New Smithsonian Associates Botanical Gardens of the World Zoom programs in 2024

 New dates for Smithsonian Associates Botanical Gardens of the World 2024! 

Sundays, February 4th, 11th & 18th. Stay tuned for speakers and topics! 

 Shenandoah National Park Natural History Weekend with Smithsonian Associates

Sunday and Monday October 15th & 16th.

www.smithsonianassociates.org

 New Dates for Great Fall Sunrise Hikes with Smithsonian Associates

September 23rd, 24th and 30th 2023

www.smithsonianassociates.org

 New Smithsonian Associates Zoom Program 

Assateague: A Natural History Primer

Evening Lecture/Seminar

Thursday Mach 30th 2023 - 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

New Smithsonian Associate Programs- Botanic Gardens World Tour

The Royal Botanic Gardens Kew and 

the Eden Project

February 5th 4 p.m.

Additional Programs:

Singapore Botanic Gardens and Norfolk Botanic Gardens

With Chelsea Mahaffey

Sunday, February 12 4-5:30 p.m.

Tempel Gardens of Kyoto Japan

With Holly Shimizu

Sunday, February 19 4-5:30 p.m.

register at- www.smithsonianassociates.org

The Winkler Botanical Preserve - NOVA Parks newest park

 

This article appeared in the Virginia Sportsman in 2016. I’m posting it now in celebration of the Preserve becoming a public park. Congratulations to NOVA Parks and the Winkler Foundation for achieving this notable collaboration for public access and enrichment. The gift of the Preserve to NOVA Parks included a substantial endowment demonstrating remarkable generosity on the part of the Foundation. NOVA Parks is already offering outdoor education programs and planning summer camps. Please note the herbaceous vegetation has changed somewhat in the past several years due to increased deer activity.

 

Virginias Truly Secret Garden: The Winkler Botanical Preserve

The city of Alexandria has a finite amount of land, there’s only so much open space. City parks often follow winding stream valleys, wetlands and occasionally the forested hilltop or adjoining slope. Many parks have a specific recreation function, while others feature winding trails and bike paths. Yet one of the largest tracts of natural forest in the city is entirely in private hands. This is the Winkler Botanical Preserve. In development for three decades the Preserve has become a remarkable open space on the western margin of the city. Essentially a stream valley hemmed in by office buildings and residential development it’s a green treasure of native forest in an extensive but discreet naturalized landscape setting.

It started as a favored picnic location for Mark Winkler and his family as he bought and developed large tracts of western Alexandria in the post war years. Ultimately the family would decide to conserve the area and establish a managing philanthropic foundation. Catherine Winkler Herman, noted Patron of the arts, education, science and conservation would steward the Preserves unique mission until her death in 2007. While regional development moved forward at breakneck speed, the foundation had the insight to conserve and dramatically improve the woodlands that would become the Preserve. In between 1985 and 1995 enormous investments in time and effort produced some of Virginia’s finest naturalized rock gardens and native plant horticulture. At the same time much of the existing forest was carefully studied and documented. It's a nationally unique project but remains very much a private endeavor. While a private property, the Preserve is open to the public routinely.

The original forest is unique and surprisingly diverse. White oaks, red oaks and chestnut oaks are dominant on the higher hills. Lower, wetter soils support beech, black gum, tulip poplar, witch hazel and stately sycamores along the main stream course. Many members of the Heath family are present. High bush blueberry, huckleberry, deerberry, dangleberry and staggerbush are all found on specific soil types. Mountain laurel is found in many locations creating a sensational show in late spring when its pleated white flowers bloom. Perhaps the native wild flowers are most unique on the site. Several stands of pink lady's slippers are located in the forest. These exquisite orchids sport their large trademark pink "slipper" shaped flowers. While fairly common in Virginia, these notable plants have never been successfully propagated. They are ecologically sensitive and should never be disturbed. Wild blue phlox, golden ragwort, bluebells, green and gold and Cardinal flower blanket some areas. Today the Preserve represents existing flora and intensive introduction of regional native species. The spring bloom is a notable show of supremely aesthetic, yet ecologically focused gardening.

