Speaker 1: Broadcasting from Studio A. Here at proven Winners Color Choice Shrubs.
It's time for the Gardening Simplified Show with Stacy, Hervella,
me Rick Weist, and our engineer and producer Adrianna Robinson.
Today we continue our series on botanical gardens throughout the
United States, and just thirty miles east of Studio A
is the Frederick Meyer Gardens and Sculpture Park with a
large tropical conservatory one hundred and fifty acre main campus.
It's real claimed the famous sculpture as a matter of fact,
the American Horse, the Horse of Leonardo da Vinci sculpture
by Nina Akamu is the foundation of all the sculpture
that you find there at the Frederick Meyer Gardens in
Grand Rapids, Michigan. But also currently they have a Chihuli
Garden and Glass exhibit, as many botanical gardens have throughout
the United States. Stacey, I really enjoyed my visit in
Seattle to the Chihuli Garden and Glass grounds. Beautiful how
they incorporate that glass into a landscape setting, and many
botanical gardens have.
Speaker 2: It's a huge draw for people. They do really really
love it. And I did go to see some, not
all because I was with some people who quickly tired
of walking around the garden on a hot sunny day.
But I did see some of the Mayor Garden exhibit,
and I think they did a really nice job, I think,
especially citing kind of the main piece in their new
perennial garden. But you know, it makes me laugh what
you were talking about with Meyer Gardens. The Leonardo Horse,
which of course is like, it's a fascinating story. So
if you aren't familiar with it, and if you're not
from Michigan, you may not be very interesting story. And
it was an epic project, right, so to reproduce this massive,
massive horse that was originally designed by Leonardo da Vinci.
And you go there and it's just the significant thing.
And every single child she goes anywhere near this horse
is just rolling down the hill. Yes, that is like
the primary is the primary attraction of the horse is
every single kid running up that hill and rolling down
all day long. And it's just one of those things
that kind of makes you realize, no matter what you
put out there, the kids are going to find their
own entertainment.
Speaker 1: You've got it, you've got it. Well, let's jump in
a boat and travel across Lake Michigan, and our first
stop is going to be in Chicago Millennium Park. The
Lewie Garden one of the great new public spaces of
the twenty first century. Of course, Stacey, I love it
because of Pete Odolph and the meadow type feel that
you get in this garden, the iconic Shoulder Hedge Carl
Sandberg and the city of Big Shoulders, and the garden
is essentially split into two areas, and the division is
something they call the seam, which they have been working
on making repairs. I think maybe it has just reopened.
Speaker 2: I know it doesn't reopen until September, Okay, which I'm
actually really grateful for this episode that I researched that
because I was thinking about going to Chicago soon and
the Lury Garden is always always a must visit, yes
for me. And it's actually not going to be open
until September. It's been closed since March second. And yeah,
the seam or and this is a common feature of
Udolph's gardens that he has this sort of public water
feature for cooling off. The high Line also has something
like that. Uh, And I believe one thing that both
of those features, unfortunately have in common is perpetual issues
working properly. The whole question, and the seam has not
been working properly in the many, many years I've been
visiting the Lury Garden. So I'm grateful that they're taking
the opportunity to get it done. But the Lury Garden,
like I said, it's always a must visit, one of
the things I look forward to most when I'm in
Chicago and my favorite thing. Right So, we're coming from
Michigan to Chicago. A little bit of time different there.
Chicago's an hour behind us. They're in Central time, We're
in Eastern. So I always wake up early because I'm
on Michigan time, and the Loury Garden opens up at
six am, and you know, you get up and you
get out of the hotel and you go to the
Louriy Garden. You're the first one there, and it is
just such a magical moment. And just said to be
in that garden.
Speaker 3: At any time.
Speaker 2: And I've been there when it's been super crowded, I've
been there when it's raining and it's dead, I've been
there in all sorts of weather, and I just love it.
But That is always something that I look forward to
most of my visits to Chicago, getting up early and
getting out there and seeing it at sunrise. It was
actually Udolph's first commissioned US gardens, Yes, and he has
obviously he's you know, we talked about how Frederick Law Olmsted,
after he designed Central Park, became like the guy everybody
needed an Olmstead in their city. I think Udolph has
had a similar effect with the garden. Once everybody saw
what he had done in Millennium Park and sort of
how his very Dutch planting style translated to the US,
everybody wanted a noodle. So then he got to the
Highline and people ask us, hey, why didn't you cover
the high Line? So yeah, he's done a beautiful job
in the high Line and Bellisle and lots of other
gardens across the US. But it's just it's a very
unique garden in its setting and its design. And I
can't tell you how many times I think, almost every
time I have been there again, in all sorts of
weather and seasons, there's always someone who walks through. As
I'm sitting there breathlessly like taking pictures of everything, someone
who walks through and goes, oh, I guess we missed
the peak of this garden.
