Smith College Chrysanthemums

Sometimes a chrysanthemum is just a mum, but sometimes a chrysanthemum is Art. Artistically grown chrysanthemums will be on display during Smith College’s annual Fall Chrysanthemum Show which will run November 5-20 in the Lyman Plant House. A $2 donation is suggested. On display will be the stunning chrysanthemum cascades and other skillfully pruned and supported chrysanthemums, some in pillars, and some trained to a single stem with a giant bloom.

Like the spring Bulb Show the Chrysanthemum Show depends on the knowledge of greenhouse staff and students to bring the plants into bloom just in time for opening day by carefully controlling light and temperature. The Japanese style cascades, rarely seen in the U.S., require the patient pinching and arranging of plant shoots through a chicken wire frame to create this stunning effect. The Chrysanthemum Show is a glorious last hurrah to the end of the blooming season.

This year the show will actually begin on Friday, November 4 with A Garden Writer’s Journey, a talk by Paula Dietz, Smith alum, co-founder of the Friends of the Smith Botanic Garden, and author of “On Gardens: Selected Essays.” The talk will be held in the Campus Center Carroll Room at 7:30 p.m. and will be followed by a reception where Dietz will sign her book. The Lyman Plant House will also be illuminated for a preview of the show for attendees.

In “On Gardens” Paula Dietz writes of her experiences over decades in all manner of gardens around the world from the U.S. to the serene gardens of Japan, evoking the sense of the culture and personalities that create gardens, and the way they are used. She uses her knowledge of history, art and literature to bring those gardens and gardeners to life for the reader. I was particularly delighted by the section on parks and public spaces, seeing some of the landscapes that are familiar to me through her eyes and sensibility.

Dietz also reminded me of how important chrysanthemums are to Asians. A couple of years ago I attended a rare exhibit of Kiku, Japanese style arrangements of potted chrysanthemums at the New York Botanic Garden. I saw how the artistry of Japanese gardeners reflects ideals of perfect form and mindfulness.

I also thought of the way the Chinese consider chrysanthemums the iconic symbol of autumn and imagined holding a moon viewing party in September on the night of the full moon, when the chrysanthemums are in bloom. We could search for Chang’e, the beautiful lady in the moon with her companion the jade rabbit, and eat sweet mooncakes.

The organizers of the chrysanthemum show must also be thinking about the place mums have in Asian culture. On Saturday, November 12  at 2 p.m. students in the Culture of the Lyric in Traditional China: Plants and Poetry class will read selected poems in the Church Exhibition Gallery. Chrysanthemum tea will be served. I should say this delicate tea is made with the blossoms of a particular chrysanthemum, not any old hardy mum.

Dan Ladd gourd sculpture

The Church Gallery is also hosting a new exhibit Shaping Plants: Fruits, Shoots and Roots. The artist, Dan Ladd, is exhibiting examples of his collaborations with nature, gourds grown inside molds to become sculptures, and photographs of pruning and grafting trees and plants into unique and whimsical structures. His art has grown out of his fascination with the adaptability of plants. Ladd will be on hand Friday, November 18 at 6:30 p.m. for an informal talk in the gallery.

While working with different plants in a totally different way, Ladd has similar patience and skill in his handling of plants as the Lyman House staff takes in preparing for this show which is such a treat for the broader community beyond Smith College.

Smith College is known for the excellent education if offers its enrolled students, but it is also an educational resource for nearby communities. The perennial and rock gardens that surround the Lyman Plant House contain hundred of plants, all carefully labeled. These labels educate local gardeners about what blooms when, and how late into the season they will bloom, and the exact names of the plants so they can be brought into their own personal gardens.

I have always been impressed by the way the campus acts as an arboretum, with each tree tagged and labeled. When it is time for any of us to add a tree to our own domestic landscape we are often handicapped by our limited knowledge of trees in general, and the trees that will thrive in our climate in particular. A stroll around the Smith campus is all it takes to be inspired, and given the information to choose a beautiful and interesting tree for our own gardens. A guide to the trees is on sale.

This is not the place to describe all the gardens at Smith, but many readers may have ambled along the paths by Paradise Pond and found the Wildflower and Woodland Garden or the Japanese Garden for Reflection and Contemplation. The Capen Garden includes a rustic rose arbor and a gazebo. There is a garden for every mood and season, or search for learning.

The Lyman Plant House is open daily from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and is wheelchair accessible. A special handicapped parking space is just outside the Plant House entry. Full information about the gardens and planning a visit is at www.smith.edu/garden.