One of the most interesting aspects of the Preserve is the subtle rock garden landscaping. While the underlying geology is a fascinating mix of gravel filled soils associated with the ancestral Potomac River course, there are no natural rock outcrops on the property. But the casual visitor is entirely fooled by the detailed naturalized rock work in the Preserve. Seams of boulders run along hillsides and expand into near cliff faces. Other areas embrace and stabilize stream sides as if deposited by glaciers a million years ago. But no glaciers reached Virginia during the last ice age. All this work was created by Gary Hopper, a Virginia based stone mason of near mythic reputation.  Every single manmade feature was planted with native species. Much of this initial work was coordinated by Horticulturist, Steve Hootman, now the longtime Director of the Rhododendron Species Foundation and one of the world’s most prolific plant explorers in temperate Asia. I also spent two years at the Preserve in the late eighties before joining Bishop Museum in Honolulu. With development all around, the Preserve is really an island of mature forest in an urban sea. When viewed on Google Earth it’s like a remarkable green pillow of mature tree canopies popping forth from the built environment.

The early nineties saw the installation of two lakes and the development of Catherine Lodge. The lodge entrance incorporates large logs and a deep porch, creating one of Northern Virginia’s most unique buildings. There’s no other structure in Alexandria like it. Staff, administrative offices and some exhibits are housed in the lodge. Directly across the lake a large water fall splashes down an intricately built cliff face. You can stand in front of the lodge and swear you’re in the Shenandoah’s or Adirondacks, yet you’re a few miles south of the Pentagon. A large portion of the Preserve was at risk from a Highway expansion a few years ago, but local opposition prevailed and the project was dropped.

Over the years the Preserve has evolved not only into a beautiful woodland garden but a very active environmental education center. Thoughtful children’s programs are led by staff members to many areas of the property. Public schools visit regularly. Towering trees and interpretive spaces make the site a superb outdoor classroom for all ages. We tend to think of these resources almost exclusively as public facilities. But thanks to the foresight of the Preserve’s founders, Alexandria is home to a truly unique naturalized woodland garden that conserves forty-four pristine acres and offers year around environmental education programs. It’s an extraordinary gift to the community and stands as an example of thoughtful urban development resulting in conservation of open space for the public good by a private entity.

 

 

New Smithsonian Associates Sunrise Hikes at Great Falls

Saturday August 20th, Sunday August 21st, Friday August 26th. Join us for this unique sunrise hike at Great Falls National Park Virginia. Its a 3 to 4 mile outing with several hills and rocky trails. We'll discuss the areas historical geology, plant life, birds, human history and related conservstion issues. Reservations can be made at www.smithsonianassociates.org

Everglades Trip January 2022.

Had an excellent trip to Everglades National Park in January. Covered most of the territory we discuss in the Smithsonian Associates program-The Glades or River of Grass, Rock Pinelands, Hardwood Hammocks, Blad Cypress, Coastal Prairie and Mangrove Forest. Park facilities are improved over several years ago. A new interpretive center and lodge are under construction. While many environmental issue persist in the Everglades, it remains one of the most unique National Park experiences in the United States.

South Florida has always been intriguing to me. As a child we flew out of Detroit’s Metro Airport on a cold, snowy late afternoon. The twin turboprops seemed to struggle as we flew over the distant flatlands occupied by various farms etched into Michigan’s fertile, frozen soil. I fell asleep on the flight. Some hours later we landed in Ft. Meyers. Holding my dad’s hand we walked on to the tarmac. A warm breeze blew as palm fronds clacked upon their stiff mid-rib. A sound I would come to love visiting the tropics around the world. So completely exotic from the north temperate forest I came from. The warm breeze was intoxicating, portending the mysteries that lived in this urbanized landscape. There would be several family vacations to Florida in the sixties and seventies.

