Winterthur Garden Blog

This Saturday, May 11, Winterthur will feature the display of automobiles from the 1930s, that is if the weather holds. These are private owners who bring their beautiful, vintage autos for you to see.  Some will surely arrive as expected by 10:00 am, but some will decide to stay home, given the somewhat stormy weather predictions.

If the weather holds, we expect these automobiles on display from 10:00 am to 4:00 p.m.

• 1931 Chrysler Roadster
• 1942 Cadillac Limousine
• 1939 Packard Convertible Coupe
• 1935 Ford Station Wagon
• 1938 Buick Limousine
• 1941 Packard Club Coupe 160
• 1939 DeSoto 4-Door Sedan
• 1933 DeSoto Rumble Seat Coupe
• 1938 Hudson Terraplane
• 1930 Marmon coupe
• 1928 Mercedes-Benz 2-Door Touring
• 1935 Packard Closed Coupe
• 1936 Chevrolet Phaeton
• 1927 Rolls-Royce Phantom I

For more information about these spring displays, please see http://www.winterthur.org/?p=1063

Jennifer Burek Pierce, a research fellow in residence at Winterthur writes:

Winterthur is a world of flowers to me.  A book in the Winterthur library, Louisa May Alcott’s Flower Fables, enchants young readers with stories of fairies and elves responsible for flowers’ care.  The gardens that are now the background of my day’s activities seem so well-tended that they must have their own guardians, much like the ones Alcott envisioned.

In residence to do a research fellowship, I’ve walked past Winterthur’s resplendent gardens while my friends in the Upper Midwest complained about the snow that fell on May Day.  What’s a girl to do?  I send them pictures of what I see on the way to the Winterthur Library each day or what’s in bloom when I step outside during lunch.

The graceful ivory magnolia outside the galleries spilled white petals all over the ground.  My friends found it much more appealing than snowfall.

 

 

A closer look at my favorite flower.

 

 

Each day, some new bloom catches my attention.  One morning, a ballet-pink rhododendron seemed almost translucent in the sun.

 

 

Parts of the garden make me feel like I’ve somehow walked onto the set of Downton Abbey.

 

 

 

Even in the rain, the grounds are glorious.

 

Everyone I’ve met at Winterthur has made me feel welcome at this venerable and beautiful institution, and the garden staff has my thanks, too, for the beauty all around me during these last two weeks.

 

You may have noticed the row of four new accessible parking spots at the Visitor Center that were installed in March. They’ve been a big help so far this spring.  In order to liven up the area, Dave, the horticulturist of the Visitor Center area has planted new lavender azaleas (Rhododendron yedoense poukehense)in the area. right now, they’re blooming along with the wisteria and form a lovely composition.  Good news: there are a few of these azaleas at the museum plant shop!

Wisteria and Azaleas – What a Knock-Out Combination!

Dave’s putting the finishing touches on the planting

Rhododendron yedoense poukehense at Museum Plant shop

Close by, near the Brown Horticulture Learning Center, Michelle and her loyal volunteer, Mary, have been busy filling in a bank with ferns. Mary commented that “this is fern heaven!”  Keep watching as these ferns fill in and form a soft green carpet.

New Fern Planting by BHLC

Fern Heaven!

One of our terrific garden guides, Fred Naspo, spent some time perusing the Winterthur plant shop, searching for a terrific plant to recommend.  He finally (so many plants!) decided on the Hardy Orchid, Bletilla striata, because it has a very pretty, deep pink,  flower and is good in shady spots.

Here’s the plant label with more info about the hardy orchid.

Fred Naspo’s plant pick of the week – Bletilla striata

For more info about the plant, consult our resident plant guru in the garden shop, Loes, or take a look at this web site:

http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/gardens-gardening/your-garden/plant-finder/plant-details/kc/b720/bletilla-striata.aspx

Just ran out into the garden to check on the Dove Tree (full bloom!) and the azaleas. Many of the azaleas are in full bloom; some haven’t opened at all; some are part-way out. So, you absolutely can’t miss in the Winterthur Garden this week!  Similarly, some of the peonies in the Peony Garden are fully blooming; some are just budding.

Gotta run, but wanted to post a few photos to entice you to come enjoy the Winterthur Garden at the apex of azaleas. Like that term?

(Please display your membership badge or purchase an admission tag at the visitor center. Happy to have you enjoy the garden!)