Lyman Plant House and Smith College

Lyman Plant House at Smith College

Last week I visited the Lyman Plant House at Smith College in preparation for a column and post about the Annual Chrysanthemum Show which begins Friday, November 5 with a talk by Smith alum and author Paula Dietz about the gardens she has visited and written about in her book, On Gardens.

The Smith Botanical Garden and the Lyman Plant House are treasures for the whole community to use. The Lyman Plant House is open every day (except Thanksgiving and the period between December 23 – January 3) from 8:30 am – 4 pm, and the gardens surrounding it are available every day of the year. I was amazed at the amount of bloom.

Actually, I know dahlias are still blooming madly up in the higher elevations. Not only at Smith.

There are lots of labels on the plants in the Botanic Garden, but I could not find one for this beautiful plant, of which there were several wonderful floriferous clumps.  Any ideas?

This plant was another mystery. It looks like a regular daisy flower, but look at that foliage – not daisy foliage. Any more ideas?

As a part of the Rock Garden are a number of trough gardens which I think is a wonderful way for any of us to enjoy a few alpine plants.

There is an iron fence that separates the garden from the roadway, but on the road side of the fence there are plantings. Even those passing can enjoy the garden without entering.

This dramatic red planting is at the doorway to the Lyman Plant House.   Wow!

I was familiar with many of these plants (not all obviously) but I was amazed to see cactus included in the garden. Hardy in Northampton?  I guess so.

Spoons and Quills – Mums that is

'Starlet'

Nurseries and roadside stands are filled with tidy pots of tidy chrysanthemums, but I planted a collection of these fall bloomers in my Circle Garden this spring. The chrysanthemum family is so various in form, as well as color, that I wanted to branch out a little. My collection of six from Bluestone Perennials got whittled down to three because of rabbits! Fortunately, a reader suggested black netting which discouraged the bunnies, but ineptly placed as it was, it tangled the plants making the usual pinching  and pruning impossible. Still, look at these blooms. Undeterred by the frost we on Wednesday night.

'Joanette'

‘Joanette is a quilled mum, which means the petals are like little tubes, which do not show up very well in my photo. “Starlet’ is a spoon mum, which means the tip of the petal is a little spoon shape that narrows down to a rolled tube in the center. This provides a little more interest and fun to the fall garden than a neat pot of fall mums. Don’t you think? These varieties make it clear why the Chinese consider chrysanthemums the symbol of autumn.

To see even more spectacular mums than you will ever find in my garden, click here for my post about the fabulous KIKU exhibit at the New York Botanical Garden two years ago. To see some unusual and beautiful mums yourself be sure and visit the Lyman Plant House at Smith College for their Annual Chrysanthemum Show beginning on November 6.

Behind the Scenes at the Bulb Show

Lyman Conservatory at Smith College

The Smith College Annual Bulb Show, always spectacular, is one of the ways some of us flower starved gardeners manage to get through the last bit of winter as we wait to get out hands back in the soil. The show opens today, March 6 and runs through Sunday, March 21, when spring will have officially arrived.

This year’s Turkish garden and will feature many species tulips from Turkey. Robert Nicholson, Lyman Conservatory manager, who has been busy for the past three months preparing for the show, says there is a different theme every year. This makes it more interesting and educational for the visitors, “And it makes me learn something new,” Nicholson said.

Although the Lyman Conservatory staff, including two Smith work study students, began potting up bulbs three months ago, Nicholson said preparation for the next bulb show begins in the early summer, after the new theme has been chosen and when bulb orders have to be sent in.  “It is really a perpetual process, from preparation to show,” he said.

Those of us who have feared for our daffodils when they come up early in a sheltered spot, only to be doused by spring snow or flood, can begin to appreciation the calculation and management that go into bringing 5000 varied bulbs, crocus, tulip, daffodil, hyacinth, scilla and more, into bloom all at the same moment.

Nicholson explained that he and the staff  pot up the bulbs three months before the show, and put them in cold storage where temperatures are kept between 41 and 45 degrees.

The staff knows how long it takes each type of bulb to come into bloom. They remove the bulbs from storage on a reverse staggered schedule. First come the bulbs that need the longest amount of time, and finally the bulbs that bloom more quickly like crocus. There are three production greenhouses, each kept at a different temperature.

The development of the potted bulbs is monitored so they can be moved back and forth between the three greenhouses to bring them into full bloom on time for the show.  This is tricky because it is not only temperature that determines how quickly they come into bloom, but sunlight as well.