As an adult by the early eighties, I spent every extra hour outdoors. This was driven largely by a passion for rock climbing. I was just beginning to lead climb. A committing and at times dangerous pursuit. On the right climb one could access that rare space between ecstasy and terror. Every spring break I would travel to a larger Appalachian crag to test my skills and nerve. These trips were almost always with my friend and coworker, Todd Jewell. Unlike me, Todd was a natural athlete. Tall, strong and wiry. A veteran backpacker, photographer and able outdoorsman, Todd was an ideal climbing partner. He was always up for an adventure; we had many together. Spring break of 1983 was different. Todd and I had become aware of an unusual wilderness experience in south Florida. Apparently, there was a backcountry canoe trail through the Everglades. Suddenly the attraction to Florida was renewed. We left our ropes and climbing gear at home and strapped a canoe on to Todd’s little Toyota Celica, a remarkably sporty but functional car. The canoe reached well beyond the sloping car hood and trunk. It felt odd not to be negotiating a steep mountain road with the first wildflowers just emerging. Instead, we beelined to the Everglades over 1000 miles to the south. Like clockwork we pulled through the entrance station while a large alligator eyed us from a roadside slough. We would camp on the marl prairie that night near Flamingo at the very southern tip of peninsular Florida.

 Setting out the next morning we were consumed by the flat subtropical landscape. Palms clacking in the breeze, mangroves holding the shoreline and the remarkable bird diversity. It may be fair to say this trip was also the beginning of a lifelong interest in birds for both of us. Perhaps for the first time the wilds weren’t exclusively consumed with physical challenge, but the more subtle pursuit of natural history. Bird watching in particular.

 Our aluminum Grumman canoe was perfect for the outing. We packed in the gear at the entrance to the Lane Bay “trail”. This was unlike anything we had seen before. Arching mangroves formed a low tunnel over the near copper-colored, shallow brackish water. We slipped in quietly; the trail was narrow and circuitous for perhaps a mile with water only a foot or two deep. Dappled shade of the mangrove tunnel gave way to a few sunny embayment’s. Curious vase shaped plants grew in numerous forms among the mangrove branches, some tiny, others nearly a foot high. Some years later, I would study these members of the Pineapple Family. Soon the full sun bathed us in a genuine subtropical heat. The place became more exotic with each dip of the paddle. Great blue herons took flight as we rounded a corner. The trail is marked with white PVC pipes driven into the murky substrate. Without these one could become endlessly lost among the maze of tiny canals, ponds and larger embayments. In a few locations lazy alligators eyed us suspiciously as we quietly passed.

Soon the area changed character entirely. Now we paddled largely open expanses of water, perhaps a mile across in some locations. A group of Roseate Spoonbills passed overhead, their spatula like bill plainly visible. Further in the distance brown pelicans seemed to fly in formation, their mammoth bills pointing keenly forward. They looked like an avian dinosaur. A few years later in an ornithology class, I learned Pelicans were indeed very primitive birds. A taxonomic oddity, sometimes called a living fossil. In a few locations we spied Anhingas, a sleek bird and skilled swimmer who’s neck protruded discreetly above the water, almost snake-like. Found mainly in Florida, the Anhingas were entirely exotic to us. Like Cormorants, Anhingas often roost in trees drying their long attenuated wings. On close inspection their emerald-like green iris nearly glows.

By late afternoon we arrived at our backcountry Chickee. Essentially a deck large enough to set up your tent and stay the night. We set up in absolute silence as the sun faded in the west. It’s one of the most unique camping experiences in the United States. A Barred Owl could be heard in the distance as we secured the tent zipper in anticipation of copious mosquitoes. The level, flat deck made for good sleeping unlike a sloping mountain side studded with rocks we were accustomed to. Morning came quickly as we got organized to cook breakfast. Suddenly a loud wholly unfamiliar sound boomed from outside our tent. Sort of a deep sucking sound. We dashed out to see a dolphin swim by chasing fish around the chickee. It circled back toward us and surfaced exposing its blowhole while taking a deep, rapid breath. Clearly winded, it took off across our intimate lagoon. It’s path clear as small silvery fish frantically jumped out of the water to evade being eaten.

