. I just love it. Amazing.
Speaker 2: Is your dad as stylish as Peterodolpha.
Speaker 1: No, no, no.
Speaker 2: He's very stylish. And as you said, there's a Carolon
Speaker 2: on Bellisle. Bellisle really is almost like, you know, compared
Speaker 2: to Central Park, which is kind of very sublime and massive,
Speaker 2: and you have these moments of you know, even though
Speaker 2: you're in the city, just kind of being lost in nature.
Speaker 2: You never really lose that sense of connection to the
Speaker 2: city in Detroit or at bell Isle, but it's still
Speaker 2: there's just so much to do, and there is Carolin.
Speaker 2: It's the oldest continuously operating aquarium in the US, and
Speaker 2: I love and Adriana is cheering on the bell Isle
Speaker 2: Aquarium as well. If you grew up with a bell
Speaker 2: Isle aquarium, there's just no substitute for it. I know,
Speaker 2: probably a lot of people would visit it and go
Speaker 2: like really, but for those of us who grew up
Speaker 2: with it, it is truly an extraordinary place. And just
Speaker 2: you know, I'm not just saying this because it meant
Speaker 2: a lot to me personally, but Michigan does not have
Speaker 2: a lot of public gardens by and large, you know,
Speaker 2: sadly we have very few compared to a lot of
Speaker 2: other states that we've been through where we've had multiple
Speaker 2: so we'll take what we can get, and I think
Speaker 2: that Belle Isle is definitely something that we can be
Speaker 2: proud of.
Speaker 1: Absolutely happy two hundredth episodes.
Speaker 2: Yes, happy two hundred Yeah. Well, Rick, I have to confess,
Speaker 2: I thought we'd get a lot farther in the episode
Speaker 2: today than we did, but you just can't stop us
Speaker 2: from having.
Speaker 1: Again just scratching the surface.
Speaker 2: I know we really are. As Adriana said, maybe this
Speaker 2: is just the show now. No, not really. We will
Speaker 2: eventually be back to our regularly scheduled programming with lots
Speaker 2: of good information about plants. But for now, we hope
Speaker 2: you pick out some gardens that you've heard about, spend
Speaker 2: a little time looking at them. Make sure you watch
Speaker 2: the YouTube version of the show so that you can
Speaker 2: see all the photos and that kind of thing that
Speaker 2: Adriana is including in the episode, so you can get
Speaker 2: a little flavor of all of the amazing places that
Speaker 2: we're talking about. So thanks Rick, thank you, thanks Adriana,
Speaker 2: and thanks to all of you. We hope you have
Speaker 2: a wonderful week.