“This year has been challenging,” Nicholson said. “The weather has consistently been overcast. There have been very few sunny days.  We can’t force the bulbs with temperature alone too hard, because the plants will get leggy and floppy. This year the bulbs will probably be at their peak the second week of the show.”

Annual Smith Bulb Show

The week before the show is full of activity.  The ornamental elements of the show are put in place on Monday and Tuesday. On Wednesday and Thursday the potted bulbs are arranged. Friday is for fine tuning and preparation for the opening in the evening after a free lecture. This year noted public garden designer Lynden B. Miller (Smith ’60) spoke about her new book, Parks, Plants and People: Beautifying the Urban Landscape.

“We ask for a donation, but the Bulb Show and fall Chrysanthemum show are two of the best gifts that Smith gives the community. It a wonderful and inexpensive outing for the whole family.” Nicholson said.

Temperatures in the Lyman Plant House are kept in the low to mid-50s during the show. Other rooms in the conservatory will be kept at their  usual temperatures; visitors can enjoy all the regular delights of the tropical gardens including a lush collection of orchids.

In addition to the spectacular floral display, the Church Gallery at the Lyman Conservatory is hosting an exhibit, The Inner Beauty of Plants. This collaboration between the Botanic Garden of Smith  College, retired radiologist Dr. Merrill Raikes and University of Massachusetts physics professor Robert Hallock is an exploration of light, vision, x-rays and flowers, providing a unique way of seeing plants. This exhibit will run until September 30.

A garden appeals to every sense. This year an audio installation has been added.  What Every Gardener Knows, music composed Susan Hiller (Smith ‘61), will be heard in the Lyman Conservatory’s Palm House, one of Hiller’s favorite parts of campus when she was a student. This installation will be in place until March 30.

The Smith College Bulb Show is the beginning of my gardening season.  I am also looking  forward to the Master Gardeners Spring Symposium on Saturday, March 20, the first day of spring. There will be sessions on everything from designing a permaculture garden, Integrated Pest Management, and wild spring edibles to yoga for gardeners and photographing your garden, as well as a keynote speech by Kerry Mendez on Tips for Low Maintenance, High Impact Perennial Gardens. Logon to www.wmassmastergardeners.org for full information.

Then comes the Boston Flower and Garden Show from Wednesday, March 24 to Sunday March 28 at the Seaport World Trade Center. It is wonderful that after a hiatus the Flower Show is back with a theme of A Feast for the Senses. There are 30 gardens to enjoy, gardening demonstrations, lectures, floral design and  growing demonstrations and even cooking demonstrations. One of the special displays this year is The Garden of Cakes. I can’t wait for that. Both my passions in one, baking and gardening.  You might even win a weekend in Boothbay Maine with free tickets to the Coastal Maine Botanical Garden. For full information logon to www.masshort.org.

Show runs til March 21

Spring is almost here!  There is still time to sign up for the Master Gardeners Spring Symposium at Frontier High School on Saturday March 20 from 9 am to 2 pm.  logon to the website or call Bridget Heller at 413-665-8662.  You can also still sign up for  the Trillum Cutting Garden Workshop in Ashfield 1-4 pm on Sunday, March 21. Full info on the website.

Between the Rows   March 6, 2010

Smith College Bulb Show

A Turkish Delight

Robert Nicholson, Manager of the Lyman Conservatory at Smith College complained about the challenges of all the cloudy weather we have been having, but, once again, he and the crew more than met the challenge of forcing 5000 bulbs to bloom all at the same time. The Conservatory is a Turkish Delight of flower and fragrance, with all the usual bulbs, but also many freesias and delicate species tulips from Turkey.

Opening Night

On Friday evening I attended the lecture by Smith alum, Lynden B. Miller. She described the public gardens she has designed over a long career, and what she has learned about plants that work in public gardens. Fortunately, if you missed the talk you can get all that information in her beautifully  illustrated new book Parks, Plants and People.

Lynden B. Miller and her book

After her talk in the new Campus Center, attendees were invited to a preview of the Bulb Show which will run for two weeks until March 21. The Conservatory is open every day from 10 am to 4 pm. A $2 donation is requested.

Botanical Radiography

In addition to the Bulb Show, there is a beautiful and fascinating display of radiography, The Hidden Beauty of Plants, in the Church Gallery of the Conservatory. These exhibit is a collaboration between the Smith Botanic Garden, Dr. Merrill Raikes, retired radiologist and Robert B. Hallock of the UMass physics department. This exhibit will continue until September 30.