 Our excursion to the Everglades proved to be memorable in many ways. Perhaps most pointedly that we could journey beyond the collective tension of climbing to simply marvel in the diversity of nature surrounding us. My next trip back would be four years later for an undergraduate research project on the geography of differing plant communities within the park. There have been many visits since then. The Everglades and South Florida became a touchstone in my training and work as a naturalist for decades to come.

 

 

 

Botanical Gardens of the World with the Smithsonian Associates

Join us February13th- we’ll be visiting Betty Ford Alpine Garden in Vail, Colorado and the Western Australian Botanic Garden in Perth Australia. Program begins at 4PM EST. www.smithsonianassociates.org. 

Smithsonian Associates Programs

New Program Schedule with the Smithsonian Associates

New National Park Series 

 December 12th- 

The Everglades and Beyond; Florida's Natural Treasures 

January 9th- 

Yosemite and the Range of Light 

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New Botanical Garden Programs 

February-13th- Betty Ford Alpine Garden & Western Australia Botanic Garden 

20th- Shanghai & Huntsville Botanical Gardens 

27th- Inisfree Garden & Fairchild Botanical Garden

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Shenandoah Natural History Weekend 

 May 15th & 16 2022

Reservations and Information-

www.smithsonianassociates.org

My Programs with the Smithsonian Associates are noted in the New York Times today. www.smithsonianassociates.org

 

Cheekwood Estate and Gardens-A Nashville Treasure

Tennessee is a long thin state running east to west and interstate 40 spans the length from Knoxville to Memphis. Neatly situated in the center of the state is Nashville. Perhaps Americas greatest center of musical traditions from country to rock. The Grand Ole Opry is central to the music industry, hosting famous and rising stars many of whom came to Nashville to seek their fortunes.

Tucked away from all the music venues and recording studios is one of Americas most unique and stately gardens. Situated in an elegant part of town on subtly rolling hills, Cheekwood embodies an emotive and aesthetic magnitude found in few new world gardens. It feels like a much older European garden. Grand at every turn, with specimen trees and large ornamental display gardens, Cheekwood is exceptionally beautiful and engaging. From the detailed train exhibit built among bald cypress trunks with perfect roughhewn miniature bridges to monumental sculpture, Cheekwood is a Garden for all ages.

The center piece is the Cheekwood mansion situated atop a prominent hill with sweeping views of the garden and distant hills. Built between 1929 and 1932, its a traditional Georgian mansion with 50 rooms spread among four floors. The exterior is made largely of limestone blocks cut from local quarries. The original house included stables and a multiple-car garage. In fact, the family traveled to England specifically to study 18th-Century Georgian architecture and furnishings. Leslie and Mable Cheek's fortune was earned in several business ventures, most prominently in association with Maxwell House Coffee.

The mansion is now the primary museum for Cheekwood’s permanent and traveling exhibits. Room after room is perfectly arranged into specific, intimate galleries. Combined with the exceptional architecture, it's a nationally unique museum experience oozing curatorial excellence. Spring 2016 featured the remarkably diverse work of Steve Tobin. A Philadelphia based mathematician and artist, Tobin's work ranges in material and subject matter. With ceramics, wood, glass and even a Lantern House made from archival film slides, Tobin's work is mystical and mesmerizing all at once. Some ceramics are intentionally exploded to create something akin to a giant earth star mushroom with a deep, colorful glass center. Illumination often plays a central role in Tobin's glass work. Outside several of Tobin's monumental sculptures tower among the trees like giant spiders.