Speaker 1: Oh my, And I'm glad you brought that up because
Pete will talk about the fact that he doesn't necessarily
use the word sustainability. He uses the word durability, and
he appreciates and celebrates all four seasons, even when these
perennials are grasses are in there off season, are their winter.
Speaker 2: Seats, and you know, it really shows. But I think
that for a lot of people who aren't accustomed to
seeing gardens that way, it is a mental shift in
what you're seeing. You know, this is not the type
of garden. It's going to be that like, neatly manicured,
perennial border type of thing where you know that a
lot of people have in mind when they have and
when they think of gardens. It's quite different. But it
has a ton of symbolism in it. You've already talked
about that with a seam.
Speaker 1: And flash for these people. Chicago wasn't neat and tidy
either before we got to this point. I mean, it's
the perfect example of an urban garden, right.
Speaker 2: And that is actually Chicago's city motto is Herbs and
horto a city and a garden nice and also the
word Chicago. And there's great dozents at the Lurry Garden
and they always have lots of interesting information to share.
But the word Chicago comes from the algonk one language
meaning stinking onions, So there are a number of Really,
of course, we all love aliums, and there's a lot
of alums in the garden, and that's also typical of
Odos gardens. But he went really went the extra mile
with the aliums in the Lury Garden because of the
stinking onion of Chicago.
Speaker 1: Interesting and he makes sure to point that out.
Speaker 2: Yes, and so to the doses. But briefly before we
move on from the Loury Garden, you know, if I
want an ady, I know, I'm sure we'll put this
into the b roll. So again, if you haven't been
watching the series on YouTube, you really should because she
is killing it, really bringing all these places alive before
Millennium Park. So the Lury Garden is just one of
many features in Millennium Park happens to be our favorite,
not surprisingly, although there's also wonderful plantings throughout the entire park,
beautiful plants.
Speaker 1: But everybody's going there to have a selfie by the.
Speaker 2: Bean by the Bean the cloud Gate, Yes, but it
was so when you see it now, it is such
a prominent place in Chicago there in the downtown area
and up until you know, in the late nineteen nineties
when they decided to transform it into a park, it
was a parking lot and a railyard.
Speaker 3: It was completely.
Speaker 2: Useless, hideous space that actually took the city away from
the waterfront. And it's just wild to think of this,
you know, really valuable space being so you know, detached
from the purposes of the city.
Speaker 3: And all of that is still down there.
Speaker 2: They actually built it so it's actually like a massive
rooftop garden basically is what Millennium Park is. And when
you see the before and after of this park, it
is shocking to really think of what was accomplished here
and how they transformed this into really the crown jewel
of Chicago. It's probably the number one attraction after you know,
maybe doing that thing where you go out on the
ledge over this Year's Tower to Yes to look down,
which I've never done, but.
Speaker 1: Worth the are taking a walk on Navy Pier, but
worth the experience, but also point well taken. If you're
going to go to a botanical garden, spend a little
time understanding how it got there and what the history is.
Speaker 2: You know, that is such an important part of everything
that we're talking about, is that, you know, gardens just
didn't crop up out of nowhere. There is a genesis
and a story behind them. And I think when you start,
you know, if you're able to kind of pinpoint that
before and after and think about everything that has happened,
you know, in that space to make it what it
is today, that's just a huge part I think of
you know, understanding and appreciating what you're seeing.
Speaker 1: You bet well, just outside of Chicago, a little ways
down the road is Lyle, Illinois, and it moves us
to the Morton Arboretum, And we're going to pick that
up in the next segment and run with it. The
Champion of Trees. Look forward to talking about this that's
coming up next here on the Gardening Simplified Show.
Speaker 2: Beautify your home and community with proven winner's color Choice
shrubs with over three hundred and twenty five unique varieties
to choose from. There's a flowering shrub or evergreen for
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white container your local garden center or learn more at
proven Winners, color choice dot com. Greeting's gardening friends, and
welcome back to the Gardening Simplified Show, where we are
continuing our tour of North American gardens of remark. Aren't
getting to all of them because there's just too many,
but some special ones that were, you know, significant to
American garden design, American history, or are just uniquely American
in some way or another. And again, there's so many
stories behind all of these, So if you're visiting, if
you're going to be traveling around, make sure you visit them.
And if you're not, well, take a look at their
websites and spend some time learning all about them. Now
we are still in the show Chicago land area, and
we are about to visit one of Rick's all time favorites,
a garden I have not actually visited myself yet, be
Morton Arboretum.