Peonies and Azaleas in the Peony Garden

Peony in Peony Garden

The White “Cathedral” in Azalea Woods

Coral Bell Azaleas in Reflecting Pool Garden

Azalea Woods – Follow the Arrows!

The Loggia above Reflecting Pool

Dogwood near Dorrance Gallery

The “Dove” or “Hankerchief” Tree near Dorrance Gallery

Spanish Bluebells Cascade below 1750 House

In case you’ve just ordered a truckload of mulch for your garden beds, a cautionary word.  In my neighborhood, the landscape crew seems to enjoy piling mulch up around the trunks of trees for  the “lovely” volcano effect.  Sorry, this is not the right way to do it, unless you hope to re-plant the trees every 3-5 years…hmmm…maybe that’s the contractor’s plan.

Instead, mulch like the horticulturists do at Winterthur: About 3″ of mulch spread evenly around the tree’s drip line. Leave a gap around the trunk so mulch doesn’t touch the bark.  No mulch volcanoes, please, they provide a soft easy spot for the surface roots to grow, eventually growing around the tree, and strangling the tree.

That’s all for my “save the trees” soapbox. Just say “No!”

http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/consumer/factsheets/trees-new/text/muching.html

http://www.gardening.cornell.edu/factsheets/mulch/toomuch.html

Wow – that’s a lot of flowers!  Our volunteers have compiled the most current list of what’s in bloom in the Winterthur Garden – 10 pages worth. http://www.winterthur.org/pdfs/Winterthur May 1 2013 bloom list no.16.pdf

The most striking sights are the Sundial Garden (this year the magnolias are still out when the lilacs are blooming), and Azalea Woods (Rhododendrons and Azaleas are just beginning to open; loads of wildflowers on the forest floor.)

Highlights – almost too many to mention!

• Dogwood (Cornus florida)
• Fothergilla gardenii
• Crabapples
• Rhododendron yedoense ‘Poukehense’  (lavender azaleas)
• Pieris japonica (Andromeda)
• Wisteria sinensis – at visitor center portico
• Lilacs – lovely fragrance!
• Mertensia virginica (Virginia bluebell)
• Arisaema triphyllum (Jack-in-the-Pulpit)
• Phlox divaricata (Wild Blue Phlox)
• Trillium
• Davidia involucrata (Dove Tree) – almost fully out
• Exochorda (Pearl bush at Pinetum gates)
• Cercis canadensis – (Redbud) Enchanted Woods, Azalea Woods,  and Sycamore Hill
• Rhododendron ‘Firefly’ (Azalea near Enchanted Woods)
• Kerria japonica in Pinetum
• Primula (Primrose) in Quarry Garden

We’re really excited about the automobiles that will be on display tomorrow from 10 am to 4 pm. They are all amazing: a newly restored 1913 Model 78 Stanley Roadster, a 1912 Flanders Roadster, a 1910 Chalmers, and a 1909 Waverley Electric to name a few. Our theme is “The Early Years” featuring autos up to 1929, presented by generous private owners.  If they all start and make it here, we’ll have an even dozen on display along with Winterthur’s 1927 Rolls-Royce Phantom I. Good stuff!

For more information about the display, included with admission and free to Members, see http://www.winterthur.org/?p=1063

Of particular interest is a 1907 Ford Model K. It is one of only 25 known to exist. and you can see it tomorrow at Winterthur!

1907 Ford Model K
Credit: Walter Higgins

Walter Higgins of Higgins Restoration writes:

Ford produced approximately 900 Model K’s from 1906 to 1908.  Of those, about 25 are believed to exist today.  Its 40 horse-power, six-cylinder engine was a departure from the smaller cars Ford preferred to produce. It would be 1932 before Ford would build another car with more than four-cylinders, and 1941 before they produced another straight-six.

This particular Model K has a known history going back to the late 1940s. It later passed through Harrah’s Automobile Collection in Reno, Nevada, where much of the work you see today was performed, including the paint.  Over the winter the upholstery was replaced by an Amish upholsterer in Nickel Mines.  The current owner tours with this car extensively during the spring and summer months.

This Friday, May 3, the Oxford Art Alliance opens its new exhibition of paintings done at Winterthur in late April. The aintings will be on display until the end of May.

http://www.oxfordart.org/may-2013-en-plein-air

First Friday Gallery Opening – En Plein Air (Winterthur)