Departing the Mansion one is quickly reminded there's an entire Garden to explore. Huge hackberry trees dot the landscape displaying their unique knobby bark. Intimate creeks and hollows beckon the casual walker. The Robertson Family Water Garden is a treat. The flowing creek descends several small waterfalls laced with yellow iris, purple wood sorrel and native creeping wild ginger. The creek leads to three ponds that shrink in size as they near a subtle wooded edge. In the distance a neatly tended lawn sways up a hillside, inviting further adventure.

Not far from the ponds is the Japanese-themed Shomu-en Mist Garden. This is the meditative highlight at Cheekwood. A meticulously built garden house gazes on to a seemingly perfect rocky landscape complete with several Asian conifers pruned to perfection. On one side a bamboo Alley leads to another section of the Mist Garden where naturalized, mossy steps ascend a hill and deposits you near the visitor center and Pineapple Room restaurant. Across from the visitor center is the fascinating Turner Seasons Garden, a must stop feature for any serious gardener. Beyond the core area around the mansion one can stroll the Sculpture Trail featuring fourteen internationally recognized artists.

Other Cheekwood highlights include the Martin Boxwood Garden appropriately situated near the Mansion. Nearby the Herb Study Garden and the lovely Burr Terrace Garden occupy a sloping hillside interspersed with many large specimen trees. At the bottom of the slope the Howe Garden features beautiful stone masonry walls, entrance ways and a pond. Above the Howe Garden is the First Learning Center with more galleries and classrooms.

There's an air of southern grace at Cheekwood. One could imagine an ornate garden party or traditional Chatelain among the splendid landscape. Indeed, Cheekwood hosts events large and small including a holiday light show. Between art exhibits, classes, social events and tours there’s something special going on all year. Many gardens around the world feature monumental sculpture outside and in conservatoires.

The magical glass work of Dale Chihuly is particularly popular in North American Gardens. Chihuly is prominently featured at the Missouri Botanical Garden and the Phipps Conservatory in Pittsburg, among others. But Cheekwood remains unique. The hilly site crowned by the mansion nestled among huge trees, beautiful perennial gardens and water features are inspiring. In addition, gallery space in the mansion is Smithsonian caliber. The combination of these features makes Cheekwood the garden to see in Nashville and one of the most unique gardens in the nation. No drive through Nashville is complete without a visit to Cheekwood. Nashville is well known as the musical epicenter of America and it’s also home to a spectacular public garden and art museum.

Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanical Garden: A Horticultural Hot Spot in the City of Angels

Our pace quickens as we enter the arboretum. Superintendent Tim Phillips knows it will be a busy day, entrance fees are waived the first Tuesday of each month and there’s a film crew waiting to get started. As we walk onto the Bauer Lawn I'm taken with the grand view of the San Gabriel Mountains towering to the north framed by a lush horticopia of trees from around the world. Tim casually mentions that this part of California can grow more types of plants than almost anywhere in the world. The Mediterranean climate is nearly perfect. Rarely a freeze, sunny days and cool nights...with irrigation almost anything is possible. That's a pretty big deal for an arboretum and botanical garden.

 Touring such a public garden with a senior staff member is a dream come true for any plant geek. But, in reality this was the continuation of a long-term professional relationship. I first met Tim in a tropical ecology class at the University of Hawaii in 1991. I was working in the Botany Department at Bishop Museum, the State Museum of Cultural and Natural History and Tim was the caretaker at the Universities Lyon Arboretum, a legendarily tropical garden. Tim's training was more horticulturally oriented, mine more botanical. Many hours ensued as we botanized the islands remarkable gardens and mountains over the next several years. Over the past few decades we have toured gardens in Colorado, Washington DC and London together.