Speaker 1: Morton Arboretum seventeen hundred acres, sixteen miles of hiking trails,
and I think I've run all of them. We trained
there for the Chicago Marathon. I ran for the Morton Arboretum.
A team raising money for the Morton Arboretum because of
course they do tremendous work in the area of tree
research and trees. As a matter of fact, they're considered
the Champion of Trees. I brought this along for our
YouTube viewers and you can see the singlet that I
wore when I ran the Chicago Marathon. It says right
on their Champion of Trees. So this is the singlet
that I wore and Stacey, it smell is really good,
doesn't it. Can you smell it over there, Adriana?
Speaker 3: I do believe that you've washed it.
Speaker 2: I don't think you would have been would be bringing
in the f I unless it's had lots to wash
it or something washed it.
Speaker 1: But yeah. So Joy Morton again an industrial list in
this case Morton saw and Joy Morton was had quite
well a lineage, so to speak, because of Jay Sterling
Morton correct the Arbor Day Foundations. Yep, and that was
his dad Joy. By the way, I looked this up
just out of interest. Joy. Only about one out of
every one hundred and forty three and twenty seven baby
boys born is given the name Joy.
Speaker 2: I am not surprised that it is not a more
popular name for boys. I had to look it up,
and you know, everyone's like, specifically, yes, this was a man.
Speaker 1: Yes, But for people who are also interested in marketing,
they are. Joy is can considered to have come up
with his team one of the best marketing campaigns ever
in the history of marketing, and that is when it rains,
it pours, the iconic girl holding an umbrella, the salt
is spilling. The whole point being the salt pours even
when it's wet. Considered one of the best marketing campaigns.
Speaker 2: Ever, and it's such a memorable logo. I'm sure everybody
that is envisioning the little girl in their minds. I
so Joy Morton brought in Charles Sprague Sergeant, who was
the director of the Arnold Arboretam, which we went to
in Boston to consult on the construction and design of
the Morton Arboretum. And Charles Sprague Sergeant was an amazing
horticulturist in his own right, very very influential in the
world of crab apples, so developed a lot of those
varieties himself. A lot of people hear the word arboretum
and they probably think they can't pronounce it, but they
also just think it's going to be trees, and that's
not the Morton Arboretam at all. I mean, it is
a tree centered organization, but they do so much more
than trees. There's actual, you know, gardens in the way
that people think of gardens.
Speaker 1: As well, gardens, children's maze, tremendous grouping of oak trees,
but paths to walk. Yes, it's a beautiful place just
outside of Chicago and really worth visiting. And then if
you go, if you go on the summertime, make sure
to go to the Rosewood, Glencoe Tower Road, beach on
Lake Michigan, wonderful Lake Michigan. And if you go to
the Morton Arboretum, I do suggest considering going in fall
because the fall colors are amazed.
Speaker 3: I'll bet they are.
Speaker 2: And you know that area right now, Lyle, Illinois has
been for many years under extreme development. Yes, so we
can be so grateful for wealthy industrials like this who
preserved that land and made sure it didn't all get
turned into strip malls and subdivisions. And we have the
wonderful Morton Arboretum to enjoy.
Speaker 3: Well.
Speaker 2: Speaking of areas under heavy development, how about the Chicago.
Speaker 1: Oh boy. All right, let's go there.
Speaker 3: All right, So have you been there?
Speaker 1: I have been there.
Speaker 3: Yeah, Yes, it's quite.
Speaker 2: A sprawling botanic garden. And it's actually quite new as well.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 2: I think a lot of the botanic gardens that we
have mentioned so far have been very old, venerable types
of institutions, and the Chicago Botanic Garden is quite new.
So it was founded by the Chicago Horticultural Society and
they were quite influential in doing flower shows. So we
haven't talked a lot about flower shows. We should probably
do an episode on that because that'd be very interesting.
But flower shows were all the rage, you know, back
in the day, and they would have a specific theme
and everybody would bring their daily or their rose and
there would everybody would look at them, and they would
give awards for the best one. Yes, Dahlia is a
another great example. So the Chicago Horticultural Society, their third
show ever was the Chrysanthemum Show at the infamous World's
Colombian Exposition in eighteen ninety three. Really, yes, that was
their very third show. So they did they could well
obviously only part of the World's Columbia Exposition because it
went for a long time, but that was their third
show ever. The Chicago Horticultural Society disbanded and they reformed
in nineteen forty three and chartered the Chicago Botanic Garden
in nineteen sixty five. So in garden ages that is
very very recent, a lot of different themed gardens. Not
One of the things that I think surprised me most
about visiting the garden is that it does not have
like the one giant grand conservatory. The conservatory is actually
quite modest, So this is definitely more of a garden
to visit during you know, nicer weather, when you can
walk the numerous paths and see all the numerous gardens.