Gardens appeal to every sense. This year there is an audio installation in the Palm House, What Every Gardener Knows. This piece by Susan Hillier (Smith ’61) is presented in collaboration with the Smith College Museum of Art. It will continue only until March 31.

Lynden B. Miller

The annual Smith College Bulb Show at the Lyman Conservatory will begin with a free lecture by Lynden B. Miller (Smith ’60) in the Carroll Room at the Campus Center at 7:30 pm on Friday, March 5.  Miller is a noted public garden designer and will be talking about her new book Parks, Plants and People: Beautifying the Urban Landscape.  She feels that “beautiful parks and gardens are essential urban oases with economic benefits and the power to transform the way people behave and feel about their cities.” After the lecture attendees can tour the Bulb Show.

Miller is currently director of the Conservatory Garden in Central Park which she rescued and restored, but “her work includes gardens for The Central Park Zoo, Bryant Park, The New York Botanical Garden, Madison Square Park and Wagner Park in Battery Park City as well as many smaller projects in all five boroughs and beyond.”  It is heartening to know that as we talk about ‘nature deficit’ in children, we are also coming to acknowledge that people of every age benefit from the beauty and calm of a garden, of natural green space.

In her book, and her work Miller shows us the importance of public gardens, and with luck, will give us new eyes to look at the public spaces in our own communities.

The Smith College Bulb Show runs from March 6 through Sunday, March 21 from 10 am to 4 pm every day. A $2 donation is suggested. In addition to the spectacular bloom there will be an exhibition, The Inner Beauty of Flowers, radiograph and Xray photographs of flowers, and an audio installation of music composed by Susan Hiller (’61) titled What Every Gardener Knows playing in the Lyman Conservatory Palm House.

Smith College Bulb Show

Driving through the wet snow and slush to the Smith College Lyman Plant House was no fun, but the trip is always worth it, even when the Bulb Shows and Chrysanthemum Shows are a happy memory.
Before I even got to the famous bulb display I passed orchids in bloom like this moth orchid, Phaleanopsis.

There were big orchids like this Cattylea.

Tiny orchids.

Cascading orchids.

Birds of Paradise were in bloom in a Tropical Room

with a doorway guarded by this Clivia. But then you go into one of the two bulb show rooms and you are surrounded by blossoms and the scent of spring.

I think this display is one of the reasons several people told me this was the best show in recent years. All the colors of the sun, so welcome after a particularly difficult winter.

There were golden tableaux.

And pink, with cinnerarias and hyacinths,

and a peony. Can you imagine the knowledge, coordination, labor,and control it takes to monitor conditioning temperatures, then light, to get all these different plants to be in perfect bloom all at the same time?

A blue tableaux with all the freshness of a cool spring.

I didn’t recognize these as a hyacinth vaariety.

The hyacinth was familiar, but not the color which was a subtle peach. I’m not sure the photo catches the shade well.

Nor had I ever seen white grape hyacinths which were beautiful.

The Gallery had a beautiful exhibit all about tulips, and a brief history, especially of the ‘broken tulips’ that were so prized. Also on display were lithographs of broken tulips by noted artist Rory McEwen.

But finally it was time to fly home. You still have time to fly to Northampton and Lyman Plant House which is open every day from 10 to 4 pm. The Bulb Show will continue until Sunday, March 22.

And don’t forget, you still have time to entry the great Johnny’s Selected Seed Give Away. Just leave a comment. The drawing will be on Saturday, March 14. Good luck to you all.

Smith College Spring Bulb Show

This is how things looked on the hill on Tuesday. We still had three feet of snow and everything was covered in ice. But I left and slid down the hill to Northampton.

This is what I saw at the annual Smith College Spring Bulb Show.

The sun shone through the glass house. The air was cool, but damp and fragrant. It might as well have been spring.

After spending delicious time in the two bulb show room, I wandered through the succulent house, the fern room, the camellia hallway and the steamy palm house. I finished by the plashing waterfall. A bench was considerately provided. In addition to the wonderful Lyman Plant House which is open to the public every day of the year except Thanksgiving and Christmas, the Smith College Botanic Gardens include perennial beds, an alpine garden, systematic gardens arranged by plant family, and trees. The entire campus is an arboretum where trees are identified and labeled, easily visible, offering not only beauty and shade, but education to all the gardeners who are invited to walk here.