With predictable enthusiasm and lively banter, we headed into the collections as Tim's radio crackled the occasional question or inquiry. Like kids in a botanical candy shop we headed straight for the Madagascar Spiny Forest, a relatively recent addition under Tim's decade-plus tenure at the arboretum. To the untrained eye it might look like a generic collection of desert plants. But this is far more interesting. Madagascar is one of the world’s great endemic kingdoms. Nearly all the plants and animals found there are unique to the island. Only a few other locations in the world share such a highly unusual and endemic biota. As Islands go, New Caledonia, Hawaii and the Canaries rival Madagascar. On a continent only the Cape Province of South Africa compares. Amazingly, many plants from these exotic locations can be grown with considerable success in the Los Angeles Basin.

 A favorite of the Madagascar collection is Pachypodium, sometimes called the Madagascar Palm. It's swollen spiny trunk narrows to a whorl of relatively small leaves. One has to wonder if Dr. Seuss saw these plants somewhere and included them in his many illustrations. Nearby a smaller version of Pachypodium called Elephants Foot looks as if it's ready burst.

Among several unique Aloes the tall narrow stick-like trunks of the Madagascar Ocotillo reach for the sun. It has a stunning similarity to the native Ocotillo but is totally unrelated belonging to an entire plant family found only in Madagascar. The tiny thick leaves radiate in perfect rows like miniature solar panels. In a gravelly bed nearby the Madagascan Rosy Periwinkle blooms with characteristic brilliance. A common landscape plant throughout North America, it’s also the source of Vincristine and Vinblastine two of the most effective drugs for fighting childhood leukemia among other cancers.

 As Tim heads off to meet the film crew I wonder over to the Prehistoric Forest.  The thought of tree ferns and ancient conifers growing among the world’s dinosaurs has always fascinated me. So many museum dioramas I saw as child strived to recreate these ancestral forests in skillfully painted mural behind a brooding Stegosaurus. I'm thrilled to find several species of tree ferns mingled with Norfolk Island pines and cycads. With lake Baldwin in the background one can imagine a Stegosaurus approaching.

 Apparently, the production crew for Katy Perry's "Roar" video agreed. The entire shoot took place at the Arboretum. One of the casts happened to be an elephant. Many beloved movies and television shows have used the Arboretum over the years. In fact this may be the only public garden in the nation that employees a full time person to manage all the filming request.

On the south side of Lake Baldwin some of the Arboretums extensive human history comes into focus. The beautiful Queen Ann Cottage is a window into Southern California's Golden age, an example of Victorian architecture at its best. It was built by Elias Jackson "Lucky" Baldwin in 1885 as part of his 2000 acre ranch.  Nearby is the equally interesting Coach Barn complete with a beautiful collection of horse drawn carriages. Many species of stately palms surround the lake along with a Redwood Grove. One can only imagine the privilege of living in such an exquisite setting with one of the world’s most accommodating climates. The cottage is on the National Register of Historic Place.

 Only a short walk away one comes upon the Meyburg Waterfall. In full stride Tim arrives eager to show me the Ficus collection. We ascend a skillfully designed stairway that negotiates the waterfall without ever having to balance on a slippery rock. Numerous blooming orchids line the route as falls roar in the background. One of the resident peacocks preens near the top of the falls as we arrive on Tallac Knoll, a slightly wilder part of the arboretum. Trees makeup much of attraction on the Knoll, none more than the large Ficus with draping crowns, the trunks festooned in maturing fruits. Nearby a grove of native Engelmann Oak inhabits a semi-arid slope. Trees of various ages are closely monitored for vigor and regeneration. Englemann Oak was the one of the prominent native trees in precolonial times.

We walked back through the Tule Pond area while several native birds cavorted about the water and adjacent vegetation. Finishing our tour we glanced at the large Australian collection and stopped by the beautiful fern exhibit. I had a plane to catch and Tim's radio sparked up with another request. We said goodbye as Tim dashed off, while I was planning my next visit. An Arboretum and Botanical Garden of this caliber deserves many returns.

From the BGT Team-more info at www.arboretum.org