I think one of the most important things that the
Chicago Botanic Garden does is their plant trials. So they
have these plant trials that they conduct specifically for the
industry and for home gardeners, and they publish these reports.
So they'll take a specific genus or type of plant
and they will plant, you know, basically every variety they
can get their hands on in the market, and they
will do a five plus year trial. I think it
depends obviously on whether it's a perennial or a shrub
and they will take extensive evaluation notes over this long
period being exposed to lots of different types of weather
and lots of different, you know, conditions, and then they
give you a full report on their disease resistance, their
sem strength, their color, and so they're really doing a
very great job of presenting impartial information on a plant's performance,
especially in the Midwest. So please do look at the
Chicago Botanic Garden plant evaluation notes if you are if
you know, if you're sick and tired of say, you know,
menada getting mildew in your garden every year, or flocks
getting powdery mildew in your garden. They have done a
trial and found the most resistant. So I think it's
another great service for home gardeners that they do.
Speaker 1: That's important to know.
Speaker 3: Thanks for sharing my swelling to those two.
Speaker 1: They see you mentioned sprawling. I looked it up. Three
hundred and eighty five acres.
Speaker 3: It's just a fraction of the Martin Arboretum.
Speaker 1: But well, yeah, but and interesting all the islands.
Speaker 2: Yes, yeah, the islands are very interesting. That is another
very unusual feature of it. So you're definitely gonna want
good walking shoes as you get around the Chicago Botanic Garden.
Other interesting feature about the Chicago Botanic Garden. I don't
know if any other garden that does this. They do
not charge for admission, but they do charge for parking,
so they have a very high parking fee. So this
is the type of garden that you know. I'm all
for visiting gardens by yourself, but this is the type
of garden you probably want to get a car load
full of your friends and family back for car make
sure that you're getting your money's worth, and then you're
you're in for free once you have parkes. So just
a little oddball factoid there. As you're going to visit. Now,
we are going to continue to move west, and before
we do, I did want to mention the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum.
Speaker 1: I'm glad you are.
Speaker 3: I have never been there. Have you been there?
Speaker 1: I have not been there, but I know the significance. Yes.
Speaker 2: So the Minnesota Landscape Arboreta is part of the University
of Minnesota. It is in Chaska, Minnesota, and it is
the home of the now world famous honeycrisp apple. So
they are the ones who developed it. Right there at
the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, and you know, honey crisp apple
has completely transformed the apple industry in a way that
you know, I think a lot of people don't even
really think back on anymore, just where it was and
where it is now. As a result of the work
that they have done at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, they
also there developed the Zest Star also known as the
Sweet Tango apples. So all of these apples are being
developed for enhanced Christmas, enhanced sweetness, and they're kind of
making apples that don't have those qualities obsolete. I mean,
I know the place where we go apple picking up
here in Sparta, Michigan. You know, I've been picking apples
there for twelve plus years and really have seen the
transition from of their from you know, older varieties to
all of these newer varieties that have a royalty. So
they work very similar to the proven Winners brand, where
you know, they're making sure that the breeder is compensated.
They also have specific requirements for the fruit, you know,
for it to be sold as a honeycrisp, but has
to be a certain size and quality and all of
this so really changing the world of apples up there.
It is also the birthplace of the quote unquote Lights
Azalea series, and I love those.
Speaker 1: I've always loved those deciduous azaleas right.
Speaker 3: And hardy because Minnesota.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I've loved those. And then I'm excited. Proven Winners
Color Choice Shrubs. You have sweet Rewards, yes, as a decidion.
Speaker 2: Those were developed in Georgia, so tho's a different yeah,
party deciduous azaleas. But of course the Minnesota, you know,
Twin Cities area is fully USA Zone four. So if
you need a very cold, hardy azalea, definitely look for
those Lights series. There is every color you could imagine,
every size, every shape. I think that they really I mean,
some of the varieties are easy to find in garden centers,
but the entire series is really remarkable. So if you're
an azela fan in the cold, you can thank the
Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. Now we're going to take a little break.
When we come back, we are going far from the
cold and into the heat of Austin, Texas, So please
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Winner's Color Choice dot com readings. Gardening Friends, and welcome
back to the Gardening Simplified Show, where we are now
finding ourselves in Austin, Texas, a far away from the
Minnesota Landscape Arboretum where we just were, for a garden
that I have not yet visited, but I am absolutely
fascinated by both for what they do and for the
person who created this, be Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin, Texas,
an absolutely amazing lady. Now, I first have to say,
and I already sent the pictures to Adrian because I
was like, I need you to have this in your
mind's eye when I talk about this on the show.
The portraits of Lady Bird Johnson in the fields of
wildflowers are some of the best things that I have
ever seen in my life. I aspire to have a
photo of myself like these pictures, Adriana is promising me
she'll do it. I mean the dress, the expression, the setting,
everything about them. You could tell that she just had
such an incredible passion for our native wildflowers, in our
native plant life.
Speaker 1: She looks like a first lady she does yeh.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and she truly was.
Speaker 2: This is not something This is not just you know,
a first lady doing something first ladyish. She was born
a native Texan and grew up just sort of roaming
the fields and you know, planes and everything around her
home and really kind of grew up as a child
of nature. So when she had the opportunity to put
her stamp on something, it was definitely not just texass
but America's scenic byways. If you hate billboards, you can
thank Lady Bird Johnson because her High Weight Beautification Act
mandated planting wildflowers and limiting billboards.
Speaker 1: Yeah, what they were basically doing is trying to find
a balance of esthetic goals with commercial interests, and it
was a real problem at the time. I say it's
still a problem. As a matter of fact. There's a
certain type of billboard I would love to see eradicated off.
But I won't down that road. Let's stick with the garden, right.
Speaker 2: She didn't have any influence over what was on the billboard.
It's just limiting how many were out there. But she
was very, very passionate about native plants. The Lady Bird
Johnson Wildflower Center was founded by Lady Bird Johnson and
actress Helen Hayes in nineteen eighty two as the National
Wildflower Research Center, and it has since expanded from its
original forty two acres to two hundred and eighty four acres. Today,
it features over one thousand species of Texas native plants. Now,
I think a lot of people maybe have a picture
of Texas in their minds ie, you know, based on
whatever their impression or exposure to Texas was. But I
have been lucky enough to sort of I haven't been
to Austin, I've been down to Houston in San Antonio,
and I have to say, the plant life in Texas
is utterly fascinating. I mean, it is just an incredible
array of desert plants. As we kind of move into
the desert and planes, it's just it's an amazing combination
of different things, and so you can kind of see
a lot of that at that in this one garden.
It's a sixteen acre arboretum with seventy acres of Texas
native trees, seventy six acres of research plots, seventy six
acres of research all thanks to Lady Bird Johnson and
her passion for the environment. I think you could really
consider her as one of the early environmentalists, at least
from a.
Speaker 1: Policy absolutely, no question. She was someone that said, where
flowers bloom, so does hope.
Speaker 3: Yes, very famous quote from her, And.
Speaker 1: Speaking of the plants in that area or in Texas,
it could be argued the time to go would be
March in April.
Speaker 2: Yes, for spraying wildlife. That's when I was in Texas
and it was breathtaking, you know seeing I mean, I
think gardeners probably at least have some awareness of the
Texas bluebonnets. That is sort of the pinnacle of Texas
native plants. So you go in that timeframe and you
should be lucky enough to see them. And the thing
about when the blue bonnets bloom is it's not just
the bluebonnets. There's all these other, you know, small wildflowers
mixed in there, and it's just breath taking it especially,
you know, because everything's bigger in Texas. She just have
these massive fields of all of these wonderful flowers. So
you know, it was a huge gift for her. And
you know, she was always in the public eye. She's
a fascinating person. I encourage you to read about her,
and I think this is a legacy that she would
certainly be very proud of, and it continues to give
to all of us who are passionate about native plants,
because you know, we've been talking about how the Missouri
Botanic Garden is such a great online resource for home gardeners,
so even if you can't visit it, you're still getting
something out of it. We just talked about that with
the Chicago Botanic Garden plant evaluation notes. And I think
that wildflower dot org, which is the sort of public
face of the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, is the
single most important native plant resource that gardeners have available
to them right now. So it does it's not just
how this native plants, it's native plants across the country,
and it's giving you, you know, the scientific name, it's
giving you where they're native to and the type of
environment and We talk a lot about that on the show, right,
like how you need to know what types of environment
it is native to so you can best approximate that
in your garden. And it goes on to talk about
the pollinators and wildlife that each plant supports. So this
is not just some you know rinky dank. Oh hey,
here's a list of native plants, good luck. It really
helps you understand how to be a better plant native
plant gardener, and a better seward of your land and
how to best support wildlife. So definitely wildflower dot org.
It should be in your bookmarks and frequently visited. And
if you ever even simply search for native plants, you've
probably inadvertently been there because they're just such a wealth
of knowledge that they come up in pretty much every search.
Speaker 1: An incredible website here here. I appreciate everything you said there, Stacey,
including learning more about Lady Bird Johnson. And if you
visit the area and you want to learn more about her,
it's just a twenty minute drive to the LBJ Presidential
Library and you can learn more about her.
Speaker 3: It's been a whole day down there.
Speaker 2: So while we were in Texas, there's a couple of
other gardens you visited.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so I've visited some gardens. Let's quickly go to
Oklahoma City. Maybe take a look at the Myriad Botanical Garden,
and it's crystal Bridge. It's a crystal Bridge tropical conservatory.
Fun to visit. I've spent time in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and
you have the Tulsa Botanic Garden and this garden. What
was interesting to me is a big expanse of terraced gardens.
So we've done a show on layering and if you're
into terraced gardens, maybe that's one for you to visit
while you're in Tulsa. I had a blast at Woodward Park,
which has the Carl Linaeus Teaching Garden. Since then, since
I was there, I think it was twenty eighteen, it's
no longer called the Carl Lineis Teaching Garden. Just call
it the Teaching Garden. But for our YouTube viewers to
show you, Adriana is going to drop in a picture
of me with the one and only Carl Linnaeus, a
selfie that we took together. So yeah, there you go.
And then finally, if you go up to Omahaunt, Nebraska,
I visited the Loritzen Gardens. And the reason I bring
that up is there is a tree paeony garden, a
garden that is devoted just to tree paeonies. And then
again back to Austin. In Austin, the Zilker Botanical Garden.
It's in the heart of downtown Austin. And I bring
this one up because in our previous show we had
talked about garden clubs yea, and it was fascinating to
me that this botanical garden they started fundraising in nineteen
forty six, the Violet Crown Garden Club set aside fifty
dollars for a building project and then missus Alden Mabel
Davis took it from there. All right, if you're in
the area, check it out.
Speaker 2: Yes, definitely, and shout out to all of those Oklahoma gardeners.
You kind of have the worst of all worlds. You
have cold winters, soper hot summers, and just you know,
I don't envy you, but I do appreciate your tenacity.
Now we are going to be heading over to California,
but before we do, I do want to talk briefly
about the Desert Botanic Garden in Phoenix, Arizona. Now, I
was lucky enough to visit this place. I am pretty
fanatic about cactian succulents. I've never lived in a climate
where I could grow them appreciably outside of Man. I
have some that I can grow here in Michigan. But
you know, the whole entire landscape of Arizona is can
simply be described as sublime. And that's what it is.
To be in Arizona is to experience the sublime. It's
really nothing like anything you've experienced if you've never been
out there. And what I think is so fascinating about
the Desert Botanic Garden is it is a botanical garden
of collections of cacti and succulent and desert plants from
around the world. But it is in the middle of
this kind of mountain range and when you are there,
you just don't really know where the garden ends in
nature starts because the landscape, it's just everything is so
at home in the landscape, and every other botannic garden
that you go to, you know, you're seeing all these
plants that don't necessarily look at home. And you know,
the plains of Chicago, the Chicago Botanic Garden, which would
be prairie and instead you have you know, sort of
English borders and a Japanese garden and all of these
different things, whereas when you are in the Desert Botanic Garden,
you are in the desert.
Speaker 1: That's an interesting observation.
Speaker 2: It feels very different when you're there. It's really really cool,
just a beautiful place. It is one of the most
important research centers for desert plants in general and for
desert plant conservation because so many desert plants are threatened
by so many different things. So it's truly a special place.
And I know there's lots of reasons that people go
to Arizona for, you know, snowbirding or whatever. Please make
sure if you are in in the area to put
the Desert Botanical Garden on your list. You will not
regret it. It is really a special and unique place.
And you know, I think speaking of special and unique
in American plants in gardening, a lot of people don't
realize that cactus are only native to North and South America.
They are not found anywhere else in the world and
are only found in the Americas. So they really are
kind of a very special plant and unique to us
that deserve a lot of appreciation. A lot of people think,
of course, is saguaros is kind of the emblematic desert plant.
But they're only native to this sort of limited range
in Arizona. But in that range you will see them everywhere.
They are not rare, they're just limited. So just I
think an incredible part of the country that if you
haven't been able to visit it yet, whether you're a
nature lover or an animal love or a plant lover,
this is the place to be. So we're going to
take a little break. When we come back. We are
heading out to California. We are going to strike it
rich An, Thanks for listening to the Gardening Simplified Podcast,
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Speaker 1: Welcome back to the Gardening Simplified Show. This is fun, Stacy.
Speaker 2: Oh, it's been so much fun, and I really hope
that the listeners have enjoyed it as much as I
have enjoyed researching and talking about it, because you know,
there's nothing better than a good story.
Speaker 3: Accept a good story about a garden.
Speaker 1: Exactly agreed. And by the way, a little tease, that's
what we say in the industry, will tease next week's show.
As I understand it, we're gonna visit Stacy's what is
it number one on your bucket list?
Speaker 3: That is correct, and I'm going to keep you.
Speaker 1: Guests on this all right, So let's head to Pasadena, California,
Los Angeles. I've been to Los Angeles a number of times.
I've never been to the Huntington Garden, and I feel
bad about it.
Speaker 2: Well, I have never been to Los Angeles, but I
want to make it a priority so I can go
to not just the Huntington Botanic Garden, but the many
incredible public gardens in California. You know, it's not surprising
that there's tons and tons of amazing public gardens on
the East Coast. It has been settled for so long
and developed for so long. Meanwhile, in California it's all
relatively recent. But since they can grow literally everything, Yeah,
there are so many amazing gardens, and you know, I
think if you want to kind of see the world
of plants in one place, Southern California has got to
be that one place. What an amazing climate to garden.
And but we're gonna go with the Huntington.
Speaker 1: Can I make a quick creditorial comment in I got
a chance to visit Pat Nixon's garden in southern California
and have dinner there. It's not a place you can visit.
This was a special invitation. The boy was that cool
in southern California. Anyhow, go ahead. I'm sorry, you're just
making my mind racing.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Well, there's just so much to think about down there.
But we're going to talk about the Huntington Garden. So
it is in Pasadena. It was founded in nineteen nineteen
by Henry and Arabella Huntington. It's their former estate. Now,
Henry Huntington was in business with his uncle and made
lots and lots and lots of money building the Intercontinental
Railroad and early public transportation in Los Angeles. So he,
you know, bought land and built the railroads and they
made boatloads of dope. His uncle died Henry Mary's his
uncle's widow. Scandalous, absolutely, scan I know, yes, you know,
it's not really germane to the conversation about the garden.
But I really kind of felt that I couldn't just
let that detail just slied right by miss. Yes, the
society was scandalized, but he had so much money that
it didn't really matter.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And for people who want to research it, as
I understand, it was the Pacific Electric Railway Company.
Speaker 2: Yes, yeah, So he made his money in the railroads
at the time when there was tons of money to
be made in the railroads. And he and Arabella were
passionate about gardening, and they were passionate about having an
estate full of interesting plants that they could enjoy and entertain.
And so we always love it when the extremely wealthy
spend their money that way. So to this day, the
Huntington Garden is sixteen different themed gardens over one hundred
and thirty acres. It's absolutely nothing like any of the
gardens that we have covered in our journey so far.
And for a garden like this, you know, when we
talk about themed gardens on huge acreage, we're typically talking
about gardens that were designed as a collection or as
a public garden, not something that started as a private
estate and as a plant collector. But it's very much
what he was because this is state was such an
ambitious project, he had to hire a superintendent, and that
superintendent was on one William Hirtrick, who was hired to
start developing the gardens and collections in nineteen oh four.
His first order of business was to develop a palm collection.
So Huntington was not just like, hey, make me a
pretty garden. He was like, no, I want every single palm.
I want the best of those palms, and I want
them here in my garden right now, which I guess
we would all do if we had the money to
do that. And so, you know, so he suggests the
palm garden to Henry Huntington. Huntington's like, okay, yeah, that
sounds cool. But Hirtrick is he starting to develop the gardens,
is like, you know, this is not the most hospitable
environment for the dream that I know the boss man
has in his mind. I don't know how I'm going
to accomplish this on this land. What if we put
in a cactus garden and Huntington goes bananas? He is like,
absolutely not. Now think about this. He is out there
trying to develop the railroads and speculate on real estate
where the railroads are going to go so he's out
trapesing through cactus fields and you know, Arizona and Nevada
and all of this. He hates cactus, like hates hates
cactus because he's had so many negative experiences with cactus.
So when Hertrick says this to him, he's like, are
you joking me? But somehow hertrick wins out, and now
the Huntington Batanna Garden is the largest collection of cacti
and succulents in the entire world.
Speaker 1: That's amazing, amazing. These industrialists all seem to have green thumbs,
not from handling currency, but yeah, yeah, that's awesome.
Speaker 2: Uh. Now, a quick aside on William Hrdtrick. He's a
fascinating person by all accounts. Not a very nice person.
Speaker 1: Uh.
Speaker 2: Some people called him the intractable German. But he was
also one of the charter members of the California Avocado
Association and he planted the very first commercial avocado grove
in San Marino, California.
Speaker 1: Hey, thank you, my avocado toast.
Speaker 2: Yes, now it is in San Marino, California. This is
just a little bit aside from the Huntington Garden. It's
where the Haas avocado, which makes up the majority of
avocados that we eat today. Was developed. Now, this is
such a fascinating story. It was developed by mail carrier
Rudy Haas. That's where the hass comes from.
Speaker 3: Now.
Speaker 2: He had seen an article quote illustrating an avocado tree
with dollar bills hanging from it in a magazine in
nineteen twenty five. So he scrapes up all of his money.
He gets a loan from his sister. He buys a
one point five acre avocado grove in San Marino, California.
It was the most popular variety at the time, which
was called fuerte, and he's like, hey, I need to
get more trees. I need to get him fast. So
he buys a bunch of avocado seed that he can
graft fuerte onto. So avocados are typically grafted, So he
buys the avocado seed, he plants out. The seed is
to cut off the tops, graft the flerte onto them,
and expand his avocado trees so he can get more.
So he's having a terrible time getting the trans the
grafts to take, but somehow he has this guy who's
helping him out with it. And there's one that just like,
will not take and the guy says, you know what,
I think that that tree seems pretty strong on its own.
Let's just let it go and see what happens. And
it turns out that within three more years it was
bearing fruit, whereas all avocados before, even the ones that
were grafted, needed at least five years to bear fruit.
And the fruit tasted even better than any other fruit
of avocados. So he's like taking it around to people
saying like, hey, try this avocado. They're like, whoa, this
is even better than flerte. And he names the variety
for himself, the Haas avocado, and in nineteen thirty five
of August nineteen thirty five, he was granted patent number
one thirty nine for the Haas avocado.
Speaker 1: That's amazing.
Speaker 2: So I couldn't I couldn't be in San Marino, California
and not talking about this. But back to the Huntington.
It is not simply a museum in a garden, because
it also houses the Huntington's personal collection of manuscripts and
art and really just monumental art that is world famous
that is in this museum within the gardens. The garden
is a collection in and of itself. Just like the
art is there are truly priceless botanical specimens. It's full
of artistry and creativity too. So you know, it's very
easy to think of a garden a collector's garden like this,
of being you know, rows of neatly labeled things and
it being about that collection. But there is so much
artistry and in the planting combinations at the Huntington, which
you know, I'm sure dates back to her Trick's day.
One of the most famous that we will certainly throw
here into the YouTube version is the combination of golden
barrel cactus and blue agave, and there's multiple of both
of them, and it is breathtaking. It is the kind
of picture that makes me want to sell everything and
move to the Southwest and design with totally new plants
because it's just so so cool. So in addition to
their cacti collection, like I said, largest in the world,
it boasts a massive collection of palms, cycads, orchids, bonesie
and camellias. In fact, the first camelia ever planted in
California was on the Huntington property, arriving from Japan in
eighteen eighty eight and it is still there for you
to visit to this day. And you know, like we said,
because you can grow pretty much anything in this area,
you can really experience the world of plants in one garden. Yes,
I mean, just an incredible place. So I am super
excited to plant a trip to la and visit the
Huntington among the many other wonderful gardens out there. Now
you've been to one out there.
Speaker 1: It's on my list. And yes, Wrigly Memorial and Botanic Gardens,
So it's located on Catalina Island. And yes, we're talking
about that Wrigly. Now Here in southwest Michigan. There are many, many,
many Chicago Cubs fans.
Speaker 3: You see a lot of Cubs flags driving around.
Speaker 1: Yeah. And if you ever get the chance to go
to Wrigley Field and see that iconic ballpark and the
ivy growing on the wall. Wow. William Wrigley was the
owner of the Cubs in nineteen sixteen. He played a
major role in protecting Catalina Island and the memorial there
was originally his gravesite, but it was moved to be
made into a public park. And there you're going to
find California native plants.
Speaker 2: And not just California natives. What's so cool about this
garden that really just kind of blew my mind. Catalina
Island is an area called the Channel Islands, and the
garden there, the Wriggly Memorial Gardens, is devoted to conserving
the sixteen plants that only grow in the Channel Islands
in California. And you know, it's so easy for plants
to go extinct like that, so this is playing a
really important conservation role for a very very unique niche.
And you know, gardens that are extremely niche like this
are just as important as the gardens that have massive
collections like the Huntington.
Speaker 1: And very appropriate because Catalina Island. What an interesting place.
Not easy to get there.
Speaker 2: But I've never been, but I would love to go,
maybe on my trip to La to see all these
other wonderful gardens. All right, well that's all we have
time for. But we are going to complete this next week,
so hopefully you are not tired of this and you
are enjoying it as much as we are. We're going
to kick it off with my number one most wanted
to visit gardens, So yes, very excited to tell you
the story of that Garden in particular. In the meantime,
I want to thank you Rick, and thank you Adriana,
and thank you all so much for listening. We will
see you next week.